Leading schools in changing times
Ola Hoff Kaldestad2009
Schools are complicated institutions
Peter Senge: Schools that learn (2000)
Systems Thinking
The Knowledge promotion Reform 2006
In order to climb the PISA ladder
FOUR PILLARS OF EDUCATION(UNESCO, 1996)
New Public Management (in England)
1. Individual responsibility*2. Risk-minimisation (e.g. ‘educational triage’) 3. Transmissive teaching (e.g. closely defined syllabi and teaching strategies)4. A focus on measurable outcomes *5. Detached relationships, related to performance (e.g. commodification of pupils) 6. Competitive working relationships seen as key to create improvement *7. Trust based primarily on systems of monitoring and motivation (theory X) (also
see Elliot, 2001, O'Neill, 2002)8. Customer-supplier relationships with the environment (e.g. parents) * 9. Conformity, associated with external control and risk minimisation (Thrupp &
Willmott, 2003) 10. Strong ‘heroic’ leadership (e.g. ‘superhead’ )Critics: e.g. Ball (2001); Thrupp and Willmott (2003); Alexander (2003) NPM: e.g. *Hood (1991); Enteman (1993); Fergusson (2000)
OLA HOFF KALDESTAD
To be a true teacher, you must be a learner first:
Indeed, teachers` own passion for learning inspires their students as much as their expertise do (Senge 1999: 332).
Schools-as-learning-communities
1. Shared responsibility among all members 2. Considered risk-taking and experimenting to improve teaching and learning 3. Social constructivist thinking & reflective practice, prevalent and dominant 4. A focus on activities which improve every member’s educational experience5. Mutual care & respect6. Working relationships that tend to be collaborative, but embrace diversity, and
seen as key to improvement 7. Mutual trust (theory Y)8. Partnerships with the environment (for example, parents) 9. Diverse interests and talents embraced10. Distributed leadership
e.g. Jeffrey, B. & Woods, P. (2003) Mitchell and Sackney (2000); Sergiovanni (1999); Retallick et al (1999); Fielding (1999)
Inservice-training program for new school leaders
• A ministry-made curriculum frame• Invitation to universities and teacher-training
colleges to tender• Cooperation between institutions that delivered
tender• Three out of eleven were selected• My institution in cooperation with five nabour-
institutions in Western Norway got one of the contracts
To become a leader, you must first become a human being.
Confusius
Our Model
• The role of school leadership, attitude, educational credo, how to create trust
• Cooperation and teambuilding. Building a learning organization
• Development and improvement. Leading a learing organization
• The learning environment and pupils learning• School management
OLA HOFF KALDESTAD
The leader as a Servant
• It has been shown again and again in combat that when people`s lives are at stake, they will only reliably follow commanding officers who they trust, who they perceive as having their well-beeing at hart (Senge 1999:334).
Aims and Values are of Importance
Learning and change are facilitated when values and goals are articulated, shared, consistent, and connected.
OLA HOFF KALDESTAD