Policies
Co-leadership in Switzerland:
There are no policies guiding co-leadership in particular. However the following policies at the Cantonal and local levels describe the responsibilities of school leaders.
Policies in the Canton of Bern
This document (in English) summarizes the most important elements regarding school leadership in the ‘Volksschulgesetz’ (Elementary School Act): organization, school commissions, management, the role of the municipality, teacher recruitment and responsibilities.
Policies for Primary School Roggwil
The documents collected here present policies and regulations implemented at the primary school in Roggwil, Bern, Switzerland, as exemplars of local school leadership regulations.
Migration in Switzerland
Declaration on facilitated naturalization of children and adolescents with a migration background (in French)
Declaration on the principles of sustainable integration into the labor market and society of late arriving adolescents and young adults late in Switzerland (in French)
Integration agenda of the canton Solothurn (in German)
Integration program for the canton Solothurn 2018 – 2021 (in German)
Migrant integration in the canton Solothurn (in German)
Promotion of migrant integration and prevention of racism in the canton of Fribourg (in French)
Articles
School Leadership in Switzerland
School Governance in Switzerland: Tensions between New Roles and Old Traditions
Huber, S. G. (2011). School Governance in Switzerland: Tensions between New Roles and Old Traditions. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 469-485.
Abstract
This article analyses school governance in Switzerland. It elaborates on the different actors involved, their roles and functions, and how these change as school governance in the cantons changes. Quality management is identified as a core activity at all levels and for all actors involved in school governance. In these re-structuring processes, various conflicts and tensions between and within groups of actors become evident. In particular, the governing body experiences an overlap of its tasks with those of other actors. Models to modify the roles and functions of the school governing body on the meso-level are discussed as it becomes clear that all the other actors at both macro- and micro- levels are professionalizing and becoming more differentiated in their functions.
Comparative Perspectives on International School Leadership
Magno, C. S. (2013). Comparative Perspectives on International School Leadership. New York: Routledge. [chapter 3: Perspectives from Switzerland]
Abstract
The Swiss case study traces the development of a new education law primarily in the Canton of Zürich which dictate the installation of schulleiters (school leaders) for the first time there, as Swiss schools had previously not had this type of in-house leader (in the sense of the American “school principal” or in other countries the “school director” or “headteacher”). In addition to revealing a convergence of ideas at the policy level, in which theoretical notions from the United States and New Zealand “traveled” to Switzerland via Swiss university faculty members and policymakers, the study examines the development of leadership preparation programs and current successes and challenges faced by school principals who are implementing the new leadership policy. It suggests that local difference is critical to understanding how what looks similar in policy terms is actually quite unique in practice.
Co-leadership
Wexler Eckman, E. (2018). A Case Study of the Implementation of the Co-Principal Leadership Model. Leadership and Policy in Schools 17(2), 189-203.
ABSTRACT
This case study followed the implementation of the co-principal leadership model in a K–8 school district for three years. A district superintendent implemented the co-principal model to (1) resolve issues around merging existing schools with well-established principals; (2) provide leadership stability and succession planning; and (3) serve as a model for shared decision-making and problem solving. This study combined research with practice by investigating the implementation of the co-principal model as experienced by individual co-principals. The complexities involved in transitioning from the solo principal model to the co-principal model in the schools of one district were evident in this case study.
A Case Study of the Implementation of the CoPrincipal Leadership Model 2018
PTO’s (“Part Time Optimisation”) Guidebook Jobsharing
This guidebook introduces the concepts of job-sharing, part-time employment and co-leading. It points out advantages and possible difficulties and gives concrete implementation ideas based on various models. It also advises on how to find the right partner to share a job and responsibility with as well as how to go separate ways if a job-sharing experience did not go as planned. It is an essential guide for everyone who wants to learn more about the fast-growing field of job-sharing in times where traditional work models are no longer compatible with the modern society.
2014 RATGEBER Jobsharing
Immigration and Schools
School leadership, social justice and immigration
Brooks et al.(2017) – School leadership, social justice and immigration
Culturally Responsive School Leadership: A Synthesis of the Literature
Culturally Responsive School Leadership: A Synthesis of the Literature 2016, Khalifa, Gooden and Davis
Migration and Education
Dustmann, Glitz – Migration and Education
Migration, language and integration (in German)
Migration, language and integration (in German)
How can intercultural school development succeed?
How can intercultural school development succeed? The perspective of teachers and teacher educators
Language acquisition in migrant children’s first and second languages (in German)
Language acquisition in migrant children’s first and second languages (in German)
School Leadership in Azerbaijan
Kazimzade, Elmina (2017). School Principalship Developments in Azerbaijan: Challenges of Professional Development of School Leaders vs. Managers. Network of Education Policy Centers: Lana Jurko.
Abstract
In the last decade school leadership has become a priority in Azerbaijan education policy agendas. The establishment of transparent, results-driven, and effective management mechanisms were highlighted as one of the main goals in the strategic plan for long-term national development 2013-2020 (Azerbaijan–2020, 2013). In education, it is expected that this goal will be realized through the promotion of shared leadership practices and implementation of measures to move from the so-called “memory school” to the school of ideas and thought” (The State Strategy, 2013). In recent years, challenges in the tertiary sector have also received attention from the government of Azerbaijan. A key national objective has been identified as developing human capital through increasing the quality of educational institutions. Azerbaijan seeks to increase investment in education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels; improving educational leadership has been identified as a key development priority (Kazdal, 2017). In this case we examine the dynamics in school principalship policy development including school principal appointment and school principal preparation and training during and after education reforms, covering the period from independence in 1991 to the present, with emphasis on key developments in 1999 and 2014. The following set of questions were used to guide our analytical framework: 1 How have principalship development programs aligned with real school conditions and school management and leadership demands? 2 Who provides educational programs (pre-service and in-service) for working and aspiring school principals? 3 How do school principal appointment policies impact the preparation and training for working and aspiring school principals?
