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Introduction

Over many years research has highlighted the increasingly complex and ­multifaceted nature of the roles and responsibilities of leaders in all types of schools and school systems. Recent educational reforms have added to the complexity of leadership and have demanded that leaders need new kinds of knowledge, skills and attitudes. In many international settings changing expectations of the leader and reformulated visions of educational leadership in the context of lifelong learning have emphasised the need for leaders to develop a deeper understanding of a range of areas pertaining to the exercise of leadership in schools, particularly in regard to learning. Work of international and intergovernmental bodies such as the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2007) has highlighted the need to review the ways in which the conceptualisation of leadership roles and the allocation of responsibilities and tasks meet both the needs of the school and the quality of learning provision for students and the various personal and professional stages of individuals’ careers, lives and professional lifelong learning needs. As the literature reviewed in this chapter reveals, there is a need to develop, support, renew and revitalise leadership exercised at all levels of every school and across all stages of an individual’s lifelong learning journey.

In regard to leadership in faith-based schools, it will be argued in this chapter that contributions derived from much of the international body of research and policy-oriented work on lifelong professional learning and leadership, though relevant and vital to the needs of all leaders in all types of schools, should be regarded as ­necessary but not sufficient for the development of leaders in faith-based schools. Whilst the concepts and categories emerging from this work provide major insights and understandings relevant to the lifelong professional learning of school leaders in all types of settings, there needs to be other considerations brought into play to deepen and enrich the formation of effective leadership in faith-based schools. In this chapter we are informed by research (Chapman and Buchanan 2009) initiated and supported by the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne, Australia, designed to identify the additional elements and factors called for and appropriate for leadership in Catholic schools. We identify the concepts and categories that are distinctive in the lifelong professional learning needs of leaders in Catholic schools, and synthesise and integrate these insights with additional sources of knowledge that might inform and enhance their lifelong professional learning and renewal.

Current Emphases in Leadership and Leadership Learning Research

Recent research efforts, particularly those employing meta-analyses of data, are now broadening and strengthening the knowledge base about school leadership, especially in regard to the relationship between leadership, student learning and school outcomes. In a study undertaken in the USA, Marzano et al. (2005, p. 7) claim that research over the last 35 years ‘provides strong guidance on specific leadership behaviours for school administrators and those behaviours have well documented effects on student achievement’. Synthesising the research literature using a quantitative, meta-analytic approach the authors identified the following 21 leadership responsibilities as correlating with student academic achievement (p. 42): affirmation, change agent, contingent rewards, communication, culture, discipline, flexibility, focus, ideal/s beliefs, input, intellectual stimulation, involvement in curriculum, instruction and assessment, knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment, monitoring and evaluating, optimiser, order, outreach, relationships, resources, situational awareness and visibility.

The New Zealand scholar, Viviane Robinson (2007), sought to identify and explain the types of school leadership that make an impact on a range of academic and social student outcomes. In her investigation a systematic search produced 26 published studies that sought to characterise and quantify the relationship between types of school leadership and a range of student outcomes, and 11 of the studies included sufficient data from which the effects of particular types of leadership could be calculated. From Robinson’s analysis five dimensions of leadership were identified as having an impact on learning outcomes in a school setting (p. 8):

  1. 1.

    Establishing goals and expectations: relating to the setting, communicating and monitoring of learning goals, standards and expectations, and the involvement of staff and others in the process so that there is clarity and consensus about goals.

  2. 2.

    Strategic resourcing: involving aligning resource selection and allocation with priority teaching goals, including provision of appropriate expertise through staff recruitment.

  3. 3.

    Planning, co-ordinating and evaluating teaching and the curriculum: relating to direct involvement in the support and evaluation of teaching through regular classroom visits and the provision of formative and summative feedback to teachers; direct oversight of curriculum through school-wide co-ordination across classes and year levels and alignment to school goals.

  4. 4.

    Promoting and participating in teacher learning and development: involving leadership that not only promotes but directly participates with teachers in formal and informal professional learning.

  5. 5.

    Ensuring an orderly and supportive environment: protecting time for teaching and learning by reducing external pressures and interruptions and establishing an orderly and supportive environment both inside and outside classrooms.

The Leadership for Learning project Carpe Vitam, centred at Cambridge University in the UK which involved seven countries (Australia, Austria, Denmark, USA, England, Greece and Norway) and operated on the basis of a set of democratic values about leadership and learning, has identified from research, experimentation, reflection and collective debate, a number of ‘principles for practice’ for transformations in leadership and educational practice especially through leadership for learning (MacBeath et al. 2006). These key principles include: maintaining a focus on learning as an activity, creating conditions favourable to learning as an activity, creating a dialogue about leadership for learning, sharing leadership and fostering a shared sense of accountability.

