The Big Issue

Education Changes bring new challenges for teachers

by Deputy Headteacher Carol Bentley, Rhema Group specialist adviser on Teacher Development

It appears to be nationally recognised that for schools to undertake the challenge of Government-led reform, to embrace curriculum development and engage in cross sector and multi agency approaches, the nature of school leadership needs rethinking.

The recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers commissioned report acknowledges that the social and policy landscape has changed completely and that the traditional definition of Headteacher fails to encapsulate the role demanded by a 21st century school leader.

I have worked for six years in senior management in a large secondary school and my own experience tells me that PWC have got it right when they assert that change, diversity and complexity are an inevitable feature of the current and the future environment.

So, how are school leaders preparing and being prepared for the tasks that face them? The National College of School Leadership (NCSL) reports consistent improvement in school leadership since the mid 90s. The work of the college itself and the development of NPQH - National Professional Qualification for Headship - have surely contributed to this. Yet transformation from the remote authoritarian Head to a contemporary model of leadership has not been fully realised. Delivering at leadership level demands more than charisma and a high IQ.

In my experience of NPQH, ‘leadership’ training fell short of what was needed back in school. Many colleagues know they are required to lead and manage change at a sophisticated level yet admit this is a challenge for which they are poorly prepared. If IQ is rapidly being replaced by EQ as an arbiter of successful leadership then Headteachers, perhaps principally new and aspiring Headteachers, need to acquire a range of ‘soft skills’ alongside change management strategies if they are going successfully to implement the government’s blueprint for schools.

Faced with teaching and learning responsibility (TLR), restructuring, and the wealth of change accompanying curriculum reform last academic year, my school turned to our governing body for advice. We were offered a connection to Rhema Group. Jeremy Francis quickly responded with a Managing Change workshop for the school leadership team and other significant staff. The benefits of the workshop, both in supporting our efforts to tackle the development agenda in our own school and in terms of the professional development of all who attended, were immediately clear.

Excited by the potential of collaboration, I contacted Jeremy within days of the workshop. I was convinced that the education sector should take advantage of leadership and management training from experts such as Rhema.

The principles and skills offered have since been applied to a range of developments in our school. The planning for rapid transformation from a horizontal to a vertical welfare and guidance structure is currently being worked through following Rhema strategy.

In the last two months we have been developing training programmes with a focus on the three key areas defined by Rhema: confronting and planning to deliver the changes required as a school leader, a group of schools or Local Authority; identifying and acquiring the skills required as a leader and manager of change; and those required to empower others to deliver change at their level within an institution.

We’ve recognised that transformational change demands a deepened awareness of leadership, acute management skills and real insight into the human interaction within an organisation. With the professional approach advised by Rhema, our training programmes will impart this.