Key Questions for Educational Leaders

The Cultural and Social Foundations of Educational Leadership, 2021

Educational leaders are called to action by the very nature of their jobs, to address issues of social inequity and injustice. Their leadership is key to revealing, disrupting and subverting institutional arrangements which marginalize individuals, reorienting educational engagement towards inclusion, transformation and equity. This chapter examines ways New Zealand educational leaders lead for social justice. It outlines social, moral, cultural and personal dimensions which support and constrain their socially just leadership overall. Exploring the situated meanings and understandings of socially just leadership, and how it manifests in these key areas across different education settings may illuminate possibilities for other leaders to address injustices within their institutions and broader education contexts overall. Keywords Educational leadership • Social justice • Sense making Educational reform has increasingly been perceived as both the problem and the solution in addressing the new work order which is required by the rapidity, complexity and constancy of social change. Educational leaders are frequently described and positioned as 'change agents' (Blackmore, 2002), tasked with the often insurmountable job of mediating and embracing numerous reforms while at the same time leading their schools in ways that prepare young people for tomorrow's world. Hargreaves (2005) contends, "education is the greatest gatekeeper of opportunity and a powerful distributor of life chances. In a socially divided and culturally diverse

2000

ED452585 - Educational Leadership and Social Justice: Theory into Practice.

JSL publisher has not digitalized the two original Special Issues on Social Justice edited by Margaret Grogan. I am uploading a pdf version. Please cite the original source. Thank you.

In in A. Kollias and P. Hatzopoulos (eds) School Leadership Policy Development: The EPNoSL Briefing Notes, European Policy Network on School Leadership (www.schoolleadership.eu), 2014

This paper offers a review of the literature on school leadership and equity in order to help provide policy with an evidence base on school leadership from the perspective of equity. It does so by: (i) considering how discourses constitute objects; (ii) exploring the rationale of policy on school leadership and equity; (iii) considering the various models of school leadership and equity; and (iv) examining literature on the practical application of ideas about school leadership and equity. In so doing, this paper draws attention to the positive claims made internationally about the utility of school leadership strategies to promote social justice in modern multicultural societies. In particular it considers the alleged value of the dual concepts of 'equality of opportunity' and 'equity of results'. Drawing upon Foucault's (2009) account of discourse formation, this paper cautions that literature on the efficacy of school leadership and equity may help constitute a "destated" account of governance that places onus on school leaders to take responsibility for social processes that may, in reality, lie beyond their control.

