Session Information
26 SES 12 C, System Leadership
Paper Session
Contribution
Further Education (FE) is often referred to as the "Cinderella" sector (Randle and Brady, 1997) because, in comparison to both compulsory schooling and Higher Education, it is under-resourced, under-valued and under-researched. Thus, whilst various studies have looked at leadership within the Further Education (FE) sector (Briggs, 2001; 2007; Frearson, 2002; Gleeson and Knights, 2008; Lambert; 2013; Leader, 2006; Lumby, 1997), research into FE leadership development remains "relatively sparse and reflects a limited theoretical base" (Muijs et al., 2006:93). This paper seeks to ameliorate this deficiency by analyzing the leadership development experienced by FE principals. This is important work, because leadership, at least in schools, is the second most significant influence on student outcomes after teaching quality (Leithwood et al., 2008).
Specifically, the paper addresses the following research questions:
1) What types of leadership development have FE principals experienced, prior to appointment and once in post?
2) What types of leadership development do FE principals consider to be most effective in terms of organisational performance?
3) To what extent are FE principals able to devote sufficient time to the things they deem most important?
The research draws upon the leadership development typologies offered by Frearson (2002) and Muijs et al. (2006). Frearson (2002) distinguishes between:
- · learning through experience;
- · job shadowing;
- · secondments/placements with other organizations;
- · visits/exchanges;
- · planned project work;
- · working with paper-based training materials at own pace;
- · working with computer-based training materials at own pace;
- · distance learning over a network;
- · one-day seminar or workshop in-house in own organization;
- · one-day seminar or workshop away from the organization;
- · short courses;
- · long-term, part-time courses; and
- · sabbaticals.
Muijs et al. (2006) group these thirteen activities into three over-arching categories, namely, course-based CPD, individual CPD and experiential CPD. Course-based CPD comprises traditional courses, seminar and INSET programmes; individual CPD consists of individualized activities such as online distance learning; experiential CPD comprises work-based learning with the support of other practitioners, such as mentoring and coaching. Using multi-level modelling of 1,511 survey responses, Muijs et al. (2006:103) found that "experiential leadership development appears to be related to transformational leadership, course-based leadership development to distributive leadership and individual-based leadership development to transactional leadership". The study being reported at ECER sought to discover if the conclusions reached by Muijs et al. (2006) still hold true, given how much more fragmented the FE landscape has become in the intervening period. It also sought to update Muijs et al.'s original typology by incorporating some newer forms of CPD that rely on emerging technologies (e.g. social media).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Briggs, A.R.J. (2001) Academic middle managers in further education: reflections on leadership, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 6(2), 223-236. Briggs, A.R.J. (2007) Exploring professional identities: middle leadership in further education colleges, School Leadership & Management: Formerly School Organisation, 27(5), 471-485. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2010), Skills for Sustainable Growth London, BIS. Frearson, M. (2002) Tomorrow’s learning leaders. Developing leadership and management for post- compulsory learning. 2002 survey report (London, LSDA). Gleeson, D. and Knights, D. (2008) Reluctant Leaders: An Analysis of Middle Managers’ Perceptions of Leadership in Further Education in England, Leader, 4(1), 49–72. Lambert, S. (2013) Defining a tri-dimensional role for leadership in further education colleges, Management in Education, (2013), 27-39. Leader, G.(2006) Further Education Middle Manager, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 32(1) 67–79. Leithwood, K., Harris, A. & Hopkins, D.(2008) Seven strong claims about successful school leadership, School Leadership & Management, 28(1),27-42. Lumby, J. (1997) Developing Managers in Further Education Part 1: the extent of the task, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 21(3), 345-354. Muijs, D., Harris, A., Lumby, J., Morrison, M. & Sood, K. (2006) Leadership and leadership development in highly effective further education providers. Is there a relationship?, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 30(1), 87-106. Randle, K. & Brady, N. (1997) Managerialism and professionalism in the 'cinderella service', Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 49(1), 121-139.
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