Understandings of leadership in Australian private VET: Educational leadership

1
Understandings of leadership in Australian
private VET Educational leadership missing in
action or just hiding?

• Roger Harris and Michele Simons
• University of South Australia

2
Introduction

• Major changes in leadership of VET organisations
• Shift in the relationship between educational
  leadership and management responsibilities
• Leaders challenged to strike some form of balance
  between business and educational imperatives
• Tensions inherent in these dual roles are an
  increasingly pressing problem
• Requires richer understanding, particularly in
  the process of becoming a more interconnected
  tertiary education system

3
Significance

• Common thread through VET literature -
  educational leadership disappears
• This paper - investigates leaders understandings
  of educational leadership, how they balance
  tensions in meeting educational and business
  imperatives
• Research in this area, and the sharing of it
  through the wider training system, is of
  significant value, with leadership and management
  effectiveness being so critical for quality and
  innovation in tertiary education (Skills
  Australia 2010)

4
Literature

• Cf. schooling sector a golden age of sustained
  interest in educational leadership
• Research on leadership in the VET sector generic
  management and leadership skills, capability
  frameworks
• Educational leadership appears to have become
  almost invisible

5
Research on VET leadership

• Roles of various groupsof leaders
• Application of theoretical perspectives to VET
• Development of lists of leadership and management
  domains of activity
• Skill domains capability frameworks
• Development needs of leaders and managers and how
  they might be met

6
Dual role

• Tensions in balancing roles as educational
  leaders with business responsibilities
• Often do not feel willing or able to assume
  higher levels of leadership in the future
• Middle managers particularly problematic in
  the new competitive cultureof VET delivery
  (Consortium)

7
Research method

• 16 private RTOs 5 commercial, 6 enterprise, 5
  industry
• In NSW, Victoria and SA
• 34 in-depth, semi-structured interviews
• Limitations numbers small, cannot be
  generalised, sites purposively selected, absence
  of direct observation

8
Educational Leadership

• Different to leadership directed towards external
  objects such as managing change
• Educational leadership directed towards
• Business imperative shaped by importance of value
  of education and individuals development
• Serving the industry and being the best
• Driving innovation for the enterprise
• Focussing on learners

9
Impacts

• Two views
• Distinct forms of leadership need to be
  exercised and compete with each other for
  attention
• Business and educational leadership - two sides
  of the same coin