Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

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THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT127The NCSL (2007: 17) claims that ‘a large amount of … leadership learningshould take place in school’, but they also acknowledge that such work-basedlearning can be ‘narrow and conservative’ (ibid.: 18). Bush et al. (2007b) addthat learning may be enhanced within the work situation, and through reflection,away from the normal context. There is no ‘off-the-peg’ solution to suchdilemmas and course designers need to find a judicious and appropriate balancefor their specific client group(s). As the NCSL (2007: 18) argues, ‘a new alliancebetween learning on-the-job and off-site development’ is required. The newSouth Africa ACE: School Leadership, for example, blends classroom learningwith site-based mentoring and assessment, and district-wide networking (Bushet al. 2007a; Department of Education 2007).Individual or group learning?The most successful adult learning appears to grow from the identification ofpersonalised learning needs. However, individualised learning is difficult toorganise and can be expensive to deliver. For ‘statutory provision’, inparticular, it also compromises the standardisation required to justify the‘national programme’ label. The new version of the English NPQH, to bepiloted from 2008, stresses personalised learning and it will be a challenge forprogramme leaders to facilitate this individual approach while still ensuringthat new headteachers have reached an appropriate ‘threshold’ to be awardedthe qualification.Who leads development?Huber (2004c: 98) argues that ‘special consideration’ needs to be given to therecruitment of those who are to lead development activities. Bush et al. (2007b)caution that people designated as tutors, mentors, coaches and facilitators maynot understand their role and may have been selected on the basis that they areperceived to be, or to have been, successful leaders. Crow (2004: 304) expressesreservations about the use of ‘veteran’ principals for leadership preparation, apopular method in North America, because it is unlikely to promote creativityand innovation. The main alternative model is to employ university staff butthey may lack credibility if they do not have school leadership experience. Acentral research question in the evaluation of the South African ACE: SchoolLeadership programme is whether such academics will be able to adapt to therequirements of a practice-based course (Bush et al. 2007a). Crow (2004: 304)argues that the use of theory and research may offset the ‘conservative orientation’of development led by experienced principals.
128LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONWhat are the most effective leadership learning processes?School leaders are senior professionals who have a well-developed sense of theirown learning needs. These are inevitably individual, so generalisation about theeffectiveness of particular approaches is dangerous. However, Bush et al.’s(2007b) meta-analysis of NCSL evaluations provides an evidence-basedoverview of the value of the various processes used in its many developmentprogrammes.Networking is the most favoured mode of leadership learning for NCSL participants(Bush et al. 2007b). It is ‘live learning’ and provides strong potentialfor ideas transfer. It is likely to be most effective when the networks have a clearpurpose and are not simply opportunities for anecdotalism. Such peer learningmay be an alternative, or a supplement, to activities led by tutors, who maycarry alternative labels such as mentor, coach, trainer or facilitator. The keyaspect of the latter role is that the relationship is essentially learner led, withthe facilitator responding to the expressed needs of participants. Bush et al.(2007b) note that this is one of the widely applauded dimensions of NCSLprogrammes. Regardless of the label applied to the ‘facilitator’ role, the mainvariables in determining the success of such professional relationships are thetraining and prior experience of the facilitator, the matching process, and theirability to provide an appropriate and individualised balance of challenge andsupport.Leadership and valuesLeadership is strongly associated with the concept of values (Bush 2003; Bushand Glover 2003; Ng 2001). The NCSL (2007: 7) says that ‘values are inextricablytied up with leadership … Values provide a moral compass and an anchorfor the work of school leaders’. The assumption underpinning this view is thatleaders have their own values that inform their decisions. A contrary opinion isthat principals are simply expected to internalise the national policy agendaand implement it in their schools. Gunter (in press), for example, argues thatthe British government wanted a head-teacher who understood and coulddeliver the New Labour agenda.This debate has clear implications for the nature of leadership development.Thody et al.’s (2007) review of school leadership preparation in Europe showsthat those countries with highly centralised systems, such as Cyprus andGreece, were less likely to give a high priority to development of principals.Where training is provided, it is ‘deeply legislative’ (p. 46) rather than having aleadership orientation. In Cyprus, for example, in-service training for principalsconcerns ‘management duties and responsibilities which the Ministry of
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