In close partnership with the Government of Rwanda, the Mastercard Foundation and the Belgian Government, VVOB is initiating the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), an initiative by and for Africans and African-based partners.
The Centre, a multistakeholder initiative, is currently in its foundation phase and will be hosted by the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Education, a key strategic partner. The ACSL is set to support African governments to build a supportive school leadership system with the objective of improving teaching practices and, in turn, learning outcomes. Drawing from evidence on the effects of school leadership, supportive educational leadership at policy level will enable effective and scalable professional development of school leaders, resulting in more effective school leadership. Effective school leadership, in turn, will support effective school-based teacher mentorship and support, resulting in improved quality of teaching, learning and learning outcomes.
A review of empirical evidence on school leadership in Africa
In the run-up to the establishment of the Centre, a review of empirical research on school leadership in Africa took place. This review offers insights in what constitutes effective school leadership on the continent: research question (RQ) 0. The review considers the key competencies and practices that are associated with effective school leadership (RQ1), the key features of effective and scalable continuous professional development (CPD) for school leaders (RQ2) as well as how local, national and regional policies promote or inhibit school leaders’ leadership practices in Africa (RQ3).
In a next step, a representative panel of policy makers, CPD providers, experts and development partners were brought together in Kigali-Rwanda from 30th to 31st March 2022, in a workshop to discuss this empirical research and to build consensus around what constitutes effective school leadership on the continent. It was also an opportunity to share the Rwandan experience in promoting effective school leadership.
Building a consensus on what constitutes effective school leadership in Africa
Before the panel workshop this expert panel participated in a survey and shared their opinion on statements on effective school leadership in Africa that came out of the review of empirical research. In addition, they shared their opinion on proposed ambitions and priorities for the African Centre for School Leadership. In that first survey round and through subsequent discussions during the panel workshop, the panel reached a consensus on a number of statements. For instance, consensus was reached that school leadership is effective when it improves students' learning results (RQ0). A consensus was achieved on the competencies that an effective school leader should possess, including the ability to create a learning-enabling environment and, among other things, supporting teachers' professional development (RQ1). Concerning CPD for school leaders, the panel agreed that for CPD to be effective, it must contain gender-responsive and gender transformative pedagogy to address current gender and equity gaps. Furthermore, for school leadership CPD to be sustainable and scalable, strong engagement between CPD providers and government is required (RQ2).
One of the interesting areas that came out of the panel discussions is the topic of Ubuntu School Leadership. The panel agreed that Ubuntu School Leadership could be an emergent approach on school leadership in Africa highlighting unique aspects of leadership, starting from assessing available resources, attending to others’ needs, and raising expectations and commitment to organisational goals. It was agreed that the topic of Ubuntu school leadership needs to be further explored and studied. Another area that panel members agreed needs further research is the interplay between gender and school leadership. A support area for the African Centre for School Leadership that has been discussed with the panel of experts is on CPD of school leaders and the provision of guidance on how CPD can be organised by CPD providers in an effective, scalable, and sustainable way on the African continent.
After discussions in the panel workshop, some statements on effective school leadership and proposed ambitions of the Centre were reformulated and reshared with the panel in a second survey round with the purpose to finetune the consensus or identify clear areas of non-consensus.
Way forward
The workshop was an opportunity to engage a representative panel of policy makers, CPD providers, experts, and development partners on the African continent in the foundation phase of the ACSL through the consensus building around effective school leadership in Africa. This is in line with the African proverb "If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together”.
In the next step, the second round of the survey with focus on the statements which did not reach consensus, will be completed. The results of the consensus building exercise will also be disseminated during a regional conference in July 2022, in Kigali. In addition, a framework about effective school leadership and effective CPD for school leaders in Africa will be developed based on the results of the consensus building exercise.
Watch the highlights of the African Centre for School Leadership panel workshop held on 30th - 31st March 2022 in this video.
