Another in the occasional series "Why On Earth Do You Want To Be A Head?" starts this time with research from the Policy Exchange think-tank - "The Leadership Effect: Can Headteachers Make A Difference?". Well an initial (and sarcastic) response to that question would be no, because even teachers can't make a difference, that would be the job of the classroom assistants!
The research has found that changing headteachers does not necessarily effect a great deal of change in poorly performing schools. Good schools remain good, poor schools, poor. What the report suggests is that only root & branch reform - changes in Senior Management & Governors - can really make improvements in school performance and therefore pupil achievement.
However, it is not the Head that makes the difference but the management style that they offer. I believe that any Head worth their salt in today's educational climate does not rule as an autocrat, but motivates pupils and staff. Provides the community with the tools that it needs to operate effectively. It can be about micro management, but the essence of successful leadership is how to best delpoy one's resources and keep a happy ship. Now if I can get my NPQH based in that soundbite...
As Martin Ward of the union ASCL points out:
In fact, the report says that the most important thing heads can do for their
pupils is to make sure that there are good teachers in their classrooms
The world of football management is rife with hirings & firings on a whim from chairmen of underperforming clubs. There are innumerable examples of how hiring a new manager because they are a "name" has backfired completely. Yet then there is Roy Keane. As agressive and antagonistic and talented on the pitch as any player could be, he had a reputation for being as hard-as-nails. Yet, in taking over at Sunderland when they were at the foot of the Championship, he has displayed a style of management that has belied what was expected from him and he has had huge success this season.
I am certainly no Sunderland fan, however, as a student of management styles his is one worth further investigation. A useful article providing some insight is from the Belfast Telegraph. And clearly his is a richer and more rounded approach than he perhaps was expected to provide. It certainly reinforces my view that sound management stems from an awareness of what the organisation requires from you not what you think the organisation ought to be.
1 comment:
Roy Keane obviously has everything to prove. He has worked for two of the best football managers in the UK under Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson and something must have rubbed off along the way.
He appears to be something of a disciplinarian and will be looked up to by his playing staff.
The problem of course is maintaining this while still learning his 'new' career.
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