School of Education and Social Work

Master of Education

Assignment Front Cover

Student Name DEBORAH BRASS

Module Number ED50047
Date of Submission 6 OCTOBER 2019
Declared Word Length 5454

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Deborah Brass
Introduction
The school I currently work in is fairly new, entering the 5th year of operation this
academic year (2019/2020). The school has a wide distributed leadership
structure. This year sees the introduction of a new senior leadership team
(SLT). Many founding staff members, including the founding principal, have left the
school this session, meaning a lot of change to the existing operations, and staff
within the school. The new SLT consists of the Principal, who was previously the
founding Head of Secondary and Vice-Principal, The Vice-Principal and Head of
Primary who is new to the school and comes with previous founding experience in 2
prestigious international schools, the Head of Primary coming new direct from the
UK from a high academically performing secondary school, and the Head of
Foundation stage who holds this position in the school for the third year. Below SLT
in the organisational hierarchy, there is a wide leadership team of 14 staff, consisting
of deputies and assistants to heads of schools, plus heads and directors of studies,
sports, and inclusion. Below this leadership level there is a ‘'middle leadership' in
the hierarchy. This level consists of year group leaders responsible for all staff in
their year group. The number of staff, pupils and operational needs calls for this
distributed leadership organisation, to distribute responsibility to create smooth
running of the large school. My experience of working within this structure has
shown that requests and decisions can at times take a long time to be
approved, having to be passed to a higher level rather than leaders in all levels
having the empowerment to make a decision. As mentioned, this was under a
previous management team and there is hope that the new SLT will initiate change
to demonstrate how a distributed leadership model can work well to be
productive. The new SLT has a systematic approach and I feel they have an open
and up to date attitude to working collaboratively. From being at the school last year,
an improvement I would like to see this year would be that all leadership team
members, on all levels are empowered to make more decisions concerning their
teams and departments so to work towards a leadership style that meets 21st-
century demands. Throughout this assignment, the school may be referred to as
School A.

This assignment will critically discuss the leadership style(s) which I have
experienced in my school, reflecting upon my leadership philosophies in comparison

Deborah Brass 1
to the IB model. I will then provide my critical analysis of how reflective practice can
impact leadership in turn affecting the wider running of the school. I will aim to refer
to the IB framework on reflection and compare it to my school approach. The final
part of this assignment will see me outline my personal professional needs taking
into consideration the leadership model in which I work, with reference to how it may
differ when working within an IB setting

Leadership
Great leadership is the driving factor of every successful organisation. Within a
school setting, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2017) publish that,
leadership works best when it is distributed amongst a strong team, who offer a
variety of skillsets and background experiences, yet share a mission and a collective
goal. When leadership is distributed and there is a shared commitment to school
development, school improvement is likely to occur (Gronn, 2000). Due to the size
of our school, students, staff and operational roles, responsibility is shared widely
throughout the school, operating on a distributed leadership model. We have a very
diverse leadership team, and it is clear that the school's shared goal is to be an
‘Outstanding' school. The distributed leadership model is wide rather than tall with
many leaders having the same levels of authority and empowerment. This wide
organisational model means that not many levels have to be filtered upward to get a
decision approved or heard. It does, however, mean that communication between
department managers can be less effective, with often one department manager not
knowing what is happening across another department. Where a situation crosses
over, there is often confusion and mixed instruction or direction. The leadership
team has good intentions but may need to work more on communication. Spillane
(2005) put it very nicely when he said that distributed leadership is when all
components interact when together they are understood because the system is more
than the sum of its parts. From the experience of this leadership model within my
school, the components are all there but not necessarily working as effectively as
they could be, yet. Communication has been known to break down, causing
frustration amongst staff who are unsure of what should happen or what is expected
of them. Management appears disorganised and unprofessional, and respect from
teachers and shareholders is lost.