International Policy Initiatives on Leadership and Learning

In 2007 the OECD brought to conclusion its international activity on ‘Improving School Leadership’. Participants included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The OECD (2007) highlighted the importance of proper preparation and ongoing learning for people in positions of leadership. At the final OECD meeting for this activity held in Copenhagen in April 2008 there was agreement that leadership exercised in four areas of responsibility is central to improved student learning: teacher quality, goal setting and accountability, strategic management of resources and collaboration with a wide range of partners external to the school. The OECD argued that these four areas of responsibility do not necessarily have to be the responsibility of one person. They provide a framework for school leadership, not necessarily for an individual school leader. The concept of ‘co-responsibility’ for shared leadership that is distributed among staff at all levels of responsibility is relevant in this regard.

A review of Country Reports submitted as part of the OECD activity on Improving School Leadership (Chapman 2008) showed that there is immense variation among countries in the degree to which they have put in place policies and strategies designed to improve school leadership; however, an intensive examination of particular countries, with very different histories and traditions in the provision of education, demonstrates that significant advances are being made in some settings. Chapman argues that from an examination of research and country-based practice across the OECD it is clear that change can be brought about in improving school leadership, especially in linking leadership with improved student learning and that many lessons can be drawn from successful reform efforts that have applicability to other settings. Chapman (2008) suggested that these ­lessons include:

  • Acknowledgement of the complex ‘web’ of relationships and effects: The effects of leadership on student learning and school impacts and outcomes can be both direct and indirect; it is linked to an evidence-based approach to learning and school outcomes; a range of leadership skills, commitments, capacities and beliefs, working through a range of mediating conditions and moderated by features of the social, demographic and organisational contexts.

  • The development of school leadership skills and attributes: Reform efforts are supported by leadership that displays an emphasis on distributed, ­collaborative leadership; the ability to build internal capacity and bring about collective action and responsibility; the capacity to create organisational expectations for high achievement by staff and students; the development of a learning-centred philosophy and approach; the ability to implement school improvement through changes in structure and culture; the capacity to leverage external pressures for achievement to focus on the school’s performance objectives and student learning; the preparedness to integrate transformational leadership with shared instructional and pedagogical leadership; the ability to develop a shared sense of accountability for learning and school outcomes; the ability to communicate effectively about learning and open up dialogue about learning with students, staff and parents; and the ability to ‘centre’ the school on learning.

  • An awareness of the need to attend to mediating conditions: In bringing about improvements in student learning and school impacts and outcomes leadership works with, through and upon a number of mediating conditions including the degree of school and leadership autonomy; the professionalism, engagement, suitability, selection, evaluation and accountability of staff; access to relevant resources including information to analyse, monitor and assess individual and school performance; the professional learning culture of the school; the level of engagement and support for learning by staff; curriculum organisation, development and flexibility; the management structure, especially in regard to middle management; system-wide support for school improvement, quality assurance and performance assessment; and the nature of the relationship with education system authorities and school decision-making bodies.

Lifelong Professional Learning and the Development of Leadership Capacity

In the past education systems around the world have been heavily reliant on a process of self-selection in the identification of future leaders. Few, if any, of these self-selection processes consciously draw on the research literature and policy initiatives we have reviewed above. Internationally it is now recognised that a more systematic, lifelong and collaborative approach involving employing authorities, schools, universities, leadership centres and individuals is required. Strategies might include the use of generic calls for those interested in leadership or the use of more personal and direct approaches from people in more senior positions. Future ­principals and leaders will be more easily recruited when they have had positive experiences of opportunities to lead and the experience of working collaboratively with others; thus incumbent principals themselves have an important role to play.

A review of the literature undertaken for UNESCO (Chapman 2005) revealed a range of practices is available for the development of those with future leadership capacity. These include: mentoring and coaching, internship, shadowing, education platform development, special assignments and targeted learning experiences, formal university award bearing study and engagement in programmes organised by international learning institutes and academies. A carefully conceived and comprehensive programme of leadership learning would involve the incorporation of many of these strategies in a portfolio of leadership experiences shaped in accord with a personal learning development plan.

Newly appointed leaders require engagement in a systematic programme of learning, and induction based on an analysis of a person’s previous experiences and capabilities integrated with the needs of the particular school and context in which they serve, and drawing on what the research literature tells us about what successful school leadership is and how to grow into being a leader. To retain effective leaders in their key positions in educating institutions, it is vital that their morale, professional commitment and sense of professional value and personal worth are maintained and their creativity and enthusiasm are promoted. Leaders are subject to the effect of a complex array of factors that have the potential to impact negatively on their performance and continuing survival in the role. Leaders must be given support to face the challenges of their responsibilities and to renew and reinvigorate their professional performance. Experienced leaders should be able to look to ­system support, professional networks and leadership centres for the provision of renewal experiences and activities. These could include: sabbatical leaves; professionally expanding work engagements; the utilisation and affirmation of their ­wisdom and competencies in the mentoring and coaching of the next generation of leaders.

