The current policy gaze on teacher quality is resulting in significant shifts in how teacher education is conceptualized, designed and delivered. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation and continuing professional development (CPD) are being challenged, and often displaced, by new models that expedite the process and experience of becoming a teacher, relocate teacher preparation from universities directly to schools and widen the pool of teacher education providers. This "reshaping" of teacher education and leadership development is at a critical point of reform in a number of systems, driven by the need to align with curriculum and wider education reform and the effect of the dual exposure of international comparative tests and economic performance. As a consequence the practice of teacher education, by which we mean the pedagogies, programmes and places through which and where teachers are prepared, must adapt to become more responsive to demands from government to deliver high quality teaching that is developed and sustained throughout a teacher's career. This means reconceptualizing teacher and leadership development as a careerlong process developed by and through the professional continuum. It requires the redesign of the practice of teacher education, necessitating new thinking and fresh approaches to the rich pedagogies that must underpin professional learning programmes, the sites of professional learning and new partnership arrangements. Crucially it also involves widening the pool of teacher educators so that all teachers and school leaders are recognized as teacher educators.
The use of coaching as a developmental methodology has been instituted as a way to develop leadership in schools in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK. While there are studies that examine the skills and impact of coaching, there is only limited discussion of the process of coaching and the role and experiences of the coaches. This article examines the role of coach in a development programme for aspirant headteachers, 'The Flexible Routes to Headship' (FRH), piloted in Scotland, UK in 2007-2009. Coaching was as the core learning process and consequently the quality of coaching is a major consideration in the success of this programme. This development programme is intended to enable candidates to demonstrate their achievement of a professional standard, The Standard for Headship and, as a consequence, the coaches have to undertake a number of different tasks including coaching, mentoring, facilitating, tutoring and assessing. This article draws from the data gathered from coaches and candidates in the evaluation of the FRH Pilot Project which suggests that while there are potential benefits for the coach as well as for candidates, there are some inherent tensions. The question of a model of leadership development based predominantly on coaching is explored.
Leadership is central to policy ambitions for improvement in Scottish education: 'Highly effective leadership is key to ensuring the highest possible standards and expectations are shared across a school to achieve excellence and equity for all' (Scottish Government, 2016a: 4). To foster teacher engagement in and leadership of change and to prepare enough teachers for headship, building leadership capacity is crucial. The question we explore is how do you design a career-long leadership development strategy to secure this capacity necessary to fulfil these policy intentions while, at the same time, foster the autonomy of teachers in professional learning. We examine firstly, leadership development in the reform agenda and secondly, the task of balancing system and individual needs in career-long leadership development. We then detail the approaches used to build a cohesive leadership system and its ongoing development.
Interrogating the concept of 'leadership at all levels' : a Scottish perspective The concept of 'leadership at all levels' has gained currency in Scottish education in recent years following the publication of 'Teaching Scotland's Future' (2010), a major review of teacher education focussing on teachers' initial preparation, their ongoing development and career progression. This paper traces the drivers of change that led to the recommendations in the review and subsequent developments and interrogates the concept through examination of the policy context. The paper argues that, whilst there have been many positive developments in advancing leadership and leadership education in Scotland, the concept of 'leadership at all levels' is problematic and there are many tensions which need to be addressed. In particular, the paper examines the tension between systems-led leadership development and that which focuses on the professional development of the individual, commensurate with the stage of their career, and argues that models that are more fluid and flexible allowing movement in, across and through the system are required. leadership at all levels; leadership development; systems leadership; distributed leadership; power relations; equity
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.