Improving Schools Using Systems Leadership: Turning Intention into Reality

Description

It is easy to underestimate the impact that school organisation has on the behaviour, effectiveness, engagement and creativity of the teachers, staff and students who work within it. It also has a marked effect on the well-being of staff members, and how families and the community relate to the school. Attempts to improve school organisation are often short term "initiatives" that only cover only one or two aspects of what it takes to organise a school effectively. Improving Schools Using Systems Leadership, in contrast, provides those involved in the design and delivery of educational services with a coherent and easy-to-follow framework to help run an effective organisation. Based on theory, real data on education improvements at school and regional level, and case studies, this book demonstrates how Systems Leadership can be used to improve school organisation. It integrates models of leadership, teamwork, capability, structure and systems to help make them more effective in improving the learning outcomes of students and also sustain this improvement over time. This book explains how Systems Leadership can and has been applied in schools to bring clarity to the purpose, structure and systems within a school and have a major impact on its success. As such, it is an essential text for school leaders and managers looking for practical tools to help improve the working lives of the people within their organisation, and hence their effectiveness. Cover Praise Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Context Purpose Overview of the book’s contents Chapter 1: From headmaster to school leader McKinsey: the world’s best-performing schools PART 1: UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS AND TOOLS OF SYSTEMS LEADERSHIP Chapter 2: Understanding the impact of organisation on well-being Task clarification and assignment The domains of work The Three Questions at Work Conclusion Chapter 3: Organising work: understanding complexity Level I: Complexity I (R1) Level II: Complexity II (R2) Level III: Complexity III (R3) Level IV: Complexity IV (R4) Level V: Complexity V (R5) Level VI: Complexity VI (R6) Operation work Service work Improvement work Conclusion Chapter 4: Our capability to work and the consequences of a poor match Role and person Elements of individual capability So why not include experience, competencies or personality/temperament? Nature or nurture Consequences of our capability model Caveats Chapter 5: What do we mean by “culture”? The universal values model Mythologies Culture Conclusion Chapter 6: The tools of leadership: building a culture Behaviour Systems Symbols Conclusion Chapter 7: Systems and structure Structure Systems Conclusion Chapter 8: Behaviour and symbols: how they are used to create change Behaviour Symbols Conclusion Chapter 9: Social process: authority and authoritarian Authority and power Conclusion Chapter 10: The work of team leadership and membership The false duality Team tasks, goals and rewards Team decisions Team processes Leading a team Team leadership steps Team leadership traps Team membership traps Process Application Conclusion PART 2: IMPLEMENTING CHANGE Chapter 11: The general context: critical issues in education Expectations: schools as whole systems Conclusion Chapter 12: The context of Far North Queensland Purpose Culture Leadership Systems thinking Work Curriculum, teaching and learning Conclusion Chapter 13: The work of the principal Levels of work Levels of work and role The authority of the principal The tools of leadership Instructional leadership Instructional coaches Team membership Summary Chapter 14: Implementing change Understanding the context Purpose Critical issues Developing a vision for the region and schools Establishing priorities Developing a purpose Implementing Systems Leadership to help us achieve our purpose Organisational domains Question 1: What am I meant to do? Question 2: How well am I doing? Question 3: What future do I have? Quadrennial school review The right people in the right roles, doing the right work Working Together courses Developing capability Working within a department Summary PART 3: RESULTS AND OUTCOMES Chapter 15: Regional data Introduction Improvements achieved in the Far North region in the NAPLAN from 2008 to 2013 Regional data presentation: graphs Conclusion Chapter 16: Case studies Case study 1: Malanda State School Case study 2: Tagai State College Case study 3: Whitfield State School Case study 4: Woree State High School Chapter 17: The benefit of foresight Glossary Bibliography Index