ERIC EJ1155845: Global Perspective and the Implications for School Leadership

2017·0.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

Global Perspective and the Implications for School Leadership
Gaoming Zhang
Assistant Professor
School of Education, University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Katharine A. Bohley
Professor of Marketing and International Business
School of Business, University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Lynn Wheeler
Assistant Professor
School of Education, University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
ABSTRACT
Understanding and implementing a global perspective of business and education is a requisite skill for 21st Century
educational leaders.  Among principal preparation programs within the United States, there has been limited evi-
dence of embedding the thread of global literacy or aligning curriculum with global-local skills. The purpose of this
paper is to address this challenge by sharing an innovative approach that was designed and delivered in the MBA
in Education Leadership program at the University of Indianapolis. This interdisciplinary initiative highlighted a
thread of global perspective and aligned the thread with course content. In addition to a discussion of how instruc-
tors used various teaching methods (including lecture, discussion, hands-on activities) to promote understanding of
global literacy and the assessment of student learning, this paper describes candidates’ feedback regarding their positive
learning experiences.
Keywords:  school leadership, education leadership, global perspective, global-local perspective, principal preparation
programs, MBA
INTRODUCTION tury curriculum (Hayes-Jacobs, 2014). In the 21st cen-
tury, how is the American educational system preparing
The American educational system is changing rapidly and
children for a future that is connected both locally and
being influenced through a variety of global connections.
globally?  To improve the quality of schools and increase
The results of international comparative educational ex-
student academic achievement, it is critical to develop
ams such as Trends in International Mathematics and
competent educational leaders who have a solid under-
Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International
standing of global education and who can lead across dif-
Student Assessment (PISA) play a bigger role in educa-
ferent cultures.
tional policies in many countries; therefore, it becomes es-
sential for American educational leaders to better under- One critical attribute of effective educational leaders is the
stand educational reforms in the global context and think capacity to understand and implement a global view of the
critically of those international benchmarks. Closing the world, including intercultural competencies. Schools and
international achievement gap has been recognized as a districts can no longer function independently. School
new and significant responsibility for educational leaders leaders should understand that modern learners need to
(Stringfield, 2011). interact not only in their local community, but also with
state, national, and international communities. Global lit-
Many have argued that the role and skills of leaders in the
eracy should become an integral part of the school curric-
current American school system need to be transformed.
ulum. Global literacy, as described by Rosenthal Tolisano
We continue to serve students in school systems that oper-
(2014), is an individual’s ability to understand global edu-
ate on a 19th Century timetable and deliver a 20th Cen-
cation and competencies, while being able to switch flu-
Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education 9
Gaoming Zhang, Katharine A. Bohley, & Lynn Wheeler Global Perspective and the Implications for School Leadership
ently between local and global perspectives. Students need Although the National Education Association (NEA) PROGRAM OVERVIEW • How are other countries’ educational policies and
to recognize the challenges and opportunities of an inter- and educational policy organizations have advocated for practices similar to or different from those in the
connected world and be able to work in it and improve it global competency as a 21st Century imperative (www. To respond to the pressing need to promote candidates’ United States?
understanding of global education and intercultural com-
(Boix-Mansilla, & Jackson 2011). Therefore, educational nea.org), there is limited evidence that educational lead-
• How can I bring my understanding of key course
petency, the MBA in Education Leadership program at
leaders must have the knowledge and capabilities to model ership masters programs include curriculum aligned with
concepts from the global level back to the local
the University of Indianapolis designed and integrated
and create the culture that embraces these literacy skills global-local skills. The Comparative and International
level? What are the implications of other countries’
a global/local thread in their program. In this paper, we
for students and staff. Education Society (CIES) reports 36 graduate programs
policies and practices for my school and my school
will report an innovative approach to embedding glob-
at the Masters and Ph.d. level in the United States. Their
Only when education leaders have a clear global perspec- district? Given my global understanding of those
al/local strands into administrator preparation studies
curricula are research-based and do not necessarily in-
tive can American school systems better prepare youth to concepts, how can I think critically about what is
and  review the preliminary results collected from fellows
clude courses to meet building-level administrator licens-
be competitive in the ever-changing world. Our leaders being done in my school and school district?
(i.e. graduate students) in the program.
ing requirements (www.cies.us). Principal preparation
should have access and ability to analyze other countries’
programs seeking National Council for the Accreditation The MBA Fellowship in Education Leadership program • This thread was co-taught by a business faculty
educational systems to partner and learn from them. The
of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation must dem- that is described in this paper is an example of an effort to member and an education faculty member. In this
2012 International Summit on Teaching and Learning
onstrate curricular alignment with Educational Leader- develop leadership competency and prepare educational paper, we will share the efforts that the MBA in
in New York City provided an avenue to promote global
ship Constituent Council Standards (ELCC, www.ncate. leaders for schools that are experiencing many changes Education Leadership at the University of India-
competencies. Ministers of education and teacher leaders
org) pertaining to visioning, strategic planning, supervi- currently.  The MBA in Education Leadership program napolis made to integrate the development of their
from 23 high performing or rapidly improving countries
sion of instruction, management and operational systems, is designed to combine the best practices in business and understanding of global education and intercultur-
agreed that “leadership with a purpose” is central to rais-
school-community relations, social justice, and school education with a variety of opportunities for Fellows to al competency specifically in the areas of instruc-
ing student achievement. Several participating countries
law. At the present time, the ELCC standard elements apply their learning in a school setting. Coursework in tion, curriculum, and assessment.