Deborah Brass 2
Another problem with this leadership model, in our school, is that some leaders have
not been empowered to make a decision, seeking approval from elsewhere. This
makes their purpose redundant with regards to decisions, making them merely a
manager delegating instructions from above, rather than ‘leading'. Within my
department and experience of leadership, the line leader does not have the
empowerment to make a decision and it has to level up, or even across, for
approval. This again emphasising that this level of leadership is not needed or
should be re-titled management rather than leadership. A leader should influence
their team to reach a shared goal, whereas a manager will manage the operation of
a project or goal. Leaders promote change, while managers react to the change. A
leader empowers, while a manager organises. Leithwood, Mascall, Straus, (2009),
reported that change and development are optimal when those in ‘leadership'
positions are empowered to shape the future of the organisation. Such
empowerment through the distribution of leadership to groups whose members work
interdependently is likely to generate rapid and innovative solutions when these
groups are prompted to find solutions with no constraint (Osborn & Hunt, 2007).
When empowered, these groups or individuals conduct and manage themselves
efficiently as they adjust their actions and attitudes to problem solve in their
environment.

IB schools expect their leaders to hold high levels of leadership intelligence,

requiring them to demonstrate a diverse range of skills and aptitudes. The IB
Leadership Intelligences Literature review (2017) compares an IB leader to that of a
circus performer balancing many plates, the plates being balanced within a complex
social, political-cultural, economic and organisational setting. To develop leadership
skills and knowledge the IB uses an intelligence framework. The framework says
that 7 intelligences, (strategic, relational, cultural, entrepreneurial, reflective,
pedagogical and heuristic), are the skills which a good IB leader can demonstrate.
Of these traits, our school takes a pedagogical leadership style, requiring teachers to
analyse the way they work and learn together as adult professional learners, which
can take time before any growth and development is evident. As with children,
teachers must feel motivated and valued to be productive. Coughlin and
Baird (2013) discuss that the pedagogical leader nurtures qualities that improve
daily practice. Traits such as curiosity, openness, resilience, and purposefulness

Deborah Brass 3
help build a philosophy where there is less focus on teaching and more emphasis on
how learning takes place, for both the child and the adult. Coughlin and Baird (2013)
go on to explain that pedagogical leaders ensure time and resources are given to
their teachers to reflect on their practice, discuss learning and explore thoughts and
experiences of others. A pedagogical leader will initiate questions and discussions to
intellectually and emotionally engage educators.
The IB professional development document (2015) suggests that school leaders are
the biggest single influence on teacher effectiveness (Dinham, 2007) and
organisational culture (McCall, 2018). The IB Vision for Leaders (2019) states that
IB leaders are "adaptive, globally and locally engaged and inspire commitment to
creating a better world through education by leadership grounded in professional
inquiry". Katz and Kahn (1996) express leadership as a social process, brought
about by an individual or group who inspire and influence a team towards the shared
goal of the wider team or organisation. A successful leader will communicate a
vision to raise expectations in a way that builds mutual trust and respect. They will
be able to enhance teaching and learning by creatively assigning roles and
responsibilities to achieve this shared vision, (Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Harris,
Leithwood, Gu and Brown 2010).

There are many similarities in the leadership approach our school adopt to that of an
IB school. Our school takes several different approaches to leadership styles,
trialing what works well and building on successes. The IB uses a combination of
leadership styles to best suit the situation, knowing that there are no simple solutions
and that every situation may require a different approach. There are elements of
transformational, instructional and pedagogical leadership styles within the IB and I
feel our school also can demonstrate qualities of each. The area I feel our school
should put more effort into is transformational approaches. Transformational
leadership empowers members of the learning community to improve from within.
The transformational leader will not take control of a project or goal, instead, they will
seek to make improvements through committed collaboration between everyone in
the learning community. Our new SLT is beginning to empower staff and a new
sense of respect and commitment is becoming evident throughout the school. If they
can maintain this ethos of trust and respect our school will fall more in line with IB
philosophies.

Deborah Brass 4
Critical Reflection
Over the last few decades across many different professions, and countries, there
has been an ever-increasing interest in the concepts of reflective practice and critical
reflection (Gould, 2004). My own experiences of reflective practice have included
completing a leadership journal. Whilst completing this journal, I was able to study
and analyse my actions and experiences. This study allowed me to improve my
attitude, approach, and mindset in my everyday work. I learned from myself and
took accountability for my actions more proactively and professionally. It built
confidence and thought more carefully about daily tasks including word choice in
given situations. Reference to Gibbs (1988) has helped me be a reflective
practitioner, in a leadership role and my current classroom role. Gibbs' reflective
cycle gives structure to learning from experience, reflecting on success and
identifying areas for improvement.

