Getting Heads Together

School leaders (Headteachers; Deputy/Assistant Headteachers; Year Group/Phase Leaders; Subject/Curriculum Leaders etc.) face complex problems as part of their role. According to research in adult development, school leaders can be helped to respond to such complexity by developing how they make sense of problems. This can facilitate school leaders to respond in more successful ways.However, current models of professional development do not take such ideas on board. Therefore, this project looks to develop and pilot a model of school leadership development and professional learning that enhances how school leaders make sense of the complex challenges within their role. This project seeks to combine the experience and expertise of school leaders and the theories of adult development, to create this programme. It will develop the materials and approach, pilot this within the project partnership, and study the impact of this approach. Following the pilot and any refinement of materials, it would then seek to publish materials as an open, free to use resource, that would also support the training of others to facilitate the use of these materials within their organisation.The project seeks to build a model that could support leaders in both Primary and Secondary Schools.To reach its aim, the project has four key objectives:- Develop models for transformational growth in school leaders- Create a set of training materials based on the models developed- Publish case studies to evidence school leader development- Write a research/policy paper to highlight lessons learned and broaden impactIt will achieve these objectives through a partnership of both Higher Education Institutions (from the UK and Greece) and School Partners (from the UK, Greece, Poland, Lithuania and Turkey). Taking on a collaborative approach, all Partners will actively engage in the development of the outputs, ensuring they are robust and highly relevant to the target beneficiary groups of schools and their leaders. The four outputs of the project are:- Models for transformational growth- Training materials- Case studies and impact analysis- Research/policy paperThrough these outputs, high quality materials will be developed and disseminated to ensure impact, not only in the five Partner countries, but also in schools across Europe where school leaders face complex problems.