Page 69 - Educational Leadership in a Changing World

School Leadership and Educational Quality

Singapore: Leaders in Education Programme (lep)
Singapore, through the Leaders in Education Programme (lep), has
a highly specialized educational management strategy focused on the
continuous training of school leaders. The model is based on a high
level of specialization and adaptability among school administrators,
who must efficiently manage resources and promote academic excel-
lence within their school communities. The lep ensures that princi-
pals have a direct impact on improving teaching and learning, which is
a key factor in the success of Singapore’s education system. The Leaders
in Education Programme (lep) is a 6-month full-time programme de-
signed to prepare highly capable vice principals and ministry officers in
Singapore for principalship (Jayapragas, 2016). The programme places a
strong emphasis on pedagogical leadership, viewing principals not only
as resource managers but also as facilitators of high-quality learning.
School leaders are expected to serve as role models of excellence, im-
plementing pedagogical best practices and also driving change and in-
novation within the education system.
The lep is built upon educational policies that prioritize continu-
ous improvement in education quality. The structured leadership de-
velopment policies align with the regulatory and political frameworks
described by Ball (2008), which address the impact of public policies on
education.

Learning to Conduct Futuring Learning to Contextualize
• Handling real-life complexities • Adapting best practices to local
in school leadership school contexts
• Encouraging anticipation of trends • Gaining insights from global
and challenges education strategies
• Balancing imagination • Contextualizing leadership theories
with pragmatism and behaviours

Learning to Collaborate Learning to be Adaptable and Flexible
in a Self-Organizing Paradigm • Emphasizing change management
• Relying on shared decision-making • Balancing instructional
• Enhancing instructional effective- and stakeholder needs
ness through teacher participation • Handling multiple and conflicting
•Networking and cross-border responsibilities
collaboration

Figure 3.3 Leaders in Education Programme Diagram
notes Based on Jayapragas (2016).

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