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• Leading schools
  • Leading personalised learning
    • Leadership for personalised learning
      • Learning-centred leadership
        • Making it happen
        • Vignettes

Learning-centred leadership

Learning-centred leadership is a set of strategies which influence the quality of learning and teaching in classrooms.

Learning-centred leaders influence in three ways:

• directly  - where leaders' actions directly influence school outcomes
• indirectly - where leaders affect outcomes indirectly through other variables
• reciprocally - when the leader or leaders influence teachers and teachers influence the leaders and through these processes outcomes are affected (Hallinger and Heck).

Although all three forms of influence can be seen in the work of headteachers and other leaders, it is the indirect effects which are the largest and most common. The reason for this is that leaders work with and through others - headteachers, deputies and heads of department and key stages all rely on colleagues to put into practice agreed ways of working. Whatever leaders wish to see happening is contingent on others actually putting it into practice.

So saying, what emerges from research (Southworth), and from leaders with whom we have worked, is that effective leaders know this and work very carefully on their indirect effects. In other words, effective school leaders work directly on their indirect influence.

They do this through various processes which can be summarised as three interrelated strategies:

• modelling - modelling is concerned with the power of example. Teachers and headteachers believe in setting an example because they know this influences pupils and colleagues alike.
• monitoring - monitoring includes analysing and acting on pupil progress and outcome information, such as assessment and test scores, evaluation data, school performance trends, opinion surveys for parents, pupil attendance data and interviews with pupils
• dialogue - dialogue in this context is about creating opportunities for teachers to talk with one another about learning and teaching. Leaders create the circumstances for teachers to meet colleagues and discuss pedagogy and pupil learning.

"The head models what leadership is: this has made us all more effective leaders and we can see a palpable improvement in our personal vision and capacity and our own growth into the leadership role." (Headteacher, Birches Head High School)

Case studies

The full case studies provide practical examples of how leaders are putting the ideas behind personalising learning into practice. Brief examples (vignettes) relating to learning-centred leadership are also available.

• Full case studies
• Vignettes

Making it happen:practical tools

Use these practical tools to review this topic.

Reflective questions

Q: Do leaders have a shared understanding of what constitutes learning in your school? How is this expressed? Where has it come from? Who is responsible for it?

Q: How do leaders use monitoring and evaluation to affect learning outcomes for all?

Q: Do leaders’ actions demonstrate a commitment to personalised learning?

Q: What do staff perceive as their role in leading learning?

Q: In what ways do leaders use professional conversations to influence personalised learning in schools?

Q: Where are leaders’ strengths in relation to learning-centred leadership?

Related publications and resources

• Learning-centred leadership toolkit
• What we know about school leadership
• Success and sustainability: developing the strategically-focused school
• Seven strong claims about successful school leadership

Leadership for personalising learning: a framework