[Voiceover] So I think for aspiring leaders
it certainly gives them a sense of what are the major roles.
[Voiceover] I think the Profiles have really given
each of our new leaders the opportunity
to have a much deeper, challenging conversation
about what it means to be a leader.
[Voiceover] And that's really about me understanding
what it takes to be a great principal.
[Voiceover] The Leadership Profiles were developed from the
Australian Professional Standard for Principals.
They're a set of 80 statements that together
describe the actions of school leaders
as they carry out their work across a range of practices.
They reveal detailed pathways for development
as leaders increase in proficiency throughout their career.
So how are the Profiles being used by aspiring principals
to support their development as school leaders?
To find out, we spoke to emerging leaders,
principals and system leaders about their experiences.
I use the Leadership Profiles as a tool
to guide my own self-reflection.
The Leadership Profiles firstly helped me become
self-aware of my strengths and my areas for development.
It also allows me to create a path around
my future development with alongside my mentor.
My four deputy principals are aspiring leaders
and it really gives us a language
and just the tools that they require
to focus on what their areas of development are.
And that's really about me understanding
what it takes to be a great principal
and understanding the nature of
that it is a developmental sort of slide
in and across the Profiles
and sort of understanding that as a concept.
So my initial discussions with my mentor principal
have been around well, 'What does really good look like
and what are the kinds of things that I need to do
to be able to move across those Profiles in different areas?'
So each deputy took the Profiles away,
were able to highlight either phrases
or whole sections from the summary page
and then we sat down together and actually discussed
where they felt they were at, what they needed to focus on,
and can I say that was fantastic for me
as a new principal, in a new school,
with four existing deputies.
It helped me really understand
where each of those deputies were at
and what their strengths were.
During my preparation stage,
I work closely with my principal as a mentor
to help guide me.
She also helps me reflect upon where
my current sort of position I suppose
against the Leadership Profiles are,
but also to highlight my strengths
and really what kinds of evidence are there
that sit alongside that for me to be able to
demonstrate my strength.
So I think for aspiring leaders it certainly
gives them a sense of what are the major roles
and it gives them a sense of the breadth,
but also gives them the opportunity
to look at how they might develop further
in preparation for being a principal.
By looking at the Leadership Profiles,
I was able to identify that working and engaging
the community has been a really important aspect
for me that I need to grow as a leader.
My previous roles have allowed me
to look at more operational matters
and so I've identified that I need to focus more on
how I engage with the community within my own site
and how I'm working with the community
to then expand my leadership skills
to help me run a school in the future as a principal.
I think the Profiles have really given
each of our new leaders the opportunity
to have a much more deeper, challenging conversation
about what it means to be a leader
and often those conversations are not just with
their contemporaries, the other new leaders,
it's actually when they're working in partnership
with more experienced leaders.
So one of the values for using the Profiles for the mentor
is to have the same framework that the mentee has
and to be able to work through it together.
So last year, the parts that I found
particularly beneficial to work through with Frank
was around the management of the school.
As a deputy, I touched on management issues,
but it was never my responsibility as a deputy.
So it was always easy to think
well the principal will deal with that.
So leading the management of the school
was some of the bits that I actually hadn't done before.
Well the Leadership Profiles have supported me
in providing a framework that I can help Marg
locate her issues or concerns within the Profiles
and then to look through strategies and resources
that are contained within the Profiles
that might be useful for her
in her working through issues or concerns at her school.
I would say the interactive tool was perhaps
the most powerful part of the Profiles for a mentor
'cause that way the mentor could work directly
with the mentee in an interactive way
and look through different parts of the Profiles.
I actually present the Profiles to emerging leaders
and we talk through what each one,
what each professional practice actually means
and I encourage the aspiring leaders
to actually think about what they're doing already
and what they would like to get better at
and that helps them to develop some goals
that they can have in their professional pathways
performance plan for the year
to help them develop leadership skills.
To support them,
I have the Leadership Profiles on my desk at all times
and when we have conversations about their challenges
in their current role as school leaders
in a leadership team
or when they're thinking about
how to approach a particular challenge
or when I want to give them some very positive feedback
about the way they've managed particular situations,
I refer to the Leadership Profiles
and we locate their practice within the Profiles
and we can talk about that to endorse what they are doing,
but also to have a conversation about
what the next step would be
the next time a similar challenge arises.
How can they mature their leadership actions
because the pathways are described
within the Leadership Profiles.
I think anyone who hasn't had a look at them yet should
especially if you're an aspiring leader
or a leader that's new in a school
because they do give you a framework to run by.
That's really hard sometimes to know what to do next
and so the Leadership Profiles help articulate
the next step in certain areas.
[Voiceover] So what do aspiring principals
have to gain from using the Profiles?
With their detailed description of the actions
of school leaders across five professional practices,
the Profiles help aspirants to understand
the scope and complexity of the principal role.
For individual professional reflection
or when working with a mentor,
the Profiles are a useful guide to help aspiring principals
identify their current leadership strengths.
During coaching, mentoring,
and performance development conversations,
participants are able to draw on a common language
and framework for shared understanding
of school leadership practices.
With the Interactive Profiles,
aspirants can view a developmental pathway
for an area of their practice and access targeted resources
to help develop new leadership skills
so they can be well prepared to lead a school in the future.
So as a reflection tool,
as a tool that offers alternative pathways
for enacting our roles, and for zeroing in
on areas for potential professional growth,
they're a very rich and important resource
for our profession.