The Leadership Development Challenge- it’s time to Get Real

As a leader who has spent much of the last decade designing, implementing and refining curricular across different contexts and on different scales, I have been deeply encouraged by the tone and tenor of the recent curriculum and assessment review which we have seen unfold over the past few months. The way in which collective knowledge is being pooled, the transparency of the process itself and the way in which findings have emerged and been communicated are all markers of great change management by truly great leaders within their own right.

Recently however, this reflection prompted a thought…much of the quality of curricular evolution of any kind, is determined by the manner in which it is navigated, implemented, refined and ultimately, led. And this thought led me to another…without the necessary skill, knowledge and actionable expertise, leaders are left with potentially shifting sands, the requirement for change and little by way of professional support, guidance and development to help them achieve this successfully.

Educational leaders have an incredibly difficult challenge on their hands when it comes to developing and strengthening their curriculum offers:

1. the work they do is never done and therefore can be challenging to frame in a ‘get it done’ ‘to-do-list’ culture.
2. the work is nestled in a complex, relational ecosystem which, if unbalanced, compromises the very core business of learning and teaching and the longevity of implementation
3. they carry out this work, largely in isolation and when networks do exist, the culture (unwittingly and even in the most well-intentioned places!) is sometimes one of competition, rather than collaboration

And this isn’t limited to curriculum development! In every domain of leadership, these barriers exist. I would argue that in the wake of less readily funded NPQs and an undeniable level of variability in leadership development entitlement for school leaders nationally, there is a vacuum that must be filled.

I’ve pondered over the potential solution to this challenge deeply over the past few years. Beyond the knowledge contained in the NPQs how best can leaders be supported to:

-move from domain specific knowledge to effective professional practice

-supplement their domain specific knowledge with the knowledge of how to achieve the right conditions within the teams they lead (as a necessary prerequisite to sustained school improvement)

-tackle the recruitment and retention crisis upstream by shifting to a dual focus on the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of school improvement

If you’ve read up to this point in the blog, I’m sorry to say I don’t yet have an answer. But a few colleagues of mine (the formidable duo Sarah Cottinghatt and Nimish Lad) have been thinking deeply about this, with the support of our dear mentor, Oli Caviglioli.

We’ve been fascinated by the notion of ‘Naturalistic Decision Making’ (Klein 2014) and spent many hours considering how we help leaders ‘on the court’ and ‘in the moment’ with real life situations that happen in real schools (that quite often we don’t really discuss widely for many reasons!) Not in vignettes or scenarios that avoid the messy stuff of school leadership. In ones that capture the real nuance and allow leaders to discuss solutions, collectively, in a low stakes way.

That’s when we came up with the idea for Get Real Leadership Hub. A community-led platform, where realistic school scenarios are released fortnightly and educational leaders have a chance to respectfully debate, discuss and sensemake. We will share useful links, reading and expert opinions related to the scenario and empower leaders to think deeply about implementation, in a way they might not otherwise be able to. It’s all free, it’s not overly shiny, and it’s generated by the collective knowledge of leaders in the sector. There are also no ‘right answers’ to the scenario. It’s not about getting to the answer, it’s about how you find the solution (hat tip to all my maths teachers out there!)

It’s certainly not the finished product but we work on a simple premise:

‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better’ Maya Angelou.

And even if one leader in the sector benefits from GetReal, we will consider it a job well done. Please follow us on X and Bluesky and be part of the solution, the conversation and the community. It’s time to Get Real.