DEFINING THE ROLE OF THE PRIMARY PRINCIPAL IN IRELAND. A Report by HayGroup Management Consultants

Transcription

1 . DEFINING THE ROLE OF THE PRIMARY PRINCIPAL IN IRELAND A Report by HayGroup Management Consultants Prepared by: Eamon Drea Jim O'Brien HayGroup Newmount House Lower Mount Street Dublin 2 Tel: Fax:

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 II METHODOLOGY 8 III THE STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE ROLE 9 IV DEFINING THE KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES OF THE ROLE 11 V THE VARYING STRANDS OF PRINCIPALSHIP 12 VI THE CHALLENGES WITHIN THE ROLE 15 VII A MODEL OF LEADERSHIP FOR PRINCIPALS 22 VIII THE ROLE PROFILE 25 IX CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 35 Appendices I MAIN ISSUES ARISING FROM THE SURVEY 38 II MAIN ISSUES ARISING FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS AND ONE TO ONE DISCUSSIONS 47 III STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED BY HAY GROUP DURING THIS STUDY 52 2

3 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction Hay Group Management Consultants were engaged by the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) to analyse the role of the Principal teacher in the Irish Primary Education Sector and to develop a statement of the Role of Principal which reflects its current scope and context. Our report sets out the result of that analysis. It describes the methodology which was used in the research and the conclusions which emerged from it. The Role Profile and the accompanying competencies which underpin success in the role are designed to have a number of applications: To inform the process by which Principals are selected and assessed. To provide a basis for continuing leadership development within the role. To clarify the key priorities of the role and the key competencies which would contribute to the effective delivery of the role. In understanding the economic (as well as educational) criticality of the role of the Primary Principal, the overall cost context of the Primary Education Sector should be borne in mind. This sector represents an annual investment of over 1.5 billion of taxpayers money. It is made up of approximately 3,500 discrete units (schools), employing 26,000 teachers. In order that the Primary Education Sector as a whole can offer value for this investment in taxpayers money (i.e. deliver high quality educational outputs for children), each of the 3,500 schools must utilise its resources effectively. For this to happen, these resources (human and other) must be managed effectively. This emphasises the role of Principal as a critical factor in ensuring the educational needs of Ireland s primary schoolchildren are effectively delivered, and delivered in a manner that provides value for money to the taxpayer. 1

4 The Key Accountabilities of the Role There is no shortage of statutory provisions which, taken together, provide a comprehensive legal and policy framework for the role of Principal. However, these provisions have not been translated into a leadership model which highlights the key competencies required for effective delivery of the role. This analysis is designed to provide such a model. Taking the key elements of the statutory provisions, the views of Principals themselves and our research into leadership generally within the education profession, we conclude that there are seven key elements to the role: - Leadership The creation and communication of a vision of learning and development for the school in a way which creates the environment for pupils and teachers to maximise their development. - Teaching and Learning The delivery of a learning environment, either through the personal instructional skills of Principals or through the coaching and development of teaching staff, to create standards of excellence in learning for all pupils, irrespective of abilities or aptitudes. - Resource Management The effective deployment and management of physical, financial and other non human resources for the school. - Human Resource Management The leadership, motivation, coaching and development of the human resources of the school, including both teaching and non teaching staff. - Policy Formation The development and adaptation of policy for the school in a wide range of areas including education related and non education related areas of policy. - Administration The effective administration of the school to ensure the proper maintenance of records, returns, statistics etc. - External Relationships The management of a wide range of external relationships which have bearing on the well being of the school. 2

