Department of Education Management and Policy StudiesDepartment of Education Management and Policy StudiesFaculty of Education, University of PretoriaFaculty of Education, University of Pretoria

Leading a 21Leading a 21stst Century School Century School

Jim SpinksJim Spinks, Director, ‘All Across the Line’, Director, ‘All Across the Line’

South Africa, February 2010South Africa, February 2010

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Purposes of today’s presentationPurposes of today’s presentation

1. Outline progress in a world search for leadership practices in achieving success for all students.

2. Report key findings.

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

TheThe National Goal for Public EducationNational Goal for Public Education

‘Success for all students in all settings

irrespective of circumstance.’

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

Can it be done?Can it be done? Persuasive evidence at the Persuasive evidence at the

individual school level.individual school level.

Persuasive evidence at the Persuasive evidence at the system level.system level.

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

Evidence at the school levelEvidence at the school level

Morpeth School, London – typical example of a Morpeth School, London – typical example of a transformed school.transformed school.

Passion for success personified by head teacher, Passion for success personified by head teacher, Sir Alisdair Macdonald.Sir Alisdair Macdonald.

Innovation and risk taking.Innovation and risk taking. High quality of teachersHigh quality of teachers Culture of student engagement.Culture of student engagement. Breadth of leadership. Leadership team.Breadth of leadership. Leadership team. Differential deployment of resources.Differential deployment of resources. Strong focus on the most vulnerable students.Strong focus on the most vulnerable students.

Evidence at the System LevelEvidence at the System Level

FinlandFinland, Canada, Japan, South Korea and others., Canada, Japan, South Korea and others. Success for all students irrespective of circumstance Success for all students irrespective of circumstance

(little correlation between success and home (little correlation between success and home background).background).

Strong focus on high quality of teachers.Strong focus on high quality of teachers. Strong focus on developing a culture/expectation of Strong focus on developing a culture/expectation of

success.success. Provision of sufficient resource levels to ensure Provision of sufficient resource levels to ensure

necessary support for every student.necessary support for every student.

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

‘‘Excellent outcomes for all students Excellent outcomes for all students irrespective of background and irrespective of background and circumstance must become the circumstance must become the default position for education in the default position for education in the 2121stst century.’ century.’ (Caldwell and Spinks, 2007)(Caldwell and Spinks, 2007)

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

What are the characteristics of school What are the characteristics of school leaders achieving success for all leaders achieving success for all studentsstudents irrespective of circumstance? irrespective of circumstance?

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Ongoing world search Ongoing world search

Results to date:Results to date: All differentAll different

Highly talentedHighly talented

(Can leadership training programs produce leaders (Can leadership training programs produce leaders or transform good leaders into excellent leaders?)or transform good leaders into excellent leaders?)

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Set of observed characteristicsSet of observed characteristics of successful principals of successful principals (all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).(all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).

Categories:Categories: S – factorS – factor

PersonalPersonal

PrioritiesPriorities

StrategiesStrategies

BehavioursBehaviours

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Observed characteristicsObserved characteristics of successful principals of successful principals (all are not necessarily present and there (all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).is variation in degree).

PERSONAL:PERSONAL: Passionate, open and caringPassionate, open and caring

LearnersLearners

Inspiring and able communicatorsInspiring and able communicators

Ethical and principledEthical and principled

PersistentPersistent

PragmaticPragmatic

Does this set guarantee success? Are they essential for success?Does this set guarantee success? Are they essential for success?

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Observed characteristicsObserved characteristics of successful principals of successful principals (all are not necessarily present and there (all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).is variation in degree).

PRIORITIES:PRIORITIES: StudentsStudents

StaffStaff

LearningLearning

Seeking respectSeeking respect

Celebrating successCelebrating success

Leadership depthLeadership depth

Team cohesionTeam cohesion

Is the order important?Is the order important?

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Observed characteristicsObserved characteristics of successful principals of successful principals (all are not necessarily present and there (all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).is variation in degree).

STRATEGIES: Success for all in not negotiableSTRATEGIES: Success for all in not negotiable

Ongoing search for talented staffOngoing search for talented staff

Innovation and risk takingInnovation and risk taking

Evidence drivenEvidence driven

Abandonment of failed processesAbandonment of failed processes

Reward endeavour and successReward endeavour and success

Optimise resource effectivenessOptimise resource effectiveness

Which would you consider essential and why?Which would you consider essential and why?

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

Observed characteristicsObserved characteristics of successful principals of successful principals (all are not necessarily present (all are not necessarily present and there is variation in degree).and there is variation in degree).

BEHAVIOURS: ‘Show the kids’BEHAVIOURS: ‘Show the kids’

‘ ‘Walk the talk’Walk the talk’

Make tough decisionsMake tough decisions

Avoid administriviaAvoid administrivia

Identify the behaviours of top principals in your past?Identify the behaviours of top principals in your past?

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

TWO strategic intentions to live by:TWO strategic intentions to live by:

‘‘Success for every child’Success for every child’

‘‘Search for talented staff’Search for talented staff’

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au

‘‘How the world’s best-performing school systems How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top’, McKinsey & Co, (2007)come out on top’, McKinsey & Co, (2007)

‘‘The experiences of these top school systems The experiences of these top school systems suggest that three things matter most: suggest that three things matter most:

1. getting the right people to become teachers1. getting the right people to become teachers

2. developing them into effective instructors2. developing them into effective instructors

3. ensuring that the system is able to deliver the3. ensuring that the system is able to deliver the

best possible instruction for every child.’best possible instruction for every child.’

RAISING THE STAKESRAISING THE STAKES

‘‘Excellent outcomes for all students Excellent outcomes for all students irrespective of background and irrespective of background and circumstance must become the circumstance must become the default position for education in the default position for education in the 2121stst century.’ century.’ (Caldwell and Spinks, 2007)(Caldwell and Spinks, 2007)

RAISING THE STAKES

All across the line jspinks@southcom.com.au