Sustainable Leadership

1. Welcome to Sustainable Leadership Andy Hargreaves

2. Sustainable development Sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible as an idea whose time has come. Wangari Maathai

3. Development of the term “sustainability” • Term first coined by Lester Brown, founder of the World Watch Institute • Sustainable development defined by Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development • Agenda 21, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio De Janeiro systematically addressed sustainable development • United Nations Johannesburg Summit – developed practical goals for sustainable development • Beginning of UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

4. United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2015

5. Sustainability Sustainability does not simply mean whether something can last. It addresses how particular initiatives can be developed without compromising the development of others in the surrounding environment, now and in the future. Hargreaves & Fink 2000

6. Sustainable leadership Sustainable leadership matters, spreads and lasts. It is a shared responsibility that does not unduly deplete human or financial resources, and that cares for and avoids exerting damage on the surrounding educational and community environment. Hargreaves & Fink 2003

7. Sustainability Sustainability is the capacity of a system to engage in the complexities of continuous improvement consistent with deep values of human purpose. Fullan 2004

8. Educational Lessons of Environmental Sustainability • Rich diversity, not soulless standardization • Taking the long view • Act urgently for change, wait patiently for results • Prudence about conserving and renewing human and financial resources • Examine the impact of our improvement efforts on others • All of us can be activists and make a difference Hargreaves & Fink 2006

9. Built to Last Companies • Put purpose before profit • Preserve long-standing purposes amid the pursuit of change • Start slowly, advance persistently • Do not depend on a single, visionary leader • Grow their own leadership, instead of importing others • Learn from diverse experimentation Collins & Porras 1994

10. Depth Endurance Breadth Justice It matters It lasts It spreads It does not harm the surrounding environment Seven principles of sustainable leadership Continued…

11. Diversity Resourcefulness Conservation It promotes diversity & cohesion It conserves expenditure It honours the past in creating the future Seven principles of sustainable leadership

12. Unsustainability Repetitive change syndrome is Initiative overload + Change-related chaos Abrahamson 2004

13. Initiative Overload The tendency of organizations to launch more change initiatives than anyone could ever reasonably handle Abrahamson 2004

14. Change-related Chaos The continuous state of upheaval that results when so many waves of initiatives have worked through at the organization that hardly anyone knows which change they’re implementing or why Abrahamson 2004

15. Unsustainability Imposed, short-term targets (or adequate yearly progress) transgress every principle of sustainable leadership and learning Hargreaves & Fink 2006

16. Sustainable leadership matters. It preserves, protects, and promotes deep and broad learning for all in relationships of care for others. Principle 1: Depth

17. The human body has an enormous capacity for adjusting to trying circumstances. I have found that one can bear the unbearable if one can keep one’s spirits strong even when one’s body is being tested. Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation: your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty. Nelson Mandela 1. Depth

18. The Two Hungers In Africa, they say there are two hungers, the lesser hunger and the greater hunger. • The lesser hunger is for the things that sustain life, the goods, and services, and the money to pay for them, which we all need. • The greater hunger is for the answer to the question ‘why’, for some understanding of what life is for. Handy 1997 1. Depth

19. Product IntegrityClif Bar’s Philosophy of Sustainability Sustaining… • our brands • our company • our people • our community • our planet 1. Depth

20. Standards and Sustainability Learning  Achievement  Testing NOT Testing  Achievement  Learning Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 1. Depth

21. The four pillars of learning • Learning to know • Learning to do • Learning to be • Learning to live together UNESCO 1996 1. Depth

22. The four pillars of learning • Learning to know • Learning to do • Learning to be • Learning to live together UNESCO 1996 • Learning to live sustainably Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 1. Depth

23. Old basics Literacy Numeracy Obedience Punctuality New basics Multiliteracy Creativity Communication IT Teamwork Lifelong Learning Adaptation & Change Environmental Responsibility Basics 1. Depth

24. Slow Knowing The unconscious realms of the human mind will successfully accomplish a number of important tasks if they are given the time. They will learn patterns of a degree of subtlety which normal consciousness cannot even see; make sense out of situations that are too complex to analyze; and get to the bottom of certain difficult issues much more successfully than the questing intellect. Claxton 1997 1. Depth

25. What does the doctor reply? 1. Depth

26. Activity 1. Depth

27. Slow forms of knowing • are tolerant of the faint, fleeting, marginal and ambiguous • like to dwell on details that do not fit or immediately make sense • are relaxed, leisurely and playful • are willing to explore without knowing what they are looking for • see ignorance and confusion as the ground from which understanding may spring • are receptive rather than proactive • are happy to relinquish the sense of control over the directions the mind spontaneously takes • treat seriously ideas that come ‘out of the blue’ Claxton, 1997 1. Depth

28. Slow schooling • starts formal learning later • reduces testing • increases curriculum flexibility • emphasizes enjoyment • doesn’t hurry the child • rehabilitates play alongside purpose Honore, 2004 1. Depth