5 The Challenges Facing the Role Principals face a range of challenges in effectively delivering the key elements of the role as summarised above. Some of these challenges derive from a lack of clarity about the various elements in the role; some derive from a skills and competency deficit; some derive from a lack of support for Principals in a variety of ways. Dealing with these challenges in an effective way requires a range of leadership and other competencies. These are the kinds of competencies which would normally be seen in leadership and senior managerial positions and require high levels of inter-personal and organisational skills. A critical aspect of the leadership role is the willingness and capability to handle the issue of teaching standards and under-performing teachers. This requires a range of capabilities on the part of Principals, together with support and back-up from Boards of Management and the Department. This is an extremely difficult area and one which requires further analysis and consideration by the Department, Boards of Management and the representatives of teachers and Principals. Recent education policy has placed a huge emphasis on the integration of special needs pupils within the mainstream school population. This has led to a substantial demand on the role of Principal to cater for these needs in an effective way. This adds a further dimension to the role of Principal which is perceived by many Principals not to be recognised or resourced. There have been significant developments in various aspects of public policy such as health and safety which place demands on Principals to formulate appropriate policies at local level. There is a strong perception by many Principals that these areas of policy lead to much duplication and use of scarce resources which could be avoided if a more integrated and co-ordinated approach were taken. Because of a lack of a detailed statement of the day to day tasks which are or are not part of a Principal's role, there is no satisfactory mechanism to determine what is a legitimate duty to be undertaken by the Principal. In the absence of such a statement, Principals come under pressure to take on a variety of tasks which are not central to the key elements of the role set out above. A Model of Leadership for Principals The role of Principal is a leadership role. As such, it requires many of the core competencies associated with leadership roles in any sector or organisation. However, Primary Education is a unique environment which is clearly different from a commercial organisation. Any model of leadership must, therefore, recognise the importance of the values of learning and personal development which lie at the heart of the role. The leadership model for Principals which is set out in this report is underpinned by a range of supporting competencies: 3

6 - Strategic Thinking - Professional Expertise - Inter-personal Understanding - Team Leadership - Teamworking - Impact and Influence - Achievement Drive - Developing Others - Challenge and Support - Respect for Others - Information Seeking - Analytical Thinking - Networking / Relationship Building - Initiative Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions: The role of Principal within the Irish Primary Education sector is a leadership/management role which has a variety of dimensions and faces a variety of challenges. While there are two distinct groupings of Principals within the sector - Teaching Principals and Administrative Principals - the core accountability of leadership/management is common to both. The responsibilities of Principal which are envisaged in the relevant legislation and guidelines appear to be predicated primarily on the role of Administrative Principal. While Teaching Principals have the same range of functions and accountabilities, the reality is that the Teaching Principal role is seen primarily as a teaching one, as Teaching Principals have insufficient time and energy to devote to the managerial aspects of the role while carrying responsibility for a full class teaching load. While this research was not an analysis of the structure of Primary education, we conclude that the significant proportion of small schools within the system places considerable pressures on the ability of Teaching Principals within those schools to effectively deliver the leadership aspects of their role. 4

7 There is a strong perception throughout the ranks of Principals generally that the role has become extremely difficult if not impossible to deliver on effectively. This perception appears to derive from a lack of clarity around the role and a lack of time and resources. However, it may also derive from a shortage of the leadership and people management skills which we believe to be critical to the role. This may result from inadequacies in the selection processes for appointment to Principal posts in the first instance as well as to a lack of leadership and management development programmes for serving Principals. There is a strong perception among Principals that while they can delegate task responsibility to middle-management roles (e.g. Deputy Principal, Special Responsibility Teachers), such as library management etc., these post holders rarely carry the level of devolved management accountability that would be the case for roles at this level in other sectors. Given the significant cost of the allowances offered for such posts, this raises the question of the value for money which is being obtained from this layer of management within the system. The role of Principal requires the management of a broad range of relationships within the school and outside of it and the competencies required to manage these relationships are complex and demanding and require careful identification and development. There is a lack of clarity about the respective roles of Principal and Boards of Management. The working relationships between individual Principals and Boards tend to be extremely varied, dependent on local circumstances and individual capabilities. Given the scale of resources invested in schools it is critical that a clear definition of structures, respective roles and responsibilities is put in place to provide a solid platform for effective governance. An area of particular difficulty is the development and management of teaching staff. There is a widespread perception that it is not the role of the Principal to "manage" the teaching staff in the traditional sense of the term. This is normally attributed to the professional independence of individual teachers. However, many Principals acknowledge their role in this function, including the issue of managing and developing under-performing teachers. As an obstacle to this aspect of their role, Principals frequently point to either a lack of managerial skills on their own part to or a lack of support in the form of procedures from Boards of Management and the Department in handling such situations. In our view, this is a critical and inescapable aspect of any leadership role, including Principalship. Recommendations: There should be a set of management processes designed to enhance the selection and assessment of candidates for appointment to Principalship. Based on the competency model contained within this report, these processes should focus primarily on assessing managerial and leadership capabilities. These processes should also address the capability and qualifications of those entrusted with the selection process. 5

