Into Middle Leadership in Schools Guide for facilitators€¦ · · 2017-09-14Leadership in...

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Into Middle

Leadership in Schools

Guide for facilitators

Professional development materials for teachers

who aspire to middle leadership roles in schools

Dick Lynas

August 2017

1 SCEL | Into Middle Leadership in Schools

Contents

About the guide for facilitators 2

Section A: Facilitating initial thought pieces 3

Section B: Facilitating workshop sessions 4

Workshop Session 1: Leading and learning 10

Workshop Session 2: Valuing and visioning in context 12

Workshop Session 3: Communicating and decision-taking 14

Workshop Session 4: Motivating people and building teams 15

Workshop Session 5: Managing conflict and difficult people 18

Workshop Session 6: Planning and implementing improvement 20

Workshop Session 7: Evaluating outcomes for learners 21

Section C: Facilitating reflective portfolios 22


About the guide for facilitators

This guide is a companion to Into Middle Leadership in Schools (IMLIS), a suite of professional development materials for teachers who aspire to a middle or team leadership role in schools. The materials were developed originally in 2004 and are updated annually to reflect the changing demands on middle leaders in schools.

The IMLIS materials to which this guide refers can be freely accessed via the section on Middle Leadership on the website of the Scottish College for Educational Leadership. Visit: www.scelscotland.org.uk

The guide to using the materials is presented in three sections:

• Section 1: Facilitating thought pieces

• Section 2: Facilitating workshops

• Section 3: Facilitating portfolios

Workshop readings and activities may be undertaken by individuals as part of a self-directed approach to personal leadership development but research evidence into the impact of professional development programmes indicates clearly that personal development is enhanced when teachers share their insights, experiences and expertise in group discussions about leadership challenges and successes. It can be no coincidence that, over the years, feedback from participants in centrally-run versions of the full suite of these materials has invariably emphasised the value of the group workshop sessions where participants had time to discuss the issues in focus. Effective organisation of the workshops by credible facilitators has also been valued.

Based upon the experiences of the author, this guide offers advice on facilitating workshops to school or local authority-based facilitators who may be called upon to deliver the workshops in a local setting or online. Timings are illustrative. It will be for local facilitators to determine final timings for any given workshop in the light of local circumstances.

http://www.scelscotland.gov.uk/


Guide for facilitators: Section A: Facilitating initial thought

pieces

After an introduction that sets school leadership development in its international and Scottish context, the main section of the suite of IMLIS materials begins with a series of six initial thought pieces:

Thought Piece A: Leadership and management

Thought Piece B: A model of experiential leadership development

Thought Piece C: Theory U

Thought piece D: Distributed leadership in schools

Thought Piece E: Professional development and pupil attainment

Thought Piece F: Collaborative coaching

Each of these thought pieces contain general reflections on the nature, functions and qualities of middle leadership in schools and on the ways in which professional development may be encouraged, particularly with regard to leading and managing change. There are then reflective questions to challenge thinking and articulate positions. The thought pieces can be used by individuals or collaboratively as part of team development sessions.

A facilitator might consider asking participants to read a thought piece ahead of a collegiate meeting where the questions are discussed. Individuals and team members might use some responses to the questions to inform the professional development and review process. The thought pieces can be worked through consecutively as preparation for Part B: Workshops, or they can be selected by their relevance to the professional learning needs of participants.

Further thought pieces that focus on specific aspects of middle leadership are provided in the various workshops.

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLS-PartA-ThoughtPieceA.pdf

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLS-PartA-ThoughtPieceB.pdf

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLS-PartA-ThoughtPieceC.pdf

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLS-PartA-ThoughtPieceD-1.pdf

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLIS-PartA-ThoughtPieceE.pdf

http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMLIS-PartA-ThoughtPieceF.pdf


Guide for facilitators: Section B: Facilitating workshop

sessions

General points

The following advice for facilitators is relevant for all workshop sessions:

The seven workshops

The IMLIS suite of materials includes seven workshops:

• Workshop Session 1: Leadership and learning

• Workshop Session 2: Values and vision; culture and ethos

• Workshop Session 3; Communicating and decision-making

• Workshop Session 4: Motivating people and building teams

• Workshop Session 5: Managing conflict and difficult situations

• Workshop Session 6: Planning and leading Improvement

• Workshop Session 7: Evaluating progress and outcomes

The workshops explore different functions and qualities of middle leadership and the kinds of issues that middle leaders come up against on a regular basis. It is suggested that the reading and activities in all of the workshops should be undertaken by participants at some point or another ahead of the launch of any related school-based improvement initiative.

