AEL VOL 42 ISSUE 1
Learning Spaces - From Architecture to Pedagogy

We are delighted to present ‘Learning Spaces - From Architecture to Pedagogy'. The latest full edition of The Australian Educational Leader Journal [AEL].

Our lead articles have been written by Michael Fullan and Dr Peter DeWitt. Other sections include a spotlight interview with The Hon Dan Tehan MP, book review, student voice and success stories. We invite to enjoy this issue of the premier journal for educational leadership in Australia.

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The Australian Council for Educational Leaders opens
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During these unprecedented times we are currently facing ACEL wish to ensure we continue to provide support and opportunity to your ongoing professional development. With this in mind we wish to open up and invite all our readers and educators to visit our Resource Centre. Here you will find over 1,000 articles and resources from the leading local and global experts in education with all articles specifically curated against AITSL professional practices standards.

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Leading with Knowledge in Communities of Practice

By Dr Lyn Sharratt, Coordinator: Doctoral Internship Program, Leadership and Policy, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

It takes leaders who are passionate, committed and selfless to step up and lead confidently and knowledgeably in Communities of Practice. In this article, I take apart the words in the title: 'Leading' – with 'Knowledge' – in 'Communities of Practice', to understand what educational leaders at every level must focus on in order to ensure successful achievement of their collective core business: increasing all students’ growth and achievement.

Full article first appeared in AEL Journal Vol 40 Issue 4

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Ensuring Rigour in a Differentiated Classroom

By Professor Barbara R. Blackburn; one of the Top 30 Global Gurus in Education ,author of 23 books for leaders and teachers., former teacher, educational consultant, and professor

Differentiation has a long history from as far back as the one-room schoolhouse. However, it gained mainstream popularity with the publication of The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners by Dr Carol Ann Tomlinson in 1999. Based on concerns that the changing needs of a diverse student population were not being met, her model for modifying content, instruction, and assessment for different students led to positive reactions by educators. Although there had been earlier efforts to individualise and personalise instruction, differentiated instruction focussed on adjusting for small groups of students rather than creating individual lesson plans for each student.

Full article first appeared in AEL Journal Vol 41 Issue 1

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Leading Curiosity & Powerful Learning

By Professor David Hopkins, Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Bolton, as well as Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Education, University College London and the University of Nottingham

We are at a time in our educational history where there is a dominant culture of top down reform, de-regulation, instrumental approaches to curriculum and pervasive external ac- countability in most educational systems. As I have argued in Exploding the Myths of School Reform Hopkins (2013), the real challenge is quite the opposite – it is to raise standards into the medium and long term and at the sametime enhance the learning skills, the spirit of enquiry or curiosity of our students.

Full article first appeared in AEL Journal Vol 39

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Distributed Pedagogical Leadership for the Implementation of Mandated Curriculum Change

By Christine Grice, The University of Sydney

Leading pedagogical change requires collective effort. This article critically analyses how pedagogical leadership was distributed among teacher leaders, middle leaders and the executive in two Australian primary schools during a period of mandatory curriculum change. Drawing upon the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis et al., 2014), this research provides new empirical insights into how the influence and action of distributed pedagogical leadership practices can enable and constrain teacher professional learning during curriculum and pedagogical change. It explores the complex tensions between empowerment, loyalty and trust within leadership hierarchies in two contexts. The findings indicate that authentic collegiality can be fostered through professional learning and collective pedagogical leadership. The result of the symbiotic relationship between leadership and professional learning is increased trust and support for student learning.

Full article first appeared in Leading and Managing Change Journal Vol 25 issue 1

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Leading Through Evidence Informed Practice

By Dr Tanya Vaughan, Associate Director Evidence for Learning

As an educational leader, you are responsible for making sure the decisions you make are informed by evidence. Evidence-informed decision making combines your professional expertise with an external source of evidence (Vaughan, Deeble, & Bush, 2017). Leading with evidence is important as it can make sure your staff’s time and every dollar spent by your school are leveraged to make the best possible gains for your students.

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Using evidence to educate learners with special educational needs

By Professor David Mitchell, Adjunct Professor, College of Education, Health & Human Development, University of Canterbury

I am alive, thanks to medical science. Many years ago, researchers discovered the role of insulin in treating Type 2 diabetes. My doctors have helped me manage my condition. I am sure you will agree that we are fortunate to have a medical profession that is evidence- based. I am also sure you appreciate that we are served by engineers who design aeroplanes that rarely drop from the skies, farmers who produce crops, sometimes in unwelcoming conditions, and architects and builders who create buildings that soar into the skies. All of these occupations rely on science to inform their decision making.

The Changing Face of Drug Education

By Michelle Guerrero, Head of Health and Physical Education Radford College

School leaders need to be at the forefront of student wellbeing. The current model of drug education has made a lot of progress, but a revitalisation of drug education programs is required to ensure we are meeting the needs of our students. As the nature of drug use among adolescents has changed, for many educational contexts, drug education has not. School leaders need to ensure that drug education is adequately reflecting current issues that surround modern-day adolescent drug use.

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The Roles of Middle Leaders in Schools: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Research

By John De Nobile, Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University

Although the concept of middle leadership has received some attention in the literature since the late 1990s, it continues to be under-researched and under-theorised. A shift in terminology from ‘middle management’ to ‘middle leadership’ over this time suggests that the roles of middle leaders in schools have been evolving. Middle leaders are becoming more important as links between the vision of senior leadership teams and the daily work of teachers at the ‘chalkface’. However, without a conceptual point of reference it is difficult to examine how that evolution is occurring and identify implications for school effectiveness. This article presents a conceptual framework of middle leadership roles derived from relevant literature and suggests items that capture elements of those roles that could be used for future quantitative investigations. The article concludes with practical implications of their use for investigating middle leadership in schools and contributing to much needed theory building.

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