Fook (2006) sees critical reflection as a step beyond reflective practice. Fook
analyses what ‘critical' in critical reflection means and then looks at the potential for a
collective focus, which she believes forms one of the current concerns regarding the
applicability of reflective practice in the workplace. She explores the understanding
of critical reflection as a process which is neither individual or collective, but instead
one which is based strongly upon an understanding of the individual in a social
context.
.
With such widespread interest in critical reflection, the understanding of such already
complex concepts may have become very diverse, risking being used without proper
consideration and with a lack of judgment (Loughran 2002). It is therefore important
that we have a clear idea of what the term ‘critical reflection' means and that we fully
understand what is involved in being critically reflective.

Reflective practice and critical reflection will differ greatly across the professional
industries. The interest for such concepts is clear from the vast literature available in
this area. This literature may be further extensive due to the crossover of the idea of
‘critical thinking'. In this, similar ideas may be touched upon, however different

Deborah Brass 5
literature and theories would be researched. Literature may also be so extensive
due to the misunderstanding of the terms, with no definitions, and being added into
books or articles as a means of further reading.

Bolton (2014) defines reflective practice as a state of mind, a continuous attitude to

the way we carry ourselves in daily life and work. He believes there is a risk of it
becoming a separate agenda with its whole own set of tasks and
outcomes. Brookfield (2009) backs this up by explaining that reflective practice
works best when it is automatic and more of a ‘second nature' rather than an
‘additional task'. When reflective practice is embedded purposefully, individuals will
be able to highlight exactly where they are and how they feel in their
practice. Strong and effective reflective practice allows individuals to learn from
experiences, positive or negative, often beyond the workplace and into their personal
lives also. As professionals we are met with many unpredicted and complex
situations, therefore taking a critically reflective approach to dealing with such
situations will provide a more productive outcome (Whelen and Gent 2013). A
professional will feel more satisfied in the result and a stronger connection may be
built between the individuals as empathy has been shown. Good leadership models
will recognise that this will increase job satisfaction, in turn reducing work-related
stress (Alarcon and Lyons, 2011).
In an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, working with a Primary Years
Programme (PYP), all policies and guidance focus heavily on reflection. The IB puts
a lot of emphasis on the importance of lifelong learning. This does not solely mean
for the students but in fact for adult professionals and all stakeholders alike. As
adults, we can all continue to grow and learn, and self-reflection is a tool available to
do so. A thoughtful and reflective leader stands as a role model to students and will
encourage the development of reflective skills (Bunting, 2015). In a case study
commissioned by the IB carried out by the University of Nottingham on School
Leadership in the PYP in 2014-2015, the PYP co-ordinator was described as taking
a ‘hands-on' approach to meeting weekly with the deputy and principal for reflection
and decision making. The project highlighted that IB schools want to create an
environment where teachers are encouraged to innovate, reflect upon and develop
their practices to create a successful culture for their students. It is an expectation
that IB staff would develop an inquiring mindset by enacting the learner profile and

Deborah Brass 6
engaging in active reflection upon their practices. This whole school practice is
supported through a collegial network established by the headteacher.
Compare the IB philosophies and practices to those of the comparative non-IB
school (School A) in this study. Firstly mission statements differ quite noticeably. IB
mentions leadership and working with partners whereas the comparative school
(school A) does not. IB speaks throughout about interculture and diversity where
school A, being a very multicultural school, could very easily take this route but has
not. Both school approaches promote the development of inquiry and emotional
growth. School A puts emphasis upon inspiring excellence and collaboration
compared to IB focusing on lifelong learners who are active and
compassionate. School A does not take the opportunity to focus on reflection,
students or staff, in a very proactive manner. There is massive scope for this to be
introduced and to be used as a development tool.

From reviewing the literature on reflection within the IB, and from testimonials of
professionals and stakeholders, school A, and myself, could develop professionally
from being more reflective. Being in a non-leadership role, I would take this
development on a personal level with the hope to lead my students and team, in a
non-official leadership role, to do the same.

