Conference Agenda

Contemporary principals lead schools amidst rapidly changing and complex contexts, many of which have long histories of persisting systemic and structural racial, economic, and social inequities. Research by members of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) from 20+ countries over the last two decades has found that, regardless of differences in contexts and conditions, successful principals’ work is predicated upon educational purposes that entail but transcend the functional, founded on principles of social justice, equity, and inclusion.

In ISSPP research, schools are considered as adaptive social systems that sit at the nexus of policy, communities, and society. Researching school leadership amidst a complex and rapidly changing society requires conceptualisations and methodologies to be sufficiently robust and dynamic to capture the nuances of the ways that multi-layered influences in society, communities, and schools shape, and are shaped by, what successful principals do.

In seeking to answer the urgent issues of defining how success is achieved and sustained in all schools and especially those serving high need communities, the ISSPP research examines school leadership through the lens of ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) which theorizes individual practices and development within the context of various dynamically interacting layers of social and ecological systems and uses the complexity theory (e.g., Byrne & Callaghan, 2013) to capture the processes and actions in which school organizations operate, develop, and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable, globalized world.

Drawing upon evidence from a sample of selected member countries, this symposium synthesizes ISSPP research findings over time and discusses how the newly developed ISSPP theoretical conceptualization and comparative methodologies enables the research to consider leadership as a multi-level phenomenon and capture the ways in which principals navigate within and between complex systems levels over time to grow and sustain success.

This symposium continues from the first part, beginning with the overview paper that explains the new conceptual and methodological directions of ISSPP research, including how we rethink the knowledge and research contributions from ISSPP to the educational leadership field; why we reconceptualise the field with new theoretical positionings and framing of successful leadership research and how we research with new methodological directions that capture the dynamics of context and leadership (e.g. mixed methods approach, comparative perspectives within and/or across countries). The next two papers present selected case studies to explain how the theoretical lens and/or methodological approach has been used to inform and make sense of the case study data in culturally and educationally relevant ways. The final paper provides a postscript on how the new conceptualisations and methodologies work to advance knowledge and understanding of the nature, practice, and impact of successful principalship.

The symposium concludes with a discussion and concluding comments/postscript as well as questions from the audience.

The introductory paper provides an overview that explains the new conceptual and methodological directions of ISSPP research, including how we rethink the knowledge and research contributions from ISSPP to the educational leadership field; why we reconceptualise the field with new theoretical positionings and framing of successful leadership research and how we research with new methodological directions that capture the dynamics of context and leadership (e.g. mixed methods approach, comparative perspectives within and/or across countries). In so doing, the paper provides a rationale for the use of ecological systems theory in research on successful school leadership, as they lead and manage the complex interactions within and between micro, meso, macro, exon and chrono level systems (Bronfenbrenner, 2009). The paper then unpacks the comparative design and multi-perspective, multi-level approach to conducting research that enables multiple causalities, multiple perspectives, and multiple effects to be charted (Cohen et. al., 2011). The new ISSPP comparative methodology is grounded in four conceptual and methodological considerations. First, context in education is multidimensional and fluid – encompassing not only multi-layered social ecological systems of education, but also how such systems influence each other to bring about change in values and behaviour over time. Second, how context matters and finds its scholarly roots in educational researchers’ intellectual, disciplinary, and professional insights, as well as their positionality and reflexivity from sociocultural and sociopolitical insider/outsider perspectives. Third, assessing the comparability of educational systems, practices, processes, and outcomes both within and across countries matters. Fourth, our approach not only recognizes differences in world views, forms of knowledge and practices between different cultures but also recognizes the reality that there are also important similarities in how children are motivated to learn, how committed and enthusiastic teachers teach, and how successful leaders create and sustain the contextually relevant conditions and cultures for the learning and growth of all children and adults in their schools. The comparative analytical process, theoretical positioning, and comparative mixed methods provide a coherent but contextually sensitive data analysis approach. In so doing, the ISSPP project goes beyond the mainstream “models” to theorize educational leadership in contexts with complexities and multiple layers of dynamic influences and to inform comparative research methodology in the educational leadership field of the future.

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. London: Routledge.

Purpose. This paper proposes a fresh analytical perspective to investigate how a school principal has initiated and sustained the “positive disruption” of the governance and structures of an inner-city primary school over time. Conceptualisation. The case study is informed by the philosophy of disruption which is deeply concerned with social changes that enhance and transform the practice and experience of everyday life of individuals and their institution (Manu, 2022). The conceptual strengths are twofold. First, the philosophy of disruption invites us to rethink disruptive change as a flowing, dynamic and organic process. As disruption unfolds to reshape the lives of a school organisation, it disturbs its systems, structures, practices and relationships at different levels, and functions as a catalyst for profound transformation in how individuals and teams envision the difference they want to make and how the organisation creates new cultures and structures upon which they operate to realise the new vision. Second, the philosophy redefines school leaders as positive disruptors who influence individuals and teams by challenging their current views and practices about education and by reshaping organisational structures, cultures, and opportunities to enable them to thrive. Methods. The case study has followed the ISSPP’s recently re-modelled research protocols. The team conducted three in-depth interviews with the principal and two in-person interviews with the current principal. We also interviewed three teachers with middle and senior leadership responsibilities, a class teacher, and a lead teaching assistant. Because of the small staff size (n=22), we are unable to present the teacher survey results in this paper. Findings. Success in this school has been an evolving, dynamic and resilient process of change and improvement. Relational capital, leadership capital, and the courage to disturb norms are essential ingredients of the change process. The portrait of a "positive disruptive" leader reveals the prevalence of the personal over the functional as an act of courage to tell vulnerability and create community. Over time the principal successfully transformed external accountability into an internally assumed and then collegially shared value. In this process, disruption of school cultures created, at times, uncertainties, not chaos. As we have showed through Christine’s leadership endeavor to turn around her school, when successful principals disrupt dysfunctional cultures, their vision, values and high expectations for the future of the organization set clear directions for the journey of success, and also, are fundamental to the sustainability of success.

