The Researching Sustainable School Leadership (ReSSLe) project explored the training, supply, retention and wider sustainability of senior school leadership across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Across the UK, the appetite for headship among middle and senior leaders is widely seen to have diminished, with many put off by the demands of the role. Employers in all three nations report reduced numbers of applicants for headship. Nevertheless, most schools have been able to recruit in recent years, even if some places and types of school have faced greater levels of challenge. For this reason, we argue the UK does not face an immediate pipeline crisis – with ‘yet’ as a crucial caveat, signalling significant risks. Key among these is that school leadership – particularly headship – is widely seen as unsustainable. The proportion of heads who say they are ‘mostly’ or ‘sometimes sinking’ range from nearly a third in Scotland (30%), to around one in five in England (22%) and Northern Ireland (19%). Common drivers of unsustainability include: poor work-life balance and unreasonable workloads; issues with staff; finance and resource constraints; and SEND, behaviour and inclusion challenges. But not all leaders are in crisis – indeed, several interviewees described headship as “the best job in the world”. The research identifies what sustains leaders and the features of thriving leadership. Paradoxically, for many leaders, the fact that the job is tough is what makes it so rewarding, meaning that leaders can be thriving and sinking at the same time, or, perhaps more accurately, thriving one day or one week, but sinking the next. This webinar explores these findings and the issues they highlight, asking what can be done to make leadership more sustainable across the UK?
Speakers:
Toby Greany is a Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham. His research is focused on how policy and practice interact to shape educational opportunities and outcomes, in particular across local systems and through networks, and the nature and role of leadership in these processes. He has led studies funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Education Endowment Foundation, Nuffield Foundation, Wellcome Trust and England’s Department for Education. His most recent book – Leading Educational Networks: Theory, Policy and Practice (Bloomsbury, 2022) – was co-authored with Dr Annelies Kamp, University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Tom Perry is a Reader in Education and Director of Postgraduate Research in the School of Education, Learning and Communication Sciences at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on the use of research, evidence and data in education policy and practice, including school leadership, system improvement, and evidence-informed decision making. He has led and collaborated on studies funded by organisations including the Education Endowment Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Nuffield Foundation. His work explores how education systems generate, mobilise and use knowledge to improve educational outcomes and professional practice.
Mike Collins is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. He has previously worked as a senior leader in schools, for a Local Authority, for the National College for School Leadership, and for the Department for Education in England. His research interests focus on educational leadership and complexity. His doctoral research explored the emergence of executive leadership in a Multi Academy Trust. He worked on and led strands of the ESRC funded Sustainable School Leadership research, and is currently working on projects funded by the Nuffield Foundation and EEF.