underlined the central role of high quality training, care-
for content knowledge and professional leadership skills this program utilizes an applied, problem-based approach
ful mentoring of new leaders, and ongoing development
and feedback (Asia Society, 2012). Acknowledging and reference cross-cultural leadership, but not specific global that is directly related to fieldwork experiences. Fellows GLOBAL/LOCAL
utilizing the information from international systems can educational competencies. receive a full tuition scholarship in this 13-month cohort- UNDERSTANDING OF ASSESSMENT
based program. The program adopts a “grow-your-own”
provide support and leverage to impact the American ed- A look at international leadership programs reveals a very
This paper focuses on promoting prospective educational
model. All Fellows in the program have to go through a
ucational system. different scenario. The University of Southampton Edu-
leaders’ understanding of assessment in a global context.
highly selective nomination process by school districts
cation School in the United Kingdom offers a master’s
The challenge for school leaders is not simply figuring out Within the program, there are two courses that focus
or charter school authorizers. Throughout the program,
in educational management and leadership with course-
which specific activities contribute to fostering aspects of on the assessment of education: (1) Data Analysis and
Fellows are provided school leadership and business im-
work in globalization and internationalization in educa-
global competency, but also finding out how to integrate Statistics and (2) Instruction, Curriculum and Assess-
mersion experiences, which are supported by their cur-
tion (www.southampton.ac.uk). Southampton students
those activities into the regular work of schools (Reimers, ment.  These two courses were dedicated to effectively
rent district or charter school and include opportunities
create presentations and project planning strategies to
2009). In a survey administered by Reimers (2009), fewer finding, analyzing, and interpreting assessment data.  The
for Fellows to immediately apply leadership competencies
internationalize educational curricula.  Cambridge Col-
than one-half of respondents reported that their schools global/local session was offered to Fellows on the last day
in the field. One of the guiding principles of the program
lege students, who are also eligible for licensure in Massa-
offer opportunities to develop global competencies or to of the two courses. This 4-hour session focused on three
is the combination of the best practices in business and
chusetts, study Advanced Leadership in Policy and Prac-
infuse global competencies throughout the curriculum. modules:  (1) Individual Fellow presentations on global
education. The goal is to increase educators’ understand-
tice, using simulations and scenarios to examine national
These results reflect the importance of educating future data, (2) Introduction to global educational data, and (3)
ing of the highly competitive nature of global business and
and local educational policies (www.cambridgecollege.
leaders in global education and provide strategies to inte- Comparing and contrasting several countries’ assessment
the need to develop and foster relationships with leaders
edu).  Future school leaders in Singapore are trained at the
grate into the curriculum. If our American education sys- data. The session utilized various teaching methods, in-
within the American educational system. The intent is to
National Institute of Education where the focus is on in-
tem is to support and grow our youth for the future, the cluding lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities with-
give the Fellows tools to continually create, develop, and
novation and school transformation. Principals in train-
leaders must be well prepared.  According to Zhao (2009), in small groups.
implement educational practices to enable their students
ing complete a school improvement project for their site,
a paradigm shift in thinking about education, both in
to compete in the global arena.
visiting an international school utilizing their research
what we teach and how we deliver it, is needed.
(www.ascd.org). Individual Fellows “Fact-Sheet” Presentations in
GLOBAL/LOCAL A Small Group
Linda Darling-Hammond (2010) has offered insights re-
THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF STRAND WITHIN THE PROGRAM
garding how the United States can learn from the success The class meeting started with Fellows presentations on
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
of other countries to solve teacher shortages and improve One focus of the program is to cultivate global literacy their “fact sheets” of global education. Prior to the class
Global literacy is an essential component for training instruction in our schools. The Organization for Eco- and the integration of a global and local thread through- meeting time, Fellows were asked to identify a problem
and licensing educational leaders; however, there are few nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is facili- out the program. In this strand, topics that are addressed or a situation that they identified from their current work
programs around the country that adequately integrate tating multiple strategies to increase communication and include, but are not limited to: and intended to solve. Then Fellows read required course
the global/local strands into administrator preparation interaction among instructional leaders worldwide. Cre- readings to learn more about what other countries have
• How can I bring my understanding of key course
studies. Brooks and Normore (2010) have advocated re- ating an effective environment will necessitate removing been doing to address that problem or similar problems.
concepts to a global level? For key course concepts
thinking educational leadership for 21st Century schools. barriers to promote global-local learning (www.oecdedu- The assigned readings (see Appendix) covered two topics:
(e.g., curriculum and assessment, financial re-
They have coined the term, “glocalization” to refer to “a cationtoday.blogspot.com). Infusing rigorous global-local a) global education, and b) entrepreneurship and innova-
sources, etc.), what are other countries’ policies and
meaningful integration of local and global forces to help threads in principal preparation programs would seem a tion in education and business.
practices?
educational leaders inform and enhance their pedagogy significant step in preparing 21st Century school leaders.
and practice (p. 52).”
