Contemporary approaches to leadership
Building and sustaining high trust relationships
(a) Leadership Capability
-heart of effective leadership
-leaders are respected for their deep educational knowledge, their actions and values, and the way they engage respectfully with others with empathy and humility, fostering openness in discussions
-leaders have good emotional intelligence and self-awareness
(b) Tū Rangatira
He kaitiaki (The guardian)
Leaders protect and nurture a caring environment where people and ideas are valued, health, safety and wellbeing are enhanced, and relationships are strong.
He kaikōtuitui (The networker)
Leaders network, broker and facilitate relationships that contribute towards achieving organisational goals.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches
In New Zealand schools, the successful leader demonstrates the following qualities:
· Critical self-reflection
· Responsive leadership
· Building relational trust
· Personal resiliency
(Ross Notman & D. Annie Henry (2011) Building and Sustaining Successful School Leadership in New Zealand, Leadership and Policy in Schools, 10:4, 375-394)
Within an organisation, high trust relationships are pivotal; these relationships build credibility that grows from educational expertise; the confidence this engenders enables educational leaders to use that expertise to support others in order to build an effective network within the beyond their school.
Ensuring culturally responsive practice and understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural heritage, using Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation
(a) Leadership Capability :
-valuing what each learner brings with them.
-strengths-based inclusive approach ensuring that learners feel they belong
-leaders take responsibility for growing their own and others’ confidence in culturally responsive practice, and for genuinely involving Māori whānau in the identification of the organisation’s vision and goals, both anchored in a thoughtful understanding of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. -also take responsibility for ensuring that all learners know and can honour our country’s cultural heritage.
(b) Tū Rangatira:
He kaiarataki (The advocate)
Leaders promote the development and implementation of strategies, plans, and policies to realise learners’
potential and their educational success as Māori.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
The Educational Leadership capability framework, developed by NZCER, emphasises the different leadership roles within a school: from the school leaders, to the leading teams, to the expert teacher in charge of a curriculum area of perhaps a new initiative. Using this framework, we are all leaders.
Through self-awareness, we are able to understand what we mean by culturally responsive practice based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, both in theory and in practice. A consistency of approach means that all staff develop and sustain a shared understanding of culturally responsive practice.
As authentic leaders, we “demonstrate a passion for [our] purpose, practice [our] values consistently, and lead with [our] hearts as well as ]our] heads.”
Building and sustaining collective leadership and professional community
a) Leadership Capability:
-effective learning happens when the teachers responsible for it work together to share their knowledge and inquire into their practice.
-leadership attends to the conditions and practices that are needed for this to occur, enhancing a strong sense of an engaging, active, and achieving community that sees itself involved in ongoing learning, innovation and improvement for the benefit of each and all of its learners.
(b) Tū Rangatira :
He kaimahi (The worker)
Leaders ‘lead by doing’: upholding collegial practices that build capability in others in pursuit of the goals of the organisation.
He kaiako (The teacher and learner)
Leaders understand that reciprocal learning and exemplary modelling of innovation leads to the effective creation, development and delivery of high-quality authentic learning contexts and practice.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
Schools are professional communities. In these communities,
· Leaders are dedicated to growing the agency and efficacy of teachers;
· Teachers are committed to being learners, innovators and contributors;
· Leaders and teachers have a co-ordinated approach to responding to students when they experience difficulties.
(From Building and sustaining collective leadership and professional community, Ministry of Education)
Professional communities are cultures based on shared values. They cannot be implemented (Louis, 2006)
“Focusing conversations on teachers’ reasoning for doing something rather than the actions themselves is an important skill to develop in a professional community.” (Swanson, 2018)
“Research shows that leadership practices that share power generate greater motivation, increased trust and risk taking, and build a sense of community and collective efficacy.”
(Louis, 2008)
The leader’s expertise provides a foundation upon which others can also use their knowledge and expertise in order to actively contribute to the sharing of skills so that we can build collective knowledge and understanding.
Cynefin: We tend to respond to challenges using established patterns and routines. This works when the challenges are predictable and solutions routine. The unpredictable situation calls for new solutions when there is no longer a link between cause and effect. We need to seek new ways of meeting these challenges so that the unpredictable becomes and predictable.
Ron Heifetz: new challenges need new ways of doing things; we need to unlearn what we already know so that we can adapt to new challenges. In this situation, we need to distribute power, and experiment (and being able to stomach ongoing failure in our quest for new solutions to new problems)
Strategically thinking and planning
a) Leadership Capability:
Leaders ensure that the organisational vision, goals and expectations of staff, learners and whānau are shaped in ways that engage the organisational community in a meaningful way. -a strong moral purpose, desiring the success of each and every one of their learners.
-keep abreast of both emerging ideas and new evidence and bring that knowledge into their strategic thinking.
-they provide insightful reports of progress and identification of any problems that enable candid
discussion to inform changes in practices or resources as needed
(b) Tū Rangatira:
He kanohi mataara (The visionary)
Leaders are innovative and visionary to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and values to succeed in the 21st century as Māori and as citizens of the world.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
Strategic thinking is the process of determining the direction you will take to achieve your vision.
