 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
You
are here:
The Creation of a School Leadership Development Plan for Cambodia
November 2005
Over two months here in Cambodia and I hold the daily tensions of life in a land not my own. I was set back a few days with a very nasty bacterial infection (upper respiratory) and a viral flu. Lost a lot of weight and a lot of energy. But, I am back to normal now. And every day I try to learn better how to be an "Advisor" in the best sense of that word (although I must admit to recalling how historically here in Cambodia, "US Advisor" was code for the CIA). It is so important that the Khmer people be in the driver's seat of every aspect of this huge education improvement endeavor. In the case of Leadership Development, that is not so much of a problem because my Khmer counterpart, Sarik, is so competent and so wise and because he is so very forgiving of my "Western" mistakes and so instructive, in the gentlest of ways, so that I don't make them again. Other components of this project are not so fortunate. And, as a result, it is a bit bumpy at times trying to launch our work. But every day I leave the apartment full of energy and enthusiasm for what we are creating. Since this work is so new in Cambodia it feels like blazing new trails, exploring new lands. It is invigorating and inspiring and I love it!! For those of you who know my past, it reminds me of the way I felt each day going to work at Hawthorne School.
We now have a draft plan and, and it is gaining support as we share it with more and more people in the Ministry of Education and include their feedback. I feel quite confident now that we really will be able to create significant opportunities for school leadership improvement in the next 3 years.
Unfortunately, the country is not very stable politically right now. The Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has negotiated a border treaty with Vietnam but it was kept secret for a very long time. Cambodia/Vietnam relationships are always a hot topic, and land disputes can be explosive. Many critics have been speaking out about the treaty, expressing fears of the Prime Minister ceding more land to Vietnam in exchange for development opportunities (here that means more money for the corrupt and wealthy government officials). The response of the PM has been swift and scary . . . put them in jail. As a result, many have fled the country, including the king, ex king and one prince. Hun Sen threatens to end the monarchy and there is a lot of blustery talk . . . and there are many frightened Khmer people.
Our project attempts to launch amid this tension. It probably will be okay. The country seems to wax and wane between calm and uproar. But, add to the mix the growing concern over avian flu and it makes for unsettling times.
Below, for any of you who may be interested, I am including abbreviated copies of four documents: the English versions, of course. The full texts of these we are using to describe our thinking to the World Bank, Ministry of Education officials, provincial education officials and school principals. Please note that in Cambodia, the school principal is called a school director.
Iv Sarik, my Khmer counterpart extraordinaire, who is sitting at our lone computer creating a clear and simple graphic that shows the relationship between a strong school principal and an effective school.
The first document is our 3 Year Plan for leadership development. The second is our plan for this year, 2005-2006. As you read them, please remember how new all of this work is and how basic we must be in content and design. Remember too that none of the school principals have any preparation to be a school leader, have barely an 8th grade education and have never been expected to be anything more than compliant managers. So, it is quite radical that our motto for this endeavor, that you will see at the top of the first two documents says, "All educational leaders have the right and the responsibility to think creatively and to take risks for children." So far, no high official has told us to take it out. Sarik and I preach it as our mantra. We hope it will become part of the culture of school leadership in Cambodia. It is probably far fetched, but a dream nonetheless.
The third document is a brief "outline" of the Leadership I workshop. This will be the first attempt to take the idea of leadership development to 600 lower secondary principals in very poor provinces. The particular "beliefs" that we will be working on come from Sarik. He believes very strongly that there must be urgent and significant growth in these areas.
The final document is the assessment tool that we are creating to measure progress. A "baseline" assessment will be made beginning this month and then follow up assessments will be made after the various workshops. You will notice that this assessment device attempts to measure growth in the specific areas covered in the first workshop. Subsequent assessment devices will attempt to do the same.
