This section provides an overview of some of the key ideas relating to effective leaders and effective leadership. Since the publication of Improving Leadership in Scottish Schools4 there have been significant changes in the educational world. Developments in the curriculum and in the staffing structures in schools have influenced thinking on leadership and leadership skills. The Journey to Excellence further develops our understanding by identifying the key features of excellence in leadership. This thinking is still developing. This section considers some fundamental ideas such as the impetus for change, the need to distribute leadership as a vehicle for succession planning, and notions of accountability.
What do we know about leadership in Scottish education?
Staff within education, operating at different levels, are constantly reviewing their practice and making changes, sometimes on a small scale and sometimes on a larger scale, in order to improve what they are doing. We recognise that the work of individual members of staff matters and makes a difference. There is also an awareness that this difference is more pronounced when there is a collective effort and when staff are working on a united front. It is clear too, that a key driver is a desire to make things better for learners. Leadership for learning is about initiating changes that improve the chances of all learners to achieve well. There is a common sense of purpose to provide a wide range of opportunities which help learners gain qualifications and experiences that enhance their life chances and develop confidence in their own talents and abilities. For this to happen, learning and teaching need to be at the centre of everone’s thinking.
The quality of leadership in any establishment is key to providing excellent learning. If we focus on the leadership of senior staff in the school sector and the data that is available through the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the need to think urgently about succession planning is evident. At the current time, 84% of secondary headteachers are aged over 50. In the next five years we will have to fill approximately 170 secondary headteacher posts. The corresponding primary statistics are just as challenging. About 32% of headteacher posts (730) will have to be filled in the next five years. Over this same period of time, we will need to appoint around 900 new headteachers. Other sectors face equally challenging statistics. This is a timely reminder that developing our thinking about leadership is a necessity. How are we going to provide all staff with opportunities to develop their leadership potential and how are we going to make this an attractive and exciting proposition? Within a climate of more flexible working patterns and demands for personalisation and choice, we should be thinking about a greater variety of routes and options for leadership development.
Data from inspection reports reveal that the quality of leadership provided by those in senior positions is good or better in most establishments. Between 80% to 85% of Scottish establishments are well led. However, this leaves 15% to 20% of establishments where leadership is weak or unsatisfactory, with serious implications for a large number of learners. What is clear is that effective leaders matter and are needed to continue to drive up improvements in the system.
‘The Committee considers that the development of effective leaders is critical to the success of any organisation. Successful delivery of this significant programme of reform will depend on high quality leaders, who are responsive to citizens’ needs, able to work collaboratively in a multi-agency context and who are able to create public value.’5
Whilst the Improving Scottish Education report confirms the importance of leadership for learning, and leadership from the top, it also reflects a growing awareness of the need to combine this with enhanced leadership capacity within establishments and services. A view of more corporate or collegiate leadership is emerging.
‘Increasingly, leadership is being viewed as a corporate concept which relates not only to the head of establishment but also to the combined impact of all those who have responsibility for leading any aspect of provision for learners. The head is ultimately accountable in terms of the quality of education within the establishment and of the resulting progress made by learners. Leadership is therefore both individual and shared.’6
What do we know about leadership more generally?
Key Message |
Effective leaders help everyone make an impact on the quality of learning, teaching and achievement. |
Effective leaders help everyone to make an impact on the quality of learning, teaching and achievement. They organise regular opportunities for staff and learners to engage in conversation and dialogue about, for example, learning and teaching, attainment and achievement, progress and assessment. They also create a culture where staff are empowered to work beyond their remit and show initiative in taking forward work that they can see needs to be done.
Leadership of the school was excellent. The headteacher had won the respect of parents, pupils and staff and the wider community. She inspired confidence and commitment and had developed highly effective teamwork amongst staff. She was very well informed about developments in education and had shown great skill in building on the very effective leadership of the previous headteachers. She provided constructive guidance to staff in further developing the curriculum and learning and teaching arrangements to more effectively meet the needs of pupils. |
Whilst leaders may have very different leadership styles and qualities, they will often share common characteristics. For instance, they:
The most effective leaders help others to retain a focus on the core purpose of education. The real challenge is not just putting new learning or teaching strategies into place but making sure they happen in a way that makes a difference. This requires knowing what is taking place in the classroom and beyond. Rudy Crew, a principal in a large American school, presents an interesting approach which is based on collaborative work with teachers and coaches.
