DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Maximising Principal Leadership in an Autonomy Environment
Room 203
Presented by: June Hingston
Organisation: University of Newcastle NSW
In the quest to improve the quality of education in schools, school autonomy policy has been widely embraced throughout the world. This workshop focuses on data provided by 180 secondary principals in NSW government schools on their implementation of the autonomy policy Local Schools, Local Decisions. Findings address: (1) principals' views on increased school autonomy; (2) the innovation projects they implemented; (3) perceptions of their 'real', 'ideal', and system 'expected' leadership practice, based on Leithwood's (2012) conception of successful school-level leadership practice; and, (4) the personal and professional impact of the reform on their role.
Based on the findings, specific strategies targeting both principals and systems are presented in order to enhance principal leadership in the context of increased school autonomy. The focus is on supporting more sustainable and autonomous leadership in schools to fortify this policy reform and improve student outcomes.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Leaders as Evaluators
Room 204
Presented by: Vania Tiatto, Shane Crawford
Organisation: Corwin Press Australia VIC
If your goal is to understand the impact you are having as a school leader, this session is for you.
We will:
- explore the literature related to mindframes that teachers and leaders need to adopt to maximise student learning
- learn about the characteristics and actions of Leaders as Evaluators
- hear from a school leader who will describe a deliberate school-wide approach to ensure the teachers' and leaders’ fundamental role is to evaluate the effect of their leadership and teaching on student learning in their school.
Participants will leave with practical examples, insights and strategies to reflect on and to use in their own practice.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Plan, Teach, Track: Setting a Capabilities Learning Agenda
Room 205
Presented by: Brenda Quayle, Brianna Dolling, Melanie Douglas, Melissa Scerri
Organisation: Rooty Hill High School NSW
The team will take you on a collaborative journey through the teaching/learning practices that have enabled them to create a learning agenda that delivers a capability driven curriculum, contributing to the school being recognised as one of Australia's 40 Most Innovative Schools.
They will model a process of creating capability driven curriculum, including structured lessons. Participants will experience curriculum delivery through recorded classroom observations and explore samples of best practice in capability teaching. Examples will include the explicit teaching of literacy and creative and critical thinking. Participants will deconstruct the learning that can be seen to identify opportunities/strategies for assessment of progress against the ACARA Capability benchmarks. The team will identify models of leadership required to support staff to develop adaptive expertise and to translate the evidence of learning into real data that is captured in a wide variety of assessment strategies. The team will share the lessons learned in pursuing a capability driven curriculum and make suggestions for application.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Change Management: A Model for Digital Transformation in Education
Room 206
Presented by: Nancy Bonfiglio-Pavisich
Organisation: Catholic Education WA
‘Educators at all levels stand in the midst of change as never before' (Shirley 2018 cited in Malone et al, 2018). With increased globalisation, accountability with measurable results and digital transformation amongst other challenges, leaders are in need of simply designed and easy to use frameworks to facilitate change. The presentation seeks to define and discuss change management in the context of education. Whilst the literature in change management offers many examples of change management models, the author has chosen three models for discussion and offers a new model of change management for consideration. It provides a four-step guide to the change management process that can be used at a system, school and classroom level and can also be used to support leaders in managing digital transformation.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Building Practice Excellence Through Instructional Leadership and Student Voice
Room 207
Presented by: Gail Major, Murray Cronin
Organisation: Scoresby Secondary College VIC
The goal of the critically reflective teacher is to garner an increased awareness of their teaching impact from as many different vantage points as possible. For this reason, Scoresby Secondary College utilises teacher perception data, peer observation data (of the school's Instructional Model) and student affective and psychomotor data, to inform improvement-focused teacher reflections. This presentation will focus on the outcomes of an action research project undertaken by the leadership team to evaluate the impacts of this approach on teacher improvement.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Growing Middle Leaders Within the School Setting
Room 208
Presented by: Anne Malcolm, Sanjay Rama, Susan Robins
Organisation: Ponsonby Primary School NZ
It is our belief that an organisation is only as rich, diverse and effective as the people in it; that people are the greatest assets and resources in any school. Research informs us that the best organisations are those that foster personal growth. Senior leaders have a responsibility to grow leadership across the school. There is a twofold purpose in this: firstly, to distribute the workload and secondly, to help others utilise, or in some instances recognise their leadership potential.
