Conference Agenda

Objectives

Educating multilingual learners (MLs) is a pressing issue across the globe, particularly given increasing immigration. Europe and Asia are currently the largest destinations for international migrants, with approximately 86 million migrants in each region (Nataranjan et al., 2022). Many migrants speak languages other than the language of the host country, increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in schools (European Education and Culture Executive Agency, 2019). In the US, MLs represent an increasing demographic, with 10.4% of students classified as English Learners (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2020). MLs in the US face a myriad of educational challenges, including inadequate school resources, low expectations, and poor home-school communication (Garver & Hopkins, 2020). School and district leaders are tasked with the urgent need to promote equity-informed policies and practices that prioritize ML educational outcomes. Therefore, this paper asks: how do school and district leaders promote educational equity for multilingual learners?

Framework

This study builds upon Ishimaru and Galloway’s (2014) framework of equitable leadership practice. Using an asset-based orientation, Ishimaru and Galloway (2014) identify “high leverage” leadership practices including enacting an equity vision, supervising for equitable teaching and learning, fostering an equitable school culture, allocating resources and personnel, and family collaboration. While this framework is primarily focused on school leaders, we extend its application to examining district leadership as well. Existing research reinforces that district and school leaders are critical in supporting educational improvement for MLs. Leaders can foster equity for MLs by “recognizing that their language and culture should be considered a resource and right” (Cruze et al., 2021, p.113). Leaders also support MLs through teacher capacity building (Garver & Hopkins, 2020) and fostering critical consciousness about inequities (Callahan et al., 2023). How leaders work together systemically to accomplish these goals is less understood.

Methods

This qualitative study draws from a Research-Practice Partnership involving a US school district serving approximately 20,000 students, 3,100 of whom are multilingual, mostly Hispanic and from low-income families. We have collaborated with the district for 6 years, gathering multiple forms of data. In this phase, we are conducting semi-structured interviews with school and district administrators (N=16). Interviews were recorded and are being coded using MAXQDA software to examine leadership practices and policies supporting the improvement of education for MLs.

Results

An analysis of the data reveals several distributed leadership practices to systemically advance educational equity for MLs. Leaders (1) adapted an asset-based approach towards MLs, as reflected on an organizational level, (2) elevated ML community voices to inform priorities, (3) fostered collaboration to ensure a shared responsibility for MLs, and (4) promoted collective uptake of research-based approaches for educating MLs. These findings have important implications for how district and school leaders work across contexts to support MLs.

Connection to Theme

This paper is relevant to the ICSEI theme of “quality professional development” as the leadership findings can inform principal preparation and training for school and district leaders. This will ensure leaders are ready to support the growing demographic of MLs and challenge existing inequities.

Educational leaders play a vital role in improving student outcomes (Harris et al., 2021; Leithwood et al., 2020). Yet, many systems internationally struggle to attract, develop, and retain effective school and system leaders (Drysdale & Gurr, 2021). Recognising the importance of building individual and collective capacity and capability (OECD, 2019), research increasingly highlights the value of educational leadership frameworks (Drysdale & Gurr, 2021; Jensen et al., 2017). Ground-breaking work aligning teacher career pathways and professional frameworks is emerging (e.g., ET2020 Working Group Schools, 2020). However, leadership-specific research is relatively underdeveloped. Further, the nature and implementation of leadership frameworks vary considerably internationally. Frameworks ideally span from early identification of potential future leaders—requiring articulation with teacher career progression—to supporting ongoing professional growth of school and system leaders, regardless of career stage.

This paper critically examines contemporary international leadership research, policy, and practice in high-performing systems, and presents case studies to illustrate promising leadership framework applications. Cases involve partnerships with state and national education bodies in two different regions. The first focused on the development and implementation of a capability framework, the second on a leadership meta-framework and career progression model. Specifically, we consider leadership frameworks that speak to individual and collective capability, capacity, and practices. Capacity speaks to the number of individuals undertaking school or system leadership responsibilities, whereas capability speaks to what these leaders know, can do, and are like (Taylor-Guy et al., 2022). Practices concern the context-specific goal-oriented activities or behaviours of leaders or teams (Leithwood, 2017). Our analytical lens was the OECD (2019) frame, which brings together (1) HR policies and working environments, (2) individual and collective capacity and capability building, and (3) effective leadership, teaching and learning.

Findings corroborate the value of growth-oriented capability frameworks to support ongoing professional growth. We highlight the importance of articulating how different frameworks complement one another to drive the system’s vision for leadership. Another critical point is the need for frameworks to target the collective by considering interactions across staff functions and articulating expectations for identifying and nurturing potential future leaders. Development and implementation of frameworks requires frequent and intensive consultation and/or co-construction with a wide range of stakeholders, supported by tailored professional learning. The career progression model provides a world-class example of how leadership frameworks can be integrated to drive ongoing professional learning and growth. Through educational and HR policies and processes, it integrates the evidence-based components of (a) opportunity, (b) capability, and (c) motivation (ET2020 Working Group Schools, 2020; OECD, 2019.) Specifically, the career progression model aligns career pathways, a competence framework, professional learning opportunities, and rewards to attract, develop and retain leaders.

