26. Educational Leadership
Poster
Untangling Leadership Webs between Principals, Teachers and Board Members: An Exploration of Distributed Leadership in Swiss Schools
Ella Grigoleit
FHNW, Switzerland
Presenting Author: Grigoleit, Ella
The formal establishment of school leadership in Switzerland, initiated around three decades ago with the introduction of the principal's role, significantly transformed traditional structures. Currently, leadership and management responsibilities are characterized by a shared mandate, subject to negotiation among school boards, principals, and teachers. Despite its acknowledged importance, empirical findings on the practice of distributed leadership in German-speaking Swiss schools remain limited. This study aims to address this gap by exploring leadership beyond formal positions, focusing on its manifestation through the practices of individuals, interactions, and mediating artefacts (Spillane et al., 2004). Guided by a distributed leadership perspective, the study seeks to uncover the intricate dynamics of leadership as an interaction (Diamond & Spillane, 2016).
Acknowledging the suggestion for leadership to be understood and studied as „a process that comprises both organizational and individual scopes“ (Tian et al., 2016, p. 156), a comprehensive research design is being used; aiming to capture both the "official" distribution of tasks based on legal regulations and school-specific policies, as well as lived experiences in public schools. Therefore, triangulation serves as an exploration into both the formalized structures and the realities of practices, contributing insights to the discourse on distributed leadership.
The research questions guiding this study are:
- What is the legal and institutional context for cooperation?
The first dimension explores how responsibilities and competencies are officially regulated among board members, principals, and teachers. Emphasis is placed on investigating the official channels through which responsibilities and competencies are allocated within the school structure, including cantonal legal texts and location-specific regulations. The aim is to extract insights into the formalized structures guiding responsibilities.
- How is the practical assumption of responsibilities and competencies shaped within the school setting?
The second dimension delves into the practical aspects of how responsibilities and competencies are assumed and negotiated within the dynamic school environment. This involves extensive shadowing-type observations of principals and teachers, as well as interviews with key stakeholders, including principals, teachers, and board members. These qualitative explorations aim to capture the nuanced arrangements and perceptions of leadership practices, decision-making processes, and the lived experiences of assuming leadership responsibilities. Through these interactions, the intricacies of how stakeholders navigate and interpret their roles within the established leadership framework are sought to be uncovered.
- Why do actors or groups engage in leadership-related collaborative efforts or refrain from doing so?
This dimension sheds light on the expectations, motivations, and barriers that influence actors or groups to assume or relinquish responsibility, collaborate, participate in, or withdraw from distributed leadership practices. Understanding the underlying factors, such as organizational culture, power relations, and perceived benefits, will provide insights into the complex dynamics shaping collaborative endeavours or the lack thereof.
The data collection includes:
- Examination of official documents detailing the distribution of responsibilities and accountability: This process involves a meticulous review of policies governing leadership roles to extract insights into the formalized structures guiding responsibilities and accountability.
- Approximately 25 interviews: Conducted with key stakeholders, including school leaders, teachers, and board members, these interviews delve into the nuanced perceptions of leadership practices, decision-making processes, and the lived experiences of assuming leadership responsibilities in the dynamic context of education. The aim of conducting such semi-structured interviews is to gather in-depth insights from participants while allowing flexibility to explore emerging themes and clarify ambiguities during the interview process.
- Observational data from about 20 weeks of shadowing: Documenting day-to-day school activities of principals, teachers, and other stakeholders to provide contextual insights. This observational component aims to capture the practical execution of leadership, offering a real-time portrayal of how responsibilities and competencies are assumed and negotiated in fast-paced school environments.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedTo gain a better understanding of the complex leadership dynamics within and across educational institutions and units, a multifaceted, explorative approach is being used. In line with Grounded Theory Methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2015), the research process unfolds iteratively, allowing themes and phenomena to emerge successively and guide the ongoing inquiry. As formative elements of the nature, perception and manifestation of leadership-related cooperation can vary between settings and individuals, flexibility and the possibility of adaption play a pivotal role in the research process. Throughout this iterative journey, data is collected using semi-structured guides, facilitating the inductive derivation and refinement of preliminary categories from the data. This systematic refinement of preliminary categories is instrumental in approaching the explanation of phenomena methodically and comprehensively. Memos that are regularly written on practical and theoretical considerations, serve as vital tools to record reflections on preconceptions, insights, and analytic notes throughout the data collection and analysis process.
Following Strauss and Corbin's framework, three distinct coding stages for the systematic analysis of qualitative data are involved. Importantly, these stages are not rigidly sequential; instead, they often occur alternately or simultaneously, reflecting the iterative and flexible nature of the research process.
In the initial phase of Open Coding, a meticulous examination of the data occurs line by line and serves to “break apart” units, carrying meaning. This process involves the identification of concepts and the assignment of descriptive or interpretive codes without predefined categories. The aim is to allow a broad spectrum of phenomena to surface, permitting the emergence of patterns and relationships organically.
Moving into the Axial Coding stage, the focus shifts to establishing connections between the identified categories and phenomena. Ties between categories are explored, and a coding paradigm is developed to understand how these categories relate to central phenomena. Axial coding aims to provide a more structured and interconnected perspective.
