Leading Innovative Schools

Anne Tonkin

ACEL Conference

Sydney. 2015

What will you get from this presentation?

´ Key considerations: q  What is the place of creativity and innovation in creating ‘fit for

purpose’ 21st century schools?

q  Are there leadership practices common to innovative and successful principals that would provide others with a model for personal reflection?

q  Is there a model for school success common to innovative and successful schools?

q  What is the reciprocal influence of one’s leadership story on their professional growth?

Research Outline

In schools that are regarded as innovative, well led and which have excellent student outcomes, what

leadership and management practices of principals promote a culture of

innovation?

1.  What are the contexts and cultures of innovative schools?

2.  Are innovative schools seen as successful schools by stakeholder groups in each school?

3.  What are the specific behaviours, skills, knowledge and dispositions of principals that create innovative school cultures?

continued….

4. From a life history perspective, what influences have shaped the work of these principals?

5. What other factors might have helped to create innovative school cultures?

6. Do stakeholders see their school’s success and innovative culture as sustainable beyond the leadership of the current principal?

Selection of the schools

q Researcher Positionality

q Guiding Criteria for DOE selection

Breadth of Context:

´ School type

´ Age of the school

´ Distance from Melbourne CBD

´ Number of students

´ Socio economic status

´ Years as principal in the school

´ Organisation for learning

´ Multicultural history and current situation

What were the schools known for?

Innovation and Success Focus Crossroads PS

Breezes PS

Woodside PS Links SC Parkview

SC

• Use of technology

• Learning programs

• Flexible learning spaces

• Local community partnerships

• Global partnerships

• Personalised learning

• Professional learning community

• Improved student outcomes

• System leadership • Awards

Curriculum Innovation

Curriculum Innovation

Curriculum Innovation

Outstanding Leadership

Outstanding Leadership

Methodology

´  Multiple case studies across the school sites

´  Multiple perspective interviews of the school and the principal’s leadership:

q Principal

q Regional Network Leader

q School Council President

q Leadership Team members

q Staff Group

q Parent Group

´  Semi-structured individual and group interviews

Data analysis:

RAW DATA: Transcripts èSummaries

ORGANISED DATA: Matrix èCase findings

REDUCED DATA: Develop 5 categories

& apply to cases

INTERCONNECTED DATA: Compare cases

using categories

THEMATIC DATA: Emerging themes of principal leadership

and innovative schools

THEORETICALLY MEANINGFUL UNDERSTADING: Ch. 5 - leadership perspectives & associated key behaviors èCh. 6

Model of school & principal innovation & success

Immersion

Immersion

Rigour & trustworthiness 1.  Research questions were based on research and knowledge of

educational leadership

2.  A pilot interview was conducted to refine questions and process

3.  A consistent approach was used across schools and in data analysis processes

4.  Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and checked by individual participants

5.  Triangulation of data was achieved through multiple perspectives of the school and the principal’s leadership, researcher notes, observations and secondary data

6.  Data from different sites was compared to illuminate or substantiate the question

7.  A chain of evidence was developed using sound research practice

Some ‘No Surprises’ Research Findings:

1.  Principal was a key influence (Beare, 2006; Caldwell & Harris, 2008; Elmore, 2000; Fullan, 2002; Hargreaves, 2009; Hattie, 2009; Leithwood, 1994; Mazano et al., 2005)

2.  Principal demonstrated a ‘restlessness for improvement’ (Drysdale et al., 2009)

3.  There was a shared risk taking school culture and pride in doing things differently - ‘bias towards innovation & action’ (Dinham 2005)

4.  School context didn’t pre-determine its culture or success (Drysdale & Gurr, 2011, Gurr, 2014)

5.  Leadership was broadly distributed and schools had highly skilled leadership teams (Harris, 2008,2009; Spillane, 2006 )

continued….

Some ‘No Surprises’ Research Findings: 6.  Presence of whole school, research based learning - ‘developing

people’ (Gurr, 2014)

7.  Each school had established a ‘type’ identity which was broadly shared across the school community

8.  Principal influence was seen both in the school and the broader context - ‘embracing their influence’ (Gurr, 2014)

9.  Principal knew about and directed what was happening in the school but relied on others for the ‘nuts & bolts’ leadership (Day & Gurr, 2014)

10.  There were common success elements across schools (Zbar, Kimber & Marshall, 2008)

Principal Types:

q the Global principal

q The Networking principal

q The Wellbeing principal

q The Coaching principal

What is innovation?

´ Creativity has been described as defying basic definition, and indeed, it is often not defined:

Plucker, Beghetto and Dow (2004) analysed

ninety articles appearing in the top two creativity

journals or peer reviewed journals with the word

‘creativity’ in the title. Only 38% explicitly defined

creativity, while 33% of non-creativity journals

provided a definition.

Definition of Innovation

And why would schools want to be innovative?