Aim of workshop sessions:

The essential purpose of the seven workshop sessions overall is to deepen the knowledge and understanding of participants of key concepts relating to middle leadership qualities and functions. The workshops also support participants in assessing their current leadership strengths and planning to address their development needs as potential middle leaders. Each involves aspiring middle leaders in four processes:

• Reading and reflecting on thought pieces about aspects of middle leadership

• Reflecting on how to handle leadership issues related to an aspect of leadership

• Discussion with group colleagues about handling the same aspect of leadership

• Reflection on feedback from other groups and the wider world of research about dealing with the same aspects of leadership


Feedback on how situations might have been handled is informed by Scotland's Standard for Middle Leadership, by research findings and by feedback from previous participants who undertook the programme.

The challenge for workshop facilitators is to ensure that all four processes are given initial coverage in the (usually) limited workshop time available and to ensure that progress towards achieving the workshop learning outcomes is at least under way.

Duration of workshop sessions:

A fully-inclusive workshop session, comprising a brief introduction to learning outcomes, reading of thought pieces, individual, small group and plenary group reflection on activities and scenarios and a look at extended feedback may last up to three hours, depending upon the number and nature of activities and participants.

Alternatively, facilitators commonly suggest that participants undertake individual reading and reflection ahead of a workshop and follow up their study of feedback in their own time after a workshop. Group sessions can then focus on small group and plenary group discussions and reflections on shared experiences, insights and expertise that relate to the workshop activities. Even then, a single workshop may last for up to two hours, depending on the number of activities and participants.

Participant numbers:

Experience indicates that a single group of as few as three/four participants can benefit from sharing their insights into the nature of leadership and the development of the skills of middle leadership. Greater numbers create a greater dynamic thanks to the possibility of inter-group as well as intra-group sharing of ideas. Three or four such groups are probably the maximum number that can be managed by a single facilitator in the time available for a single session, allowing for shared feedback.

Mode of delivery of workshop sessions:

Assuming central delivery of workshop sessions, it is recommended that the workshops should be delivered as close to each other in time as possible. This is because the programme of workshops has been designed to maximise coherence and congruence among the leadership topics that are explored so that the learning outcomes of one workshop may inform and strengthen the learning outcomes of another workshop. Leadership development is holistic, even if development activity is intermittent. Individuals can, of course, work through the materials at their own convenience ahead of any group sessions that may be organised.


The advice on timings of workshops provided in this Guide reflects different ways of running the workshops. On some occasions, workshops were offered at weekends or during one or more in-service days and on other occasions they were offered during after-school professional development sessions. One set of workshops was delivered in a mixture of 60-105-minute sessions as below, two weeks after the issue of a pre-course mail shot that was designed to facilitate pre-course individual reading and reflection. The pre-course mail shot is provided below.

Outline programme delivery

In-service day

0900 - 1030: Workshop session 1: Leadership for learning

1030 - 1045: Break

1045 - 1200: Workshop session 2: Vision and values; culture and ethos

1200 - 1230: Lunch

12.30 - 1345: Workshop session 3: Communicating and decision-making

1345- 1400: Break

1400- 1545: Workshop session 4: Motivating people and building teams

CPD time: Workshop session 5: 75 minutes



In the delivery described in this guide, workshop session 5 on dealing with conflict and difficult situations was completed within a week of the in-service day to promote coherence among themes. Workshop sessions 6 took place a further week later to allow participants to draw up draft action plans in advance for sharing with other participants. Workshop session 7 was delivered by project leaders at a CPD time suitable to the group who were conducting the in-school initiative that is such a key part of any leadership development programme.

The specific timings of the various workshop activities provided in this Guide worked well but are provided purely for illustrative purposes. Facilitators may have to vary timings to reflect the needs of local contexts and other preferred modes of delivery.


Sample pre-course mail shot

Dear

Welcome

As your programme facilitator, I would like to welcome you to this programme, Into Middle Leadership in Schools. I hope that you will find the programme enjoyable and relevant to your needs and to the needs of your pupils.

The purpose of this letter is to summarise essential information about dates, venues, support materials and pre-workshop activities. Materials are included as indicated.