The final stage, Selective Coding, involves selecting a core phenomenon or category, often identified through axial coding, that encapsulates the central theme or storyline of the research. Other categories are then integrated around this core, creating a cohesive and integrated narrative. Selective coding refines the theory further, concentrating on the most significant phenomena and their interconnections.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe landscape of Swiss education sees principals as a relatively recent professional group. Concurrently, school faculties comprise diverse educators with varying experiences of professional autonomy throughout their careers. The involvement of teachers in shaping and developing schools is now explicitly embedded in the professional responsibilities of educators in some cantons. However, empirical insights into the nature of this collaboration remain limited. This study aims to deepen our understanding of the distribution of responsibilities in the ongoing development of schools.
Preliminary findings suggest that the configuration of leadership is influenced not only by factors such as organizational structure and resource availability but also significantly by existing interpersonal relationships, change processes and previous professional experiences. Within the school environment, where taking on additional responsibilities is not incentivized to the same degree as in other professional domains, elements like mutual trust, shared beliefs, and entrenched behavioural norms appear to be accentuated.
Ambiguities, such as relationships between proximity and distance, freedom and obligation, collective responsibility based on shared values and individual professional self-conception as well as varying expectations, reveal themselves as intricate aspects in navigating and understanding distributed leadership practices, not as an end in itself, but as a result of continuous mutual influence. This complex interplay underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of how responsibilities are distributed and collaboration is fostered within the evolving landscape of school and leadership development.
These insights illuminate a nuanced interplay between different stakeholders, demonstrating relevance not only within the Swiss educational landscape but also in comparable settings such as Germany, Scandinavian countries, and the Netherlands (Ärlestig et al., 2016), where the teaching profession is characterized by a relatively high degree of autonomy. The elucidation of this intricate dynamic prompts significant questions concerning the forthcoming leadership competencies among stakeholders, facilitating successful collaborative shaping and development of schools.
ReferencesÄrlestig, H., Day, C., & Johansson, O. (Eds.). (2016). A Decade of Research on School Principals. Springer International Publishing.
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (2015). Basics of qualitative research. Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.). Sage.
Diamond, J. B., & Spillane, J. P. (2016). School leadership and management from a distributed perspective: A 2016 retrospective and prospective. Management in Education, 30(4), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020616665938
Spillane, J. P., Halverson, R., & Diamond, J. B. (2004). Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027032000106726
Tian, M., Risku, M., & Collin, K. (2016). A meta-analysis of distributed leadership from 2002 to 2013: Theory development, empirical evidence and future research focus. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 44(1), 146–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143214558576
26. Educational Leadership
Poster
The Relationship Between the Career Model of School Directors and Student Learning Achievement in General Education
Daiva Bubeliene1, Gediminas Merkys2, Sigitas Vaitkevicius3, Vaino Brazdeikis4
1Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; 2Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; 3Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; 4Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Presenting Author: Bubeliene, Daiva
The quality of schools is not only determined by educational achievement. Non-cognitive characteristics, children's health, well-being, moral education are important. However, learning success is an essential component of school quality. The greatest successes here are the TIMSS and PISA projects, which are carried out in the format of a large study. Large-scale studies have made progress in discovering predictors that impact learning success. These are social and economic factors: urban-rural differences, gender differences, school type differences, family characteristics, etc. These are also educational factors - learning environment, educational curriculum, learning methods, etc. Psychological factors should also be mentioned: motivation, school self-concept. Unfortunately, the question of what role the school principal plays in ensuring good learning outcomes is still relatively poorly addressed. More has been done in areas such as evaluation research and school improvement studies. The limitation is that these are mostly local, sampling-based studies. Questionnaire methods based on subjective self-assessments are mostly used. Social desirability and confounding effects inevitably occur. There is a need to examine the impact of school leadership and principal's potential on students' learning achievements. This is about the total census data from state statistics. Learning outcomes are multi-causal in nature, so it is not worth hypothetically expecting that the principal's factor will be crucial. It's probably relatively small, but it's still there. How does the phenomenon occur? What statistical regularities occur here? There is currently no information on this. This research and report is dedicated to partially clarifying this question. School leadership can be conceptualized in different ways: through the career model, personality traits and leadership style, etc. The big data from state statistics handed over to the research team was characterized by a limited number of variables describing the position of the director. The study is limited a few aspects. 1. Can older school leaders of pre-retirement and retirement age ensure good student learning outcomes and be as effective as younger school leaders? The issue is particularly relevant in the major debate over raising the retirement age for workers in the EU. Is it appropriate to introduce a limit of two consecutive terms of office for school principals, as happened in Lithuania? 2. Is it appropriate to give official ranks to public school principals? Does a degree guarantee better educational achievement of students whose schools are led by such respected “elite” principals with higher prestige, symbolic capital and higher salary? Should such categories and ranks be seen only as a relic of the Prussian government system of the 18th-19th centuries? Should the director's performance be evaluated without regard to professional history and only based on actual results based on external audit? 3. Should an applicant who has previously been a good teacher representative and has experience in education become a principal? Is it appropriate to appoint a person with management experience in business or public sector as a director? The question is not only relevant to education and can hypothetically be transferred to other sectors. Who can be a good director of a museum, library, hospital: a specialist or a general manager? In Lithuania there has always been a rule that only a former educator with experience in education can lead a school. At the moment anyone with management experience and a university education can participate in the selection process to become a school director. The peculiarity of the study is that the answers to the questions were examined not on the basis of sampling studies, but on the basis of total census data, which ensures the objectivity, validity and universal generalizability of the discovered statistical regularities.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe study is based on total census data. This is data on the learning achievements of Lithuanian students, measured by standardised tests. Such centralised tests at national level are conducted in Lithuania by the National Agency for Education. The researchers received all anonymised data from the agency for the years 2015-2021. The total number of students tested is 248,000. The national tests are based on the example of TIMSS and PISA. In long tests, there are tasks on different topics and with different levels of difficulty. In terms of content, the tests covered the main subjects of maths, reading and writing in the lower grades, maths, state language (Lithuanian) and the main foreign language (English) in the upper grades.