The final part of this assignment will explore my own professional development
needs concerning leadership. Having critically reflected upon my philosophies in
comparison to those of the IB, I drew up an audit of the IB Standards and Practices
to support my action plan (Appendix 1). My individual professional goals will develop
my professionalism and contribute to the whole-school goal. Having set 3
development targets, these may intertwine and assist in achieving another. The IB
fosters continued professional development opportunities and believes that practices
are likely to improve and be adopted consistently by teachers when there are
coherent and continuing policies for professional development support and
intervention for all PYP teachers (Day, Townsend, Knight, Richardson, 2015, p. 7).

Deborah Brass 7
Development 1
As mentioned in my action plan, the first development needs to be addressed is my
continued professional development (CPD). Standard B2:3 of the IB Standards and
Practices (2014, p. 9) states, "The school ensures that teachers and administrators
receive IB-recognised professional development." 4 main areas I would like to
professionally develop this year are:
 my leadership skills and opportunities,
 my commitment to and improvement from reflection,
 knowledge and understanding of inclusive practice
 knowledge and incorporation of IB philosophies.

With a lack of emphasis put on professional development throughout the school, I

must take control of my CPD opportunities and align my practices with those
recognised by the IB. As I enter the new academic session, I take up a new role in
the Inclusion Team supporting children on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) and
English as an Additional Language (EAL) registers. The CPD areas are to enhance
my skills in this role.

As a class teacher, and in my first year at the school, I actively sought and created
leadership opportunities. My actions provided further leadership opportunities in
which I initiated and shared good practice through peer CPD sessions I have further
developed leadership skills by taking lead on delivering parent phonics workshops
and home support communications. My efforts were recognised and I was given
lead on implementing Maths Continuous Provision in Year 1. Through in-depth
professional reading and observation of best practice in our Early Years Department,
I was inspired to creativity implement CP in Year 1. The IB strongly believes that a
successful primary years culture can be achieved when teachers are inspired to be
creative and reflective within an innovative setting in which they have created, peer
observation of good practice gave me this inspiration. As a reflective practitioner, I
reflected upon my practices and with my peers, highlighting strengths, weaknesses
and next steps for improvement. Leading reflection amongst peers allowed them to
be critical of their own practices encouraging personal and team improvements
without resistance.

Deborah Brass 8
In a previous leadership role, reflection was a significant part of our middle
management team. We were encouraged to reflect daily and in turn, instil this in our
students. Whilst in this post, I was my most reflective self and aim to reach this level
again. The IB Standards and Practices (2014, p. 4) states that the school provides
dedicated time for teachers' collaborative planning and reflection, and that reflection
should be regular and systematic, vertically and horizontally articulated, ensures
awareness of student experiences, based on agreed student learning expectations,
needs and styles, assessment informed, and addressing IB learner profile
attributes. I will present a case for reflection time in our next team meeting.

As a class teacher, I aim to be inclusive, including all children regardless of

ability. As an inclusion teacher, it will be my role to ensure all children feel included
in the classroom, to support teachers to create an inclusive environment. Inclusive
education is supported by the United Nations as a matter of human rights and social
justice. The IB inclusion guide (2016) is very comprehensive and I would like to work
towards building a policy similar to these philosophies that our school could
use. The IB Inclusion Guide (2016, p.14) states that a school policy for inclusion
should include inquiry, action, and reflection. In line with this, I feel our school is at
the inquiry stage where collaboratively we have established a clear purpose for an
inclusion team. The team has made a solid start in collecting relevant data and has
made a decision on non-negotiable issues when creating a strong inclusive
ethos. As a leader from within this team, I would like to develop my skills and
knowledge by contributing to implementing strong and successful inclusion
practices.

With the school not being IB, IB professional development will require personal
application and active seeking to incorporate IB philosophies. By creating my own
opportunities to take on a leadership role, my confidence will grow to allow
ownership of my development whilst building and practicing a leadership skill. I
sought out IB expertise within my school, to discover that our current principal has IB
experience. He networked me with a colleague, who is has offered support and
guidance in the next academic session to help mould my practice and procedures
more in line with IB philosophies. My principal has suggested I visit other IB schools

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in the area and has IB contacts for me to pursue. The IB school that I would like to
visit has been rated outstanding and is top of my CPD priorities in this session. To
further develop my understanding of the IB, I used information and materials from
the IBO website. I used this research to speak to my line manager about using a
holistic approach when supporting our staff and teachers with inclusion. I delivered
this idea in an inclusion team meeting and shared the IB guide to the team. This IB
inclusion guide is very comprehensive and the team has agreed that we could adapt
our style to reflect IB philosophies.

