Mr. Seán Cottrell:

I wish to speak on a few remaining issues such as boards of management. As we know from our research on boards, sometimes a patron appoints two people - one being a chairperson - and there is a tendency for some boards to elect a chairperson within the membership, which is, strictly speaking, not in compliance with the rules. Some schools do so because the chairperson designate decides that he or she does not want to be chairperson. That is an area that is worth looking at because it would go a long way towards at least having people in the role who want it. There is nothing worse than having a chairperson who does not want to be in that role.

I shall mention continuing professional development. I do not think the matter has been mentioned so far today. Instructional leadership is one of the most difficult professional skills that a principal will encounter. It means working with one's peers, some of whom are more qualified and experienced, yet one has a responsibility to improve the quality of his or her instruction and get the best from all teachers. That takes a lot of skilful coaching and mentoring and is not something one learns by reading a manual.

Senator Power mentioned performance management. Michael Fullan wrote about the drivers of success in schools, listing the most popular methods Governments around the world choose to improve education. Most government wish to improve education and I must say that we have one of the best education systems in the world. However, four of the drivers listed work and four do not. The analysis was quite interesting. One of the drivers that does not work is the hammer-to-crack-a-nut approach because it builds up resistance and, if anything, standards of teaching go down. Obviously I will not go into all eight drivers now. The most successful one, believe it or not, is for principals to take teachers in groups and develop professional learning communities within schools. In that instance, the principal and teachers work together and share preparation, evaluation and ideas. It is the group dynamic, the famous peer pressure, that lifts performance in schools, not the hammer-and-nut approach.

Earlier somebody asked what can be done to make the situation better reasonably quickly. I can mention three things for primary schools. First, as Mr. McCabe said earlier, principals should have one day per week to deal with essential administration and have no contact with children. Second, an administrator should be provided, depending on a school's size, which measure would allow principals into the classroom to be instructional leaders. That will not happen unless help is provided to release principals. It does not matter how many circulars and policy documents are written; principals must be given time. We know that time is not malleable, but the way it is used must be changed. My suggestion would allow principals to be leaders of learning. That would be the biggest plus in attracting good new teachers to the role. Third, we must define middle management - the role of a deputy principal, the role of post holders - and make it meaningful. Unfortunately, a lot of tasks that have been taken on are trivial and menial. I shall be brief, as we have discussed this matter at length. One does not need to be a teacher to carry out some of the tasks that teachers have been asked to perform.

I will reiterate my three suggestions. A day per week provided to teaching principals to carry out administration; administrative support for principals of all schools; and a definition of the middle management structure. A lot of the improvements can be made without incurring much cost.