A theory of action account of an across-school collaboration policy in practice

Journal of Educational Change - Educational systems worldwide promote the use of collaborative networks to foster teacher learning and improve practice in the pursuit of educational change to...     

Novice principals setting goals for school improvement in New Zealand

While principal goal-setting has been shown to be an important leadership practice, there is little research examining principals’ goal-setting and goal-achievement. This research examined novice principals’ school improvement goals and factors affecting their achievement. Goals from 460 principals enrolled in a national induction programme were categorised revealing a strong emphasis on instructional and student-centred leadership. After 18 months, 258 of those principals, and their mentors, rated their achievement. Principals also rated five potential achievement predictors. Goal achievement tended to be high, with commitment, effort, learning and support serving as positive predictors of success. In contrast to what goal-setting theory suggests, goal challenge was a negative predictor of achievement. The analysis of two contrasting cases revealed possible explanations for this negative relationship. These included novice principals’ ability, self-efficacy and attributional processes. This study highlights the role of self-efficacy in the process of goal-setting and pursuit. It emphasises that consideration needs to be given to how novice principals’ self-efficacy can be developed and sustained. Implications for practice in the area of educational leadership and leadership development are discussed.     

Learning for and realising curriculum aspirations through schools as learning organisations

How can schools as learning organisations support the realisation of a new curriculum's aspirations? This article describes four common and interrelated challenges—depth, spread, reach, and pace—associated with enacting a new curriculum. It then argues that curriculum capital represented by schools and practitioners that address these challenges and meet associated learning demands—commitment, knowledge, understanding and capability—is essential to ensure that curriculum aspirations are realised. We propose that schools that are learning organisations create the kinds of conditions necessary for responding to the challenges and learning demands. In such schools the considerable individual, collaborative and collective learning needed at many levels is recognised. We highlight how each of the four challenges might be addressed by seven dimensions and four transversals of schools as learning organisations, while recognising that task will be more feasible in systems that are also learning and providing supportive conditions.