The mathematics test in 4th, 6th and 8th grade lasts up to 1 hour and includes 30-40 primary tasks. In the 10th grade, the test lasts up to 2 hours and comprises 30-40 tasks and in grade 12 lasts up to 3 hours and includes up to 25 tasks.
The data originally collected for school administration is valid and also suitable for use in science. In the conclusion of the secondary and tertiary factorization, it became clear that the overall index of educational success can be derived from the estimates of various school subjects and defined as a dependent variable.
The independent variable captures a specific career model of school headmasters. It comprises three primary main variables: 1) The age of the headmaster, 2) Was the supervisor a teacher before becoming a headteacher? What was the highest qualification category as a teacher at that time? In Lithuania, these are "teacher", "teacher-methodologist" and "teacher-expert". 3. Does the headmaster have a leadership category (official rank) or not? There are four possibilities in Lithuania: the director has / hasn’t categories I, II and III. The relative restriction of the hypothetical created career model was determined objectively and did not depend on the will of the researchers. The state Data provided to the researchers contained exactly this amount of information about the headmasters.
When working with total census data, statistical tests and inferential statistics lose their usual significance, which are very characteristic of sampling studies. There is no sampling error and bias effects are unlikely. Cohen's effect of size was used to appropriately assess differences between compared group means. Differences of less than 0.20 standard deviation points were ignored and not interpreted.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe analysis of data revealed specific statistical regularities.
1. the older the headteachers, the more favourable the academic achievement of the pupils in these schools.
2. the higher the headteacher's leadership category, the more favourable the learning achievement of pupils.
3. the higher the teacher's career category before the headmaster held the position, the more favourable the learning achievement of the pupils in these schools.
4. the career model of head teachers, operationalised by the three variables mentioned above, has a systematic effect on the learning achievement of pupils.
The sometimes-widespread expert opinion that the rotation of headmasters is necessary and the term limit (up to two consecutive terms of office) is controversial. The opinion that headteachers remain in their position for too long, the effectiveness of leadership decreases and the school begins to stagnate is controversial.
Teachers who are established in the profession and have a good work record represent a good resource from which headteachers can be recruited.
At least in public schools, it is appropriate to have a system of leadership categories. Such a system of symbolic and material promotion of leaders motivates the leaders and has a positive effect on the functionality of the school.
The statistical regularities found give rise to discussions about the importance of raising the retirement age for employees, including public sector managers. Although statistical regularities were only found in the population of school headmasters, these can be hypothetically transferred to museums, libraries, etc. in relation to the population of managers. The position of head teacher should not be compared to the tenure of a politician or civil servant who is elected for two terms. It is a creative mission whose personal suitability should be confirmed on the basis of actual achievement, as determined by external audits, certification, with no time limit.
ReferencesBubelienė, D., Merkys, G. (2019). „School's Cultural Diversity: What Is the Difference Between "School of Happiness" and "School Prison"?”//International Scientific conference ‘’SOCIETY, INTEGRATION, EDUCATION - SIE2019’’ (ISSN 1691-5887, eISSN 2256-0629) Volume II, May 24-25, pg. 53-69.
Cox, J. S., & Mullen, C. A. (2023). Impacting student achievement: Principals’ instructional leadership practice in two Title I rural schools. Journal of School Leadership, 33(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/10526846221133996
Earley, P., & Weindling, D. (2007). Do school leaders have a shelf life? Career stages and headteacher performance. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35(1), 73-88. DOI: 10.1177/1741143207071386
Grissom, J. A., Egalite, A. J., & Lindsay, C. A. (2021). How principals affect students and schools. Wallace Foundation, 2(1), 30-41.
Karadag, E. (2020). The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: A cross-cultural meta-analysis research on studies between 2008 and 2018. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09612-
Karadağ, E., Bektaş, F., Çoğaltay, N., & Yalçın, M. (2015). The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: A meta-analysis study. Asia Pacific Education Review, 16(1), 79-93. DOI 10.1007/s12564-015-9357-x
Landahl, J. (2020). The PISA calendar: Temporal governance and international large-scale assessments. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52(6), 625-639.
