Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

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THE CURRICULUM FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: CONTENT AND PROCESS47ities play a significant part in many development programmes. While this maysometimes be an opportunity for an essentially didactic approach, delivering a‘body of knowledge’, there are several other group learning strategies that maybe employed to promote participants’ learning. The most important of these arediscussed below.Action learningAn enhanced focus on action learning arises, in part, because of an increasedrecognition that leadership and management are practical activities. Whileknowledge and understanding serve to underpin managerial performance, theyprovide an inadequate guide to action. Hallinger and Bridges (2007: 7) statethat ‘education in the professions should emphasise the application of knowledge’and add that professional development should aim at ‘preparingmanagers for action’ (p. 2).Action learning is one example of this more practical approach. McGill andBeaty (1995) show that it provides for continuous learning and reflection by a‘set’ of people, using an ‘experiential learning cycle’. These authors show howaction learning can contribute to management development through the developmentof the individual manager and the organisation as a whole (p. 209).Smith (2001) focuses on the use of action learning in leadership development.Writing from a Canadian perspective, he states that action learning‘embodies an approach based on comrades in adversity learning from eachother through discriminating questioning, fresh experience and reflectiveinsight. It is a form of learning through experience … based on the premise thatwe can only learn about work at work’ (p. 35).Action learning is a key dimension of NCSL’s New Visions programme, fornew first-time heads. Bush and Glover (2005: 232) note that ‘this approach isperceived to be highly effective’. They cite the very positive views of oneparticipant:The action learning sets are challenging: you have to explain your problemsto others, they listen and discuss and finally feedback suggestions toalleviate your area of difficulty. (Ibid.)Action learning is also an important part of the ‘delivery architecture’ in Singapore’s‘Leaders in Education’ programme. Chong et al. (2003: 169) explain therole of action learning:Participants know what they are taught, but they do not know what theywill learn. They have to create their own knowledge through team learning,and this takes place in … syndicates, a group of about six people meetingweekly and facilitated by a university professor. They know what knowledgethey have created only when they come to the end of the programme.
48LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONResidential and off-site learningOff-site learning is a central part of most leadership development programmes,involving periodic meetings at the provider’s premises or at a conference centre.Bush et al. (2007b) note that most NCSL programmes make provision foroff-site activity and evaluation evidence is generally positive but unspecific.Participants on several programmes appear to value such sessions because oftheir potential for networking but they also seem to provide space for reflection.Simkins et al.’s (2006) overview of NCSL programmes concludes that faceto-faceactivities were the ‘most valued’ aspect of all three core programmes:Leading from the Middle, NPQH and LPSH.Networking and school visitsResidential and off-site learning provide the potential for networking. Intervisitationand school visits, in particular, play a significant part in NCSLprogrammes. Bush and Glover (2004) advocate networking as one of four mainleadership development approaches. Green (2001) suggests ‘networking withpeers’ as one of five development modes, while James and Whiting (1998)advocate the provision of ‘frameworks for networking’ for deputy heads. Internshipsmay be regarded as a specific form of networking and Crow (2001) arguesthat this may help with professional socialisation.Bush et al.’s (2007b) overview of NCSL evaluations shows that networking isthe most favoured mode of leadership learning. It is likely to be more effectivewhen it is structured and has a clear purpose. Its main advantage is that it is‘live learning’ and provides strong potential for ideas transfer. Visits with a clearpurpose may also lead to powerful leadership learning. Visiting similar contexts(for example, other small primary schools) appears to be particularly valuable.The South African ACE: School Leadership pilot programme places a lot ofemphasis on ‘cluster’ learning. Participants are arranged in geographical groupsto facilitate networking and collaborative learning (Bush et al. 2007a).Singapore has a structured network, or partnership, comprising the NationalInstitute of Education, schools and the Ministry of Education. Stott andTrafford (2000: 2) say that this partnership ‘represents a shift away from thehierarchical to networks, from authority to influence’.PortfoliosPortfolios are becoming significant elements of the assessment process inseveral leadership development programmes. Wolf and Gearheart’s (1997)definition links portfolios to coaching and mentoring:The structured documentary history of a carefully selected set of coached
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