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This paper is one of four related to our project on ‘Networked management learning for educational leaders’. In this first paper we will focus on the question, what is networked management learning, and why is it potentially important or significant for leadership development in the learning and skills sector? A prior issue to address is that of what notion or concept of leadership we are seeking to develop through networked management learning. As Keith Grint argues, leadership is a contested concept ‘because it remains contested exactly how we recognise, train and exert leadership depends fundamentally on that first definitional step’ (Grint, 2005) It is not our intention in this paper to review possible definitions and ways of thinking about leadership, as other [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL projects have already done this to great effect. Instead, we intend to simply explain the view we take to leadership, we feel this is important when considering networked management learning as a development approach for educational leaders in the learning and skills sector.

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This report draws together thinking and discussion developed during the course of six seminars held by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership between October 2007 and March 2008 and chaired by Fiona Millar. The seminars involved leaders from across the UK further education [FE] and skills sector, including from government and partner bodies. The aims of the seminar series overall were set out as follows: to provide a space for considered and challenging discussion about the implications of policy developments for leadership in the FE system; to ensure that leadership thinking in the FE system takes account of the wider and longer-term public service reform agenda; to maximise the contribution of FE to place-shaping and to the achievement of wider public value outcomes in partnership with other public service providers; and to contribute to shaping the vision of the FE system for the next phase of development.

In the report, the discussions are clustered together under a number of salient themes, focusing in particular on the messages for strategic thinking and sector leadership. These themes are 'about the sector as a whole sector', 'about the sector and government', 'about the sector and the wider public service community', 'about managing operations', and 'about building sector capacity'. Appendix one contains a summary of the keynote presentations and appendix two provides a list of participants. The keynotes are as follows: A new era of ambition for the FE systems: the challenges for leadership / Ian Watmore; Learning from local government / Paul Coen; Competition with ethics: learning from the corporate sector / Simon Williams, Elaine McMahon; HE, FE and skills: realising ambitions through strategic alliance / Christine King, Gill Howland, Graham Moore, Helen Pegg; Learning innovation and the business we're in / Mike Gibbons, Peter Davidson; Further education and skills: delivering the promise / Nick Pearce.

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This collection of [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL research reports examines the development of middle leaders. The focus on developing the skills and abilities of middle leaders and facilitating their succession into senior leadership positions raises key challenges for both the [learning and skills] sector and for CEL. This edited collection presents four research reports that examine the impact of leadership development initiatives within the sector. In particular, the following reports examine the conditions, processes and consequences of solutions focussed coaching, emotional intelligence training, competence based standards to support performance and succession planning. These research findings highlight a number of important policy implications for CEL as well as for leadership development both in theory and practice. They disclose some of the strengths and also some of the pitfalls of contemporary development and succession programmes. The research reports are: The impact of ‘solutions focussed’ coaching on a college’s leadership culture / Ed Sallis and Peter Hubert; Smart leadership: a partner approach to growing your own leaders / Harriet Marland and Julia Pollock; Managing managers’ competence and developing leaders / Philip Barker with Janet Brewer; Succession planning for colleges: the transition into leadership positions in further education colleges in England / John Evans.

Published summary with table of contents.

This series of volumes, designed to showcase research produced by practitioners in the UK learning and skills sector (LSS) on important leadership-related themes, is indexed from TD/TNC 94.387 to TD/TNC 94.391. Show less

This report presents research into how leaders with a wide range of characteristics can be integrated productively into the leadership of the further education sector; that is in a way which cherishes rather than deletes difference, fully utilises the potential benefits of a more diverse leadership and allows all to contribute to leadership and value the process. Diversity is a central concept in this work, defined as encompassing the full range of characteristics found in further education staff. The research constructed five cases using interviews with individual leaders in numerous roles, and observation of leadership groups at work in meetings. The research found that: there is a gap between the publicly stated commitment to equality and inclusion and the experience of individual leaders. There is also a gulf between the progress which senior leaders hope has been made and how others assess it; both formal and informal hierarchies open or close pathways to leadership and lend or deny power to those in leadership roles. The informal hierarchy is created by the complex judgment staff make about the status of an individual based on the interplay of their identities. Some aspects of identity, such as gender or ethnicity, may be assessed in such a way as to result in considerable disadvantage; formal procedures in group meetings, largely dominated by the chair, are intended to increase efficiency. A secondary effect is to create barriers to inclusion; how people are heard within meetings and decision making is influenced by their place in the formal and informal hierarchy; there is some wariness and inhibition in discussing issues of diversity and equality; individual staff have complex and multiple identities which they adjust to gain access to and to survive or thrive in leadership. This may involve spotlighting or suppressing aspects of their identity. The report makes a number of recommendations for changes in policy and practice at national and organisational level.

Excerpt from published excecutive summary.