Levin, S., Scott, C., Yang, M., Leung, M., & Bradley, K. (2020). Supporting a Strong, Stable Principal Workforce: What Matters and What Can Be Done. Research Report. Learning Policy Institute.
Mahmut, Ö. Z. E. R. (2020). What does PISA tell us about performance of education systems?. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 9(2), 217-228.
Merkys, G., Čiučiulkienė, N., Bubelienė, D. Kvieskienė, G. (2021). Cognitive Reductionism as a Challenge for Teacher Training and Socialization. „Pädagogische Visionen im 21. Jahrhundert“, Peter Lang , p. 317-369.
Nilsen, T., & Teig, N. (2022). A systematic review of studies investigating the relationships between school climate and student outcomes in TIMSS, PISA, and PIRLS. International Handbook of Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education: Perspectives, Methods and Findings, 1-34.
Schwippert, Knut, Daniel Kasper, Olaf Köller, Nele McElvany, Christoph Selter, Mirjam Steffensky, and Heike Wendt. TIMSS 2019: Mathematische und naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenzen von Grundschulkindern in Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich. Waxmann Verlag, 2020.
Van der Heijden, B., De Vos, A., Akkermans, J., Spurk, D., Semeijn, J., Van der Velde, M., & Fugate, M. (2020). Sustainable careers across the lifespan: Moving the field forward. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 117, 103344.
Yalçın, M. T., & Çoban, Ö. (2023). Effect of school leadership on student academic achievement: school level path variables. Current Psychology, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04886-6
26. Educational Leadership
Poster
Accountability and Transparency: Analyzing Mutual Perceptions Between Schools and Their Support Systems
Christian Scherner
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany
Presenting Author: Scherner, Christian
Ensuring the effectiveness and quality of educational institutions is not just the responsibility of individual school stakeholders. Rather, the school as an educational organization is embedded in a complex system of interdependencies. If we want to understand how transformation processes (e.g. digitalization) are implemented in schools, we must also consider the role of regional school supervisory authorities, municipal school boards, institutions linked to the regional department of education, and other supporting structures., However, there is a lack of research on these supporting structures of schools and the associated educational administration (Berkmeyer, 2020). Attempts to close this gap usually focus on the interaction and task profiles of school leadership and school supervision (Dobbelstein et al., 2020).
In practice, the school boards of the municipality and the support institutions linked to the regional ministries of education present themselves as important contributors who create the necessary framework conditions and control resources, especially for the promotion of digitalization (Bockhorst & Kreutzmann, 2021). This is where the article becomes relevant. Using the example of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the perspective of the school leaders and the teachers responsible for digitalization in schools - in this state, individual teachers are selected by the school leader and designated as ‘coordinators for education in the digital world’ (KoBiddW) - is included in addition to employees of the municipal school boards and employees of the regional school supervisory authorities. Since the survey examined on our poster was conducted in the context of the evaluation of a digital competence center in Rhineland-Palatinate and because the digitalization of schools can be internationally regarded as one of the central challenges for the development and success of education in general, the poster places a special focus on this topic.
The theoretical foundation for this examination is provided by Educational Governance research, focusing on the alignment, communication, and coordination within the multi-level system of the institutional environment of schools as a central research topic (Hafner, 2022). Based on the cross-cutting theme of digitalization, this contribution can provide implications and insights for analysis beyond the German borders, thus making a valuable contribution to the pan-European discourse on the challenges and opportunities of digitalization in the education sector and interinstitutional cooperation. This highlights the potential to develop common strategies and share best practices within Europe to strengthen and advance educational systems across the continent.
To approach this complex structure, the poster addresses the following questions:
- How do school leaders, teachers in the KoBiddW function, employees of the municipal school boards, and employees of the regional school supervisory authorities assess their cooperation and their mutual relationship?
- What conditions for success and obstacles can be identified for cooperation between the actors?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedTo answer these questions, an online survey was conducted with school leaders, teachers in the KoBiddW function, employees of the municipal school boards, and the employees of the regional school supervisory authorities between May and June 2023. The associated questionnaire was conducted as part of the accompanying scientific research for the establishment of a digital competence center. This digital competence center was officially opened in September 2022 and is institutionally linked to the Ministry of Education in Rhineland-Palatinate as an executive department of the Pädagogisches Landesinstitut (pedagogical state institute). This institute, in turn, is a support institution set up by the Ministry of Education, which offers further education and training, networking, advice as well as didactic and technical support for schools, among other things. Since September, the digital competence center has expanded this offer by bundling the areas of responsibility for the digital sector. A total of N=1179 people completed a full questionnaire (N=717 school leaders, N=346 teachers in the KoBiddW function, N=101 employees of the municipal school boards, and N=15 employees of the regional school supervisory authorities).
