Leadership for learning: context matters

1. Leadership for learning: context matters Workshop conducted at the CEOM Annual Secondary Learning and Teaching Conference 12 August 2011

2. What sort of learning? • Contemporary learning • What characterises this? • Common themes • Integration of ICTS • as a way of learning • as learning tools • as a means of communicating, sharing, collaborating • as a means of thinking, demonstrating learning, creating • Australian Curriculum

3. What sort of leadership? • Having a clear moral purpose • Relationship building • Understanding and managing change • Creating and sharing knowledge • Ensuring coherence and alignment of structures Leadership in Catholic Schools Development Framework and Standards of Practice CECV 2005

4. Leadership for whole school change Leadership is context rich. How can you use a knowledge of your context to help you lead your school through changes? • No blueprint for change management • Leadership needs to be strategic • Use a framework for planning and implementing actions (Kotter, J. (1996), Leading Change, US: Harvard Business School Press)

5. Changes to what? Changes to leadership • Changing the mindset of what it means to be a leader; of what leadership entails; of who the leaders are • Changing the structure and hierarchy of leadership; sharing leadership; formal and informal leadership • Empowering others; teachers as leaders

6. Changes to what? (cont) Changes to curriculum design • Units of work, integrated units, special programs, multi-disciplinary units Changes to pedagogy • Inquiry learning, problem based learning, Webquests, 6 Step research process, community connections, assessment and reporting

7. Changes to what? (cont) Changes to contemporary learning tools (Web 2.0, portable devices, access, support, expertise) • As new ways of learning • To enhance learning • To demonstrate learning • For visual thinking • For creating • For communicating • To share learning • To collaborate in learning

8. Changes to what? (cont) Changes to learning environments • Flexible spaces • Learning anywhere, anytime • Collaborative virtual spaces • Timetabling

9. Changes to what? (cont) Changes to the way staff work and learn • Professional learning teams • Mentoring; critical friends • Team teaching • Teachers as learners • ARMs learning and teaching focussed • Meetings with a learning and teaching focus • Learning walks

10. The scenario Your school’s strategy plan articulates a clear mandate to implement contemporary learning practices in all areas of the curriculum by 2013. As a learning and teaching leader in the school, your job is to lead these changes. THE TASKUsing Kotter’s 8 step approach to change management, what actions could you take to maximise your leadership effect?

11. A strategic framework for change management Kotter’s 8 step approach to change management • Create a sense of urgency • Pull together the guiding team • Develop the change vision and strategy • Communicate for understanding and buy in • Empower others to act • Produce short term wins • Don’t let up • Create a new culture John Kotter(1996)

12. Step 1Create a sense of urgency How are you going to heighten the awareness of the issue and convince people of the importance of acting immediately?

13. Step 2Pull together the guiding team • Who are the potential change agents in your school? • How can you get them to be part of a special team that will work together in leading the changes? • How do you select the members so that there is a balance of skills, sufficient political capital, willingness and capacity to lead, from different areas of expertise etc

14. Step 3Develop the vision and strategy for the change How are you going to make the vision a reality? • How are you going to develop a shared vision of what the school will be like, what the classrooms will be like, what the teachers will be doing, what the students will be doing? • How will you get all stakeholders to be involved in sharing and developing the vision?

15. Step 4 Communicate the vision and buy in How will you communicate this vision to the whole community: students, parents and teachers, school board? How will you keep the vision alive and at the forefront?

16. Step 5Empower others to act How are you going to remove as many obstacles as possible to support those who want to make the changes? How are you going to assist, encourage and support those who are willing and ready to change?

17. Step 6Produce short term wins How are you going to create some visible, successes that are clearly linked to the vision as soon as possible?

18. Step 7Don’t let up How are you going to recognise the first signs of success and build on those to increase the amount and rate of change?

19. Step 8Create a new culture How are you going to hold onto the changes and work hard to ensure that they succeed in replacing the old and becoming part of the new and emergingculture?

20. Table activity • Each table to take 2 steps and fill in sheets • These will be uploaded onto the Secondary Curriculum Leaders and Professional Learning e network portals

21. Using the framework: what is your role?

22. Where to now? • What is foremost in your mind now? • What is one thing you can take from today’s session? • What is one thing you can do now? • Who will you need to talk to first?

23. A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves Lao Tsu