National Professional Qualification For Headship Research Articles

Restructuring the National Professional Qualification for Educational Leaders (NPQEL) in Malaysia: A Summary Report

The National Professional Qualification for Educational Leaders (NPQEL) is an in-service training programme for leadership and management initiated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia through its educational management and leadership institute, IAB (Institut Aminuddin Baki). Beginning July 2014, the NPQEL becomes a mandatory requirement for aspiring headteachers who want to be appointed into headship. This article presents the background of this programme, stemming from the earlier National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) programme which was modelled after the NPQH in England. The programme, which was introduced in 1999, then went through some structural changes and in 2011, the new mode NPQEL was introduced which adopted the blending learning approach. Research on the NPQH and the NPQEL is also presented and these informed the formulation of the new mode NPQEL in 2011, and the eventual NPQEL 2018 version or NPQEL 2.0. The structures of the NPQEL new mode (2011) and NPQEL version 2018 are also discussed.

イギリスにおけるスクールリーダーシップ開発の動向 : 校長の専門職基準・資格を中心に(海外の教育経営事情)

イギリスにおけるスクールリーダーシップ開発の動向 : 校長の専門職基準・資格を中心に(海外の教育経営事情)

Preparing Headteachers in England

The Education Reform Act 1988 increased the scope of headteachers' work and led to an emphasis on ‘management', often interpreted as the implementation of government policies, checked through the Ofsted inspection regime. Following the election of a Labour government in 1997, the discourse changed to ‘leadership'. Leadership development in England is dominated by the National College for School Leadership, which was opened in 2000, a product of New Labour's stress on ‘education, education, education'. The College offers a raft of provision for leaders at all levels, including the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), which was introduced in 1997. As the title implies, the NPQH is seen as a professional qualification and focuses more on what heads can ‘do' than what they know. The NPQH become mandatory for new heads in 2009 but reverted to optional status in 2012. This paper reviews the evidence on the impact of the NPQH and considers how it could be developed to blend leadership learning with leadership practice.

Personalised leadership development? Lessons from the pilot NPQH in England

This article draws upon an evaluation, carried out for the National College, of the piloting of the new National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in England. The pilot programme focused on the personalisation of headship training to make it more customised to the identified needs of each individual. The reconfigured programme featured leadership coaching, school‐based work, face‐to‐face events, online communities, peer learning groups, and use of online NPQH materials in a virtual environment. The evaluation study was carried out with participants, providers and coaches over the 12 month period of the pilot. The evaluation team concluded that the pilot programme had gone well for the majority of the participants, who viewed the revised NPQH as having significant strengths. These included its focus on personalised learning, the supportive environment offered by providers, its various components (in particular coaching, placement schools, online aspects, etc.) and a timeline that fits in with trainee head teacher aspirations. In particular, needs identification and personalisation was a clear strength of the programme and the only barriers to learning related to individual’s learning styles and preferences.

Just the ticket? The National Professional Qualification and the transition to headship in the East Midlands of England

This article seeks to explore the influence of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in England in supporting aspirant heads to make the transition to headship. It draws upon a sample of NPQH graduates confirming their perceived readiness for headship prior to the commencement of their NPQH programme. A questionnaire survey of 156 NPQH graduates and subsequent interviews with 15 of the graduates secured perceptions from those who had already made the transition to headship, those who were still intending to and those who were now no longer intending to seek headship. These perceptions encompassed transition preparedness with respect to 20 facets drawn from the National Standards for Head Teachers published by the Department for Education and Skills, the benefits and shortcomings of the NPQH taught element, as well as NPQH‐related experiences in schools, outside schools and in non‐professional life. Interpretation of findings draws upon a transition framework, developed by T. Brown‐Ferrigno in 2003, encompassing role conceptualisation, initial socialisation, role‐identity transformation and purposeful engagement. Findings depict the importance of a journey aided by timely leadership experience, support, confidence‐building, networking and direct contact with incumbent senior leaders prior to NPQH. Although NPQH also provides some of these essential elements, it may not, in itself, mend the broken journeys of some individuals who are unable to overcome personal and professional difficulties and overturn deeply rooted perceptions of the difficulties associated with headship and hence fail to make the transition to headship. A recent revision of the NPQH programme has sought to better address personal needs analysis and readiness for headship beyond that available in the programme experienced by the NPQH graduates included in the present sample. This may further assist in improving transition rates. The study recommends identified successful elements of development be retained or extended in subsequent revisions of NPQH and suggests that candidate experiences prior to NPQH require additional intervention nationally and better accommodation within NPQH if it is to provide maximum support for transition at a time of leadership shortages.

Outcomes of In-school Leadership Development Work

This article presents the results of a study of the impact of three programmes of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), namely Leading from the Middle, the National Professional Qualification for Headship and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers. All three programmes embody a blended learning approach that includes an in-school component. This article focuses on factors within the programmes that influence learning from the in-school components. It focuses particularly on factors relating to individual participants and to the school contexts within which they work. The article relates the findings to previous literature on work-based learning and suggests a broader model of the factors that influence the outcomes of leadership development programmes.

The National Professional Qualification for Headship in Wales

The National Professional Qualification for Headship in Wales

Using concept mapping to evaluate the training of primary school leaders

This study focused on the technique of concept mapping as an alternative means of evaluating the compulsory module of the National Professional Qualification for Headship in the UK. The study was conducted on a cohort of primary school senior managers from the North of England between March and October 1999. The candidates, after an introduction to concept mapping were asked to construct their own maps at the beginning, middle and end of the module, based on the focus question of ‘what are the essential characteristics of a successful headteacher’ (the term ‘headteacher’ in the UK signifies a school principal, i.e. the most senior post in the school hierarchy). The initial maps showed varying degrees of presentation of the main concepts, ranging from those candidates who had the most experience of senior management, or who had completed a higher degree in some aspect of management, to those who had the least initial experience. The interim and final maps showed the greatest development of grasp of concept in those candidates who had started with the least experience of senior management. Interviews were also conducted with each candidate, asking them to comment on the development of their grasp of the concepts as the course developed. There was a high degree of connection between the concept maps and the interviews.

Potentially Aspiring Headteachers in Small Welsh Primary Schools: Education professionals that policy makers forgot?

This article considers why central government policies are often insensitive to the range of contexts in which they are to be implemented. It reports on small-scale research into one instance of such 'policy insensitivity' associated with the low take-up of candidature for the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) among teachers in small primary schools during the early years of the original NPQH assessment and training scheme in Wales. Findings are reported on perceptions of LEA advisers, aspiring headteachers and their headteachers about the under-recruitment problem. It is noted how the revised NPQH policy appears to be addressing some of the problems identified. The wider significance of policy insensitivity for centralised policy making is highlighted.

Is the National Professional Qualification for Headship Making a Difference?

This article investigates the data from a national survey of headteachers of maintained schools in England conducted during 1999 by means of a self-completion postal questionnaire to see whether there was any evidence to support the hypothesis that respondents who had taken part in the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) felt better prepared than their predecessors for the post of headteacher. The survey sought to establish the perceptions of English headteachers with regard to their state of readiness on taking up the role. Where respondents reported themselves as well prepared or extremely well prepared for aspects of their role they were asked to attribute their perceived state of readiness to training, experience, or a combination of the two. In addition respondents were asked to complete open-ended questions which asked them to identify activities and support which would help the induction of newly appointed headteachers. The findings reported in this paper do not draw on these qualitative responses.

Assessing leadership potential: fast track to school leadership

Summarises the research into an approach to selecting teachers for fast tracking into headship. There is an initial consideration of the political context in which the research was conducted. The research process is fully described and an analysis of the evidence is presented, together with the conclusions. This process required the selection of highly effective primary school headteachers to benchmark a diagnostic instrument, the selection of teachers judged to have high potential for headship but who would not meet the criteria for starting the National Professional Qualification for Headship, and the use of the diagnostic instrument to measure their potential for headship. This qualification will become mandatory for all headteachers being appointed to their first headship in England and Wales. The explanation of the results and the model complete the analysis. The appendices present evidence and models as a basis for future research.

The Question of Competence: the origins, strengths and inadequacies of a leadership training paradigm

During the 1990s the Teacher Training Agency showed its commitment to adopting elements of a 'competence' model of educational management training in the construction of the National Standards for Headteachers (TTA 1997, 1998). These same 'standards' have come to underpin the most ambitious programme of educational management training and development ever attempted in the UK (Glatter 1997) including the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), the Headteachers' Leadership and Management Programme (HEADLAMP) and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers (LPSH). This article attempts to trace the origins of competence-based approaches to management training and suggests that the model, though having much to commend it, contains within it a variety of underlying and unresolved tensions.