Established scales were used for the research question, expanded to include the perspective of the municipal school boards, and adapted for use in Rhineland-Palatinate (Feldhoff et al. 2019). In the context of this poster contribution, three scales are introduced: The allocation of responsibility (4 items), cooperation between schools and the support systems in the state (5 items), and the question of whether advancing digitalization topics fall within the respondent's area of responsibility. For the analysis of the collected data, mainly descriptive measures such as mean value, standard deviation, and percentage frequencies are considered. In addition to the overall sample, the group of school leaders and teachers in the function of KoBiddW are also analyzed by school type, and for the entire sample, a division into urban and rural areas will be tested for significance.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsInitial results of the survey show that the teachers in the function of KoBiddW in particular rate the cooperation negatively in contrast to the assessments of the employees of the municipal school boards and the employees of the regional school supervisory authorities. We see a connection here between the fewer resources and opportunities for communication and networking with the municipal school boards and the employees of the regional school supervisory authorities these teachers have and their more critical view on cooperation. However, there are hardly any differences between the assessment of teachers in the function of KoBiddW and the school leaders, both in the overall sample and when divided into rural and urban regions. Furthermore, transparency in terms of the allocation of responsibilities is assessed as neutral to negative, except for the employees of the regional school supervisory authorities, who responded with significantly more positive perceptions on average for all questions. For the employees of the municipal school boards, the allocation of responsibilities and the cooperation between schools and the support systems in the state are rated more positively in rural regions, while the perception of having responsibility for digitalization issues is more pronounced in urban regions.
ReferencesBerkmeyer, N. (2020). Schulleitung und Schulaufsicht – Symptome einer fehlenden Idee der Gesamtsystemsteuerung. In E. D. Klein & N. Bremm (Ed.), Educational Governance. Unterstützung – Kooperation – Kontrolle: Zum Verhältnis von Schulaufsicht und Schulleitung in der Schulentwicklung (p. 375–388). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Bockhorst, R. & Kreutzmann, N. Unterstützungen von Schulträgern vor und während der Corona Pandemie: Einblicke in das Kooperationsprojekt Schule und digitale Bildung der Bildungsregion Kreis Gütersloh. Schulverwaltung, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Zeitschrift für Schulentwicklung und Schulmanagement, 2021, 116–118.
Dobbelstein, P., Manitius, V., Röder, M. & Völker, J. (2020). Schulaufsicht im Diskurs – zur Notwendigkeit einer intensiveren Betrachtung der schulaufsichtlichen Schnittstellenfunktion. In E. D. Klein & N. Bremm (Hrsg.), Educational Governance. Unterstützung – Kooperation – Kontrolle: Zum Verhältnis von Schulaufsicht und Schulleitung in der Schulentwicklung (p. 389–397). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Hafner, S. (2022). Koordination und Kompromiss in föderalen Bildungssystemen. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-36193-8
Feldhoff, T., Wurster, S., Rettinger, T., Hausen, J., & Neumann, M. (2019). Steuerung und Qualitätsentwicklung im Bremer Schulsystem. In K. Maaz, M. Hasselhorn, T.-S. Idel, E. Klieme, B. Lütje-Klose, P. Stanat, M. Neumann, A. Bachsleitner, J. Lühe, & S. Schipolowski (Ed.), Zweigliedrigkeit und Inklusion im empirischen Fokus. Ergebnisse der Evaluation der Bremer Schulreform (p. 177–215). Waxmann Münster.
26. Educational Leadership
Poster
Pupils’ Experience of School and their Views of the Headteacher’s Role: A Study Conducted in Portugal
Eva Fernandes, Maria Assunção Flores
CIEC-UM, Portugal
Presenting Author: Fernandes, Eva;
Flores, Maria Assunção
Drawing on the work by Leithwood et al., (2006) and Day, Gu & Sammons (2016), this paper reports on findings from a 3-year research project aimed at investigating the impact of school leadership on teachers’ work and pupils’ outcomes. The project draws on existing literature that points to the pivotal role of school leaders in school improvement. While much attention has been devoted to investigating the impact of classroom and school conditions on student learning, there has been a scarcity of studies focusing on how leadership, particularly headteachers, can positively shape these conditions (Leithwood & Day, 2007; Cruickshank, 2017). The headteachers have the potential to employ a combination of transformational and instructional leadership strategies to advance school improvement (Day, Gu, & Sammons, 2016; Cruickshank, 2017). The efficacy of this integration is intricately linked to teacher commitment and school culture, contributing to enhance student outcomes (Cruickshank, 2017). In this context, school headteachers play a pivotal role in schools. Research recognises pupils as key informants in understanding school dynamics (Day, 2004, Horgan, 2016, Ansell et al., 2012) as well as teaching and learning improvement (Mitra, 2004, Flutter & Rudduck, 2004, Roberts & Nash, 2009). Moreover, pupils are very proficient at understanding the attitudes, intentions and behaviour of teachers and other educational actors (Day, 2004). Listening to pupils is key to improving teaching and learning (Flutter & Ruduck, 2004). This paper explores pupils’ views and their experience of schooling as well as their perception in relation to the work of the school leaders, particularly, their school headteacher.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis paper draws on a three-year research project, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology entitled ‘IMPACT - Investigating the Impact of School leadership on Pupil Outcomes’ (PTDC/CED-EDG/28570/2017). It is based on work by Leithwood et al., (2006) and Day, Gu and Sammons (2016) and it aimed to examine leadership practices and their impact on pupils' outcomes.
