Toolbox

TOOLBOX - A QUESTION GUIDE FOR SCHOOL VISITS

The question guide below has been used in connection with school visits which are part of the programme of the seminars:

Challenged or challenging leadership

A guide to a challenged and a challenging school visit.

1. General information about the school (size, number of pupils and teachers, school structure, a daily rhythm, etc.)

2. Pedagogical values

3. Pedagogical focus areas

4. Philosophy of leadership

5. Challenges seen from the leader perspective

Questions subjoined by Mac Mann Berg (related to the personal leadership)

1. What are your best and most important experiences.... as leader.. in relation to school development, innovation, knowledge sharing, handling of conflicts, fusion processes... - what did you do - and the other involved?

2. How could these good and important experiences have been even better - what would that have created - the organizational effect?

3. In which way and how could you use these important experiences and learning points future oriented within your own professional practice

- what would be the organizational effect?

Questions from the NOFO group

Ad 2.

a. How are the values of the school visible to everybody?

b. How have you developed these values?

c. Has there been any opposition from the staff during the process of developing your values?

d. How have you as a leader met this opposition?

e. Do your parents have awareness of your school’s values?

f. Have the parents been involved at any level of the process?

g. Do the pupils have a say about the school values?

h. Do you have a school council?

Ad 3.

a. Are your pedagogical focus areas initiated top-down or bottom-up or both?

b. How do you as a leader meet a new requirement about eg. student evaluation, individual salary to the staff, teamwork, implementing new curricula?

c. What do you do to motivate the teachers who are in opposition to new top-down pedagogical focus areas?

d. At your school – have you any examples of teachers/teams, who have come up with ideas for new pedagogical focus areas?

e. If yes – how do you introduce these new ideas to the rest of the staff – and use this in your school development?

f. If no – have thought about the reason for this?

g. Have you ever turned down an idea without introducing it to the rest of the staff?

Ad. 4.

a. What is your educational background as a leader?

b. Why have you chosen to become a leader?

c. What is a good leader in your opinion?

Ad 5.

a. How do you see your biggest challenge as a leader?

b. Can you mention challenges you have met in your meeting with school administration, staff, students and parents?

c. What is being done in your school area for leaders who cannot manage too big challenges?

d. What is the proportion between pedagogical and administrative leadership at your school?

e. Do you feel there is a fair balance at your work?

f. What are you yourself – mostly administrative or mostly pedagogical? (Define your own next question depending on the answer you got.)

g. If there is not a balance – how do you compensate for this – a leader team – a co-leader – a deputy leader – head of departments?

h. Do you have a school development committee?