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Building leadership capacity in a primary school
Author
Leo, Constance Ching Jong
Supervisor
Zhang, Yenming
Abstract
There has been a shift in thinking with regard to school leadership in recent years. Instead of the trait theory that the Principal is the sole leader of the school and that all school improvement and effectiveness rest on him, there is an increasing trend of thought that school leadership should spread out to include the ordinary teacher in the classroom. The rationale is that teachers, being the people on the ground, know the situation best and being classroom practitioners, can offer concrete suggestions on how to improve school effectiveness. Furthermore, the classroom teacher, with forty pupils under his/her charge, is clearly designated as a leader of them. It is time to end the isolation of the egg-crate classroom and forge a collaborative culture in schools in which teachers are engaged actively in leadership beyond the confines of the classroom.
It is prudent for the Principal of a school to build leadership capacity among the teachers, pupils and parents because the environment, of which the school is a part, is always changing and the pace of change has quickened tremendously over the years. It is now critical to count on the collective intelligence of all the parts of the whole instead of one. Involving teachers would also serve to improve school effectiveness since teachers would be more committed and empowered to initiate changes and accept responsibilities.
This study examines how such collaborative leadership can be forged. It analyses what kinds of leadership dispositions, knowledge and skills teachers need to possess in order to build leadership capacity. It delves into literature to uncover issues arising from a move to build leadership capacity, such as, the issue of power and empowerment, the changing work roles, and the dilemmas of role change. It seeks to determine what conditions in a school would support leadership capacity building among teachers.
Data is obtained through two surveys, three case studies as well as two informal interviews and a structured interview in which the participants of the case studies are involved. The sample for the study comprises the 80% of the teaching staff members of a 15 year-old primary school of which 32.5% participated in the three case studies. In the staff survey on leadership dispositions, knowledge and skills needed for leadership capacity building, the teachers identified the dimension "Broad-based participation in leadership" as the area of greatest lack. This finding matches with the assessment in the "Conditions Survey" where broad-based participation in leadership work is perceived by them as the greatest area of lack. In the dimension of 'Skillful participation in leadership work', the teachers identified 14 of the 26 skills as skills which they lack and which therefore, would be areas of concern for the school.
Of the three case studies, Case study 2 in which the teachers collaborated in banded remediation, shows up most clearly that when teachers work collaboratively, pupil achievement is directly improved. In all, 91.3% of the 96 pupils showed improvement in their mastery of the English Language. For Mathematics, however, only 37.4% showed improvement in Semester 1 while 12.4% showed improvement in Semester 2. The teachers in Case study 2 did a very thorough job of drawing up a Beginning Teacher's Induction and Mentoring Programme (Appendices F - K) and tried out using the Grow model for their mentoring session with their mentee. Through their peer observation and coaching endeavours, the teachers in Case Study 1 demonstrate that there are a lot of good practices which pupils would benefit from when their teachers share strategies with each other.
The main finding to Research Question 1 'why must a Principal build leadership capacity?' is that the Principal is instrumental in bringing about school improvement through the building of leadrship capacity. The value of building leadership capacity is amply demonstrated in the case studies. For Research Question 2, 'how can a Principal build leadership capacity?' the study shows that by adopting Lambert's six-step conceptual framework, the processes of building leadership capacity can bring about results as seen in the findings of the three case studies. For Research Question 3, 'what conditions must a Principal create to support leadership capacity in the school?' the study shows that the physical conditions must be complemented with the shared vision and values of the school. For the school on which this study is based, the conditions which are lacking are broad-based leadership participation, teachers' skills for participation, and the inquiry-based use of information to inform shared decisions and practice. The freeing of time for collaboration is a structural obstacle which needs to be addressed. Over all, the easiest conditions to establish are those connected to high student achievement, for instance, the maximising of resources, and collaborative activities.
The school has now moved on to the development of teachers' skills in leadership capacity building and the building of leadership capacity among the pupils.
It is prudent for the Principal of a school to build leadership capacity among the teachers, pupils and parents because the environment, of which the school is a part, is always changing and the pace of change has quickened tremendously over the years. It is now critical to count on the collective intelligence of all the parts of the whole instead of one. Involving teachers would also serve to improve school effectiveness since teachers would be more committed and empowered to initiate changes and accept responsibilities.
This study examines how such collaborative leadership can be forged. It analyses what kinds of leadership dispositions, knowledge and skills teachers need to possess in order to build leadership capacity. It delves into literature to uncover issues arising from a move to build leadership capacity, such as, the issue of power and empowerment, the changing work roles, and the dilemmas of role change. It seeks to determine what conditions in a school would support leadership capacity building among teachers.
Data is obtained through two surveys, three case studies as well as two informal interviews and a structured interview in which the participants of the case studies are involved. The sample for the study comprises the 80% of the teaching staff members of a 15 year-old primary school of which 32.5% participated in the three case studies. In the staff survey on leadership dispositions, knowledge and skills needed for leadership capacity building, the teachers identified the dimension "Broad-based participation in leadership" as the area of greatest lack. This finding matches with the assessment in the "Conditions Survey" where broad-based participation in leadership work is perceived by them as the greatest area of lack. In the dimension of 'Skillful participation in leadership work', the teachers identified 14 of the 26 skills as skills which they lack and which therefore, would be areas of concern for the school.
Of the three case studies, Case study 2 in which the teachers collaborated in banded remediation, shows up most clearly that when teachers work collaboratively, pupil achievement is directly improved. In all, 91.3% of the 96 pupils showed improvement in their mastery of the English Language. For Mathematics, however, only 37.4% showed improvement in Semester 1 while 12.4% showed improvement in Semester 2. The teachers in Case study 2 did a very thorough job of drawing up a Beginning Teacher's Induction and Mentoring Programme (Appendices F - K) and tried out using the Grow model for their mentoring session with their mentee. Through their peer observation and coaching endeavours, the teachers in Case Study 1 demonstrate that there are a lot of good practices which pupils would benefit from when their teachers share strategies with each other.
The main finding to Research Question 1 'why must a Principal build leadership capacity?' is that the Principal is instrumental in bringing about school improvement through the building of leadrship capacity. The value of building leadership capacity is amply demonstrated in the case studies. For Research Question 2, 'how can a Principal build leadership capacity?' the study shows that by adopting Lambert's six-step conceptual framework, the processes of building leadership capacity can bring about results as seen in the findings of the three case studies. For Research Question 3, 'what conditions must a Principal create to support leadership capacity in the school?' the study shows that the physical conditions must be complemented with the shared vision and values of the school. For the school on which this study is based, the conditions which are lacking are broad-based leadership participation, teachers' skills for participation, and the inquiry-based use of information to inform shared decisions and practice. The freeing of time for collaboration is a structural obstacle which needs to be addressed. Over all, the easiest conditions to establish are those connected to high student achievement, for instance, the maximising of resources, and collaborative activities.
The school has now moved on to the development of teachers' skills in leadership capacity building and the building of leadership capacity among the pupils.
Date Issued
2001
Call Number
LB2806 Leo
Date Submitted
2001