‘Closing the gap’: systems leadership is no leadership at all without a moral compass – a Scottish perspective

ABSTRACT

This conceptual paper provides a critical analysis of the current convergence of major policy initiatives in Scotland to improve learning and teaching, promote greater equity and close the attainment gap through systems level leadership and change. It is neither an empirical study nor a literature review but synthesises across a range of fields – social justice, poverty, social mobility, school improvement, leadership and policy – in order to cast light on the problem and to inform public policy and practice. However system level leadership is not unproblematic, with, as argued by Boylan, the terms system and leadership seen as malleable concepts, nor can it be seen as a panacea for all ills. The paper argues that educational policy needs to be seen as residing within wider social policy. Without recourse to addressing systemic inequalities in society and building the infrastructure and support structures around schools, schools, on their own, are unlikely to rise to the challenge. The paper argues for a melding of distributive leadership (with emancipatory intent and purpose) with systems leadership, characterised by meaningful collaboration and partnerships from ‘within – to between – and beyond’ schools (as suggested by Chapman), imbued with moral purpose.

KEYWORDS:

• Systems leadership
• policy
• social justice
• attainment gap
• poverty

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Electronic source – no page number.

2 The gap between average performance on a range of indicators and those at the bottom.

3 A reference to Andy Hargreaves.

4 drawing from an interview with Peter Mortimore.

5 Social Index of Multiple Deprivation.

6 Archer, Hollingworth, and Mendrick 2010; Kintrea, St.Clair, and Houston 2011.

7 Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen.

8 The Bill defines absolute poverty as less than 60% of income; relative poverty as less than 60% of median income; combined low income and material deprivation as less than 70% of median income; and persistent poverty as living in relative poverty for three out of four of the past four years in Scotland.

9 For a model of systems leadership as forwarded by Dimmock, see Dimmock 2016, Figure 2 (63) and accompanying discussion (62).

10 cc. Hargreaves and Fullan (2012).