It’s not all about the technology

ICT Leadership in Schools

What history tells us is that computers were introduced into schools by enthusiastic amateurs who enlisted the support of sometimes far-sighted Principals to ensure the provision of computers for students. In the early days computer education was about the use of the computer, and staff generally were not expected to necessarily gain competence in computer skills. When the use of computers in schools evolved from computer science to using computers for business applications the situation changed. No longer was the computer solely the provision of technology focused programmers. From then on the computer had potential application in Business, English, Mathematics and Science classrooms. As more software was written for education, the potential uses for the computer grew.

The last decade and a half has seen the computer become a permanent and ubiquitous part of modern living, including education. This has been reflected by schools attempting to find a context to use computers in most subjects found in the curriculum. As a consequence of this, it has become more important than ever to have appropriate and good leadership in Information and Communications Technology. It could be argued that in an ideal world the people to provide Information and Communications Technology leadership within, for example, an English Faculty would be the Head of English. In practice this is not always possible. However as somebody needs to provide leadership in Information and Communications Technology, the question is: who is this person who is going to provide this kind of leadership?

It can hardly be a technician or a Network Administrator, although this might be convenient, it is not very practical in terms of providing strong and sound educational leadership. With the growing emphasis on Information and Communications Technology as interdisciplinary, the role of the Information and Communications Technology leader has become more complex, more curriculum focused and more significant. The role has evolved from being narrow focused in terms of understanding the operation of specific hardware and software to a much broader base with an emphasis of understanding Information and Communications Technology in a learning and teaching context. The role of the Information and Communications Technology leader is a major and significant leadership position supported by an appropriate team.

            An ideal ICT Leadership position in schools should enlist the following principles[i]:

1          The position of the Information and Communications Technology leader needs to be clearly defined in the school’s organisation structure.

2.                  The Information and Communications Technology leader’s position should be senior in rank. Ideally the position should be equivalent to a Deputy Principal position or failing that, at the level just below the Deputy Principal. The position should be renumerated accordingly with the seniority of the position.

3          The Information and Communications Technology leader leads the Network Team by providing strategic direction and understanding of the curriculum needs of the teaching staff.

4          There needs to be a significant relationship between the Leadership Team and the Information and Communications Technology leader regardless of whether the leader is part of the Team.

5.                  The Information and Communications Technology leader needs to work closely with teams with responsibility in the following areas: Network, Information and Communications Technology Strategic, Curriculum and Leadership.

6.                  The Information and Communications Technology leader is skilled as a teacher, has formal qualifications in Information and Communications Technology, is able to provide strategic direction for the network, and is able to lead teachers in the development of Information and Communications Technology.

7.                  The Information and Communications Technology leader oversees the network operations and the work of the technicians.

8.                  Professional development is a key component of the Information and Communications Technology leader’s role. The facilitation of Information and Communications Technology related training for all staff is the responsibility of the Information and Communications Technology leader.

9                    Professional development from the Information and Communications Technology leader needs to include skill building for staff development.

10                Professional development from the Information and Communications Technology leader needs to include capacity building for innovation.

11                The communication structure for the Information and Communications Technology leader, the context, along with the special knowledge inherent in the position needs to be considered. The Information and Communications Technology leader needs to provide direction to the Leadership Team.

The central question of who should lead Information and Communications Technology, is in one sense, a non-question.  What do I mean by that?  What I mean is this: the confusion about who should lead Information and Communications Technology is an historical accident that comes about because people who were leading Information and Communications Technology in the beginning were people who grew up with some computer knowledge.  It is clear from the research that Principal knowledge hasn’t kept up with Information and Communications Technology and it seems some Principals are placing exaggerated trust in the Network Administrator, because, for them, the crucial question is what happens when the network breaks down?  This is the wrong question.

The question for Principals is clearly: how do I improve teacher use of Information and Communications Technology in order to improve student use of Information and Communications Technology in order to improve student learning outcomes?

The answer is very straightforward: an educator needs to run Information and Communications Technology.  Once this is understood the rest follows fairly logically.  This is similar with other aspects of the role such as who the Information and Communications Technology leader should report to and how senior the leader should be. All of these become straightforward matters. The Information and Communications Technology leader is someone who leads teachers and leading teachers is a significant educational leadership task.

Dr Therese Keane