Greer Johnson

Team participation in whole-school action research can assist the educational reform required for autistic students. Little is known about the experience of school community stakeholders engaged in the first stage of an implementation science process: evaluation of current practice. This study was designed to explore stakeholder experience and knowledge gained following a process of evaluation of whole-school practice related to the education of autistic students. A collective case study was employed across two Australian secondary schools, with team meetings designed to provide an opportunity for the self-evaluation process to take place and the data for the study to be generated. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the dialogue between participants during focus group discussions with each team. Findings are represented through six themes that provide insight for future practice. Both stakeholder teams reported that the evaluation process was a positive experience to engage in and resulted in a strengthening of knowledge about good practice for autistic students. Findings provide encouragement to other school teams engaging in a similar process; however, future teams may need to feel ready for this work and might benefit from the structure of a wider action-research cycle aligned to implementation science processes.

This paper presents a single-site case study to explicate some of the issues that relate to developing a genuine and successful role for Indigenous education workers (IEWs) especially those who reside in remote Australian communities. It draws attention to the lost opportunities for agency and leadership in culturally relevant literacy teaching with families, schools and community. The study employs a social justice framework to explore a theory of intended change resultant from the inclusion of IEWs in a professional learning coalition of school leaders, teachers, and Indigenous elders with university researchers throughout an 18-month project. This evidence of intended change focuses on the IEWs’ display of agency in leading families and community in the production of culturally relevant story texts to support children’s reading inside and outside school. The paper contributes to a scant body of literature highlighting the valuable work conducted by IEWs, and justifies more meaningful employment and formal leadership roles in schools and in the community. This work lays the foundation for further research involving IEWs’ leadership in producing culturally relevant criteria for measuring change in children’s literacy outcomes and change in family-community engagement in children’s reading.

Examining a decade of research and practice, this book makes the case for a radical reappraisal of leadership, learning, and their interrelationship in educational policy. Discussing whether policy direction is progressively constraining the professionalism and initiative of teachers and school leaders, it challenges conventional understanding and argues the case for thinking differently about the way to lead learning. Based on the Leadership for Learning (LfL) Project, the book clarifies, extends, and refines LfL principles and practices, and their contribution to ameliorating some of the difficult conditions encountered in the contemporary educational policy environment. It starts by discussing the direction and influence of current education policy and its subsequent consequences; chapters then move on to explore the framing values informing the LfL Projects, particularly focusing on what they imply for commitments to social justice, children’s rights and breadth in student learning, and considering how to create favourable conditions for learning. Identifying a disconnect between seminal principles and the nature of day-to-day practice, Strengthening the Connections between Leadership and Learning challenges school policy and practice at national and local levels. It is an essential read for postgraduate students, especially those studying leadership in education, as well as for teachers and policymakers in schools.

This paper reports on Australian case study research in schools where principals completed the Principals as Literacy Leaders (PALL) program. The purpose was to gather data about the effects of PALL on principalsd’ leadership and the impact of interventions in Reading on teaching, student learning, and achievement. Data gathering included interviews with principals, leadership teams and teachers (parents in some schools), a student survey and examples, and reading progress data. Findings indicated that PALL had impacted positively on principals’ leadership and provided a framework to lead their teachers in ways that improved teaching practice, student engagement and learning.

Despite group coaching being used to facilitate goal-focused change in a range of organizational contexts, there is little research evidence of its use or efficacy in continuing professional development programs for educational leaders. In the first part of this article we define coaching and consider the benefits and challenges of several forms of coaching for leadership learning. In the second part, we introduce the Professional Learning through Feedback and Reflection group coaching model and report on an international pilot of its use in a continuing professional development program for school leaders. The stimulus for group coaching with this model came from the completion of a self-assessment instrument and subsequent feedback report which provoked individual reflection on personal competencies. A protocol used within the coaching process itself provided structure for school leaders to clarify problems and issues, share perspectives and experiences, reflect and plan for change. Analysis of data from the pilot indicates that group coaching, informed by heightened awareness of personal competencies, may have the potential to assist school leaders to identify their personal strengths and challenges, better understand the dynamic and complex nature of their own organization, and inform change processes to improve learning outcomes.