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BOWDEN ROOM

BOWDEN ROOM. School leadership and educational reform: interpreting national mandates. School leadership and educational reform: interpreting national mandates. Professor Tony Bush Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Nottingham.

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BOWDEN ROOM

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  1. BOWDEN ROOM School leadership and educational reform: interpreting national mandates

  2. School leadership and educational reform:interpreting national mandates Professor Tony Bush Professor of Educational Leadershipat the University of Nottingham

  3. SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL REFORM: INTERPETING NATIONAL MANDATES Tony Bush

  4. Educational reform – a global phenomenon • England is not alone in seeking to reform education – many countries are doing so • Reform is driven by concern for the impact of school outcomes on global competitiveness • Reform is also underpinned by ideology – based on political beliefs about schooling • Global comparisons of learner outcomes influence politicians and policy-makers

  5. PISA RANKINGS 2012 • PISA rankings are the ‘world’s premier yardstick’ for evaluating the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems (OECD Secretary-General) • ‘PISA allows governments and educators to identify effective policies [to] adapt to their own contexts (Ibid) • The foci of PISA in 2012 were maths, reading and science, based on tests of 15 year olds

  6. Comparing three countries • Nottingham university operates in China (near Shanghai), Malaysia (near KL) and the UK • Shanghai tops the world rankings but does it represent China? • Malaysia is in the bottom quarter (and its Education ‘Blueprint’ focuses on how to improve its ranking) • UK has a middle ranking, with little change since the 2009 evaluation

  7. Selected PISA scores - Mathematics • Shanghai 613 • Singapore 573 • Hong Kong 561 OECD average 494 26. UK 494 36. USA 481 52. Malaysia 421 65. Peru 368

  8. Selected PISA scores - Reading • Shanghai 570 • Hong Kong 545 • Singapore 542 23. UK 499 OECD average 496 24. USA 498 59. Malaysia 398 65. Peru 384

  9. Selected PISA scores - Science • Shanghai 580 • Hong Kong 555 • Singapore 551 20= UK 514 OECD average - 501 28. USA 497 53. Malaysia 420 65. Peru 373

  10. PISA scores – what can we learn? • Is the sampling reliable? • The top systems are in Asia (mainly Chinese) • Spending levels are not a reliable guide to learning outcomes – see USA scores • Policy reforms appear to have limited impact – PISA scores change only modestly over time • How can we improve English outcomes?

  11. Factors influencing learner outcomes • The socio-economic context – poverty, family structures, language capability & background • The policy framework – formation and implementation • Classroom practice – subject knowledge, pedagogy, classroom management • School leadership – heads, senior leaders, middle leaders, leadership teams

  12. Implementing reform in England • Policy change is problematic in education • Many centres of change – 20,000 schools and up to 250,000 classrooms • Implementation varies according to the skills and motivation of teachers and leaders • Enforcement (by Ofsted) leads to a uni-dimensional approach • Changes are too frequent – 20 major acts since 1988 (Gibton 2013) – leading to implementation ‘fatigue’

  13. NCSL – an agency for change? • The NCSL (launched in 2000) was a prime vehicle for policy implementation (e.g. NPQH, modular curriculum, succession planning) • Never the ‘independent voice of school leaders’ (Southworth 2004) but there was two-way communication • Now amalgamated with the TA as NCTL • Now a government agency (no independence) • Leadership dimension has been reduced

  14. Qualified teachers and leaders • QTS has been compromised and now relies too much on subject knowledge • The removal of mandatory status for NPQH is a backward step • NPQH is not perfect but having qualified leaders is better than unqualified heads (think medicine, law, engineering, airlines) • China and Singapore have mandatory headship training

  15. Conclusion • Reform is a global phenomenon, driven by international comparisons • England is ‘mid-table’ in the PISA rankings • Learner outcomes depend on context, policy imperatives, teaching, and leadership • Implementation is problematic with so many schools and classrooms • NCTL has been reduced to an agency with a narrow agenda (what happened to research?) • Consistent policies are the key to success (see China and Singapore) • What can we expect post-2015?

  16. Thank you • Comments and questions welcome • You can contact me at: tony.bush@nottingham.ac.uk

  17. School leadership and educational reform: interpreting national mandates

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