8 Further study should be undertaken of the role of middle management within schools, particularly of the role of Deputy Principal, with a view to positioning it as a more challenging and developmental role. That review should also take into account recruitment and appointment procedures and guidelines. Such evidence as is available would suggest that there is a significant fall off in the level of interest in applying for vacant Principal posts. Research which has been undertaken in this area indicates that a major aspect of this relative lack of interest is attributable to lack of clarity regarding the expectations and boundaries of the role. This lack of clarity needs to be addressed as part of an integrated policy to ensure that an appropriate supply of well qualified and motivated candidates are available as Principal positions become vacant. A leadership development programme should be put in place for Principals. Once established, this programme should be available to all newly-appointed Principals within six to twelve months of their appointment. The programme should be designed so as to include modules on leadership, motivation and human resource management. It should provide for ongoing learning and networking opportunities and should make use of distance and internet-based learning channels in support of traditional methods. In addition to the development programme outlined above, other development opportunities should be considered, such as mentoring for newly appointed Principals, and providing opportunities for potential Principals to spend time working closely with effective Principals in preparation for a promotion to principalship. (At the time of preparation of this report, we are aware that a specific group (LDS) has been established within the Department to make specific recommendations on leadership development for Principals. This is a welcome development which should be further developed and resourced.) Principals must acknowledge and embrace the need to provide constructive developmental feedback and coaching to staff, and the need to challenge teacher under-performance. The failure to follow through on this requirement of the role not only inhibits the effectiveness of individual teachers, but also undermines motivation across the teaching staff. All Principals (not just newly appointed ones) should be provided with development in key relevant skills that will enable them to fulfill these essential elements of their role with capability and confidence. A set of clear-cut policies and processes in the management of professional staff should be developed centrally, and introduced on a consistent, national basis to guide principals in their efforts to affirm good practice, motivate, and challenge underperformance. Duplication of functions, challenges and resources between small schools in adjacent geographical areas should be examined and measures developed to enable Principals to collaborate with each other to provide for more effective 6

9 management and service provision. Alternative structures should be explored, which may include the establishment of clustering arrangements, in order to provide a more effective and consistent approach to the maintenance and governance of small rural schools. The respective roles and responsibilities of the Principal and the Board of Management should be clearly defined and articulated. In line with the definition of the Principal s role as a leadership/management role, it would be appropriate that a model of governance be applied in schools where the role of the Board is to review and approve strategic direction / policies, while the implementation of the Board-approved strategies and policies rests with the Principal. The Board should then review and hold the Principal accountable for effective implementation. In addition to the recommendations outlined above, and given the competing demands faced particularly by Teaching Principals to be firstly a Principal and secondly a class teacher, Teaching Principals should proactively organise their own teaching workload in a manner that enables them to fulfil their primary leadership accountabilities more effectively. This is not a panacea to resolve all of the problems facing Principals, but is recognition of a contribution Principals must make to dealing with the challenges facing the role. 7

10 II. METHODOLOGY There were a number of aspects to the methodology used in this analysis. A survey of all serving Principals was conducted which was designed to elicit views and opinions on the key elements and challenges in the role. A number of Focus Groups of Principals of differing kinds of school were conducted to consider the main themes arising from the survey and to help to clarify aspects of the role with respect to particular types of school environment. The Focus Groups were structured on the following lines: - Teaching Principals - Administrative Principals - Principals of Special Schools, Designated Disadvantaged Schools and Scoileanna Lan-Ghaelach - Experienced Principals - Recently Appointed Principals The relevant statutory provisions governing the role of Principal, together with recent analyses on the role of Principal were considered. A number of one to one discussions were held with individuals within the Primary Education sector to gain their views on the role of Principal. These individuals were drawn from the Department of Education and Science, the academic community, parents' representatives, school management representatives and primary teaching union representatives. Existing research conducted by Hay Group Management Consultants into Headteacher Effectiveness in the United Kingdom was reviewed. The research activities outlined above were concluded in early The scope of this analysis did not extend as far as the gathering of data about what might be deemed to be "superior" performing schools and to establish from such data the empirically valid correlation with different forms of Principal teacher styles and behaviours. Indeed, it is not clear whether such data is available or that such data as exists would be accepted as constituting the basis for classifying schools as "superior". This is an area of research which, in our view, it is necessary to undertake to fully validate any conclusions about Principal teachers. Where appropriate we offer some observations from the Hay UK study where such conclusions can be drawn. 8

