Supporting and Developing School Leaders

Many education systems now recognise that excellent school leadership is a key to improving outcomes for students and are giving significantly increased attention to the development and support of school leaders (Anderson, & Cawsey, 2008; Caldwell, 2006; Pont et al., 2008). Some systems have established specialised institutions to train and develop school leaders. Examples include the National College for School Leadership in England, the Austrian Leadership Academy and the proposed Victorian Institute of Educational Leadership (see Figure 8.1).

Education systems have developed a range of strategies for developing the capabilities of school leaders. These include:

• the development of standards and frameworks that identify the roles and functions of school leaders, specify what leaders need to know and be able to do, and set levels of performance competence;

• induction programs for newly appointed principals; • mentoring and coaching programs;

National College for School Leadership

The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in England is a government-funded non-departmental public body established to serve the professional development needs of school leaders and aspiring school leaders in England's 23 000 state-maintained schools. The NCSL does this through professional development programs, strategic initiatives, and by providing support and networking opportunities. The NCSL was launched in 2000 and has a purpose-built Learning and Conference Centre in Nottingham.

The NCSL’s four key goals are to: ‘transform children's achievement and well- being through excellent school leadership; develop leadership within and beyond the school; identify and grow tomorrow’s leaders; and create a “fit for purpose” national college that is more strategic and offers school leaders increased leadership support’. The NCSL website (www.ncsl.org.uk) says that it tailors services to individual and local needs and draws on leadership practice from around the world in an effort to remain an authoritative national voice on school leadership and management issues both to school leaders and the government.

Austrian Leadership Academy

The Austrian government established the Leadership Academy in 2004 with a brief to develop the leadership capabilities of school leaders and other executives in the Austrian school system. The original focus of the Academy was on preparing principals who had worked in a hierarchical, bureaucratic structure to work with greater autonomy in leading schools. The Academy draws on research findings relating to innovation and change and conducts a program of leadership development for between 250 and 300 leaders each year.

Victorian Institute of Educational Leadership

In Victoria, the government has committed $10 million to establish a new Victorian Institute of Educational Leadership. The Institute, which will provide purpose-built learning and teaching spaces in a heritage site in North Melbourne, will open in 2010 to provide professional development for aspiring school leaders, principals and regional education network leaders.

Victoria’s recent overhaul of school leadership preparation and development includes the introduction of mentoring programs for new principals, a coaching program for experienced principals, an accelerated program for high-potential leaders, extension programs for high-performing principals and a more rigorous job selection process for principals.

Figure 8.1 Examples of state/national bodies established to support the professional learning and work of school leaders

• in-service professional development for school leaders; and

• school leadership institutions with responsibility for developing leadership capabilities across a system.

The Victorian leadership development strategy (Learning to Lead Effective Schools, 2006) provides 19 programs for aspirant leaders, assistant principals and principals, including a Master in School Leadership qualification for teachers who demonstrate high leadership potential. The nineteen programs are commissioned from higher education institutions and other providers of professional development, together with nationally funded programs (Pont, et al., 2008).

Conversations with some Queensland government school principals suggested that they would appreciate greater access to support in the form of leadership coaching. In general, increased attention to the professional development of school leaders – particularly in leadership behaviours known to be associated with improved student outcomes – is likely to be an effective strategy for raising levels of literacy, numeracy and science achievement in Queensland primary schools.

In addition to needing greater support for their own professional learning, a number of principals referred to the increasing demands of the leadership role and their need for additional support in undertaking this role. If principals are to take greater responsibility for the quality of teaching and learning occurring in their schools, then they require additional support with other aspects of their role, including day-to-day school administration. Again, this issue is not specific to Queensland schools; it is made internationally:

There can be few enterprises as large as a typical secondary school or a large primary school where the chief executive does not have a personal assistant and several managers to deal with business and finance… It is inexplicable that such support is not included in the basic package of support for leaders of schools in the public sector, when it is taken for granted for their counterparts in the private or independent sector.

(Caldwell, 2006)

RECOMMENDATION 5

That the Queensland Government initiates an expert review of

international best practice in school leadership development with a view to introducing a new structure and program of advanced professional learning for primary school leaders focused on effective strategies for driving improved school performances in literacy, numeracy and science.

9 System Support

In addition to the issues discussed in Chapters 6 to 8, a number of other matters were raised with the review. Some of the matters raised (such as detailed proposals for the teaching of reading) fell outside the scope of this review and it has not been possible to pursue them further. Other matters took the form of general challenges that governments and education systems face in delivering quality primary education and, because of their potential impact on literacy, numeracy and science learning in Queensland schools, are taken up in this final chapter.