Dr. Ross Notman

University of Otago College of Education

Introduction

I was privileged in 2006 to be awarded the Dame Jean Herbison Minolta Scholarship for research into the personal development of school leaders. While the professional development of school principals has been well documented, less attention has been given to the development of the leadership ‘self’. The focus for the scholarship study built on my earlier doctoral research into the influence of values-based leadership of two New Zealand secondary principals (2005).

This report will explore the findings of three overseas visits during the past two years. Firstly, I participated in a Values in Leadership Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, where keynote speakers included Robert Starrett (USA), the Canadian educational philosopher Chris Hodgkinson, and Paul Begley (USA). It is Paul’s writing on authentic leadership by school principals that I will refer to in my discussion.

Second, I met with Nick Thornton, Manager of the Australian Principals Centre in Melbourne. Nick provided an update on Australian approaches to professional learning for current and aspiring school leaders. Finally, a meeting with Associate Professor Gayle Spry, Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, offered current information on developments within the personal dimensions of leadership as they relate to the Leadership Framework for Queensland catholic schools.

Prerequisites to Authentic Leadership by School Principals

Professor Paul Begley is Head of the Department of Education Policy Studies at Pennsylvania State University. After Chris Hodgkinson, Paul has been one of the foremost writers in the field of values-based educational leadership. At the 2006 Canadian conference, Paul proposed three prerequisites for authentic leadership by school principals: self-knowledge, a capacity for moral reasoning, and sensitivity to the orientations of others. He contended the achievement of these prerequisites can be best achieved in professional settings through strategies of personal reflective practice, and sustained dialogue on moral issues and the ethical dilemmas of educational practice.

Australian Approaches to Personal Development

A Framework for Leadership in Queensland Catholic Schools

In further work coordinated by Gayle Spry at Australian Catholic University, circa 2005, a framework for leadership was developed for Queensland catholic schools. One dimension was termed ‘inner leadership’. This involved development in areas including physical, cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, social, moral and spiritual development. It encouraged personal reflection, thereby “freeing ourselves of habitual mindsets and behaviours to make conscious choices and becoming integrated and autonomous people acting in accordance with values and purpose”.

Related to this dimension was an associated list of personal capabilities to assist leaders to identify areas for personal and professional development. These capabilities included developing self-knowledge; showing confidence, optimism and resilience; exemplifying honesty and integrity; and integrating work and personal life. Duignan (2007, p. 150) expands these personal capabilities to emphasis the “habits of critiquing personal motivations, beliefs, values and behaviours”. In other words, the intrapersonal examination of self is a vital ingredient in the interlinked processes of self-reflection, self-efficacy and personal identity.

Implications for New Zealand Principal Development

It is evident from these international findings that there is growing interest in determining how we might assist the personal development of school leaders. A positive first step in this process, reinforced by the findings of my doctoral research, is for principals to engage in reflection-on-self and, in particular, a self-examination of one’s personal and professional values system. This is becoming more relevant in an educational era that operates increasingly in the domains of coaching, cultural transmission and values articulation (West, Jackson, Harris & Hopkins, 2000).

This need for critical self-reflection is especially highlighted when one contrasts the acknowledged raison d'être for self-reflection with a paucity of reference to the topic among the professional school leadership standards proposed by a number of different countries. In a technical paper on leadership capabilities for principals (Queensland Department of Education and the Arts, 2006), a key theme is identified from the literature, whereby the concept of educational leadership is viewed as a purposeful values-driven ‘activity’ (p. 7). However, when one analyses the leadership frameworks for principal standards across 11 countries and Australian states (including New Zealand), only Queensland catholic schools, Hong Kong and the Scottish Standards for Headship make any mention of the process of personal development and/or the establishment of a philosophy of principalship based on one’s deeply-held convictions.

Clearly, the rhetoric still remains in advance of the reality of addressing principals’ personal needs.

References

Begley, P. T. (2006). Self-knowledge, capacity and sensitivity: Prerequisites to authentic leadership by school principals. Paper presented at Values-based Leadership Conference, Victoria, Canada, 4-8 October.

Department of Education and the Arts (2006). Leadership matters: Leadership capabilities for Education Queensland principals. Brisbane: Queensland Government/Department of Education and the Arts.

Department of Education and Training (2006). Learning to lead effective schools. Melbourne: Office of School Education, Department of Education and Training, Victoria, Australia.

Duignan, P. A. (2006). Educational leadership: Key challenges and ethical tensions. London: Cambridge University Press.

Notman, G. R. (2005). The principal as a person: A study of values in secondary school leadership. Unpublished PhD thesis, Massey University.
Sergiovanni, T. J. (2001). Leadership: What’s in it for schools? New York: Routledge Falmer.

West, M., Jackson, D., Harris, A. & Hopkins, D. (2000). Learning through leadership. Leadership through learning. In K. A. Riley & K. S. Louis (Eds), Leadership for change and school reform (pp. 31-47). London: Routledge Falme

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