11 III. THE STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE ROLE While there is a lengthy series of prevailing circulars which set out specific duties of the Principal, the two main provisions which underpin the core role are Circular 16/73 and the relevant provisions of the Education Act In addition, the Report of the Working Group on the Role of the Primary School Principal commissioned by the Department of Education and Science in 1999 reviewed a number of the changes which have come into the education environment within which Principals work. That Report concluded that the challenges of leadership, management and administration have become more onerous over the years since a number of the key statutory provisions were first adopted. Our report seeks to highlight the key elements of the role as envisaged by the various "official" provisions and to establish a basis for a consideration of the key competencies which are required to deliver on the role effectively. In reading the 1973 and 1998 provisions, a number of preliminary observations may be made: There is a significant contrast in the tone of the two provisions. The earlier Circular emphasises, in particular, the disciplining, controlling and supervisory aspects of the role. By contrast, the 1998 Act emphasises the learning, developmental, consultative and leadership aspects of the role. While it may be interesting to speculate on the contrasting social and educational environments in which the two provisions were drafted, it does not, in our view, serve any major purpose to try to "adjudicate" between them or establish value judgements between them. By their nature, statutory provisions cannot hope to set out in exhaustive detail every element of a role for which they provide and, in our view, it would be pointless to seek such clarity in such provisions. Legislation, by its nature, can only set out a broad framework of the role which must, in turn, be informed by a progressive understanding of the appropriate style by which that role is delivered effectively within different environments. There is a sharp contrast between what may be seen as an older more "authoritarian" perspective of the role and a more contemporary "leadership" and "visionary" interpretation. However, this contrast is likely to reflect the range of management styles and competencies required for the role, rather than a set of mutually exclusive tasks and responsibilities. In practice, serving Principals find it difficult to deliver on the aspirations of the policy and the legislation. 9

12 In the absence of significant structural change in the Primary Education sector, such as, for example, the forming of federations of smaller schools, or specific legislative changes relating to the role of Boards of Management, we are taking it as a given that the prevailing provisions continue to define the parameters of the role. The merits or otherwise of such changes are clearly outside this analysis, although where we feel that useful observations may be offered in this area we have done so. We are of the view that the main challenge in defining the role for Principals is to identify and gain agreement on the core accountabilities which constitute the role. These are set out in the section following. 10

13 IV. DEFINING THE KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES OF THE ROLE We consider that the most useful approach to clarifying the role of the Principal contains two elements: To distil the key areas of accountability for which the role has responsibility, and To set out the key competencies which are required to deliver on these accountabilities in an effective way. (The competencies are addressed in section VIII The Role Profile. Taking the statutory provisions and the views expressed by serving Principals together in a composite fashion, therefore, the following core accountabilities seem to us to emerge. It is stressed that this is not designed to be an exhaustive list of tasks but rather a statement of the main areas in which the Principal is required to deliver results to the relevant stakeholders in the school. 1. Leadership: The requirement to create, communicate and deliver a vision for the school, taking account of the rights and aspirations of all the stakeholders in the school and the community. 2. Teaching and Learning: 3. Resource Management: The requirement to both personally deliver high standards of teaching and to develop, monitor and coach the teaching standards of other teachers. The requirement to plan, monitor and evaluate the use of infrastructural, educational and financial resources. 4. Human Resource Management: The requirement to select, coach, develop and hold accountable the human resources of the school. 5. Administration: The requirement to comply with the various reporting, recording and data-management obligations to which the school is subject. 6. Policy Formation: 7. External Relationships: The requirement to research, draft and present policy documents and statements in the wide range of educational and management areas as required by legislation and Departmental policy. The requirement to communicate effectively with, persuade, influence and forge short, medium and long term relationships with a range of partners which, while "external" to the day to day operation of the school, are critical to its overall effectiveness. They include a broad spectrum of partners, from the parents to the State and its various agencies. 11

