How leaders influence organisational outcomes
Effective school leaders have a strong sense of moral purpose and social justice. Their impact on students is largely indirect and is relatively small compared to other factors. However, what leaders do and say, and how they demonstrate leadership, does affect pupil learning outcomes; it is largely through the actions of others, most obviously teachers, that the effects of school leadership are mediated. School leadership influences student outcomes more than any other factors, bar socio-economic background and quality of teaching. There is little doubt that the research evidence reinforces the point that leadership matters. Furthermore, it is suggested that leadership for learning or learning centred leadership matters most. It is to this model of leadership that we first turn.
Leadership for learning
What’s in a name?
What used to be referred to as instructional or pedagogic leadership has developed into leadership for learning or learning centred leadership. Hallinger (2012) notes how instructional leadership has been reincarnated as a global phenomenon in the form of ‘leadership for learning’. Timperley (2011:145) states that leadership that is focused on promoting effective teaching and learning has had a number of terms: ‘as with any idea that gains currency in education, the labels for this kind of leadership abound and have usually taken an adjectival form of instructional, pedagogical, or learning-centred leadership. Alternatively it is expressed as leadership of or for something, such as leadership for learning’. Learning-directed learning is another term used.
Timperley goes on to say that Murphy et al., (2007) summed up the essence of the ideas expressed in these multiple labels when they said ‘the touchstones for this type of leadership include the ability of leaders:
- to stay consistently focused on the right stuff—the core technology of schools, or learning, teaching, curriculum and assessment, and
- to make all the other dimensions of schooling (e.g. administration, organization, finance) work in the service of a more robust core technology and improved student learning’. (2007, cited in Timperley, 2011:146)
In broad terms, whatever its label, it is an approach to leadership ‘whereby the leader helps foster a learning climate free of disruption, a system of clear teaching objectives, and high teacher expectations for students. Elements include principal leadership, clear mission, teaching expectations, and opportunities to learn’ (Osborne-Lampkin et al., 2015:2).
Focus on learning outcomes