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TRANSFORMING THE SCHOOL DIRECTION IN AN ATTRACTIVE PROFESSION

European Forum of Administrators of the Education in Catalonia (FEAEC):
Núria Borrell Felip
Josep Maria Garcia Balda
Carles Núñez Casado
Choir Regí Rodríguez
Rose Maria Rios Gual
Isabel Sánchez Ibáñez

Co-ordinator Xavier Chavarria Navarro

This proposal is the result of a participating process carried out in the sinus of the European Forum of Administrators of the Education in Catalonia (FEAEC). It started with the presentation of the document: Towards a professional procedure in the selection of the directors of the public educational schools of no university level: document for the debate, in June of 2009 during the celebration of XV Conference of School Management and published in the magazine "Forum".

Later, a process of contributions and e-debate was opened for four months and it has ended in the Day of Debate carried out on 6 October of 2009. The associates who figure up are the writer team of the conclusions of this process.

There is agreement on considering that the current system of school directors shows many lacks, especially the contrasted fact that there are not candidate teachers in these posts of responsibility. The analysis of this lack has to give us the key for the answer. It is a matter of facing the structural causes of this situation and not putting remedies to the consequences.

Certainly, the excessive rules of the educational laws has not helped nor helps; we know, however, that the numerous changes carried out in the last 25 years have not been useful very much to anything, since the problem is in the root. In this way, going from the choice to the selection, the change of a decision of the school board to a mixed commission, going and coming back from the practical non-existence of requirements to the need of a previous accreditation even the only demand of a relative educational experience, or the correlation between external internal and aspirant candidates, among other issues of the same system, they have not blocked the constant slope of candidates to the school direction.

Even, in the best times, there have never been more candidates than posts to cover, as to very one for place and when of it there it had more than one has been on the occasion of conflict. The choice or selection of one of between zero and one does not seem the way: the facts have discredited the presumed validity of the hypothesis of the socio-political prevalence about the technique. It is necessary to make professional the school direction.

The question is that, probably for our recent history, people have tended to outlining the direction like a socio-political post more than technician, with some processes of designation that resemble some elections with simple or multiple vote (according to the case) more than in the provision of a public job of agreement in the principles of merit and capacity.

It has been believed naïvely that the popular acceptance of a teacher as a director was a necessary and sufficient condition to carry out this responsibility. Equally, the frame of the public powers has fact that the capacity of decision of the directors has become little more than null. Finally, the short duration, the absence of professional development and the scarce remuneration (complement is still said, because the part typical of the wages is the one of being a teacher) have precipitated that almost nobody wants to be directive personnel.

MEAN PRINCIPLES FOR TRANSFORMING THE SCHOOL DIRECTION IN AN ATTRACTIVE PROFESSION

REAL CAPACITY TO TAKE DECISIONS
A TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL SELECTION PROCESS
A COHERENT REMUNERATION WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENT AND WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY
A MANAGERIAL CAREER
ACCOUNTABILITY
MANAGERIAL TEAM
PROGRESSIVE APPLICATION

We consider that any system of directors that, now, in our context, wants to go to the causes of the situation created with some possibility to revert it has to have the seven principles that next they are detailed present.

1. REAL CAPACITY TO TAKE DECISIONS
The directors have to have a real capacity of taking decisions, of agreement to the institutional goals based on the autonomy of each school, within the framework of the functions, for the application of a project of direction and, in the condition, that the headteacher is the genuine representative of the owner of the public school.
This implies, mainly, the government of the school and the management of the resources. That is, the instructional leadership directed at the school success (decision making with regard to results), the strategic planning based on the commitment and the true command of the staff.
This last issue has to be specified in the participation of the directors in the selection and resignation of the teaching staff, and in its professional development, especially in the evaluation of the accomplishment.