Papers from the 'Integrating diversity in leadership' project are indexed from TD/TNC 94.366 to TD/TNC 94.368. Show less

This collection of [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL research reports examines leadership and quality improvement. It highlights a number of important policy implications for the [learning and skills] sector, for CEL and for leadership both in theory and practice. These CEL research reports highlight a number of key messages for leading quality improvement and organisational change in the sector. They demonstrate the importance of communication, consultation, clarity and shared understanding as preconditions for the effective implementation of quality improvement. Achieving employee buy-in to the change programme is particularly important. The reports also reveal the multiplicity of possible leadership approaches and how their effectiveness is often contingent on context. Section one, 'Leading quality improvement', contains the following reports: Beyond coasting: from good to great / Gill Alton, Biddy Rowe, Amanda Rudolph and Paul Smith; Good to great: the experience of FE institutions / Tony Jowitt and Jill Westerman; To what extent are 'outstanding' FE colleges learning organizations? / David Vasse. Section two, 'Leading organisational change', contains the following reports: Leading e-learning during organisational transformation / Norman Borrett; Meeting the FE leadership challenge: dynamic markets, employer engagement, risk and innovation / Pauline Parrett and Michelle Lomax; Pursuing excellence through a theory of change approach: a skills for life case study / Ian Hunter and Simon Penhall.

Published summary with table of contents.

This series of volumes, designed to showcase research produced by practitioners in the UK learning and skills sector (LSS) on important leadership-related themes, is indexed from TD/TNC 94.387 to TD/TNC 94.391. Show less

This paper is one of four related to our project on ‘Networked management learning for educational leaders’. In the first paper in this series, we defined leadership as a relational process that takes place within a ‘relational space’. We believe that in order for learning to take place, it is important to create a safe space for people to engage in dialogue, share ideas, and reflect on their professional experience. Our research shows that people in the learning and skills sector are already involved in creating online spaces in order to network, reflect on shared practices, and stay in touch. By engaging with the technologically supported networks that already exist for people in the sector, our research aims to: (1) understand how people in the sector are already creating learning spaces and find out what this tells us about their learning styles and preferences; and (2) suggest ways in which we could draw on this understanding to create learning spaces that address the needs of current and future leaders in the sector. To sum up, we are interested in understanding how people learn in online spaces, both formally and informally. Our research sees online networks not just as a resource that is used by people who happen to be leaders, but as a relational space where people construct their identities as leaders through a process of dialogue and reflection.

Excerpt from published introduction. Show less

This paper is one of four related to our project on ‘Networked management learning for educational leaders’. In this working paper we explore in more depth networks and networked learning and the possibility of relationships involving weak ties and looser and less focused groupings. We take the view that strong and weak links are not mutually exclusive but rather that we might find that the strong ties found in community and collaboration are special cases of a rather more general set of phenomena found in networks and involving ties with a variety of forms and strengths.

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This project explored how general further education colleges use systematic performance management to help progress their ambition of excellence. Most colleges we surveyed are now committed to excellence, yet no single conception of excellence prevails. Three conceptions were explored: learner value, employability value and public value. The research highlighted the critical role of middle managers and the need to build their confidence and skills in this area. Performance management did not work in isolation and successful colleges nurtured the climate, culture and values required to support it. Change in this direction was initiated through strong leadership from the principal and senior team but leaders recognised that to sustain progress in the longer term more distributed leadership was needed based on a shared set of values. Principals did not see their colleges as mere agencies of government but as forces for change and regeneration in their localities and beyond.

Excerpts from published executive summary. Show less

This report presents findings from an action-based investigation into faith support and chaplaincy in further education (FE) colleges and schools. The research findings are presented using three case studies. The first case study examines the first six months of setting up a faith support team at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College (OCVC). There are useful lessons to learn and practical suggestions for other FE colleges embarking on setting up a multi-faith team. The second case study demonstrates the importance of leadership in a faith school; how the strength of leadership permeates throughout the school and through its pupils; the impact of leadership on chaplaincy arrangements and outcomes. The third case study demonstrates arrangements for faith support in a college in the North West, a college in some ways similar to OCVC. Again the commitment of senior leadership is paramount to the success of the work around values, beliefs and faiths. Integrated into the research findings are leader, pupil, student and chaplain voices including a wider range of schools and colleges. A concern is highlighted for school leavers and how they could find a vacuum around faith support in some FE colleges. The report concludes by summarising the positive impact faith support can have in a college. A set of recommendations is provided for colleges about to embark on setting up a multi-faith support team at the end of the report.

Published executive summary. Show less

This volume of four [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL research reports reinforces the growing interest in collaborative leadership by presenting case study examples from the UK learning and skills sector (LSS). The first two case studies describe practices in [further education] FE colleges whilst the second two are drawn from adult learning. Addressing the important inter-relationships between collaborative leadership, quality improvement and sustainable organisational change, these four research reports highlight a number of important policy implications for the sector, for CEL and for leadership both in theory and practice. The research reports are: Collaborative leadership in a study centre context / Kathleen M Gardner, Patricia M. Woolford and John Colvin; Collaborative leadership in FE-led multi-agency partnerships: a local, national and trans-European perspective / Greg Dean; Curriculum development for adult learning through collaborative leadership / Katie Clarricoates, Sharon Cope and Peter Sapsford; Exploring a consortium model for adult learning provision / Rose-Marie Best, Rosemary Sloman, Neville Hayles and Sandy Hathaway.

Published summary with table of contents.

This series of volumes, designed to showcase research produced by practitioners in the UK learning and skills sector (LSS) on important leadership-related themes, is indexed from TD/TNC 94.387 to TD/TNC 94.391. Show less