Data were collected according to three phases: i) exploratory interviews with 25 headteachers: ii) a national survey of headteachers (n=379) and key staff (n=875); iii) case studies (20 schools). This paper reports on findings arising from the case studies (Phase III), through 13 focus groups (n=74) in different school contexts with pupils (year 4 to year 12). Participants’ age ranged from 9 to 17 years old, 43 were female and 31 were male.
Content analysis was performed to analyse qualitative data and to look at emerging categories based on the semantic criterion (Esteves, 2006). Verification strategies (Creswell, 1998) were used to ensure accuracy: the research team members engaged in a process of systematic analysis of the categories and sub-categories in order to reduce and make sense of the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
The research project was approved by the Committee of Ethics for Research in Social and Human Sciences at the University of Minho (CEICSH 009/2020) and by the DGE/Ministry of Education (Ref.ª 0555900002). Best practice in the field of social research was taken into account regarding research with children in educational settings (Alderson, 1995; Alderson & Morrow, 2011). Informed consent was appropriate to both the research topic and purpose and to the participants' characteristics, prioritising succinct and relevant information to promote participants' autonomy and involvement in the research process (O'Farrelly & Tatlow-Golden, 2022).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThis paper examines pupils’ views and their experience of schooling as well as their perception in relation to the work of the school leaders, particularly, the school headteacher. Data were explored in light of pupils’ perceptions about the headteachers and about their schooling experience regarding school climate, organisational matters and school as a learning place.
Pupils often highlight the personal characteristics of the headteacher, such as good listening skills, understanding, friendliness, organisational proficiency, and availability. Furthermore, students have different opinions with regard to the visibility of the headteacher. Some refer to a constant presence and an open-door policy, while others identify distance and physical absence. However, students also recognise the authoritative figure of the headteacher although with different meanings.
As for their views on learning and academic achievement, the participants spoke of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors and highlighted issues of support and pedagogical interaction with their teachers but also the role of the headteacher. As for pupils’ views on their school experience, the participants highlighted the school climate, organisational matters (i.e. curriculum management, school organisation, timetable, school conditions or pupil participation at school), but also the role of the school as a socialisation place (i.e. the relationship with their peers and friendship) and as learning place (i.e. projects and activities and improving learning efforts).
These and other issues will be discussed further in the paper.
ReferencesAlderson, P. & Morrow, V. (2011). The ethics of Research with Children and Young People. Sage.
Alderson, P. (1995). Listening to children: children, ethics and social research. Barnardos.
Ansell, N., Robson, E., Hajdu, F., et al. (2012). Learning from young people about their lives: Using participatory methods to research the impacts of AIDS in southern Africa. Children’s Geographies, 10(2), 169–186.
Creswell et al. (2007). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Day, C. (2004). A Paixão pelo Ensino. Porto Editora.
Day, C., Gu, Q. & Sammons, P. (2016). The Impact of Leadership on Student Outcomes: How Successful School Leaders Use Transformational and Instructional Strategies to Make a Difference. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52, 221-258.
Esteves, M. (2006). Análise de conteúdo. In J. Lima, J. Pacheco (Eds.), Fazer investigação. Contributos para a elaboração de dissertações e teses (pp. 105-126). Porto: Porto Editora.
Flutter, J. & Rudduck, J. (2004). Consulting Pupils. What´s in it for schools?. Routledge Falmer.
Horgan, D. (2017). Child participatory research methods: Attempts to go ‘deeper.’ Childhood, 24(2), 245–259.
Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A. & Hopkins, D. (2006). Seven Strong Claims about Successful School Leadership. London: DfES.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Mitra, D. (2004). The Significance of Students: Can Increasing ‘‘Student Voice’’ in Schools Lead to Gains in Youth Development? Teachers College Record, 106 (4), 651-688.
O’Farrelly, C. & Tatlow-Golden, M. (2022). It’s up to you if you want to take part. Supporting young children’s informed choice about research participation with simple visual booklets. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(1), 63-80.
Roberts, A., & Nash, J. (2009). Enabling students to participate in school improvement through a Students as Researchers programme. Improving Schools, 12(2), 174–187.
26. Educational Leadership
Poster
Challenges and Possibilities in Leading Teacher Education Program in Matrix Organization
Margareth Eilifsen, Bodil Risøy
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Presenting Author: Eilifsen, Margareth;
Risøy, Bodil
In Norway, Teacher Education is strictly regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research, and it is up to each higher education institution to ensure the management of the quality of programs. Report no. 16 to the Parliament, “Culture for quality in higher education” (Meld. St. (2016-2017) says that program management is expected to ensure that the entire academic environment is engaged in the study programs and that there is academic coherence and coherence in the curricula. This is in line with what the European Commission (2017) describes as an important task in renewing the EU agenda for higher education: “Good institutional leadership and effective internal cooperation and resource management become even more important when the institutions’ range of tasks increases and more emphasis is placed on measuring and demonstrating performance”.