Venue for input days:

The venue for the workshop sessions is

Dates of workshop sessions

In-service day X: Date; 09.00- 15.45

The first four workshop sessions will be covered during the in-service day. The remaining three sessions will be conducted in CPD time on dates to be agreed.

Due date for submitting draft action and learning plans: TBA

Progress seminar: TBA

Due date for submitting reflective portfolio: TBA

Support materials

In addition to this letter, this pack included advice on accessing the IMLIS materials and the outline programme for the in-service day.

Pre-workshop activities

Because of its emphasis on collegial coaching, much of the success of this programme depends upon the willingness of participants to engage with each other in undertaking the various activities that are to be carried out before, during and after the input days. In this connection, I would ask you to do the following:

• Check that you have access to a copy of the IMLIS programme materials ahead of and during the in-service sessions. You may work with the materials online or arrange for hard copies to be printed.

• Read the sections about the resource and thought pieces to understand the principles, purposes, structure and proposed outcomes of the development programme.


• Read over the general and specific Thought Pieces that relate to the various Workshop Sessions that are to be conducted during the in-service day.

• Jot down your initial personal responses to the activities relating to the four Workshop Sessions that are to be covered on the in-service day so that you are ready to contribute to small and plenary group activities as fully as possible.

• Such preparation will contribute considerably to the value of group interactions, given the time available. I look forward to meeting you on the in-service day.

Signed Contact details


Recommended room layout for facilitators

Obviously, much will depend upon the numbers of participants. The layout below is for the recommended maximum of 15/16 participants (assuming one facilitator) and can be adapted as required. Workshop sessions will require:

• A room big enough to accommodate up to 16 participants. The room should be laid out in semi-circular ‘cafe’ style as illustrated below to accommodate small group work and plenary sessions within the same room to save time.

• It is suggested that each group should comprise 3/4 participants. Smaller groups tend to encourage greater participation by each group member.

Illustration of room layout

Additional materials include such items as: flipcharts and a set of flipchart markers (different colours per group) blank proformas and writing paper, water and refreshments for breaks.

Flipchart/White Board

(Smart)Screen

Facilitator table

Materials table

Projector


Workshop session 1: Leadership and learning

Notes and timings for facilitators (based on a sample programme)

1. Introduction

The facilitator began by briefly welcoming participants to the programme and inviting them to say who they were and what they hoped to learn.

The facilitator explained that the programme is based on the fundamental belief that, while what actually happens in individual classrooms is what impacts most on pupil learning, a middle or team leader has a vital role to play in ensuring that what is going on in and across classrooms is of a consistently high quality. A school or department with good teachers and a poor leader will be less effective than it would be if it had good teachers and a good leader. So, what it is that good leaders do, what are they like and how may they develop the necessary skills? The facilitator used a PowerPoint slide on proposed workshop learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this first workshop session, you will have:

• Read and reflected upon a number of thought pieces relating to the functions and qualities of school middle leaders

• Clarified your ideas about the nature of middle leadership

• Evaluated your current middle leadership strengths against a standard

• Reflected on the link between middle leadership and learning

(Introduction: 10 minutes)

Activity 1.1 (a): Leadership and management: defining terms

Activity 1.1 (b): Visioning and implementing

Individual reading and reflection on Thought Pieces A and 1.1 - 1.3 had taken place in advance. The facilitator invited participants in small self-selecting groups to undertake the above activities as laid out in the relevant activity boxes and to appoint group reporters (i) to draw up group definitions of leadership and management and (ii) to describe current levels of involvement in visioning and implementing among group members. Group reporters would feedback views at a later feedback session.

(Activities 1.1(a) and 1.1(b): 20 minutes)


Activity 1.1 (c): Teacher Leaders and Middle Leaders

The facilitator invited the same small groups to complete the activity as described in activity box 1.1(c) and new small group reporters to list group views about the differences, if any, between being a teacher and being a leader of teachers. Participants were invited to share views about the contribution to their thinking made by Thought Piece 1.4 and Thought Piece 1.5 in particular.

(Activity 1.1 (c): 20 minutes)

Activity 1.2: Self-evaluating against a Standard

The facilitator now spent ten minutes explaining the structure and the importance of The Standard for Middle Leadership. Participants were invited to read Thought Piece 1.6: A Standard for Middle Leadership and conduct, in their own time, an initial self-evaluation against the Standard of their current values, skills and knowledge. They were instructed to retain that initial broad self-evaluation as they would be invited to prioritise their development needs in a later workshop ahead of planning how to address them by means of leading a school-based initiative.

