Asp 07 Day 34 Strategic Intent Post

Leading a school in a strategic direction.. What does this look, sound and feel like when it is happening?

A Paradigm Shift As a school/community/society/nationCollinson, V and Cook T.F. 2007 Organisational Learning. Thousand Oaks. Sage Modern (Industrial) Era

Postmodern (Knowledge) Era

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Power as ‘control’ over Top-down chain of command Individualised learning -staff ( Professional development) Knowledge closely held by an elite Decisions made by administration with little or no input from ‘staff’ Emphasis on stability and control Fear of failure Advisers and teams work independently Employees are interchangeable, replaceable Interest in short-term adaptations

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Shared power and power from shared knowledge Distributed leadership Learning encouraged and disseminated throughout the organisation Knowledge held by all members in all roles More collective decision making at team/organisation level Emphasis on balancing continuity and change Support for risk taking and innovation Interdependent members- teams, networks Loss of members signals loss of knowledge and organisational memory Interest in continuous improvement and organisational renewal- sustainability

What does a school for st the 21 Century leader look, sound and feel like?

the ‘ redeveloped’ curriculum What will it look like in our school?

The 21st C learner 

An articulate, autonomous but collaborative learner, with high metacognitive control and the skills of learning, gained through educational experiences that engage, with opportunities and challenges, and supported by various people, materials and ICT linked to wellbeing but crucially focused on learning, in schools where the culture and structures support co-construction through distributed leadership.

As teachers we can and should be assisting students focus on their learning by.. 

EXPLAINING

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Informing, Reminding, Discussing, Training

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ORCHESTRATING

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Selecting, Framing, Target Setting, Arranging

COMMENTATING

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Nudging, Replying, Evaluating, Tracking

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Reacting, Learning aloud, Demonstrating, Sharing

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MODELLING Ref: Chambers, Powell, Claxton

about? Drake(1995)

(It’s About Learning and It’s About Time) -Stoll, Fink and Earl 2003

BEING

If this is what we want for teachers what will it mean for leadership in our school?

If this is what we want for students what does it mean for teachers in our school?

DESIGN DOWN

FOCUS UP DOING

KNOWING

and the educator.. 

A person who is passionate about learning, for self and for students, a skilled mentor and coach, committed to the coconstruction of all aspects of schooling; who views students as partners in the creation of, access to, data about their learning to assist their progression; who is a master of a discipline but who knows that forging the conditions of learning is not simply telling; who strives to engage students to generate the motivation that underpins true learning; who recognises that student needs are variable and complex and so personalisation entails drawing on a wide range of human and material resources to support learning; who relishes the constantly changing responsibilities of a leader.

As a school leader how would you answer these questions? 

Looking at class rolls, could teachers in your school talk about the learning abilities, needs and interests of each student? Could they use student performance data to personalise learning and evaluate their teaching?

The question we are asking… Visit Leadspace Viviane Robinson (2007)

Different results therefore, require new understandings, beliefs, words and actions

In other words , if nothing changes, nothing changes

Significant change in schools begins with significant change in leaders. What principals understand, believe, say and do have a profound consequence on those around them.

Clashing Purposes  Learning for all

 Teaching for all

 Collaborative Cultures

 Teacher Isolation

 Collective Development

 Individual Development  Focus on Activities

 A Focus on Results  Assessment for Learning

 Assessment of Learning

 Widespread Leadership

 Charismatic Leader

 Self-Efficacy

 Dependency

Growing a learning culture Ensuring supportive structures

Being inclusive and empowering

Professional learning community Connecting people and ideas

Nurturing trust and collaboration

Designing Promoting deep learning inquiry experiences mindedness and innovativeness Louise Stoll (2005)

The Intelligent School The Nine Intelligences ( MacGilchrist, Myers Reed 2004) 

Ethical Intelligence

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Spiritual

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Contextual

Vision

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justice/respect for persons/inclusion/rights and responsibilities

-search for meaning/transcendency/sense of community /interconnectedness

-internal/local/national/global

ACTION 

Operational -strategic thinking/developmental

planning/management arrangements/distributed leadership

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Emotional

-self awareness/awareness of others/managing emotions/developing emotional literacy -

The concepts, principles and attributes of the Intelligent School ( MacGilchrist, Myers Reed 2004) 

Collegial

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Reflective

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Pedagogical

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Systemic

-Commitment to a shared

purpose/knowledge creation/multi-level learning/trust and curiosity

-creating time for reflection/selfevaluation/deep learning/feedback for learning

-new visions and goals for

Working together

learning/teaching for learning/open classrooms/going against the grain

-mental models/systems thinking/selforganisation/ networking

So how do we ‘move’ a school? How do we go about' leading change’?

IDEAS from : Leading the strategically focused school : success and sustainability / Brent Davies. London : Paul Chapman, 2006.

A strategically-focused ‘school’ is one that is educationally effective in the short term but has a clear framework and processes to translate core moral purpose and vision into excellent educational provision that is challenging and sustainable in the medium to long term.

BEING STRATEGIC STRATEGIC DIRECTION Providing a way to translate purpose and values of school into action.  STRATEGIC INTENT Knowing broadly where you want to go (and “how” you want to be!) and a commitment to discovering how to get there. 

CREATING THE FUTURE 

MISSION THE REASON FOR THE ORGANISATION’S EXISTENCE.

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VISION A PICTURE OF THE MISSION - ACCOMPLISHED

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VALUES THE VALUES AND BELIEFS THAT UNDERPIN THE WAY IN WHICH THE ORGANISATION WORKS.

Strategic Intent Strategic Intent = ‘knowing broadly where you want to go but not how to get there, although we are committed to finding out’  Strategic Planning =‘you know where you want to go and know how to get there’ Involving strategic change  Moving from one state to another different state 

Strategic Intent involves.. Being able to articulate a limited number of strategic intents, limited to no more than five to prevent loss of focus  Intents to significantly improve our organisation’s performance in critical areas  To achieve these intents a capability and capacity-building process is necessary 

Strategic Intents Not vague visions- but specific areas of activity expressed in concrete terms √  Translate vision into action  Areas for fundamental change and improvement  ‘Tackling’ deep seated cultural change and fundamental rethinking by building organisational capability and capacity 

To achieve strategic intents ARTICULATE

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Strategic Intent

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BUILD

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Images/metaphors/ experiences

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CREATE

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DEFINE

Conversation/dialogue/ shared understanding Strategic perspectives/outcomes/ Formal plans

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What ‘shifts in practice’ will we need to make? As teachers..  As leaders..  As principals… And how do we go about making these shifts? 