Ei-iE

The 7th Education International (EI) World Congress meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 21nd to 26th July 2015, adopts the addendum to section/paragraphs 18, 27 and 36, on Leadership in education institutions, of the Education Policy Paper, ‘Building the Future through Quality Education’, which was adopted by the EI 6th World Congress in 2011.

Key principles of EI education leadership policy

1. At the crossroads of national policies and local realities, educational leadership is the legal and moral authority which represents educational establishments and is responsible for their functioning. To that end, educational leadership should represent the state while guaranteeing the implementation of decisions of the education community;

2. Collaborative, collegial and co-operative leadership, involving leaders, administrators, teachers, education support personnel and the whole pedagogical community is the most effective form of leadership in education institutions;

3. Leaders, teachers and education support personnel should be supported and empowered to exercise leadership, through training, professional development, appropriate remuneration, the provision of necessary resources and other mechanisms. This should however not lead to new management layers, but to the recognition of leadership as part of the work of all professionals;

4. All leaders of education institutions should be formally trained, both as teachers and/or education professionals and in leadership skills and knowledge. Potential leaders should have access to accredited leadership training institutes that work according to international (recognized) standards. Leadership training should enhance both the acquisition of effective tools in economic management and pedagogical leadership capacity;

5. It is necessary to promote fair and equal access of men and women to leadership positions;

6. Leaders should be given the support necessary to enable them to exercise their pedagogical roles. Leaders should work with institution-based leadership teams to develop the necessary pedagogical skills in order for them to effectively contribute to quality teaching and learning;

7. Leaders should be accorded the right to exercise appropriately their professional autonomy when carrying out the management, administrative, pedagogical and related functions of the institution, while ensuring and promoting the professional autonomy of other categories of education personnel;

8. Leaders should work inclusively and co-operatively; they should actively promote collaboration among teachers and all education professionals, and foster good and positive relations between teachers and students, with parents and other members of the education institution’s community;

9. Leaders must provide teachers and education support personnel with opportunities to experience and exercise leadership roles within the institution and their own groups, as well as the necessary support and resources required for them to carry out their duties effectively;

10. Leaders should respect and listen to teachers, education support personnel and students in the development, implementation and evaluation of the policies and programmes in their education institutions;

11. Leaders should acknowledge the significant contribution of education support personnel to quality leadership, through the provision of administrative, educational and other support services;

12. The salaries and working conditions of leaders in education institutions must be sufficient and appropriate to their level of responsibility, improved and comparable with those of leaders in other professions, in order to attract and retain a talented, knowledgeable and well-educated and skilled workforce;

13. The work-life balance of those in leadership positions should be respected and protected by their employers;

14. Leaders, like any other worker, have the right to exercise freedom of association and to organise, in accordance with international labour standards and will respect the rights of teachers and education support personnel in this regard. They have the right to join trade unions and professional associations in order to promote their interests;

15. Social dialogue in education institutions generally should be institutionalised and regulated by law or through collective agreements in which the parties have clarified which issues should be the subject of information sharing, consultation and collective bargaining; this would assist leaders in developing and maintaining relations with all of their colleagues;

16. Leaders and administrative staff, together with all education personnel should be involved in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of education policy, and especially in the aspects of such policy relating to leadership itself, in their institutions, and should be represented in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of such policy at national level.