The ‘Leaders lead L5 at work’ project has written a number of modules including one called ‘Leaders Connect’. This is how it begins.
‘Being a school leader can be lonely. This can be changed by the leader.
Research in Denmark, Ireland, Norway and England suggests that there are connections between identity and practice. In term of the narratives I hear when researching and working with heads, it seems they are profoundly aware of their responsibilities for the school. The implicit loneliness of the role and the strong sense of isolation betray a sense of individualism and the role weighing heavy upon them, as well as their tacit belief in their central importance to the school's health and vitality . . . Although the stories show that there are change forces at work and that over time the role keeps shifting, there is also a meta-message that remains largely undisturbed. This meta-message is one that sustains the identity of the head as powerful, pivotal, and dominating.’
(Southworth, 2002)
This model of leadership is changing for the better. Reflective leaders are using a range of strategies including devolution of responsibility, inclusive decision-making and collegial learning to reduce loneliness, build collegiality and change the image of only one person as leader.’
Attend any conference of school leaders and observe the need of leaders to talk with each other and share stories and ideas. Mutual collegial support is a particular need in school leadership in 21st century. It always has been a strong factor in sustaining school leaders, in developing them professionally and in maintaining well-being; however over the last decade the complexity of the role of leader has developed significantly with many extra responsibilities such as occupational health and work safety, child custody issues, just to name two.
School leaders need to connect with their colleagues for mutual learning and support.
Why is it important?
There are a number of reasons for school leaders to connect to others:
There is a variety of research about the extent of the influence of school leadership on student learning however we do know that it does have an influence. Ken Leithwood (2006) suggests that it is, ‘second only to classroom instruction as an influence on student learning’.
Work on health and wellbeing of school leaders indicates that the job of school leadership contributes strongly to signs of stress on mind a*nd body of the leader, for example, the number of visits to doctors. To address this, leaders require personal courage to build their own resilience and wellbeing. It requires a deep level of self-reflection and knowledge. It may require seeking professional help. Leaders who manage this use a range of activities from meditation to playing sport. Leaders who understand the importance of wellbeing take their holidays and long service leave when they are due. Connecting with colleagues not only helps a leader diffuse concerns, and presents solutions to challenges, but also builds self - confidence.
If what Ken Leithwood suggests from his research, that ‘almost all successful (school) leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices’, there is very good reason for leaders to share ideas and explore further about practices of leadership. The basic practices suggested are:
Successful school leadership, therefore, will include practices helpful in addressing each of these dimensions of performance. One practice is to connect with colleagues and share good practice.
How can it be done?
Leaders who control their own destiny are more able to build the resilience needed while improving their practice. They read, read and read; they deliberately seek opportunities to engage in professional learning; they choose to work strategically to set up groups which they know will be of support professionally; they visit other schools and school leaders; or /and they undertake further study.
There is a range of strategies ready to be adopted by school leaders seeking to give and gain help to grow professionally. Definitions for each of the strategies are from Wikipedia.
Coaching
‘Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills. There are many ways to coach, types of coaching and methods to coaching. Direction may include motivational speaking. Training may include seminars, workshops, and supervised practice.’
Some leaders choose to employ a life coach or approach a professional trained in leadership coaching while others join ‘coaching’ opportunities set up by systems. If leaders choose any of these, it is very important that they choose a ‘coach’ trained in coaching techniques.
Mentoring
‘Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced partner referred to as a protégé - a person guided and protected by a more prominent person.’
When a leader has been newly appointed, they are sometimes allocated a mentor, usually an experienced leader willing to help the beginner. Experienced leaders may approach a colleague or other executive whom they admire for mentoring support.
Network
‘The term network may refer to any interconnected group or system. More specifically, a network is any method of sharing information between two systems (human or mechanical) . . . Communication with, and within, a group; "You have to network if you want to get a good job".’
Networking is an active process and requires time and some strategic decision making about the people with whom you wish to network. It is the way to learn about the latest issues, to share concerns and to meet others. An alert leader recognises networking opportunities and knows when to follow-up on coincidences. Read The Celestine Prophecy to gain one popular author’s theory on the importance of coincidences.
Robertson suggests that:
‘If we want to make a big difference for all learners – and especially those who are vulnerable – we need small networked communities of educators working together across roles and territories to get the gains for learners we need. Isolated efforts do not work for vulnerable learners. They need and deserve sustained and connected learning.’
