What the research tells us: the importance of leadership in language learning
Graham Donaldson’s Teaching Scotland’s Future report (2010, p.2), underpinned by an international review of research (Barber et al., 2010), highlighted the importance of leadership in learning when he noted:
‘The two most important and achievable ways in which school education can realise the high aspirations Scotland has for its young people are through supporting and strengthening, firstly, the quality of teaching, and secondly, the quality of leadership.’
Torrance (2018), however, argues that only certain types of leadership – such as distributed leadership, can effectively contribute towards creating school learning communities in a particular curricular area that can positively influence practice for the benefit of pupil learning. This section will explore this idea in relation to language learning at the primary and secondary school stages within the context of the 1+2 Languages policy.
Distributed leadership, where practitioners with specific curricular expertise contribute towards whole school development, is an approach which is frequently adopted in the context of 1+2 languages. These ‘lead-learners’ or ‘lead-teachers’ typically contribute towards the development of pedagogical practice and enhance the status of languages at school-level. They might also liaise with parents and the broader community to link school-based and home/community-based language experiences (Christie et al. 2016). In so doing, such a distributed leadership approach to language learning can reflect best-practice in practitioner-leadership, which Crowther et al. (2009) note to be:
“action that transforms teaching and learning in a school, that ties school and community together on behalf of learning, and that advances social sustainability and quality of life for a community.” (Crowther et al. 2009, xvii cited in Torrance and Murphy, 2017)
However, Torrance (2012, 2018) notes that creating the context for effective distributed leadership is not straightforward, but rather requires the ongoing support both of teacher peers and of those in formal leadership positions so that teacher-leaders feel able to ‘construct and contribute to school improvement’ (Torrance, 2018, p.264).
The three sections within the Leadership TILE offer guidance and support for developing 1+2 languages within a distributed leadership model. This approach enables partnership working between lead-teachers and other staff, with learners and with a range of non-school partners (parents, local community, cultural organisations, businesses, and national agencies such as Education Scotland and Scotland’s Centre for Languages). These three sections explore key considerations when creating a shared vision for school-based languages learning and leadership of languages at the primary and secondary school stages respectively.
