Harvard Principals Centre in Australia 2020

Introduction

During January 2020, the Harvard Club of Australia (HCA) sponsored the first Principals Program by Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). The program was delivered in Sydney at the time of a significant bushfire catastrophe, and associated drought. A key part of the design and HCA motivation to bring Harvard to Australia, was an ambitious target of 50 scholarships for public school leaders, from less advantaged and regional communities around Australia, to participate in the program. The economics of the program in the face of a strengthening US Dollar required large scale attendance, above 150 participants, to make the program viable. The robust scholarship effort significantly assisted in ensuring strong attendance and hence attractive economics for HGSE. Without the support of club donors, it is unlikely that we could have successfully staged the program.

Scholarship winners at the Principals Centre in Sydney – January 2020

Harvard Club Motivation for the program 

David Gonski challenged the HCA Club AGM in 2012 to help to “put Principals on a pedestal”. This led to the initiation of a scholarship program, supported by the Public Education Foundation, to send three or four public school Principals to attend a week-long professional development program at HGSE each July. There have been 27 Principals who have benefited from these scholarships and many reported the experience as being transformational for them at the stage they were at in their career.

HCA was motivated to persuade HGSE to bring this program to Australia so that many more Principals could benefit from this opportunity. There are about 10,000 Principals in Australia and 2,500 in New Zealand. Wouldn’t it be great if many of these leaders in our community could benefit from a Harvard professional learning experience?

The Harvard Club of Australia scholarship offer 
The scholarships provided $A4,000 of the $A4,950 tuition fee, plus on campus accommodation (approx. $A1,000) and a travel allowance proportionate to the distance travelled. Applicants were selected in three rounds – in August, September and October 2019. In total 53 HCA scholarships were awarded, including a total of nine offered by Wesfarmers, Coles Supermarkets and the Aurora Education Foundation. Participants applied through the Harvard portal and successful applicants to the program were then considered for scholarships. Pleasingly, every qualifying applicant received a scholarship - a list of winners is attached to this report - and we have a surplus of funds to apply to scholarships for similar programs in the future.

Program delivery
The Principals Centre in Australia was staged at the Sydney University Business School, from 11 - 16 January 2020, with 171 Principals attending. The curriculum was taught in four sessions each day concluding with a daily facilitated working group of 10 or 11 Principals. These working groups were led by a trained facilitator. These groups remain in close contact after the program to provide ongoing peer support.

The Faculty were led by Professor Kay Merseth, a senior member of the HGSE Professional Education group. Kay was supported by Dr. Elizabeth City, Professor Karen Mapp and Dr. Matthew Miller each of whom had specific relevant expertise to blend into a multi-dimensional curriculum. Elizabeth is expert in school strategy development including the instructional core, Karen is expert in parent and community engagement and Matt is expert in leadership frameworks and organisational learning and development.   

Each of the Principals brought with them a ‘problem of practice’ which they worked on in the facilitated groups culminating in a series of small group presentations on the last day. In this way each Principal was working on their most pressing problems so as to take solutions back to their school leadership team immediately after conclusion of the program.  

Demographics of the class
The 2020 class of 171 Principals and school leaders represented nearly all jurisdictions in Australia and came from government, catholic and independent schooling sectors. Collectively responsible for leading schools totalling more than 100,000 students, nearly half of the class were from regional and remote communities and the majority were women.

The funds donated were specifically for Principals leading government schools in less advantaged communities - Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) below 1000 - or in regional and remote areas of Australia. Principals came from all States and Territories (except Tasmania and the ACT), and from New Zealand. We were particularly delighted at how many came from very remote areas in the Northern Territory, Far North Queensland and the Pilbara in WA. In total these Scholarship recipients lead schools totalling more than 32,000 students.

The NSW and SA Departments of Education provided scholarship funding for a total of 62 Principals through their professional learning organisations. The remainder of the class, numbering 56 Principals, were self-funded or funded by their school or school system. They were a mix of Principals from Government, Catholic and Independent Schools from all parts of Australia and New Zealand.