Magno, Cathryn and Kazimzade, Elmina (2011). Entrepreneurial Leadership: Female School Principals in Azerbaijan. In Educational Leadership and Leadership Education in Asia. University of the Philippines Press, Quezon City.
Abstract
The transformation from a centralized, autocratic regime to an ostensibly democratic regime in Azerbaijan since 1991 has affected public institutions and organizations, including schools, in various arenas ranging from teacher practice to school principal appointments. This paper focuses on the experiences and practices of female school principals who are demonstrating innovative and effective leadership approaches and evidencing a particular— and perhaps surprising—form of leadership imbued with unique historical and cultural features.
In this paper, we describe the newly emerging female school leader in Azerbaijan by presenting themes based on life narratives of current female school principals along with their views on leadership in modern-day Azerbaijan. We first introduce the Azeri context through a brief presentation of its Soviet, post-socialist and cultural influences, then we turn to Azeri school principals as they reflect on school leadership across time, culture and gender.
Magno, Cathryn (2013 ). Perspectives from Azerbaijan: Cultural Hybrdity and Leadership Transparency Forming Accountability in Azerbaijan. Chapter in Comparative Perspectives on International School Leadership, Policy, Preparation and Practice.
Abstract
Since Azerbaijan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has been transitioning from authoritarian to democratic systems of governance across social sectors from health care to law to education. In the education sector in Azerbaijan, intermittent democratic approaches to teaching and learning at the classroom level have taken precedence over changes in school governance, exposing a lack of stable democratic practices at the school-leadership level. Nearly all the innovations over the past 20 years have targeted the teacher and classroom (e.g., student-centered teaching, critical thinking, curricular reform, textbook revisions), however, these efforts tend to be fragmented and tenuous. They depend on committed teachers who may or may not have the ongoing support of school directors. They rarely have recurring mentoring or feedback mechanisms for continual improvement and refinement. Now, however, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is embarking on a restructuring initiative focusing on school leaders for the first time, with the Minister saying, “we need to take new steps . . . in the education system” (FG 3, emphasis added).
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203810514/chapters/10.4324/9780203810514-9
Magno, Cathryn (2009). Reimagining the School Leadership Paradigm in a Postsocialist Context. European Education, 41(3): 23-41.
Abstract
Although Azerbaijan’s education sector has experienced intermittent democratization efforts since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, school leadership has remained untouched. This article argues that while Anglo-American models such as transformational and distributed leadership could benefit the schools, based on interview and self-assessment data from a select group of principals in Azerbaijan, such foreign models of leadership may not be readily acceptable in the cultural context of Azerbaijan. Principals in Azerbaijan are well skilled in task management and place lower priority on relationship building and developing visions or strategic plans for their schools, both unsurprising given the legacy of centralized decision making in Soviet times. The article concludes that local principals, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, will need to consider the current strengths and needs of principals in Azerbaijan and the future direction of schooling in Azerbaijan as they develop locally relevant school leadership policy and a first-ever principal preparation program in a country struggling to move toward public-sector accountability and transparency.
Mikayilova, Ulviyya (2008). Strengthening Community Participation in the Azeri School Governance: Lessons Learned from Some Project Experience. Human Rights Education in Asian Schools, (12).
Abstract
In Azerbaijan, the community has become a main target in the development agenda during the last ten to fifteen years. Since the 1990s, a number of reform projects in Azerbaijan targeting communities have been implemented. Community participatory projects in Azerbaijan were mostly unsustainable, rarely focused on community-school connections, implemented on individual project-basis and have not given a valuable feedback at the policy level. In our opinion, a “school budget formulae” developed and piloted by the WB and the Ministry of Education within the education sector reform project may be identified as an attempt to reform school budget management without reforming school governance. We believe that school reform should start with reform of school governance and community involvement. Addressing the alienation between schools and parents is an essential means of deepening democracy in education.
https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/pdf/asia-s-ed/v11/14Community%20Participation%20in%20the%20Azeri%20School%20Governance.pdf
Mikayilova, Ulviyya and Radsky Vitaliy (2013), School Leadership in Azerbaijani Early Childhood Education: Implications for Education Transfer, in book “Researching Leadership in Early Childhood Education”, Eeva Hujala, Manjula Waniganayake and Jillian Rodd (eds), Tampere University Press, 2013.
Abstract
This study looks at educational transfer from a school leadership perspective. Imported, internationally-inspired educational interventions designed to change or update teaching methodology that is considered outdated or ‘traditional’ by the international education community cannot change local leadership and educational paradigms. This study focuses on educational change at the micro level, specifically on the role of the preschool director in leading change. The results suggest that leadership is a critical part of educational transfer, but that transformational leadership theory may not be sufficient to describe specific leaders operating in contexts where consciousness of alternate leadership or educational discourses is lacking. In addition, the case studies suggest that it is difficult to separate leadership change from educational consciousness in both school and education system transformation.
http://ilrfec.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/art_00Kansi.pdf or http://ilrfec.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/art_11Mikailova-Radsky.pdf
Reports
Culturally Diverse and Responsive Schools
OPC Register: Culturally Responsive Leadership
Culturally Responsive Leadership, MacKinnon 2018
SPLC: Diversity Responsive Schools
Diversity Responsive Schools Hawley Wolf, 2011
Preliminary study on the conceptualization of a cantonal integration policy (in French)
Preliminary study on the conceptualization of a cantonal integration policy (in French)
NAESP: The Principal’s Guide to Building Culturally Responsive Schools
NAESP Culturally Responsive Schools Guide