Chartered Teachers Matter: Envisioning

their future as leaders of learning

Professor Brian HudsonUniversity of Dundee

4th February 2012

Introduction What do I mean by ‘leaders of learning’?

Three propositions:1. Leaders of learning are concerned with pedagogical

leadership2. Pedagogical leadership is a distinct form of distributed

leadership3. The focus of such pedagogical leadership needs to be

on the process of didactical design

Structure Background context

What is meant by ‘leading learning’?

Pedagogy and pedagogical leadership

Distributive leadership

Didactical design

Code of Practice on the role of the Chartered Teacher

The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) welcomed the clarification that the Revised SCT brought to the leadership role of Chartered Teachers in “leading learning and supporting colleagues”.

SNCT (2009) Code of Practice on the Role of the Chartered Teacher, The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers

What is meant by ‘learning’? Translating ‘learning’

Opetus in Finnish

Teaching-studying-learning

Resonance with the idea of ‘teaching as learning in practice’ (Jean Lave)

Hudson, B. (2002) Holding complexity and searching for meaning - teaching as reflective practice, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34, 1, 43-57.

Similar phenomena in other languages

To study … and to practice hard constantly

To accumulate knowledge >

A child in a doorway >

A bird developing the ability to leave the nest

< flying

< youth

The Chinese symbol for learning

Pedagogy The term pedagogue derives from the Greek, and

refers not to the teacher but to the watchful … guardian whose responsibility was to lead (agogos) the young boy (paides) to school … The adult had the task of accompanying the child, of being with the child, of caring for the child. This is the kind of ‘leading’ that often walks behind the one who is led. The … pedagogue was there in loco parentis.’

Van Manen, M. (1991) The Tact of Teaching: The Meaning of Pedagogical Thoughfulness. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Pedagogical leadership (i) The significance of the concept of leadership as

opposed to school management or school administration has produced a major body of literature over recent years … (teacher) leadership is theorised as being somewhat behind others rather than out in front

There is also the view that the core theoretical construct underpinning leadership research is a largely patriarchal model (Collard and Reynolds 2006) which … is ironic when one considers the overall feminisation of the teaching profession.

Gerry MacRuairc and Judith Harford (2011)

Pedagogical leadership (ii) Teachers practice pedagogical leadership directly

since in schools they stand first and closest in a caring relationship to children.

Principals practise pedagogical leadership by facilitating this process, and ensuring the interests of children are served well

Thomas Sergiovanni (1998)

Pedagogical leadership (iii) Embedded in the concept of pedagogical

leadership is not only a connection between leadership and learning but that the practice of the leader is based on deep and rich understandings of the nature of pedagogy …

However, if we look at current constructions of teaching and of leadership in Scottish documents there is a lack of rich descriptions of pedagogy with one notable exception: The Standard for Chartered Teacher (SfCT).

Christine Forde, Margery McMahon and Beth Dickson (2011)

The Standard for Chartered Teacher

The Standard for Chartered Teacher as pedagogical leader

… leadership for learning has to be imbued with rich understandings of pedagogy and … the articulation of these rich descriptions of pedagogy

… we need to draw on understandings we have learned from the CT programme about forms of leadership embedded in pedagogic expertise. (Ford et al, 2011)

The pedagogical leadership role of the Chartered Teacher CTs are expected to be at the forefront of critically

engaging with practice and to take a leading role in its development and implementation of change …

The CT is an accomplished, innovative teacher who demonstrates sustained enhanced expertise in practice.

The CT plays a leading role in the professional development of colleagues and makes a recognised contribution to … the school and the wider professional community.

The Standard for Chartered Teacher (2009, p1)

Tensions in the debates about distributed leadership

Leadership for Headship

Management and administration

‘Top-down’ approaches

Leadership for learning

Learning and ‘instruction’

Lateral thinking and ways of working (e.g. Lieberman and Gronlick, 1999; Huberman, 1995)

Pedagogical leadership as an example of creative leadership Harris (2009) describes talent-powered

organisations as those which invest in developing the capabilities of all employees and place a particular focus on accelerating creative capacity through the actions and interactions of people across the organisation.

