Outstanding leadership in primary education: Perceptions of school leaders in English primary schools

Dhillon, Jaswinder; Howard, Colin; Holt, Jayne

doi:10.1177/0892020619885942

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Empirical studies [11,12], have sought to understand characteristics of successful, effective and outstanding leadership in schools but as yet little work has been undertaken to examine the impact of times of crisis or turbulence on these characteristics. Research into how school leaders are responding to this pandemic is however evolving [3,5,9,13], as educational researchers seek to investigate the impact of a period of crisis on schools and school leadership.…”

Section: The Context For Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research into how school leaders are responding to this pandemic is however evolving [3,5,9,13], as educational researchers seek to investigate the impact of a period of crisis on schools and school leadership. This article builds on our previous study of characteristics of outstanding leadership in primary education [12] to investigate how primary school leaders now perceive and identify with such characteristics in the light of this ongoing turbulence.…”

Section: The Context For Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The research reported here draws on a wider study [12], in which we used Qmethodology to develop and validate a set of characteristics of outstanding leadership. Q-methodology has not been widely applied to the study of educational leadership and like other methods of research has its critics and proponents [14].…”

Section: Context Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Outstanding Primary Leadership in Times of Turbulence

Howard

Dhillon

2021

Education Sciences

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Leadership and management in schools have sought to produce high quality education for all pupils. To inform and support school leaders’ educationalists have developed theories and undertaken research studies identifying the relationships, contexts and characteristics that enable effective leadership. However, recent times of turbulence in primary schools have had an inevitable impact upon the key drivers for successful leadership and management. This study builds upon our previous research into outstanding leadership in primary education to examine the impact that such change has had upon the leadership of serving head teachers. It utilises an adapted Q-sort methodology to identify the views of serving head teachers to gain insights into the impact that such change has had upon their leadership. Overall, the analysis identified a need for aspirational characteristics of leadership, underpinned by personal values to guide schools in such times, as they strive to produce high quality education.

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Section: The Context For Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Context For Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Outstanding Primary Leadership in Times of Turbulence

Howard

Dhillon

2021

Education Sciences

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“…In the following sections of this article, we focus on the content and use of the Q-sort as a tool for personal and professional learning and team development. More detailed discussion of the methodology and emerging research findings from factor analysis of the data using PQ Method software is available in Dhillon (2018) and Dhillon et al (2020).…”

Section: Q-methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By promoting reflection on a leader's ideal self it can allow them an opportunity to think about how they might improve leadership practice within what are inevitable constraints of context in which schools/organisations work. It can provide a means to explore those oftenneglected characteristics of outstanding leadership (Dhillon et al 2020) such as passion for providing world class education, developing entrepreneurial and innovative approaches and engaging the local community in a shared vison of education. Such items being often subsumed by day to day aspects of leadership such as leading by example, bringing out the best in people and taking decisive action to address poor performance.…”

Section: Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Q-sort as a tool for promoting outstanding leadership

Howard

Dhillon

2021

PRACTICE

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The need for outstanding leadership in education and professional practice has been brought into sharper focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises, such as this global pandemic, often place additional burdens on leaders and other professionals who are seeking to achieve high-quality education for all pupils. We offer a tool for leaders and managers to use with their teams to develop outstanding leadership in their organisations. The tool, a Q-sort on characteristics of outstanding leadership, has been developed using Q-methodology with leadership teams working in primary, secondary and post-compulsory education. This article outlines strategies for using the Q-sort to promote discussion and reflection in relation to participants' own experiences of leadership, management and governance in different contexts. Our participants found that discussion around the characteristics of outstanding leadership was a non-threatening process for developing their own leadership practice and guiding them in future actions.

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Newly qualified teachers in the eyes of principals: Moving beyond deficit perspectives

Lundberg,

Collberg,

Lindh

2024

Soc Psychol Educ

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Feelings of shock, a difficult professional socialization process and unrealistic expectations create a challenging career entry phase for teachers. Too many newly qualified teachers feel stressed and leave the profession early, leading to a lingering teacher shortage. Much research in the field and many well-meant support interventions follow a deficit perspective and overlook newly qualified teachers’ potential for school development. This study aimed to better understand how school principals, a crucial but comparatively under-researched stakeholder group, characterize newly qualified teachers’ competences. Q methodology was selected to holistically study the views of 24 principals of compulsory schools in Southern Sweden without imposing any potentially deficit-oriented categories. Following standard protocol and enriched with interviews, four distinct factors were identified and qualitatively interpreted. Results show that newly qualified teachers are perceived as confident and well-prepared concerning pedagogical and didactical aspects of their profession. Regarding the use of digital tools, they are regarded as assets for school development, while diversity management and relationship-building emerged as areas of improvement. Based on our findings, we argue for more practical elements during campus-based pre-service teacher education and an intensified focus on reflective teacher identity development. Teachers’ career entry phase should be treated as a specific area of in-service teachers’ professional development at teacher education institutions, where a strengthened cooperation with employing schools will be particularly important. We expect these adaptations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of support matters and provide future avenues that acknowledge newly qualified teachers’ expertise.

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Outstanding leadership in primary education: Perceptions of school leaders in English primary schools

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

Outstanding Primary Leadership in Times of Turbulence

Outstanding Primary Leadership in Times of Turbulence

Q-sort as a tool for promoting outstanding leadership

Newly qualified teachers in the eyes of principals: Moving beyond deficit perspectives

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