Networking should not be limited in vision. In this age of globalisation, there is tremendous potential for educators, regardless of which part of the world they inhabit.
Tutoring
‘The term tutor is generally associated with one who gives professional instruction in a given topic or field. Tutoring may be useful when a leader needs to learn a specific strategy or technique.’
Online tutoring
‘Online tutoring is a recent evolving field. Tutors use whiteboards much like classroom blackboards to communicate (draw, write etc.) with their students. The sessions are often interactive, with both student and tutor able to participate freely via video and audio connectivity. The software includes an interactive whiteboard, VOIP and text based chat.’
Community of practice
‘The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs and shared sociocultural practices that emerge and evolve when people who have common goals interact as they strive towards those goals.’
Wenger’s definition is: ‘Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’.
If a CoP is online, it becomes a virtual community of practice. Some claim that a wiki (such as wikipedia.org) is a virtual CoP. In Australia, you can set up your own CoP for free on www.educationau.edu.au/.
If you choose to do this, you need a facilitator who has an important but complex role, particularly in being active in encouraging more contributions from participants, sharing this task among the CoP members when the facilitator chooses a particular agreed topic of interest.
There are many types of online forums that provide potential for collaborative learning. The value for a busy school leader is that online reduces barriers of time and distance while sharing ideas that lead to improvement and change.
Learning Circle
‘A Learning Circle is a series of discussions, demonstrations, reports on readings and presentations, through which the members of the Learning Circle share their knowledge and experience, learn new information and apply and test new skills.’
For a particular topic, a Learning Circle may work well and have a fixed time limit for its existence. The selected group of people comes together (physically or virtually) to examine an issue or body of knowledge in which they are interested. After some initial planning, the group sets up a series of meetings with specific goals that the members of the group wish to accomplish through the meetings.
What is to be done?
‘Sustainable educational leaders promote and practice sustained learning …sustain others as they pursue this cause together … sustain themselves, attending to their own renewal and not sacrificing themselves too much as they serve their community … [and] stay the course, stay together, stay around, and stay alive.’
(Hargreaves & Fink, 2006, p. 272)
The longer a group works together, the greater the trust and authenticity of input leading to longer term problem-solving. Identity sharing is a crucial factor, as in any professional friendship that grows. Remember to establish a clear understanding about how any group will interact.
To gain the most of the time together, work in a learning circle or CoP that has rules for dialogue, similar to the ones below from Viewpoint Learning Inc.
Ground Rules for Dialogue
These have been a few ideas on how school leaders help each other to grow professionally, which I hope have encouraged you to begin or strengthen the sharing you do with your colleagues. To cover the range of elements of leadership, you are referred to the new ‘Leaders lead L5 at work’ modules from APAPDC. Written by practitioners from across Australia the modules provide ideas and activities to guide your leadership. See: www.leaderslead.edu.au.
Discuss presentationReferences
Hargreaves, Andy and Dean Fink (2006). Sustainable leadership. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco,
‘Leaders lead L5 at work’ at: www.leaderslead.edu.au
Leithwood, Ken (2006). Seven strong claims,
at: www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/celr/seminars/7strong-claims.ppt accessed on 140708.
Leithwood, K, Day, C, Sammons, P, Harris, A, & Hopkins, D (2006). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. England: NCSL.
Redfield, James (1994). The celestine prophecy. An adventure Grand Central
Robertson, J, Coaching leadership, building educational leadership capacity through coaching partnerships, NCZER Press, Wellington, 2005.
Online Course Design from a Communities-of-Practice Perspective,
by John D. Smith, Learning Alliances and CPsquare, and Beverly Trayner, Superior School of Enterprise Sciences, Setúbal, Portugal. See:
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=best_practices&article=34-1
Wenger Etienne (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. By Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William Snyder, Harvard Business School Press or at http://www.ewenger.com/theory/ Accessed 140708.
Southworth, G (2002). ‘School leadership in English Schools. Geoff Southworth. In Walker, A, & Dimmock, C. (Eds.) (2002). School leadership and administration: Adopting a cultural perspective. NY: Routledge-Falmer. P. 1999.
National Council School Leaders Toolkit accessed 140708 at:
http://www.ncsl.org.uk/mediastore/image2/facilitatorstoolkit/theory_04.htm
Viewpoint Learning Inc. at:
http://www.viewpointlearning.com/about/rules.shtml accessed 15/07/08.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ms Kate Castine, Leaders Lead - L5 at work, Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC), Australia.