PROJECT “EMPOWERING of SCHOOL BOARDS”

The growing active citizenship and community movement are signalling that organisations under the responsibility and leadership of one person have lived up to their time. All the more so because studies carried out in Europe (ESHA 2017, UCL 2018) show that school leaders feel left alone and are under great strain due to excessive responsibility. The source of this tension, as a rule, is a very high level of responsibility and conflicting expectations. Each interest group (municipality, teachers, parents, etc.) has its own requirements and everyone lacks the time and skills to find comprehensive solutions to problems. A major source of tension is also competitive public opinion, forcing schools to compete with each other and forming an opposing perception that competition is more important than cooperation.

“School leaders feel left alone and are under great strain due to excessive responsibility”

How to change this situation? What are the causes of the problem? Who and how can help the school principal and the community as a whole? What kind of help would be enough? In search of answers to these questions, the ELVL team decided to create an Erasmus+ project and invited its foreign partners (Jyväskylän Yliopisto, Trigon Entwicklungsberatung and the European Parents’ Association) to help. It was decided to jointly create training programs to improve the cooperation capacity of the community and an activity study methodology to assess the development of an educational institution. Saaremaa was chosen as the location for the three-year pilot project (2019-2022) and the reason was the readiness of the local government and school communities to make a serious effort towards big goals. Five schools were selected from among those who expressed their wish – Kuressaare Gymnasium, Saaremaa Co-educational Gymnasium, Kaali PK, Kärla PK and Pihtla Kindergarten-Primary School.

“It was decided to jointly create training programs to improve the cooperation capacity of the community and an activity study methodology to assess the development of an educational institution.”

During the first year, the plan was to create a training programme as a joint work of top trainers and researchers and to prepare 10 consultants from Estonia and 5 from elsewhere (Austria, Slovenia, France, Denmark and Finland). The project started so fast that 28 Estonian consultants finally completed the programme. Local school leaders, board of trustees and leading education officials of the municipality were involved in the creation of the program. The group’s learning and work processes were led by 3 experienced trainers from Germany and 3 researchers from Finland. Each week of activity (4 in total) was decided to end the internship with a day (Friday) in specific schools. Each practice group had to be led by the head of the school, and each group was initially attended by the head of the board of trustees, one education officer, two trainers from Estonia and one from abroad.

“The plan was to create a training programme as a joint work of top trainers and researchers and to prepare 10 trainers from Estonia and 5 trainers from elsewhere (Austria, Slovenia, France, Denmark and Finland)”

Starting from the second academic year (2020/2021), the aim of the project group is through training (1. Daily pre-training for candidates for the Board of Trustees and 2. 3-day basic training for a member of the board of trustees) and monthly mentoring to help the school leader, under his leadership, develop a positive practice of collegial or shared leadership (engl. shared or collaborative or collegical leadership) in the school community. In the third year, the trainers complete four-week refresher courses in mentoring, mediating and supervision and apply the learned skills to help saaremaa school communities.

“To help the school leader, under his leadership, develop a positive practice of collegial or shared management in the school community”

Through seminars and practices, the long-term goal is to reach the point where the board of trustees of a particular school (which brings together all stakeholders related to the school) is able to participate in making important decisions and taking responsibility for the school. From then on, the head of the school will actually be able to start delegating decision-making. Delegation, in turn, makes it possible to reduce tensions between stakeholders and the head of the school. Since with the legislation in force today, the head of the school still remains legally responsible, he must trust the board of trustees and other cooperation partners 100% to delegate the decision. This trust can be built through a joint learning process and practical cooperation.

“Delegation makes it possible to reduce tensions between stakeholders and the head of the school.”

A change in the culture of relationships at the community level and a real opportunity to participate in the decision-making process involve new active parents in the work of the board of trustees. For the sake of the developmental environment of their children, as a rule, parents are ready to put in more effort than usual. If a community is built together in this way for many years, the experience of success will be inexorable. And it is not excluded that a number of conscious parents, through this process, will develop into a new generation of great politicians who know the value of relationships and attitudes, who have built up and held together a community with their own hands. If a larger number of such people are elected to the national parliament after 10-15 years, then there will probably be no more worries about rural sustainability and the demise of culture. Thus, the long-term goal of the project is the peaceful transformation of the political culture of society.

