Embrace diversity and ditch the outdated ‘alpha’ leaders

If we want the best school leaders to emerge we need to give opportunities to all types of people, which means appointing based on merit, not stereotypes

Diversity has become a popular term in recent years driven by wider societal challenges, particularly in Western societies.

A focus on appointing more people from BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) backgrounds, especially in leadership and management roles in organisations, has become discussed extensively across the employment sectors.

Yet key characteristics remain under-represented among school leadership teams in England, especially in headship.

A recent Department for Education school census shows that while more than 28 per cent children are of BAME heritage, only around 10 per cent of teachers and about three per cent of headteachers are BAME, making teaching one of the most under-represented occupations in England behind only to the judiciary and the military.

In the international schools arena, however, the term BAME should be inverted - a term known as BGM (Black and global majority) - as among the student population, this group is not in a minority when compared to local and regional demographics.

However, despite the majority of students being BGM, many school leadership teams in international schools lack diversity in their teams - especially in terms of ethnicity.

In some of these schools, a racial hierarchy is apparent, where the schools’ workforces have a large proportion of BGM staff in what could be argued are lower ranked administration and operational roles but they are seldom found in middle or senior leadership.

In British Schools Overseas-accredited international schools in the Middle East, for example, the large majority of headteachers are ethnically White.

Cultural literacy to support multinational communities

Why is this an issue? Modern, future-focused international schools need to reflect and provide role models in leadership for the communities they serve.

Having a homogeneous leadership team can lead to cultural illiteracy which then risks presenting a very narrow world view in schools where there are students of a multitude of nationalities, including many “third-culture kids” (those who were raised in a culture other than that of their parents) and those of mixed heritage.

Global citizenry would be more enhanced with leaders from different heritages being able to contribute and bring something to the leadership dialogue.

The days of schools serving as a national outpost overseas for the children of the staff of a particular country’s embassy are a distant memory.

A lack of diversity at the top risks trapping a school in a yesteryear view of what values and cultural milestones the student body should learn about. This can have real and damaging impacts.

I have, for example, had experiences where a school leader has “promoted” a particular event for a minority of students while barely acknowledging another event where there is a larger pupil body in attendance.

Authentic leaders

Such situations are tricky to resolve, as cultural literacy cannot be taught on a training course.

We can all learn to be more culturally aware and sensitive but contributions from authentic diverse voices with lived experiences are always more genuine and are much needed in leadership teams.

Yet simply placing a person of colour in a position of authority is not the solution if they merely extend the policies of their elite backers, and behave and reflect the values of the homogeneous leadership team rather than removing barriers that students and staff may face who are ethnically from the BGM community.

What is more positive is where BGM leaders have been able to secure the top roles in headship and principalship and, in doing so, build and ensure diversity in teams to create a leadership body that is more reflective of the community it serves.

Similarly, progression in ensuring strength in diverse leadership teams can be found where senior appointments have had a genuine meritocratic framework, and experience, track record and qualifications have been considered rather than appointing someone because of familiarity and prior association or affiliation.

The former often leads to a well-balanced team with a range of skill sets and backgrounds whereas the latter is indicative of nepotism and bias in the recruitment process.

On an institutional level, the more progressive schools are able to tackle discrimination with courageous leadership that promotes social justice.

This includes active programmes and curriculum reform to address racism, combat discrimination and promote tolerance.

The result is that everyone feels not only included but empowered. They feel represented and that they have a voice.

Such reforms do take time but the intent should be there to ensure that the current generation of middle leaders do not face the barriers to progression into senior leadership that their predecessors faced.

They also provide a living testimony to the children that schools practise what they preach; that there is a world in which students can achieve equity and justice without having to compromise their authenticity.

Diversity by personality and leadership styles

Diversity in other areas is vital for a vibrant and cohesive school leadership team, too.

In 2016, the Harvard Business Review published research analysing different types of school leaders and found five styles of leadership, which it termed: surgeon, soldier, accountant, philosopher and the most successful yet most under-recognised style, architect.

The research explains how the outmoded “alpha” (and usually male) aggressive leaders, surrounded by “yes” people - the soldiers and accountants - might deliver short-term success but often lack the cohesiveness that a long-term strategy for sustained school improvement or maintaining outstanding outcomes demands - and it is the architect-type leaders who do this best.

During my own 15 years’ experience of school leadership, including four headships, it became apparent that diversity of thinking (lateral as well as linear), personality (introvert and extrovert), and a breadth and depth of skills (verbal reasoners, numerically gifted and socially competent) were all needed, too.

People from all walks of life can possess these skills so we need to ensure that all types of individuals have the chance to reach the top so they can establish effective leadership teams that deliver for the benefit of all pupils they serve.

Kausor Amin-Ali is a secondary school headteacher at GEMS Founders School Al Mizhar in Dubai. He is also chair of governors at Robert Miles Infant School in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, and the author of A-Z of School Leadership: A guide for new school leaders.

This article was originally published in TES on 16 May 2023.

This article has been updated from the originally published article in TES with the most recent Department for Education Pupil Characteristics data. 36% of all pupils in State Schools in England are identified as non-White British.