School leadership and capacity building in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The article examines the scope for initiative and independent action that lies with school principals in Kazakhstan, with a particular focus on capacity-building approaches. The study is situated within a large collaborative project between three institutions: the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS). A mixed-methods research design was used to collect data in 20 schools and 11 other educational organizations in six different geographical locations in Kazakhstan. The findings suggest that capacity-building strategies are necessary if innovations are to be implemented across all schools. The article outlines the challenges involved in making school reform effective and draws on the ‘capital framework’. The conclusion considers the implications for practitioners and policy-makers, and outlines an agenda for further research.

Acknowledgements

This article arises out of a partnership between the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education. We are grateful to the research team, those who participated in this project and also to Dr Kairat Kurakbayev, who provided useful contribution, and other colleagues who commented on earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Committee on Statistics. www.stat.gov.kz (Retrieved 9 August 2014).

2. (Centres of Excellence) CoE is a large-scale professional development programme for schoolteachers in Kazakhstan, which has been developed in cooperation between the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, Cambridge International Examinations and with AEO NIS. The primary aim of the CoE was to equip teachers to educate citizens of the twenty-first century, i.e. to help pupils become independent, self-motivated, engaged, confident, digitally competent, responsible and critically reflective learners, able to communicate in Kazakh, Russian and English (Turner et al., 2014, p. 83). A cascade model of professional development was adopted for the CoE programme in order to reach as many teachers as possible (Turner et al., 2014, p. 84). The content of the programme delivered through three levels. At Level 3, the focus is on teachers change in the classroom; at Level 2—to support the professional development of other teachers-colleagues through coaching and mentoring; the Level 1—is about bringing whole school change and ‘leading learning in schools and networks’. As Bridges and Sagintayeva (2014, p. xxxiv) claim, ‘it is these values and beliefs, embedded in a particular educational and professional culture, which the CoE programme sets out to change as a condition for changing more readily observable aspects of educational practice’.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education.

Notes on contributors

Natallia Yakavets

Natallia Yakavets (PhD) is a research project officer at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and Research Associate at Wolfson College, Cambridge. Email: [email protected]. Her research interests include: globalization and school reform, the historical dimensions of educational transformation in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia; international leadership practices and the role of social capital. She contributed to a book Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The Case of School Reform in Kazakhstan (edited by D. Bridges, 2014, Cambridge University Press).

David Frost

David Frost (Dr) is one of the co-founders of the Leadership for Learning Network at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. Email: [email protected]. His research focuses on teacher leadership and for the last 25 years, he has developed strategies to support teachers as agents of change playing key roles in the creation and transfer of professional knowledge. He founded the HertsCam Network and the International Teacher Leadership initiative with partners in 15 countries. He is a fellow and tutor at Wolfson College, Cambridge.

Aidar Khoroshash

Aidar Khoroshash is a PhD student at the Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Ave., Astana 010000, Kazakhstan. Email: [email protected]. His current research interest is in teacher leadership at secondary schools of Kazakhstan.