School Leadership - A Scottish Perspective

In this post I want to consider some of the messages that were given about Leadership at the recent International Congress for School  Effectiveness and Improvement, held in Cincinnati. I was there as a representative of the Fellowship programme being provided by the Scottish College for Educational Leaderships. SCEL was set up following recommendations in 'Teaching Scotland's Future' written by Graham Donaldson. In this Donaldson made fifty recommendations concerning initial teacher education, professional development and leadership development. All of these were accepted in some form by the Scottish Government, and a National Implementation Board was set up to take these forward. It was number fifty that recommended the setting up of a leadership college. Recommendations forty eight and forty nine looked at professional development opportunities for experienced headteachers, and how they could be engaged at a system, and national level, to utilise their experience and con

I have been returned from the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) for a couple of days now and have begun to reflect on some of the main messages and issues that featured at the congress. The main issue, that kept recurring through keynotes and in the breakout workshops, centred around the gap that exists between our knowledge-base and the actual practice that goes on in schools. When we have so much research, and evidence, about 'what works' in schools, learning and leadership, why is little of this evident in schools and practice? Alma Harris had posed the following question to all delegates in her opening remarks, 'How do we consolidate the research-base?' Various speakers considered this issue, and how we get this to have greater impact in schools. It was also a topic that regularly came up in post-workshop and keynote discussions, including the many informal ones that occurred over coffee, meals and the occasional drink!

I have just returned from the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) 2015 event, which has been happening in Cincinnati. This is an annual event lasting some four days and pulling in educational researchers, policy makers and practitioners from all over the world. The annual congress is held in a different country each year. The ICSEI organisation and its annual congress is aimed at bringing these three key groups from the world of education together as they seek informed ways to improve learning, teaching and performance in schools across the world. In her message of welcome, the ICSEI outgoing president, Alma Harris noted the important role of the organisation in ' the formulation and sharing of new knowledge' about learning and school leadership. The keynote speakers and workshop contributors had as their theme 'Thinking Globally, Acting Locally to Educate All Children To Their Full Potential.' The organisation of the conference centr