1 The relationship among the adults in the schoolhouse has more impact on the quality and the character of the school and on the accomplishment of youngsters.

1

The relationship among the adults in the schoolhouse has more impact on the quality and the character of the school and

on the accomplishment of youngsters than any other factor

Roland Barth 2001

Great principals attract great talent. They nurture that great talent and they develop that great talent.

Bad principals are the reverse: bad principals don’t attract good talent, they run off good talent. They don’t find ways to improve those that are trying to get better. They don’t engage the community.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne L. Duncan, addressing The Wallace Foundation’s National Conference on Education Leadership, October 2009.

Children: the new commodities

3

We no longer look at children as children with all their quirks, idiosyncrasies, and all the things that make them unique human beings. We see them as grade enhancers and grade detractors. Will they add value or lower our scores?

(David Berliner, AERA, 2006)

Managing paradox

innovate

think long term

be flexible

collaborate

delegate

encourage teamwork

promote generic approaches

avoid mistakes

deliver results now

follow the rules

compete

retain control

assess individuals

specialise

Leadership as a subversive activity

5

• (re) focus on learning

• (re) create conditions for learning

• Foster the dialogue

• Share leadership

• Strengthen internal accountability

The Vise Principal - FullanWhat’s new for the principal? Powerful changes forces have certainly bombarded the principalship, making life more onerous, but also containing glimpses of new interdependent components.

1. Initiativitis2. High-stakes vulnerability3. Managerial diversions4. Unfit for purpose5. Strategies with potential6. Recruitment and succession7. Clusters, networks, and partnerships8. International benchmarks

Initiativities: In Change Without Pain, Abrahamson (2004) calls this the “repetitive change syndrome”: The symptoms? Initiative overload, change-related chaos and widespread employee anxiety, cynicism and burnout” (p. 2).

Eight high-magnitude change forces

.

High stakes vulnerability: One culprit in initiativitis is the accountability scheme that is externally imposed, ill-conceived, and punitively driven. Richard Elmore (2004) has made the case more than once that no amount of external accountability can succeed in the absence of internal-to-the-school accountability.

Otherwise external intervention by itself will result in pro forma compliance and, if anything, spawn practices that prop up short term test scores in ways that actually harm schools in the mid- to long-term.

Eight high-magnitude change forces

.

Managerial Diversion: Some school leaders are more comfortable doing the paperwork first, and strategic direction second (if they have time for it, which of course they never do). (PWC, 2007, p. vii).

Eight high-magnitude change forces

Unfit for Purpose: Ken Leithwood and colleagues’ (2004) description of the basic core of the work of school leaders (“building strategic direction, understanding and developing people, redesigning the organization, andmanaging the teaching and learning program”), or

PWC’s big six (“strategic direction and ethos, teaching and learning, developing and managing people, networking and collaboration between schools and with other agencies, operations, and accountability”), or

PWC’s portrayal of “the changing landscape of schools includes: new relationships with schools, the learning environment, the learning and social agency agenda, personalized learning, and partnerships”.

Eight high-magnitude change forces

Strategies with Potential: Most systemic change has not worked. It is a time for radical experimentation.

1. Voluntary participation2. Networks of schools3. Mentor schools and heads 4. Inspirational PD and project leadership5. Share practical strategies6. Incentive participation through funding

Eight high-magnitude change forces

Recruitment and Succession: As the Wallace Foundation (2003) leadership report argues, part of the solution involves role clarity and better preparation.

Success in Finland is being attributed to teachers being required to have master’s degrees prior to entering the teaching force. It starts with a foundational bedrock of quality teachers across the board.

Hargreaves and Fink (2006) found that episodic, unplanned succession was the norm.

Eight high-magnitude change forces

Clusters Networks and Partnerships: The networks or partnerships we envision must be powerful.

1. Improvement by schools, with schools, and for schools2. Being driven simultaneously by research-based evidence and professional experience and wisdom3. Engage in iterative cycles of research and development and vice versa4. Use and value outside-in leadership and expertise, as well as inside-out

Eight high-magnitude change forces

International Benchmarks: Jurisdictions should compare themselves in 3 ways:1. Themselves with themselves over time. What is the extent

of progress relative to previous performance?

2. Apples with apples. How are they doing in comparison with other schools facing similar circumstances?

3. To some absolute standard. What is the % of students achieving proficiency, both within the local system and compared to international standards?