(Explanation of Activity 1.2: 10 minutes)

Activity 1.3: Leading and learning: Critical Incident Analysis

Finally, in this first session, the facilitator invited the same small groups to carry out the activity described in activity box 1.3, having read Thought Piece 1.7: Leadership and Learning and Thought Piece 1.8 in their own time. Participants were invited to analyse one critical incident of their choice from the two options provided (primary or secondary) using the blank forms that the facilitator provided for that purpose.

(Activity 1.3: 30 minutes)

Total session time: 90 minutes of which 70 minutes were devoted to group activity and 20 minutes were devoted to essential information and explanation.

N.B: As with all workshops, the facilitator must move things along. Activities can only ever serve as pump-primers of discussions and debates that will go on for years. That said, if an activity is generating particularly strong debate, time for discussing the issue may be extended with the time for other activities being reduced or taken from personal time.


Workshop Session 2: Values and Vision; Culture and Ethos

Notes and timings for facilitators

Taking Workshop Session 1 feedback

The facilitator began by inviting a different group reporter in each case to summarise, in a few minutes each, small group views about Activities 1.1(a), 1.1(b) and 1.1(c) Other reporters were then invited to contribute views that had not yet been expressed or with which they disagreed.

The facilitator then devoted a further ten minutes to initial plenary discussion of the critical incident scenarios. The facilitator concluded by pointing out that each workshop session had a summary of feedback from previous groups or from the world of research that participants could read in their own time. And it was assumed that discussion and debate about the issues would continue in the years ahead.

(Feedback from Session 1: 20 minutes)

Introduction to Workshop Session 2

As with Workshop Session 1, the facilitator used a power point slide to introduce and summarise the learning outcomes of this workshop session:

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session, you will have:

• Read and reflected upon a number of thought pieces related to values, vision, culture and ethos

• Reflected upon your personal values and vision

• Analysed the culture and ethos of a school that you know in terms of its ability to promote or hamper improvement

• Expressed leadership values in connection with any proposed school improvement project that you propose to lead

This workshop invites participants to reflect upon their own values and vision but also to assess the culture, ethos and values of the context in which they are working and the challenges to change that these might offer.



Activity 2.1: Reflecting upon and prioritising your professional priorities

The facilitator invited participants to read over Thought Piece 2.1 again and to have small group discussions about how they prioritised their priorities as indicated in the four sub-sections of Activity 2.1. Managing this activity, particularly feedback time, will depend on the number of participants involved. Thus, a single group of 4 participants might be invited to reflect on all 4 sub-sets of the activity and four sub-groups might be invited to look at one sub-set each. The facilitator in this case invited each of four group reporters briefly to feedback on one or other of the four sub-sets of priorities before inviting participants to compare and contrast views in their own time with those contained in the Feedback section.

(Activity and feedback: 25 minutes)

Activities 2.2/2.3

The facilitators now directed participants to undertake Activities 2.2/2.3 and then to share views, focusing on Thought Piece 2.2 (while reminding them once again to read Thought Pieces 2.3 - 2.6 in their own time if they had not already done so)

The facilitator concluded this section of the workshop by inviting participants to read over the feedback from other groups and from research in their own time, emphasising in particular the importance of taking into consideration the current culture and ethos in a school/department as part of planning improvements.

(Activity and feedback: 20 minutes)

Activity 2.4

The facilitators emphasised the importance to participants of undertaking Activity 2.4 but it is essentially a private activity to be undertaken in their own time.

The facilitator emphasised the overarching importance of the values that leaders hold as their own will inevitably influence their vision of a better future for their pupils and the way in which they might work with and through their colleagues to achieve that vision. But it is also important for a middle leader to take into consideration the prevailing culture or ethos of a school given the powerful impact of existing attitudes towards change in that culture.

