Senior leaders’ theories of action for managing subject departments as a school improvement strategy

Abstract

The current study examines senior school leaders’ theories of action driving their decision-making around how they manage departments and distribute leadership to department heads. Based on a thematic analysis of transcripts of interviews with the principal, head of the curriculum unit, and two department heads from nine high schools, four approaches for managing departments were identified: (a) quasi self-managing units; (b) hierarchical managerial control; (c) participatory management; and (d) transitioning from hierarchical control to incipient participatory management. All approaches, to varying degrees, involved hierarchical managerial control and, to a greater or lesser extent, department heads participated in decision-making. At the centre of the distinct patterns for the distribution of leadership associated with each management model was a concern for aligning teachers’ improvement priorities. These approaches are examined through a distributed leadership lens in terms of their potential affordances and constraints for strengthening the contributions of departments to school improvement processes. The main conclusion is that variations in how senior leaders manage departments for the distribution of leadership need to be understood in the context of a school's history and culture.

Responding to external accountability in high‐performing, high‐capacity public secondary schools in Chile

“…Between 2018 and 2021, the lead and second author collaborated on a large research project examining the contributions of subject departments (mathematics and Spanish language) to improve processes and outcomes in secondary schools in Chile. Specifically, issues related to the leadership of principals and department heads were examined as well as work carried out by subject units (Montecinos, Cortez, Valenzuela, et al, 2022; Montecinos, Cortez, Zoro, & Zett, 2022). The overall research project used a sequential mixed‐method design.…”

“…In the literature, learning‐centred leadership is frequently used as a synonym for instructional leadership to acknowledge the influence of formal and informal school leaders in establishing a shared vision of high expectations, managing the instructional programme and promoting professional learning (Hallinger & Murphy, 1985; Knapp & Feldman, 2012). In secondary schools, learning‐centred leadership is often distributed to heads of departments who influence peers through their specialist knowledge for the improvement of teaching and learning in their subject (Montecinos, Cortez, Zoro, & Zett, 2022).…”