These 4 aforementioned points will be discussed in my annual development meeting

where I can seek support and guidance from management, whilst voicing my
reasons and planned actions in achieving them.

Development 2
The second development need to address my leadership capacity comes from
Standard B2.8, Resources and Support, of the IB standards. This standard states,
"The school provides support for its students with learning and/or special educational
needs and support for their teachers". (IB Standards page?). This fits well with my
new role for the academic session 2019/2020 when I will work as an SEN Inclusion
teachers for Key Stage 1 (KS1) pupils. As a transition into the new role and to be
prepared for starting back after my maternity leave, I initiated attending Inclusion
departmental meetings. This involved me managing my time and delegating tasks to
enable me to attend. In these meetings, my role was explained to me, which I will go
into further later.

The IB has published "The IB Guide to Inclusive Education|: a resource for whole
school development. It aims to "increase access to the curriculum and engagement
in learning for all students" (page 1) by identifying and removing barriers and
participation in learning to create more inclusive learning environments. Previously,
students with disabilities were segregated into special education schools or
establishments but today, being recognised as a human right and social justice by
the United Nations, inclusive education embraces the differences amongst students
and includes them in mainstream education.

Deborah Brass 10
The IB Inclusion Guide has been produced to support the structure, and improve
practices with inclusive education. This document will be my guide when I take up
this role so I can keep my inclusive practices in line with those of the IB. My remit
will support year 1 and 2 children with educational needs. This will involve using a
variety of diverse teaching techniques to overcome learning barriers. When
strategies are established these will be shared with the teacher and parents and will
continue with support and close monitoring and tracking of success. This new role
will involve the writing up of academic Individual Learning Plans (IEP's), ensuring
teachers, parents and any other professional support personnel are clear of the
targets and action plan for each child. In this post I will have a line manager who I
will report pupil progress to, all other actions and procedures will be led by
myself. Not being a recognised leader, I will have to lead from within. Teachers will
come to me for support and guidance, therefore I must adopt what Kaufman (2001)
describes as a participative leadership approach. Participative leaders encourage
colleagues to contribute to the decision-making process. A participative leader
considers the suggestions of their colleagues and uses them for assisting in decision
making. Research has shown that involving colleagues in the decision making and
planning process improves productivity in the workplace, with an increase in
motivation (Locke & Latham, 1990), commitment (Yammarino & Naughton, 1992),
satisfaction (Smylie, Lazarus, & Brownlee-Conyers, 1996), and reduction in turnover
(Spector, 1986).

IB Standards and Practices expect leaders to demonstrate pedagogical

leadership. IB leaders will recognise that a pedagogical leadership style will have a
positive impact on student outcomes. Pedagogy is the understanding of how
learning takes place, with a philosophy and practice to support this
understanding. Leadership is the ability to lead or guide individuals or a
group. Combine these two, we reach a concept of pedagogical leadership where the
leadership guides and supports the process of teaching and learning. Early
education experts have shown an increased interest in pedagogical leadership
derived from the need to increase education quality and inspire organisational
change (Andrews, 2009). Pedagogical leaders view themselves as partners,

Deborah Brass 11
facilitators, observers, and co-learners alongside educators, children and families
(Coughlin and Baird 2013.) A pedagogical leader will challenge and inspire others
to be researchers in their teaching and learning process. This creates a culture of
reflective teaching, in turn breaking down the complexities of working in a teaching
and learning environment.

