Session Information
26 SES 04 A, Resourceful Settings for Leading and Learning
Symposium
Contribution
In public schools in German-speaking regions in Switzerland the role of principal has only existed for over the last 10-15 years (Windlinger and Hostettler 2014). Therefore, in the last 10 years the first generations of new leaders have increasingly established their own professional understanding of their new position (Stemmer Obrist 2014). The first phase of professionalization concentrated on principals finding their positions as leaders within the organization. The introduction of this new layer in the school system caused new hierarchy structures which the school leaders had to fill in this new position. This development brought two different phenomena to light: on the one hand a delineation process (leader – teacher) and on the other hand a new professional relationship between teachers and leaders (Huber, Wolfram, and Kilic 2013). Meanwhile most of the schools have had 10 or more years of experience with these developing processes. In the current (second) phase of the implementation of this policy, the roles of the principals are changing. Their new focus concentrates more on a joint development of the school with a view to distributed leadership (Spillane and Coldren 2011) and 'Leadership for Learning’ (MacBeath and Cheng 2008). Subsequently, the principals had been pioneers first and now, 10 years later, they are principals with experiences but also required to take on new responsibilities. As a result of such changes it was felt that new principals could benefit from them led to a professional development initiative Consequently, two years ago, the Zurich University of Teacher Education, along with the Principals Union of Zurich and the Education Department of the Canton of Zurich, launched a mentoring program for new principals (Apafi 2014). In the further development of the program questions were raised how a well-balanced relationship between scientific and practical knowledge could be raised, and moreover, how to link the knowledge of advanced school leaders with newly appointed ones without reproducing old patterns of leadership. The paper presents both, reflections on the initial phase of the program and results from a first evaluation (Anderegg and von Arx 2017). The study yielded interesting findings related to challenges for principals in their first years. A model of different which answers different needs and actions in the field of tension between proven and contemporary ways of leading a school was developed, which will be discussed in the paper.
References
Anderegg, N. & von Arx, P. (2017). Evaluation Mentoringprogramm für Schulleitende im Kanton Zürich. Zürich: Pädaogigsche Hochschule Zürich / Volksschulamt Kanton Zürich. Apafi, P. (2014). Mentoring als Instrument zur Gewinnung von Führungskräften an der Zürcher Volksschule. Zürich: Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich. Masterarbeit MAS Bildungsmanagement; Betreut von Cornelia Knoch. Huber, S.G., Wolfram, C. & Kilic. S. (2013). "Vorlieben und Belastungen im Schulleitungshandeln: Ausgewählte Ergebnisse aus der Schulleitungsstudie 2011/2012 in Deutschland, Österreich, Liechtenstein und der Schweiz." In Jahrbuch Schulleitung 2013, edited by Stephan G. Huber, 259-271. Köln: Carl Link. MacBeath, J. & Cheng, Y (2008). Leadership for Learning. International Perspectives. Rotterdam / Taipai: Sense Publishers. Spillane, J. P. & Coldren, A. F (2011). Diagnosis and Design for School Improvment. Using a Distributed Perspective to Lead and Manage Change. New York & London: Teachers College, Columbia University. Stemmer Obrist, G. (2014). Schule führen. Wie Schulleiterinnen und Schulleiter erfolgreich sein und woran sie scheitern können. Bern: Haupt. Windlinger, R. & Hostettler, U. (2014). Schulleitungshandeln im Kontext. Zum Stand der geleiteten Schulen im Kanton Bern aus der Perspektive der Schulleitenden, der Lehrpersonen und der Kollegien. Edited by Heinz Rhyn and Evelyn Wannack, Beiträge für die Praxis. Bern: hep Verlag. Forschungsbericht.
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