Tracing the stages of senior leadership team development in New Zealand primary schools : insights and issues

Abstract

Senior Leadership Teams abound as the most common permanent team found in New Zealand schools, yet there is a paucity of research studies on the nature of team leadership and the development of these teams – particularly in primary school settings. Findings from individual interviews with principals and focus group interviews with team members in five Auckland primary schools confirm that leadership is consistently the single most important feature of developing a Senior Leadership Team into a high performing team. Paradoxically, the study also points to a lack of leadership knowledge and action in relation to specific developmental activity for teams. Using a well - known universal model of the stages of team development (forming, storming, norming, and performing) to analyse perceptions of practice, it was found that in all of the teams in this study principal leadership did not extend to the formal development of the team. This research concludes that the performance of Senior Leadership Teams could be enhanced if principals and Senior Leadership Team members were provided with research-based and practical insights into (1) the dynamic processes at work within a team and (2) the leadership behaviours and actions that are most appropriate to move the team through the team development process.