A Reflection after the 20/21 ESR Exercise: Teacher Leadership Matters Most

 

In April 2021, we have successfully completed the External School Review (ESR) exercise where the external reviewers from the Quality Assurance Sections of the EDB reported to us that the performance of our school in comparison to the 2015 ESR exercise has been greatly improved. With reference to the evidence being collected and observed, our school has proved to have made significant improvement after the last exercise. At the oral feedback session on 29 April, the EDB colleagues showed their greatest appreciation to the efforts our school has made in response to the comments raised in the last report, e.g. using the principle of data-driven and evidence-based approach in the PIEP cycle and making great improvement in management and organisation, school ethos and student support, as well as the learning and teaching domains.

 

With reference to the key literatures about school improvement and leadership, the teacher effect, among the key players in a school improvement journey, has a more direct impact on student learning outcomes (Hallinger, 2009; Harris, 2009; Leithwood, et al., 2009). When a school has turned into a professional learning community where leadership for learning at all levels is in place and teacher leadership is fully developed, sustained school improvement focusing on student learning outcomes is more likely to be achieved (Harris, 2003; Muijs & Harris, 2006).

 

Apart from creating the conditions to support change and building a shared vision among its members, the development of teacher leadership at all levels is particularly crucial for sustained school improvement. Among different sources of leadership, teacher leadership for learning, or an integration of transformational and instructional leadership, distributed at different levels of the school in a collective effort, can form a strong capacity to promote and lead changes for school betterment.

 

Teacher Leadership, as an instrument for “Professional Development” and a pre-requisite for the establishment of a “Professional Learning Community”, is about a redistribution of power and a re-alignment of authority within an organisation (Muijs & Harris, 2006). In general, there are 5 dimensions of teacher leadership as a form of professional initiative and learning (pp. 964-965):

 

1. shared decision making - where teachers were given responsibility to make decisions on important development work;

2. collaboration - in which teachers operated collegiality for the purpose of securing outcomes linked to improving teaching and learning;

3. active participation - where teachers are actively involved in core developmental tasks and being participants in the school improvement process;

4. professional learning - in which teachers are learning both individually and collectively;

5. leadership as activism - where teachers are engaged with issues directly affecting future changes and continuous school development.

 

With reference to the experience we have earned in this ESR exercise, no one is the sole hero and neither one of us has been working alone. We have built a team of professional teacher leaders who are capable and keen to learn from scratch, who are willing to change for personal as well as organisational advancement, and who have shared vision and good wills to carry on a long-term school improvement journey for the betterment of W F Joseph Lee Primary School (WFJLPS).

 

Hence, any teacher can be a teacher leader or a change agent who can exercise one’s leadership capacity and share it among the community. As Muijs & Harris (2006) tell us, if teacher leadership is developed and practised effectively, sustained school improvement outcomes can be assured and sustained. Let’s celebrate our joy of having built up a new model of leadership capacity at WFJLPS. Congratulations to all of you!

 

References:

Hallinger, P. (2009) Leadership for 21st Century Schools: From instructional leadership to

           leadership for learning. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Harris, A. (2003) Teacher leadership and school improvement. In A. Harris, C. Day, D.

Hopkins, M. Hadfield, A. Hargreaves, & C. Chapman (Eds.) Effective Leadership for School Improvement (72-83). London: Routledge/Falmer.

Harris, A. (2009). Distributed school leadership. Dordrecht, The Netherland: Springer.

Leithwood, K., Mascall, B., & Strauss, T. (2009). Distributed leadership according to the

           evidence. London: Routledge.

Muijs, D. & Harris, A. (2006). Teacher led school improvement: teacher leadership in the

UK. Teacher and Teacher Education, 22, 961-972.