The Bashful Blogger

The Fourth Way of Leadership and Change

e-Learning/ICT in itself will have no positive effect on student achievement unless pedagogy is also adapted.

The first way: 60s-70s Innovation without coherence

The second way: 80s- early 90s Top-Down Government – goals, performance, targets – support bottom up

The third way: 90s Top-Down government – support bottom up, goals, performance, targets, resources, materials, training, lateral learning peer pressure and support, public engagement integrated services

Finland

• 5 million people, essentially mono-cultural
• clear societal vision
• strong public investment
• high quality hight status teachers
• steering by the state
• local curriculum development
• trust, cooperation and responsibility
• improvement through uplift
• leaders who teach
• no initiative-itis

Nokia accounts for 40% of national GDP.  Nokia named after river, town, rodent!

High quality teachers with enough pay but not outlandish.  Within broad guidelines teachers develop curriculum.   Schools described with atmosphere of trust, teachers take responsibility for ALL students.  Collaborative trust and responsibility.

The school belongs to everyone not to the leaders/principal.  If the principal is away does he/she have the trust, has he/she built the capability for the school to run well without them for a period of time?

London – Tower Hamlets

• Diverse, poor community
• Poverty no excuse for failure
• Over 10 years (since 1996) student achievement levels lifted to national norms
• Director and Principals co-constructed measurable shared targets
• High quality teachers with commitments to the community
• No standard assessments
• Teacher support into classrooms – help with preparation, duties etc
• When the school effects the community you can get more effective engagement

Comparing education with other successful industries/companies

Internet shopping site, Australian cricket, automobile manufacturer:

• Competition between schools is detrimental – we are all part of “education”

• Agreement on units of measurement for performance – to reflect what they are trying to achieve.

1. An inspiring and inclusive vision:   A compelling and inclusive moral purpose steers a systems, find it together
2. Public Engagement:  Open professionalism that includes the public builds awesome schools
3. No achievement without investment:  Schools cannot excel alone but need communities and society
4. Corporate Educational Responsibility:  The businesses that get invited to the educational policy table should be those practice corporate social responsibility.  Accountability sould be mutual and transparent, not secret and one-sided.
5. Students as partners in change:  students are usually the targets of change efforts and services.  They are rarely change partners.  Without students, there would be no teachers.  If shcools and school systems sustain a broader vision … teir students will become committed to changing the world.

3 Principles of Professionalism

• High quality teachers

• prowerful professionalism

• lively learning communities

4 Catalysts of Coherence

1. Sustainable leadership
2. A net with no nanny – spread innovation, stimulate learning, increase professional motivation and reduce inequities, govt to set-up and support but not control/regulate
3. Responsibility before Accountability – to ourselves, each other and our students.
4. Build from the bottom, steer from the top – improving policy delivery, democratic and sustainable path to improvement.  Standards but no standardisation.  Bold targets, hard work.