Manu, A. (2022). The Philosophy of Disruption. Bingley, Emerald Publishing.

Purpose. In turbulent times with societal changes all over the globe, schools and their quality are essential to educate the next generation. Preparing students to meet and understand future challenges and possibilities requires the ability of school leaders to navigate across expectations emanating from national and local policy and culture. Our purpose in this symposium is to understand and explain how various school actors understand and contribute to what they see as good schooling for students in relation to academic results, ethics, and wellness. Conceptualisation. Earlier findings show that successful principals have more similarities than differences in their toolbox despite various contexts (Leithwood et.al, 2021). Successful principals are able to navigate across local and national contexts and policies in a way that benefits teaching and learning. In this process, they attend to diverse issues simultaneously as they engage others in collective competencies towards mutual objectives. Shared understandings, interaction, and communication are crucial to create supportive prerequisites for student learning (Johansson & Ärlestig, 2022). In order to support student learning, school leaders also need to build agency on various levels in the local school system (Biesta & Tedder, 2007; Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Method. The findings build upon the new ISSPP protocols. The empirical data derives from two compulsory schools where school leaders have been employed for more than three years and during that time improved the school outcomes. By using the ISSPP protocols it becomes possible to understand what principals, deputy principals, teachers, students, and parents value and find challenging in teaching and learning. It also enables a deeper understanding about actors’ agency, and priorities in combination with collective interactions and understandings as they strive to meet policy objectives and enhance students’ learning and well-being. Preliminary findings. In this paper we let various actors give their view of contributing factors to school success with regards to structure, culture, and leadership. In focus are the expectations on principals’ and deputy principals’ roles in navigating between existing structures and cultures while simultaneously addressing current and upcoming challenges. Schedules and other structural elements aim to promote a good working environment for everyone involved. How principals and teachers communicate aims and intentions and plan teaching become significant for students’ willingness to accept and contribute to schoolwork. It is also crucial to encourage parents to support teacher- and principal leadership for student learning.

Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the lifecourse: Towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661545 Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. The American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513 Johansson, O., & Ärlestig, H. (2022). Democratic governing ideals and the power of intervening spaces as prerequisite for student learning. Journal of Educational Administration, 60(3), 340–353. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-04-2021-0079 Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077

Background The recent systemic reforms in the Scottish education landscape feature a complex agenda, elements of which involve structural and cultural change and addressing the achievement gap. This study builds knowledge of successful school principalship in the context of Scotland and highlights the perceptions and actions of successful principals in their efforts to build a connected school system in which all education agents work together. It considers the opportunities and constant challenges these leaders face, and their response to such challenges by focusing on cultivating personal and professional sense of agency. Theoretical Framework This research was guided by a systems-centred approach which investigated the ways in which successful leadership practices contribute to school improvement processes, conditions, and cultures. It considered the ecological systems approach from Bronfenbrenner (1979) a useful theoretical framework for understanding the processes and interactions at multiple levels within and beyond the school system, and that the dynamic, non-linear changes within an educational ecosystem could be effectively understood by applying complexity theory. An ecological model, therefore, examined interactions between the micro-, meso-, macro-, exo-, and chronosystems, and was used to develop context-sensitive accounts of successful leadership in Scottish schools. Methods of enquiry Using a combination of multi-perspective data, an online staff survey and documentary information, this mixed methods research provides in-depth and insightful examples of principals’ successful leadership practices and further investigates relevant perspectives of various key stakeholders in their schools. The focus was on their leadership practices and how their leadership influences the structures, cultures, and the standards in performance of the school. A purposive sample of three schools (two primary, one secondary) was selected as case study sites and was drawn from different geographical regions across the country ensuring a geographical spread. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed following an iterative process of inductive and deductive coding (Yin, 2018). This analysis integrated finding and interpreting similarities and differences and acquiring new insights of successful school leadership practices which create structural alignment and ensure coherence and sustainable transformation within schools. Findings Findings from this study provide insight on how successful school leaders consider their entire school as a complex system with interconnected parts and build social infrastructures in order to be established as learning ecosystems. The significance of building relationships through a common set of values, beliefs, and expectations of members within a school community has been a fundamental driver for leading successfully.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. Yin R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage.