PROFESSOR TONY BUSH UNIVERSITY of NOTTINGHAM

Transcription

1 PROFESSOR TONY BUSH UNIVERSITY of NOTTINGHAM

2 INTRODUCTION TO THE SESSION To examine the concepts of leadership preparation and development To link these concepts to succession planning To apply these concepts to English and global contexts To explore the main features of these concepts To address the impact of leadership development

3 What do we mean by leadership preparation and development? Leadership preparation is pre-service Leadership development is generally in-service They are deliberate, not inadvertent, processes They assume that teaching and leadership are separate but connected activities Other related concepts include leadership learning and leadership training

4 Why is leadership development required? The role of the principal has expanded There are more leaders now (senior and middle) School contexts are more complex (globalisation, technology, demography) Preparation is a moral obligation ( entitlement ) Effective development makes a difference (Bush 2008, 2010, 2013)

5 Succession planning Succession planning is a planned strategy to identify and prepare future leaders SP helps to address a global supply problem Principal supply limited by a retirement boom, negative perceptions, and demographic limitations Supply is controlled by the employer in centralised systems may lead to cloning Supply is determined by the applicant in decentralised systems equal opportunities?

6 The journey to the principalship Most principals begin their careers as teachers Middle leaders/managers reduce their teaching Senior leaders may have teaching and leadership roles Principals often do little or no teaching Teacher training does not prepare leaders (Bush 2010)

7 Content of leadership programmes Instructional leadership Leading and managing people Managing finance and other resources Managing stakeholder relationships Educational law and policy Does this match your experience? (Bush & Jackson 2002; Moorosi & Bush 2012)

8 Leadership development processes Switch from knowledge acquisition to delivery? Mentoring for potential or current leaders Coaching for potential or current leaders Group learning (e.g. MA programmes) Networking (with other leaders) Site-based assessment

9 The impact of leadership development Strong belief that preparation works Recognition that effective leadership is essential for school improvement Not easy to attribute improvement to a specific development initiative Data from South Africa show that schools with trained leaders improve twice as fast as others (Bush 2008, 2010, Bush and Glover 2012)

10 Leadership development in England: a historical overview Interest began as secondary schools grew in size in the 1970s Universities, LAs and professional associations began to offer programmes in the 1970s and 1980s (first OU school management programme launched in 1981) School Management Task Force set up by government in 1989 its main legacy is mentoring for new heads The Teacher Training Agency (TTA), later the TDA and the NCTL, set up the NPQH in 1997

11 The National College for School Leadership Established in 2000 and located in Nottingham In its prime, it had five main strengths: 1. A national focus 2. Programmes for different career stages 3. An emphasis on practice 4. Programmes underpinned by research 5. Impressive reach and scale But NCSL replaced by NCTL and its leadership role has declined significantly

12 The history of NPQH Introduced in 1997 by the TTA Taken over by NCSL from 2000 Made semi-mandatory from 2004 (but acting posts still allowed) Made mandatory for new heads from 2009 Delivered through 26 licensees from also the NPQSL and NPQML supposedly at master s level Mandatory status withdrawn from the only country in the world to reverse mandatory provision

13 The future of leadership development It is likely to become increasingly important globally More countries are moving to mandatory qualifications for new principals (e.g. Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, USA) In England, NPQH/NPQSL/NPQML licences end in 2016 The Conservative manifesto mentions the need for brilliant leadership, and proposes a College of Teaching, but the future of NCTL and of NPQH is unclear what do you think?