Primary School Leadership for Education Quality - EdQual

Quality issues identified by HTs• Teachers’ time on taskand commitment• Parental support for childlearning• Access to resources• Community Support• Frequency of changes in policy• Support from Educational Authorities• Headteachers' leadership• Decentralisation (extended role of HT)

Headteachers …• Lacked confidence to initiate change (Gh)• Not adequately prepared for leadership• Did not see themselves as promoters oflearning.• Found it easier to mobilise community andparents than improve T&L (Tz)• More motivated to improve T&L for upperthan lower years

A Headteacher’s Lamentation‘’You see, I taught for fifteen years before I became ahead but they say I should teach as well … I teach and Ido administration going to district office, attendingmeetings, doing many things and teaching at the sametime but I’m not paid double pay. It’s not fair .. Weheadteachers are cheated … They should make teachersto help children to learn so we heads do theadministration’A rural head, Ghana11/24/2010 7

Enabling Headteachers• Action Research and School-Self Evaluationworkshops• HT supported to set research agenda (identifiedschool-level challenges inhibiting quality education)• HT encouraged to identify and introduceinterventions for addressing challenges• Guided to keep diaries and report on findings• Regular contact with facilitator• Peer support group

Challenge Intervention ImpactWHAT HEADTEACHERS • Engaged female role WERE Girls’ ABLE participation TO in DOGirls not occupyingleadership positionsmodels to interact withpupils.leadership improved theirconfidencePupils travellinglong distancesarrive late atschool. Thisaffects learning.Truancy and parentinaction.• School and class prefectpositions given to girls• Dialogue withcommunity/SMC &Educational Authorities.• Re-organised time table• Close monitoring andsupport to small number.• School-wide strategy, ledby truancy committee• Efforts to engage studentsin class• Pupil lateness reduced.• Performance, e.g. inmaths, improved• Truancy reducedthroughout school• Advice given toneighbouring school

POLICY IMPLICATIONS• Head teacher training should be prioritised– Emphasis on leadership for learning– AR in which HT sets agenda– Skills and tools for evaluating school quality• Management of head teachers– Ongoing facilitative support at district level– Some level of autonomy for HT professional practice– Identify and target struggling schools• Develop leadership capacity of district level officers &inspectors– In facilitative learning-focused management styles• Top-down policies aligned to bottom-up initiatives

IMPACT ON POLICYGhana: Findings informed• MOE’s 2010 Education Sector Review• Primary school leadership developmentprogrammes• On-going review ofHeadteachers’Handbook

THE BIG QUESTION?How can we ensure sustained professionalsupport for headteachers to enable them tocreate school environments for quality T&L?

FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA• Role of district level officers in qualityimprovement• Role of school inspectorates in supportingschool level initiatives• Monitoring and evaluation of HT professionaldevelopment programmes• Leadership, corporal punishment policy andpupil learning

TanzaniaGhana1411/24/2010