Leading Change for the 21st Century

After the post-war years, we have witnessed the surge of Western-based theories in leadership research. The attraction of these theories in many non-Western contexts is understandable considering the strength of political, technological and economic superiority of the United States and United Kingdom (Collard 2007). Furthermore, with the advent of globalization, people from different parts of the world have been brought closer together (Holton, 2000). These Western-based theories however may embed advocacy for consumerism, individualism, competitiveness, assertiveness, rationality, and self-sufficiency (Pilkington & Johnson 2003). Interestingly, these values may even be exemplified in some Asian contexts as new, innovative, results-oriented, scientific, and believed as truism (Jahoda, 1988). Several leading educational leadership research scholars have begun to question the transferability of leadership theories developed in one context into another that may be culturally different (e.g., Dimmock & Walker, 2004; Hallinger & Kantamara 2000). Clearly, establishing a ‘cultural fit’ (Collard, 2007) is important – that is, understanding how leadership concepts are conceptualized differently, as well as how they are practiced differently in different cultural context (Slater et al., 2002). Sadly, a review of the current literature reveals very few empirical attempts to study school leadership within a cultural country context, let alone cross-cultural studies in this area. The purpose of this study is to examine cultural work values within the Hofstede’s framework (see Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 2010) of school leaders and teachers in Singapore schools. Singapore presents an interesting proposition in view of her colonial past, modern outlook and (yet) deployment of a discourse of ‘Asian Values’ – that is, promoting the notions of Asian Capitalism, Asian Democracy and Communitarianism (Chua 1995; Sim 2001). In total, 58 school leaders, 225 middle level managers, and 468 teachers from 28 primary schools participated in the study. The rating scales of the six work values dimensions were calibrated and validated (i.e., by way of examining the fit statistics) using Rasch analysis (Wright, 1993). The findings generally indicated that the micro leadership practices of the educators are very much influence by macro contextual forces which include Asian notions of hierarchy, pragmatism, collectivism and meritocracy.

Teacher leadership recognises the important contribution of teachers to school improvement and brings to the fore the work of teachers who have also demonstrated leadership capabilities. Using an adaptation of the framework of York-Barr and Duke (2004) which linked teacher leadership to student learning, this study explored teacher leadership in public schools in the Philippines by examining the different forms of, or approaches to, teacher leadership in public schools in the Philippines and how school contextual conditions enabled or constrained teacher leadership practices. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with principals and focus-group interviews with teacher leaders and other teachers from seven public schools in the Philippines.
The study found that teacher leadership was a meaningful concept in Philippine public schools even if the term ‘teacher leadership’ has not been introduced formally. The study has offered an alternative way of looking upon leadership practice in schools that capitalises on teachers as a leadership source by illuminating teacher leadership as a set of actions undertaken by teachers who respond positively to opportunities to improve teaching and learning.
While the theory of action for teacher leadership proposed by York-Barr and Duke (2004) appeared to be neat and direct, teacher leadership in the Philippine setting occurred in the midst of enablers that facilitated its practice and obstacles that posed challenges. The research revealed that the leadership   of the principal has a strong influence on teacher leadership and that a school culture marked by collegial, collaborative, and trusting relationships supports this type of leadership. Furthermore, teacher leadership was nurtured by the support of family and the local government unit. On the other hand, the practice of teacher leadership in the Philippines was challenged by such factors as relational issues, personal circumstances, the challenging realities in schools, lack of time, and the Department of Education.

Middle managers in schools are pillars of foundation and ‘agents’ of change. Often, they are also drivers to implement change and transform school as they play multiple roles in planning, implementing initiatives and empowering teachers (Bush, 2003). Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Leithwood, Harris, Gu, & Brown (2012) have advocated that effective middle managers can create processes and pedagogies that will have positive pupil outcomes. In Singapore, the development of leadership is encapsulated in the Leader Growth Model that takes into account the needs of leaders in the school context, builds and sharpens their competencies through reflection and practice (MOE, 2014).
This paper derived findings from the perception of a group of middle managers from different schools to study their learning experiences for leadership development in alignment to the model. Participants of the study were recruited through convenience sampling where data are easily accessible (Marshall, 1996). They are middle managers working in schools and were students in the Management and Leadership in Schools (MLS) programme in National Institute of Education (NIE). This research study adopts a qualitative approach to derive data from two focussed group discussions. Using NVivo to find recurring keywords in the data and a thorough analysis of the data (Welsh, 2002); the PI, co-PI and research assistants discussed and repeatedly revisited the codes to derive categories for these interpreted codes. The findings indicated that the competencies developed were aligned to competencies defined in the five dimensions of LGM. Some gaps identified in the study were in the knowledge and leadership beyond project implementation such the absence of understanding in the human psychology of learning and ability to sustain changes as leaders. The study also uncovered participants’ suggestions on how they can be developed to become better leaders in schools. The recommendations focused on learning relationship such as mentoring or coaching, self-development and collaborative experiences.