A few things have happened recently which have focused my attention on the subject of leadership in schools. What exactly do we expect from our management teams ? and what support do we give them in terms of training and skills assessment ? Not enough, I think. I don’t see much of a problem with head teachers and senior deputes, but with many junior members of SMT who are very poorly equipped with the skills necessary to do their jobs. Promoted on the premise of being a good subject principal teacher, they flounder like fishes out of water drowning in a sea of administration and unable to take an overview of their remits. This is the problem. We promote on the basis of being a good subject PT, not on the basis of management potential. School leadership is, at the moment, in my view far too fixed on this administration, on organising and managing the establishment, and not on strengthening teaching and learning. Junior members of our school SMT spend their time trying to manage the structures and processes surrounding teaching, rather than the teaching itself. If this is what education authorities want, then why employ teachers as managers? Good business administrators would do the job much more efficiently. Many deputes,  in my opinion ( offered as an experienced  trained manager from a blue-chip multi-national company training programme) can be  ill-prepared and over-promoted. Worse still, some attempt to disguise this by being aggressive intimidating bullies prepared to blame teachers at the drop of a hat in order to disguise their own inadequacies. That’s bad, really bad because in this day and age, classroom teachers need to be able to count on their managers ( both faculty heads and junior DHT’s) to back them up and support them. All too often this support is all too conspicuous by its absence. No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves.This thread from the TES opinion forum really speaks volumes for the state of teacher morale in some schools…

http://www.tes.co.uk/section/staffroom/thread.aspx?story_id=2602297&path=/Opinion/

…and this post on ‘OldAndrew’ s blog

http://oldandrew.edublogs.org/2008/03/28/reloaded-the-cast-of-culprits-part-3-the-school-leaders/

Standards-based reform of the type we are going through in Scottish schools at the moment and increasingly, discipline issues and poor behaviour from the ‘could’nt give a t*ss brigade, needs true leadership. Not the over-promoted ‘Buggins- turn’ type SMT (at least at junior level) that are often appointed (if the media is to be believed). And its not always their fault, poor lambs. An element of nepotism often adds to this stagnant mix as well.

What can we do ? well, proper training and mentoring for a start. The SQH perhaps would benefit from more academic rigour and an injection of MBA-style business placements. The people-managing elements of this course also need to be re-evaluated. And why not search our schools for the vast reserve of experience that at present lies untapped. Education leadership schemes in England take this into account and bypass the Scottish promotion ladder route in imaginative and inspiring ways. More and more late entrants to the profession are bringing with them a whole plethora of management skills. What a criminal waste of resources it is not to use these. My own project management experience and that of a couple of my colleagues lies dormant, and I know its the same in many schools across the country. As a psychology teacher, I would also like to see psychometric testing for all  candidate SMT members. It might at least screen out the bullies, power-crazy, disorganised and egocentric individuals who have the potential to give education management a bad name and who one reads about , particularly on the TES staffroom forum all too often.

These changes might result in more teachers feeling supported and valued, rather than disbelieved and assumed to be in the wrong when challenged by any pupil who feels like having a go. It is here that real leadership can make a defference. HMIE define leadership as “having a clear vision of direction and the ability to give people the self confidence to believe they can make a difference and be recognised for this”. Its just a shame that a cursory glance at some teacher’s chatroom forums shows that these leadership qualities might be thin on the ground in some of our schools.

A wee hint to them….. have a look at this video. It may, just may give a little focus and direction.

watch?v=9WJk1jBM15I&feature=related