Education Transformation Towards a collaborative and empowered system
Ambitious vision for the Council Our ambition is that by end of school session 2019/2020 I NSPECTIONS: All HGIOS QIs are good and above (includes nursery) ATTAINMENT: All key attainment outcomes are in the second quartile nationally: (literacy and numeracy from p1-s6; key measures in SQA at s4,s5 and s6) EXCLUSIONS: Exclusions significantly reduce and support is in place to address escalating LAC pupils ‘exclusion’ levels CULTURE: All schools are ‘positive, dynamic, learning and improving organisations’ COUNCIL: All senior leaders in THC have high expectations; work collaboratively to THC concept and badge and relish the opportunity to resolve the complex challenges facing the Council and our society
Chronology to date November presentation to HTs about Highland’s position v national data January workshop for members about the same January Chief Exec Challenge to schools February Budget with Change Fund March/April HT Improvement Family initial meetings May- Change Team in place
Initial reaction to engaging with LGBF data A significant number of third quartile results and some fourth quartile results Not what we want, not what we believe we deserve and not reflective of the ambition that we have for our community. We have good people working in Care and Learning. We work hard to deliver good outcomes. Therefore More of the same approach will not do and we need to do things different.
Consultation, Research and Planning HT feedback gathered at three rounds of meetings National and international research consulted and considered- referred to in upcoming slides Context matters- it has to fit within Scottish education parameters, Highland Council’s geographical and financial constraints and the culture and ethos of Highland communities
ADES article “System leaders need to support schools to think more • often, more deeply and more radically about their mission.” “Whilst systems can be far better at creating the • enabling conditions and cultures for innovation, schools need to take ultimate responsibility for their own ethos.” “Inevitably, this points to a significant leadership • challenge at all levels. We need leadership which has authentic conviction about the potential for education as humanity’s best hope.” Towards a Learning system •
How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better - McKinsey and co As systems performance rises, professional development shifts away from a focus on technical training delivered by central coaches to a greater reliance on teacher-peer collaboration and development. In order to achieve improvement in student outcomes, lower performing systems focus on raising the floor, while higher performing ones focus on opening up the ceiling.”
How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better - McKinsey and co In summary- education systems “prescribe adequacy or unleash greatness” The key inputs to successful systems to ensure that improvement is sustained are: Establishing collaborative practices between teachers within and across 1) schools Developing a layer between schools and the centre (meaning Education 2) Scotland/Scottish Government) “Architecting” tomorrow’s leadership 3)
How do we get there? In the words of the management consultant Peter Drucker “ Culture eats strategy for breakfast ” Unless we are all in this together Unless we engage and inform members and the community Unless we have a shared purpose Unless we have trust and sharing enshrined in what we do Unless we are open to professional support and challenge from colleagues NOTHING WILL CHANGE.
A self-improving school system: towards maturity D. Hargreaves
High performance organisations need core values otherwise they are directionless in their goals, processes and outcomes Leadership viewed simply as capacity building for best performance… without a framework of moral purpose and values, is rudderless leadership. It is values that anchor and give meaning to the capacity building Fullan has called this the ‘moral imperative’ of school leadership and argues that it should replace the overused concept of ‘vision’ Leadership, Capacity Building and School Improvement - C Dimmock
Why are you a head teacher?- visual display Are these the priorities that members would recognise and value?
That’s lovely James, but what does this new approach mean for Highland schools and communities? It means a system wide focus on leadership with an entirely different co- ordinated approach to training and support to develop this social and intellectual capital. It means a pan-Highland commitment to developing a culture of trust and reciprocation. It means developing families of schools with similar characteristics to support each other with improvement. It means that whilst improvement is going to be located closer to the classroom, there is a requirement of Highland Council to provide expert support. It means regular engagement with the LGBF data
Highland Council training strategy A new approach to Professional Development whereby we start with principles and aspirations and then make an offer to all schools of appropriate support- delivered for them. Each school’s starting point is with self -evaluation of where they are and which aspects or ‘pillars’ they need to develop first
Extract from draft training programme
Why collaboration? Why empowerment? We know that leadership, even in the most centralised societies is too dispersed, information flows too global, the speed from thought to action too fast for the massive problems of the 21 st century to be resolved behind closed doors, however beautiful the location. Instead leaders need to focus on creating the conditions in which the necessary innovations can take place and in which countless individuals with leadership responsibilities are well-educated enough to make good decisions. Systems leadership for effective services - P . Scott, J. Harris and A. Florek
Teachers and Head Teachers Make a Difference For Scotland's learners, with Scotland's educators
Final comments to HTs This is a research based change and it is also entirely in line with what the 2019 NIF believes should be happening (“an empowered and collaborative system”) and what the Joint Agreement said about the HT Charter. Given all this, your engagement is essential. We have much to do and the collective talent of all involved is required to deliver optimal outcomes for Highland’s young people.
Towards A Learning System More than anything else - Place children at the heart of everything we do Keep a relentless focus on learning and teaching Being ambitious for all our staff and all our young people Be intolerant of anything that results in a weak outcome for children and young people Consistently use data and self-evaluation to inform improvement.
Sounds great… what could possibly go wrong?
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So, what do we do? Make a personal commitment Build relationships Focus on implementation Develop the collaborative Connect to the outside Be relentless
The Ontario Story- Michael Fullan A small number of ambitious goals 1. A guiding coalition at the top 2. High standards and expectations 3. Investment in leadership and capacity building related to instruction 4. Mobilising data and effective practices as a strategy for improvement 5. Intervention in a non-punitive manner 6. Being vigilant about distracters 7. Being transparent, relentless and increasingly challenging 8.
Sustainable education The programme fluctuated between 5 and 6 outcomes but the first one was always “better outcomes for young people”. That has now been returned to its rightful prominence. We do need to evaluate the staffing, support, management and potential cluster arrangements but not for their own ends, not to generate savings but to ascertain whether or not they have the potential to deliver strong outcomes. Discussions will include use of attainment data. We recognise the previous timeline but believe we can expedite the process.
Current Work Consultation with HTs about one joined up approach to training for all staff Plan for key tasks to be overtaken by the Change Team in the next 11 months Improvement Families energised- second meeting ASN Transformation- Parent and Pupil Advocacy posts agreed to ensure to ensure that these key stakeholder groups have their voices heard and can play a crucial role in shaping the Council’s approach to the future allocation of resources Speaking of the Change Team…
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