I am not including all of the other documents, like lesson plan modules, handouts etc. that we have created. It would take too much space and put you all to sleep. Finally, (whew!!) let me say that I include these documents not as examples of "cutting edge" work, but as a means of soliciting feedback. We need all of the collective wisdom we can get, do your feedback is much needed and would be greatly appreciated. Please email me with your comments at: jmore44@yahoo.com
By the next journal entry, we will have worked with many of the provincial offices of education (not known for their great wisdom or enthusiasm) to solicit their help for school directors. I have great hope that Sarik can inspire them and motivate them to seriously consider changing their attitudes and behaviors. I'll let you know.
KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA
Nation Religion KingMINISTRY OF EDUCATION YOUTH AND SPORTS
Department of General EducationCAMBODIA EDUCATION SUPPORT PROJECT (CESSP)
SCHOOL EFECTIVENESS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
All educational leaders have the right and the responsibility
to think creatively and to take risks for children
THREE YEAR TRAINING PROGRAM
1. Objectives:
The objectives of the training program are to support school directors with new skills of leadership. By the end of the project, they will:
a. Understand the key elements of good leadership.
b. Be able to show new skills in leading their schools.
c. Lead changes in their schools that will result in educational excellence for all
children.2. Content:
The program is designed for three years . . . titled Leadership 1, Leadership 2 and Leadership 3. Each year is followed by an assessment and evaluation conducted by the provincial trainers.
" Leadership 1" emphasizes the basics of leadership. It establishes a more creative definition of leadership, studies the comparison of leadership with management and some key elements of good leadership practice. At the end of "Leadership 1" we expect that school directors will:
"Leadership 2" focuses on additional leadership elements. School directors will be more skilled in leading schools and by the end we expect to see:
- School directors become more visible and better instructional leaders.
- School directors more able to motivate staff to work harder and better.
- School director's schools become an environment more supportive of learning." Leadership 3" reviews " Leadership 1 & 2 " with additional and more in depth practices. The precise content will be determined by what is learned from the assessments of Leadership 1 & 2. By the end, we hope that the majority of school directors will be able to lead their schools far more effectively.
3. Program:
The training will be provided to six hundred school directors in ten supported provinces divided into two cohorts with three hundred in each cohort.
SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
ANNUAL PLAN 2005 - 2006
All educational leaders have the right and the responsibility
to think creatively and to take risks for children
1. Introduction:
The School Effectiveness Leadership Program has as its aim to help educational leaders develop more effective beliefs and practices that lead to achieving excellence in schools. In order to achieve this aim the School Effectiveness Leadership Program will work towards meeting the following objectives during the year 2005-2006. The program will focus on working through the ten CESSP supported provinces and begin by involving each of the POEYs. In addition, in the first year a Leadership Support Team (LST) will be created in the three provinces served by VSO. If successful, LST teams will be created in the other supported provinces. In - service training will be provided to educational leaders by a group of trainers created in each supported province. On-the-job training and ongoing support will be given to the trainers to build their capacity and enable them to take over the work when the project ends.
2. Objectives for 2005 - 2006:
Objective 1: Create and support one working team ( Leadership Support Team ) in the three provinces that have VSO volunteers to be supporters of leadership development in those provinces. If successful, an LST team will be created in the three supported provinces in Year 2.
Objective 2: Design effective leadership training modules for interested school leaders in the supported provinces.
Objective 3: Develop a group of leadership trainers through the TTD and in each supported province. Build trainers' capacity in both leadership beliefs and skills and delivering training.
Objective 4: Offer effective leadership training to interested school leaders in supported provinces.
Objective 5: Monitor and assess the impact of leadership development in the supported provinces.
3. Action to meet the objectives:
Objective 1 : Create and support one working team ( Leadership Support Team ) in the three provinces that have VSO volunteers to be supporters of leadership development in those provinces. If successful, an LST team will be created in the other supported provinces in Year 2.
Rationale: There needs to be a significant change in attitude about leadership. That change must start at the top. The project must be integrated into the educational system. The PoEYS can serve the role of modeling new ideas, supporting others and making these new ideas systemic.