´ Creativity …

is the interaction of person and process to produce a product or idea that is useful and novel as defined by the social context of the time

´ Innovation …

is the implementation of that novel idea or application of the product.

Why might schools want to be innovative?

1. The current system is not working well for many people …

Today’s education system is inadequate for preparing tomorrow’s citizens. That is the consensus across the world.

International organisations, national and local governments, educational institutions, business enterprises and the public all

over the world have put forth tremendous efforts with unprecedented courage, to improve education for their children.

Zhao (2013: 3)

Why innovate?

2. The future requires a different skillset to the past

The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind … But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind

of mind – creators and empathisers, pattern recognisers and meaning makers.

Pink (2006: 1)

Innovation is the key …

Enterprises which thrive in the information-rich economy tend to image their personnel in new ways. The enterprise and its members are flexible, they can make quick and strategic

decisions, they encourage innovation and entrepreneurship; they value creativity rather than conformity, they give members the power to take local decisions and to exercise initiative, and they regard the people in the organisation as partners rather

than property. (Beare 2006: 29)

Leading the innovative school

Innovative companies are almost always led by innovative leaders … innovative founders often imprinted their

organisations with their behaviours … innovative people systematically engage in questioning, observing, networking and

experimenting behaviours to spark new ideas.

Dyer, Gregersen and Christiansen (2011: 7-8)

But how much change will be needed?

Incremental improvement

V

Large scale change?

But take heart…

Many change agents, from thought leaders and policy makers, to principals, teachers and parents as well as students … are creating the types of schools and other learning environments

that will equip today’s students to become future leaders, citizens and lifelong learners.

Their work at the edges of the current school system is gradually moving to the centre.

Yet progress has been slow to achieve scale, especially with the pace of technology and global change.

Chen (2010: 242)

The power of life stories

´ The life experiences of each of the innovative school leaders were central to their leadership style and moral purpose

´ While the backgrounds of the innovative leaders were vastly different, each had been influenced by personal experiences which shaped their leadership styles to be manifested in ways not dissimilar to each other.

Who am I?

q the Global principal

q The Networking principal

q The Wellbeing principal

q The Coaching principal

Five Perspectives of Innovative Leaders:

Growth Perspective

Collaborative Perspective

Business Perspective

Change Activist Perspective

Moral Purpose Perspective

Principal

Life Stories

Growth Perspective:

Adopting an inquiry learning

approach to school leadership in order

to deepen understanding and

continually pushing the boundaries of

what is possible for themselves, the

school and its community.

Collaborative Perspective:

Working collaboratively across the

school, system and possibly global

communities to connect, engage with,

learn from and influence others.

Business Perspective:

Implementing a vision, strategic

direction and business principles across

the school and to compete with others

if necessary, to obtain advantage for

the school.

Change Activist Perspective:

Understanding change as a continually

evolving process and taking responsibility

to actively engage with and lead others

in school improvement processes.

Moral Purpose Perspective:

Being driven by a strong personal sense

of what is right and using this to shape

their leadership and the school.

School Success Framework

Focus on improving teacher & leader

expertise

PRE CONDITIONS

Unified & Positive Whole School

Culture

Strong community connections &

external partnerships

Flexible & personalised learning

environments

Broad & long term view of success

Improved learning outcomes

Culture of High Expectations &

Success Significant &

Strategic Whole School Change

Aspirational school promotion

Trusting & stable principal leadership

Doing Things Differently

Continual Reflection & Improvement

INNOVATIVE & SUCCESFUL SCHOOLS SUCCESS ELEMENTS CORE DRIVERS

School Transformation

´ Expanded goals, new metrics

´ New landscapes of providers, from multiple sources

´ Disruption – a decisive shift away from the factory based model to highly personalised approaches

´ Emergence – not a fixed ‘reform plan’ but an adaptive set of change processes

´ Growing evidence, not being dependent on it – new approaches cannot be wholly evidence based

´ Openness – to multiple and diverse platforms and influences

Hannon (2014)

A Model for School

Innovation and Success

PRINCIPAL  LEADERSHIP:     Five  Perspec5ves

Principal's  Life  Story

SCHOOL SUCCESS: Preconditions, Core Drivers & Success Elements

SCHOOL & PRINCIPAL Innovation and Success

PRINCIPAL  LEADERSHIP:    Associated  Behaviours

Finally … Some Key Points: ´  Innovation is a mindset that permeates the culture of some schools.

´ Creating and leading innovative and successful schools holds opportunities for society to understand and seek new solutions in a more systematic way, one that can be shared with other schools and education systems.

´  The innovative principals in this study, understood and directly and indirectly manipulated their school’s innovative capacity to promote and sustain school success.

´  Innovative leadership can be understood and learned when the five perspectives and associated behaviours are applied to self and context in a model of reciprocal influence.

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