29. Leaders of Sustaining Learning • Passionately advocate and defend deep learning for all students • Combine and commit to old and new basics • Put learning, before achievement, before testing • Make learning the paramount priority • Become more knowledgeable about learning • Make learning transparent • Be omnipresent witnesses to learning • Practise evidence-informed, inquiry-based leadership • Promote assessment for learning • Engage students in decisions about their learning • Involve parents in their children’s learning • Model effective adult learning • Create the emotional conditions for learning Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 1. Depth

30. Sustainable leadership lasts. It preserves and advances the most valuable aspects of learning and life over time, year upon year, from one leader to the next. Principle 2: Endurance

31. Endurance • It is a common defect in men not to consider in good weather the possibility of a tempest Machiavelli, 1532 • All leaders, no matter how charismatic or visionary, eventually die Collins & Porras, 1994 • Few things succeed less than leadership succession Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 2. Endurance

32. The public sector… Passively lets candidates emerge Focuses on the short term Handles succession informally The private sector… Actively recruits and encourages potential leaders Takes the long view Manages succession more formally Approaches to succession Continued… 2. Endurance

33. The public sector… Seeks replacement for existing roles Selects in relation to current competencies Views succession planning as a cost The private sector… Defines future leadership skills and aptitudes Emphasises flexibility and lifelong learning in the face of changing needs Views succession planning as an asset Approaches to succession 2. Endurance

34. Four Issues in Succession • Succession Planning • Succession Management • Succession Duration & Frequency • Succession and the Self 2. Endurance

35. Planned (purposeful) Unplanned (accidental/ unintentional) Hargreaves & Fink 2006 ContinuityDiscontinuity Planned Planned Continuity Discontinuity Unplanned Unplanned Continuity Discontinuity Succession Planning Patterns 2. Endurance

36. Good succession plans • Are prepared long before the leader’s anticipated departure or even from the outset of their appointment • Give other people proper time to prepare • Are incorporated in all school improvement plans • Are the responsibility of many, rather than the prerogative of lone leaders who tend to want to clone themselves • Are based on a clear diagnosis of the school’s existing stage of development and future needs for improvement • Are transparently linked to clearly defined leadership standards and competencies that are needed for the next phase of improvement 2. Endurance

37. Successful Succession Management • Distributes leadership effectively • Builds strong professional communities • Deepens and broadens the pools of leadership talent • Establishes leadership development schools • Stresses future leadership competencies • Supports and sponsors aspiring school leaders • Replaces charismatic leadership with inspirational leadership • Plans early for the incumbent leader’s exit • Moderates and monitors leadership succession frequency 2. Endurance

38. Three Cultures of Teaching • Veteran dominated • serves experienced teacher interests • feels exclusionary • offers few leadership opportunities • Novice orientated • surrounded by fellow novices • feels inclusive • driven by enthusiasm rather than expertise • Blended • provides mentoring • offers leadership • reciprocal learning Johnson et al, 2004 2. Endurance

39. Sound succession, strong selves, through • Availability of counselling and coaching for exiting leaders • Quick, clear and open communication of reasons for departure • Acceptance of emotional confusion and vulnerability • Celebration of the leader’s contributions • Recognition that succession is subject to the four stages of grief – denial, awakening, reflection and execution • Confrontation of the Messiah and Rebecca myths • Prepares oneself and others early for the possibility of succession Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 2. Endurance

40. Sustainable leadership spreads. It sustains as well as depends on the leadership of others Principle 3: Breadth

41. Permissive Individualism Collaborative Cultures Contrived Collegiality Corrosive Individualism Professional Learning Communities Performance Training Sects Culture and Contract Regimes C O N T R A C T - + - C U L T U R E = + 3. Breadth

42. Professional learning community Learning & teaching focus Collaboration Achievement and Engagement Learning, reflection & review Use of evidence 3. Breadth

43. 3. Breadth

44. Professional learning communities aren’t… X Merely convivial and congenial – they are demanding and critical X Just a collection of stilted teams looking at data together X Obsessed with scores and results, instead of depth of learning X Forced and imposed, they are facilitated and supported X Ways to hijack teachers to carry out administrative agendas 3. Breadth

45. Professional learning communities Transform knowledge Shared enquiry Evidence informed Situated certainty Performance training sects Transfer knowledge Imposed requirements Results driven False certainty Communities and Sects Continued… 3. Breadth

46. Professional learning communities Local solutions Joint responsibility Continuous learning Communities of practice Performance training sects Standardised scripts Deference to authority Intensive training Sects of performance Communities and Sects 3. Breadth

47. Relationships It’s hard to eat something you’ve had a relationship with Hargreaves & Fullan, 1998 3. Breadth

48. Distributed leadership sees leadership practice as a product of the interaction of school leaders, followers and their situation. • Leadership practice involves multiple individuals within and outside formal leadership positions • Leadership practice is not done to followers. Followers are themselves part of leadership practice. • It is not the actions of individuals, but the interactions among them that matter most in leadership practice. Spillane, 2005 3. Breadth

49. Anarchy Assertive distribution Emergent distribution Guided distribution Progressive delegation Traditional delegation Autocracy Raising the temperature of distributed leadership Too hot Too cold 3. Breadth

50. Sustainable leadership does no harm to and actively improves the surrounding environment by finding ways to share knowledge and resources with neighboring schools and the local communities. Principle 4: Justice