Conference Agenda

Overview:

Contemporary principals lead schools for success amidst rapidly changing and complex national, state, district/municipality and community contexts with success defined by wellbeing and equity as well as academic outcomes. Complexities in a rapidly changing society require a multi-layered perspective (Author, 2020a) where schools are complex adaptive systems and societal institutions (Author, 2020b; Morrison, 2010). The theoretical framework for the International Successful School Principalship Project features complexity theory and ecological systems theory.

Complexity theory (e.g., Byrne & Callaghan, 2013) recognizes that organizations operate in a rapidly changing, globalized world. Closely related, ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) posits that individuals (children) typically find themselves in various ecosystems from the most intimate (home) system to the larger school system and then to the most expansive system, including society and culture. Together, our framing considers schools as adaptive organizations that work within contexts of multiple, evolving changes and nested influences that are culturally and historically situated. Drawing on this framing and ISSPP findings, we constructed an analytical framework to inform new research questions and a comparative, mixed methods case study methodology. The analytical framework provides a systems-oriented approach to investigating successful leadership, including contexts from local to transnational levels that influence leadership values, efficacy and practices mediating areas of change and ultimately, primary (academics, wellbeing) and intermediate outcomes (e.g., organizational capacity).

Research Questions

RQ1: To what extent, and in what ways, is ‘success’ in schools perceived and measured [similarly and/or differently within and across different countries]?

RQ2: What are the key enablers and constraints for achieving school ‘success’ in different contexts?

RQ3: To what extent, and in what ways, do diverse socioeconomic, cultural, political, and professional contexts at different levels of the education system influence systems in which schools operate?

RQ4: Are there similar and/or different personal dispositions and professional knowledge, qualities and capabilities needed in enabling leaders to be(come) successful in different contexts [within and across different countries]?

RQ5: What similarities and differences can be identified in the values, beliefs, and behaviors of successful school principals across different schools in the same country, [and across national cultures and policy contexts]?

RQ6: How do different key stakeholders within and outside the school community and at different levels of the education system define successful school leadership practices [within and across different countries]?

RQ7: Is each leadership practice identified by different key stakeholders within and outside the school community and at different levels of the education system truly essential for achieving and sustaining ‘success’ [across different schools within each country and across different countries; and over time]? In what ways?

RQ8: [How do different education systems support school principals to learn to become successful, and to sustain their success over time?]

RQ9: To what extent, and in what ways, do school principals contribute to the ‘success’ of their schools (and/or groups of schools) similarly or differently [ within and across different countries]?

Methodology

ISSPP utilizes a comparative mixed methods design, in which researchers draw upon different data sources and design elements in order to bring multiple perspectives to bear in the inquiry (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Patton, 2002). Data sources include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district/municipality, governors, principal, teachers, parents, and students and a teacher survey. A comparative analytical process (Authors, 2021) provides a coherent but contextually sensitive data analysis approach that supports triangulation and trustworthiness (Denzin, 2012).

The first paper presents the new theoretical framing as well as an analytical framework developed from empirical knowledge about successful leadership, and the methodology. The next three papers present cases that draw upon the theoretical framing, analytical framework, and comparative mixed methods in Spain

sThe case study that arises from the new ISSPP approach, has been carried out at the successful Secondary School Iliberis, located in the town of Atarfe at the province of Granada (Spain). The purpose of this case study is to deepen the knowledge about the difficulty of implementing a successful leadership in a school that fights for social justice, avoiding a mere descriptive, simplifying or reductionist approach. In this way, it shows the complex relationships between the structure and the process that school leadership implements to achieve the success of the Illiberis school. The methodology used is the one provided by the new ISSPP approach for the study of successful leadership from the theory of complexity and ecological system. It begins by creating a contextualization to base the case study of the Iliberis school within the context of the social, political and institutional framework of the Spanish educational system. The results obtained show complex relationships between the structure and process developed by the Iliberis school leadership to respond to the challenges highlighted in the macro contextual section. Complexity is resolved through “an easy and well organized school project” that “works”. The principal of Iliberis school faces the challenges derived from the current educational system and it does so with sense and vision, with solid structures and concrete strategies from which diverse leadership types are applied. It develops simple, realistic action plans, allowing time for transformation and change, without losing sight of the objective (students) and the engine of change, which is the teaching staff. The school principal takes great care of his teaching staff, recognizing their work, giving them prominence, agency, and freedom so that they become authentic leaders, and they contribute together to a process of innovation and constant educational improvement. The study has provided a leap of knowledge about the successful leadership obtained from the understanding of the practical wisdom of the Illiberis school's professionals. Therefore, this example about the Iliberis School serves as evidence of how it is possible to lead a school through a simple and coherent project that 'works', starting from the difficulties involved in the struggle for social justice within the complexity of the current Spanish educational system.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Author (2018). Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Haggis, T. (2008). ‘Knowledge Must Be Contextual’: Some possible implications of complexity and dynamic systems theories for educational research. Educational philosophy and theory, 40(1), 158-176. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374- 393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage. Spillane, J. P. (2006). Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. In Rethinking schooling (pp. 208-242). Routledge.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute with insights about successful principalship (Day & Gurr, 2018) from a Norwegian context. The study has a s multiple perspective and is building on the voices of principals, assistant principals, middle leaders, and students from four primary and secondary schools in Norway. It builds on in depth interviews and focus group interviews, as well as a teacher survey. Following the new ISSPP protocols, the data have been subjects to contents and discourse-inspired analysis. Complexity theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Haggis, 2008) serves as an analytic framework. A deeper understanding of success considers the interdependency between the different leadership levels in the school and that leadership is stretched over situations (Spillane, 2006). The aim has been to examine how successful principalship is perceived and experienced by multiple actors in the four cases. Moreover, the aims have been to identify the key enablers and constraints for achieving school ‘success’, as well as contextual features. Successful principalship is a matter of having common values and acknowledgement of the interdependency between principals, middle-leaders and teachers. The students’ wellbeing, learning and results is a prime focus in all the four cases. The analysis indicates differences in how leadership is distributed across situations (Spillane, 2006), and how principals engage in the core activities. While some principals are very close in following up the students, others lead through the middle leaders, from a distance. Involvement of multiple actors seem to be an enabling factor, as well as designing well-functioning structures while constraining factors seem to be related to lose couplings in the school community, especially in large upper secondary schools. Concerning context, we find a difference between upper secondary schools and primary and lower secondary schools in principal’s room for manoeuvre. There seems to be fewer policy demands from the regional educational authorities in the upper secondary schools, as long as they keep the budget, however, in the lower secondary and primary schools the local educational authorities are much more engaged in pedagogy.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Author (2018). Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Haggis, T. (2008). ‘Knowledge Must Be Contextual’: Some possible implications of complexity and dynamic systems theories for educational research. Educational philosophy and theory, 40(1), 158-176. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374- 393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage. Spillane, J. P. (2006). Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. In Rethinking schooling (pp. 208-242). Routledge.

