1 futures thinking in action Next Practice in System Leadership Valerie Hannon Director, The Innovation Unit OECD/Japan seminar, Hiroshima November 2006.

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futures thinking in action

Next Practice in System Leadership

Valerie Hannon Director, The Innovation Unit

OECD/Japan seminar, Hiroshima

November 2006

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Some initiating questions …

1. How to bring insights from trend analysis and futures thinking to support innovation in leadership and governance, which might impact upon the recruitment challenge?

2. How do you move from ‘best practices’ – sharing current knowledge – to ‘next practices’ – orchestrating new ways of working, which can impact upon policy?

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Age profile of teachers: maintained mainstream schools

Source:DfES Analytical Services Teacher Flows Presentation 2002

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

656463626160595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221

2006

2016

Many headteachers are nearing retirement age and the challenge will be most acute in 2009-2011

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At current rates, only a small portion of middle leaders will become headteachers

Source:MORI “State of School Leadership” Survey Results (RR633) 2005; NCSL research (not in public domain)

Ambition

28% of middle leaders plan to take NPQH

10 Head Teachers

43% of NPQH graduates are head teachers within 5 years

ConvertGraduate

84% of candidates graduate

100

Middle

Leaders

PRELIMINARY:CURRENTLY UNDER DISCUSSION

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0

5

10

15

20

25

25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60+

Opportunity for sharing knowledge

England

France

U.S.

Australia

Scotland

Germany*

Canada**

New Zealand

Sweden

Netherlands

Other developed countries face similar challenges

%

*2 largest states**Ontario

Source: DfES Analytical Services Teacher Flows Presentation 2002; US Department of Education; National Centre for Education statistics; Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 1999–2000; Australia Dept Education Science & Training-Government Schools Staffing Survey 2004; German state statistics offices; France Ministry for National Education; Scotland national statistics, Statistics Sweden, SBO Yearbook, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Statistics Canada

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Why Next Practice?

Good / best practice asks: what is working?

Next Practice asks what could work – more powerfully?

Addresses pressing national issues

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The Innovation Unit Model(not a linear process!)

STEP 1

Needs Analysis

STEP 2

Horizon Scanning

STEP 3

Mobilisation

STEP 4

Creative & Generative

STEP 5 Field Trials

Scale Up

Effective mechanisms to transfer practice (work already commissioned by Innovation Unit and underway)

Scale Up Project

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What do we mean by Next Practice?

• Next Practice:

– is aware of conventional ‘good’ practice, its strengths and limitations; and explicitly sets out to take it to a quite new level or disrupt, profoundly evolve, or revolutionise it

– by implication it is conducted by very able, informed practitioners

– is located in an environment scanning, futures-informed ethos; seeking out alternative expert perspectives

– is directed at serious, contemporary problems

– is not (yet) officially sanctioned or endorsed; and therefore does entail

some risk.

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Why ‘system leadership’? - the drivers

How has thinking about ‘next practice’ advanced?

•Support for schools causing concern

•Spread high quality leadership across primary schools

•Deliver ECM ‘five outcomes’

•Deliver ‘all-age’ learning

•Develop 14-19 curriculum provision

•Develop ‘whole town’ services

•Deliver shared services more efficiently

•Resolve headteacher succession issues

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The ‘offer’ to 16 identified field trials

• Access to a wider ideas pool (through tools, events and online)

• Access to practice of interest

• Creative space (to incubate ideas)

• Safer space (to legitimate experimentation)

• Obstacle removal (e.g. Power to Innovate)

• Social capital and connection (between schools and beyond)

• Gateway to Departmental Teams

• Confidence and moral support

• Resourcing to support the change and development process

• Real time learning and enquiry support

• Co-design of evaluation

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Every ChildMatters

Groups of Schools

Other thanSchool

14-19

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Field Trials – Example 1

A cross-phase collaborative of 5 schools

seeks to deliver integrated services by

forming a hard federation with one governing

body drawn from multiple services –

including parents and pupils. An overall

Executive Director will be supported by five

Directors who lead on Community, Inclusion,

Teaching and Learning, Business Strategy

and Pupil Involvement and Choice. All senior

personnel work across all institutions.

Holistic approaches to multi-service delivery

Enabling personalised & extended

opportunities for 14-19 education

‘Chain’, ‘franchises’, developed federations or formal networks of

schools

Learning taking place outside formal

institutions (‘not school’)

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Field Trials – Example 2

Strategic leadership for a federation of 6

secondary schools is offered by an Executive

Federation Principal, who does not have

headship responsibility in any of the schools

and may not be educationalist. Heads of the 6

schools take overall responsibility for a key area

across all the federation schools: e.g.

attendance, CPD, 14-19, curriculum

development, behaviour, student voice etc An

Executive Board is established which holds all

heads to account for their federated leadership.

Holistic approaches to multi-service delivery

Enabling personalised & extended

opportunities for 14-19 education

‘Chain’, ‘franchises’, developed federations or formal networks of

schools

Learning taking place outside formal

institutions (‘not school’)

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Field Trials – Example 3

A cross-phase partnership of 7 schools wishes to

evolve ‘not school’ provision for all their students

governed by a Strategic Board. All students

experience some of their learning within this

personalised, ‘not school’, community-based

provision – some in workplaces, community and

voluntary organisations, or at home online.

Leadership of the ‘not school’ provision is through

the Strategic Board made up from three

headteachers and a number of expert, not school

educators with experience of home schooling, e-

learning and community placements.

Holistic approaches to multi-service delivery

Enabling personalised & extended

opportunities for 14-19 education

‘Chain’, ‘franchises’, developed federations or formal networks of

schools

Learning taking place outside formal

institutions (‘not school’)

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Field Trials – Example 4

By establishing a Trust (a commissioning agency),

a group of five urban secondary schools seek to

offer coherent and highly personalised 14-19

provision for all their students. The headteachers

agree to hand over responsibility for 14-19

students to the Trust. At 14, students become the

full responsibility of the Trust, which designs and

commissions, from the schools and other

providers, a 14-19 offer on behalf of the students.

The students become clients of the agency. All

resources follow the student and go to the agency.

The leadership of 14-19 provision becomes the role

of a Strategic Group of the Trust (the heads, FE,

LSC, Business representatives)..

Holistic approaches to multi-service delivery

Enabling personalised & extended

opportunities for 14-19 education

‘Chain’, ‘franchises’, developed federations or formal networks of

schools

Learning taking place outside formal

institutions (‘not school’)

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New Tool

Around system leadership

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The project trajectory….

• 16 field trials running until March 2008• Continuous development through incubation and

acceleration• Knowledge management techniques to surface

and share learning• Lateral learning through a community of interest• Policy engagement, use of Power to Innovate.