Objective 2: Design effective leadership training modules for interested school leaders in the supported provinces.
Rationale: In order to have the greatest impact for change, the leadership training modules must focus on a few essential topics, studied deeply, with frequent opportunities for practice. The effective design of module content and process is critical.
Objective 3: Develop a group of leadership trainers through the TTD and in each supported province. Build trainers' capacity in both leadership beliefs and skills and delivering training.
Rationale: Since the project funding is only available for five years, these trainers will play the key role of change agent to ensure the sustainability of the changes.
Objective 4: Offer effective leadership training to interested school leaders in supported provinces.
Rationale: This is the heart of the project. New leadership beliefs and skills must be taught through effective workshop models so that educational leaders have the opportunity to experience their own real change.
Objective 5: Monitor and assess the impact of leadership development in the supported provinces.
Rationale: Feedback is essential to the success of this project. Regular monitoring will allow us to adjust the project as necessary.
LEADERSHIP 1
Workshop 1Outline of
Day 1I. Opening ceremony:
- Presentation of the CESSP
- Presentation of the School Effectiveness Leadership Program.
- Overview of the three year training.II. Introductions
III. Overview of the two days
IV. What is Leadership?
This is a beginning description of leadership. Multiple definitions are studied. School directors are encouraged to consider the different definitions and to discuss which definitions are better and why they think so.V. Understanding the difference between Leadership and Management.
School directors should be both managers and leaders. It is important to understand the difference between management and leadership. This section of the workshop explores those differences using specific examples of the daily life of school directors. This helps directors understand that sometimes during any school day they are acting as managers and sometimes as leaders. They should be excellent at both.Lunch break
VI. Leadership and Management activity and game
This is a continuation of the morning activities and is intended to deepen the school directors understanding of the differences between management and leadership.VII. Leadership beliefs that work best in schools
There is a large body of research that shows that certain beliefs on the part of school directors are essential for strong school leadership. These beliefs are studied in a variety of ways to build understanding and to begin to help the school directors translate their beliefs into behaviors.VIII. Closing
Outline of
Day 2I. Review of Day 1
II. Case study: Two Cambodian school directors
Using two very real cases of school directors, this is an opportunity for the school directors to apply leadership beliefs to leadership behaviors.
III. Four beliefs that are essential to effective school leadership
For Leadership I, we narrow the focus to four very specific beliefs: (1) the importance of having a vision, (2) being visible to everyone, (3) having good relationships and (4) being a role model as a learner. This section uses multiple strategies to study these four beliefs and how they apply to school leadership.
Lunch break
IV. The behaviors of school directors who have those beliefs.
This section helps the school directors to deepen their understanding of what the specific behaviors are for those who have these four beliefs. In particular, they will consider things that they can do, beginning the very next day, to become more visible, have a greater vision, improve relationships and become more of a learner.V. Creating a plan for improving leadership skills
The final section of Leadership I is the creation of a very simple and very practical leadership improvement plan. It is our hope that the POEYS will be able to support the school directors as they implement their plans.VI. Evaluation
VII. Closing
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENTInstructions:
This instrument is designed to assess the leadership skill of the school director in four areas: Vision; Visibility; Human Relations and Desire to Learn. For this part of the instrument it will be necessary to speak with teachers, parents and other school personnel. It is desirable to actually observe behaviors when possible.
How would you classify the effectiveness of the school director's vision for the school?
How would you classify the way the school director relates to the teachers?
How would you classify the visible presence of the school director?
How would you classify the school director's capacity as a learner?
John Morefield was previously Principal of Hawthorne Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. He has worked with the Danforth Program at the University of Washington on programs for school principals. He is a cofounder and board member of Powerful Schools. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of New Horizons for Learning.
You may email John Morefield at jmore44@yahoo.com.
© November 2005 New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org
info@newhorizons.orgFor permission to redistribute, please go to:
New Horizons for Learning Copyright and Permission Information