“It is not out of the question that a number of conscious parents will develop through this process into a new generation of great politicians who know the value of relationships and attitudes, who have built up and held together a community with their own hands.”

In the course of the strategic cooperation project, in cooperation with Trigon Academy and the University of Jyväskylä, three training programs based on the needs of the educational institution’s community and especially the board of trustees will be created, during the preparation of which at least 10 Estonian and 5 foreign consultants will be trained. Their task is to help kindergarten and school communities, as well as the local government, to implement the principles of shared management. With the help of the University of Jyväskylä, a methodology for assessing the development of an educational institution is being developed, and with the help of the European Parents’ Union, the aim is to disseminate the results of the training programme to other European countries.

The seed of this particular project was sown in 2006, when elvl’s then board of directors decided to create a training program for the boards of trustees of educational institutions to help parents and school communities. In order to reach the board of trustees of as many kindergartens and schools as possible with the program, it was decided to train a dozen educators. Kristiine Vahtramäe, Urve Mukk, Ly Niinelaid, Valdek Rohtma, etc. passed and started training the boards of trustees in the training program. The main developer of the program and the trainer of the trainers was Aivar Haller, member of the management board of ELVL.

From 2006 to 2017, the board of trustees of more than 500 schools and 300 kindergartens was trained, several of them repeatedly, because most often the staff changed every few years.

On 28 December 2017, the first meeting was held with Saaremaa Rural Municipality Government, where the possibility of creating a so-called special status for up to five educational institutions in the municipality was discussed, which would allow the specific board of trustees more freedom of decision than usual. It was decided that if ELVL finds five school communities that are eager to learn, then the management of the municipality is ready to take appropriate steps. ELVL decided to write an Erasmus+ three-year international project called “Empowering od School Boards”. Two members of elvl’s management board started writing the project – Hillar Lõhmussaar and Aivar Haller.

On 31 January 2018, the authors of the project met with Anton Teras and Maris Rebel, the heads of the boards of trustees of Saaremaa Co-educational Gymnasium and Kuressaare Gymnasium in Saaremaa. As a preliminary work on the project, it was decided to conduct a survey among the members of the board of trustees of Saaremaa. Aivar Haller invited Jüri Ginter from the University of Tartu to help create the survey. Anton Teras was responsible for distributing the survey. During March, more than 40 participants responded, the summary can be read HERE.

On November 24, 2018, elvl led a workshop at the Estonian Education Congress in Viljandi entitled “Parenting as the shaper of the Estonian spirituality of the future”, where the participants reached five important agreements:

1. The parent is the key person in creating the developmental environment of their child

2. In order for the new generation of parents to be able to play the role of a parent better than before, it is necessary to create social conditions for this.

3. In order for the parent to be able to participate in changing school development environment, he must take responsibility by participating in decision-making processes.

4. In order for a parent to be able to participate in decision-making, he or she must be educated.

5. To educate parents, we need a national training program. The keywords are: communication skills (development education and conflict management) and collegial leadership.

December 17-18, 2018 – International educational seminar “Development environment of the board of trustees as an active citizen”. Experts from Finland and Denmark were invited to speak and lead the workshops.

Mikael Risku, a professor at the University of Jyvaskylä, whose educational management models and practice are of great interest not only in Europe but also, for example, in Japan and South Korea. Mette With Hagensen, long-time (2012 – 2018) president of the Danish Parents’ Association ( Skole og Forældres), who for the past 12 years had been actively involved in the training of Danish board of trustees.

The seminar was an introduction to a longer process of educational innovation, and the main task of ELVL was to think through the basic principles and logic of future-oriented processes in cooperation with its experienced colleagues abroad, which would best fit into our cultural context.

