Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

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THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT135and candidates continue with their full-time professional role. This model hasseveral advantages. First, it facilitates access to library facilities so that participantscan access the research and literature, which are the staple diet of suchprogrammes. Secondly, it provides opportunities for networking with peers. Aswe saw earlier, this is often regarded as the main benefit of leadership developmentactivities (Bush et al. 2007b).Many university-led programmes, including those in Canada, South Africaand the USA, incorporate field-based elements. However, they are often subordinateto the classroom aspects. An alternative approach is to regard the ‘workplaceas the workshop’. The NCSL (2007: 17) says that ‘a large amount oflearning should take place in school’ rather than through courses. The emphasisis on developing ‘craft’ knowledge, ‘knowing what works’ (ibid.). Whilework-based learning can ‘feel’ authentic, it can also be narrow and conservative(ibid.: 18). The challenge is to find an appropriate balance of these elementsthat meets the needs of each client group. In South Africa, for example, theintention is that 50 per cent of ACE candidates’ learning will be work-based,comprising activities planned, executed and evaluated at participants’ schools(Department of Education 2007).Who provides the training?University-based courses are typically led and delivered by faculty, who mayhave good research records but often do not have school leadership and managementexperience. Many departments address this problem by also hiringstaff with a background as principals, deputy principals or middle managers inschools. Academic life is often a second career for such professionals. In Canadaand the US, for example, researchers work alongside former principals to deliverprogrammes for aspiring principals. The latter’s ‘craft’ knowledge is allied to theacademics’ research expertise to produce a programme blending knowledge andunderstanding with practical school-based elements.Bjork and Murphy (2005) report that US programmes have strengthenedtheir ‘field connections’ since the 1980s, partly by hiring part-time ‘adjunct’faculty who are often practising administrators. Similarly, the Principals’ QualificationProgram (PQP) in Ontario is usually delivered by staff and mentorswho are experienced educational leaders (Huber and Leithwood 2004). Whilethese ‘veterans’ often have a good understanding of the school context, theapproach may be criticised for promoting a conservative approach to leadershipdevelopment, based on current and previous practice rather than the futureneeds of schools and leaders (Crow 2004).Designing, delivering and assessing leadership programmes are not straightforwardtasks and require a complex skills set, including leadership experience,
136LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONunderstanding of relevant research and literature, and highly developed oraland written communication skills. Particularly where the field is expanding,countries may experience a lack of suitable course leaders and staff. Capacitybuildingshould be seen as important for those who lead programmes as well asthose who embark on them.Bolam (2004) discusses the challenge facing academics in British universitydepartments of education who are expected to produce high-quality researchand publications to satisfy the demands of the Research Assessment Exercise(RAE). This activity is invariably regarded as more important than leading anddelivering leadership development programmes. ‘There are few, if any,incentives for staff to engage in such work in research-ambitious universities’(ibid.: 259). In the English context, the power and national reputation of theNCSL has contributed to a decline in university leadership programmes. TheCollege’s success owes a great deal to its skill in encouraging practitionerresearch, and in developing headteachers to become consultant leaders andcontribute to programmes as facilitators, consultants and coaches(www.ncsl.org.uk/programmes).OverviewThe five questions addressed above provide a starting point for the constructionof a model for school leadership development (see Table 9.1).Table 9.1 ‘Nationalised’ leadership developmentPre-serviceCentralisedCertifiedSchool-basedPractitioner-ledIn the past decade, there has been a global trend towards more systematicprovision of leadership and management development, particularly for schoolprincipals. Hallinger (2003a: 3) notes that, in 1980, ‘no nation in the world hadin place a clear system of national requirements, agreed upon frameworks ofknowledge, and standards of preparation for school leaders’. In the twenty-firstcentury, many countries are giving this a high priority, recognising its potentialfor school improvement.This trend is encapsulated most powerfully by the English NCSL but it canalso be seen in France, Singapore and South Africa. Candidates undertake ‘centralised’training before becoming principals and receive national accreditationon successful completion of the activity. Much of the development work is
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