6003 Information Technology and Educational Leadership

1. 6003 Information Technology and Educational Leadership Members: Chan Wai Man Kwok Yuet Sang Sung Kam Man

2. Outline of presentation • Integrated summary of • 1. Organizational learning: building the future of a school • 2. Educational leadership for twenty-first century Malta: breaking the bonds of dependency • Case Study • Discussion

3. Mission and vision from Education Department To build a future perspective Operational targets Strategic intents • New roles, • New relationships, • New values new behaviours, • New approaches to have to be forged Management Factors Human Factors Case study and Discussion

4. School should engage in three types of planning activity, which occur concurrently and which interact and reinforce each other:

5. Three types of planning: 1. To build an understanding of their significance and a future perspective for the school. 2. - series of strategic intents, which are created for the areas of medium-term panning where the organization’s performance has to be “leveraged up” - target-setting and measuring the outcomes achieved. 3. A one or two-year operational target-setting process, in which the school sets measurable and inter-connected targets for the whole school, sub-areas, staff and pupils.

6. How to make the planning model in practice ?

7. 1. Using futures thinking to build a futures perspective: • Leadership capacity of “looking outside”? • Principal and colleagues analyzing broad global and national trend, even in the coming 5-10 years.

8. Is it a little bit hard to have a “looking outside” leader? • Who know about our future? What is “good” in the future?.

9. In actual practice, most leader(principal) of the schools may not have the capacity to cooperate the trends outside into school real practice. • Also, it is almost impossible to have one who can stand back from operational business in school in order to analysis about the impact of global trend on school.

10. How to encourage this change in perspective?

11. REENGINEERING • Organization of the school year and school day • Technology and its impact on learning and schools • The nature of the curriculum • The facilitation by teachers of a learning day • Staffing patterns, skills and competencies • Different types of school and the development of a learning community rather than a school • Resourcing education

12. If we must have reengineering, there would be a number of things we have to consider: • Time • Budget • Culture • Workload

13. 2. Strategic intent: • the learning organization sets a target that deserves personal effort and commitment towards building capability “to reach seemingly unattainable goals”

14. How to achieve?

15. It is the process of concentrating on different areas which involve major changes in performance • It often require fundamental cultural change within the organization • Principals offers a positive opportunity to look at development needs for the future without having to be certain of exactly how the activities will materialize.

16. An example: Strategic intent in one school

17. Create a high expectation and success culture • Design and implement accurate performance indicators and hold everyone accountable for them • Establish technology-based individual learning for all pupils • Build “leadership in-depth” throughout the staff • Link home and school through the development of a learning community

18. Does “Strategic intents” helpful?

19. Yes ! • It forces the organization to be imaginative and inventive in seeking new ways to create capability and to move forward . • Even it is unclear exactly what the learning technology of the future will look like but the school is working towards being effective in this area through understanding and developing capability.

20. 3. The operational targets • The role of “responsible person” should be a more senior member of staff nominated to monitor progress towards the target at appropriate stages.?

21. “responsible person” should be only be a senior staff • Senior staff does not mean he/she can monitor the progress

22. Operational target-setting is going to reflect how schools are responding or need to respond to changes in the wider educational system. • Schools required to deliver nationally determined output targets within national curricular guidelines, but are given delegated financial control, allowing them to adjust the resource mix to achieve the targets.

23. Setting the model within a wider conceptualization

24. 1. Professional leadership as exemplified by: • Firm and purposeful being • A participative approach • The leading professional 2. Shared vision and goals as exemplified by: • Consistency of practice • Collegiality and collaboration 3. A learning organization with an emphasis on: • school-based staff development

25. The above characteristics make us clear that the leader must work with the staff to develop a shared view of the school’s purpose and of the appropriate ways of operating to achieve this purpose.

26. The context • A move by central authorities to give more powers of responsibility and authority to the schools • Encourage school to develop draft school development plans • Seeing the school as the major unit of change in the education system. • However, teachers constantly find themselves sandwiched between a belief in democracy and participation on the one hand, and the daily experiencing of a lack of structures to function as decision makers.

27. The context • Worst Conditions • Isolation of educators(both teachers and school administrators) from one another • The fragmentation of the school day into separate subjects matters • The apportionment of specific time per subject • The untenable ratio of students to teachers • The lack of time for genuine reflection, sharing and critical inquiry amongst teachers

28. The context • This comprehensive study highlighted that school administrators still have to follow the dictates of the Education Division, thus ignoring the unique position of the school as an agent of reform.