14 V. THE VARYING STRANDS OF PRINCIPALSHIP We have considered the various strands of Principal - Teaching Principals, Administrative Principals, the Principalship of various kinds of special schools and have formed the view that the key elements of the role in Part IV above are common to all of the categories. This is not to suggest that the emphases within different types of school will not vary considerably. Indeed, our survey indicated that the teaching element of the role is by necessity a more significant focus for Teaching Principals, while Administrative Principals are free to focus exclusively on the leadership and administrative elements of their role. The table below sets out the perceptions of the priority accountabilities identified by the Teaching Principals and Administrative Principals in our survey. As will be seen, there is a high degree of commonality, with staff management and development being perceived as a high priority, as was financial and resource management. Principals Perceptions of Current Priority Accountabilities Teaching Principal Administrative Principal Teaching Leadership / Staff Management & Development Curriculum Development Pupil Development & Progress Policy Development Leadership / Staff Management & Development Pupil Development & Progress Policy Development Curriculum Development Administration The critical conclusion which we would advance is that, to be effective, Principals need to demonstrate an appropriate range of competencies and management styles which will be dictated, in large measure, by the school environment in which they are operating. This is not to suggest that the role is fundamentally different from school type to school type, but rather that the means of being effective has different emphases. This conclusion would tend to be supported by the Hay research into Headteacher Effectiveness in the UK. That study focused on an analysis of the correlation between school performance and the relevant leadership style and behaviour of Headteachers. In general, it was found that the best Headteachers: Focused on data, on the raising of standards and the measurement of progress towards the achievement of standards or targets; Were possessed of considerable levels of energy and were relentless in their focus on standards, and 12

15 Were driven by a core set of values which underpinned their vision and enabled them to communicate a compelling message to their staff. Although the scale of school size is quite different in the UK (where categorisation of large, small and special schools would not be directly comparable to the Irish situation), a number of contrasting conclusions were advanced: Outstanding Headteachers in medium and large schools demonstrated an ability to take a strategic view aimed at transforming performance. They were focused on tackling performance issues using the available procedures effectively. Their leadership style was "hands off", managing through their senior team and they possessed high levels of sophisticated influencing strategies. Outstanding Headteachers in small schools (understood in a different dimensions context to Ireland) demonstrated strong levels of resilience and tenacity and an ability to juggle a number of tasks while undertaking a heavy teaching load. Management style tends to be more hands on and leadership by example is a pronounced feature. Concern with performance is also marked and outstanding Headteachers tackle under-performance particularly when it impacts on pupil attainment. Such interventions, however, tend to be handled sensitively and with due regard to the impact on the whole school climate. Outstanding Headteachers in special needs schools demonstrated an in-depth knowledge about individual needs and behavioural patterns derived from their own training and experience. They had the capacity to deal with the various agencies which had a bearing on the special needs pupil and were effective at challenging expectations for their pupils and were just as ambitious for them as Headteachers in mainstream schools. Finally, their level of emotional maturity and resilience was very marked in enabling them to cope effectively with the emotional demands of their pupil and parent population. Our analysis of Principalship within the Irish primary sector would tend to support the observations set out above. However, the distinction between Teaching and Administrative Principals merits comment. In particular, the role of Teaching Principals faces significant challenges. Our analysis of the role of Teaching Principal would lead us to agree with a perception articulated by many in this category that the "official" definition of Principalship is based primarily on the role of the Administrative Principal and that there is insufficient recognition of the reality of the combined teaching and leadership roles. The role of Teaching Principal has been the subject of considerable debate in recent times as to whether the role should be seen as primarily a teaching role, with some additional administrative/ management duties added on, or as a role that is primarily responsible for the effective running of the school, but which also carries a substantial teaching load. The primarily teaching view of the role can be seen to be a logical underlying rationale for the first among equals perspective of the Teaching Principal role. The current pay structures for Principals serve to reinforce this concept of the role, not 13

16 specifically because of the actual pay levels, but because the pay scale is based on the teachers pay scale, plus an allowance for the additional element of the role. The proportion of the normal working day that is currently consumed by the teaching load carried by Teaching Principals also serves to reinforce the perception that the job is primarily a teaching role, with a minor additional accountability for running the school to be carried out in their spare time. However, simply because a concept of the role has existed for many years, and may be reinforced (perhaps unintentionally) by official systems and structures such as pay and workload / resourcing, does not necessarily mean that it is the most logical and appropriate for the circumstances that now pertain in Irish schools. We have formed the view that it is not possible for a Teaching Principal to deliver on the expectations for the role, both in terms of teaching and administration / management, without consistently exceeding the agreed working hours on a consistent and ongoing basis. Even where normal working hours are exceeded (a normal event for a large majority of Principals), there are many issues that need to be attended to during school hours, necessitating the Principal leaving the classroom. This is clearly detrimental to the interests of pupils, and also unsatisfactory for the Principals. The difficulties experienced by Teaching Principals in delivering on the key elements of the role are linked to the issue of effectiveness and viability of small schools. This is a hugely complex area and one which is outside the scope of this analysis. However, we are of the view that there needs to be either official recognition of the difficulties of the Teaching Principal in a formal way or an in depth analysis of the feasibility of greater forms of co-operation between schools that might include formal clustering, collaboration, or creating federations of smaller schools. Subject to the comments set out above regarding Teaching Principals, we have not sought to accommodate every variation in school type and size in a separate definition of role. Rather, we consider it useful to highlight some of the key challenges which all Principals face in delivering on the role effectively. These are set out in Part VI following. 14