To be an effective leader within the Special Education Need (SEN)/Inclusion

department then a pedagogical approach would be a suited leadership style. An
effective inclusion department will truly understand how individuals learn and will
recognise and challenge the barriers to achieve measurable learning. Inclusion
teachers require close and collaborative working and planning with class teachers
and other professionals, eg occupational and speech therapists, English as
additional language (EAL) specialists and parents. Participative leadership would
then prove effective to include the opinions and suggestions of all adults involved in
creating best practice for an individual SEN child. These two leadership styles can
easily intertwine to achieve the best possible situation to improve student
achievement and development. As a leader from within, contributing to the shared
goal of the team and the whole school, I will continuously learn about the ways my
students learn and will put programmes in place to support and ensure this learning
is achieved and is progressive. As a good pedagogical leader, I will reflect on my
practice while supporting class teachers to do the same with respect to how they
have been inclusive in class. I will take this leadership approach further by
encouraging students to reflect, to identify strengths and areas for development, and
to critically suggest ways to further progress their learning. As well as understanding
how the learning occurs, I want to ensure I take a participative approach by working
collaboratively with colleagues. As mentioned above, when all stakeholders are
involved in the planning and decision making, then commitment, motivation, and
satisfaction are improved, providing better results.

Development 3
The last action to develop my leadership standing is derived from Standard C1:1 of
the IB standards concerning collaborative planning. This standard focuses on
collaborative planning and reflection, addressing the requirements of the

Deborah Brass 12
curriculum. My school currently operates under a distributed leadership model and
Bryk et al. (1998) discuss that this model enhances collaboration amongst teachers
and leaders as professional learners. Collaboration, as well as reflection, allows
opportunities for personal development. Working collaboratively encourages
teachers to openly express their thoughts and offer suggestions and experiences.
Teachers are allowed to learn from one another highlighting strengths and areas for
development (Howland & Picciotto, 2003b). Therefore collaboration provides the
opportunity for increased skills, knowledge and good practice of the teacher
(Howland & Picciotto, 2003b). Teacher collaboration creates an culture of equality;
meaning even those in higher positions can expect, and openly accept constructive
criticism. Collaborative planning takes a positive stance, not focusing on faults or
flaws of individuals, instead highlighting problem areas within a department, which
can be can be addressed and a solution offered through collaborative discussion and
action plans. Within my school in the past year, collaborative planning has been
more of standard practice. However, within year group teams, some individuals do
not collaborate well and often plan and work on completely individual lessons and
ideas. To eliminate this, this academic session the new senior leadership team has
introduced Microsoft Teams where year group teams must work collaboratively to
plan for and with their tea, on an online forum. Some may see this as a forced
collaboration but instead it has inspired all teachers to contribute without pressure,
giving empowerment and building confidence. This empowerment and confidence
have in turn increased motivation and staff commitment. In our school, even in this
early stage, this introduction of ‘compulsory' collaborative planning has proven very
successful so far and productivity has improved, thus being a good leadership
decision. On speaking to colleagues, they are happier with the planning approach
and feel that the workload is more evenly distributed.

Goddard and O'Brien (2004) discuss a study that explored teacher collaboration
models in public schools. They report findings that teacher collaboration positively
impacts student achievement across curricular areas. DuFour (2003) supports these
findings suggesting that collaboration allows continuous dialogue between
colleagues, resulting in teacher learning that will, in turn, result in higher student
achievement. Bunker (2008) believes that teachers can take more credit for student
progress when teacher collaboration has been handled well. Reeves (2006) agreed

Deborah Brass 13
saying that collaboration increases teacher communication and team support, in turn
boosting student achievement. Schmoker (2007) further supports the suggestion
that teacher collaboration affects student achievement and even has had a positive
impact on teacher retention. From a personal point of view, I do feel more involved
and motivated when in a team that communicates well and works collaboratively to
see shared goals reached. I, therefore, support the concept that teacher
collaboration increases student performance and teacher satisfaction. Colleague
collaboration allows me to develop personally, be creative in my teaching and
learning and to share ideas and concerns with my team.

