Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

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