17 VI. THE CHALLENGES WITHIN THE ROLE Section IV above set out what we consider to be the key accountabilities of the role of Principal. However, this might be seen as the "theoretical" role, not to suggest that any of the elements identified are irrelevant but to highlight the distinction between the aspirations of the role and the challenges which are faced in reality in delivering on it effectively. In our view, some of these challenges go to the heart of the structure of different kinds of schools and the resources which they enjoy. The expectation that each school, irrespective of size or backup resources, must provide the same level of service to its pupils is deeply held and, indeed, can be argued to have a Constitutional basis. While many positive developments have occurred in recent years through the sharing of specialist resources among schools, it is clear that much remains to be done in this area. One very strong theme which emerged from our research in this assignment was the frustration which Principals experienced in attempting to deliver on the aspirations of the role (which, for the most part corresponded with their own aspirations) in the absence of appropriate resources. However, in many cases, we consider the challenges to be the ordinary range of challenges which any leader or manager in any sector will be expected to confront creatively and effectively. In the course of our research into managerial effectiveness generally, we have identified a range of competencies which differentiate superior performance in responding to these challenges. Where research exists in the education area, it is to the effect that very similar competencies are required to deliver high performance in a school context. This is explored in more detail in Part VII following. Taking the seven key areas of accountability identified in Part IV above, we set out following the key issues which pose significant challenges for Principals and which, in effect, serve to define the reality of the role. Leadership: There is a very considerable body of research as to what makes for effective leaders. In particular, there is evidence that particular types of leadership style correlate very strongly with superior performance in organisations. While much of this research is in commercial or industrial type organisations, the Hay research into Headteacher Effectiveness in the UK found a significant correlation between certain types of style and positive school climate. While our research did not have the opportunity to empirically validate this research in an Irish context, it seems a reasonable hypothesis that similar leadership styles may be strong contributors to effectiveness in the role. Similarly, recent research into the area of Emotional Intelligence would suggest that there are strong correlations between the emotionally intelligent competencies and attributes and effective leadership style. It is not clear that Principals in the Irish Primary Education sector are selected on the basis of their leadership qualities. Much of the statistical evidence which we have 15

18 seen points to the diminishing numbers of candidates for vacant Principal positions, rather than to a debate about the most effective ways of selecting for effective leaders. While we have not seen quantified evidence relating to the selection processes for Principal posts, we form the view that leadership as a selection criterion is not expressly provided for nor are candidates systematically evaluated against it. Thus, any statement of the role of Principal which has a strong leadership dimension to it is significantly compromised if the selection criteria are not expressly designed to detect and identify such qualities in the first instance. Teaching and Learning: There are two aspects which fall under this heading. One is the challenge for Teaching Principals to maintain high standards of teaching in their own classroom teaching in the face of the other demands made on them. The second is the challenge, common to Teaching and Administrative Principals, to monitor, develop and coach the teaching standards of colleague teachers. We found considerable evidence of frustration on the part of many Teaching Principals that their own teaching standards were being compromised by the demands being made on their time by administrative and other tasks which appeared to be predicated on the assumption of an Administrative Principal role. This clearly goes to the heart of the current structure in which so many smaller schools require the Teaching Principal to play this dual role. While our research did not have the opportunity to examine any variations in the standards being achieved by Teaching Principals as distinct from Administrative Principals, we consider that such a piece of research would be invaluable in informing the continuing debate about the proper role of the Principal in general. The second aspect - the monitoring, coaching and development of teaching standards of colleague teachers - is a highly complex and potentially contentious issue. We are aware of the sensitivity which surrounds this topic. Indeed, it cannot even be taken as a given that Principals themselves consider that their role embraces this function in a systematic way. It requires the management and leadership of independent professionals and, whatever about leadership, the very term "management" is, in itself, contentious for many people in this situation. Many principals perceive that teachers hold the view that the issue of teaching standards is one for the Inspectorate of the Department and that no day-to-day intervention by the Principal is envisaged or warranted. However, we find it inconceivable that any reasonable interpretation of the two major statutory provisions governing the role of Principal does not result in a clear-cut proposition that the Principal has a role in the setting, monitoring and reviewing of teaching standards within the school. This is not to diminish in any way the professional independence of individual teachers. Independent professionals exist and are managed and led effectively in a wide range of sectors and Primary Education appears to us to be no different in this respect. The critical issue, of course is the managerial and leadership capability of the relevant Principal or "lead professional" with responsibility for such people. Again, there is a 16

