CPD Reflections: MA In Educational Leadership

By Divisha Patel

In 2020, I decided to embark on a Master’s in Educational Leadership at UCL-IOE. Initially, I was worried about how I might manage the workload of both my role here in WA as a Director of Learning, and the various readings and assignments I would be required to engage with in order to be successful in my MA. However, along the two years, I have found this learning to have had a hugely positive impact on my work here at WA and how I lead the Humanities team. 

Module 1: Leading Change and Improvement

This module involved learning about policy change through education in line with the changes in political leadership; different styles of leadership that exist in education and their various interpretations, strengths and weaknesses; and approaches of change management. The learning around leadership styles were particularly pertinent for me as I embarked on the new role of DOL for both Humanities and Enterprise. I really wanted to create a new identity and vision for this new amalgamated team, so that each subject and teacher felt a sense of belonging to the new ‘Humanities’ whilst also remaining true to their passion and pedagogy for their subject areas. I’ve always felt that a team operates best when it is truly collaborative and a sum of its well-functioning parts. Therefore, it was important for me to create and maintain the most effective form of dialogue between myself and the subject coordinators, rooted in professional trust and critical reflection. This approach is often referred to as ‘participative leadership’/’democratic leadership’/’distributed leadership’, where inclusive discussions are at the core. Completing the coaching course provided by the school for middle leaders was a great way to put this into practice and is still an ongoing area for development. Whilst not every decision can be approached in this way, it is what I fundamentally value and where possible, I’ve tried to put it into action. This, then, feeds into effective change management. This was imperative when we were tasked with writing a new KS3 curriculum for Y9 and/or adapting the KS4 curriculum for a 2-year delivery. 

Module 2: Leading for the Learning Community

This module covered the issues and concepts related to effective learning for individuals and organisations. Sub-topics included learning about HR management issues; the role of coaching and mentoring and workload/wellbeing management. The biggest takeaway from this module was the importance of approaching professional learning with a ‘little and often’ approach, which is in line with Jaya and the Academic SLT's vision for WA’s CPD provision too. It was this learning that informed my leadership approach for how best to plant seeds of professional learning within the Humanities department. Something that I’ve implemented at WA that I’m most proud of is the peer-led T&L showcase segment of our Humanities department meetings. 

At the beginning of the term, I allocate slots to each staff member, ensuring that everyone delivers an equal number of sessions for the academic year. Each Humanities member is given the autonomy to do the showcase on anything they would like, such as: 

• A form of AfL/questioning

• A piece of work

• An online resource

• A teaching strategy

• Academic reading/research

  
  

During the T&L showcase, the teacher tells us a little bit about why they have chosen the topic; the reasoning behind the focus and how they implemented/plan to implement the focus in the classroom. As a team, we then discuss how we could be flexible with the focus and its use for specific key groups such as SEND, EAL or different attainer groups. I love watching all staff deliver their showcase, but particularly ECTs, because they always present with passion, genuine interest and an eagerness to be better practitioners. The discussions that follow act as windows into peoples’ teacher personas and whilst not the intention, learn more about who they are as people and their values, and in a profession as emotive as teaching, this is important for building a strong, successful team. Further information about how Humanities is trying to be a research-informed department can be found here.

Module 3: Research Methods in Educational Research

Admittedly my least enjoyable module, this was about learning how to use principles of research design to create and test research questions and select appropriate methods to conduct a robust project. Discussions of epistemology and ontology have never been my strength, but ultimately, I found this module incredibly useful in considering how best to understand a concept/problem, which could then be used as an enquiry for both my own teacher/leader development, and organisational development if scaled up. My assignment was to write a research proposal, which allowed me to prepare for my final report. As someone who is interested in the academic ‘side’ of teaching, I wanted to explore the concept of teacher agency (causing/generating action) within curriculum development and investigating to what extent curriculum leaders have/enact/exercise agency when writing unit plans, lessons and assessments. 

Final Report: The work that I had engaged with for two years culminated in writing up my final research project which was about the role of teacher agency in curriculum development. Teacher agency is about teachers having the ability to act and be change agents, and given that teachers are an increasingly important part of curriculum  design, if not the most important part, then understanding their perceptions of exercising teacher agency and the different influences that can possibly have an effect is imperative for school leaders. The findings showed that curriculum leaders felt like they did have agency in planning their curricula, however accountability measures and performativity stifled this, especially during pinch-points of the school year. For example, many participants said that they felt constrained by external pressures such as government policy, Ofsted, and school performance tables. Whilst these pressures cannot be controlled by a school, the study allowed for some insights into what schools can do to further enable agency, such as providing greater opportunities for collaboration and an increased sense of dialogue amongst staff, which WA has, and is taking steps to address. Opportunities like the PLC meetings, CPD Twilights and departmental QA process, allows curriculum leaders to develop their curricular in line with the school’s vision; latest subject pedagogy; and in an empowered way, by promoting collaborative conversations between teachers, middle and senior leaders. 

Whilst completing a MA has been great in allowing me to learn more about leadership in education, there are plenty of other opportunities to support peoples’ development as effective leaders, and the following websites/organisations/methods have been effective for me so far and I will continue to learn from:

1. TeacherTapp app: this is a free app which asks 3 questions about school life to build a picture of what’s happening in schools, followed by a recommended daily read which acts as a form of quick, ongoing, on-the-move CPD. 

2. ‘Edutwitter’

3. Membership to subject associations 

4. Local networking meetings, which are often passed on by the Academic SLT team for curriculum leaders and subject teachers to attend

   
   

There were various people who helped me along this journey that I am eternally grateful for, namely the participants who took part in my final study; Jaya, for her nurturing line management during this stressful time; Holly, for her sound advice about how best to approach agency within curriculum development; and Ruhina, Bec and Ellie, for their constant encouragement-the best hype women anyone could ask for! 

Further reading: 

National College for Teaching and Leadership (2010) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-strong-claims-about-successful-school-leadership 

Mujis et al (2014), State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning

Briggs et al (2015), Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management

Fullan (2015), A New Meaning for Educational Change