"Every week, the three coaches pick one teacher and follow him/her all week. On Monday, there’s an observation. On Tuesday, the coaches model aspects of practice. On Wednesday, the teacher and the coach co-teach a lesson. On Thursday, the coaches re-observe and on Friday, they meet and develop a plan of action to improve what they need to improve. It’s like when you build houses in a complex. They may all have the same exterior, but they have a different design inside."7
During inspections, we see examples of effective and innovative leadership practices which are set up to ensure high quality learning, teaching and achievement. Whilst the ways of working are unique and adapted to the context and individual circumstances facing staff, they share similar features. These features include, for example:
Staff at different levels can and do make an impact on the learning, motivation and achievement of children and young people. Leadership for learning is provided by a range of staff, including, for example:
The headteacher provided dynamic leadership. She had developed a very strong sense of teamwork that took good account of everyone’s strengths. Staff felt fully involved in the decision-making process and readily took responsibility for improving aspects of the school. The education authority had provided an opportunity for the headteacher to go to Denver, USA to learn about successful strategies used to engage vulnerable pupils. What she had learned there was impacting positively on the work of the school. All teachers gave very good assistance to four probationer teachers. Staff formed a reflective and supportive team and were conscientious in carrying out their duties. Pupils at all stages contributed to setting their own learning targets. Learning assistants and parent helpers worked well with teachers to ensure maximum support to pupils across all stages. |
What external factors are driving change?
The renewed focus on leadership is influenced by a wide range of diverse factors which pose significant challenges to all of us. These include:
We all need to have a shared understanding of these challenges and an increasing awareness that establishments and services do not work in isolation. We are beginning to see more effective joined-up services in areas of regeneration and economic development. The education service, like all public and private sector services, has to be more responsive if it is to keep apace with modernisation and reform. In the best examples, we see a joining up of services across educational boundaries, and the sharing of best practice to make a difference.
The practice of leadership becomes something that is within the power of every member of staff and not something that only senior staff do.
Why is it important to think about distributive leadership?
Key Message |
Leaders are not just at the top of an organisation. The most effective organisations have strong leaders at every level. |
The most effective way to perform the range of functions required within complex establishments/services is by sharing responsibility for leadership. The Integrated Children’s Service policy and practice agenda has increased the demand for shared leadership development as a way of supporting joint working.
The scale and pace of change is increasing the demand for leaders at various levels and a broadening of the scope of practice. We are seeing a growing shift towards equally responsive and flexible leadership patterns. The practice of leadership becomes something that is within the power of every member of staff and not something that only senior staff do.
It may be a considerable culture shift to begin to think of the unpromoted youth worker, college lecturer, care worker or teacher as a leader of learning, or for unpromoted staff to think of themselves as leaders. But that is what is required. An important spin-off of giving staff and learners regular opportunities to demonstrate their leadership is that they begin to think of themselves as leaders.
"People have to make an active decision to be a leader — it is not achieved merely by virtue of position. An individual must choose to do leaderly things and think and feel in a leaderly way. In other words, people volunteer that discretionary effort or their full engagement in the task required and this is quite distinct from the minimum level of movement or compliance required to do the job."9
Across the school sector, the Teachers’ Agreement10 has accelerated the pace of change and caused schools to consider how they should best deploy staff. These include faculty leaders, principal teachers, newly qualified probationer teachers, chartered teachers and business managers. All of these staff, along with aspiring headteachers who have demonstrated the Standard for Headship11 are strongly placed to take on board leadership responsibilities.
Similarly, the Children’s Services agenda has seen leaders from different agencies working together with education staff to ensure effective delivery of joined-up services for children.
In a Scottish context, the shift towards a more consultative style of leadership is providing the basis for strong teamwork among staff. This has been given impetus through the publication of Continuing Professional Development for Educational Leaders12 and The Journey to Excellence which reinforce collegiate and collaborative working practices and the role that leaders have in making the practical implementation of policies the central driver. Section 5 provides further advice on how to develop teamwork and partnership working to best effect. Section 7 explores some of the challenges in identifying professional pathways to support current and future teachers and build capacity in the system.
Sharing a task reduces the strain on individuals and can help to improve the quality of the process and the outcomes achieved. In this way, people become part of a professional community of co-learners who help each other and provide support when the going gets tough. Collaborative ways of working make sense. In larger establishments/services or in complex organisations such as residential special schools or secure care accommodation services, distributive leadership is an organisational necessity. In smaller establishments/services, such as pre-school or community centres or small primary schools it is a means of genuinely sharing decision-making.
Distributive leadership in the nursery |
Distributive Leadership in a Secondary School |
Sharing a task reduces the strain on individuals and can help to improve the quality of the process and the outcomes achieved.
What does distributive leadership look like?
The previous extracts provide examples of distributive leadership in a nursery and secondary setting. Other examples include:
It is important to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of staff who may have a quality assurance role such as senior managers, principal teachers faculty, other principal teachers and heads of department.
Distributive Leadership:
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Within the early years, The National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce: Report and Consultation sets out a distributive approach to leadership, particularly in relation to the roles and responsibilities for leadership and management in the early years. The literature on leadership in early childhood also identifies some key features of leadership in early education which require to be fully recognised as being important given the differences in culture which may exist in the early years sector.
How do we help students to become leaders of their own learning?
Key Message |
A culture of student leadership is focused on releasing the talents and energies of the leaders of the future. |
A number of other curriculum initiatives can be clearly aligned to developing the leadership of learners, but might not normally be considered in this way. For instance, initiatives linked to the citizenship agenda such as volunteering, involving young people in organising and running conferences or workshops, charity work or buddying can all be seen as part of leadership development. Similarly, teaching initiatives which develop the active engagement of learners, for example, cooperative learning, personal learning planning, peer learning, small group work or enterprise-based initiatives can be seen as part of culture which is focused on developing the leadership and learning of staff and students. A key question that we need to consider is,
"How do we develop a culture of student leadership which releases the talents, energies and creativity of all learners who will become the decision-makers and leaders of the future?"