IBO documents outline that IB teachers use collaborative planning to actively

contribute to student learning. Time is specifically set aside to work together to plan,
assess and professionally learn, allowing for reflection on effectiveness and impact
on learning. To get a true picture of teaching and learning, teachers have clear and
honest communications. The IB Learning Community Document (2018) states that
through mutual trust and respect, clear communications and a robust support
network, with strong collegial relationships are established, and professional
development is optimum. The IB believes that a commitment to collaboration shows
the commitment to achieving a common organisational goal, which supports and
reflects on diverse and interdisciplinary learning experiences adding to improved
student performance. The IB outlines that all members of the learning community, in
daily and operational school life, should work collaboratively, allowing everyone to
develop professionally. IB teachers are encouraged to be informal leaders by
contributing to school improvement through their classroom practice and
collaborative team planning. To cultivate a strong collaborative environment, IB
Primary Years Programme (PYP) leaders, formal or informal, will encourage positive
relationships to improve collegiate understanding, allow all learning community
members to have a voice in decision making, incorporate learning profile vocabulary,
highlight international-mindedness, and confidently explore new ideas.

For me to develop my collaborative approach, I will take on board all of these

findings. Not only will I plan, speak with and reflect with my team but also with all
persons involved in the development of my students. Being an SEN/Inclusion
teacher this may involve class teachers, parents, SEN professionals such as

Deborah Brass 14
occupational or dyslexia therapists, and many more. I will ensure open and clear
lines of communication, taking on constructive criticism and professionally learning
from the knowledge of others. All good practice will be shared and active reflection
will be used to highlight strengths and areas for development.

Conclusion
In conclusion to completing this study, reflecting upon my practices and
philosophies, I have learned that for improvements to be made and for a school to be
successful, all teachers must know that they in one way or another are a
leader. Teachers make so many decisions daily to best develop student
development which leads the school towards a shared goal. I have found that
reflection when carried out correctly and with commitment, allows individuals to
identify and improve on their personal development needs. This study has shown
me that collaborative planning and working together is imperative for a distributed
leadership model to be effective, to achieve shared success and positive change. I
have realised that leaders, and indeed myself, will have their leadership style and
that this may be a combination of approaches that overlap and interchange
depending on the situation. Going forward, I will value myself in my role as a leader,
who embraces collaboration and reflection to improve my professionalism and
contribute to a shared goal. I will adapt my approach to best suit my situation to
achieve the best student development and colleague participation and commitment
to reaching his same shared goal.

Word Count 5454

Deborah Brass 15
Reference List

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Appendices
Appendix 1
Criterion Current Position/ Development Need Action Points Barriers to Evidence/ Timescale
Comparison within Implementation Measure of
IB Outcome
Leadership I am currently a year Standard B2:3 Attend So many staff and Students requiring Start of
Model 1 class teacher Resources and Support leadership limited funds/places support academic
moving to an The school ensures that course. on CPD courses. highlighted and year or from
Inclusion Role in the teachers and prioritized by handover
next academic year. administrators receive Complete RUL Costs need. notes or
My remit will be to professional module teachers.
provide SEN support development. Generic or irrelevant Meetings
to all children  Develop my Attend all CPD due to size of arranged with Ongoing
indicated in Year 1 leadership skills school school/staff teachers to discuss
and 2. I will also be  Develop my organised CPD and draw up
responsible for reflective skills and opportunities action plans –
drawing up practices arrange follow up
academic IEP’s in  Develop inclusion Update GTCS discussions.
collaboration with skills and learning. CPD profile
class teachers for all  Develop my Reflection journal
Primary Stage knowledge and Sign up for ABA
students. understanding of training
the IB.
Maintain a
reflection Time/cover/resource
Standard B2:8 journal restraints School inclusion
Resources and support policy Ongoing
The school provides
support for its students Meeting minutes

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 Pedagogical with learning and/or Allow time to Not enough Measurable
Leadership special educational liaise with class staff/resources/time assessment
needs and support for teachers. to reach all students data/success cases
their teachers. with special or
 Support all educational needs.
highlighted SEN
chidren on my remit Not enough non-
 Liase with parents contact time for
and professionals. teachers to liaise
 Support and reflect with support staff.
with class teachers

Standard C1:2
Collaborative planning Regular Little or no time Team planning Ongoing
Collaborative planning meetings with given to allow
and reflection takes all parties planning or reflection Improved
place regularly and involved. to address communication
systematically. programme
 Plan with my team Time given to requirements. No
and connected reflect and clear direction or
parents and discuss. expectations given.
professionals
 Plan and reflect
with class teachers.

Deborah Brass 21