The leadership of the improvement of teaching and learning: Lessons from initiatives with positive outcomes for students

The purpose of this study was to examine how leaders foster school renewal by facilitating and participating in the types of teacher professional learning and development that improve student academic and non-academic outcomes. The methodology involved a backward mapping strategy that takes as its starting point, not theories of leadership, but professional development initiatives that have made a demonstrable impact on the students of the teachers involved. Seventeen studies with evidence of such impact were analysed for descriptions of the leadership practices involved in each initiative. Through an iterative process of review and critique, these descriptions were categorised into the leadership dimensions associated with teacher professional learning that resulted in improved student outcomes. The analysis revealed five leadership dimensions that were critical in fostering teacher and student learning: providing educational direction; ensuring strategic alignment; creating a community that learns how to improve student success; engaging in constructive problem talk; and selecting and developing smart tools. The analysis showed that leadership of the improvement of learning and teaching is highly distributed in terms of both who leads and how it is enacted. Such leadership is embedded in school routines that are aligned to improvement goals, and involves the use of smart tools that are designed to assist teachers' learning of more effective pedagogical practices.