Partners in the leadership dance: School vocational learning partnerships and community development

Educational Forum, The, Summer 2003 by Johns, Susan

I identified nine leadership roles from the case study sites. Figure 1 on page 322 documents these leadership roles and sources at each stage of the leadership process. These roles are consistent with, but build upon, similar research by Henton et al. (1997) and Bass (2000). To return to the analogy of leadership as a dance, this data illustrates clearly the movement in and out of the dance of a number of people (roles), depending on the circumstances (the leadership skills and abilities needed). However, it is acknowledged that this is a simplified model; some roles span more than one stage of the process (for example, entrepreneurs are needed at the trigger and again at the sustainability stage), and others extend throughout the life of the partnership (for example, networkers).

Though a variety of people is needed to undertake the different leadership roles required, a synthesis of the findings across each study site indicates that there appears to be a core body of individuals involved in most stages of partnership development. These include school principals (sometimes including assistant principals), VET coordinators, and key community leaders. Though, in general, school principals tended not to undertake entrepreneurial leadership roles, they played a prominent role in the initiation stage, as networkers, teachers, and supporters, and again later in the partnership-development process, as sustainers, agitators, and mentors. Principals often undertook a networker role initially, explicitly using their existing diverse networks to identify people who could contribute to the partnership. As supporters, principals legitimized the partnership, and such legitimization was a necessary early step in the leadership process. Given their particular skills, it is not surprising that principals were key players in the teacher role, nurturing and developing leadership skills in others, both within and outside the school, and reflecting their transformational leadership practices (Leithwood et al. 1992; Gorinski and Davey 2000).

VET coordinators occupied different roles in different communities. For example, in Margaret River, the VET coordinator was appointed to set up the VET program and therefore was involved in nearly all of the leadership roles throughout the partnership-development process.

In Cowell, by contrast, the VET coordinator was not appointed until after the partnership had been developed, so her involvement focused largely on leadership roles later in the process, such as sustainer, agitator, and mentor. In addition, a school-industry liaison officer was specifically appointed in Cowell to undertake sustainer and agitator duties, and, to a lesser extent, mentor roles. In other sites, the role of sustainer tended to be shared between the VET coordinator and the chair of the VET partnership committee. Because reflection only takes place when the partnership is operating effectively, these people played a key leadership role in facilitating ongoing liaison between school and community, to create conditions for critical reflection.