I recently gave a presentation to a group of aspirant headteachers with a focus of how I have implemented leadership theory in my first years of headship. I divided my presentation into two: distributed leadership and then the three key principles of headship.
I wouldn’t be able to tell you which educational leader I developed my current distributed leadership model from. It’s rather a mix and match of several ideas tied up into what works for us a school.
We are a large school and as the headteacher, I can’t do everything. Therefore I need effective leaders in key roles who focus on specific areas of school improvement. I also believe that leaders can only develop if you give them the opportunity to grow and this often means giving them some freedom on the understanding they will make mistakes. After all, we talk to our students about growth mindset and the importance of failure don’t we, so why not senior and middle leaders?
Within my team we operate with an understanding that senior leaders have Autonomy and Authority to lead their areas of responsibility, but that they (alongside myself) are also Accountable for the outcomes and impact – we call this the “3As” of distributed leadership.
When I work with leaders who can demonstrate effectiveness and impact I will always opt to implement this leadership model.
However, where leaders are either emerging within their roles or not able to demonstrate impact yet, my approach does not always reflect this level of freedom and autonomy.
It was interesting to explore a number of themes with my group of aspirant heads, particularly if we remove one of the As from the distributed leadership Venn diagram. It made the cogs spin in their heads and got them thinking about how they lead and line manage, which was fascinating.
I then took them through the work of Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves. We analysed the three keys for maximising the impact of a headteacher – the head as the lead learner, a systems player, and as a change agent.
As the lead learner in the organisation I have taken a high-profile position in visibly demonstrating to staff and students some of the learning activities I have engaged with.
For students and staff it is incredibly important to see the headteacher as someone who is prepared to continually engage with learning and who enjoys the process; this can help develop a collaborative learning environment which they will be expected to participate in themselves. As headteachers, if we can focus on the most effective pedagogy through research and reading and if we can link this to improving results in our own schools, then we have done a great job.
The headteacher as a systems player is an interesting concept and many of the deputy and assistant heads in the room were already performing this role themselves. Essentially, the headteacher participates and contributes to the bigger educational picture, influencing and affecting the system in such a positive way so as to benefit their own school. It is an outward-facing aspect of headship and to begin with I admitted to the group that I was uncomfortable in spending time away from school to engage in these activities.
However, as I have gained more experience and understanding of the impact headteachers can have as systems players, alongside developing capacity within my senior leadership team for the school to run smoothly while I’m not there, it certainly has become easier.
Finally, we explored the role of the headteacher as a change agent – the person in the organisation driving change and growth. We talked about “push”, “pull” and “nudge” leadership skills and how as school leaders we sometimes have to utilise these skilfully and strategically to get the best out of our staff.
I explained that as a headteacher I have found that sometimes I need to “push” individuals and teams towards certain priorities, sometimes I have to “nudge” them using techniques that encourage better choices from staff, but ultimately if we can develop a culture where leaders are implementing “pull” skills and developing momentum, capacity, sustainability and ownership then this is certainly a good place for a school to be.
- SecEd’s headteacher diarist is in his third year of headship at a comprehensive school in the Midlands.