Changing Principal Practice: A Think Piece

‘…successful school leaders influence student achievement through two important pathways — the

support and development of effective teachers and the implementation of effective organizational

processes’ (Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe & Meyerson, 2005, p. 8).

This think piece looks at instructional leadership from the perspective of the school leader. It is an

attempt to reveal and expose the practices that school leaders may exercise to be effective

instructional leaders. In doing so it seeks to make clear connections between research and practice.

Almost 60% of the impact on student achievement is a direct result of teacher and school leader

effectiveness. As John Hattie’s research has highlighted, ‘Excellence in teaching is the single most

powerful influence on student achievement.’ The second is school leadership. The influence of

school leadership is clearly described by Kenneth Leithwood when he states ‘There is not a single

documented case of a school successfully turning around its student achievement trajectory in the

absence of talented leadership.’ (2012 NSW Department of Education and Communities)

Conservative estimates suggest that students with a highly effective teacher learn twice as much as

students with a less effective teacher. Improved classroom teaching practice can increase teacher

effectiveness by as much as 20% to 30% (Grattan Institute, 2013).

Such research directs school leaders to focus school improvement efforts on adopting leadership

practices that impact on enhancing teachers’ instructional capacity and to adopt the mindset that the

unit for school improvement is the classroom.

1. Principal practice

The question is not what makes an instructional leader but rather how does the principal effect

change in teachers’ classroom practice? This is a more directed question whose answer would add to

the leader’s own knowledge base about leading his/her school.

From the research mentioned above, school leaders need to assist teachers to change their current

pedagogy to reflect what is recognised as effective and efficient teaching. This in turn will achieve

the ‘Holy Grail’ of school improvement: better student learning outcomes in every class for every

student.

This focus on the effective practices of the principal reflects and is consistent with the Professional

Practice of Leading Improvement, Innovation and Change within the Professional Standard for

Principals which states, ‘Principals work with others to produce and implement clear, evidence-based

improvement plans and policies for the development of the school and its facilities (AITSL, 2011, p.

10).

2. The leader’s assumptions

To answer this question of changing teachers’ pedagogical practice, school leaders need to be explicit

about the assumptions held about the teachers and students in their schools. This think piece presents

four assumptions which is considered are fundamental to achieving positive improvement in schools;

i. Every teacher wants to teach and every student wants to learn

ii. Teachers are not the same – they do not possess the same levels of expertise and

capacity

iii. Every teacher in every class can become an outstanding teacher

iv. It is impossible for a teacher or leader to know everything there is to know to be

outstanding and therefore gain the view that further improvement is not necessary.

Sharing these assumptions with teachers helps develop a shared mindset regarding the development

of a continuous improvement, professional learning culture.

The acceptance of these assumptions does not in itself answer this question of what does a principal

do but they should influence the leader’s practice.

It is postulated that a tension exists within school leaders regarding instigating and initiating school

improvement efforts and maintaining strong professional relations with staff. It raises the question,

‘How do I push others towards improvement performance that improves student learning outcomes

without alienating them?’ (Donaldson, 2008, p. 55). Some of the points raised below will attempt to

address this tension.

3. It’s about capacity building not appraisal

One of the pitfalls when leaders attempt to resolve this dilemma is to use teacher professional

standards as the driver for improved teacher performance. Research is unambiguous in showing that a

successful approach to effective performance and development relies on creating a strong and

supportive culture in a school. Formal performance and development procedures are important, but

excessive attention to process is a common feature of less successful approaches. It is therefore

important to focus on the factors that need to be in place for a performance and development culture

to flourish (AITSL, 2012, p.3).

This concern is also supported by Fullan (2011) who contends that teacher appraisal through

accountability to professional standards is not the correct driver. What is needed is to foster intrinsic

motivation for the need for improvement within teachers. In addition, such an improvement strategy

needs to be focused on all teachers within the school simultaneously; a group solution rather than the

promotion of individual teachers.

4. Winning hearts and minds

To achieve this motivation it is fundamental for teachers to understand and be reassured that the

changes being implemented are focused on taking them from ‘good to outstanding’ rather than a

process which concentrated on addressing ‘under-performance’ (Hay Group, 2012). This focus on

‘development’ rather than ‘appraisal’ is critical to obtaining the ‘buy-in’ of teachers which in turn

maximises their impact on student learning.

This is supported by the Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School

Leaders (2012, p. 2) which states that the practice of improvement must involve the ‘engagement of

all teachers and school leaders to achieve improvement in student outcomes’.

5. Foster urgency and immediacy

Before any change can take place there must be a shared sense of urgency for change. The more

pervasive this urgency is felt across the staff the better (Harwell, 2003, p.2).