(Concluding remarks on activity: 5 minutes)

(Total session time: 75 minutes)


Workshop session 3: Communication and decision-making

Notes and timings for facilitators

After lunch, the facilitator used a power point slide and the words of the introductions in IMLIS on the themes of communication and decision-making to emphasise the importance of these critical skills to an aspiring middle leader and to point to learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session readers will have:

• Read over a number of thought pieces related to communication and decision-taking

• Reviewed the key skills required in identifying and reducing barriers to communication

• Reviewed the nature of the decision-making/decision-taking process


Activity 3.1 Communication scenarios

With reading and individual reflection on Thought Pieces 3.1 and 3.2 already undertaken, the facilitator invited four new* small groups to undertake Activity 3.1 as described in the appropriate activity box. Groups were allocated one of scenarios 1,3,5 and 7 plus any one other of their choice from scenarios 2,4 and 6.

30 minutes were allocated for small group sharing of views about how the scenarios had been handled and how they should have been handled, with group reporters invited to record these views. 10 minutes were made available for flip-charting shared plenary views and the facilitator reminded the participants to look over the detailed feedback section later. * morning groupings could be retained, if preferred.

(Activity 3.1: Communication scenarios: 40 minutes)

Activity 3.2: Decision-making scenarios

The facilitator should invite groups to select one of the two decision-making scenarios that are presented and then to analyse the quality of the decisions that were taken in each case, using the proforma that is provided (and which is based on the analytical model of decision-


making/decision-taking that is included in Thought piece 3.3: Decision-making: Decision-taking)

(Activity 3.2: group discussions plus plenary feedback: 30 minutes)



Workshop session 4: Motivating people and building teams

Introduction

This is an extensive workshop that deals with two of the most essential skills that are called for from leaders at any level. The facilitator emphasised that point in using a power point slide to introduce the learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this session, readers will have:

• Read and reflected upon a number of thought pieces related to motivation and team building

• Reflected on key principles in motivating individuals and teams

• Recognised the importance of adapting leadership style to context

• Reflected upon the qualities and skills required to build a team

• Reflected upon the importance of well-managed meetings

(Introduction 5 minutes)

Activity 4.1: Motivational drivers, power, influence and style Activity 4.2: Practical steps in motivating others

With individual reading and reflection upon Thought Pieces 4.1-4.4 already undertaken and with initial individual completion of the 4.1 activity blank proforma already completed, the facilitator invited the small groups to share their experiences with one another of successfully motivating colleagues and the reasons, as outlined in the proforma headings, for their success or failure.

This in turn then helped participants to go straight to Activity 4.2 to list the kind of practical steps that middle leaders can take to maximise their chances of motivating reluctant colleagues and the steps best avoided. The facilitator then invited one of the participants to present his/her reasons for success before drawing the attention of the participants to the master list of steps in the Feedback section of Workshop Session 4 that had helped others to maximise their motivating skills.

(Activities 4.1/4.2: 30 minutes)

(Feedback: 10 minutes)


Activity 4.3. Team building

The facilitator now turned to team building and reminded participants of the key points of Thought Piece 4.5, the distinction between a team and a group and the four phases of team building - forming/storming/norming/performing. The facilitator then carefully explained the three sub-sets of Activity 4.3:

• individual completion of the Teamwork Quality Indicator, if not already done

• identification and listing of the qualities/skills that a team leader would need to have if he/she was to be successful in turning poor team performance around

• identification and listing of the needs that team members would probably have if they were successfully to operate in a climate of trust

The facilitator invited the participants individually to complete the Teamwork Quality Indicator in a couple of minutes using the 1-4 ratings codes provided to make snap judgements of the seven characteristics of the team they have in mind. Blank copies of the team quality indicator proforma were issued for this purpose.

The facilitator issued two copies each of the Needs analysis proforma - one for the recording of key skills that a team leader would need if poor team performance was to be turned around and one for listing the key team member needs that would have to be addressed if the team were to operate in a climate of trust. The facilitator also pointed out that there was no need to find eight different key needs and skills but pointed out that Thought Piece 4.3: Sustaining Motivation might help reflection on the relevant needs and practices.

(Introduction and Activity 4.3: 30 minutes)

Activity 4.4: Chairing meetings

In introducing this activity, the facilitator emphasised that well-planned and well-organised meetings had considerable potential for motivating individuals and teams to overtake objectives. Poorly-planned and poorly conducted meetings could reduce motivation and render pointless the efforts that had been made in the first place to assemble all team members in the one place at the one time. The facilitator then invited small groups to appoint a reporter to brainstorm and list common problems (under the given headings) about meetings which they had attended and steps that group members would have taken to avoid such problems. These were then compared with the lists in the Feedback section of Activity 4.4.

