School-based Continuing Professional Development: the Role of School Leaders

Zambian Education School-based Training (ZEST) is an innovative programme aimed at improving teaching in line with policy aspirations in Zambia. It draws on existing roles, structures and processes whilst making innovative use of technology and resources, to support teaching and to challenge attitudes which can limit achievement. A programme of research has been designed to better understand school-based continuing professional development (SBCPD) at a school-level. This presentation focuses on one strand of that research: school leaders. It seeks to make explicit what it is that school leaders do to support successful innovation. // ZEST is based on the policy aspiration that teaching should be more learner-centred, and defines learner-centredness in terms of attitudes, values and relationships, rather than a set of required practices. This paper will draw on the literature to suggest what ‘learner-centred leadership’ could look like. It will present data from interviews and observations gathered during a two-day visit to each of six schools to explore head teachers’ leadership of innovation. A purposive sample of schools was chosen, based on their successful engagement with ZEST as evidenced through new ways of working, new attitudes to learners, and the successful use of technology. // The presentation will provide case studies of successful school leaders and will highlight what it means to innovate, identifying key drivers and constraints in the Zambian context. The findings will be relevant to others working on the continent.