This case explores the creation of a Catholic primary school in Melbourne, Australia; Patron Saint Catholic Primary School (PSCPS). The founding principal has led the creation of a recontextualised Catholic primary school over a ten-year period. This is the principal’s second principalship, having previously served for six years in a more challenging inner-city Catholic primary school. The study draws upon individual interviews with the principal (three interviews), Parish Priest, Religious Education Leader, Deputy Principal, level leaders (year 5-6, year 3-4, foundation to year 2 (two leaders) and two specialist leaders), six teachers, two group interviews each with four parents and two group interviews each with four students from years 5/6, observation of the life of the school, document analysis and a teacher survey. The case shows: • How the prinicpal’s background, education, personal philosophy and personal dispositions and characteristics that helped form his identity as a leader. • The development of the school was framed by the principal’s pedagogical leadership of 21st Century Learning and the underpinning of the school by establishing a sustainable professional learning community and a creation of a contemporary Catholic school environment with a religious identity for the school. • The principal’s ability to build the capacity of teachers and lead in and from the middle highlighted the distributive approach to his leadership. • The principal was able to navigate the various levels of context and meet and overcome the internal and external challenges. His approach and decision making were firmly based on evidence-based research. We conclude by showing how his leadership maps onto a model of successful school leadership developed from previous ISSPP cases.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Author (2018). Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Haggis, T. (2008). ‘Knowledge Must Be Contextual’: Some possible implications of complexity and dynamic systems theories for educational research. Educational philosophy and theory, 40(1), 158-176. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374- 393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage. Spillane, J. P. (2006). Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. In Rethinking schooling (pp. 208-242). Routledge.

In Italy, the creation of Comprehensive Institutes (CI) in 2002 has determined, for principals, high complexity in coordinating school contexts that could be very different from each other. This is the case of the CI 06 "Chievo-Bassona-Borgo Nuovo" in Verona (Italy), which merges one kindergarten, three primary schools and one junior secondary school spread over 10 km across three very different districts. Habitants in Chievo enjoy a comfortable standard of living in a residential district. In contrast, Borgo Nuovo constantly challenges by various waves of migration, social and economic disadvantage, unemployment and drug abuse. Bassona is instead characterised by a mix of migrant families living between farmland and an industrial zone, with an influx of middle-class families building new homes. The demographic characteristics of the territories inevitably influence the highly uneven composition of the populations of the schools included in the CI, which is expected to function as one. To cope with the complexities of individualised practices, lack of communication between and within each setting, no curriculum planning documents or processes, during the nine years of principalship, the principal worked in three directions: a) professional development for all in-service teachers to lift the quality of curriculum and pedagogy and to better understand their role in improving student engagement and wellbeing; b) enhancing internal and external communication and collaboration, to create various educational networks; c) effective administrative tools and processes to comply and work with the bureaucratic requirements and reforms mandated by the Ministry of Education.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Author (2018). Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Haggis, T. (2008). ‘Knowledge Must Be Contextual’: Some possible implications of complexity and dynamic systems theories for educational research. Educational philosophy and theory, 40(1), 158-176. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374- 393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage. Spillane, J. P. (2006). Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. In Rethinking schooling (pp. 208-242). Routledge.