Conference Agenda

Research indicates that leadership development programs often have disappointing results in terms of the application of ideas, leading to changes in practice and subsequent impact. Indeed, in their meta-analysis, Lacarenza and colleagues (2017) reported that only a small minority of organisations believed that their leadership development programs are effective. In this session, we will explore a leadership development program that has obtained highly promising results in the two years of its implementation with over 100 participants from a wide range of leaders from various primary, secondary, co-ed and single-sex schools, located within the Melbourne Archdiocese (MACS).

The ‘Igniting Leadership Potential Program‘, based on Five Ways of Being (Danvers, De Blasio, Grift, 2020), has been demonstrated to have a significant impact on not only the knowledge but the practices of participating leaders. And ironically, perhaps, through its primary focus on ‘being’, it has bridged the knowing/doing gap, perhaps supplying a hitherto missing link in leadership development programs.

The purpose of this session is to provide participants with increased knowledge and understanding of the specific design and delivery features that have led to the success of this agile and research-informed leadership development program. These features include, but are not limited to:

- The extended nature of the program (over 5 months), spaced training sessions, regular check-ins between participants and facilitators, needs analysis, regular and ongoing feedback, attendance policy, deliverables expected of participants, regular small group coaching sessions;

- Evaluation (ongoing and iterative), immediate feedback and agile capacity to respond and adapt in the moment and from one session to the next;

- Inbuilt and ongoing accountability and commitment measures and requirements;

- Co-constructed design-– delivering a bespoke leadership program

- Going beyond competency checklists to focus on who we need to ‘be’ and ‘become’ and the consistent and intentional embodiment of our leadership identity/ies;

- Focusing on the compelling why: connecting participants to meaningful work and contribution.

This paper shines a light on the issues related to leadership development programs, in particular, the implementation gap: the gap between 'knowing' (what I know and have learned) and doing (how I am applying that learning in my leadership practice) and impact (how I know that my leadership is having an impact). In so doing, it offers a model that can potentially be applied to improve the impact of existing and or new leadership development programs: a model that with its celebration of being human also offers hope to extinguish the flames of disillusionment and despondency that can afflict and engulf leaders in our challenging times.

Program lead and co-author, Heather De Blasio, will engage participants in a direct experience of some of the strategies and protocols of the Five Ways of Being Igniting Leadership Potential program, as well as exploration of the evaluative data.

Objectives

Extend and expand upon our ICSEI 2023 session by:

1.Discussing key elements of an innovative inquiry approach to nurturing the thinking and practice of school leaders.

2. Sharing themes from our data to describe:

a) the competencies that school leaders self-identify as important to developing their inquiry-based thinking,

b) the contexts and processes which invited, supported the development of those competencies.

3. Sharing research findings and stories from participating leaders related to the key features and approaches taken within facilitated inquiry groups that led to significant impact on their leadership thinking and practice.

Educational Importance

Leithwood (2020) has affirmed that strong leadership had the strongest effect on positive outcomes for administrators participating in network learning. Seven Oaks School Division in Manitoba, Canada and Superior Greenstone District School Board in northern Ontario, Canada have adopted a powerful approach to supporting school leaders that nurtures an inquiry habit of mind as they explore their challenges and learn the power of interrogating their own practice.

Louis and Robinson (2012) affirm that professional learning opportunities need to develop in principals the capabilities required to engage in effective instructional leadership. These include the capacity to challenge, support, reflect on, and change their professional practice (Robertson, 2010). Robertson (2010) calls for deep leadership learning that will “facilitate the self-awareness to create the disposition to change one’s practice” (p. 223).

In both districts, various opportunities were created for authentic inquiry including Leadership Inquiry Groups, Critical Friends sessions and 1:1 coaching. Each provided sustained opportunities for school leaders to think collaboratively with colleagues about their leadership moves. Small groups allowed for building a climate conducive to critical inquiry, responsive coaching and meaningfully connecting with colleagues.

Our initial data is revealing that participants strongly value the structures and opportunities for facilitated critical inquiry into their practice. As facilitators of professional learning of school leaders, we seek to identify the key features and approaches taken within learning opportunities that led to significant impact on their leadership thinking and practice.

Format and Approach

In this interactive Innovate session, we will share our key learnings with respect to processes and contexts that administrators report has had a significant positive impact on their leadership development and practice. We will engage session participants by inviting their own personal reflection and facilitate a discussion on how the critical inquiry approach supports school leaders.

Connection to the Conference Theme

We connect to the subthemes:

“Exploring the evolving research and evidence base for leadership education and capacity building” and “Policy and practice learning to support teacher and school leader development”.

Objectives or purposes of the session

The field of professional learning networks (PLNs) is heavily populated by theory and research. While this evidence-base is critical, this session seeks to complement the research with lived experience. Reflecting on their collective experience from over 80 collective years of leading networks in Africa, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, the 5 presenters will share their stories of challenges and opportunities in leading large-scale PLNs. During this session the presenters will explore the following issues:

• Practical experience with the nuances of leading networks

• How to navigate and actively create conditions to support a “living” network for effective change

• Similarities and differences among a wide geographical range of PLNs across Australia, Africa, USA, UK and Canada; and

• Inherent tensions to manage at different stages of PLN development, growth, and change

Educational importance for theory, policy, research, and/or practice

There is an acceleration of what is being published on PLN theory, research methods, design principles and elements, and effectiveness, but far less about what is happening on the ground for network leaders. This session addresses this gap by focusing on the experience of 5 women educational network leaders from different countries and continents as they navigate and respond to a variety of policy and practice challenges.

The format and approach(es) that will be used in the session to engage participants in the exploration of the area of practice

This presentation will be highly interactive, dynamic and responsive with a focus on collective sensemaking by the presenters and the audience. The audience will be invited to be a part of the collective storytelling experience by adding words to the “Pandora’s Box” and responding to the reflections by the presenters.

The session will engage the participants through four stages.

1. The Pandora’s Box. Presenters and audience will sit in a circle with a ‘Pandora’s Box’ in the centre. Audience members will be provided with blank cards and invited to write words that come to mind when they think of network leadership. The presenters will have already provided a collection of words (e.g. disruptive, opportunistic, fortuitous, engagement, juggling, abstractness, humour).

2. Individual wisdom – One by one, the presenters will pull a word from the ‘Pandora’s Box’ at random and use the word drawn as a stimulus to share their experience of leading networks in their context. Each word chosen will then be placed in the middle of the circle.

3. Collective sense-making – As the words in the middle of the circle increase, the presenters and audience will be invited to categorize the words chosen and include reflections and/or responses to create a collective and living story of network leadership.

4. Collective wisdom – the presenters will lead the audience in drawing out insights and key take-aways to support ongoing conversations.