Some thoughts from young learners: aged 10-12 We are leaders of our learning when we:
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Sections linked to the learner perspective are included in each of the following sections and begin address the challenge of helping students to become leaders of their own learning.
Student leadership in CLD |
What does distributive leadership mean for accountability?
Key Message |
Accountability is ultimately tied to the person who leads the organisation but every member of staff is accountable for the quality of their day-to-day work and allocated responsibilities. |
Most organisations have leaders who are in a position of formal authority such as Chief Executive, Director, headteacher, head of centre, principal or service manager. They play a vital role in the practice of leadership. Inspection evidence shows that the quality of leadership provided by these leaders in influencing their establishment matters greatly. It is important to note, however, that these leaders are seen to be effective not simply because of their position or power, but because of their ability to influence and empower others.
Whilst a number of people within an establishment or service share a sense of responsibility for leading tasks or projects or teams, they are not all accountable in the same way. Accountability is ultimately tied to the person who leads up the organisation. He/she has to make the decisions, have the challenging conversations and make the final decision which is in the best interests of the organisation. A key role is to ensure that everybody is working collectively towards common goals and towards the development of a quality establishment where learners achieve well. Leaders at all levels need to be clear about the person(s) to whom they are accountable, what is expected of them by their line managers and their responsibility in implementing agreed policies.
For long-term projects we need drive which may come from the top or from the bottom, and accountability for the results.
As inspectors we evaluate the impact of the leadership provided to an establishment/service and the ongoing monitoring where evidence is collated to effect improvement. This is demonstrated in, for example, the quality of student learning and achievement, attainment data, attendance and absence data as well as indicators such as the morale of staff and learners and the views of other stakeholders. Those in senior leadership positions take on the responsibility and are held increasingly accountable for orchestrating the conditions of learning so that all staff and learners perform to their potential.
Accountability for successful work and continuous improvement rests with everyone. Everybody in an establishment/service has to take responsibility for the quality of their work. Senior staff have to be prepared to delegate authority but not always accountability, and that is a real challenge. They need to be able to answer the question, ‘Who is accountable for what?’ and ‘Who is monitoring the impact of the work?’. This may include for instance, a middle manager ensuring a regular review of programmes, engaging in dialogue with staff about the quality of their work and monitoring departmental or sector planning to ensure that deadlines are being met. Similarly, unpromoted members of staff will be responsible for ensuring that they are well prepared for and regularly monitor the progress and assessment of learners in their charge. All staff are personally accountable for the quality of work they deliver on a day-to-day basis. It can be seen, therefore, that responsibility and accountability are part of the leadership equation. In the most effective establishments/services, responsibility for learning and teaching, high expectations and accountability coincide.
Self evaluation Materials |
Key Message |
There is no one leadership style and no one way to be successful. |
HM Inspectors visit a wide range of establishments and see different kinds of leaders working in very different contexts. What is clear is that there is no one leadership style and no single way to be successful.
Leaders need to develop different approaches for different situations. The most effective leaders are conscious of and able to adapt their strategies and styles to suit particular circumstances. Further discussions of adaptive and technical leadership are explored in Section 6.
Key Messages: Section 2 |
Leaders matter: exerting influence and making a difference
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Because I feel passionate about doing a good job and taking other people along with me. People get a kick out of being part of a good team — I’d like to think I could create a sense of ‘team’ if I got the chance.
College Team Leader
Because leadership is rewarding, challenging and stimulating!
Primary Chartered Teacher
Because I want to make a difference and challenge myself in different ways.
Further Education Associate Assessor
It means you get responsibilities and are proud when you do them right.
Primary school pupil
To have responsibility, to make people happy, to help people to achieve things, to make people confident and calmer.
Primary school pupil
Because there’s nothing like the buzz of helping others achieve.
Headteacher Secondary
I don’t know, I ask myself that question everyday!!! Seriously though, in order that I can influence the decisions and take action that will make a difference to other people’s lives, particularly young people.
Headteacher
To apply my skills in more settings/to increase professional challenges.
Principal Teacher
To try to inspire people to be all they can be.
Head of Year
You can have your ideas, meet new people and make changes — and it makes you happy!
P6 pupil
To broaden the range of activities I am exposed to; to learn how things work at a higher level; to make real differences in how the service moves forward.
Children’s Services Manager
To take charge of my life and to help guide others.
College student
Some views from college students
Without leadership there is no direction; with poor leadership there is the wrong direction.
Some views from student focus groups aged 12-17
Some views from college student focus groups
A good leader is someone who:
Some views from pupil focus groups aged 8-12
A good leader is someone who:
A good leader is someone who has confidence, good interpersonal skills, good management skills and is good at delegating.
Student focus groups aged 12-17
A good leader: