The key role of school leadership in educational innovation

GD&TĐ - Giving autonomy and accountability to school leaders can create clear changes in the quality of education.

UNESCO officially introduced the Vietnamese translation of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024/2025 with the theme "Leadership in Education : Leadership for Learning".

The event was held within the framework of a policy consultation workshop for teachers organized by the Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with UNESCO, to mark an important milestone when Vietnam first passed the Law on Teachers.

The report highlights the importance of educational leadership in improving the quality of teaching and learning, especially in the context of Southeast Asia facing many learning challenges and inequality.

There are currently an estimated 251 million children and adolescents out of school worldwide, including 18 million in Southeast Asia. While many countries have made progress in access to education over the past few decades, the pace of improvement has slowed or plateaued. Even in some middle- and high-income countries, learning outcomes are declining.

Educational leadership - the decisive factor in school quality

According to the report, educational leaders include those responsible for guiding, organizing and implementing educational activities at all levels, from principals, commune/ward level managers to policy makers. They are the ones who set goals, provide professional guidance, promote collaboration and support the teaching staff.

Research shows that good leadership can improve student learning outcomes by 27%. The report also notes the important role of learners, parents and the community as partners.

Yet today’s leadership teams in many countries are still struggling. Globally, less than half of educational leadership training programs include a full range of core skills.

In middle-income countries, many principals report spending more than two-thirds of their working time on administrative work, rather than focusing on their professional leadership roles.

“Educational leadership is more than just management. Principals and educational leaders profoundly influence the quality of teaching, inspire students, foster collaboration in schools and help schools adapt to constant change,” said Anna D’Addio, Head of Education Policy for the GEM report team at UNESCO.

The case of Vietnam: great opportunities in the midst of transformation

In Vietnam, the findings of the GEM report are published at a time when the education system is entering a period of many innovations, especially with the implementation of the newly passed Law on Teachers.

National data shows that school principals spend only about 21.5% of their working time on professional work. At the same time, 64% of principals said they need more training in skills such as inclusive education, using data and supporting teachers.

Vietnam can take advantage of the opportunity to further improve the quality of education by strengthening school leadership training, improving transparency in selection processes, and giving more autonomy to grassroots leaders.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on building and developing leadership capacity at the system level, including commune/ward levels, which play an important intermediary role in realizing local education policies.

UNESCO is currently supporting Vietnam in a number of programmes, including: the Happy Schools Project, which aims to build positive and inclusive learning environments; the We Can project to promote gender equality in ethnic minority schools.

UNESCO also supports Vietnam in developing and implementing evidence-based education policies in line with international standards, such as the 10-year Education Development Strategy, lifelong learning policies, as well as the effective implementation of the recently passed Law on Teachers.

"Vietnam is in a good position to effectively implement the report's recommendations. Investing in both school and system leaders will help Vietnam's education develop more sustainably and inclusively," Ms. Anna D'Addio affirmed.

Recommendations of the report

The GEM 2024/2025 report makes the following recommendations:

Empower and build trust in your leadership team by providing meaningful decision-making authority, with appropriate support and oversight mechanisms.

Select, train and recognize leadership teams in an open and transparent manner, with standards appropriate to each country.

Promote a collaborative environment in schools where leadership is shared among teachers, learners, parents and the community.

Invest in leadership at the system level, from central to local, to strengthen capacity, align policy and practice, and contribute to sustaining change.

Established in 2002, the Global Education Monitoring Report is an independent publication hosted and published by UNESCO. At the 2015 World Education Forum, the report was commissioned by 160 governments to monitor and report on progress in implementing education targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 4 on quality education, and to monitor the implementation of national and international strategies to ensure accountability of stakeholders in their commitment to education development.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/vai-tro-then-chot-cua-lanh-dao-nha-truong-trong-doi-moi-giao-duc-post740370.html