Innovative Designs for
Enhancing Achievements
in Schools (IDEAS)
http://ideas.usq.edu.au/
This presentation is intended to enable
principals, teachers and school
communities to make a decision about
a commitment to engage in the IDEAS
process.
IDEAS
A developmental project of the
Leadership Research (LRI),
University of Southern Queensland
The IDEAS Vision
To inspire IDEAS schools to engage in a journey of selfdiscovery which will ensure that they achieve sustainable
excellence in teaching and learning.
What is IDEAS?
•
•
•
A process for positioning schools for the future
A process of enhancing learning outcomes by valuing
the work of teachers and their classrooms
A process that enables alignment between the work of
teachers in classrooms and the school’s strategic
purpose
What might your school gain?
• An enhanced focus on the practice of teaching
• A heightened sense of identity and purpose through
the development of a distinctive schoolwide pedagogy
• Alignment with systems initiatives, enabling the school
to articulate its uniqueness and emphasise classroom
achievements and successes
• A strengthening of the school’s professional
community
Who is involved?
• Teaching staff
• The school community – parents and students
• The broader school community
IDEAS — A Homegrown Innovation
Mid 1990
The search for links between
school-based management and improved
student outcomes
USQ/ EQ create the
Research-based
Framework
1997– 1998
The BIGWIGS pilot in the
Warwick District
USQ creates the 4D
process (now ideas)
1999
Extended trial in forty-nine
state schools throughout
Queensland
Clarification and
redevelopment of the ideas
process
2000
The Murrumba Cluster
Initiative
Refinement of Researchbased Framework and
teacher leader roles
2001
EQ/USQ memorandum of understanding
Extension of IDEAS 20012003
IDEAS expands to include schools
beyond the local context ….
• 2002/2003 Australian Government (DEST) supports
a National Trial involving 12 schools in three
Australian school jurisdictions (WA, NSW and ACT)
• 2003/2004 Development of Clusters in Toowoomba,
Cairns, Rockhampton and Brisbane coordinated by a
local state school district facilitator
• 2004/2005 Research project established with
National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore –
tracing the implementation of IDEAS in three schools
in Singapore (Marymount Convent, West Grove
Primary and Woodlands Secondary College)
IDEAS expands to include schools
beyond the local context ….
• 2005 onward:
• 4 Queensland school clusters located in Greater
Brisbane, Laidley District, North Queensland and
Toowoomba;
• 34 Schools in Victoria;
• 36 schools in Western Australia (Secondary &
Primary – state and Catholic);
• 58 schools in Sydney CEO;
• 10 schools in Toowoomba CEO;
• 15 schools in Canberra CEO; and
• A number of independent schools (Canberra,
Sydney).
IDEAS: Key Components
• An Aligned Organisation - The Research-based
Framework (RBF) for Organisational Alignment
• The ideas process
• Parallel leadership
• Three-dimensional Pedagogy (3-D.P.)
IDEAS is based on significant research
from America, Australia and Hong Kong
There are compelling research conclusions …
American Research
“The most successful schools were those that used restructuring
tools to help them function as professional communities. That is, they
found a way to channel staff and student efforts toward a clear,
commonly shared purpose for student learning; they created
opportunities for teachers to collaborate and help one another
achieve the purpose; and teachers in these schools took collective —
not just individual — responsibility for student learning. Schools with
strong professional communities were better able to offer authentic
pedagogy and were more effective in promoting student
achievement.”
Newmann and Wehlage 1995
Australian Research
Professor Peter Cuttance, University of Sydney states:
“International and Australian research has now conclusively
demonstrated that differences in the effectiveness of classroom
practice are about four times more important than differences between
schools in explaining the variation in achievement among students ...
… A large proportion (40%) of the variation in student learning
outcomes is associated with variation in the quality of teaching in
individual classrooms, compared to a small proportion (10%) that is
attributable to difference between schools …
… the remaining 50% of variation in student learning outcomes is
associated with differences between students (differences in ability,
attitudes, esteem, aspirations, disposition to work, etc).”
Successful
school revitalisation:
IDEAS way
ARC Research
of Crowther the
et al.:
Processes that Enable School Improvement
Successful School Revitalisation: The IDEAS way
Crowther & Andrews, ARC Research Report (2003)
Australian research (cont.)
“… in a study of selected Australian schools that initiated
and sustained significant improvement in student
achievement it was conclusive that parallel leadership
activates three processes that enable improvements to
occur. The processes are schoolwide learning, culture
building and a schoolwide approach to pedagogy.”
