Sara Bubb

Leading and managing continuing professional development : developing people, developing schools

This book gives an up to date picture of a rapidly changing field, enhances understanding of continuing professional development and its potential to bring about change and development to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools.

A Day in the Life of New Headteachers: Learning from Observation

It is known that the work of headteachers is demanding. Observation, diaries and logs completed by headteachers show a relentless, complex and emotionally demanding workload. What can be learned about headship from how new headteachers spend their time, and perhaps as importantly, what can new headteachers themselves learn? This article draws upon data, including that derived from observation, from a small-scale qualitative study of new headteachers in large cities, funded by the English National College for School Leadership. It examines how headteachers spend their days, the challenges faced and the value of being observed. It argues that the learning about leaders and leadership from observation has been considerable. A new observational classification is outlined. An analysis of the headteachers’ day provided insights into the things that mattered most, the challenges currently faced and how they were acting as learning-centred leaders. The other main form of learning from observation was for the research participants themselves. Gaining feedback and reflecting on their actions and use of time as school leaders was deemed to be very helpful. The article concludes by suggesting that being observed has the potential to be a powerful form of leadership development.

Ensuring Staff Development Impacts on Learning

This chapter draws on recent research to explore staff development and its impact on students. Emphasis is also given to how time is used for staff development. Recent research has found that development time is often under-used by schools, so staff development leaders need to ensure this time is used well for staff learning and that it impacts positively on student outcomes. The evaluation of staff development, if undertaken in a systematic way, can lead to improved outcomes for both students and staff, but a key obstacle to a better appreciation of the impact of staff development lies in the way that it is conventionally conceived: in terms of inputs and not as the changes effected in individuals’ thinking and practice. There is little reference to outcomes – what will happen as a result of development activity. The authors develop Guskey’s (Evaluating Professional Development. New York: Corwin, 2000) model of professional development to consider different levels of impact, including the learning and experience of students.

Headteacher performance management in England: Balancing internal and external accountability through performance leadership

This article reports on research into headteacher performance management in England. The English school system couples organisational autonomy with close scrutiny of educational outcomes. The management of the performance of headteachers is a central aspect of such a system. The research involved a systematic literature review and the collection of data via national surveys, expert interviews and case studies. The findings point to three overarching conditions essential for what we identify as ‘performance leadership’: relational trust between the headteacher and the governing body; situational awareness by the governing body of the school’s circumstances and the headteacher’s lived experience of the role; and a systems perspective shared by the headteacher and governing body of performance management as one aspect of a comprehensive, interactive system of internal accountability, not merely an annual rite of passage. The study found that capacity in any two conditions offers a foundation for developing capability in the third. It also revealed the dominant role played by middle-tier structures in defining what constitutes ‘effective’ performance for any school or group of schools. The article offers insight into the changing landscape of performance expectations, for school leaders as well as for those who oversee their work.

`Rogue' school leaders and newly qualified teachers

MiE, Vol 17 issue 4 D o school leaders break the law? Do they neglect the professional development of their staff, especially new teachers? How to ensure high quality induction for all newly qualified teachers (NQTs), no matter what their context, is a long-standing and worldwide issue.We are interested in the accountability and professional responsibility of school leaders in England (specifically that of headteachers and induction tutors) to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. Although the research evidence shows that the majority of schools look after their new teachers well (Bubb, et al 2002), we are interested in those schools that don’t. We asked ourselves these questions: