New South Wales Department of Education and Training

Leadership Fellowship 2005–2006 Report

Leadership strategies which have encouraged the integration of technology across the curriculum in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Lynne Goodwin

Principal

Arthur Phillip High School

New South Wales, Australia Published 2008


Leadership Fellowship 2006–2007 Report

Leadership strategies which have encouraged the integration of technology across the curriculum in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Contents

Page
Executive Summary / 3
1. Overview of the research study / 4
2. Background information / 4
2.1 A context for technology for the future in school settings / 4
3. Research methodology / 5
4. Key research questions / 5
5.  Research Findings
5.1 Research findings about technology
5.2 The research findings from school visits / 7
7
9
6. Implications of the findings for NSW / 11
7. Recommendations / 13
Appendix – List of the schools visited / 14


Executive Summary

This research explores the implications for leadership in developing 21st century digital schools.

While the study looks at different education systems where contexts are shaped by political and economic factors, it is clear that there is a global imperative to address this digital revolution. It has been easier to date to identify network needs and solve them, to order computers and software, a revolution is occurring with young people around the world in social networking, user created content and widespread communities. This has the potential for educational leaders to harness the creative talents of the digital generation and inspire an exciting learning revolution.

Leadership strategies will be the key to the success of the digital revolution. The Principal will need to lead, inspire and manage this significant change in teaching and learning.

The findings of this study reinforce the importance of the attributes to be found in the Educational Domain of the New South Wales (NSW) School Leadership Capability Framework. School leaders need to be informed by technology and use their knowledge of pedagogy to ensure quality teaching is at the forefront of the digital revolution. Similarly the attributes identified in the inter-personal domain of the NSW School Leadership Capability Framework are essential. These point out that the attributes of effective communication; the development of productive relationships and the ability to inspire and motivate others are essential ingredients in successful leadership.

1. Overview of the Research Study

This research was undertaken by Lynne Goodwin, Principal, Arthur Phillip High School,

NSW, Australia, as a recipient of a Leadership Fellowship 2006–2007 awarded by the NSW Minister for Education and Training.

The research had two focus areas:

·  Research into technology for the future (conference in Vienna, discussions with Ministry in Singapore) and implications for school systems and for school leadership (in terms of improving teaching and learning).

·  Research in a range of secondary schools (Scotland and specialist schools in England) to examine the nature of technology integration.

The initial aim of the research was to investigate the nature of the leadership strategies that have encouraged the growth of technology in the high schools visited. As the research progressed, however, there were other factors identified which helped to account for the success of some of these schools. In general, the explicit links with teaching and learning in the United Kingdom specialist schools and academies and the articulation of standards (and how to achieve them) became an additional focus for the study.

2. Background Information

2.1 A context for ‘technology for the future’ in school settings

NSW has introduced several successful technology strategies over the past decade including Technology for Learning, the roll out of computers for schools, and connected classrooms, an interactive whiteboard strategy. There is now a more standardised technology infrastructure across most schools. As students increasingly engage with their digital world, the challenge is to examine how school leaders might harness this fast growing ‘digital revolution’ to maximise student engagement in learning in secondary schools.

Initial strategies for technology implementation

The pattern of technology introduction in large educational sectors has been to set up streamlined centralised data analysis/learning management systems. Success has been measured in terms of the ratios of computers and network/bandwidth/hardware considerations. Management of this phase has been dominated by Information Technology/network engineers and schools have operated within this framework, in most cases providing their own model(s) of professional development for staff.

While these considerations may have been essential in the beginning of system implementation, there seems to now be a trend to focus on the nature of teaching and learning and the ways technology can enhance educational outcomes. While political imperatives often drive systems to measure value and outcomes achieved, some systems (notably Singapore) are moving to let the technology happen and to not try to pin student achievement and outcomes to dollars spent on computers and networks. The Singapore Ministry, for example, is working on a 15 year implementation strategy with the goal of creating a creative learning environment for students through the use of a range of technologies.

3. Research methodology

The research study involved attendance at an international technology conference in Vienna followed by research into the nature and operation of United Kingdom schools (in particular focusing on the Secondary Schools and Academies Trust in England). There were also visits to schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Finally the visit to Singapore incorporated a focus on the role of the Ministry in shaping technology implementation for the future and school visits to best practice schools.

Interviews were undertaken in October and November 2007. The findings in the report were compiled from conference keynotes, structured interviews and discussions involving:

National Specialism Coordinators – 2

Headteachers – 10

Deputy Headteachers – 8

School Technology Coordinators – 8

Faculty Heads – 8

Teachers

Ministry Directors and staff/consultants – 6

Students in classrooms.


4. Key research questions

1.  How does the leadership role of the principal impact on the way technology integration occurs in a secondary school setting? (With reference to the strategic, organisational and pedagogical domains of the NSW School Leadership Capability Framework).

2.  What professional learning strategies provide the best outcomes for teaching and learning outcomes in the area of technology?

The key questions used in the school research, were structured around the NSW School Leadership Capability Framework.

FOCUS QUESTIONS / PROBING QUESTIONS
How do schools operate within the education system and the nature of system policies which impact on schools in relation to technology and learning? / The nature of:
Internet provision
Hardware/software – extent of flexibility
Policies on technology integration across the secondary curriculum.
Role of Ministry/central govt agencies
Specialist Schools Trust – how it fits into the public education agenda? Where does funding come from?
Impact of national testing.
How does the leadership role of the principal impact on the way technology integration occurs in a secondary school setting?
Strategic domain – leading the school community to develop, articulate and commit to a shared vision focused on quality teaching and learning. Fostering an innovative futures-focused culture based on a commitment to continuous improvement. Developing systems and processes to encourage and support others towards forward thinking, innovation and responsive, flexible solutions. / School context? Specialist school focus?
Funding issues? Community issues?
Links to private enterprise?
Motivation? Is it part of the Ofsted review process in the United Kingdom?
Does technology integration mean students are more actively engaged in learning and therefore are able to achieve higher standards in their courses? / Are results available – is technology an incidental factor? Incentives to implement it?
How do these United Kingdom/Singapore public schools manage to allocate resources and work with the funds available?
Organisational domain – applying expert knowledge of legislative, syllabus and policy requirements to design, implement and evaluate plans, policies and procedures to ensure alignment of system priorities with school community expectations / Is funding centralised? Basis for technology allocation?
Impact of community?
Technology provision?
·  Computer Laboratories
·  Wireless
·  1 to 1
·  Support staff ratios.
What professional development works best for secondary teachers in relation to technology?
·  Analysis of nature/extent of professional learning
·  Evaluation of the merits of the various models of professional learning / Incentives?
Training programs?
When and how? In school or external?
Nature of professional development for technology? Does this professional development focus on software training or explicit links to curriculum areas?

5. Research Findings

5.1 Research findings about technology

Technology for the 21st century

There is widespread agreement that technology will be ubiquitous, mobile, personal and critical to student learning but there is less agreement on the pace and direction it will take. It would seem that in many countries there has been a swing away from moves to introduce network solutions/ technology resources without reference to educational purpose including pedagogical considerations.

It is also clear that students of the 21st century need to be engaged in activities in school that mirror their lives out of school. These digital natives are well informed. They publish and actively participate online both via social networks and via collaborative online learning. Recent internet growth in web 2.0 applications, wikis and Second Life applications provide enormous challenges to educational sectors as they also could provide pathways to future global learning for young people.

The International Society for Technology in Education has released new National Educational Technology standards for students which now focus on:

·  creativity and innovation

·  communication and collaboration

·  research and information fluency

·  critical thinking, problem solving and decision making

·  digital citizenship

·  technology operations and concepts.

How are web 2.0 technology applications impacting on schools?

I attended an international conference in Vienna (19–21 October 2007) “Keeping the Edge in a Changing World” where speakers challenged teachers to use their classrooms to recreate the digital learning environment that students inhabit. Students today are engaging in a wide range of social environments (i-chat, podcasts, Facebook, You Tube) which provide half a billion new videos each day!

Students may be able to do the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ but they still need teachers for the ‘why’. Expertise is no longer the accumulation of knowledge. Twenty first century skills include learning to learn, collaboration and navigating information. The challenge is going to be about finding ways to tap students’ creative energy in ways that encourage a curiosity for learning.

As software becomes more accessible (Web 2.0 solutions) and creative, there are fewer constraints for resource strapped systems. Collaborative strategies might include involvement in wikipedias, an area that is currently being explored by the business world (wikinomics). Such strategies open up learning to world wide expertise and have implications for the way schools will operate. For example, digitised text books (rather than conventional CDs which replicate the textbook format) will allow students to access a wealth of information via hot links and wikis. Many universities are already engaging in collaborative online learning formats where students post their research and share findings with their peers.

Mr Owen Lynch (previous Chief Executive of the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) who visited Arthur Phillip High School and presented to the Centre for Learning Innovation in 2007 identified the national drivers for change in the use of technology in the United Kingdom. These included the need to achieve high quality student performance (in more than basic literacy and numeracy); the need to match student skills with future social and economic needs and the need to provide equality of educational opportunity. Low socio-economic schools in England have received significant government and private sector funding and there are various strategies to ensure the wider participation of parents.

Mr Lynch indicated that while there had been adequate provision of uniform learning management systems, the system now needed to address ways of encouraging the ‘lighthouse schools’ to share best practice and encourage greater uptake by teachers in schools.

At a school level the challenge is about personalising student learning and lifting the quality of teaching practice and student engagement through the use of technology.

Mr Lynch identified the factors required for the successful technology school of the 21st century. School leadership is the single most important factor in successful, high achieving technology schools. The qualities these leaders displayed included elements in the educational, organisational and interpersonal domains of the NSW School Leadership Capability Framework. An educational focus determined the rationale for the introduction of any technology. Such leaders need to be informed by technology and they need to be collaborative by nature. Technology integration needed to be holistic and phased in over time and there needed to be appropriate collaboration and ownership by teachers across the school. Successful technology schools also had to provide quality of access, ideally via a 1:1 ratio and wireless mobility.

The Singapore Ministry is moving towards a strategy where teachers “teach less, so that our students … learn more”. The policy focuses on improving the quality of interaction between teachers and learners, so that ‘our learners can be more engaged in learning and better achieve the desired outcomes of education’.

Teach Less Learn More would mean less dependence on rote learning, repetitive tests and a ‘one size fits all’ type of instruction, and more on experiential discovery, engaged learning, differentiated teaching, the learning of life-long skills and the building of character through innovative and effective teaching approaches and strategies.

5.2 Research findings from school visits

The different school systems had taken varied approaches to Information and Communication Technologies integration and their policies and procedures provided a context in which principals were able to lead their school communities within each country.

In England, there have been significant changes to the public education system through the establishment of specialist schools and academies. These schools are supported by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust which has a large network of professional development for Headteachers.

The National College of Educational Leadership Centre in Nottingham provides training facilities, space for principals on sabbatical leave (6 weeks every 3 years) and research opportunities. The rigour of the model of accountability for learning outcomes required by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, places an imperative on Headteachers to further their professional learning and there are some outstanding mentoring programs available. Successful Headteachers are sometimes invited to work with less successful schools, sometimes on a part-time basis. The specialist school initiative now encompasses the vast majority of English schools.