KEY DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
Dr Zakhele Mbokazi
TEACHERS UPFRONT SEMINAR
15 October 2013
OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION
Challenges facing school principals.
What do we know about successful school leadership practices? Some evidence from literature
Key dimensions of successful schools.
Strategies for successful school leadership.
Multi-faceted challenges
This wasnt in the
job description!
CHALLENGES FACING SCHOOL
PRINCIPALS
Accountability-oriented policy
context
Child-headed homes
Absent father syndrome
Lack of community involvement
Absenteeism
Learner discipline issues
Bullying
Teacher attacks by learners
Destruction of school property
National, provincial,
district imperatives
Community,
Home environment
School environment
SOME CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Scratch the surface of an excellent school
and you are likely to find an excellent
principal. Peer into a failing school and you
will find weak leadership(Hargreaves,
2003).
The BIG question
How does leadership work in a successful
school?
EVIDENCE-BASED CLAIMS
Principals values are key components in
the success of the school. A strong sense of moral purpose.
Passion for learning and achievement.
Setting high expectations for staff and students is
central to developing effective teaching and learning
programmes.
A belief that every pupil deserves the same
opportunities to succeed.
EVIDENCE-BASED CLAIMS
Leadership contributes to student
learning and achievement through a
combination of strategies and actions: Building a culture of collaboration.
A whole-school approach to pupil behaviour
management.
Reduction of within-school variations by building
common goals.
EVIDENCE-BASED CLAIMS
Successful principals distribute leadership
progressively throughout the school.
There are key dimensions of successful
leadership:
Strategic
Regulatory
Pedagogic
Compensatory
EVIDENCE-BASED CLAIMS
Leadership success goes through various
phases:
Early (Foundational)
Middle (Developmental)
Later (Enrichment)
KEY DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
TASK-ORIENTED
Strategic dimension
Goal setting
Creating a climate of high expectations
Capacity building
Pedagogic dimension
Strong focus on managing teaching and learning
Frequent monitoring of learner progress
RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED
Regulatory dimension
Creating a safe and enabling environment
Compensatory dimension
Building and strengthening home-school relations.
Improving parent and community involvement.
HOW THE DIMENSIONS SHAPE
THE STRATEGIES
Strategic dimension
Building a shared vision Does everyone know where the school is going?
Pedagogic dimension
Developing academic optimism. The YES YOU CAN! Attitude.
Regulatory dimension
Maintaining the boundary of space
between the internal environment of the
school and its external environment.
Compensatory dimension
Strengthening of Family and Community pathways.
Building and strengthening home-
school relations through , E.g visits
to learners homes.
PRIORITIZING THE STRATEGIES
1. Foundational phase (EARLY) Making the school secure.
Improving the physical environment of the school.
Improving teaching and learning in classrooms.
2. Developmental (MIDDLE) Distribution of leadership.
A more regular and focused use of data to inform decision-making about learner progress.
3. Enrichment (LATER) Strengthening school-community partnerships (Greater involvement of the community).
Creative partnerships.
Everyone a leader.
[Adapted from: Day et al. (2009) Ten strong claims about successful leadership practices]
