School Leaders as Agents of Change
School leaders are essential change agents—to motivate teachers and communities, to collect evidence, to adapt pedagogy and to create safe, inclusive conditions for all learners.
This research project develops the capacity of school leaders in three Global Partnership for Education (GPE) countries—Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan—to address local access and participation issues for girls and marginalized learner groups.
The project capitalizes on opportunities afforded by an increasing focus on the value of “bottom up” change – through more decentralized and participatory structures — to explore how school leaders can be empowered to address inclusive access and participation in their institutions and communities through a focus on local constraints, barriers and constructs.
Ultimately, the research is designed to identify factors for scaling the initiative in other schools and school districts in the three countries.
Location
Prior to the fall of the Government of Afghanistan in 2021, despite several policies in place to address inclusion, inclusion issues persisted including girls’ access to education and access for children with disabilities.
Originally, CW4WAfghan’s research was to be carried in schools in Kabul and surrounding provinces. After the fall of Afghanistan, we moved the research site to UNHCR camps (“refugee villages” or RVs) for Afghan refugees in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, where over 800,000 Afghans had fled since the Taliban takeover.
Community Partners
CW4WAfghan is working with Community World Service Asia, a Pakistani NGO, to research Afghan school leaders serving Afghan students in exile. Together we are identifying factors that contribute to education entities scaling this model in other UNHCR RVs and schools.
Research Methods
This empirical research explored how school leaders can realize and act upon their agency to solve inclusion challenges in their schools and communities through taking an online course on inclusive education and collaborating with other school leaders to solve problems. We observed 30 school leaders (50% female) using a mixed methods research approach, which involved collecting and analyzing data from 90 interviews and three surveys. Most school leaders were Afghan refugees; many had a limited understanding of inclusive education and at baseline, not one school leader had participated in learning activities online. Thirty leaders engaged in a five-month educator professional development program, participating in an online course, and collaborating online and in-person with other school leaders, supported by two education facilitators.
Results
Preliminary findings suggest that:
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- ICT tools (such as practical online courses, tablets and apps on mobile phones) can support school leaders living in remote contexts to learn and collaborate online.
- School leaders can adopt practices such as using data and evidence to identify inclusion challenges.
- Practical strategies such as “Plan-Do-Study-Act” puts change in the hands of school leaders, empowering them to make education more inclusive for children in their communities.
- “Networked improvement communities”, groups of leaders working together, leads to innovative solutions to persistent inclusion challenges at the school level.
- When provided with quality professional development, school leaders gain a sense of agency to tackle problems they previously didn’t see as within their power to change.
- When provided with quality professional development, within five months, school leaders solved micro-inclusion challenges at their schools.
- Education entities can scale this inclusive education PD program when they are engaged in the pilot, and are provided timely, strategic support.
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Feedback from School Leaders
During interviews, school leaders said:
“Speaking of personal development, I must emphasize that this journey has been immensely motivating for me and has facilitated my learning in various areas, including PDSA, inclusive education, and using a problem tree analysis.”
– Female School Leader, post-survey interview data
“I carefully listen to the NIC discussion and other members’ experiences of solving problems in their schools. For instance, an issue may arise regarding students’ attendance, and various solutions are suggested. I get inspiration from these diverse ideas and proposed solutions, using them to find a resolution to our own challenges”.
– Male School Leader, endline program interview data
“Before this training, we didn’t welcome students with disabilities – we didn’t like them so much because we were concerned that they would make it difficult for us. After taking this course, we are ready for students with disabilities.”
– Male School Leader, mid-program interview data
Project Administration
This project is administered by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, and funded by Global Partnership for Education. As part of this project, similar research is also being carried out in Pakistan by Allama Iqbal Open University, and in Nepal by Kathmandu University, with technical leadership from the Open University UK, and management support from Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development, Inc. (FIT-ED) in the Philippines. The research project will end 31 March 2024.
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