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Leadership for learning: The challenges of leading in a time of change

Four  Leadership and direction: focusing on what’s important

Setting a vision and translating this vision into action requires clear direction.

This section is concerned with those key aspects of leadership which help to translate an organisation’s vision, values and aims into priority activities and desired outcomes. Effective and inclusive strategic planning is necessary to realise aims and focus on what is important. In the independent and non-compulsory sectors of education in particular, crucial components of leadership include an assessment of the resources required to achieve the desired outcomes and the identification of sources of funding. In all sectors, available resources have to be effectively deployed. Successful leaders also encourage innovation and welcome change where it is necessary. The evaluation and management of attendant risks is an integral attribute of successful leadership.

We highlighted in Section 3 that leaders work with others to define and agree the shared vision, values and aims and then use them to inform strategic planning. While it is recognised that leadership is partly about managing through what may seem at times to be confusing and difficult issues, strategic planning is critical in translating a vision of the future into reality. Some form of strategic plan is needed to translate the high-level expression of the aims and priorities for a foreseeable period such as one, two or three years.

Is planning about management or leadership?

Setting a vision and translating this vision into action requires clear direction. In recent years the focus has shifted from management on its own to leadership with effective management. What is required is both a long-term vision and a routemap: milestones in realising the vision and short-term indications of where people are on the journey. There are various definitions of leadership and management. What emerges is that leadership tends to be equated with vision and strategic direction while management is seen as a practical way of getting things done. For some the boundaries are clear — for others they tend to be blurred.

Management tends to be equated with an operational focus and a concern with meeting targets whereas leadership tends to be equated with vision and direction-setting. However, there is a danger of over-simplification and of downplaying the importance of management and management practices. It is crucial to have effective management systems in place so that establishments/services run smoothly and are well served by transparent budget and resource allocations and staffing structures. Both are required. It is also important to recognise those aspects of management which differ across sectors. For example, schools must work with their education authority in relation to issues such as staffing and devolved funding. Colleges on the other hand, are independent institutions who have control over finance and resources. This gives college principals much more control and scope to make changes than their counterparts in the school or CLD sectors. Leaders in independent residential special schools and secure care accommodation services must liaise with their placing authorities to agree the appropriateness of their curriculum and their strategies to meet the complex needs of young people.

Thinking and talking strategically

As with the development of vision, values, the involvement of staff in the planning process is vital to ultimate success. The contributions of individual staff will, of course, vary depending on each person’s role within an organisation. It is difficult to overstate the importance of good two-way communication in ensuring that staff at all levels feel that they have some ownership of the future direction and are both able and keen to play their part in meeting its strategic aims. Strategic thinking is a demanding task that requires leaders to consider competing priorities and make the hard decisions about those issues that are absolutely central to future development. It requires the ability to look some way ahead and to understand the factors that will have an impact. An effective strategist is able to see the big picture. Decisions have to take into account national and local priorities and the capacity for change in the establishment or service.

"Headteachers should demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the range of external influences which have an impact on strategic and operational planning."¹⁸

A number of colleges have a strategic forum, chaired by the principal, comprising senior and middle managers who meet on a regular basis to respond to strategic issues. The forum becomes an important vehicle for the exercise of leadership on the part of the principal and for the involvement of senior and middle management in policy formulation and decision making. The involvement of middle managers at the strategic forum and within their own sector review meetings ensures clarity of direction at strategic and departmental level.

Developing alternative models of leadership

In an education authority context, we are beginning to see alternative models of leadership which both enhance leadership capacity in schools and provide systems to create more focused monitoring across establishments. These include the development of learning communities and also clusters of two or three small schools managed by one headteacher.

Cluster headships

In cluster headships, arrangements are made whereby a specific teacher, sometimes a principal teacher, becomes a daily point of contact for parents and staff in the headteacher’s absence. An advantage of the model is that it gives the nominated teacher the chance of experiencing new leadership responsibilities and the experience of headship first hand. Monitoring on a day-to-day level is then being taken forward by this teacher and more strategic monitoring is overseen by the headteacher. There are additional benefits and flexibilities in sharing resources between sites, offering wider career development and opportunities for pupils to meet as part of a larger group for a range of activities such as sports, arts and personal and social development.

Creating time for staff to meet and talk about learning

We need to share ways in which leaders use their time creatively to allow staff to meet in small groups or teams to reflect on learning. Most staff feel that they are fully stretched in their day-to-day job. Time available for activities other than minor fine-tuning is often difficult to come by. All leaders face the challenge of creating time within busy staff schedules for reflection on learning and teaching and key improvements to be planned and delivered. It is important to create timetabled time for working groups and committees to meet. This will mean careful planning and the use of staff cover where necessary and agreed commitments at the beginning of a project.

Other factors which enable people to make progress and the best use of meeting times include:

• clear remits for working groups and/or committees;
• time for staff to talk about and reflect on learning and to learn from each other;
• involvement in action research projects;
• clear tasks linked to improvement priorities;
• SMART targets with associated milestones; and
• regular monitoring and progress reporting.

How do we help learners to take control of their own learning?