Strategic planning is the process of developing a blueprint for the work you will do against that direction.
Middle leaders work actively with the school’s leaders in order to review current progress and inform future priorities.
The culture of a school is not static. Transformative leadership provides both a vision and a purpose
The Capability Framework: provides a foundation upon which people can adapt to changes within a complex environment.
Evaluating practices in relation to outcomes
a) Leadership Capability:
Leaders are skilled at evaluating the organisation’s collective and individual staff practices in relation to learning outcomes and wellbeing.
they use high levels of quantitative and qualitative data literacy
-curious about patterns and practices.
-can describe and identify problems or challenges in ways that open up real discussion and identification of needs, and solutions.
(b) Tū Rangatira :
He kaiako (The teacher and learner)
Leaders use reciprocal learning and exemplary modelling of innovation that leads to the effective creation, development and delivery of high-quality authentic learning contexts and practice.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
Through analysis of data, the leader is able to ask robust questions and identify areas of concern. By analysis ad wider we are able to ascertain where we can institute change to benefit students.
Systems that perform better are systems in which assessment, inquiry and evaluation information is used effectively to inform learning.
(OECD, 2013)
To become competent and confident at interpreting and using evidence, leaders need to:
· Develop an inquiry habit of mind
· Become data literate
· Create a culture of inquiry in the school
(Earl and Katz, 2003)
Complexity theory: leaders are able to manage the mundane day to day activities while also embracing the challenge of managing change.
Adept management of resources to achieve vision and goals
a) Leadership Capability:
-understand the information they have in order to make decisions on how best to use resources of money, time, and space and gain support for their learners and staff.
-ensure they have the right information in making financial, human resource and property decisions, and they seek specialist advice to assist their decision-making if needed
-prioritise seeking and allocating resources that match the organisation’s strategic plan
(b) Tū Rangatira:
He kaiwhakarite (The manager)
Leaders are effective and efficient managers of people, environments and education that transforms teaching and learning communities.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
The leader is able to articulate the school’s vision, goals, and values and works with their team to make the most effective and efficient use of the time, space and material resources they have.
With adaptive leadership, it is only when we are engaged in the context that we will know what kinds of leadership might be required and who might be providing such leadership. The reality for school sis that we need both management and leadership to be running concurrently:
(a) Management - where stable processes and procedures ensure effective operation of the organisation; and
(b) Leadership – where leaders are using creativity and innovation skills in order to enable their organisation to respond to a rapidly changing world.
Organisation need to do both of these aspects really well – and at the same time (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey 2007).
Attending to their own learning as leaders and their own wellbeing
a) Leadership Capability:
-ensure that they challenge their own thinking and keep growing their knowledge
-actively search for new information and knowledge and ideas
-actively attend to their own wellbeing
(b) Tū Rangatira :
He kaiako (The teacher and learner)
Leaders use reciprocal learning and exemplary modelling of innovation that leads to the effective creation, development and delivery of high-quality authentic learning contexts and practice.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
Through professional reading, and membership of their subject association, middle leaders are able to be familiar with new evidence-based research that can inform future planning. Self-reflection includes using feedback (e.g. shadow coaching) to reflect on teaching practice.
Embodying the organisation’s values and showing moral purpose, optimism, agency, and resilience
a) Leadership Capability:
-embody their organisation’s values, carrying out “even the most routine and seemingly trivial tasks in such a way as to nudge their organisations towards their purposes.” (Leithwood 2012)
-approach the challenges of leadership with moral purpose, optimism, a sense of agency, and resilience
-are able to take thoughtful risks
(b) Tū Rangatira:
He kaimahi (The worker)
Leaders ‘lead by doing’: upholding collegial practices that build capability in others in pursuit of the goals of the organisation.
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
Middle leaders lead by example. Even when faced with difficulties, middle leaders continue to be positive, courageous, and adaptive to new challenges.
“Distributing leadership across different people and organisational structures can help to meet the challenges facing contemporary schools and improve school effectiveness. This can be done in formal ways through team structures and other bodies or more informally by developing ad hoc groups based on expertise and current needs.” (OECD 2008)
Contributing to the development and wellbeing of education beyond their organisation
a) Leadership Capability:
-bring their knowledge and experience of making improvements to local and national professional networks, as well as exploring opportunities to work with other educational organisations, local communities, government agencies and others to develop and improve educational provision and policy
-use such opportunities to learn from others, and to develop things that are collectively more than the sum of contributing parts, which others can draw from and use to improve educational practice.
(b) Tū Rangatira:
He kaikōtuitui (The networker)
Leaders network, broker and facilitate relationships that contribute towards achieving the community’s goals.
He kaiarataki (The advocate)
Leaders promote the development and implementation of strategies, plans and policies to realise learners’ potential and their educational success as Māori
(c) Possible Leadership Approaches:
The middle leader makes a positive contribution to the building and development of the collective knowledge of their profession at local, regional, and even national level.
According to Hargreaves et al. (2008), school leaders will increasingly need to lead “out there” beyond the school, as well as within it, in order to influence the environment that influences their own work with students. (OECD 2008)