Australian School Library Association > Publications > Commentary Vol 18 Issue 4 2004

Parallel leadership for 21st century schools  (Volume 18 Issue 4, 2004)

Dorothy Andrews and Marian Lewis

Dr Dorothy Andrews is director of the Leadership Research Institute at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).  Dorothy is also Associate Dean (Research and Development) in the Faculty of Education.  Dr Marian Lewis, a member of the Leadership Research Institute, is program co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Education (Primary and Middle Schooling) at USQ. Dorothy and Marian have been members of the IDEAS Core Team since 1999.  In 2003, the team was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders, in recognition for its research and for its work with schools in the development of leadership capacity.

(The views expressed in articles are those of the author(s) concerned and do not necessarily represent the views of ASLA.)

When you first encounter the notion of parallel leadership (Crowther et al. 2001; Crowther, Hann & McMaster 2001a), you may be left wondering how these two words might relate to each other and what the term could mean in a school context. Parallelism is a term rich with meaning: in music, in language, in mathematics, in computer science, and in philosophy (Crowther et al. 2002).  In diverse ways, it expresses relationships between elements that are individual yet complementary. When combined with leadership, parallelism can be used to capture a process where teacher leaders work with principal leaders, in distinctive yet complementary ways, towards goals they all share. In combination, they create the concept of parallel leadership, a concept with significant meaning for the work of teachers in 21st century schools.

Our work with parallel leadership is within the context of a whole-school renewal project known as Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS). Since 1998, more than 150 Queensland schools have taken part in the project, which was developed by the University of Southern Queensland in partnership with Education Queensland. In 2002, IDEAS moved into a Federal Department of Employment, Science and Training-sponsored national trial, involving schools in the ACT, New South Wales and Western Australia. Parallel leadership is an underpinning concept of IDEAS.

Change and leadership

It is not new to say that the work of schools and of teachers has become increasingly complex in a rapidly changing globalised world. The magnitude of the challenge now faced by schools is illustrated by the following quotation:

‘…there is taking place now a shift in the way our world is organised and the way in which we see reality; therefore, there has to be a parallel paradigm shift in schools in order that they do not become asynchronous with the society that they intend to serve.’ (Bowring-Carr & West-Burnham 1997, p. 38)

Schools are being given the central role in ensuring our future national prosperity and stability, dealing with many of the problems arising from the transition into a post-industrial world. Teachers are expected to cater for the needs of their increasingly diverse student cohorts and to prepare them for success in a future that cannot be predicted. Meeting the challenges posed by the transition from the industrial age to the knowledge age requires the development of new ways of working and, within that, new forms of leadership. If schools are to succeed in meeting their challenges and enhancing their effectiveness, educational leadership needs to be conceptualised more broadly.

Traditionally, leadership in schools has been associated with positional authority and primarily seen as ‘top-down’, that is, the province and responsibility of the school principal. While this view may have had some justification in the industrial age, it is inadequate in meeting the challenges of the post-industrial, knowledge-based world (Andrews et al.2004; Crowther 2002). More recent views of educational leadership tend to recognise the potential of much more broadly based types of leadership within the school community (Clarke & Dempster 2003). Parallel leadership is a particularly powerful understanding of shared leadership with ‘teacher leaders and their principals engaging in collaborative action to build capacity. It embodies mutualism, shared purpose and respect for individual expression and contribution’ (Crowther, Hann & McMaster 2001b, p, 14).

New paradigm

Parallel leadership is a way of describing teacher leaders working in parallel with administrator leaders to build on their school’s successes and enhance their achievements— together building their desired future for the school. It encompasses the notions of teachers as leaders, of teacher leaders working in parallel with principal leaders and of principals leading in ways that enable teacher leadership. Each of these will be considered, followed by an example of parallel leadership in action.