This can be produced with a detailed analysis of the school’s student achievement data.

Such a process should be guided by three questions;

1. What does the data say?

2. What does that mean?

3. What should we do about it?

Coupled with a sense that urgent changes are needed to improve student learning is also the

development a mindset around the ‘immediacy’ of learning. ‘Improvements in instruction have

immediate effects on student learning wherever they occur, and these effects are usually

demonstrable through skilful assessment and observation of students’ work’ (Elmore, 2002, p.31).

Teachers need to focus on what learning was achieved within a 30-40 minute timeframe rather than

outcomes to be measured and achieved by the end of the school term/year.

6. Be explicit about what constitutes effective practice

According to a Grattan Institute Report leaders need to have a clear understanding and knowledge of

what constitutes effective classroom practice (Jensen, 2011 p. 9). While the Australian Teacher

Performance and Development Framework states, “To focus on improving teaching, it is necessary to

have a clear vision of what effective teaching looks like’ (AITSL, 2012, p. 3).

This can be achieved by establishing a general agreement across the school on the mechanics of

explicit teaching, the application of formative assessment methods and the strategies that students are

expected to apply during their learning. Such an agreement would define a binding pedagogy that is

consistently applied and consequently produces a coherent whole school approach to instruction.

7. Success breeds success – Positive Inquiry Approach

What is known is that the single strongest motivator of teachers is evidence of students’ learning as a

consequence of their teaching. To achieve this it is necessary to create conditions in which teachers

can feel successful in what they are doing and to reinforce that success (Richard Elmore).

Observing teaching practice and providing constructive and directed feedback to teachers (written

and verbal) using the protocol ‘What Works Well’ and ‘Even Better If’ is the methodology that

should be applied. The feedback is focused on aspects of instruction that the teacher is implementing

successfully and the impact it is having on student learning. In the establishment of such a protocol it

is essential that this feedback is timely and consistent with the changes being made by the classroom

teacher. Consequently there is a need for a sustained period where the frequency of such feedback is

high.

8. Reciprocal Accountability

It is important for teachers working within a school where every attempt is being made to

meaningfully and significantly build teacher capacity that there is a clear sense of accountability. To

achieve this Richard Elmore’s concept of ‘Reciprocal Accountability’ should be adopted. This states

that;

1. For every increment of performance improvement required of teachers there is an equal

responsibility to provide each teacher with the time, instructional knowledge and in-class

mentoring/coaching to achieve what is required and

2. Every teacher must respond to the support and investment in that teacher by demonstrating

incremental improved knowledge and skills. (Elmore, 2002, p. 5).

The acceptance by teachers of such a condition is one of the most effective and significant levers in

establishing the school’s performance improvement and development culture.

9. Re-define the role of Principal: Instructional Leadership and Distributed Leadership

The current research on school leadership states that leaders who focus on classroom instruction,

placing their focus on the learning of students and the professional learning of teachers, have three

times the impact on student learning outcomes as others. In addition, these leaders work on the

organisational design of their schools to achieve the best outcomes (NSW Department of Education

and Communities, 2012).

To achieve such a focus necessitates the re-defining the role of the principal in order to provide the

‘space’ needed to enact such leadership practices. The redefinition required the shifting of some of

the duties which have traditionally resided with the principal to be devolved to other leaders in the

school. This necessitates the broadening of the Assistant Principal leadership role within the school

as well as putting in place structures that supported collaborative learning and planning between

teachers and leaders.

10. Shift of emphasis

As mentioned above, John Hattie’s research brings into clear focus that effective teaching is the

single most powerful influence on student achievement. If leaders were to act on such an

understanding then some consideration needs to be given to shifting the emphasis from supporting

students to supporting teachers. To illustrate this it may be that a classroom teacher has a number of

students who are experiencing difficulty with understanding the concept of division. It would be

normal practice for support through the services of the Learning Support Teacher provided for these

students and this in turns resolves the student/s difficulties.

The difficulty with this model is that in the following year, the same teacher could have the same

difficulty with a similar number of students which in turn would trigger the same learning support

resources being applied.

What would be more effective would be to use the learning support resources to upskill the teacher to

teach division more effectively so that students did not encounter the difficulties in the first place i.e.

building teacher capacity.

This understanding can have some significant implications for the allocation of support resources

within a school.

Conclusion

Effectively principals need to focus on ‘changing three things fundamentally and simultaneously: (1)

the values and beliefs of people in schools about what is worth doing and what it is possible to do; (2)

the structural conditions under which the work is done; and, (3) the ways in which people learn to do

the work’ (Elmore, 2002, p. 30).