System Leadership

Associates

The National Academy for Educational Leadership appoints an annual cohort of Associates, all currently practising senior educational leaders. The Associates provide the National Academy for Educational Leadership with opportunities to access their expertise and knowledge as current educational leaders, an invaluable resource that ensures the voice of the profession is heard in all of our planning, activity and reflection.

The National Academy for Educational Leadership now has multiple cohorts of Associates progressing through a mature system leadership model and they are having measurable impacts on the education system beyond their own organisations through: Facilitation; Coaching; Advocacy; Activism; Gatekeeping; Change Agency; Mobilisation; Improvement.

The Associates inform our work, provide representation at local, regional and national levels and inform policy and practice through their annual collaborative enquiry commissions.

Become an Associate

System Leaders & System Leadership: Reviewing the Evidence

System leaders / leadership is a complex and sometimes confusing concept.

Although a focus for many education systems around the world over the past decade, there is no fixed definition of system leaders / leadership. As a result, there are many interpretations of what a system leader / leadership is, how it is handled and when we know it works. To date, this has prevented informed and accessible debate about the nature – and future – of system leaders / leadership taking place in Wales.

To create a suitable evidence base to inform the development of system leaders / leadership in Wales, the National Academy for Educational Leadership has commissioned Professor Alma Harris, a leading educational leadership expert, to review and recommend international academic and policy literature ways in which system leadership / leadership can be further developed in Wales.

System Leaders and System Leadership – Reviewing the Evidence

COMMISSION 1

Our Call to Action

In June 2018 Academy Associates in cohort 1 were set a commission by Welsh Government officials, titled How can leaders enable high quality professional learning opportunities that improve well-being and achieve better outcomes for all?

Read the Commission

COMMISSION 2

What is the role of educational leadership in realising the vision of a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language?

In March 2019, the Associates were set a commission to explore What is the role of educational leadership in realising the vision of a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language? The Associates wanted to produce a report that would have a direct impact on the system, be meaningful to a wide audience and would make a difference to those within the education sector.

Read the Commission