Teachers as leaders

Crowther et al. (2002) argue that educational leadership in the post-industrial world must involve teacher leadership, which they recognise as having ‘the power to transform the teaching and learning in a school’ (p. xvii). Research into the work of teacher-leaders conducted by the Leadership Research Institute (LRI) at the University of Southern Queensland has tried to describe teacher leadership and to outline its essential features. The following definition emerges from that work:

Teacher leadership derives from the distinctive power of teaching to shape meaning for children, youth, and adults. It originates in principled world views and manifests in processes of learning that engage the school community in concerted action. It contributes to enhanced quality of life of the community in the long term. It appears to reach its potential in contexts where system and school structures are facilitative and supportive (Crowther et al. 2001, p, 70).

LRI research confirms that it is possible to describe teacher leadership in quite definitive terms, as outlined in the following Teachers as Leaders framework (adapted from Crowther et al. 2002, pp. 4-5). Teacher leaders:

Convey convictions about a better world, for example, by articulating a positive future for their students and contributing to an image of teachers as professionals who make a difference

Strive for authenticity in their teaching, learning and assessment practices, for example, by creating learning experiences related to students’ needs and connecting teaching, learning, and assessment to children’s futures

Facilitate communities of learning through organisation-wide processes, for example, by encouraging a shared, schoolwide approach to pedagogy and facilitating understanding across diverse groups while also respecting individual differences

Confront barriers in the school’s culture and structures, for example, by testing the boundaries rather than accepting the status quo and standing up for children, especially marginalised or disadvantaged individuals or groups

Translate ideas into systems of action, for example, by maintaining focus on issues of importance and nurturing networks of support

Nurture a culture of success, for example, by adopting a no-blame attitude when things go wrong and acting on opportunities for others to gain success and recognition.

Parallel leadership

Parallel leadership involves teachers and principals working collaboratively (in complementary but different ways) to build the capacity of the school to enhance its outcomes, particularly in relation to teaching and learning. This is what King and Newmann (2000) call ‘enhanced organisational capacity’, and what some other researchers have called ‘value-addedness’. As Walsey points out:

‘Simply put, new and different working relationships need to be established between teachers and administrators in order for any new leadership role to make a positive and lasting contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning in any given setting' (cited in Sherril 1999, p. 57).

Parallel leadership is a concept that arises from emerging views of educational leadership as something that is shared or distributed across the school. But, as Crowther et al. (2002) point out, it is different in two significant ways:

It sees the leadership of principals and teachers in school reform as similar in significance (they are different but equivalent).

It recognises today’s schools as learning organisations and assumes an inextricable link between school-based leadership and the enhancement of educational outcomes.

Parallel leadership has three distinct characteristics: mutualism, a sense of shared purpose, and allowance for individual expression (Crowther et al. 2001). The first characteristic, mutualism, is a form of mutual trust and respect between teacher leaders and the principal leader—as each accepts the responsibilities and expertise that are associated with the role of the other. An environment of mutual trust and respect supports the generation of new ideas and the valuing of others’ expertise.

The second characteristic, a sense of shared purpose, appears to have its origins in a shared commitment to explicit values such as the integrity of teaching or the need for social justice. It tends to develop most effectively in contexts characterised by transparent decision processes, collaborative problem-solving and positive communications (Andrews et al. 2004) .

The third characteristic of parallel leadership relates to the allowance of a significant degree of individual expression (and action) by respective leaders. Initially, this may seem contrary to concepts such as teamwork, collegiality and consensus decision-making. However, LRI research clearly indicates that highly successful parallel leaders have manifested strong convictions about individual values as well as a capacity to accommodate the values of co-leaders and work collaboratively with them.

The following definition of parallel leadership incorporates these three characteristics:

Parallel leadership engages teacher leaders and administrator leaders in collaborative action, while at the same time encouraging the fulfilment of their individual capabilities, aspirations and responsibilities. It leads to strengthened alignment between the school’s vision and the school’s teaching and learning practices. It facilitates the development of a professional learning community, culture building and schoolwide approaches to teaching and learning. It makes possible the enhancement of school identity, teachers’ professional esteem, community support, and students’ achievements (Crowther et al. 2001, p. 73).