(Crowther, Hann & McMaster, 2001)
4. Cooperative Research Project —
Victoria 1998
Caldwell (1998) stated that the benefits of school
improvement relate to improved curriculum and
learning, curriculum support and initiatives, planning
and resource allocation, more focused objectives and
school purpose, professional and personal benefits.
5. Whole structure strategy — Cheng
1998
Cheng generated a whole structure strategy for
teacher effectiveness that encompassed affective,
cognitive and behavioural domains and extends
across individual, group and school levels.
There needs to be a congruence in school processes
that enables mutually supportive roles, consistency in
values and compatibility of technologies and culture.
Recent Research & Publications
• 2009 - A longitudinal study of 22 Victorian schools
tracked over 4 years (Andrews & Associates,
http://ideas.usq.edu.au/Portals/1/docs/Open%20site/Vic
_research_sept%20FINAL.pdf)
• 2011 – From School Improvement to Sustained Capacity
– Crowther & Associates (Corwin Press)
CAPACITY BUILDING &
SUSTAINABILITY
There is no chance that large-scale
reform will happen, let alone stick, unless
capacity building is a central component
of the strategy (Fullan, 2005)
School Success • in agreed priority areas,
• is based on documented
• evidence, and
• teacher’s confidence in their
school’s capacity to sustain its
achievements into the future.
Our Research –
Dynamics of CapacityBuilding =
COSMIC C-B MODEL
Explaining “success” in Victoria’s
IDEAS Project schools, 2004-2008 –
A QUICK ANSWER
------------------------------
----------------__________
Heightened
professional
trust and
schoolwide
responsibility
___________
___________
Enhanced
pedagogical
practice
Improved
student
engagement
and learning
Cosmic Model- HOW
to achieve and sustain
improvement in the face of
changing:
•times
•circumstances
•external priorities
•People – teachers, Principal
Capacities ……
• Social Capital – parallel leadership; professional
relationships (trust, respect, shared responsibility);
student well-being (engagement, pride).
• Intellectual Capital – student achievement; school
vision & values; Schoolwide pedagogy (SWP);
improvement processes.
• Organisational Capital – shared input into
planning processes; resourcing linked to SWP;
internal and external linkages.
Key component: The Research-based Framework for
Organisational Alignment
This research-based
framework is
grounded in extensive
research in schools.
All these elements
need to align for
significant success to
occur.
Holistic Professional
learning
How tuneful is your school?
Flat?
Discordant?
Melodious?
Lullaby?
Stirring?
Virtuoso?
HOLISTIC
STRATEGIC
FOUNDATIONS
COHESIVE
COMMUNITY
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
1.
Is the school vision
clear?
1.
Is the community
supportive?
2.
Is leadership
distributed
2.
Do staff assume
collective responsibility?
SCHOOL
OUTCOMES
HOLISTIC
1.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
2.
GENERATIVE
RESOURCE
DESIGN
Is the use of space, time and
technology reflective of the
school vision?
What have students
achieved?
What new knowledge
has the staff
created?
HOLISTIC
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
HOLISTIC
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
SCHOOLWIDE
PEDAGOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT AND
DEEPENING
Do teachers have a
shared understanding of
successful pedagogy?
A Research-based Framework for Organisational Alignment (LRI IDEAS Team, March 2010)
Alignment …..
An organisation is like a tune: it is not constituted by
individual sounds but by the relations between them.
(Drucker, 1946, p.26)
The Principle of Alignment in the
Research-based Framework
“This principle asserts that schools that have generated
both depth and integration across the elements of the
organisation [Research-based Framework] have been
found to produce enhanced sense of identity and greater
capacity to pursue high expectations for student
achievement”.
(Crowther et al. 2001)
Using the Framework — comments
from schools
• An IDEAS school establishes its own benchmarks for
the RBF elements and future outcomes.
• Schools working with IDEAS have used the RBF for
strategic planning.
• The Framework is an interesting concept. The more
you use it the more layers you uncover to help explain
and understand the complexities of school life.
• Teachers readily interact with the dimensions of the
Framework. It is highly discussible.
Diagnostic Inventory of School
Alignment
Diagnostic Analysis Tool – a survey
designed to report on your school’s
tunefulness – refer to DISA –
http://www.acelleadership.org.au/diagnost
ic-inventory-school-alignment-disa
Key component: The ideas process
The five phases of the ideas process
initiating:
How will we manage the process?
Who will facilitate the process?
Who will record our history of the
journey?
discovering: What are we doing that is most
successful?
What is not working as well as we would
like it to?
envisioning: What do we hope our school will look like
in the future?
What is our conceptualisation of
schoolwide pedagogy?
actioning:
How will we create a tripartite action plan?
