Workshop: CCEAM/CASEA Conference

Leadership responses to the implications of demographic change in schools: Engaging with processes, tools and strategies for a school wide approach to pedagogy

Dr Dorothy Andrews Associate Professor and Director LRIEmail: dorothy.andrews@usq.edu.au

Dr Joan Conway Senior Lecturer and Associate Director LRIEmail: joan.conway@usq.edu.au

Leadership Research International (LRI)University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia

LEADERSHIP RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL

Monday 9th June 2014 Session 11:15 – 12:30

What is Schoolwide Pedagogy(SWP)

Definition A Schoolwide Pedagogy is a school’s expression of its priority Teaching, Learning and Assessment Principles.

An SWP....represents teachers’ agreement regarding pre-eminent teaching, learning and assessment processes for their school; reflects the school vision and extends it into the life of classrooms; and provides a vehicle to enable teachers to develop heightened connectivity in the learning experiences of students across year levels and subjects.

Source: Crowther, Andrews & Conway, 2013, p.4.

Parallel Leadership

. . .is a relational process whereby teacher leaders and their principals engage in collective action to build and sustain enhanced school capacity. It embodies 4 distinct qualities:

•Mutual trust•Shared purpose•Allowance for individual expression•Appreciation for the importance of creating school successes in the context of systemic goals and priorities

Meta-strategic role of the principal

- Enabling an envisioning process- Culture building and Identity-generation- Alignment of key organisational elements- Enabling teacher leadership - Creating External alliances and networking

The role of the principal in enabling teacher leadership

• Communicates a clear strategic intent.• Incorporates the aspirations and views of others.• Poses difficult-to-answer questions. • Makes space for individual innovation.• Knows when to step back.• Creates opportunities from perceived difficulties.• Builds upon achievements to create a culture of

success.Crowther, Kaagan, Hann & Ferguson (2002)

Linking Parallel Leadership and Successful Capacity Building

Organisational Alignment

An institution is like a tune: it is not constituted by individual sounds but by the relations between them

(Peter Drucker, 1949)

HOLISTIC

PROFESSIONAL LEARNINGSTRATEGIC FOUNDATIONS

1. Is the school vision clear?

2. Is leadership distributed

COHESIVE COMMUNITY

1. Is the community supportive?

2. Do staff assume collective responsibility?

SCHOOL

OUTCOMES

1. What have students achieved?

2. What new knowledge has the staff created?

GENERATIVE RESOURCE

DESIGN

Is the use of space, time and technology reflective of the school vision?

SCHOOLWIDE PEDAGOGICAL

DEVELOPMENT AND DEEPENING

Do teachers have a shared understanding of successful pedagogy?

HOLISTIC

PROFESSIONAL LEARNINGHOLISTIC

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

HOLISTIC

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

A Research-based Framework for Organisational Alignment (LRI IDEAS Team, March 2010)

School Successes and Achievements

• Student achievement• Student Well-Being• Teacher Professionalism• Community Perceptions and attitudes• School’s capacity for sustainable

progress• School resourcing

Organisational Alignment

Occurs when distinct and interdependent organisational elements are mutually reinforcing, thereby enhancing the opportunities for heightened school outcomes.

Capacity Building for Improvement

. . .is the intentional process of mobilising a school’s resources in order to enhance priority outcomes – and sustain those improvements

(Andrews & USQ/LRI Research Team 2009)

Cosmic C-B Model – a process of:

Committing to a process

Organisational diagnosis & alignment

Seeking new heights

Micro-pedagogical deepening

Invoking reaction

Consolidating & sustaining successes

Leadership – Parallel Leadership

SCHOOL SUCCESS

• in agreed priority areas, • is based on documented evidence, and

• teacher’s confidence in their school’s capacity to sustain its achievements into the future.

Source: Crowther & Associates, 2011 .

Capacity Building – a process that builds “…….capitals”

• Organisational - combination of shared school planning, linkages (internal and external networks) use of time space and technology – structural

• Social – professional relationships – trust & respect, dynamics within parallel leadership and student well-being

• Intellectual – creation of vision, values and schoolwide pedagogy, school improvement processes and student academic achievement

Three-Dimensional Pedagogy(3-D.P)

. . . an image of 21stC teaching

Personal Pedagogy

How do my personal talents and gifts shape my pedagogy?

What counts as specialist ‘knowledge’ in my work?

What is my personal pedagogical philosophy?

3-Dimensional Pedagogy

SWP

Do our pedagogical priorities reflect the school vision?

Do we have shared understanding of our SWP?

Is our SWP derived from our successful practices?

Is our SWP evident in our practices?

Have we developed SWP collaboratively?

Are our community values evident in our SWP?

Authoritative Pedagogy

Do we use AP(s) to reflect on our work as teachers, e.g.

constructivism? metacognition? brain theory? collective intelligence? futurist pedagogies – e-pedagogy?

Adapted from: Crowther & Associates, 2011, p. 177

Three-dimensional Pedagogy(3-D.P)

3-D.P happens in a school when teachers engage in three forms of pedagogical inquiry and application:

• Personal reflection on, and nurturing of, their gifts and talents in relation to their teaching

• Conceptual development of the school’s pedagogical principles

• Streamlining of individual and schoolwide strategies for teaching, learning and assessment to accommodate students’ needs as 21st century learners.

(Crowther & Associates, 2011)