Principal’s role

From our research into successful school revitalisation, undertaken largely in conjunction with the IDEAS project, the LRI has reached four fundamental conclusions regarding the principal’s leadership role in 21st century schools:

  • The principalship remains critically important to educational success.
  • The principals who engender sustained success do so because they work in parallel with other school leaders including teacher leaders.
  • Principals take on a metastrategic role, along the lines developed by Limerick, Cunnington and Crowther (1998).
  • Since parallel leadership cannot occur without teacher leadership, principals must be competent in enabling teacher leadership and subsequent parallel leader relationships.

It can be convincingly argued, therefore, that parallel leadership plays a vital role in successful and sustainable school renewal, and that teacher leadership is essential to parallel leadership. It follows that principals seeking to work in parallel with teacher leaders need to enable and support teacher leadership in their school. This presents challenges for principals. In summary, these challenges are:

  • to communicate a clear strategic intent
  • to incorporate the ideas and aspirations of others
  • to pose difficult-to-answer questions
  • to make space for individual innovation
  • to know when to step back
  • to create opportunities out of perceived difficulties
  • to build on achievements to create a culture of success.
  • (adapted from Crowther et al. 2002)

These challenges may pose difficulties for principals who continue to equate leadership with positional authority or who rely mainly on systemic support structures to provide the direction for their schools. Evidence suggests, however, that most principals derive deep satisfaction from their efforts to develop the leadership capabilities of teachers and to establish new forms of leadership with them. They also find that the effectiveness of their schools increases in important ways.

Creative process

The three aspects of the parallel leadership paradigm outlined above suggest that school leadership should be approached as essentially a creative process. Through this kind of leadership:

‘…new and powerful forms of knowledge can be stimulated, revitalised identity in our school communities can be established, and challenging new professional roles for teachers can be activated. Images of this sort are far removed from the authoritarian control that was frequently associated with school-based leadership a generation ago, or even the hierarchical accountability that tended to dominate educational thinking just a decade ago' (Andrews et al. 2004, p. 22).

The school’s engagement in a whole-school revitalisation process, as outlined in the case study, is a process that centres on the work of teachers. In the process of developing a distinctive school culture through the vision and schoolwide pedagogy, teacher leaders work in parallel with administrator leaders. Teachers develop their pedagogic leadership role while administrator leaders take on a strategic leadership role. The dynamics of developing this distinctiveness is shown in figure 1.

Source: Andrews & Crowther 2002, p. 154.

Figure 1: Parallel leadership and enhanced school outcomes.

School-based leadership is an important factor in enhancing capacity to improve student outcomes (Crowther et al. 2001; Crowther, Hann & McMaster 2001a). Through parallel leadership, three school-based processes can be activated and integrated. These processes are: schoolwide culture building; organisation-wide professional learning; and development of a schoolwide approach to pedagogy. LRI research has consistently shown that through engagement in a process (in this case the IDEAS process), teachers learn together in their professional community, develop an agreed schoolwide pedagogy and transpose this into practice. It is through the interaction and alignment of these processes that school communities are able to enhance their capacity to improve school outcomes.

References

Andrews D, Conway J, Lewis M, McMaster J, Morgan A & Starr H 2004, School revitalisation: the IDEAS way, ACEL Monograph Series 34, Australian Council for Educational Leaders, Melbourne, Victoria.

 

Andrews D & Crowther F 2002, 'Parallel leadership: a clue to the content of the "black box" of school reform', International Journal for Educational Management, vol. 16, pp. 152-159.

 

Bowring-Carr C & West-Burnham J 1997, Effective learning in schools: How to integrate learning and leadership in a successful school, Financial Times Pitman Publishing, London, UK.

