The European context of school leadership – current trends, innovations and international initiatives - Plenáris konferencia előadás Típus: Tudományos-közéleti-társadalmi megjelenés a projektben elért tudományos eredmények elterjesztésének céljával Alprojekt: 5.4.3 Tanulás/tanítás kutatása és fejlesztése a felnőtt- és felsőoktatásban Megjelenés: TEMPUS PF Konferencia 2011. november 24. Budapest Résztvevő: Halász Gábor, előadó

1. The European context of school
leadership – current trends,
innovations and international
initiatives
„School Leader Competences: the Driving
Force behind Teacher Motivation and Student
Outcomes ”
TEMPIS PF conference
Budapest, 2011 November 24
Gábor Halász
ELTE University, Budapest

2. The „Great Research Question”
„Can we assume that leaders have a
significant impact on the process and
the outcomes of learning in the
school? Is there an evidence-base?”
(Quoted from the announcement of
the 2010 ENIRDELM conference,
conference
Szeged)
Key Stage 2 : Percentage of 11 year olds achieving Level 4 or
above
80
77
75 75 75 75
75
71 74
72 73 73
70 71
English 69
65
65
63
Maths
60 62
57 58
55
54
50
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

3. There seems to be
something new…
• The „great research question
” has become an explicit
European policy question
• Strong new research evidence

4. Conclusions/1
• The impact of school leadership on
pupil learning outcomes seems now to
be proved by strong research evidence
(taking into account complexity of the
impact-mechanisms)
• Leadership development remains a
complex task
(there are no simple recipes)

5. Conclusions/2
• Developing leadership seems to be
one of the most efficient ways for
countries to improve student
learning outcomes
(this has serious policy implications)
• The need for policy action seems to
be widely recognised at EU level
and in several member countries

6. Conclusions/3
• Research should increasingly focus on
identifying the most efficient specific
policies for leadership development
• The next „great question”:
„What works in SL
development policy?”
(the implications for
defining competences)
OECD (2009): Improving School Leadership The Toolkit

7. Thank you for your
attention!

8. The great research question has
become a common European
policy question
• European ministers dealt repeatedly with
school leadership
• S
everal European networks for school leader
p emerged
• The most recent
initiative: engaging national decision-make

9. Perseverance of Council conclusions on school
leadership
• Conclusion of November 2006
• Conclusion of November 2007
• Conclusion of November 2008
• Conclusion of November 2009
– „The knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers, as
well as the quality of school leadership, are the most
important factors in achieving high quality educational
outcomes”
– “Effective school leadership is a major factor in
shaping the overall teaching and learning environment,
raising aspirations and providing support for pupils,
parents and staff, and thus in fostering higher
achievement levels.”

10. European school leadership
networks and programs
• Older formations (e.g. ENIRDELM , ESHA)
• Recent formations
– European School Leadership Network (2004-2005)
– The Leadership Network (2009-)
– AHEAD project
– Developing Educational Leadership of Primary Heads and
Institutions (DELPHI)
– European Leaders' Training in Education (ELTE)
– Leadership improvement on student achievement (LISA)
– PROject-Based SCHOOL Management

11. European Policy Network on School Leadership
launched
(Crete, 6-8 September 2011)
„The Network should develop and manage a
platform to facilitate knowledge exchange
between those organisations and leading
individuals responsible for developing school
leadership policymaking and practice;
This should include national policymakers,
practitioners, researchers and stakeholders”
(Source: European Commission - Call for Proposals EAC / 42 / 2010

12. New research
evidence
In some countries
significant investment
has been made into
finding answers to the
„great research
question”

13. What do research teaches us?
• The complex, non-linear causal relationships
requires research designs that go beyond
simplistic correlational models
• It became clear that nothing can be understood
– without considering contextual factors,
and
– without considering the time factor.
• The components of effective leadership
should be presented in models that do not
hide complexity

14. Complexity
• Quantitative methods using
limited number of simple
variables grasp only a small part of factors
• Research design implications:
– Qualitative and quantitative methods had to be
combined
– Sophisticated linkages between the variables and
the reality had to be assumed
– Complex, dynamic casual models had to be
applied

15. Contextual factors
• Schools operating in different
social environments require
different leadership approaches
(what is good in one environment may be harmful in anothe
• Research design implications:
– „Failing schools” and effective
schools had to be put into
different sample groups
– Differential causal relationships
had to be looked for in different
subsamples

16. The time factor
• Schools in different
phases of development
require different leadership approaches
(what is good in one phase may be harmful
in another)
• Research design implications:
– Schools in different phases of their
organisational development could not be
left in the same sample group
– Differential causal relationships had to
be looked for in different subsamples
based on developmental phases
• Phases in the NCSL research report

17. Leadership in the three phases of
organisational development
• Initial phase
(the first year as head)
• Middle phase
(after 5 years)
• Extended phase
(after 10 Years)

18. What effective leaders do in the
initial phase
• improving the physical environment of the school
in order to create more positive, supportive
conditions for teaching and learning, teachers and
pupils’
• restructuring the senior leadership team and its
roles and responsibilities
• implementing performance management systems
and CPD opportunities for all staff
• (in more difficult schools)
setting, clearly communicating and ensuring
implementation of school-wide standards for
pupil behavior

19. What effective leaders do in the
middle phase
• a more regular and focussed use of
data as a means of informing
decision-making related to pupils’
progress and achievement
• distribution of leadership roles and
responsibilities.

20. What effective leaders do
in the extended (later)
phase
• personalising and enriching the curriculum
• continuing the wider distribution of leadership
• (in more difficult schools)
greater attention to establishing, maintaining
and sustaining school wide policies for pupil
behaviour as well as further improvements to
the physical environment and in the quality of
teaching and learning

21. Leadership
strategies for
improving student
learning
Low Middle Higher
SES SES SES
Leadership behaviour Initial
adapted to phase
• phase Middle
• SES (Social Economic Status) phase
• Level (primary, secondary)
• and other factors… Extended
phase

22. Strategies for improving student learning
Day et al., (2009): The Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes. Final Report. University of Nottingham. Research Report No DCSF-RR108

23. The components of school leadership
development policies
Implications for
defining school
leadership
competences
OECD (2009): Improving School
Leadership The Toolkit