10 Fall 2017 (Volume 13 Issue 2) Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education 11
Gaoming Zhang, Katharine A. Bohley, & Lynn Wheeler Global Perspective and the Implications for School Leadership
Fellows’ choice was found helpful for this learning activ- scale data from this small group activity. Numerous the courses were linked together within the program, In summary, this new global/local strand provides future
ity. They were encouraged to connect their work to the sources of international educational data were provided. about half of them were not clear about the connections. education leaders opportunities to examine data, policies,
unique needs of their school or school district. Many of They were asked to download data from the UNESCO and practices in other countries and think critically about
the Fellows seized this as an opportunity to conduct in- database and to compare their local district with other what is going on in their own building or school district.
DISCUSSION
depth research for their school or school district and seek countries via specific educational variables, such as teach- By developing Fellows’ understanding of key concepts at
inspirations and solutions from other countries. The top- er-student ratio. Overall, the feedback was positive and suggested that the both the local and the global levels, this new module has
ics for their “fact sheet” and presentation covered a wide global/local session was helpful in promoting the fellows’ great potential in developing global literacy among future
Additionally, Fellows learned about the Program for In-
range of topics, including retention rate, technology in- understanding at both the global and the local levels. Fel- educational leaders. More research is needed to further
ternational Student Assessment (PISA), an international
tegration, poverty issues in schools, the development of lows reported the session was more helpful in developing develop this module and collect more longitudinal data.
assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading,
community schools, 21st Century skills, and collaboration their understanding of the global perspective of the course
mathematics, science literacy, and collaborative problem
between school and corporation. Each Fellow presented materials than in allowing them to apply the global per-
solving in more than 70 countries. Fellows compared REFERENCES
in a small group of five. In the presentation, the presenter spective to their school district. One way to explain this
PISA scores from various countries and discussed what
stressed the significance of the problem and shared what is to look at the results from Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educa- International Summit on the Teaching Profession, & Asia
factors may be attributed to the different performance
inspiring ideas were discovered from other countries. Dis- tional Objectives. Bloom (Seddon, 1978) classified learn- Society. (2012). Teaching and leadership for the twen-
data among those countries.
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Altogether, 35 fellows participated in this pilot program
conversation was taken from a global level and applied at first feedback question (i.e., Understanding the course
and provided feedback for this innovative approach. Boix- Mansilla, V.B., & Jackson, A.  (2011).  Educating
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into Level 2 and the second feedback question (i.e., Ap-
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the majority of the Fellows reported that those sessions and concepts, but they needed additional support and re-
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Data together within the educational leadership program, Fel- sion was provided quite early in the 13-month intensive (2010.  NEA Education Policy and Practice Depart-
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Fellows received additional hands-on experiences with
majority still indicated “Somewhat agree” or “Strongly systematically apply that knowledge. Applying their un- Department-Center for Great Schools. Retrieved
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52% 28% 20%
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12 Fall 2017 (Volume 13 Issue 2) Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education 13
Gaoming Zhang, Katharine A. Bohley, & Lynn Wheeler
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APPENDIX global perspective (retrieved from http://www.
COURSE READINGS BY THEME unesco.org/iiep/PDF/pubs/F165.pdf)
• World’s Most Innovative Companies: Forbes (re-
Comparing Global Education trieved from http://www.forbes.com/innovative-
companies/list/)
• Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators (re-
trieved from http://www.oecd.org/edu/Education-
at-a-Glance-2014.pdf)
• Global Education Digest 2012: Opportunities lost:
the impact of grade repetition and early school
leaving (retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/
Education/Documents/ged-2012-en.pdf)
• Global Education Initiative–Retrospective on Part-
nerships for Education Development 2003-2011
Cost (retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/
docs/WEF_GEI_PartnershipsEducationDevelop-
ment_Report_2012.pdf)
Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Education
and Business
• Final Report on the Entrepreneurship Education
Workstream, Summer 2011, World Economic
Forum (retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/
docs/WEF_GEI_UnlockingEntrepreneurialCapa-
bilities_Report_2011.pdf)
• Global Education Initiative LATAM Roundtable
on Entrepreneurship Education 2011, World
Economic Forum (retrieved from http://www3.
weforum.org/docs/WEF_GEI_LAEntrepreneur-
shipEducation_Report_2011.pdf)
• Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe:
National Strategies, Curricula and Learning
Outcomes (retrieved from http://eacea.ec.europa.
14 Fall 2017 (Volume 13 Issue 2)