lds/rtu summer school 2008 leading learning in diverse contexts learning-centred leadership
DESCRIPTION
LDS/RTU SUMMER SCHOOL 2008 Leading Learning in Diverse Contexts Learning-centred Leadership Leadership which really makes a difference August 2008. Learning-centred Leadership. Growing amount of research and evidence to support this thinking - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
LDS/RTU SUMMER SCHOOL 2008Leading Learning in Diverse Contexts
Learning-centred Leadership
Leadership which really makes a difference
August 2008
Geoff Southworth
Learning-centred Leadership
• Growing amount of research and evidence to support this thinking
• My work began in small schools and then large ones
• NCSL’s research took the ideas forward in primary and secondary schools
• International studies also provide support
Geoff Southworth
How leaders influence what happens in classrooms
• Direct effects• Indirect effects• Reciprocal effects• Indirect effects are the largest and
most common• Effective leaders work directly on
their indirect influence
Geoff Southworth
How leaders influence what happens
in classrooms
3 strategies
1. Modelling2. Monitoring3. Dialogue
Geoff Southworth
Modelling
Geoff Southworth
25 years of research
• School-based• Interviewing and observing leaders
at work• Found 2 things:
1. Never found a teacher with nothing to say about her headteacher!
2. When they talk about school leaders they usually talk about what they do
Geoff Southworth
Modelling
• Leading by example• Walk the talk• Actions speak louder than words• The walk is the talk• Behaviour really matters… it’s what
we do• Every action is a chance to lead• You are closely observed – you are
watched
Geoff Southworth
Modelling
Example is not the main thing in influencing others,
it is the only thing.
Albert Schweizer
Geoff Southworth
Monitoring
• Knowing what is going on• Using data• Observing classrooms• Using leaders’ classroom practice
as an example for other teachers• Action research
Geoff Southworth
Monitoring – what it is not
Not surveillance
And it is important to establish what it is and isn’t to avoid mis-understanding, defensiveness or even threat.
Geoff Southworth
Monitoring – Reflections [1]Monitoring is a challenge in your
schools
Q1 - What data do you or might you use?
Q2 - Are there ways of observing teaching
and learning?Q3 - What is the place and role of self- evaluation?
Geoff Southworth
Modelling and monitoring pedagogy
What we know about high performing school systems and those that close the achievement gap.
1. They get the right people to become teachers
2. They develop them into effective instructors3. They ensure the system is able to deliver the
best possible instruction for every child
Geoff Southworth
The quality of a school system cannot exceed the quality of its
teachers (Michael Barber & Mona Mourshed
2007)
Geoff Southworth
The quality of a school cannot exceed the quality of its
teachers
Therefore the task of learning-centred leaders is to improve the quality of teaching in their schools.
Geoff Southworth
Monitoring
Monitoring should therefore include identifying teachers’ pedagogic strengths and
development needs.
– Who could mentor whom?– Who could coach whom?
Subject knowledge Teaching strategies and tactics – open questions; group work; AfL; plenary sessions
Geoff Southworth
Monitoring – Reflections [2]
Q1. How is teachers’ craft knowledge shared and transferred in your schools?
Q2. How might this be strengthened and improved?
Q3. What are the obstacles to teachers sharing and developing their pedagogy?
Q4. Which of these can you do something about and will you?
Geoff Southworth
Dialogue
Opportunities to talk about learning and
teaching
Sharing craft knowledge
Transferring - reinvesting intellectual capital
Geoff Southworth
Dialogue
• Describing
• Analysing
• Reflecting
• Articulating
Geoff Southworth
Dialogue
Conversation
Co-construction of professional knowledge
Constructivist professional learning
Geoff Southworth
Reflections and questions [3]
• What do staff in your school talk about?
• How much professional conversation is there?
• Who provides stimulus to these conversations?
Geoff Southworth
3 strategies = one powerful effect
Geoff Southworth
Modelling Monitoring Dialogue
Geoff Southworth
What do leaders in high performing schools with lots of disadvantaged pupils do?
#1. They focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t.
Geoff Southworth
#2. They don’t leave anything about teaching and learning to chance
An awful lot of our teachers – even brand new ones – are left to figure out on their own what to teach and what constitutes ‘good enough’ work.
[US Study]
Geoff Southworth
#3. They set their goals high.
Expectations matter – behaviour, attendance, effort, attainment
Geoff Southworth
#4. Higher performing secondary schools put all pupils – not just some – in a demanding, high core curriculum
Geoff Southworth
#5. Principals are hugely important,
ever present, but NOT
the only leaders in the school
Geoff Southworth
High performing schools…• Teachers regularly observe other
teachers;• Teachers have time to plan and
work collaboratively;• New teachers get generous and
careful support & acculturation;• Teachers take on many other
leadership tasks at the school
Geoff Southworth
#6. In good schools, leaders know how much teachers matter and
they act on that knowledge
Geoff Southworth
Good teachers matter a lot
But some don’t get their fair share of quality teachers
Low-performing students of all races mostlikely to be assigned to least effective teachers.
Leaders in high performing schools don’t let this happen
Geoff Southworth
Nearly there…!!
Good schools are nice places to be – both for students and for
teachers.
Geoff Southworth
Saying that they are nice doesn’t mean they are easy places to
work.
Principals and teachers work hard.
But there is also a kind of shared sense
of mission and camaraderie.