Stakeholder Perceptions of Outstanding Leadership in Schools and Colleges in England

The paper reports on the findings of a BELMAS funded research and development project which has investigated the characteristics of outstanding leadership in different educational contexts. These contexts include different age phases of education: primary, secondary and further education; and different settings: schools and colleges in urban and rural locations and selective and non-selective schools. The findings thus connect with the conference theme of “Educational leadership for a global society: challenges, dilemmas and ways forward” in that we offer a tool that can be used for leadership development in different settings and a set of characteristics of outstanding leadership which have been validated by different stakeholders. The tool might help to advance current thinking about how outstanding leaders of single organisations can be identified with the necessary skills to lead a number of schools in a collaboration, for example the fast growing area of a CEO leading a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or a collaboration of schools. The aim of the project is to gather, collate and synthesise different stakeholders’ perceptions of characteristics of outstanding leadership using Q-method, bringing together theory, practice and research on outstanding leadership in a range of contexts. Q-methodology is a research method which originates from psychology and is used to study people's subjective viewpoints. We have applied the methodology to the study of enacted leadership practice in different educational contexts, using PQ software for data analysis. The project has involved collaboration between school and college leaders, governing bodies and university staff who provide education and professional development programmes in leadership and management. The sample of stakeholders who have contributed to the analysis presented in this paper consists of school and college leaders, governors, middle leaders, teachers, teacher educators, researchers and scholars in educational leadership and management research and practice. We propose that the characteristics of outstanding leadership identified through this research are applicable to other countries and the wider BELMAS membership, particularly in improving knowledge of outstanding leadership and management practice in collaborative environments. The research has been match funded by the University of Worcester.