Abstract
The present study aims to analyse how school leaders perceive their activities in creating and developing a collaborative school culture that promotes the school learning process. The data were collected in semi-structured interviews with nine school leaders and analysed using thematic content analysis. The results revealed that only three of the school leaders focused on the shared values and shared leadership necessary for creating a systematic and analytic approach to organisational and teacher development. The school leaders understood the importance of leading the development of the learning process, but this did not take place as expected in practice. Organisational and teacher development seemed to be unsystematic or not based on the continuous monitoring of processes. The findings of our study indicate that development programmes for school leaders should concentrate more on shaping the views, knowledge and skills needed to develop a collaborative and learning-centred school culture.
Highlights
Previous research has demonstrated that changes in teaching do not occur if the organisation is not oriented to the learning and development of its members (Opfer et al, 2011)
This is pertinent considering that the Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, 2014) and the Estonian school leader’s competence model (Innove, 2016) emphasise the school leader’s essential role in leading changes and developing a leadership style that focuses on the development of learners, teachers and all school personnel
Building a shared vision and setting goals An analysis of the school leaders’ key activities supporting a learning-centred and collaborative school culture reveals that five school leaders clearly stated that their schools do have a vision, only in three schools does this vision serve as the foundation for daily decision making and activities: “...what is important for us at the moment and what is not
Summary
Previous research has demonstrated that changes in teaching do not occur if the organisation is not oriented to the learning and development of its members (Opfer et al, 2011). Not designated as head teachers, Estonian school leaders have a high level of autonomy, with authority to appoint and dismiss staff, negotiate working conditions, and make decisions about school finances, educational priorities and development plans for the school (Estonian Parliament, 2010) They are the main actors in designing the school curriculum, which is based on the national framework, and in supporting teachers’ professional development in order to implement changes. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the contradictory results referred to above, we decided to explore school leaders’ views on their activities in creating and developing a collaborative school culture within their everyday leadership practice This is pertinent considering that the Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, 2014) and the Estonian school leader’s competence model (Innove, 2016) emphasise the school leader’s essential role in leading changes and developing a leadership style that focuses on the development of learners, teachers and all school personnel
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