(Activity 4.4: 20 minutes)


Activity 4.5: Self-evaluation of motivational skills

The facilitator explained that this was an individual activity for participants to undertake in their own time. Completion of it by participants would provide them with a further idea of their strengths and their development needs as they developed the leadership skills they would need to be able to motivate departmental or other team colleagues. The activity would be referred to also in Workshop Session 5.

Summing up and looking forward

The facilitator briefly referred to the fact that, so far, the focus had been on the skills and qualities that a middle leader would need if he or she were to be able to point colleagues in a given direction and harness their various skills in a team approach to reaching an agreed destination. But what about problems? The facilitator invited participants to undertake individual reading and reflection on the Session 5 Thought Pieces and activities ahead of the forthcoming session on how to deal with conflict and difficult people. Time would be used to share views on that challenging topic.

Participants were also asked to begin preparing a draft action and personal learning plan, making use of the detailed advice on how to complete the relevant planning proformas provided in the introduction to Workshop Session 6. Twilight Session 6 in two weeks time would allow participants to share their draft plans with each other in order to sharpen planning skills. For a little light relief on the business of chairing meetings, participants were invited to have a look at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF39VQXEpjk

Summing up time: 10 minutes


Notes

Running 4 workshop sessions on one in-service day was hectic but do-able, possibly because the facilitator was experienced and kept pushing on.

There have been cases where Workshops 1 - 6 were delivered over 2 in-service days, with Workshop Session 7 being led by the aspiring middle leader of the school-based working party once the work of improving an aspect of school provision was under way. On other occasions, facilitators focused on Workshop Sessions 1.1,1.3 and 1.4 on the in-service day, leaving participants to work through Workshop Session 2 in their own time as a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF39VQXEpjk


context-setter for applying learning to their own situation. Again, there have been times when only one or two workshop sessions were tackled at any one time. Local circumstances always dictate delivery times.


Workshop session 5: Managing conflict and difficult people

Introduction

The facilitator used power point slides to explore the nature and sources of conflict and the session's learning outcomes, while making it clear that dealing effectively with conflict and difficult people is the greatest challenge, and certainly the greatest source of stress, for any middle manager. A failure to deal with conflict and difficult situations can ruin all the good work that has been done elsewhere.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will have:

• Read a number of thought pieces about the nature of conflict

• Reflected on the management of conflict and difficult situations

• Identified the key leadership skills, the principles and the steps that are required to remove or reduce conflict

(Introduction 10 minutes)

Activity 5.1: A case study in conflict

The facilitator invited new small groups to undertake the four aspects of Activity 5.1 as listed in the activity box, with particular emphasis on reflecting on the skills that would be required to deal with a problem like Maria and on listing the principles that would guide the actions of participants in trying to persuade her to give of her best. Groups were also invited to share experiences of similar situations that they had come across and how they had dealt with them (while maintaining anonymity) The facilitator then used the feedback section to point up the ways in which others had dealt with problem people like Maria.

(Group and plenary sharing plus feedback: 40 minutes)

Activity 4.5

The facilitator returned to Activity 4.5 which participants had been invited to complete. Comment was invited from participants about how demanding they would personally find it to undertake the steps described to deal with people like Maria.

(Comment: 15 minutes)


Preparing for Workshop Session 6

Finally, the facilitator reminded participants that they had already been invited, at the end of Workshop Session 4, to begin drafting action and personal learning plans for a possible school-based improvement project that they might lead. The facilitator confirmed that completed draft plans would be discussed at Workshop Session 6 and so three copies of completed drafts should be brought along to that session to facilitate shared discussions. Suitable supplies of blank planning forms were issued for this purpose and participants were urged to read over the detailed advice contained in the IMLIS materials on how to complete planning forms.

(Preparing for Session 6: 10 minutes)

Total session length: 75 minutes


Workshop session 6: Planning and implementing

Improvement

Introduction

The facilitator explained that Workshop Session 6 is essentially about providing participants with an opportunity to practise their planning skills and to get feedback from their colleagues. The facilitator used a power point slide on outcomes:

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will have:

• Understood the connection between the management process and the planning process

• Written a draft action plan with rationale

• Reflected upon your overall planning skills


Activity 6.1: Action Planning and a Personal Development Plan

Referring to the appropriate activity box and the detailed advice, that had been discussed at the two previous workshops, the facilitator organised participants into groups of three. Each member of a triad then took it in turn to present their draft plan that s/he had drawn up ahead of the session before inviting comment from the other two members. Participants presented their draft plan for 10 minutes, allowing colleagues another 10 minutes to comment or seek clarification. The facilitator issued to groups the proformas for evaluating the action plans and the personal learning plans that are provided among the materials for Workshop Session 7.

