Seeding sustainable leader learning communities

This paper details a concerted strategy to design, implement and embed school leadership learning communities as a way of improving education leadership and school improvement. Given the impact of school leaders on school and student outcomes, the paper holds that knowledgeable, ethical and connected leaders are a key ingredient in any improvement effort. The philosophy underpinning a suite of programmes for local and international educators holds that to be worthwhile, learning must be context-based and context-placed; and focus on building enduring learning networks, not simply on the transmission of established knowledge. For this to happen, strategies must adapt to fluid school realities and disentangle traditional learning hierarchies and institutional boundaries. Design strategies combine: respect for new and emerging knowledge, 'flexibility within structure', individual and group responsibility and participation, inquiry learning, an ethical focus and holding a future-orientation. The paper will outline an initiative designed for leaders of international schools. Ongoing research into completed programmes provides a number of useful insights for making sustainable leadership learning networks work and for planning their further spread.