Session Information
26 SES 01 A, Valuing the Context: External Consultancy as a Resource for School Leaders and Schools in Challenging Situations
Symposium
Contribution
Topic
Schools identified as being in 'challenging circumstances' face multiple and often interwoven challenges. This means, for example, that low levels of student achievement are not due to one factor alone, but are the result of the interaction of, for example, external contextual conditions and internal processes (Bremm, Klein & Racherbäumer, 2016). In line with the conference theme (‘The Value of Diversity’), it is particularly important to provide schools with support that is appropriate to their needs (Ainscow & Southworth, 1996).
Since the late 1960s, school effectiveness studies have investigated how schools succeed in influencing student learning (e.g. Scheerens, 2000). They have identified several characteristics of effective schools, such as high-quality teaching and school leaders who are responsible for creating a positive learning culture (Leithwood, Harris & Strauss, 2010). Especially for schools serving disadvantaged children, leadership styles that help teachers to feel responsible for their student success and reduce deficit thinking play an important role (Klein & Bremm, 2019). However, despite being aware of these characteristics, schools often fail to take action. To address this issue, educational policy initiatives in many countries have provided schools with external support, usually in the form of school improvement consulting (Meyers & Murphy, 2007, Dean et al., 2021).
Objectives
Examples from three European countries will be analysed, where school leaders have experienced the support of consultants. In particular, different interventions will be described and compared, and the consultancy approaches discussed.
The symposium will address the following questions:
- What are the similarities and differences between the programmes for external advisory support?
- At which level do the interventions operate?
- What was the impact?
Theoretical framework
As a theoretical framework, the organisational capacity model (Marks, Louis & Printy, 2000) proved to be empirically useful. The approach identifies different capacities, such as a participatory organisational structure, collaborative approaches, knowledge and skills of school actors, that schools need to have in order to develop. A central capacity in the model is attributed to school leadership. This model serves as a reference to reflect the different approaches and areas of improvement addressed by the consultants.
Methodology and methods
The research teams used a variety of methods to explore the research questions. The contribution from Austria analyses interviews with school principals (n=26) and discusses the perspective of the principals. The contribution from Germany uses a mixed method approach, where findings from a quantitative survey of school leaders are triangulated with data from qualitative interviews with school improvement consultants. The contribution from England focuses on the perspective of consultants within a national improvement strategy (Ainscow, 2020). These were collected through observations and informal focus group discussions.
By taking the perspectives of different stakeholders in the context of school improvement consultancy, the symposium will give the opportunity to critically reflect the on dynamics of counselling in education and the assumed vs. the actual need for support in this context.
Conclusions, expected outcomes
Preliminary findings indicate that the programmes differ in their approach to school support in terms of whether school leaders participated voluntarily or were required to do so. This had an impact on the acceptance of the measures proposed. It was also observed that the issues addressed by the consultants were both at the individual level (i.e. the actions of the school leaders) and at the organisational level (analysis and change of processes at the school level). However, initial data using the capacity model shows that the consulting addresses often only selected areas. In all settings, it became clear that without the commitment of school leaders, transformation processes could not be initiated in schools. The implications of these findings will be discussed.
References
Ainscow, M. (2020) Promoting equity in education through system change: lessons from the United Kingdom. In C. McLaughlin and A. Ruby (Eds.) Implementing Educational Reform: cases and challenges. Cambridge University Press Bremm, N., Klein, E. D., & Racherbäumer, K. (2016). Schulen in „schwieriger “Lage?! Begriffe, Forschungsbefunde und Perspektiven. DDS–Die Deutsche Schule, 108(4), 323-339. Dean, I., Beckmann, L., Racherbäumer, K., & Bremm, N. (2021). Obligatory coaching in the context of the model project “Talent Schools”: a means for educational equity and improvement of achievement outcomes?. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 10(4), 466-485. Elmore, R.F. (2004): School Reform From the Inside Out. Policy, Practice, and Performance. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press. Klein, E.D. & Bremm, N. (2019). ‚It's almost as if I treat the teachers as I want them to treat the students’. Caring als Facette von Führung an Schulen in sozial deprivierter Lage. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 9/1, 89-108. Marks, H.M., Louis, K.S. & Printy, S.M. (2000): Th e Capacity for Organizational Learning: Implications for Pedagogical Quality and Student Achievement. In: Leithwood, K. (Hrsg.): Understanding Schools as Intelligent Systems. Stamford, CT: JAI Press, S. 239-265. Murphy, J./Meyers, C.V. (2008): Turning Around Failing Schools. Leadership Lessons From the Organizational Sciences. Th ousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Scheerens, J. (2000): Improving School Eff ectiveness. Paris: Unesco Internat. Inst. For Educational Planning.
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