In studies of the professional development needs of experienced principals (Peterson 2002) attention has been drawn to the need for experienced principals to have available to them a range of learning opportunities from which selection can be made in accord with specific needs. These learning experiences may involve: study groups; advanced seminars; reading and discussion groups; presentations by current thinkers or expert practitioners; attendance at national and international academies or conferences and opportunities to become coaches, facilitators or trainers themselves. Their learning should not, however, be haphazard or fragmented. Rather the curriculum should be: carefully designed and sequenced with attention to prior learning; co-ordinated and aligned across all learning providers and ­activities; provide core skills and knowledge that will enhance leadership, but also knowledge and skills related to the specific administrative procedures, contractual requirements and community characteristics of the environment in which they are working. Other initiatives that have had success among experienced principals are those based on peer learning involving a number of practices including inter-visitations and buddying.

The Distinctive Nature of Leadership in Faith-Based Schools

These lessons derived from the international research community and from the international policy context are necessary to the development of leaders in faith-based schools, just as they are necessary to leaders in other school systems. However, in faith-based schools these areas of professional knowledge, skills and competencies are necessary, but not sufficient for the preparation, formation and renewal of educational leaders.

A growing body of literature has pointed to the distinctiveness of leadership in faith-based schools (Bezzina et al. 2007; Miller 2007; Holman 2007; Duignan 2007; Cook 2008). For example, leaders of Catholic schools must create opportunities to ensure that the Christian message and Catholic vision permeate the school’s curriculum and culture (Cook 2008). Leaders require the skills and ability to recognise that the potential culture has to inform and form the ‘soul’ of the school (Miller 2007, p. 9). Leadership in Catholic schools also requires an awareness of the context in which schools function in the twenty-first century together with a commitment to the fundamental characteristics of Catholic education. In order to achieve this writers and contemporary analysts such as Holman (2007) have argued that it is imperative that leaders in Catholic schools have ongoing religious, faith and theological formation.

Formation is a distinctive feature of faith-based leadership, which is embedded in the belief that the purpose of education is the integral formation of the human person. This ‘… includes the development of all the human faculties of students, together with preparation for professional life, formation of ethical and social awareness, becoming aware of the transcendental and religious education’ (SCCE 1982, n. 17). As Duignan (2007) has argued the formation of leaders in Catholic schools must foster the social conditions that allow colleagues to grow as persons and become more authentic, wiser and autonomous educators and leaders. ­‘Faith-based organisations need faith leaders, people who will stand up, set the organisational course, and persevere, as a result of their belief in both faith and in the mission of the organisation’ (Brinkerhoff 1999). There are certain skills which are ­appropriate and required for effective faith leadership and most leaders need to develop these skills in order to lead others in the direction that they are leading.

In faith-based schools, one of the key leadership challenges facing leaders today is the ability to provide religious leadership that is able to preserve and strengthen the particular identity of the school (Belmonte 2007). Increasingly religious leadership in Catholic schools as well as other faith communities is undertaken by lay individuals (Litchfield 2006) and the school principal as the recognised leader of the school has responsibility not only for the educational and personal well-being of the students but for their faith development. The religious leadership dimension requires a school leader in a faith-based school to be open to continuous growth in knowledge of the tradition of that faith. In Catholic schooling, this includes a deep understanding of the philosophical, theological and historical insights into Catholic ethos and culture as well as the purpose of Catholic education (Belmonte 2007).

Leaders can transform teaching and learning to provide unique and authentic experiences for students and teachers alike. In a Catholic school transformative learning must be anchored in faith and in the values and ethics of the Catholic Church (Bezzina et al. 2007; Buchanan and Rymarz 2008). In contemporary times the faith dimension of a leader’s role is increasingly important because for many families the school is often their first and sometimes only contact with the Church and its religious traditions (Holman 2007). For school leaders attention to the spiritual dimension is not just personal but it is also public as leaders must show the way for others to be attentive to the spiritual dimension within the school community and within their own lives (Buchanan 2009).

Some Guiding Principles, Concepts and Concerns for Lifelong Professional Learning in Faith-Based Schools

In 2009 the Director of Catholic Education in Melbourne commissioned research to provide a rigorous, evidence-based programme for the learning of educational leaders in Catholic education. The Catholic Education Office Melbourne (CEOM) works in partnership with Catholic schools to provide an educational foundation that develops the whole person within a school environment imbued with Christian values. http://www.ceo.melb.catholic.edu.au The study reinforced the importance of the ongoing professional formation of leaders especially in the transformation of learners and learning in the educational setting – promoting quality learning and teaching in faith-based and values-driven approaches to education. In addition the data suggested the importance of the following distinctive dimensions of lifelong professional learning for leaders in the Catholic education setting. These distinctive dimensions were found to be: (1) faith, religious and spiritual formation; (2) formation in the identity, culture and mission of the Church and (3) personal formation.

