Shaping the Future: Leaders Designing the Schools We Need

Overview

Over the last few years, schools worldwide have coped with massive change. Disruptions have enhanced our awareness of student and teacher well-being, the limits of technology in education, and the challenges of inequity. At best, educational leaders in systems and schools have grappled with inculcating new skill sets, developing diverse pedagogies, and ensuring equal access for all learners. Internationally and in Hong Kong, schools, systems, educational enterprises, and researchers have responded by attempting to define ‘the new normal’ and plausible trajectories for ‘future schools’. Yet, the future remains uncertain and unknowable, and sectoral divides persist. In the midst, the limited discussion has focused on defining new capacities that leaders need to design schools that are responsive to future realities. This presentation proposes key school leadership capacities that build on recent research and accounts of efforts in Hong Kong schools to address emerging learning needs. The capacities supporting a future-orientation include vision agility, equitable mindsets, and leadership density. Each is framed by school leaders' potential and responsibility to connect to ecosystems and span boundaries to add value to student learning beyond their immediate context. This requires a refocused understanding of school leaders' roles in shaping their impact on learning in and beyond their schools.