School Leadership and Management, 2011

2013

This study was developed in the frame of the European Policy Network of School Leadership (EPNoSL) project’s second work package (WP) entitled “The State of Affairs on School Leadership in Europe”. The objectives of this WP were a) to review and define critical factors for the implementation of LLL Strategy and Policy under the scope of equity and learning and the perspective of school leaders (SL), b) to reflect on the need for a renewed research agenda on SL, and c) to critically review the knowledge base for the construction of a common European Policy Indicators Framework on/for SL. The EPNoSL project considers school leadership as a multi-faceted process of strategically using the unique skills and knowledge of teachers, pupils, and parents, toward achieving common educational goals. It is more about relationships rather than people or processes. Under the EPNoSL’s perspective, within the framework of educational goals, leadership is present at all levels of an organization, directed at serving the most important stakeholders, through inspiring others in the organization to take part in the management process. Chapter one offers a review of the literature on school leadership and equity in order to help provide policy with an evidence base on school leadership from the perspective of equity. This chapter cautions that literature on the efficacy of school leadership and equity may help constitute a “de-stated” account of governance that places onus on school leaders to take responsibility for social processes that may, in reality, lie beyond their control. In chapter two it is argued that as the issues Europe faces become more testing, so schools are faced with intensifying difficulties in offering an equitable education to all. As it is argued, the causes of inequality are of course multiple and complex and not all under the control of school leaders, but the latter have the opportunity to minimise or exacerbate inequality. In chapter three, decentralisation is discussed in relation to school autonomy types and the space for manoeuvres to schools and school leaders in related to critical issues such as finances, staff management, curricula etc. It is identified a trend of restructuring following New Public Management patterns of redistribution of power and governance between the State, local authorities and organisations. The couplings to local, municipal and national authorities have been loosened on how to spend public funding, how to manage staff and how to run schools, but the aim and curriculum of education has been tightened at the same time: standards are being detailed more and there are more control and accountability. This autonomy has been established according to bureaucratic and market place logics, using new social technologies like tests and quality reporting or inspection. Following those trends is a trend to empower school leaders more in the style of private sector top down management and leadership. In chapter four the focus is on the leadership and management of change within organisations. Important questions have to do with how do we ensure that change is led and managed successfully - what do we need to consider when leading and managing the change process? Chapter five on policy response explores the concept of policy, and considers what is meant by policy response. In this chapter it is provided an analysis that acknowledges that policy is in part extemporized, and in part the attempt to promote a “de-stated” account of governance. Chapter six offers an analysis of policy briefs from 15 EU countries that were drafted by the EPNoSL partners. The analysis focuses on a) the policy emphasis that is placed on issues of equity and learning achievement at school, and on b) how the role of school leaders is (re)conceptualized in legislative frameworks and policy documents emphasizing on the relationships between leadership in schools, equity and learning outcomes, and c) outlines the organization, the content, and the duration of principals’ and other school leaders’ training that is available, focusing in particular to training on issues related to equity and learning outcomes. What this analysis reveals is that while there is some policy emphasis on equity and learning achievement at school drawing mostly from the PISA results, less emphasis is placed in the training of school leaders on how to deal with issues of equity and learning outcomes. Chapter seven provides the Swedish Ministry of Education’s perspective on policies to support equity and improved learning outcomes and the role of principals in achieving these aims. As it is noted, equity and learning – linked to improved student outcomes - is not an easy task. The variation between high- and low-performing students as well as high and low performing schools and school districts in Sweden has increased over time, and concerns are raised about equity and learning linked to the quality of student outcomes in the context of Sweden’s highly decentralized school system. Chapter eight offers an in-depth account of the state of affairs on school leadership in Finland. The goal of this chapter is to highlight the academic underpinning on school leadership in Finland and, on such a base, to review the current policy and trends in this country. As it is argued, a major re-orientation to school leadership is taking place in this country. Principals in Finland are called not only to act as educational leaders of their schools but also as managers who are responsible for financing and personnel issues, and also are held accountable for the results of their institutions. Chapter nine provides a comprehensive overview of the research orientation of studies on school principals across the northern European community --its content, research designs, major findings - and offers conclusions and recommendations for advancing research on school principals. Key research areas identified are the following: 1) important educational challenges in order to inform policy makers, 2) implementation processes in relation to national policy on the local governing structures, 3) effects of national policy on changes processes on the local school level, 4) effects of international testing schemes on student outcomes, 5) effects on change processes in local schools in relation to the local governing structures, 6) principals and their decision making in relation to school governance, 7) principals’ strategic decision making in relation to school improvement, 8) effects of principal training programs, 9) effects of the relation between principals and teachers on improved student outcomes, and 10) effects of school leaders’ behavior on schools results analyzed with an organizational lens. Chapter ten deepens into the discussion on policy response by focusing on the implementation of policy on school leadership and equity in Scotland. In particular, in this chapter it is acknowledged that such policy is in part extemporized and in part an attempt to make inevitable a “de-stated” account of governance, as argued in chapter 5. On this basis, it is asked what practices such policy does, and does not permit in the context of Scotland. Chapter eleven presents a new analysis of the PISA 2009 datasets in relation to school leadership. In this study the hypothesis that the intake of schools related to the socio-economic and cultural background of their students is a critical factor for basing policy on equity and learning was supported by evidence from PISA 2009 showing that students in schools with a high share of students coming from low socio-economic and cultural backgrounds perform on average much lower than their peers in medium or high SES schools. Low SES schools pose therefore much more pressing challenges to school leaders as compared to more privileged schools in terms of their intake. This reality observed in almost all EU countries has or should have implications regarding the training, professional development, retention and replacement of school leaders in low SES schools. Furthermore, the analysis of the relationship between principals’ leadership behaviour in low SES schools and student performance showed two dominant patterns between EU countries: the “reactive school management” pattern and the “proactive school management” pattern. As it is argued, these two patterns possibly use different fields of comparison, and is likely to reflect different underlying cultures of school management. On the basis of the first eleven chapters of this report, as well as the documentation that was produced during the first year of the EPNoSL, in chapter twelve a number of critical factors are identified that may shape the capacity and potential of school leaders to exercise effectively school leadership in order to implement strategies and initiatives that are targeting to combat inequalities in access, opportunities and outcomes and promote learning performance in schools. The critical factors identified are the following: a) policy ownership, b) empowerment of different stakeholders and trust in their professionalism, c) supportive shared dispositions to inclusive schools, d) sound scientific evidence supporting the design, implementation and evaluation of policies, e) human resources: school leaders’ capacity building, f) political commitment and priorities, g) policy coherence and h) financial resources. Finally, in chapter thirteen a preliminary European Policy Indicators framework is proposed to support policy development that is aimed to promote culturing and structuring of school leadership from the perspective of equity and learning. The framework builds upon the critical factors on policy implementation identified and discussed in the previous chapter.

Journal of Educational Administration, 2003

2008