Empowering high-quality teaching: The crucial role of school and system leaders

If you’re a school or system leader looking for inspiration, the recently released OECD report, Unlocking High-Quality Teaching, contains a chapter aimed at schools and system leaders, Empowering high-quality teaching in every school.

The core message? The school context, such as school policies, resources – and leadership itself – profoundly impacts teaching. The report underscores that effective teaching isn't just about individual teacher skill; it's deeply intertwined with the support and structures leaders put in place.

This resonates strongly with our work at the Academy. We see firsthand how supportive contexts – driven by thoughtful leadership – enable teachers to flourish.

The chapter encourages a nuanced understanding of and approach to fostering teacher growth that reflects the complexity of teaching.

“Teaching is innately complex, with this complexity hinging upon the teacher’s ability to enact practices and the wider school context [, which…] can facilitate or hinder this implementation.” (OECD report: Unlocking High-Quality Teaching, p. 191).

The report urges school and system leaders to understand, acknowledge and embrace this complexity. It's a call to move beyond simplistic approaches and recognise that the school context is a powerful lever for change. By intentionally fostering a supportive and empowered environment through well designed school policies and practices, leaders can facilitate effective teaching. There is a lot of detail about this in the report and it is worth a read.

I was especially encouraged to see the report championing professional learning for teachers, including collaborative opportunities and teacher-led inquiries. We have both at the Academy in the highly regarded Teaching Excellence Program and for graduates of this program, the Teaching Impact Fellowships.

However, I firmly I believe, and our programs reflect this, that parallel professional learning for leaders is equally important. Our Leading School Improvement program is designed to help school leaders enact strategic change to enhance student outcomes within their own unique context. We also offer programs such as Leading Literacy and Leading Mathematics for school-based teams, and many others.

Ultimately, the OECD report highlights the fact that high-quality teaching thrives when exceptional teachers are supported with high-quality frameworks. Creating a supportive environment where teachers and teaching can thrive is critical. This is obvious, but as the report points out, we know little about each of the 2 components, nor about the interplay between them.

In our rapidly changing world, the role of teaching in shaping young people and their future lives has never been more important.

As the report says, the role of schools and system leaders in continuing to build a strong profession is ongoing and critical.

Dr Marcia Devlin AM is the CEO of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership

Reference

OECD (2025), Unlocking High-Quality Teaching, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f5b82176-en