This paper addresses the conference theme by drawing synergies between school and system foci in relation to frameworks, to holistically support ongoing leader professional learning. It makes an important conceptual contribution by disentangling the nature of leadership frameworks as they relate to individual and collective capacity and capability building. Seminal case studies provide valuable insights for advancing research, policy, and practice internationally.

OBJECTIVE, RESEARCH QUESTIONS and CONTEXT

This paper presents the results of a research that seeks to understand how school leaders "make sense" during the initial phase of a large-scale reform that has begun to be implemented in Chile, called the New Public Education. The research questions were: i) What is the sense that school leaders assign to this reform, ii) How does this sense-making evolve during the first years of implementation of the change, and iii) What are the factors that influence this sense-making process?

This study is developed in the context of the public education reform in Chile, which transfers the responsibility of managing public schools from municipalities to a new institutional framework: the Local Public Education Services (SLEP). The objective of this reform is to accumulate, develop and institutionalize professional and technical capacities in each territory, so that intermediate levels drive the continuous improvement of schools (Bellei & Munoz, 2023).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

One of the relevant conceptual perspectives to account for the way in which actors relate to educational policies or reforms is that of sense-making, the ongoing process through which people work to understand issues or events that modify their routine and generate a new scenario or context (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014). School leaders would be one of the main "sense-makers" of educational systems, by implementing an interpretation of policies according to local interests, which affects the way in which reforms are implemented (Bridwell-Mitchell, 2015; Ganon-Shilon and Schechter, 2017).

METHODS AND EVIDENCE

Qualitative research was developed based on four case studies. In each of them we interviewed (at three points in time, in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023) their principals, and at an intermediate milestone (2022) the management team and a sample of teachers, through group interviews. A transcription of each of the interviews was made, which allowed an open coding of the interviews and later a cross-sectional analysis of the data obtained.

RESULTS

- Three predominant types of meaning associated with this reform were identified: "paradigm change" "pedagogical change" and "bureaucratic change"

- Three types of variables or factors are involved in the sense-making process: i) individual dispositions, previous experience, and characteristics of the leaders, ii) the characteristics of the policy and its implementation, and iii) the school context in which the whole process takes place.

- The meaning assigned to the public education reform evolves marginally as implementation progresses, since an important part of the meaning and adherence to this policy was generated in the first steps of its application.

EDUCATIONAL IMPORTANCE AND CONNECTION TO THE CONFERENCE THEME

The research highlights the value of considering the involvement of school leaders as a priority of any reform to generate a shared sense of the change that these reforms propose at the level of principals (Ganon-Shilon and Schechter, 2017; Henriksen, 2018). The research connects with the theme of the congress because it highlights the role of school leaders in systemic educational improvement, for which it is essential to enhance professional development processes.

The Purpose

This presentation is based on a study aimed at contributing to how school leaders can be prepared to work effectively with newcomers (immigrants and refugees) who are culturally and linguistically diverse. It focuses on data that were gathered from school principals and newcomer families, including the role of a school division’s central office in strengthening leadership supports for newcomers.

Research Questions :

The research was guided by questions that (i) explored the experience of principals and newcomer families with school leadership in Saskatoon and (ii) used the essence of the experience to establish how both principals and newcomer families can be supported to ensure newcomer students’ success.

Perspectives :

Studies have shown that when a parent or guardian is engaged in a meaningful way in their child’s learning, teachers and school leaders receive the support they need from families, students do better, and everybody benefits (Epstein, 2010; Izzo et al., 1999; Leithwood et al., 2010). That is why school and education system are working at finding ways to engage parents in the teaching and learning activities a meaningful way (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). Consequently, the demographic changes that are occurring in societies due to immigration are compelling school leaders to engage with newcomer families from the diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds as they facilitate the success of students (Epstein & Sander, 2006; Lopez, 2015).

Methods:

Phenomenology as an approach to qualitative (Piem, 2018; van Manen, 2014, 2015) was used to explore the experience of school leaders and parents with the assumption of a commonality in the human experience of any phenomena. The phenomenon in this study was school leadership-newcomer family interactions. Data were gathered using semi structured interviews, and focus group discussions with 24 principals representing two school divisions and newcomer 25 families. Consultative meetings were then held with leaders from the central office leadership.

Data Sources: Field notes and transcripts of audio recordings from the interviews, the focus group discussions and consultative panels.

Findings: revealed how the newcomers experience the education system as structured, bureaucratic but stable. For meaningful engagement to occur, the education system and its leadership needed to be more accountable and communicate guidance about expectations more clearly. Leadership needs to create a sense of community, be accessible , open and inclusive of diverse culture and create more opportunities for culturally diverse families to engage or be more involved and relationship building. They also need foster family learning and investing in newcomer settlement agency partnerships

Educational Importance:

The study provides insights for researching and programming for school leadership development that equips principals for work with culturally diverse newcomers. With appropriate skills, the school leader will be able to facilitate the educational success of culturally and linguistically diverse newcomer learners. Documenting and mobilizing knowledge about these experiences of school leaders and newcomer families and the associated recommendations could inform policy on effective ways of supporting Newcomers to settle and participate in society. The knowledge will enhance their ability to coordinate and provide targeted assistances services.