19 very substantial body of research which suggests that certain kinds of leadership and managerial style are particularly effective in this kind of environment. In our experience, the key styles are ones of coaching, collaboration, joint problem solving etc. If this aspect of the role is accepted, there needs to be a planned programme of development of Principals in these styles and skills. While these styles of leadership have been proven to be effective, they do require regular interaction between the Principal and teaching staff, in the form of staff meetings, and one-to-one sessions. This will require an appropriate level of staff noncontact time to be built into teaching schedules. A further feature which tends to cloud the debate of this issue is the minority situation of serious under-performance on the part of classroom teachers. Apart altogether from the lack of procedures, processes and data which would facilitate the identification and analysis of this situation, it seems clear to us that many Principals do not choose to address this as an issue. The reasons offered are usually the perceived lack of follow-up support either at Board of Management or Departmental level if a Principal were to press such a situation to its ultimate conclusion. However, in our view, these situations, in most managerial contexts, including education, are in the minority and do not obviate the necessity for the Principal to develop coaching and feedback skills which, when properly demonstrated, will maintain and develop teaching standards. In other words, it is a central part of the role of the Principal. Resource Management: This is a category which involves the effective management and deployment of the non-human resources of a school. An important distinction needs to be made between the accountability for winning such resources in the first instance and their effective management and deployment in the second instance. Clearly, the principal accountability for the provision of resources (buildings, equipment etc.) for the Primary school sector lies with the Department of Education and Science and the Board of Management. In our research, many Principals lamented the absence of funding for the provision and replacement of equipment, for maintenance, and to allow competitive remuneration of support staff in key administrative and other roles. There appears to be significant disparities between the level of funding available to individual schools, depending on the success of the Principal and/or the Board of Management in generating voluntary funding at a local level. However, the capacity of the school to win resources through a wide variety of local initiatives is a not insignificant feature of the operation of many schools and there is no clear-cut definition of the accountability for this. The major theme which emerged from our research in this area was the frustration which Principals felt at the emergence of a range of tasks in the area of fundraising and allied activities which were not considered to be a core part of their role. These tasks were largely delegated by the relevant Board of Management and consumed a significant amount of time which was then lost to other aspects of the Principal's role. While recognising the benefits of greater investment in resources, it must be recognised that there will always be limitations on such investment, as in any other areas of the public (and indeed the private) sectors. While the demand for increased 17

20 resources seems well justified, there is a corresponding challenge for Principals to develop a range of skills around the planning, budgeting and justification of investment of additional taxpayers money in their schools. However, the effective management of resources is, in our view a legitimate aspect of the role and one for which many Principals receive no training or familiarisation. Again, the Teaching Principal faces particular challenges in this area because of the various factors already set out earlier in this report. There appears to be an obvious opportunity to derive benefits from economies of scale through combining clusters of schools together both for combined training programmes, sharing of skills and contracting out" elements of the administrative workload. An example might be the establishment of a maintenance contract with a facilities management type provider. Such an arrangement would minimise the time needed by Teaching Principals to manage such non-teaching accountabilities. Human Resource Management: This category presents a range of challenges, particularly for Administrative Principals. While Teaching Principals, in general, have one category of staff - the classroom teacher - Administrative Principals may have responsibility for a wide range of differing roles such as: Special Duties Teachers Post of Responsibility Teachers Teachers (Class / Non-Class based) Special Needs Assistants Secretaries, caretakers, cleaners. For the Administrative Principal, two main challenges arise from this. The first is to have the ability to adjust his or her leadership style t o suit each category of staff. The second is to optimise the contribution and performance of each category. The challenge for Principals generally in providing a style of leadership appropriate for fellow professional teachers has already been addressed in this report. However, it must also be recognised that a quite different style is likely to be appropriate in dealing with non-teaching staff, who form a significant resource in larger and special schools. The responsibility of ensuring the school gets the best service from such resources lies with the Principal, but it may demand leadership skills quite different to those appropriate to teaching professionals. Our research also suggests that the resource represented by the middle management levels within schools is not always fully utilised. These roles attract allowances in salary terms relative to other teachers, (amounting, by the Department's estimates, to over 50 million per annum). The degree to which Principals can effectively delegate significant accountabilities to these roles, and hold them accountable to deliver against those accountabilities, must be recognised as a key success factor in the running of the school. There is evidence in our research of significant variance in the degree to which Deputy Principals / other Postholders are providing the ideal level 18

