.. 8SCHOOL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

“Show me a good school, and I will show you a good principal” (Barth)

BY: BASHIR AHMED KHAN (PDT)

INTRODUCTION

Today schools are functioning in a rapid changing world. This changing scenario demands a continuous improvement of the schools in nurturing the students to pace with the global demands as well as to face local challenges. In the process of school improvement, the role of headteachers/principals is viewed highly substantial as educational leaders (Fullan, 2001, Khaki, 2010).

To address the emerging educational needs, different leadership approaches have been proposed in the literature against the traditional bureaucratic leadership paradigm. Pedagogical leadership is one of the approaches which is considered more relevant to education because of its emergence from the educational context. Pedagogical leadership focuses on social and academic development of students as well as intellectual and professional development of teachers by providing caring and nurturing environment in schools. This process ultimately improves the capacity building of the schools (Sergiovanin, 1998). This approach of leadership strives to develop school as learning community by developing shared vision, team building, empowering and involving everybody in the learning process (Senge 1994, Retallick, 2007).

It is generally observed that in the context of Gilgit-Baltistan, mostly headteachers/principals, particularly from the public schools, practice their roles of leadership with traditional top-down hierarchal approach due to lack of exposure to new paradigms of leadership (Memon, Nazir, Simkins & Garrett, 2000). Because of the narrow concept of leadership, schools face various challenges such as students’ underachievement and dropouts, teachers’ turnout, dissatisfaction of parents/community and so on (Memon, 2010). In this scenario, to address the challenges school leaders need to be educated in the light of emerging concepts and practices of organization and educational leadership.

Hence, keeping in view the changing roles and emerging needs of educational leaders, an Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) is designed to develop the headteachers/principals in district Gilgit with ultimate aim to improve the schools.

This paper discusses background, aims and objectives of the program. It also proposes themes, teaching strategies, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation mechanism of the program.

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND OF THE PROGRAM

The ELDP will be conducted by three professional development leaders (PDLs) at Nurturing Institute for Educational Leaders (NIEL) in Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan. Forty existing and aspiring headteachers/principals from public and private schools will be developed as educational leaders. The duration of the programs will be six months including nine weeks face-to-face sessions and four months fieldwork. The face-to-face sessions comprise of six days per week from 9:00am to 3:00pm including breaks. Total expenses of the program are estimated of Rs. 2,800,000 (see appendix A for its breakdown). The financial expenses of the program will be managed with the help of local government, NGOs[1] and participating schools.

AIM OF THE PROGRAM

The overall aim of this program is to nurture the capacities of forty headteachers/principals who will play their active role in transforming their schools into learning community by providing caring, nurturing and stimulating learning environment to every stakeholder.

Objectives

· Enhancing the conceptual understanding of CPs regarding educational leadership

· Orienting CPs with core concepts and practices of pedagogical leadership

· Developing CPs’ understanding about the concept of school as learning community

· Helping CPs to critically review their current roles and re-conceptualize their practices

· Engaging CPs in analyzing school practices and needs

· Enabling them to take initiatives of school-based professional development of teachers

· Developing school improvement plan

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

This is a six month long intensive program with three face-to-face sessions and two fieldworks. Each face-to-face session comprises of three weeks and each fieldwork comprises of two months. Total 270 credit hours will be spent on face-to-face sessions. In each face-to-face session, the CPs will be engaged in learning certain concepts, notions, approaches and skills by using different teaching strategies. In fieldwork, CPs will be provided opportunities to apply their learning from sessions in their respective schools by specifying their tasks. During the fieldwork the PTLs will provide support and give feedback to the CPs on their progress. Furthermore, in the fieldwork every CP will be encouraged to visit at least two nearer school/organizations of their colleague CPs to learn the best practices and initiatives.

The main characteristics of the program can be summarized as follows:

· The program focuses on school improvement/development and participating headteachers/principals are expected to work as change agents.

· The program is field focused and the CPs will be given enough time and support to apply the learning in their real context of the schools.

· The CPs will be encouraged to be reflective and critical thinkers to analyze the current situation and plan for improvement.

· Collaboration and collegiality among the CPs will be highly appreciated to learn from each other and take collective effort to respond their challenges.

The details of program structure are attached in appendix B.

THEMES OF THE PROGRAM

Different themes will be covered during the program. The core themes of the program is given briefly as under

· Notions, concepts and models of Leadership

· Pedagogical leadership

· School as learning community

· School based professional development strategies (Mentoring, Action research and Reflective practices)

· Community involvement

· Personal and professional skills

· School improvement processes

The details of identified themes are attached in appendix C. Phase wise details of the program is discussed as under:

Phase 1

In the first phase of the program, the CPs will be oriented with the basic concepts of leadership particularly educational leadership focusing on pedagogical leadership. The notion of school as learning community will be presented as alternative concept for school improvement. These themes will help CPs to develop their critical understanding of different leadership approaches. This process will encourage them to re-conceptualize their notions of leadership as well as school as organization. Furthermore, three effective school-based professional development strategies such as reflective practices, mentoring and action research would be introduced. These themes will help headteachers/principals to develop capacities of their teachers within the schools. The CPs will also be guided with basic skills to analyze situation of their schools. A fieldwork segment will follow this phase in which the CPs will analyze the current situation of their schools.