29. A dependency culture • Schools and the members mainly on the receiving end • The move towards decentralization has been sporadic, fragmented, incoherent and without necessary visionary framework to keep them going • Decentralization practices are creating more demands on schools which are now of a more intrusive quality • Educational reform lacks a conceptual framework which defines the way forward

30. A dependency culture • 4 Difficulties in moving away from a purely authoritative style of administration to a more collaborative style of management • Those having executive powers need to break a long-standing behaviour pattern of their own. == collective intelligence • New roles, new relationships, new values new behaviours and new approaches to have to be forged. == required patience, practice and perseverance

31. A dependency culture • Question of competence • The willingness to take on responsibilities for determining the vision and way forward for their institutions

32. Three phases of activity to achieve the planning model • 1. Define – core purpose and values • 2. Articulate – the strategic direction of the school • 3. Express / schedule – the planning framework

33. 1. Define – core purpose and values • Core purpose becomes the “what” of the school • Most people think that schooling is the preparation for the later stages of education, for employment, for society and for lifelong learning. • With increasing demands being made on schools by politicians and society at large to include more and more in the curriculum and to use schools as a means of solving multiple problems of society • the schools themselves can be under intense pressure to take on increased responsibilities.

34. Values will guide the development of the “how” • The principles and standards that guide the practices of the people in the institution. • Care, consideration, respect, equity, fairness, cultural recognition, spiritual, religious and humanitarian values would be the values.

35. Bringing both core purpose and values together would start to establish a view of what the organization is and what it is attempting to achieve.

36. 2. Articulate – the strategic direction of the school • Once core purpose and values have been defined, than the form of the articulation should be one that aids acceptance and implementation and helps to build the strategic direction. • It is based on a clear and shared set of core purposes and values

37. There may not be logical relationship between right form of articulation and well defined purpose and values.

38. 3. Express / schedule – the planning framework • Schools do not have separate “planning” and “production” departments • Schools should consider “the senior management” and the rest of the stakeholders in which they are involved in the process of planning.

39. Building a vision • Education reform needs a set of core values and a core purpose which steers it forward • Crucial issues that need to be addressed and answered • Sharing of power • Type of school they want in the future • Believe in a collaborative and collegial style of management • Administering to leading and managing(education authorities) • Members’ willingness

40. Core ideology • Defines the character of an organization • Two distinct parts • Core values – a system of guiding principles and tenets and core purpose – the organization’s most fundamental reason for existence • Envisioned future – clear aims and strategies used to achieve the aims/goals

41. Core values • Essential and enduring tenets • Honesty, trust, integrity; • Hardwork, self/collective improvement • Empowerment and creativity • Service; • Holism

42. Aims • Translated from the Mission Statement of the school • Mission/aims-driven individuals required a deeper knowledge about self and a deeper connection with our purpose for living • Need to be clearly stated, free from vague statements and should be precise that members know when they have been achieved.

43. Strategies • Each identified aim can have a number of strategies that will be tackled in order to achieve stated aims. • Translated into actions by staff

44. Facing up to the challenge • Require changes in values, practices and relationships • Managing an organisation is not merely a series of mechanical tasks but a set of human interactions(Bell and Harrison, 1998) • Leaders of tomorrow need to focus on developing the following areas • Learner • Imagination • Promoting values • Empowerment • Collegial leadership • Heroic

45. 1. Learner • The leader needs to promote an environment where active learning can be made, and lessons learnt.

46. 2. Imagination • Capabilty of inventing new and original ways of seeing reality, creating new energy and life into the organization • Become an agent of change, especially transformational (Lashway,1996) • Setting the example, of communicatiing one’s beliefs and ideas through one’s own behaviour.

47. 3. Promoting values • Covey (1992) proposed that leaders should Create a culture or a value system centred round a specific set of prioritised values based on personal integrity, credibility and trusting relationships(Kouzez and Posner, 1991), and a commitment to ethical and moral values such as compassion, humility and service(Manz,1998)

48. 4. Empowerment • Delegate their authority • Make subordinates feel powerful and capable • Feel empowered by their subordinates

49. 5. Collegial leadership • Need to be trained to master the art of forming teams, to collaborate through teams rather than directing through edicts.

50. 6. Heroic • Deals with challenges  no excuse for failure and no escape from responsibility • Facing the harsh criticism • Standing firm to the values uphold • Idealistic and noble • Ability to create climate and culture