HGSE appointed 15 facilitators to lead groups of ten or eleven Principals to work on individual ‘problems of practice’ using the tools taught during the program. These facilitators complemented the class and came from Tasmania, New Zealand, Singapore as well as mainland states.

Participant feedback
Participants were overwhelmingly positive about the program, and its influence on assisting them to be more effective leaders of their schools. They reported that the curriculum was very relevant to their needs as leaders of schools, and that it provided them with tools and techniques to develop their skills as leaders. They expressed strong advocacy for the program and their willingness to strongly encourage peer principals to attend future programs. They reported that having a diverse class cohort was a key part of the success of the program. The Net Promoter Score was +88.8 meaning that we will have no trouble staging a subsequent program when we are in a position to do so.

Participants were asked to complete an evaluation of the course and 75% responded. The table below incorporates some, but not all, of the statistical feedback:

We consider this a remarkable result for a first-time program. There is feedback on small aspects we can improve for the next program, including that an extra day be added to run over five days, not four.

Comments from Principals included:
“The most professionally inspiring and enriching professional learning I have participated in in 31 years in Education. The content was cohesive and presented in an intuitive way. The quality of the presenters as teachers and academics was second to none. Thank you for the opportunity. My school and staff I work with are already benefitting from the opportunity.”

“Participation in the Leadership for School Excellence course has strengthened my understanding of what is required to be a successful school leader. I have acquired a toolkit of evidence-based strategies that I can utilise to lead school improvement and that will ultimately secure school excellence”.

“I would highly recommend this course to leaders as a way of raising the bar for the work we do.”

Acknowledging our charitable partners
HCA worked with 6 education charitable partners to promote the opportunity through their network of schools, to fund Principals, and to accept donations from charitable and individual donors to meet the requirements of the Australian Charities and Non-Profit Commission and Australian Taxation Law.

The Public Education Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing life-changing scholarships to young people in public education and enhancing the value and reputation of public schools.  PEF recognises that disadvantage is the main factor in student achievement and success. PEF targeted scholarship programs focus on specific areas of need: refugee, Indigenous, rural and remote and disability. PEF also offer scholarships to education leaders in public schools across Australia in recognition of their role in transforming student outcomes and improving education standards.

Australian Schools Plus gives students opportunities that change their lives. They work with donors and schools to give students in need, the opportunities that make a real difference to their education and their lives. They build partnerships and attract donations from their communities and beyond.

Social Ventures Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that works with partners to alleviate disadvantage – towards an Australia where all people and communities thrive. They influence systems to deliver better social outcomes for people by learning about what works in communities, helping organisations be more effective, sharing perspectives and advocating for change.

Australian Business and Community Network’s mission is to work collaboratively with business and education to improve the educational and career outcomes of disadvantaged Australian young people.

Aurora Education Foundation is a national not-for-profit organisation that focuses on supporting Indigenous education. Its purpose is to transform lives by investing in potential and inspiring excellence through education at the highest level.

Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life-skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and by doing so equips them to participate more meaningfully in society.

Acknowledging donors
16 donors contributed $390,000 to scholarship funding, including donations from several charitable foundations. To ensure compliance with Australian taxation legislation these donations were channelled through education charities. The donors in order of size of donation were:
•    Eureka Benevolent Foundation
•    Winchester Investments
•    Michael Ahrens
•    Christopher Smith
•    Roger Massy-Greene
•    Harvard Club of Australia Philanthropy
•    Yarranabee Foundation
•    Wesfarmers Limited
•    Vernon Foundation
•    Coles Supermarkets
•    David Friedlander
•    Bradley Foundation
•    Berg Family Foundation
•    Steve Hawkins
•    Justin Punch
•    Sophie Massy-Greene

Future programs
Harvard Graduate School of Education has been delighted by the success of the program, especially the engagement of the Principals attending. It is their intent to offer the same program in the future. We are working with Harvard GSE to determine whether it can be offered in January 2021 or deferred to January 2022.

List of scholarship winners