Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

70LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONSingapore was the first country to make structured provision for middlemanagers, through what is now called the Diploma in DepartmentalManagement (DDM). It is a 17-week full-time programme that enhances thecapability of heads of department. Much of the programme focuses ondepartmental management, including instructional leadership, teammanagement, and staff development and appraisal. Participants also visitschools in order to ‘view exemplary departments in their own subject areas(Chong et al. 2003: 171).All these examples demonstrate the diversity of in-service leadership developmentprovision. However, they also illustrate the growing, if not yetuniversal, recognition that school leaders require continuing professionaldevelopment. As Lam (2003: 187) suggests, in respect of Hong Kong, ‘life-longeducation should be the basis for preventing professionals from becomingobsolete’.OverviewMany of the countries featured in this chapter are among the richest in theworld and could afford a ‘Rolls Royce’ model of leadership development. Whilethere is widespread, and increasing, recognition that the nature of leadershipand management are critical to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning,there is great diversity in the scope and shape of leadership development provision.These variations reflect different assumptions about the nature ofschooling, the role of educational leaders and the place of formal programmesin developing school principals.Several centralised systems have a planned approach to leadership succession,leaving little to chance, while decentralised countries leave the initiativeto leaders, promoting equal opportunities but risking a shortfall in applicants.Demographic considerations, notably the imminent retirement of the ‘babyboom’ generation in Western Europe, and inadequate salary differentials insome countries, combine to create shortages of applicants, particularly in theless desirable locations.There is growing recognition that leadership is a specialised profession, distinctfrom teaching, and requiring specific preparation. Several countries,notably England, Singapore, France, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta, and much ofCanada and the USA, require aspirant principals to acquire a leadership qualification,although there is great diversity in the design and content of suchprogrammes. However, many nations still appoint their principals on the basisof a teaching qualification and teaching experience alone without regard totheir leadership knowledge and skills. Good leadership is an essential requirementfor successful schools and this is too important to be left to chance.