We have determined that there is not one way of supporting and growing leaders. There are, nonetheless, three easily recognisable categories. Some people are unsure and need the encourager/supporter mentor, others are bold and need experienced guidance or an apprenticeship type of mentoring. Some implicitly understand the leader role and as such, need to be guided to use research and other's knowledge to improve what they do. This presentation draws on theory, experience and practicality.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Leadership of Learning: Maximising Student Growth and Achievement
Room 209
Presented by: Sarah Richardson, Caroline Heysen, Nuella Flynn
Organisation: Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership VIC
The Australian Professional Standard for Principals and the Leadership Profiles (the APSP) was developed and validated with the profession and provides a public statement about what school principals are expected to know, understand and do to succeed in their work. This includes the practice of leadership of learning. 'Through Growth to Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools' emphasises the need for school leaders to be able to devote more time to this practice. In this workshop, participants will be required to reflect on the extent to which the research evidence related to leadership of learning and its impact on student growth and achievement is reflected in the APSP. Participants will engage in discussion of how context influences leadership of learning practices, and other related challenges. Feedback gathered from the workshop will be used to inform future development of AITSL's school leadership policies, tools and resources.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
A System Wide Approach to Growing High Potential Leaders
Room 210
Presented by: Geraldine Wild, Tessa Dehring
Organisation: Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership and Nous Group VIC
The Victorian Department of Education and Training are committed to improving outcomes for every student. To achieve this aim, great leadership is needed in every school.
The Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership is central to developing leadership capability and capacity across the system. One of their strategic projects is a talent management framework designed to identify, develop and support high potential leaders.
The framework is a dynamic approach for principals and system leaders to build a strong pipeline of future leaders in schools and across the system. The framework is supported by several tools and guidelines, which enable schools and networks to:
- identify individuals with high potential for leadership using clear criteria and a robust set of questions
- develop individuals with high potential for leadership, and specifically those who have the potential to take on principal class positions in the future
- support high potential leaders to continue to grow and aspire to achieve improved outcomes for every student.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Developing Adaptive Expertise in Leadership
Room 211
Presented by: Deidre Le Fevre
Organisation: University of Auckland NZ
Educational leaders have a key role in creating and sustaining the conditions under which quality teaching and learning can thrive. It is this capacity to bring about change and improvement that makes leadership so rewarding! On the other hand, the complex nature of the contexts in which leaders work means this role can at times feel difficult and overwhelming. The goal of this workshop is to unpack some of the dispositions, knowledge and skills that can help leaders to be effective in this role and improve their practice. We explore the concept of 'developing adaptive expertise' in ourselves and others as a way of supporting leaders to make effective decisions when facing complex problems. Adaptive expertise in leadership focuses on using an evaluative inquiry stance, having and promoting agency, using metacognition, and working systemically. The activities people will engage with in this workshop draw on a five-year research project that examined effective leadership practices.
DAY 2: 1:50 - 2:50pm
Flip the System: A Panel on Teacher Agency
Eureka Room 2 & 3
Presented by: Cameron Paterson, Jon Andrews, Deborah Netolicky
Organisation: Shore School NSW, Wesley College WA
This workshop dovetails with the release of the Flip the System Australia book. The European version is well known across the globe. The workshop presenters are the three co-editors of Flip the System Australia. Flip the System is a global movement to change education from the ground up by allowing teachers to take the lead as a trusted and meaningful part of global education conversation. Evers and Kneyber (2016) conceptualise the education system as a hierarchical pyramid with governments and policymakers at the apex, making decisions disconnected from those at the nadir: teachers and students. Key themes will include educational leadership, collaborative expertise, professional learning, teacher voice, and equity.