The latest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report from UNESCO is out, and this year the focus is leadership in education. In this article, we look at some of the report’s key findings exploring the role and responsibilities of a school leader, and how this differs in education systems and settings around the world.
Being a school leader is certainly not a one-size-fits-all role. Depending on the school and context, principals and headteachers can be expected to take on any (and every) task required – from teaching to administration work, and even the odd repair job.
With a range of responsibilities and expectations, it’s also a role that differs from country to country, as highlighted by UNESCO’s latest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report: Leadership in education – Lead for learning.
The report provides insight into the state of education around the globe, with a different focus each year. The 2023 publication looked at technology in education, and we discussed the key messages from that report in a podcast with GEM Report Director Manos Antoninis (Earp, 2023b) and an article (Earp, 2023a).
The 2024 GEM Report builds on a review of legislation and policies on the selection, preparation and working conditions of school principals in 211 education systems, to better understand the differing role of school leadership across the globe. Here, we take a look at some of the key aspects and expectations of school leaders, and what this looks like around the globe.
Setting the school vision
Crafting a school vision and mission statement is something we discussed in a recent episode of our School Assembly podcast series (Earp, 2024). Your school should have some kind of vision statement. How is that decided? And whose responsibility is it?
The 2024 GEM report notes that some countries have regulations and guidance to support principals in setting the vision, values, and philosophy for their school.
For example, in Quebec, Canada ‘under a result-based management framework, principals play a crucial role in setting and adjusting high performance expectations in schools … establishing ambitious academic goals linked to past performance…’ (UNESCO, 2024).
Elsewhere, school visions are expected to align with theory, research, education trends, and/or policies.
The report shares this example: ‘… in Albania, school directors must understand legislation, theories and emerging practices in education, in Hong Kong, China, principals are expected to inform their school’s vision and mission based on global trends and follow a systems thinking approach [and] in Japan, principals are expected to formulate their school’s vision in alignment with national, prefectural and municipal education policies.’
Designing the curriculum
While setting the vision is a common task of school leaders around the world, their role in designing and setting curriculum varies greatly.
The 2024 GEM Report explains a leader’s role in designing the curriculum can be broadly broken into 3 categories:
- Choosing which learning materials to use
- Deciding which courses to offer
- Determining course content
The influence school leaders have over those varies significantly. For example, in the Netherlands, 96% of lower secondary education principals say they choose which courses to offer, but only around half determine the content taught or the learning materials used in those courses. Elsewhere, lower secondary education principals in Saudi Arabia and Turkey say they do not control any elements of the curriculum, whereas in New Zealand they are granted significant control over their school’s curriculum (67% choose which learning materials to use, 83% determine course content, and 94% decide which courses to offer) (UNESCO, 2024). It is worth noting that, as highlighted in the report, private school principals tend to have more curriculum planning autonomy than their public-school peers.
Observing teacher practice and providing feedback
Thinking about your own role as principal, how often do you manage to get into the classroom and observe teaching practice?
Across the 211 education systems analysed in the GEM report, ‘57% expect principals to provide feedback to teachers based on observation,’ (UNESCO, 2024).
Although the report does note that while ‘there is a growing focus on school principals’ crucial role in supporting teaching and learning and empowering teachers to improve student outcomes … this focus mainly features in high-income countries.’
While many countries expect principals to observe classes and provide feedback, the report highlights that by looking at recent OECD data, we can that it can be difficult to achieve in practice.
According to the GEM report, data from the OECD’s 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) shows only 50% of school principals across 30 OECD countries said they often provided teachers with feedback after observation. Furthermore, the report cites recent PISA data which show the percentage of secondary school principals who reported that they or their senior staff colleagues observed lessons fell from 81% in 2015 to 77% in 2022.
Fostering collaboration and professional development
Collaboration can provide opportunities for staff to work together to improve their teaching practice and engage in meaningful professional development. It’s a topic of interest to Teacher readers and something we return to regularly.
In your own context as a leader, are you working to encourage staff collaboration?
According to the GEM Report, only half of the 211 education systems analysed require principals to promote teacher collaboration. It also cites PISA 2022 data showing only 22% of students attended schools where principals or management consistently encouraged teacher collaboration at least on a monthly basis (a further 33% attended schools where such encouragement was very infrequent, occurring only once or twice a year).
Of course, fostering external collaboration can also be a key aspect of a principal’s role.
In 3 of Canada’s provinces and territories with substantial Indigenous populations, principals are expected to collaborate and establish relationships with First Nation communities, parents, school councils and organisations, while in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, principals are expected to ‘identify and leverage local resources to support school goals…’ (UNESCO, 2024).
One area of consistency is in expectations of principals to foster and lead professional development – with many countries mandating principal-led staff evaluation and opportunities for staff improvement.
‘Globally, 73% of countries expect principals to support staff professional development,’ the GEM Report notes.
Read the full 2024 Global Education Monitoring Report to delve deeper into the country data and themes discussed above, and other leadership topics.
References and related reading
Earp, J. (2023a, July 26). ‘UNESCO calls for smartphone ban in schools’ Teacher magazine. https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/unesco-calls-for-smartphone-ban-in-schools
Earp, J. (Host). (2023b, August 17). Global Education Episode 22: Technology in education – a tool on whose terms? [Audio podcast]. Teacher magazine. https://soundcloud.com/teacher-acer/global-education-episode-22-technology-in-education-a-tool-on-whose-terms
Earp, J. (Host). (2024, October 24). School Assembly S3E3: Crafting a school vision and mission statement. [Audio podcast]. Teacher magazine. https://soundcloud.com/teacher-acer/school-assembly-s3e3-crafting-a-school-vision-and-mission-statement
OECD. (2020). TALIS 2018 Results (Volume II): Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals. TALIS, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/19cf08df-en
OECD. (2023). PISA 2022 Results (Volume II): Learning During – and From – Disruption. PISA, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/a97db61c-en
UNESCO. (2024). Global Education Monitoring Report 2024/5: Leadership in education – Lead for learning. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54676/EFLH5184
Reflecting on your own experience as a school leader, what are the key responsibilities and expectations?
Do you know what your staff want and expect from you as principal? Do you seek feedback to better understand if you’re delivering on those expectations?
As a school principal, do you utilise shared leadership to help manage the demands of your role?