2. A TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL SELECTION PROCESS

If, how it seems, the existence of a mixed commission has to be respected by law, a possible solution would be to establish a sequence in the one that each sector can add value to the procedure:

The internal, technical and social representatives, each one depending on its responsibilities in the boards of those that are part, could establish the relation of questions (problems, needs and aspirations) which they consider have to be approached in the horizon of the half term, for the functioning and improvement of the school.
The candidates should elaborate some projects in the ones that considered the questions reasonably, prioritised them, elaborated the technical development of how to face them and brought up the form in that its attainment could be evaluated. In this moment, to be respectful with the principle of equality should not have any discrimination of preference among the internal and external candidates.
The external technicians, getting together all the antecedent information, appraise the merits (the internal origin can be a value to consider), they interview, with depth, to the candidates and, finally, they take a decision reasoned of selection in the one that the appraisal of the project is included.
The external technicians, in its evaluation of the project of the selected candidate, include proposals for its improvement. The selected candidate has a deadline (that it can be different for the external selected candidate that for the internal) for, without denaturalising the project, to improve it in the line proposed for the evaluators, as well as to make reasoned proposal of managerial team, depending on the project.
The winner project of direction has to be the guide of application in the school for the successive annual plans, object of update and revision if the internal or external circumstances change, and one of the references for the accountability and for the evaluation continued of the professional accomplishment on the part of the headteacher.

3. A COHERENT REMUNERATION WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENT AND WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY

The remuneration of the headteachers has to be at the height of the complexity and specialisation of the accomplishment of this profession and also of its responsibility.

Certainly, in terms of professional career, the evaluation of the accomplishment, the professional development, the size and typology of the school, the complexity and diversity of its formative and complementary offer, etc, have to introduce differentiating elements of salary according to the expertise of the director.

If, at present, the differential between the wages of the directors and those of the teachers is 18% in average; it would be necessary that, in current terms, it would standardised to the differential that exists in the other countries of the European Union (between 50 and 75%).

4. A MANAGERIAL CAREER

Obviously, in that to recognise the direction school like a profession differentiated, with non trivial specific knowledge, it is necessary to consider the career managerial.

This has to start for a powerful previous specific training (there is not any teacher who can exercise without qualifications) and also a series of requirements of educational experience, positive appraisal, etc have to be required.

Equally, the items typical of a coherent professional development have to be established: a continued training, the progression in posts of different level of responsibility, the evaluation of the accomplishment, the innovation and the research in school management.

The elements of career have to constitute a substantive part of the scale of the salary.

5. ACCOUNTABILITY

The school director has to yield accounts to the school community of its management and of the development of the project of direction, as well as of the attainment of the proposed goals. This is a formation element of the collective responsibility and essential for the continuity in the concrete post, which has to be considered day pupil of the accomplishment in the technical evaluation.

6. MANAGERIAL TEAM

The schools within the framework of its project should be able to describe its organisational structure and, in its managerial structure.

The managerial team, in variable number of members, should be able to include the deputy as a junior headteacher in training.

The managerial team could be chosen by the director in way reasoned, depending on the project, mainly of among teachers of the school and the application of the managerial project has to be assumed in a soldiery way. The appraisal of its work has to be considered access to the direction for a possible future.

Equally, the managerial team as a direct collaborator in the managerial accomplishment has to be able to complete some skills of set that allow to guarantee the managerial function of the evaluation of the teaching staff enough.

The remuneration of the managerial team have to vary, in consonance, in those of the headteacher; increasing the current ones significantly.

7. PROGRESSIVE APPLICATION

It is not necessary that, of a day in the other one, all the schools of Catalonia have professional headteachers. If there has been any never, either it does not have to come of a waiting time more.

The quality to the amount is preferable. Transitory measures, have to be studied between a system and another: accreditation of the previous training, offer of complementary training, managerial overtime, etc However, the current school headteachers do not end the mandates at the same time.

In the calls of access to the direction, it would be very reasonable that for quite a lot of time they were not pruned to cover all jobs with professional directors; in this supposition, there being two or more speeds does not have to be stranger.

Thus, can have schools that are like until now (without professional director), while, in so far as teachers keep on being promoted with managerial profile and they keep on accessing for technical selection, the jobs with directors keep on covering professionals to themselves progressively. It would not make anything that the process finished in a horizon of 10 years, for example. Clear that the professional directors and the no professionals should have a different treatment (at least, in the wages and the career, maybe also in the capacity of decision)

The Forum of Administrators of the Education of Catalonia will give broadcast to this document in the professional environments and to the society in general and will bring it, as loyal contribution, to the educational authorities in the current process of development of the Law of Education approved of recently by the Parliament of Catalonia.

Barcelona, October of 2009

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