Leading for Change: School Leadership Standards and Practices in a Global Context

Edited by Susan Douglas CBE January 2025 Table of Contents Foreword 3 Section one – The role of the school leader4 School leadership standards: the introduction of standards forschool leaders into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Provinces, Pakistan5 School leadership standards: digital guidelines for school leadersin South Africa10 Instructional leadership: improving outcomes for all children13 The school leader’s role as the fulcrum of the community:the Kenyan context22 The school leader’s role in creating inclusive education in Lebanon25 The necessity for continuous professional development for schoolprincipals in Lebanon 30 Shifting mindsets, unlocking potential and enabling change:the particular power of coaching for school leaders School leader mindset: twinkle, twinkle teaching star, what you thinkis how (effective) you are Why is school-to-school collaboration important and how can wemake it work? Leading school-to-school collaboration to improve teaching and learning Section three – School leadership in practice 58 School leadership standards in use in Nigeria: what difference dothey make? Educational leadership: fostering exemplary models through theNational Teachers’ Awards in India 64 The role of the headteacher in raising the quality of education in Iraq 67 Instructional leadership in context Instructional leadership and classroom practice in Ethiopia 79 Leading learning for gender equality in Kenya Leadership in action: enhancing inclusion and academic performancefor disabled students in Menofiya governorate, Egypt Transforming education through inclusive leadership: the impactof the Language for Resilience Project in Adjumani, Uganda 85 A great school is necessary but not sufficient: how a place-based,cradle to career approach to community development work is helpingto transform outcomes for babies, children and young people in the UK Enhancing teaching practices at Government Junior Model GirlsHigh School, Chungi No. 6, Multan, Pakistan Contributors 91 Foreword Marina Gautier, Head of Policy and Insight for English and School Education,British Council Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, countries around the world have reflectedon their progress towards creating high-quality, inclusive and equitable school systems1that support youngpeople to develop the knowledge, skills and values they need to live and work in a globalised economy andto contribute responsibly both locally and globally. Inevitably this has thrown the spotlight on those whomight play a part in influencing student outcomes: the education workforce. Since John Hattie first published his synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to attainment in 2008,2ithas been widely agreed that the quality of teaching within a setting is the greatest influence on studentlearning. But who influences those teachers and the quality of what they deliver? Certainly, initial teachertraining, along with the academic background, values and motivation of the teacher will play their part, butthe role of the school leader is also critically important. As Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris and Hopkinsobserve in their paperSeven strong claims about school leadership(20103, revisited 20194), ‘Successfulschool leaders improve teaching and learning and thus pupil outcomes … most powerfully through theirinfluence on staff motivation, commitment, teaching practices and through developing teachers’ capacitiesfor leadership.’ At the British Council we’ve therefore chosen to focus some of the work we do with policy makers worldwideon these school leaders and the critical role they play in improving student outcomes. Recently, we broughttogether policy makers from 15 countries to specifically examine the role of the school leader at the heart oftheir communities and the impact that positive relationships with parents may have, for example, in terms ofadvocacy for girls’ education. We have also supported the development of headteacher standards inPakistan, Nepal and Nigeria to ensure there is a common expectation of what good school leadership lookslike, enabling policy makers to provide appropriate professional development, create robust recruitmentprocedures and support those who aspire to headship. We also recognise the importance of instructional leadership, given its potential impact on the quality ofteaching in the classroom and therefore on pupil outcomes. As Leithwood and colleagues note,5,6the kind ofleadership that impacts most significantly on student outcomes; ‘focuses on ... developing teachers’ skills,providing instructional support [and] monitoring student learning.’ Therefore, the school’s ability to improveand sustain student outcomes is dependent on its approach to instructional leadership. As such, we arepleased to include Dr Jane Doughty’s chapter on the thinking behind instructional leadership, looking closelyat what it involves at a practitioner level. She also reflects on what t