 

Clarke S & Dempster N 2003, 'New leadership for new times', Leading Matters, vol. 2, no.2, pp. 1-2.

 

Crowther F 2002, 'Big change questions: Is the role of the principal in creating school improvement over-rated?', Journal of Educational Change, vol. 3, pp. 167-173.

 

Crowther F, Andrews D, Dawson M & Lewis M 2001, IDEAS Facilitation Folder, Leadership Research Institute, University of Southern Queensland and Education Queensland.

 

Crowther F, Hann L & McMaster J 2001a, 'Leadership', School Innovation: Pathway to the Knowledge Society, Innovation and Best Practice Consortium, Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Australia.

 

Crowther F, Hann L & McMaster J 2001b, 'Parallel leadership: A new strategy for successful school reform', The Practising Administrator, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 12-14.

 

Crowther F, Kaagan S, Ferguson M & Hann L 2002, Developing Teacher Leaders: How teacher leadership enhances school success, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California.

 

King MB & Newmann FM 2000, 'Will teacher learning advance school goals?' Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 81, pp.576-580.

 

Limerick D, Cunnington B & Crowther F 1998, Managing the New Organisation, (2nd ed),: Business and Professional Publishing, New South Wales.

 

Sherrill J 1999, 'Preparing teachers for leadership roles in the 21st century', Theory into Practice, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 56-61.

Case study

Western State High School—Parallel leadership in action

Western State High School is a large high school on the outskirts of a major provincial Queensland city. The school has experienced considerable growth during the past few years and the school population reflects the cosmopolitan nature of its surrounding community. Within this community, the high rate of youth unemployment is considered to be a major concern.

IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools) was adopted after discussions with the district director. From the school's perspective, no particular expectations were associated with the project at the outset, though interest was high due to the success of a similar ‘re-visioning’ process in the school some years earlier.

The principal and deputy principal assumed major responsibility for initiating IDEAS in mid 1999. A small number of teacher leaders, characterised by the dual qualities of personal assertiveness and professional conviction, quickly assumed key roles and ensured that IDEAS at Western High was very much a teacher-directed process. Potential industrial issues were carefully managed at Western, reflecting, to a large degree, the professional accommodation of the school administration and the professional flexibility of teacher leaders.

A further notable characteristic of IDEAS at Western High was the flexible nature of the involvement of participants, including the very significant role that students played. Perhaps most obvious was the engagement of students in teasing out Western High's pedagogical framework. Surveys were constructed and trialled, and while the open nature of the surveys made data collation complicated, the detail of student responses surprised and pleased the team managing IDEAS. The seriousness with which students treated their involvement in IDEAS since the outset encouraged the school’s IDEAS team to go back to the students with the difficult issue of trying to define the school vision in practical terms.

IDEAS continues to function effectively at Western High, with the pedagogical framework currently going through its third revision. Western teachers move in and out of various roles in the process as they choose to do so. Decisions are taken by consensus. Time is treated flexibly, with deadlines studiously avoided. Communication with more than 80 teachers on staff creates difficulties but these are addressed through regular meetings run by Heads of Department. The clear message that IDEAS is not a ‘have to’ project continues to provide the impetus for authentic and widespread involvement.

In summary, IDEAS leadership at Western High is distinguished by some striking features, including:

  • A proactive, highly integrated senior administration team
  • A cadre of assertive, confident teachers
  • Flexibility in school development and decision processes
  • Systematic processes for pedagogical conceptualisation and refinement
  • Continuous public image building
  • A highly engaged student body.

The experience of Western High illuminates what is possible in state high schools—a source of community identity and pride, an exemplar of sophisticated democratic decision-making, and the generation of new forms of pedagogical meaning through teacher-led professional learning that engages students and parents. Western High has not yet reached its ultimate goal, and may never do so, but it provides strong evidence to support our view that in the communities of the future, state high schools can and should be the central institution.