LEADERSHIP FOR LEARNING Current approaches to educational leadership

1. LEADERSHIP FOR LEARNING Current approaches to educational leadership Dr Peter Matthews Education consultant and Visiting Professor, Institute of Education, London petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

2. 1. HOW DOES LEADERSHIP DIFFER FROM MANAGEMENT? View 1. Distinction (Kotter 1990) • “Management is about producing order and consistency” • Minimum operating standards • Quality assurance; monitoring, evaluation etc. • “Leadership is about generating constructive change” • Raising expectations, doing things better petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

3. HOW DOES LEADERSHIP DIFFER FROM MANAGEMENT? View 2. Hierarchy (Collins 2001) Level 5: EXECUTIVE – Level 5 leaders build greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Level 4: EFFECTIVE LEADER – Catalyses commitment to and clear pursuit of a clear and compelling vision stimulating higher performance standards. Level 3: COMPETENT MANAGER – Organises people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. Level 2: CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER – Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others. Level 1: HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL – Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

4. THE STATE OF THE NATION petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

5. 2. WHAT ARE THE LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS OF OUTSTANDING HEADTEACHERS? (Matthews 2007) • Clear vision and purposeImagination; Very high expectations; Ambitious for students and for the school • Get the best out of peopleMotivate: Provide opportunity; Promote professional development; Encouraging initiative; Show interest and are generous with praise; Build teams and empower them; Distribute responsibility and accountability • Lead by example Role models • Approachable Open door policy • Innovative Encourage, open-minded, trust staff • Determined and decisive Highly focused on what matters • Focus on quality Monitor and evaluate performance (150+ interviews in 30 schools with outstanding leadership) petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

6. Get the best out of people Motivate: Provide opportunity; Promote professional development; Encouraging initiative; Show interest and are generous with praise; Build teams and empower them; Distribute responsibility and accountability Note also the leadership credo of Prof. Dr. Hans Hinterhuber – “Leadership is getting the best out of people, and to do that you have to help them to get the most out of themselves. It means encouraging young people to develop their own potential as far as they can, and perhaps to aim a bit higher than they might achieve.” and Leithwood and Reihl, 2003) “Leaders primarily work through and with other people to achieve shared goals. They also help to establish the conditions that enable others to be effective. Thus, leadership effects on school goals are indirect as well as direct.” petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

7. “The most effective schools have outstanding (Level 5) and well-distributed leadership” (Ofsted) Level 5 Leadership (Collins) Outstanding leaders (Ofsted) Drive , determination and sense of purpose Grow leaders and distribute leadership Emotional intelligence Strive for the maximum success for every student Believe in people • Ambitious for their companies not themselves • Set up successors to succeed • Self-effacing, not ego-driven • Fanatically driven, need sustained results • Attribute success to others petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

8. 3. WHAT MATTERS MOST IN HIGH PERFORMING SCHOOL SYSTEMS? “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” “The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction” “High performance requires every child to succeed” (McKinsey 2007) The only way to achieve this is through effective and determined school and system leadership. petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

9. So: to procure high quality teachers ... • Schools need autonomy to recruit teachers • They advertise for and appoint the best • They train their own, where they can, in partnership with higher education • They induct, mentor and support new teachers • They provide professional development pathways and career opportunities petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

10. To improve instruction, the best schools • Provide a stimulating learning environment • Provide rich, well-planned curriculum • Have high expectations of teaching and learning • Monitor quality of learning and performance of teachers • Focus professional development on constantly improving teaching • Seek the views of students and parents petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

11. Success for every child? The best schools • Create a culture of expecting success • Personalise learning • Assess and track the progress of every child, with targets for learning and support or intervention where needed • Continuously evaluate the quality and effectiveness of everything the school does • Work as a consistent team • Learn from others petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

12. 4. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES TEACHING MAKE TO CHILDREN’S PROGRESS petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

