European Policy Networkon School Leadership

www.schoolleadership.eu

EPNoSL at a glance

The European Policy Network on School Leadership (EPNoSL) is a partner-run consortium created in 2011 in response to the increasing European focus on school leaders’ professional development, including preparation and selection of school leaders. EPNoSL aims at improving policy and practice on school leadership in Europe. To this effect a collaborative network in which members co-construct, manage and share knowledge has been set up.

EPNoSL has grown into a network of stakeholders from 42 European based institutions. EPNoSL partners include academic and other experts engaged in key thematic areas, education ministries and other policymakers, as well as professional associations at national, regional and European levels. In addition, research and capacity-building actors serve a fundamental role in enabling and facilitating meaningful exchanges among partners, as well as evaluation and dissemination of findings.

The EPNoSL partnership engages in diverse activities resulting in the production of different types of resources on school leadership, among which are a toolkit on school leadership for equity and learning, a series of webinars, literature reviews, papers and research reports.

EPNoSL has initiated learning exchange events with the participation of a wider community of stakeholders. It has also set up smaller national networks of stakeholders functioning as “National Policy Networks” and has launched an international online forum,while it annually organizes two European Peer Learning Activity Events.

EPNoSL Partners

www.schoolleadership.eu/portal/project/consortium

EPNoSL 's Activity Context

Existing EPNoSL outputs

(Empirical studies, policy texts, etc)

EPNoSL Policy Reflection Tools

EPNoSL Case Studies on Good Practices

18 National/Regional Policy Actions Plans on

School Leadership

Policy work beyond EPNoSL

• EPNoSL partners commit to further

support national policy initiatives

• School leadership included in the priorities of the

programme of Malta’s 2017 Presidency of the

EU Council

EPNoSL European, Regional and National networking with school leadership stakeholders

EPNoSL’s Focus: Equity and Learning

EQUITY

LEARNING

NE

TW

OR

KIN

G

AC

TIO

N P

LA

NN

ING

• school autonomy

• school accountability

• distributed leadership

• educating school leaders

• teacher leadership

• stakeholders' collaboration

• policy response

• policy self-assessment

ACADEMIA

- RESE

ARCH

Reflectiontools

SCHOOL LEADERS

PARENTS - PRACTITIONERS - POLICY

✓ Facilitation on Reflection on Policy Perspectives✓ Action-planning Policy Approaches✓ Policy Commitment

National and Regional Networking

One of EPNoSL’s key activities lies in fostering networking at the international, the regional and the national level and in strengthening the connection between the European and the national discourses.

Join our

Peer Learning Activities | www.schoolleadership.eu/events/pla

National workshops and events | www.schoolleadership.eu/events/national-networking

Webinars | epnosl

Online Forums | http://forums.schoolleadership.eu

School Leadership Policy Practices for Equity and Learning

The EPNoSL case studies showcase 14 school leadership policies that have proven their effectiveness and efficiency or are promising practices in terms of enhancing equity and learning.

In the context of EPNoSL, a good practice could be defined as an activity (strategy, programme or project) resulting, either directly or indirectly, in enhancing the capacity of school leaders to address effectively challenges of equity and learning in schools, without using inordinate resources to achieve the desired results, and which can be used to develop and implement solutions adapted to similar needs in other regional, national or local contexts.

Conclusions

Good school leadership policy practices:

✓ Support leadership at all levels of a school.✓ Provide comprehensive professional development for effective school leadership.✓ Enhance networking and co-operation within and beyond the school community.

Coverage

Austria | Denmark | Germany | Greece Latvia | Lithuania | Malta | Netherlands Poland | Portugal | Slovenia | Sweden UK - Scotland

Themes

School autonomy | Distributed leadership School accountability | Policy response Educating school leaders Professional standards | Inclusion

The EPNoSL School Leadership Toolkit

The EPNoSL Toolkit on School Leadership for equity and learning is designed to provide policy makers, school authorities, schools, researchers and teacher training institutes with the tools to reflect upon, identify challenges and prioritize areas for policy action to support and enhance school leadership for equity and learning.

Who is the toolkit for?

• Those involved in educational policy who are responsible for or influence leadership development and school improvement in school education.

• Those leading change in schools, including head teachers, principals and others in leadership roles within schools.

• The research/academic communities interested to work on key school leadership areas that are of high interest both to policy making communities and to school leaders.

• The developers/providers of school leadership training programmes, focusing to support school leaders on how to create school cultures that value diversity, combat exclusion, and promote fairness and high learning achievement.

What is the toolkit for?

• To help you learn about school leadership for equity and learning.

• To stimulate reflection leading to practical ideas for supporting and developing school leadership policies for equity and learning in schools, in ways relevant to your policy context.

The School Leadership Toolkit aims to help school leaders identify areas where they need to improve on their competencies and daily practice.

It further aims to offer them a wider policy perspective to strategically orient, plan and implement initiatives that have the potential to create school environments that help all students, irrespective of their socio-economic and cultural background, gender, health condition or family circumstances, to develop to the best of their abilities.

The EPNoSL Toolkit: How it might be used

Reflect upon

Study the toolkit materials (texts, videos, diagrams, maps etc) and use its tools to reflect upon:

• State-of-the-art research results on school leadership for equity and learning.

• Good policy practices in promoting school leadership capacity aiming to address challenges of equity and learning in schools.

• How you might support the development of school leadership policies for equity and learning in a school, a number of schools or across a school system.

Kickstart dialogue

Use it to kick-start dialogue, as a resource with colleagues to develop ideas together about:

• Your understandings of school leadership for equity and learning.

• Practical changes you can make to support the development of school leadership for equity and learning in a school, a number of schools or across a school system.

The School Leadership Toolkit focuses particularly in facilitating policy reflections and planning that aim to empower school leaders in their efforts to create those school conditions which ensure that all children, without exclusions, learn and develop to the best of their abilities.

http://toolkit.schoolleadership.eu

School Leadership Action Planning

The European Policy Network on School Leadership envisages that, by June 2015, 18 School Leadership Action Plans will have been developed by national or state/regional governments in Europe with its support. Overall, EPNoSL highlights the need to take into account the following interrelated principles in school leadership policy planning:

Realistic planning

✓ setting targets that take into account budget constraints, human resource limitations, needs for training of individuals and agencies.

Comprehensive planning

✓ taking into account all issues and policy areas related to the achievement of given school leadership policy goals.

Coherent planning

✓ Proposing school leadership policies that enhance coordination between related policies implemented by different government departments or other agencies.

Participative Planning

✓ actively involving critical school leadership stakeholders.

For additional information visit:

www.schoolleadership.eu

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Grant Agreement EAC-2010-1388

S p e c i f i c A g r e e m e n t n u m b e r : EAC-2013-0536(Third Period)

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