The program management is responsible for creating good arenas for discussing the program's development so that the entire academic community is engaged and feels ownership of the study program. The objective of these regulations is to ensure that teacher education institutions offer integrated, profession-orientated teacher education rooted in research and experience-based knowledge (Ministry of Education and Research, 2016, p. 1). The education shall be characterized by high academic quality, by coherence and coherence between subjects, subject didactics, pedagogy, and practical training, and by close interaction with the professional field.
This project will especially look at how program leaders (head) of Teacher Education across disciplines in a matrix organization work with external and structural framework conditions, how to engage the academic community in the strategies, and how to build professional-orientated teacher education that is both research- and practice-based. We present a project and discuss some issues related to the study program’s role in a university in Norway where different departments of discipline deliver their service (knowledge) to the Teacher Education Program across institutes. The expectations are that the head of the program should work collaboratively in a matrix organization where institutes are organized according to subject discipline and must deliver to the various programs.
Leading and managing study programs has been pointed to as one of the most complex and challenging aspects of higher education, partly because program management often appears more as an important piece in coordination than as a strategic actor (Aamodt et al., 2016; Johansen, 2020). There is also a change in higher education institutions, for example, new strategic policy documents, whitepapers, new financing arrangements, lower recruitment, and changes in institutional structure that have a great influence on the role of leading and managing study programs.
Previous research nationally, and especially internationally (Evans, 2022; Irving, 2015; Johansen, 2020; Jones et al., 2014) points to the challenge it is for heads of study programs to see themselves as leaders in an educational institution. Therefore, we ask: what opportunities and challenges to strengthen quality lies in leading a Teacher Education Program in a matrix organization?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedOur methodology approach springs from ethnography (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2019), where one tries to understand human behavior through what they do (the practices) in a social and cultural community. Data is collected from a workshop with a group of leaders at middle-level management in an institution in Norway, strategical policy documents, and the researcher's own experiences. The researchers use data from their practices and are both researchers and participants in this study where we analyze strategic government documents and compare them to lived experience and experiences from workshop methodology. The workshop has been a discussion of hypotheses and claims, related to leadership roles at the middle level, to explore the experience of leading a study program in a matrix organization. The policy documents are Report No. 16 to the Parliament, “Culture for quality in higher education” (Meld. St. (2016-2017), The Norwegian qualifications framework for lifelong learning (NQF), and Evaluations of quality in education. These two latest documents are from the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT).
It is important to us that the project should be a contribution to research on study leadership in higher education, which response to the need for more research on the management of study programs, and in this context research on the challenges experienced by the leader responsible for the programs (Solbrekke and Stensaker, 2016, p. 145). Material is organized and analyzed based on Engström's model (1999), to identify conditions that can be challenged to increase the quality of the Teacher Education Program.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe hypotheses we discussed were about different issues we face, but we always ended up discussing cooperation/interaction in different ways. Management of large study programs that go across several institutes with many different stakeholders has loyalty challenges with the matrix organization, which in turn creates challenges in strengthening the quality of the study programs through collaborative management teams.
Data showed that the lines of cooperation are of great importance for the implementation of quality in the program, but also that failing collaboration (dotted lines) weakens quality through weakened ownership and weakened communication.
One of the major challenges seems to be engaging the whole academic community for a common goal, and leaders lack management tools. We will further discuss this through the poster presentation.
ReferencesAamodt, P.O., Hovdhaugen, E., Stensaker, B., Frølich, N., Maassen, P. & Dalseng, C.F.
2016): Utdanningsledelse. En analyse av ledere av studieprogrammer i høyere utdanning (Arbeidsnotat 2016:10). Nordisk institutt for studier av innovasjon, forskning og utdanning. https://nifu.brage.unit.no/nifu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2402016/NIFUarbeidsnotat2016-10%20.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Bjaalid, G., Husebø, D. & Moen, V. (2020). Studieprogramledelse i høyere utdanning – aksjonsforskning som grunnlag for involvering, læring og organisatoriske grenseoppganger. I S. Gjøtterud, H. Hiim, D. Husebø & L. H. Jensen (Red.), Aksjonsforskning i Norge, volum 2: Grunnlagstenkning, forskerroller og bidrag til endring i ulike kontekster (s. 361–389). Cappelen Damm Akademisk. https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.121.ch13
Engström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In: Engeström Y., Miettinen R. & Punamäki R-L. (eds.). Perspectives on Activity Theory. Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives. Cambridge University Press; 1999:19-38.
European Commission (Brussels, 30.5.2017). COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - on a renewed EU agenda for higher education. Downloaded: EUR-Lex - 52017DC0247 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)
Evans, L. (2022). Is leadership a myth? A ‘new wave’ critical leadership-focused research agenda for recontouring the landscape of educational leadership. Educational management, administration & leadership, 2022, Vol. 50 (3), p. 413-435 evans-2021-is-leadership-a-myth-a-new-wave-critical-leadership-focused-research-agenda-for-recontouring-the-landscape.pdf
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2019). Ethnography: principles in practice (Fourth edition.). Routledge.