21 of support to Principals. It is difficult, therefore, to be able to quantify the return which the Exchequer is receiving for its investment in this layer of management. Principals referred to a reluctance by Postholders to expand or change their areas of responsibilities as the needs of the school change, in order to make in-school management more effective. Management of these levels brings with it a range of management skills and leadership styles which are qualitatively different from the kinds of skills discussed earlier in managing professionals. These also need to be addressed as part of a development programme for Principals. In particular, very large schools are complex management entities and need to be managed accordingly. It follows, therefore, that the management skills of Principals of such schools need to be assessed and delivered upon accordingly. Administration: Irrespective of the size of school involved, there appears to have been a significant increase in the volume of day to day administrative requirements facing Principals. Much of this relates to the volume of returns, statistics etc. required by the Department, and a growing range of outside agencies. Once again, the major issue here appears to be the lack of back-up support for Teaching Principals. In the case of Administrative Principals, the strong view expressed is that the working relationship with Department officials and the Inspectorate can frequently be characterised by inaccessibility. Policy Development: There has been an increasing number of policy initiatives coming on stream which have implications for the role of Principal. Some of these have particular relevance to the education sector, such as the development of policy regarding special needs education, welfare or in the area of identification and response to bullying or other forms of abuse of children. Others, such as health and safety policies, have relevance to schools insofar as they are places of employment and concentration of large numbers of people. Many of these developments require schools to develop local policies which set out the school's response to the initiative. It is not clear where the respective roles of the Board of Management and Principal begin and end in these issues. In many cases, the responsibility for policy measures is devolved to the Principal from the Board. However, many Principals in our research offered the view that they had insufficient awareness, briefing or expertise to deal effectively with the area in question. A second issue which arose frequently was the level of potential duplication which may exist in endeavouring to treat each school as a wholly separate and unique entity. Thus, for certain types of school (so defined by numbers, location or other parameter) there is a strong argument for grouping for the purposes of drafting policies that have common application, (for example, Special needs Education). There was a strong 19

22 perception that this did not happen on a systematic and integrated basis and that such co-ordination would be a very helpful in easing the burden on Principals. External Relationships: The Principal is located at the centre of a complex network of external relationships which pose varying challenges. By "external" we mean those relationships which, by and large, occur outside of the day do day school activities. Hence, we do not include relationships with pupils, staff or other employees of the school. The full range of relationships have been comprehensively documented in the IPPN document, "The Value of Leadership" and do not merit lengthy repetition here. The critical aspect, in our view, is that the whole domain of external relationships is recognised as a valid aspect of the Principal role. We have seen some evidence in our research of the level of frustration which Principals feel at the apparently open ended series of relationships which must be developed. In some cases, this frustration goes so far as to question the legitimacy of these relationships as a valid aspect of the role. However, in our view a critical aspect of any leadership role is the management of external relationships and, in particular, those relationships which do not come under the direct "control" of the Principal. It needs to be seen, therefore, as a vital part of the role and some consideration given to the kinds of competencies and management styles needed to manage it effectively. From among the many strands of these relationships, it seems to us that three clusters are particularly important: The Department of Education and Science The Board of Management The Parents The critical things regarding these clusters is that their effective management requires a very wide range of management styles. For example, the relationship with the Department is likely to depend in large measure on competencies of analysis, influencing and organisational awareness. By contrast, the relationship with parents requires high levels of inter-personal understanding, empathy and an ability to deal with problem situations. In the case of the Board of Management, a high level of assertiveness is needed to ensure that a proper relationship is established, based on mutual supportiveness and clarity of roles. An important issue that needs to be addressed is the ambiguity that a large number of Principals perceive exists as to the roles and responsibilities that should reside respectively with either the Principal or the Board of Management. At present there appears to be a significant level of variation in existence, where at one extreme, some Boards of Management play a token role, with all policy development/ strategic direction-setting, as well as policy implementation / day-today decisions carried by the Principal. At the other extreme, some Boards actively engage in policy development/ strategic direction-setting, but also involve themselves regularly (particularly Chairpersons) in either making or influencing decisions on low-level day to day activities in the school. 20