Activities 2006/07: Videos

Multiple Perspectives and Collaboration in Strategic Leadership
December 11–12, 2006

Introduction of the Minister of Education and Welcome Address

Synopsis: Serge Plouffe introduces Kathleen Wynne, who begins by expressing appreciation for the participants' attendance at the conference. After touching on the goals of this conference as well as those of public education, she emphasizes that it is critical to consider the public's perspective of education in Ontario. The Minister also advocates for principals acting as ambassadors for public education. Throughout, she emphasizes the central role played by principals in the education system.

Full Presentation

Exercising Adaptive Leadership

Synopsis: Heifetz begins by pointing out that testing has resulted in increased aspirations for all students, with the result that a different form of leadership than simple authoritative expertise is required to deal with this reality. This new form of leadership is based on the concept of adaptation, which he explains. Heifetz then discusses the losses experienced by participants involved in adaptive change and describes the importance of orchestrating the conflict that occurs during change so that it becomes a productive process. He stresses the importance of understanding that the people are both the problem and the solution and then highlights the avoidance tactics people use so that they do not have to deal with issues. He concludes by presenting various ways of 'staying in the game.'

Video Segments:

• Leadership Style Required to Address the Gap Created by Testing
  (Length: 8:33)
  
• Concept of Adaptation
  (Length: 7:06)
• Losses Involved in Change
  (Length: 8:02)
• Orchestrating Conflict to Make It Productive
  (Length: 8:05)
• People Are the Problem and the Solution
  (Length: 6:05)
• Avoidance Measures: Diverting Responsibility and Distracting Attention
  (Length: 6:29)
• Staying in the Game
  (Length: 15:00)

Sustainable Leadership

Synopsis: Hargreaves introduces his topic by describing the Change Over Time project, which he uses to illustrate the changes that have occurred in education and leadership from the 1970s to the present. He provides a general definition of sustainable leadership and then explains the seven principles of this style of leadership, focusing in particular on the principles of depth, endurance and breadth. While addressing the principle of endurance, he also describes the four issues in leadership succession, since they connect directly with this principle.

Video Segments:

• "Change Over Time" Project – Changes in Leadership from the 1970's to the Present
  (Length: 8:48)
  
• Definition of Sustainability and a Focus on the Principle of Conservation
  (Length: 11:21)
  
• The Principle of Depth
  (Length: 6:47)
  
• The Principle of Endurance
  (Length: 5:52)
  
• The Four Issues in Leadership Succession
  (Length: 15:01)
  
• The Principle of Breadth – Professional Learning Communities
  (Length: 3:10)
  
• The Principle of Breadth – Distributed Leadership
  (Length: 19:23)
  
• The Principles of Justice, Diversity, and Resourcefulness
  (Length: 5:28)

Heifetz to Hargreaves: Two Dimensions of Problem Solving

Synopsis: Leithwood begins by observing that the presentations of Heifetz and Hargreaves contain the common thread of problem solving. He summarizes Heifetz's ideas of adaptive and technical challenges and provides a framework for solving unstructured problems before moving on to outline Hargreaves' presentation on the levels of problems that leaders encounter. He notes that both Heifetz and Hargreaves advocate distributed leadership–Heifetz's stance being that adaptive problems need to be owned by many people, and Hargreaves' perspective being that sustainable leadership has to be widely distributed amongst many people. Leithwood concludes by addressing the issues presented by Hargreaves, in particular those that relate to the current policy context.

Video Segments:

• A Summary of the Heifetz Presentation with a Focus on the Types of Problems We Face
  (Length: 7:46)
• The Framework for Solving Unstructured Problems
  (Length: 7:42)
• A Summary of the Hargreaves' Presentation with a Focus on the Levels of Problems We Face
  (Length: 5:50)
• Distributed Leadership
  (Length: 7:39)
• Issues Touched on in Andy Hargreaves' Remarks
  (Length: 7:01)