Irving, K. (2015). Leading learning and teaching: an exploration of "local" leadership in academis departments in the UK. Tertiary Education and Management, Vol. 21, No. 3, s. 186-199.
Johansen, M. B. (2020). Studieprogramledelse i høyere utdanning - i spenningsfelt mellom struktur og handlingsrom (Doktoravhandling). Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Trondheim. https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2642522/Marte%20Bratseth%20Johansen_PhD.pdf?sequence=1
Jones, S., Harvey, M., Lefoe, G., & Ryland, K. (2014). Synthesising theory and practice: Distributed leadership in higher education. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(5), 603-619. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213510506
Meld. St. 16 (2016–2017). Kultur for kvalitet i høyere utdanning. Kunnskapsdepartementet. https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-16-20162017/id2536007/
Ministry of Education and Research (2016). Forskrifter om rammeplaner for femårige grunnskolelærerutdanninger for trinn 1–7 og trinn 5–10 – rundskriv med merknader
(Rundskriv F-06-16). Hentet fra https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/f-06-16/id2507752/ (In English: forskrift-om-rammeplan-for-grunnskolelarerutdanning-for-trinn-1-7---engelsk-oversettelse-l1064431.pdf (regjeringen.no)
Pinheiro, R., Stensaker, B. (2013). Designing the Entrepreneurial University: The Interpretation of a Global Idea. Public Organiz Rev 14, 497–516 (2014). https://doi-org.galanga.hvl.no/10.1007/s11115-013-0241-z
Solbrekke, T. D. og Stensaker, B. (2016). Utdanningsledelse. Stimulering av et felles engasjement for studieprogrammene? Uniped, volum 39, no. 2, s. 144-157
26. Educational Leadership
Poster
Interrelationships between English Language Skills and Professional Capital in the Context of the Professionalism of Managers of Educational Institutions
Inga Zeide
Liepaja University, Latvia
Presenting Author: Zeide, Inga
The research problem is characterized by the contradiction between formal requirements regarding the skills of the head of an educational institution in Latvia and the respondents' stories of experience in using English as a foreign language in daily work.
The research problem emphasizes the need to see the interrelationships in the understanding of the managers of educational institutions about professional capital and the resources necessary for its provision. This study investigates the understanding of educational institution managers about English language skills as an element of professional capital.
The management of an educational institution in the 21st century must be able to demonstrate leadership skills in at least four different areas: teaching management, organizational management, public management and evidence-based management (Jellig, 2018).
However, what the leaders of educational institutions are forced to manage in the first place are the constant and rapid changes - both dictated by the digital revolution and curriculum reform, as well as the forms of learning caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of artificial intelligence in the field of education.
Therefore, the head of an educational institution should be both "professional" and "professional" at the same time (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012).
One must be able to understand and make informed decisions about both what programs to offer and how to spend the institution's budget most effectively. Achieving the desired result requires new skills - from ensuring the modern functionality of school premises to foreign language skills.
For additional formal compliance with the requirements of the law, the head of the educational institution is expected to have a series of skills that are constructed and determined by the relevant era, for example, foreign language skills.
During the period when Latvia was part of the USSR, a person who did not know the Russian language could practically not work as a head of an educational institution.
On the other hand, since the regaining of independence, Russian language skills are no longer important in the work and career opportunities of the head of an educational institution.
Instead, English language skills are assessed in some cases. Skills in other European languages can also become decisive.
This is also confirmed by the data obtained in the course of this research from the interviews of the respondents, which lead to the conclusion that foreign language skills affect the career ceiling or direction.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedQualitative research, phenomenological reduction was chosen as the basic research strategy. A semi-structured, individual, remote interview was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using the method of interpretative (hermeneutic) phenomenological analysis.
The research sample is the managers and their deputies of general, professional and higher education institutions in Latvia. A purposive sampling strategy was chosen for the interview, that is, participants with intensive experience, as well as interview participants, were selected in such a way that each type of education was represented in equal proportion. Interview sample size n=6 participants, of which 2 respondents were heads of general secondary education institutions, 2 respondents were heads of vocational education institutions, 2 respondents were deputy heads (deans) of higher education institutions.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe state should more precisely define the skills that are set for potential and already working heads of educational institutions.
An accurate listing of skills or skill groups by the state would serve as a basis for a more homogeneous quality of the professional capital of educational institution managers and to reduce the risk of unequal treatment
The analysis of the interview data shows that the respondents are aware of English language skills as a necessary element of professional capital
If professional capital is resources, investments and assets that create, define and develop a profession and its practice (Hargreaves, Fullan, 2012), then English language skills are considered an element of the professional capital of educational institution managers.
References1.Goldin, C. (2014). Human Capital. In C. Diebolt, & M. Haupert, Handbook of Cliometrics. Springer-Verlag
2.Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. New York/Toronto: Teachers College Press
3. Jellig, G. M. (2018). School leadership. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc
4. National Research Council. (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:https://doi.org/10.17226/13398
|