Phase 2

In the second phase of the ELDP, CPs will be given opportunity to share their findings of situational analysis task conducted during the fieldwork. This process will help them to develop understanding regarding the ground realities of their schools. In addition, the CPs will be encouraged to reflect on the roles of different stakeholders (teachers, students, parents and community) in school improvement. This activity will reinforce the concept of developing their schools as learning community. Furthermore, constructing on their previous knowledge, the process of action research will be discussed in deeper level. Proposal writing and planning for action research will be carried out which will help them to conduct action research in their schools during the fieldwork. In this phase after face-to-face sessions, CPs will initiate effective school-based professional development strategies such as action research during their fieldwork in the school.

Phase 3

In this phase, the CPs will share the process and product of their action research with each other which will provide them an opportunity to learn from each other’s best practice. Furthermore, different concepts and practices of school improvement will be discussed by involving the CPs in different activities. As a result, CPs will be able to develop a school improvement plan for their respective schools. To support the school improvement planning process, the CPs will be helped to enhance their existing communication, financial and resource management skills. Moreover, to inspire the CPs with some best practices, they will be exposed to different educational institutions by arranging field visits.

TEACHING STRATEGIES

To make the program interactive and effective different teaching strategies will be opted such as discussion, role plays, presentations, short lectures, readings, guest speaker, and videos. However, to make the program more meaningful the essence of participatory approach will be ensured by focusing pedagogical principles. CPs may also be exposed to experiences outside the classroom by visiting different dynamic learning institutions.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Effective evaluation is viewed very significant in the success of any program. Keeping in view the importance of monitoring and evaluation different strategies will be employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. In regard, following strategies will be used

· Daily reflection of the CPs

· Filling evaluation forms by CPs for each session as well as of the program

· CPs’ task completion during face to face session and in the fieldwork

· Active participation and involvement of CPs

· Daily attendance of the CPs

· Facilitators reflection

REFERENCES

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Khaki, J. A. (2010). Effective School Leadership Practices; Case studies from Pakistan. In J. A. Khaki & Q. Safar (Eds), Educational Leadership in Pakistan; Ideals and Realities (pp.104-128). Karachi: Oxford University Press.

Memon, M. (2010). Reforming School Leadership in Pakistan: A way forward. In J. A. Khaki & Q. Safar (Eds), Educational Leadership in Pakistan; Ideals and Realities (pp.280-294). Karachi: Oxford University Press.

Memon, M., Nazir, A. R., Simkins, T., & Garrett, V. (1999). Understanding the headteachers roles in Pakistan: Emerging role demands constraints and choices. International Studies in Educational Administration, 28(2), 48-56.

Retallick, J. and Datoo, A. (2005). Transforming Schools into Learning Communities: Focus on Pakistan. In J. Retallick and I. Farah (Eds.). Transforming Schools in Pakistan Towards the Learning Community (pp.1-25). Karachi: Oxford University Press.

Senge, P. (1994). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization.

New York: Random House.

Sergiovanni, T. J. (1998). Leadership as pedagogy, capital and school effectiveness. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and practices, 1(1), 27-46.

APPENDIX C

Themes of the course

Phases	Weeks	Themes	Topics	Resource person
Phase 1	Week 1	Leadership Notions	· Concept of leadership · Types of leadership · Models and styles of leadership · Leadership and management · Leadership and education · Habits of highly effective people · Field visit to educational institution	PDLs
	Week 2	Pedagogical leadership and school as learning community	· Pedagogical leadership · Characteristics of pedagogical leadership · Roles of pedagogical leaders · Notion of school as learning community · Head teachers role in developing learning community	PDLs
	Week 3	Mentoring and action research	· Concept of mentoring · Observation · Feedback · Reflective practices · Emotional intelligence · Orientation with action research · Situation analysis of schools · Tools of situation analysis · Preparation for the field work	PDLs
Field work	2 months	Situation analysis	· Introducing mentoring · Situation analysis of the school
Phase 2	Week 1	Sharing field learning, monitoring and evaluation	· Sharing successes of the field · Sharing challenges of the field · Feedback on successes and challenges · Concept and practices of monitoring and evaluation · Field visit to an educational institution	PDLs
	Week 2	Stakeholders involvement	· Parental involvement · Community involvement · Students empowerment · Team building · Effective task delegation	PDLs
	Week 3	Action research proposal	· Academic writing skills · Setting priorities for action research · Developing proposal for action research · Preparation for the field	PDLs
Field Work	2 months	Conducting action research	· Implement of action research
Phase 3	Week 1	School improvement	· Sharing finding of the action research · Feedback · Orientation to school improvement · School improvement models · Educational change	PDLs
	Week 2	Managerial skills	· Setting goals and objectives · Effective communication skills · Human resource management · Resource generation and management · Financial management · Exposure visit	PDLs
	Week 3	School improvement planning	· Developing school improvement plan · Action plan · Monitoring plan · Reflection and feedback of the program · Closing ceremony	PDLs