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TREVOR MALE: I'm Trevor Male.I've been working in education for over 40 years now.I've worked in universities.I've worked in local educational authorities.And I've worked in schools as a teacher.I am an expert-- or I have expertise--in educational leadership.And I'm going to be talking to you todayabout learner-centered leadership, or leadershipfor learning.In this tutorial I'll be taking youthrough some of the leadership behaviors thatsupport student learning.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And to do that, we're going to look at how the theory base hasdeveloped over the years.What are the key elements of those theory bases,and what this means to you in practice.When you do your research in this field,you're going to come across a number of phrases thatsound as though they're talking about the same thing.Instructional leadership.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: Learning center leadership.Learner centered leadership.And pedagogical leadership.What happened was, back in the 1970s, a lot of researchwas starting to emerge in Americathat showed there were some principals who were havingan unusual effect on schools where normally,poor children were struggling.And the theory was investigated and producedby a guy called Ron Edmonds, who talkedabout the notion of instructional leadership.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And what he was actually talking aboutwas the intervention of principalsinto the learning process.It seems strange to talk about principals and headteachers intervening, because you'dthink that would be their job.What's happened over the years is that, in America, theyhad set up a system whereby the control of the curriculumand the management of the teacherswas actually done at the school district level,rather than at the building level, whichis where the principal was located.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: But in some schools which were unusually effective,the principals had actually been taking a direct interestin what was going on in the classroom.And out of this grew a theory base which becamecalled instructional leadership.And during the 1980s, this became like a small industryin America, by which there were degree courses.There were doctoral theses, and much, much research.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: Eventually people started talkingabout learning centered leadership, ratherthan instructional leadership.Because the difference between the two terms is youstart to think about the actual teaching and learning process,rather than just about the teaching.The distinction was then translated acrossto us in the UK, and across Europe.It was then started to be called learner centered leadership.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And the difference between that isthat the focus became very much more on the learner,rather than on the teacher.And so we started to see a growth of learnercentered approaches, whereby there was an attemptto individualize the learning program for students,to maximize outputs.The critique of these approaches,however, is that they became more about what the school wasachieving, rather than the individual.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: There's been a huge concentrationon both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed across Europe,in terms of maximizing student outcomes on standard assessmenttasks.Many of the people were more concernedwith the outputs of the students in terms of achievementor attainment on standard assessment tasksthan they were about developing the individual students.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: So the critique was taken further,as we developed new models and approachesto learner centered leadership, particularly learner centeredleadership, which looked at the way in which we could supportyoung people as they became better adults,or made the transition into adulthood.I, amongst other people, started lookingat the way in which we could develop the learningenvironment to help young people not only achieveon standard assessment tasks, but alsoto become very effective adults in future life.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: This sits in the context, as well,of the 21st century and the digital age,where we're actually needing young peopleto be able to develop knowledge, rather than to begiven knowledge.So my partner and I-- in terms of writing partner--developed this concept of pedagogical leadership, wherewe reexamined pedagogy in the light of the 21st century.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And what we're trying to suggest nowis that there needs to be a recognition that learning justdoesn't take place within the school setting.And we are looking to go beyond the immediacy of that building,and try and engage the rest of their livesand the community in which they work.The core ambition of this approachis to help young people not only transcend their own community,but to help their community develop as well.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: So we're looking for ways in which we can involvethe experience, expertise, within the local community,as well as within the school.Now, all children, all young people workin an environment where they have their peer group,they have their family group, and theyspend very little of their time actually in the formal learningsituation.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: So that's where pedagogical leadershipstarts to look at the local issues, whatwe call the internal prerogatives of providinga curriculum, and the external, which are the ones normallypromoted by government or society,and trying to get an appropriate balance.And an effective pedagogical leaderis the one who's actually developinga learner centered approach to each individual,and exercising differentiation in it's truest sense,but also matching the expectationsof society and government.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: Key elements of this approach were probably best developedby a guy called Geoff Southworth, who was at one timethe deputy director of the NationalCollege for School Leadership in England.What he identified was that therewere three key elements to the process of being a learnercentered leader-- modelling, monitoring, and dialogue.Now what he means by modelling isto model the types of behavior that you want otherswithin the organization to exhibit.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: So if you want your teachers, you want your teachingassistants, you want your support staffto support student learning, thenyou are showing yourself to take an interest in whatthose people bring to the situation.So you talk to children.You understand children.You're prepared to listen to listen to them,you are modelling good behavior.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: The monitoring process most peopleare familiar with now is what's actually going onin the learning situation is being observed,and is being evaluated in some ways.Now one of the nicest things-- about the only nice thingthat's happened in education policyfor about the last 25 years-- hasbeen a close focus on the way in which we are watchinghow people behave in the classroom setting,in the immediate learning environment.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: So the monitoring part of this process is critical.Which leads nicely onto the third element,which is dialogue.Which, as a leader, constantly talkingwith your practitioners, those whoare at the operational level, those who are at the learninginterface.And actually talking to them about whatis good practice, how you can improve practice,and what are the new elements of theory and ideasthat can be brought to the learning situation.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: What this means to educational leaders--those who are in formal leadership positions--is that they really do need to understand howyoung people learn and be able to get other peoplethey're working with to be able to deliver effectivelearning as a result of this.So you need to build up your understandingabout the psychology of learning.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And you need to be able to get other people to havethe capability to reach those learning needs of eachand every student that you have in your schoolor in your setting.I hope in this tutorial you'll beable to see that the effective leadership for learningtakes into account the learning needs of every individual,expects you to have a diagnostic capabilitywithin your organization, and then produceand effective response to those learning needs.

TREVOR MALE [continued]: And if you're going to take accountof the pedagogical leadership that we present--model we present-- then you'll alsobe trying to do that in the context of the localityand the local society and communityin which you are located.