Eight high-magnitude change forces

HighlightsComplex Challenges are Resisting Solutions and Driving the Need for New Approaches• More than 40% of respondents noted that their organizations have been facing a

complex challenge for two years or more, which shows the challenges are either resisting solutions or morphing into new challenges. Further, these challenges are affecting organizations by forcing leaders to create more innovative solutions and work more collaboratively.

HighlightsTalent and Talent Development is a Top Priority• Respondents placed talent acquisition/talent development and believe there

will be a talent crisis in the next five years.

ACEL

9

11

22

12

1

15

1

2

2

-

3

ACEL: Organisational Challenges

To Be Effective in the Future, Leaders Will Need to Develop New Skills• Future leadership skills will focus on collaboration (49 percent), leadership change, building effective

teams, and influence without authority.

ACEL

36

31

55

21

38

26

31

19

21

14

18

14

13

12

10

10

8

21

Highlights

Complex Challenges are Resisting Solutions and Driving the Need for NeRewarding Leaders in the Future Will Require a New Approach• Most organizations currently reward their employees based almost entirely targets (33 percent)

and individual performance (24 percent). However optimal scenario, developing others, collaboration, and innovation rose significantly.

22

Seven strong claims about successful school leadership

Kenneth Leithwood, Christopher Day, Pam Sammons, Alma Harris and David Hopkins Seven strong claims1. School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil

learning.2. Almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership

practices.3. The ways in which leaders apply these basic leadership practices – not the

practices themselves – demonstrate responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they work.

4. School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly and most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment and working conditions.

5. School leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely distributed.

6. Some patterns of distribution are more effective than others.7. A small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of the variation in

leadership effectiveness.

23

FundamentalsThese fundamentals of succession planning include:

Support from the principal; Build a development mindset in the organization; Approach should not be just top-to-bottom but also bottom-

to-top and cross-functional; Align succession plan with the overall strategy of the company; Ensure data-driven decision-making; Develop a “learning organization”; and Assess

24

Overall, the pressures reveal that companies are struggling with all three components of succession planning:“Identifying” (difficulty finding successful management candidates, identifying high potential talent early and devising strategies to retain talent)“Developing” (improving the company’s bench-strength in key positions, need to evaluate top talent)“Retaining” (unexpected loss of key leaders, reducing the cost of replacing employees)

In order to be robust enough to meet these demands, the process needs to be an organization-wide approach. In response to these pressures, companies are taking the following actions: Position succession planning as a key retention strategy 50% Acquire automated tools to track high achievers 9% Offer external leadership development programs 28% Offer executive coaching 34% Move employees laterally across the organization 28% Offer mentorship programs 23% Deploy internal leadership development tools 51%

Integrating succession planning with other processes is not the only challenge facing companies. While 74% of companies implement or plan to implement a succession planning program, these companies still confront several challenges to making it work.

Best versus LaggardsIn the succession planning process, there are several distinguishingfactors between Best in Class companies and Laggards that are enabled bytechnology:

• 87% of Best in Class companies are implementing or planning to implement a succession planning initiative compared to 64% of Laggard companies

• 93% of Best in Class companies are knowledgeable about their succession planning programs compared to 79% of Laggard companies

• Strategic actions include the following: 39% offer executive coaching compared to 25% of Laggard; 52% offer internal leadership development programs compared to 45% of Laggard; 32% offer mentorship programs compared to 15% of Laggard companies

• 60% of Best in Class companies are using automation compared to 28% of Laggard Companies

Recommendations for ActionIn addition to the Best in Class actions, companies should also evaluate their processes to ensure they effectively accomplish the following:

• Educate your school on the new trends in succession planning and instill a strong process to build succession bench strength;

• Ensure that succession planning is integrated with other processes of talent management including performance management, training and development, compensation, and assessment;

• Link succession planning to competency management and include a reporting and analytics component;

• Integrate with career development tools;• Automate the succession planning process for greater

efficiency and less operational risk; and• Develop both a top-to-bottom approach and also a

bottom-up approach for succession planning30

The report summarizes the main findings from the review and describes international evidence and practices relating to:• The importance of

school leadership ��• The role of school

leaders ��• The identification and

development of potential leaders��

• The selection and placement of school leaders ��

• The development and opportunities available to serving school leaders

• The role and development of middle-tier leaders

The Transition to Middle Leadership

75% of middle leaders stated finding time management a challenge/ very big challenge in their first six months as a middle leader.

Participants stated that “feeling emotionally drained at work”and “having the time to do the work that must be done” werethe two biggest challenges when joining the Teaching LeadersProgramme.

• Intervention• Contextualizing• Sustaining• Ignition

34

e

HeadeACEL Leadership

Capability

Framework

r