Evaluation of

Research Article
Vanessa Lebrasseur and Melissa Leonard
 Article:
Successful School
Leadership Across
Contexts and Cultures
(Gurr, 2014)

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Introduction
Qualitative case study
research from:
● International Successful School
Principalship Project (ISSPP)
● International School Leadership
Development Network (ISLDN)
 “ “Whilst successful school
leaders are culturally
sensitive, they seem to be
less constrained by context
than would be expected”
(Gurr, 2014, p. 75).

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 Same leadership across different context and culture

⊷ rich vs. poor

⊷ disadvantaged vs. advantaged
⊷ small vs. big
(student population)
⊷ government vs. independent

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 Principal John Fleming
Educational Philosophy Teachers Students
⊷ teacher - directed ⊷ relationships with ⊷ have teachers who
learning students care for them
⊷ explicit instruction ⊷ high expectations ⊷ have friends
⊷ moving student ⊷ demonstrating ⊷ are given work at
knowledge from the excellent their level of ability
short-term to the presentation skills
long-term memory ⊷ provision of timely
⊷ positive relationships and learning focused
with students feedback
⊷ display of student
work
⊷ getting the right tone
for school

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 Leadership for change – leadership
responding to context and culture
Sustainability of successful leadership to show how principals can
respond in different ways to similar policy contexts

School 1: Morang South Primary School

Principal Jan Shrimpton
⊷ 500 students
⊷ Government primary school
⊷ Outskirts of Melbourne

School 2: Port Philip Specialist School

Principal Bella Irlitch
⊷ 150 students
⊷ Specialist school
⊷ Serving students with intellectual
and associated disabilities from
ages 3-18.
⊷ Inner suburbs of Melbourne
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 Challenges both leaders were faced with:
● Increasing emphasis on the leadership role of principal in improving
teaching and learning through a systemic leadership framework that
emphasised technical, human, educational, symbolic, and cultural
leadership

● Increased school accountability through introduction of a differentiated

review process

● Introduction of a performance and development framework to support

teacher development

● Moves to a national curriculum, national standards for teaching and

school leadership, and public reporting of school performance

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 Similarities vs Differences
Principal Jan Shrimpton
Restorer-Builder
❖ Successful turn over
❖ Maintained for over a decade
❖ Changing external contextual factors
❖ Changing Internal school-culture factors
Not interested in further change for the sake
of change
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Principal Bella Irlitch
Driver-Builder
❖ Consistent improvement
❖ Change was embraced
❖ Inspired school community
❖ High expectations
❖ Developed a shared vision
❖ Developing people and supporting
their leaderships of new initiatives
❖ Inspirational and motivating
behavior
❖ External factors were used as an
advantage
❖ Internal school culture
 Leadership across countries – Australian,
Indonesian and Singaporean models of
successful school leadership

Across cultures and borders

what models are universal for
good successful school
leadership?

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 SINGAPOREAN MODEL OF SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

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 AN INDONESIAN MODEL OF SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

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 Leadership in challenging circumstances – leadership
struggling to respond to context and culture
School 1: Hume Central Secondary College
Principal Glen Proctor (experienced)

⊷ Broadmeadows (suburb of Melbourne)

⊷ Serving people with limited financial resources
⊷ 77% of students are from lower socio-educational
advantage families
Glenn Proctor:
- Built a clear sense of shared direction for the
school
- Focused on establishing a productive and high
expectations culture for students and staff
- Devoted resources to develop staff capacity
- Sought for new ways to improve the school
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- Motivational mantras 2-1
 Leadership in challenging circumstances – leadership
struggling to respond to context and culture
School 2: ----
Principal (first time principal)

⊷ Very remote in Western Australia

⊷ Kindergarten- grade 12
⊷ Aboriginal community
⊷ Plenty of resources
⊷ Staff are usually inexperienced
⊷ Quick turn over
⊷ 61 students but only 20 come to school on a day
to day basis

Principal:
- Primarily relationship focused
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 Leadership in challenging circumstances – leadership
struggling to respond to context and culture

⊷ Human Central
- is firmly established
- is becoming a school of choice
- student learning outcomes are increasing

⊷ Aboriginal School
- rich curriculum provided
- students enjoy being at school when they attend
- learning is happening when they attend
- school is a central part of the community

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 Conclusion

“Leadership for success

is a long and difficult
path.” (p. 86)

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 In summary good leaders:

● high expectations of all

● employ multiple conceptions of leadership and
utilise a core set of practices
● model leadership that is both heroic and
inclusive
● foster collaboration
● acknowledge and embrace their role
● display integrity, trust and transparency
● are people centered
● focus their efforts on the development of others
● are able to lead in challenging contexts and
view challenges as obstacles to overcome
● develop a range of appropriate personal
qualities

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 References

Day, C. (2015). International successful school principalship project (ISSPP): Multi-perspective research on school principals. The

University of Nottingham, Retrieved from:

http://www.uv.uio.no/ils/english/research/projects/isspp/isspp-brochure-27_jul_final_amended.pdf

Drysdale, L. & Gurr, D. (2011). The theory and practice of successful school leadership in Australia. School Leadership and

Management. 31(4). pp. 355-368.

Gurr, D. (2014). Successful School Leadership Across Contexts and Cultures. Leading and Managing. Vol. 20, No. 2. pp.

75-88

Raihani. (2007). Successful School Leadership in Indonesia: A study of the principals’ leadership in three successful senior

secondary schools in Yogyakarta. PhD thesis. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne.

Wang, P.. (2010). Successful School Leadership in Singapore Government Schools. PhD thesis. Melbourne, The University of

Melbourne.

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 Credits
Special thanks to all the people
who made and released these
awesome resources for free:
⊷ Presentation template by
SlidesCarnival
⊷ Photographs by Unsplash

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