The National Professional Qualification for Headship: Perceptions of the providers of taught higher degrees in educational management in England and Wales

The introduction of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) has created both 'opportunities and dilemmas' (Bolam 1997: 278) for the providers of taught higher degrees in educational management. It can be argued that a series of inherent tensions exist between the emerging traditions of education management training and development articulated in the national qualification and taught higher degree programmes. This study seeks to define, explore and analyse some of these tensions as evidenced in the emerging literature on the topic; to elicit attitudes of course leaders/tutors of taught higher degrees in education management to the introduction of the qualification; and to discover some of the potential effects of the introduction of the NPQH on higher degree programmes in England and Wales.

Developing Human Capital: training and mentoring for principals

The links between educational development and economic capability are widely recognised and have provided part of the rationale for the shift to market concepts of education in many countries. As more functions have been devolved to school level, it has become increasingly evident that principals require training and development to carry out their new responsibilities and to lead improvement in their schools. In Singapore, aspiring principals take a 1‐year training course which includes mentoring by an established principal. In England and Wales, the new National Professional Qualification for Headship is undertaken on a part‐time basis and adopts a quasi competence model without a mentoring dimension. This article compares the two approaches and concludes that training is likely to be more effective if mentoring is a central component of the process.

Preparation for Headship? The role of the deputy head in the primary school

This article describes some follow-up work to two city-wide surveys investigating the role of the deputy head in the primary school. The authors use the results of their work, together with their experience as trainers for the National Professional Qualification for Headship, to explore the deputy head's role in terms of preparation for headship. They then address the implications for future training for deputies as preparation for headship.

Developing a Leadership Programme for School Leaders: An NPQH assessment centre manager reflects

The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) is a recognition by the Government of the importance placed on training and developing aspiring headteachers to take up the challenging and significant role of headship. School improvement and school effectiveness research has, for many years, proclaimed the pivotal role played by the headteacher in transforming and developing the school as a learning community. This paper examines the development and implementation of the NPQH, particularly the Needs Assessment process, from the perspective of one regional assessment centre manager. The views and reflections outlined are those of the author and the paper will use, as its evidence base, the evaluations undertaken at the London Assessment Centre throughout its first year of operation. The author will reflect on the role played by assessment centres, the development of this role and how the assessment process itself is contributing to the training and development of tomorrow's headteachers. The recommendations included and the conclusions drawn suggest ways in which the process of assessment within the NPQH can: (i) facilitate the development of the NPQH; (ii) improve the outcome for the candidate.

Training Aspiring Heads on NPQH: Issues and progress

The paper explores the political and historical origins of the new qualification for headteachers, the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH). The distinctive features of the NPQH training programme are explored to draw attention to the strengths and weaknesses: conceptual pluralism, the separation of leadership from management, the emphasis on process and practical application and the downplaying of theory, the separation of the training and assessment processes and the inevitable pressure to cover content. Attention is drawn to the issues which need resolution to achieve the Teacher Training Agency's goal of ensuring excellent leadership in schools: the conflict between central direction and the importance of situational leadership and the political imperative for programme outcomes. Existing difficulties in professional development for teachers have not been resolved by the NPQH: differentiation, funding, taking account of prior learning, pressures on professionals' lives and on their schools and appropriate diversity among aspiring headteachers.

The National Professional Qualification for Headship: The key to effective school leadership?

Preparation for school leadership and management has become one of the major educational issues of the late 1990s. The Teacher Training Agency's National Professional Qualification for Headship is arguably the most important initiative because it leads to a threshold qualification for headship which is intended to become mandatory. This paper will examine NPQH and contrast it with both the recent history of school management provision in England and Wales and with international practice. The paper concludes that NPQH is likely to make an important contribution to the preparation of the next generation of school leaders but requires modification to address certain weaknesses.

Deputy headteachers and the NPQH

Deputy headteachers form the major target group as candidates for the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), yet evidence is beginning to emerge that not only demonstrates little interest in the programme but also shows that the infrastructure necessary at the school level for successful completion of the award is inadequate.

Reinventing school leadership ‐ back to the future in the UK?

There have, over the last 15 years, been many UK government initiatives aimed at improving the leadership and management of schools but there has never been any compulsion to receive training either before or after taking up post as a headteacher (principal). Greater responsibilities at the school level have resulted in greater pressure from a wide range of sources, including government and the teaching profession, for a more coherent approach to leadership and management development for both middle managers and for headteachers. Examines the initiatives which have been introduced in the last 15 years. Then discusses the need for and the development of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) which is being trialled and piloted across England and Wales from 1996‐98.