How will we work towards the alignment
of key school elements and processes?
sustaining: What progress have we made towards
schoolwide pedagogy?
What school practices are succeeding
and how can we expand them?
The ideas process:
• recognises the equivalence of teacher leadership and principal
leadership in achieving school success;
• acknowledges that school improvement can only occur if two
concurrent and inter-related processes are in place — strategic
planning and a process to create school wide professional
learning;
• requires the management of the process by a representative
school team;
• provides for school-based facilitation with USQ/DETA support;
• requires schools to manage their own resources e.g. time; and
• encourages schools to operate in a ‘no blame’ culture.
IDEAS Principles of Practice
Principle 1: Teachers are the key
Principle 2: Professional Learning is key to
professional revitalisation
Principle 3: Success breeds success
Principle 4: No Blame
Principle 5: Alignment of school processes is a
collective school responsibility
IDEAS Principles of Practice
Principle 1:
Teachers are the key
Principle 2:
Professional learning is key to
professional revitalisation
Principle 3:
Success breeds success
Principle 4:
No Blame
Principle 5:
Alignment of school processes is
a collective school responsibility
Key component: parallel leadership:
recognises the capability of teachers as
leaders and emphasises principals’ strategic
roles and responsibilities
It is based in four qualities:
• mutual trust and mutual respect;
• shared sense of purpose; and
• allowance for individual expression.
• appreciation for the importance of creating school
successes in the context of systemic goals and
priorities.
“Our research is conclusive that shared responsibility for
school outcomes, involving teachers and principals in
mutualistic leadership relationships, is a vital key to
successful school improvement.”
Frank Crowther 2001
“Parallel leadership is the central concept – the principal
can step outside the safety zone and teachers learn
leadership skills that enable them to influence others.”
Lesley Bath, Teacher Leader, Walkervale State School
A Diagrammatic Representation of Principal and Teacher Leader Influences
in Capacity-Building
Legend: Degree of influence
Greatest
Least
Crowther & Associates, 2011
IDEAS Teacher leaders reflect ...
“Teacher leadership underpinned the successful
development of our schoolwide pedagogy. My role has
been to provide expertise, to enthuse and to work with
teaching teams to integrate our vision and schoolwide
pedagogy into the core business of teaching and learning
at our school”
Leasa Smith, Currimundi State School
“The ideas process has given the teachers the
opportunity to have valued input into the future direction
of the school.”
Deborah Boesten, Beerwah State High School.
The role of the principal in enabling
parallel leadership
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Communicates a clear strategic intent
Incorporates the aspirations and views of others
Poses difficult-to-answer questions
Makes space for individual innovation
Knows when to step back
Creates opportunities from perceived difficulties
Builds upon achievements to create a culture of
success
Crowther, Kaagan, Hann & Ferguson (2002)
Principals reflect on parallel leadership …
“I had to be prepared to ‘live and breathe’ the vision and
values that were emerging in the staff development. I had
to demonstrate trust by nurturing the good work of the
IDEAS process.
I had to step back and let others take the lead. For
example, the middle school teachers were given the
responsibility for building the curriculum in a shared
situation... they were given the responsibility and
developed parallel leadership.”
(Principal, Beerwah SHS, 2003)
Principals reflect on parallel leadership…
“I saw IDEAS would provide opportunities for staff to
engage in a process of school improvement. I was able
to step back and let others take the lead but I also
needed to open up dialogue about our preferred future.
Also as circumstances changed I was able to
reorganise resourcing to bring in new staff and provide
time and space for the sharing to happen.”
Principal , Currimundi State School.
Key roles in the process
• School based facilitators
• School IDEAS Management Team (ISMT)
• Cluster Coordinator (systems level staff)
• IDEAS Core Team – USQ Staff
Note: Cluster coordinators are not always in place
Optimal school achievement occurs when:
• teachers and administration team share leadership
responsibilities;
• the school’s vision is clearly focused on shared,
concrete aspirations;
• school development emphasises the creation of
schoolwide pedagogy and the alignment of vision and
schoolwide pedagogy; and
• systemic services are available when required to
support school priorities.
IDEAS School Management Team
•
•
Composition: Preferably a voluntary representative group including
the facilitator, a scribe and other stakeholders including classroom
teachers, administration, middle management and parents.
This group provides:
• Representation (represents the community in the process);
• Communication (documents the process, prepares and
publishes the reports, provides information and readings);
• Planning (facilitates workshops and develops an action plan
for the process);
• Networking (with other schools and districts);
• Advocacy (on behalf of teachers and students); and
• Development (of teacher leaders).