(Activity 6.1: 3x 20 minutes = 60 minutes)

Feedback

The facilitator provided an opportunity for general discussion about the value of the planning activity. The facilitator explained that by far the commonest planning errors are (a) taking on projects that are far too big or which are too costly realistically to be resourced and (b) a tendency among project leaders to try to do everything themselves instead of seeking the engagement and commitment of the team. The facilitator concluded by referring to


Workshop Session 7 that would take place among the members of each school-based working group once planning and implementing an improvement initiative was under way.

(Feedback: 10 minutes)

Total session time: 75 minutes


Workshop session 7: Evaluating outcomes for learners

Introduction

Having already advertised the aims and purposes of a project team and having invited declarations of interest from colleagues, the facilitator (now the leader of the school-based initiative) reminded colleagues of those aims and purposes at the first meeting of the team, using a power point slide to introduce the evaluation methods that would be used at various stages of the project.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop session, you will have:

• Reviewed the importance of evaluation to professional practice

• Reflected upon the pros and cons of different methods of evaluation

• Confirmed the importance of rigorous self-evaluation

• Carried out an evaluation of your SMART action and learning plans


Activities 7.1 and 7.2

The facilitator had already invited team members individually to read Thought Pieces 7.1 and 7.2 and to jot down initial thoughts about activities 7.1 and 7.2. The facilitator now invited team members to share their views about the pros and cons of who should evaluate progress in achieving the aims of the school-based project and the pros and cons about how evaluation should be undertaken. Discussion among the team members was facilitated by the feedback that had come from previous groups and from research evidence that contrasted the attitudes towards evaluation of 'hawks' and 'doves'.

(Activities 7.1 and 7.2: 40 minutes)

Activities 7.3-7.5

The facilitator then led a brief discussion of the tools and processes that would be used at various stages of the implementation of the school-based project and discussed the completion in due course of the relevant proformas and, in particular, the potential value of Quality Indicators and 360° review.


Discussions concluded with agreeing next steps and an agenda for the next meeting.

(Activities 7.3-7.5: 15 minutes)



Guide for facilitators: Section C: Facilitating portfolios

Constructing Reflective Portfolios

Introduction

This section of the Guide is principally for those who intend to build on their initial experience of developing their middle leadership skills by going on to undertake certificate, diploma or masters level study of school leadership. Such levels of study typically require participants to construct a reflective portfolio of evidence of the work that they undertook in leading a school-based initiative and its outcomes. Yet there is much to be said for anyone to construct such an extensive set of reflections upon the work that they undertook and the consequences of that work. Sometimes the very act of writing down what you are trying to say helps you to discover what it is that you mean! The IMLIS materials on the SCEL web site include a detailed guide to constructing reflective portfolios, together with samples so readers are referred to that guide for advice.

Reflective Portfolio: Formative Assessment

The detailed Guide to constructing reflective portfolios that is included with the IMLIS materials includes a proforma for self-assessing portfolios and this in itself is a useful tool for reminding oneself about the criteria for a well-constructed reflective portfolio. If participants decide not to submit a request to the GTCS for the growth in their leadership skills to be formally recognised, they should at least use the proformas in activities 7.4 and 7.5 to assess their progress in the skills of leadership and to assess the overall value of the extended leadership development programme that they have just undertaken. And they should certainly note their development in their cumulative portfolio of career-long developmental experiences. Participants who have gone on to undertake certificate, diploma or masters study of leadership have frequently commented on the benefits that accrued to them of undertaking this introduction to middle leadership in schools.

Further study for aspiring middle leaders

The thought pieces provided in the IMILS materials are a starter for ten on key leadership topics but an increasing grasp of the issues comes with further experience and more reading. The list of further reading provided in IMLIS includes a few asterisked books that previous participants in the programme found very useful.

This completes the guide to facilitating the IMLIS programme.

Into Middle Leadership in Schools Guide for facilitators€¦ · · 2017-09-14Leadership in...

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