This is seen to be achieved through strong engagement and by ensuring that networking and collaboration are reinforced as the most important leadership skills.

Pedagogical leadership as a distinct form of distributed leadership Teacher leaders lead within and beyond the

classroom; identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders; influence others …” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009, p. 6)

… there is now broad agreement that teacher leadership is not defined by formal role or responsibility but rather conceptualised as collective agency and professional collaborative action which can either take a formal or informal leadership role. (MacRuairc and Harford, 2011)

On the process of didactical design The study of the Continental European traditions

of ‘didactics’ in recent years has given fresh perspectives on a number of issues related to teaching and learning around the themes of: meaning and intentionality attention to studying recognising and holding complexity tools for holding complexity and the role of the teacher (Hudson, 2002; 2007).

Tools for holding complexity: the pedagogical relation

Schools as subsystems of the wider society

Tools for holding complexity: the didactical relation

Focussing on the didactical design of teaching-studying-learning processes Teaching situations involving all the analogies,

metaphors, and images that build bridges between the teacher’s understanding and the student’s learning

Pedagogical activities that are carefully planned, continuously examined, and which support assessment for learning

Learning environments that stimulate active learning and critical, creative thinking

The process of didactical design

Didactical design for technology enhanced learning

(Hudson, 2011)

Concluding comments on Chartered Teachers as leaders of learning

Leaders of learning are concerned with pedagogical leadership

Pedagogical leadership is a distinct form of distributed leadership

The focus of such pedagogical leadership needs to be on the process of didactical design

The professional actions of the CT as a leader of learning

The sleeping giant?

“When given opportunities to lead, teachers can influence school reform efforts. Waking this sleeping giant of teacher leadership has unlimited potential in making a real difference in the pace and depth of school change”

(Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2009, p. 102).

Thank you for listening

References (i) Collard, J. and Reynolds, C. (2006). Leadership gender and culture

in education. Netherlands: Springer.

Forde, C., McMahon, M. and Dickson, B. (2011) Leadership Development in Scotland: after Donaldson, Scottish Educational Review, 43, 2, 55-69.

GTCS (2009) The Standard for Chartered Teacher, Edinburgh: GTC Scotland.

Harris, A. (2009) Creative Leadership: Developing Future Leaders, Management in Education, British Educational Leadership, Management & Administration Society (BELMAS), 23(1): 9–11.

Huberman, M. (1995) Networks that Alter Teaching: conceptualizations, exchanges and experiments, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 1, 2, 193-211.

References (ii) Hudson, B. (2002) Holding complexity and searching for meaning -

teaching as reflective practice, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34, 1, 43-57.

Hudson, B. (2007) Comparing different traditions of teaching and learning: what can we learn about teaching and learning? European Educational Research Journal, 6, 2, 135-146.

Hudson, B. (2011) Didactical Design for Technology Enhanced Learning. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe, Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen and Farmington Hills, 223-238.

Kansanen, P. and Meri, M. (1999) The didactic relation in the teaching-studying-learning process. In B. Hudson, F. Buchberger, P. Kansanen, and H. Seel (eds), Didaktik/Fachdidaktik as Science(-s) of the Teaching Profession? TNTEE Pubs, 2, 1, 107-16.

References (iii) Katzenmeyer, M. & Moller, G. (2009). Awakening the

sleeping giant. Helping teachers develop as leaders (3rd Ed). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Lieberman, A. and Grolnick, M. (1999) Networks and Reform in American Education. In Darling-Hammond, L. and Sykes, G. (Eds) Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Policy and Practice, Jossey-Bass Inc., California, pp 292-312.

MacRuairc, G. and Harford, J. (2011) Teacher Leadership: The Imperative for Pedagogical Enquiry. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe, Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen and Farmington Hills, 205-220.

References (iv) Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., Smith, B. J.

(1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. Century: London.

Sergiovanni, T. (1998) Leadership as pedagogy, capital development and school effectiveness, International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 1, 1, 37-46.

SNCT (2009) Code of Practice on the Role of the Chartered Teacher, The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

Van Manen, M. (1991) The Tact of Teaching: The Meaning of Pedagogical Thoughfulness. Albany: State University of New York Press.