School-based facilitator(s) reflect on
their role
“My role has been to inform the staff on the process and
steer the process … to keep the momentum going. My
greatest challenge was to engage the staff in the process.”
“Not everyone got involved. A critical mass of us have
created new images and symbols that have changed how
we think of ourselves. The ISMT became a sorting
strategy before staff meetings. Staff meetings have
become forums for sharing successes.”
A Cluster Coordinator comments..
“As a cluster coordinator I have observed members of
the cluster develop a growing realisation that together
they can learn from sharing experiences in working with
IDEAS.
In cluster meetings and informally, the IDEAS schoolbased management team members have shared their
successes, their frustrations and their challenges and in
so doing they have inspired each other!”
Schools Cluster Coordinator
A principal reflects …
“The IDEAS Project reinforced for me the need to promote a culture
of teacher leadership in order to achieve real long-term reform where
it matters — that is, in the classroom. To achieve improved student
learning outcomes, teachers need to be engaged in professional
dialogue about their teaching. The role of facilitator is key and that
person needs to be enthusiastic, influential and assertive.
The role of the principal is to nurture an environment where teachers
are encouraged and feel safe about sharing what works and what
does not work and to provide ongoing support for the facilitator.”
Principal, State High School
A principal reflects:
“The IDEAS research-based framework provided a scaffold for
reflection on the elements which are critical to establishing
world’s best practice in schools. When combined with the
comprehensive data provided by the Diagnostic Inventory and the
ideas process we were able to conduct meaningful dialogue
within the school community about school cohesiveness, school
community, classroom pedagogy and school policies, practices
and procedures.
The process has enabled our school to embark on a most
exciting school visioning experience. We now provide exciting
and challenging curriculum experiences which are reflective of
our school vision “Riding the Waves to Success” and are
understood and owned by our school community. The IDEAS
project has enabled our school to indeed “Ride the Waves to
Success.”
Primary School Principal
The IDEAS Support Team:
• perceives successes are the impetus for school
improvement;
• views leadership as a shared responsibility
(parallelism) and it is a creative process; and
• recognises a unique professional relationship
between educators who work in schools and in
universities – where the IDEAS support team work
with schools to assist the school community to
establish a desired future.
The role of the IDEAS Support Team
• To engage school communities through processes of
analysis and reflection, decision and action at key
junctures in the process, namely:
• Establishment;
• Interpretation of diagnostic inventories;
• Conceptualisation of schoolwide pedagogy; and
• Implementation design.
• To cultivate ownership of the process by the school staff.
The IDEAS Core Team as a resource:
• Expert advice — in the interpretation of
diagnostic inventories, creation of schoolwide
pedagogy and development of action plans;
on-site meetings with IDEAS School
Management Teams (ISMT), school staff,
community.
• Training of facilitators — orientation seminars,
cluster workshops.
• Resourcing — facilitation folder, research
articles, online advice.
Criteria for nomination for IDEAS
• Time commitment of 4 semesters (2 years)
• School acceptance of responsibility for its own
revitalisation with external support and facilitation
• Acceptance of the principle of parallel leadership and
principles of practice
• Time allowance for facilitation and IDEAS School
Management Team activities
• Budget allocations
Note: school’s are encouraged to complete a time audit –
and provide meeting times by “saving time”
The USQ IDEAS Core Team
Researchers, Authors and Consultants:
IDEAS National Director - Dorothy Andrews
IDEAS Strategic Advisor - Frank Crowther
IDEAS Specialists - Mark Dawson, Joan Conway
Support Team:
Allan Morgan, Shauna Petersen, Lindy Abawi, Marian
Lewis
The IDEAS Core Team
Back row from left: Associate Professor Dorothy Andrews, Emeritus Professor Frank
Crowther, Shauna Petersen, Dr Mark Dawson, Dr Allan Morgan, Lindy Abawi
Front row from left: Dr Marian Lewis, Dr Joan Conway
For further information, please contact:
Assoc. Prof. Dorothy Andrews
Director - Leadership Research (LRI) and
National Director of IDEAS
University of Southern Queensland
Phone: (07) 4631 2346
Email: [email protected]
Marlene Barron
Project Administrator
University of Southern Queensland
Phone: (07) 4631 2343
Email: [email protected]
Acknowledgements
This PowerPoint presentation was initially prepared by
Dr Dorothy Andrews, University of Southern Queensland
Leadership Research Institute IDEAS Team, October,
2005 and updated May, 2011.
Many thanks for contributions from members of the LRI
and critical comments from IDEAS Facilitators and
IDEAS Support Team Members