Teachers learning to lead

Koo Wee Rup Secondary College principal Felix Patton says the project has "a huge impact" on the school. 149407_01

By Kyra Gillespie

Nine schools in the Koo Wee Rup region in south-east Melbourne have come together as part of a two-year program to develop the leadership skills of local teachers and school leaders.
The program is one of 17 around Australia funded by a group of high-profile business leaders called Pioneers in Philanthropy.
The Pioneers are led by David Gonski AC and have been brought together by national charity Schools Plus.
The Swamp Middle Leaders Project in the Koo Wee Rup region aims to develop the leadership skills of middle level teachers through a comprehensive two-year professional learning program.
On Thursday 16 November, 26 teachers who participated in the program over the past year came together to present their achievements, learnings and future plans.
“The Middle Leaders program course has been priceless in its support for my growth as an effective leader for my school,” teacher Nathan White from Cardinia Primary School said.
“The course targeted the skills I needed to lead a team of teachers to strengthen our reading program, which in 2017 has resulted in improved reading comprehension for 78 per cent of our students.”
Principal Felix Patton from Koo Wee Rup Secondary College also attended and said the impact that the project had on teaching in his school was “huge”.
“The project has had a huge impact on the leadership development of teachers within the network,” he said.
“This is vital to supporting the emerging gap that has occurred in leadership within our schools.
“It’s important to find and develop the next level of leaders within our school system and the project is changing the teaching practices by getting teachers to collaborate, work outside their comfort zones and to try new ways of inquiry.
“A year on, we are already starting to see the impact on literacy and numeracy skills of the students.”
The program has been designed with the guidance of Andrew Jones, a school leader of 20 years’ experience who is currently conducting research into teacher professional learning with Professor John Hattie, an internationally-renowned teaching expert.
Teaching quality is recognised as the most significant in-school factor affecting student learning.
Data from more than 400 schools that Schools Plus has worked with indicate that schools have an enormous appetite for professional development and recognise that teachers and principals need to maintain and develop their skills to meet society’s needs.
Schools Plus CEO Rosemary Conn said the Swamp Middle Leaders Project was in keeping with an international movement to nurture teaching excellence and build the skills of principals and their leadership teams.
“The funding requests schools make to us show they lack the financial means or access to opportunities to engage in the professional learning and planning that will allow them to better serve their students,” she said.
“Programs like the Swamp Middle Leaders, funded by our Pioneers are, therefore, absolutely necessary if we are going to improve the quality of teaching.”