  1. 1.

    Faith, religious and spiritual formation was conceived as a well-developed ­formation experience where spiritual growth and religious understanding are in harmony and through which faith can be lived and celebrated by the leader in the school, in his/her life and beyond.

    The findings of the study revealed that leaders in faith-based schools need to be very committed to their own faith journey. It is the experience of faith and being able to see everything that one does through the lens of faith, the prism of faith, a world view, ‘..the first thing that a leader in a Catholic school needs is to understand what their faith means to them and to have opportunities to reflect on that, to engage in dialogue with other people about that and to practice it,’ noted one primary principal. Moreover a leader needs to be able to nurture their own spirituality and the spirituality of other people, living the faith in relationship with others. Among the knowledge, understanding, commitments and capacities to be developed in a lifelong approach to the formation of leaders in faith-based schools our data suggested the importance of: understanding of self in relationship to God, one’s self and other people; being committed to the formation of the whole person; being committed to leadership inspired by faith; being engaged in ongoing dialogue and study of theology, religion and scripture; being committed to nurturing a person’s spirituality and being engaged in a faith journey; living the faith in relationship with God and others; celebrating faith and involving people in dialogue about faith, religion and spirituality; supporting others in their spiritual journeys; providing pastoral support; and having an understanding, awareness and knowledge of different faiths and religious traditions.

  2. 2.

    Formation in the identity, culture and mission of the Church – as expressed through culture, social teaching and mission for the exercise of Christian ­leadership in the tradition of the Church especially through pastoral leadership, leadership in faith and leadership in the Church.

    The research revealed that leaders need an understanding of ecclesiology, the history of the Church, Church teachings, traditions and culture and where they are placed in the history of the Church at this time. They also require an understanding of and commitment to the identity, mission and social teaching of the Church. At the same time leaders need a vision of the Church in the future, as one leader in the Catholic community commented. ‘Schools will be very different in the future, teachers need to be very different in the future, the leaders of Catholic education need to be prepared for a very different world. It is a world unknown but it’s not a world from which we can’t take what we already know now and build on it, change it, develop it.’ An understanding of the history of the Church; commitment to Church traditions and teachings; understanding of the identity and mission of the Church; awareness of the vision of the Church as it finds expression within a contemporary context; knowledge of Church institutions and agencies across the community; commitment to and understanding of the Church’s social teachings as they apply to frameworks of equity, inclusion and family-school partnerships; being conversant with the laws, canons and structure of the Church as they apply to education; awareness of the deep story and traditions of religious orders and congregations and the capacity to exercise leadership in the dimensions of faith, parish, pastoral support and ministry were identified a part of the agenda for learning and formation for leaders of faith-based schools.

  3. 3.

    Personal formation – embodying and exemplifying personal and interpersonal qualities.

    Leaders in all schools and school systems need to be good at interacting with people and able to communicate with a wide range of people. They need the ability to mobilise people towards a common goal and build a sense of teamwork. Leadership is about relationship building. But in faith-based schools the personal and interpersonal qualities and skills need of a leader should be more than this, as one senior administrator commented: ‘A principal should be involved in this communal endeavour of bringing people to wholeness. The holistic nature of leadership exercised in-situ honouring the situation of people, honouring formation as a permanent pursuit.’ The findings of the research suggest that this will involve: the capacity to communicate, interact well with people and work in teams; the ability to model leadership and enable leadership in others; the capacity to lead for transformation and change; the ability to build personal, professional and leadership capacity in others; the ability to engage others in the articulation of an educational vision and provide leadership to others in bringing about its realisation; the ability to make wise judgements; an awareness of self in relationship to others; a commitment to ‘being one’s best self’; an ability to overcome resistance and resolve conflict and build resilience; a commitment to lifelong learning; an ability to manage stress and stressful situations and a commitment to ethical and moral decision making.

Conclusion

In addition to the generic skills required for leadership in every school setting the research reported in this chapter shows that the lifelong professional learning needs of leaders in faith-based schools must incorporate ongoing religious, faith and spiritual formation; formation in the identity, culture and mission of the church and personal formation. Ongoing religious, faith and spiritual formation is important in order to ensure leaders in faith-based schools are able to effectively integrate faith leadership and educational leadership. Leaders in faith-based schools require a deep understanding of identity, culture and mission so that the school can effectively participate in the mission of their Church. The understanding required is not solely knowledge centred but it is integral to the formation of the person/leader and therefore central to the lifelong learning of the educator.