Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

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THE NATIONAL COLLEGE FOR SCHOOL LEADERSHIP79the optimistic assumption that 85 per cent of NPQH graduates will be readyfor headship immediately following this assessment process. Given thesuccession planning pressures, there is a risk that panels will ‘cut corners’ tomake sure that the supply of heads is sufficient to meet the increasing demandarising from demographic change.The NPQH will soon become the only route to headship in England. This‘monopoly’ position imposes great pressure on the NCSL to make sure it is ‘fitfor purpose’. A lack of pluralism provides a good prospect of a genuinelystandardised qualification, in so far as this is possible with an individualisedapproach, but runs the risk of damaging the schools’ system if it is inadequate.The new model addresses one of the criticisms above by requiring master’slevelwork as part of the assessment process. It also has the potential to meetthe diverse needs of candidates through the intention to personalisedevelopment. However, there is a risk that it will become, or remain, undemanding,to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of ‘qualified’ candidates.It also remains to be seen if it will contribute to improving standards ofheadship in England.Strengths and achievements of the NCSLThe NCSL has been praised as an outstanding example of innovation in thepreparation of educational leaders. It is a bold initiative that places leadershipat the heart of the government’s aim to raise educational standards. ‘There canbe little doubt that the college’s overall conception, scale and executionrepresent a paradigm shift in comparison with predecessor models bothinternationally and in England and Wales (Bolam 2004: 260). It is certainlyhaving a global impact, not least in the USA. For example, Levine (2005: 54)says that the NCSL ‘proved to be the most promising model we saw, providingexamples of good practice that educational administration programs mightseek to emulate’. In South Africa, the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadershipand Governance (MGSLG) was modelled to some extent on the NCSL, albeiton a much smaller scale and serving only a single province (Bush and Joubert2004).The NCSL has five main strengths:• A national focus• Programmes for different career stages• An emphasis on practice• Programmes underpinned by research• Impressive reach and scale.
80LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONA national focusThe NCSL has substantial recurrent funding and is housed in a lavish purposebuiltcentre, leading Bolam (2004: 255) to claim that the NCSL now operates‘what is probably the most comprehensive and sophisticated national schoolleadership development model in the world’ (original emphasis). The NCSL isone of only two national school leadership centres (Walker and Dimmock 2004:271). (The other one, in Singapore, is much smaller.) Its influence goes wellbeyond that of any single university.The advent of the NCSL was a major change from the previous ad hocarrangements (Bolam 2004: 252), which ranged from a few days of inductionby LEAs through to university master’s and doctoral programmes. The NCSLprovides the coherence that was missing in the previous arrangements and hasmoved leadership ‘centre stage’ in a powerful way. As Southworth (2004: 340)acknowledges, ‘the scale and scope of the college’s remit is considerable’. However,as we note later, national provision has limitations as well as strengths.Programmes for different career stagesA distinctive feature of NCSL is its focus on school leadership at all levels. Increating a suite of development programmes, it has increased recognition thatleadership goes well beyond headship (Southworth 2004: 341). As we noted earlier,this goal is encapsulated in its Leadership Development Framework, whichcomprises five stages, as well as in the development of strategic programmesand provision for school leadership teams. Southworth (2004: 341) claims that‘the framework was designed to provide a coherent and flexible model for thedevelopment and support of school leaders, recognising the different strengths,needs and aspirations of leaders at all stages of their careers’. Crow (2004: 303),from a North American perspective, adds that this wide provision ‘should providea useful framework for building leadership capacity across career stages inschools and contribute to international efforts in this regard’.An emphasis on practiceThe NCSL’s programmes are underpinned by a desire to improve leadershippractice in schools. This view is based on the Labour government’s assumptionthat ‘enhancing school leadership [is] a key driver of educational improvement’(Bush 2006: 509). This stance is illustrated by a focus on process rather thancontent, and on an approach to assessment that privileges what leaders can do,rather than what they know. As discussed earlier, the key phrase in assessing
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ContentsNotes on the authorSeries E
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