Leadership for Learning implies that staff and learners share their thoughts about learning and their respective roles in learning. In the best establishments, from the smallest primary school to the largest college, learners are supported to become leaders of their own learning and to take responsibility for their own progress and development. When this is considered seriously and planned for, learners become independent learners who have been supported to work individually as well as part of a group. Often this is supported by a clear focus on an aspect of learning such as independent learning featuring as a priority in the relevant improvement plan.

The move towards individual target setting and the tracking of progress is important in providing opportunities for conversations between staff and learners. Similarly, processes which support the personal development of learners can help to develop their confidence to express opinions and to challenge ideas. Clear advice and support at transition points, especially between school and post-school helps to ensure that learners are guided towards the kind of options that are most appropriate to their needs. The development of programmes such as thinking skills or study skills can help learners become aware of their learning strategies.

Learners who are helped to engage positively in conversations about:

• how they are doing;
• where they want to go; and
• what they need to do to get there,

have an increased chance of continuing to learn and strengthening their own leadership for learning. It is also helpful for students to realise that staff too, are continually developing their own learning and to share this with students. Similarly, staff like to learn about the kinds of activities that young people are engaged in outwith an establishment/service in order to maximise success for all learners. Guy Claxton talks about ‘building learning power’ to focus teachers on helping young people to become better learners.¹⁹

Leaders need to plan for sustainable improvements which balance long-term and short-term priorities which are linked to budgetary planning and control. Having established key educational priorities and outcomes through the planning process, leaders need to establish the volume and nature of resources required to achieve their objectives. The process of obtaining the resources required varies across sectors. For example, colleges obtain resources from a variety of public and private sector organisations, whereas in the school sectors, resources are derived largely or solely from a single central source. In residential special schools and secure care accommodation services, resources are acquired from placing authorities and a range of other sources. People skills and financial planning have become a large part of the job and managing an annual budget is an important feature of what senior leaders have to learn to do.

In all sectors leaders need to rank their priorities to ensure that resources are targeted most effectively. Effective leadership at all levels is built on awareness of the rationale for resource allocation decisions. To maintain staff morale and ensure effective teamworking, leaders involve staff in the decision-making process. This ensures that all are aware funding is being used to best effect, and is providing maximum value for money in terms of benefit to learners. Sustainability is a crucial factor and improvements need to be planned and delivered on a long-term basis.

How much risk is acceptable in relation to managing change?

Developments in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the emergence of lifelong learning have had a major impact on the planning and delivery of curricula across all sectors. Even where effective practice is taking place, successful organisations and their leaders look for ways to extend existing services to a wider group of learners, or progress from what is good towards excellence. Changing circumstances require innovative responses. For example, Anniesland College decided that the arrival of asylum seekers in Glasgow in 2000 provided new opportunities and challenges for education providers in the area. In identifying and meeting these needs, the college inevitably took risks. The college has been successful in rising to the challenge, because of an approach to leadership which was based on teamwork and mutual support.

Innovation, change, a commitment to excellence, maintaining the status quo — all these factors involve risk.

Effective leaders are aware of:

• the main types of risk;
• the different levels of risk associated with various organisational activities;
• the likelihood of each risk actually occurring; and
• the ways to address a risk when it does materialise.

Consequently, they are able to undertake activities that bring rewards. In the education sector these include crucial gains such as improved learning and attainment, more vocational or employment opportunities for learners or increased numbers of learners moving onto FE or HE provision.

What procedures do you have for managing risk?

Organisations face a variety of risks which range from organising educational excursions to the risks involved in taking forward too many changes too quickly and losing staff support. Risks can be categorised and associated with different levels of work within the organisation. These are some examples of risks to an establishment/service:

• the disappearance of a major income stream;
• a major curriculum change;
• losing strong partners from effective partnerships;
• major restructuring;
• being unable to deliver an integral part of a programme to a group of learners because of the illness of key staff and the unavailability of suitable cover; and
• change of policy of placing authorities who may prefer to place young people in local provision.

While all risks associated with educational institutions impact in one way or another on the quality of learner experiences, some have more direct effects than others. Leaders do need to have the courage to act in situations where results are not assured. They need to learn how to manage risks. Learners too often encounter challenging activities but must be helped to understand that they can risk making mistakes because they understand that they can learn from them.²⁰

The best advice I ever received — some thoughts for you to consider

If you haven’t got time to reflect, and think, and plan — sort out your time management.
Headteacher Secondary School

Always have good lines of communication. Be a good watcher and listener.
Headteacher Nursery

Lead by example — to lead is to serve.
Depute Head

Always walk on the sunny side.
Be yourself.

Think before you speak.
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
Count to ten.
Eat your greens!
P6 pupils

You can do anything you are given to do. Always consider things from other people’s perspective before making a decision.
Principal Teacher Primary

Don’t make a hasty decision when someone is pressing for an answer. THINK. REFLECT. DECIDE!
Headteacher Secondary

Go for respect, not popularity.
Headteacher Special School

Fail to prepare — prepare to fail.
Deal with problems before they escalate.
S6 students

To listen with your eyes!
Headteacher Primary

A noisy teacher makes for a noisy classroom!
Primary Teacher

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