13. Student performance 90th percentile 100th percentile Student with high-performing teacher* Two students withsame performance 50thpercentile Student with low-performing teacher** 37th percentile 0th percentile Age 11 Age 8 Consistent high quality teaching is by far the most important factor driving the performance of pupils Age 8 Age 11 Sanders and Rivers petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

14. 5. WHICH LEADERSHIP FUNCTION HAS THE GREATEST IMPACT ON LEARNING? petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

15. Student performance Great teacher 100th percentile high quality professional learning Two teachers withsame performance 50th percentile low quality professional learning Ineffective teacher 0th percentile Age 11 Age 8 Consistent quality of continuing professional development is by far the most important factor driving the performance of teachers 90th percentile? 50thpercentile 37th percentile? Year 0 Year +3 petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

16. 6. HOW DO GOOD SCHOOLS BECOME GREAT? (After Collins) GREAT RESULTS BREAK THROUGH WHAT’S INSIDE THE BLACK BOX? BUILD UP GOOD RESULTS petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

17. ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE • Having vision, values and high expectations • Attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing staff • Establishing disciplined learning and consistent staff behaviour • Assuring the quality of teaching and learning • Leading, and building leadership capacity • Providing a relevant and attractive curriculum • Assessment, progress-tracking and target-setting • Inclusion: students as individuals INSIDE THE BLACK BOX Twelve outstanding secondary schools: Excelling against the odds Ofsted & Matthews, England 2009 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/content/download/9129/100820/file/Twelve%20outstanding%20secondary%20schools.pdf petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

18. A JOURNEY IN THREE STAGES petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

19. CHALLENGES: a learning community • Good teachers must be good learners • Good school leaders must be good teachers (and lead by example) • Good school leaders must be good learners Leaders who are reluctant learners will never inspire others petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

20. 7. WHAT ARE CURRENT TRENDS IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP? • Spectrum of practice in Europe From • Little school autonomy, school leaders elected by other teachers, first among equal To - High degree of autonomy, effective schools leading schools causing concern, executive headteachers, move towards system leadership petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

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22. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE FIRST • Re-professionalising teaching; • sharing good practice, • monitoring and evaluation, • opening classrooms to other teachers • Personalising learning • relevant and enriched curriculum • formative assessment, progress monitoring, target-setting, support and intervention • independent learning • Linking education and care • Removing barriers to learning petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

23. ENGLAND: LEADERSHIP OF AUTONOMOUS SCHOOLS • Schools can appoint their own staff • Fully delegated budgets • Powers to innovate • Responsibility and accountability – through performance tables and published inspection reports • Leaders set the direction for the school • Leaders leadership capacity and develop leadership talent • Leaders ensure quality of teaching and learning • Educators do not do basic administration • Leaders are trained and supported by National College of School and Children Leadership petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

24. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HEADTEACHERS Six areas: • Shaping the future (strategic vision) • Leading learning and teaching • Developing self and working with others • Managing the organisation • Securing accountability • Strengthening community petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

25. A TAXONOMY OF LEADERSHIP • Leaders as managers; administering; assuring compliance; taking responsibility for buildings and day to day organisation • Leaders as leadersof people; team leaders; the school community • Pedagogical leaders; taking responsibility for pedagogy and shaping the curriculum • Accountable leaders; taking responsibility for the educational performance of the school and standards reached by students • Community leaders; working with and involving parents, other agencies and the community • Distributive and developmental leaders; delegating responsibility and accountability, challenging and supporting, and developing leadership potential • Leaders of learning; developing the skills of staff and students and parents as a learning community and networking with other schools to share good practice • Executive leaders; taking responsibility for more than one school • System leaders; schools leading schools; caring for the education and well-being of students in other schools as well as one’s own petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

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27. 8. WHERE IS LEADERSHIP GOING? Building capacity Professionalism Prescription National prescription C B A Schools leading reform Central leadership Heavy bureaucracy Focus on system compliance Principals as managers Local and distributed leadership Greater autonomy Focus on personalised learning Principals as leaders of learning (Adapted from Hopkins) petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com

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