Activity: What leaders do to improve student achievement and well-being

Robinson, Lloyd and Rowe [1] [2008: 668] argue that ‘… a school’s leadership is likely to have more positive impacts on student achievement and well-being when it is able to focus on the quality of learning, teaching, and teacher learning.’

Task 1. If Indian school principlas were regularly focusing on:      

• the quality of learning
• teaching
• teacher learning.

what are the practical things that you think they would be doing in order to impact effectively on these 3 areas?

On completion of this task please read the following:

• Leadership for Learning

• Impacting on Learning: The Middle Leader's Role

• Robinson, V.M.J. [2006] Putting Education Back into Educational Leadership.  Leading and Managing 12, No.1, 2006, pp. 62-75. This article refers both to the role of principal and other school leaders.  It provides powerful insights into the actions of leaders that effectively support the develpopment of their colleagues capacity to improve both learning and teaching. 

• Southworth, G.[2011].Connecting leadership and Learning. In Robertson, J & Timperley, H. [Eds.], Leadership and Learning. [pp. 71-85]. Los Angeles: Sage.

• Stoll, L. [2002] Enhancing Internal Capacity: Leadership for Learning.National College for School Leadership.  At http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/media/604/DF/enhancing-internal-capacity.pdf  Of particular interest are Stoll’s comments on the role of leadership in enhancing internal capacity.  This word 'capacity' is used in the Reflective Blog task below.  Stoll  also gives a précis of the factors that affect capacity within and beyond the school.

    

Complete Task 2. Reflective Journal Blog