The seminar was attended by 24 representatives of parents, school leaders and education officials. The working language of the seminar was English. The organisation of the seminar was supported by the Ministry of Education and therefore participation in the seminar was free of charge. The seminar participants developed into a core team for the future Erasmus+ project.

Looking back on project performance, it is appropriate to divide the results into three categories:

1. Development of consultants

2. Cooperation with schools

3. Changes in management

The three-and-a-half-year process brought together more than 30 experts in their field under an ambitious mission, all of whom were ready to personally push themselves out of their comfort zone by creating the prerequisites for leadership change in the field of education. Moving away from their main job for a week was a decent challenge for many, but obviously the training and learning process fulfilled its developmental purpose, because otherwise we would not have returned to the next week’s module.

Cooperation with schools was a major whirlwind of change that began a few months after the start of the project with the outbreak of the pandemic. From there, two of the five schools were forced to leave the project in order to focus on the challenges that would have a greater impact on the school’s survival and development at the time. Thanks to this, the teams of the remaining three schools increased, and this, in turn, made it possible to have teamwork in a completely new quality.

The topic of management was a cross-cutting focus of the project, and although due to the pandemic, we did not achieve a situation where some project schools could have been granted a so-called special status by the local government, there was a paradigmatic change in the project team’s understanding of the issues of educational management. We realized that in order to bring about change in leadership, it is necessary to focus on the prerequisites of leadership instead of leadership. We discovered that the most important prerequisite for the quality of management of the boards of trustees is the preparation of parents (as the majority) before being elected to the School Board, and this led us to a new idea of creating and training so-called parent assemblies.

Project Summary

HYPOTHESES

10 hypotheses regarding the project of the School Board of Saaremaa:

1. The local government is interested in the progress of local life and sees the school as a centre of community development.

2. Getting to school depends on the collaborative skills of the whole community.

3. Authoritarian leadership is less and less in line with the current expectations of Estonian society.

4. Based on studies, school leaders perceive themselves as being left alone in difficult situations.

5. The loneliness of school leaders can be alleviated by improving community collaboration skills.

6. In order to improve the development environment of their child, many parents are ready to contribute more to school life.

7. If parents are better involved in making meaningful decisions that affect school life, the cooperation and effectiveness of the school community will be improved.

8. The design and implementation of a comprehensive science-based training programme creates the prerequisites for the involvement of trained community members in important decision-making.

9. The team of the project “Empowering of School Boards” of the Estonian Parents’ Empowering of School Boards has sufficient international support and capabilities to create and implement the necessary training program.

10. The implementation of a specific project helps five school leaders to achieve the desired cooperation in their community.

OBJECTIVES

Opening up a new opportunity for active parents and students to educate themselves in order to be involved in making important decisions in school life.

Shifting the focus from power games in school communities to collaboration.

The school boards of trustees become reliable partners of the local government under the leadership of the head of the school.

PROMISES

1. Learning and practicing democracy starts at school

2. Only the decision-maker can be held accountable

3. A leader brings the right people together

4. The only real benefit is mutual

5. Shared management allows for the involvement of a larger number of competent people

6. School is a lifelong learning environment for all generations

7. Volunteering in the school community shapes a new generation of politicians

Initially, the project had an application to find 10 consultants in Estonia who are ready to complete a three-year program and thus become consultants who study and support the development of educational institutions. The talk about the programme and the German and Finnish scholars supervising it spread quickly, and thanks to this, instead of the ten future consultant-trainers of the Estonian School Board, we found as many as 28 people with corresponding readiness, four of whom were young people who had recently graduated from upper secondary school, who the weekly training modules of the consultants led by Trigon and the later study modules led by the researchers of Jyväskylä became the spiritual backbone of the whole project

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:

1. Aivar Haller Tallinn, ELVL Board Member, Project Coordinator                      
2. Anita Reinbacher Trigon Academy Management Consultant
3. Anja Köstler Trigon Academy Management Consultant                     
4. Anneli Meisterson Kuressaare, Consultant         
5. Annely Särglep Tallinn, ELVL Board Member, Consultant         
6. Anton Teras Saaremaa, Head of the School Board of Co-educational Gymnasium                     
7. Arja Krauchenberg Austria, representative of the European Parents’ Assiciation
8. Artur Haller Tallinn, Junior Consultant          
9. Arvydas Augustaitis Lithuania, Representative of the European Parents’ Association      
10. Boštjan Bobič Zabreščak Slovenia, Representative of the European Parents’ Association
11. Emilia Sviili Jyväskylä University, Researcher              
12. Eveli Nõgu Pihtla Head of the School Board of
    Kindergarten-Primary School I             
13. Harald Jäckel Trigon Academy Management Consultant                  
14. Hardy Suurpere Tallinn, Consultant       
15. Harli Uljas Kuressaare, Consultant                     
16. Helen Rohumaa Tallinn, Consultant       
17. Helle Kahm Saaremaa Deputy Mayor, Head of Education                  
18. Hillar Lõhmussaar Tallinn, Consultant    
19. Ieva Jokste Latvia, Representative of the European Parents’ Association                  
20. Ingrid Leemet Kärla School School Board                        
21. Irma Väre Viljandi, Consultant                
22. Johannes Mengel Tallinn, Consultant     
23. Jürgen Mets Tallinn, Consultant              
24. Jüri Ginter Tartu, Senior Consultant                   
25. Kersti Kirs Head of Studies at Kuressaare Gymnasium                       
26. Kiur Lootus Tallinn, ELVL Board Member, Consultant                  
27. Kristi Saar Pihtla Head of School Board of
    Kindergarten-Primary School II                    
28. Kristi Sillart Head of the School Board of The Youth School                    
29. Kristiina Esop Tallinn, Consultant                        
30. Kristine Järsk Kaali School Principal                      
31. Külliki Koppel Tallinn, Consultant                        
32. Madis Altroff Tallinn, Consultant            
33. Madis Kallas Saaremaa  Municipality Manager              
34. Mai Peetsalu Tallinn, Consultant             
35. Maiu Raun Saaremaa  Municipality Government Education Officer                 
36. Maral Nuridin Kazakhstan, Representative of the European Parents’ Association            
37. Maris Rebel Head of the School Board of Kuressaare Gymnasium                     
38. Marit Tarkin Youth School Principal                
39. Marja Pietiläinen Jyväskylä University, Researcher     
40. Martin Tiidelepp Tartu, Consultant        
41. Meelis Kaubi Saaremaa  Municipality Government Education Officer              
42. Meeri Krass Tallinn, Junior Consultant            
43. Mette Hagensen Denmark, Representative of the European Parents’ Association       
44. Mika Risku Jyväskylä University, Head of Research                
45. Mikk Tuisk Saaremaa  Municipality Manager                 
46. Moona Mengel Pärnu, Consultant          
47. Märt Aro Tallinn, Consultant                   
48. Paul Priks Rakvere, Consultant               
49. Riho Kokk Rakvere, Consultant               
50. Riina Saar Pihtla Kindergarten-Primary School Director                     
51. Sigrid Sepp Viljandi, Junior Consultant             
52. Sirje Ellermaa Kärla School Principal               
53. Taavet Borovkov Tallinn, Junior Consultant       
54. Taavi Tuisk Head of the School Board of Kaali School                 
55. Tiit Urva Tartu, Consultant                      
56. Tiiu Kuurme Tallinn, Senior Consultant              
57. Toomas Takkis Director of Kuressaare Gymnasium                
58. Tuija Ukskoski Jyväskylä Ülikool, Researcher                
59. Tõnis Tamme Tartu, Junior Consultant               
60. Urmas Heino Heinaste Tartu, Consultant
61. Urmas Treiel Saaremaa Municipality Government Head of Education             
62. Vaiko Hansson Pärnu, Consultant                       
63. Valerie Gardette France, Representative of the European Parents’ Association
64. Viljar Aro Director of Saaremaa Co-educational Gymnasium             
65. Õilme Salumäe Saaremaa Municipali