Agile School Leadership Program
The HOW of leading meaningful school improvementTake your skills to the next level with the Agile School Leadership Program
Learn new ways of thinking and working that will enhance your impact whilst decreasing the time and effort it takes to lead improvement.
The Agile School Leadership program is an intensive, 12-week online workshop designed by Dr Simon Breakspear for high-performing school leadership teams who want to level up and lead meaningful change.
Now, more than ever, we need dynamic school leaders, strong teams, and resilient organisations.
Our mission is to help committed school leadership teams create sustainable impact. We support school leaders – Principals, DPs, APs, Directors, Heads of Department, Head Teachers, Learning Specialists and Instructional Leaders – to build their improvement capability.
Delivered by Simon and our expert facilitators, this program is designed to get you and your team running successful evidence-informed improvement approaches in a way that is appropriate for your unique educational context. We will help you rise above the urgent and get into the essential work.
Our Agile School Leadership cohorts are truly global, with over 2,800 school leaders across seven countries who are now ASL Alumni. We would love for you to join our thriving community of leaders and begin your journey toward becoming a more agile leader of improvement.
Sign up for the latest information on our next cohort
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Program Cost
$AUD 990 per person (plus GST for Australian residents)*
Delivery Mode
100% Online
We use Zoom to deliver our live-streamed workshop sessions.
*Receive a 10% discount for registrations of 4 to 9 people. Contact us to discuss further discounts for teams of 10 or more.
100% Online
A flexible program that you can fit around your work, wherever you are in the world.
Applied Learning
Use our methods to progress the improvement work you are already working on.
Global Community
Join a community of over 2,800 alumni from around the world.
Learning Outcomes
- Learn how to embrace and model agile mindsets
- Apply Agile School Leadership frameworks and tools within your role
- Clarity your improvement priorities and pathways for impact
- Build momentum through taking responsive action
- Harness lean monitoring in order to track progress and roadblocks
- Develop the improvement rhythms and routines of a highly effective team.
- Build confidence in working through cumulative cycles of collective learning
- Develop a clear and repeatable process for leading an iterative improvement journey that can adjust for the human dynamics of change in schools
Course Design
Workshops
Three dynamic and highly practical half-day live-streamed workshops with Dr Simon Breakspear
Tutorials
Three opt-in 50 minute tutorial sessions lead by our experienced facilitators to help you apply our methods to your unique context (optional)
Online Curriculum
Access to a comprehensive online video curriculum for a full 12 months, to provide a deep understanding of our core methodology and tools
Recordings
Access to full recordings of all live-streamed session so that you can catch-up or reengage at a time that works best for you
Tools
Downloadable tools and templates to use with your team
Community
Join our private ASL Alumni LinkedIn community to enable sustained leadership practice change and support beyond the program
Certificate
Receive a digital certificate of completion at the conclusion of the 12 week program
Register Now
Have questions? Contact us.
Workshop Schedule
Our program includes three live-streamed digital workshop sessions, which are led by Dr Simon Breakspear. These run for 3 hours each (for a total of 9 hours live workshop time over the course), and each session is repeated so you have two options to join live.
These are also recorded and made available, just in case you need to catch up at a time that suits you.
WORKSHOP 1
Topic:Â Clear Thinking
WORKSHOP 2
Topic: Responsive Action
WORKSHOP 3
Topic: Lean Monitoring
Meet Your Instructors
Dr Simon Breakspear
FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Dr Simon Breakspear is a researcher, advisor and speaker on education policy, practice and change. Simon develops frameworks, tools and programs that make evidence-based ideas easy to understand and apply.
Over the last decade he has worked with over 100,000 educators across 10 countries. Simon is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, and an advisor to the NSW Department of Education School Leadership Institute.
He earned his PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar.
Dr Ryan Dunn
Ryan has considerable experience within education and has advised and collaborated with schools and districts across Australia, the USA and Canada. As a Director as Breakspear Learning Ryan has worked extensively with leaders in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Alberta to support leadership development at a system, network and school level.
Ryan is also lecturer at a leading University in Australia where his work focuses on teacher professional learning, educational leadership, practitioner research and primary mathematics.Â
Ryan completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor John Hattie. His PhD focused on the effectiveness of educational design research as a form of teacher professional learning.Â
Enrol as a team
This program is designed specifically for leaders and their teams who are currently working within a school environment.
The practice and application of school improvement, creating powerful teams, and resilient organisations are highly collaborative and team based—which is why we believe that learning is better together. Take a course as a team and develop new skills and mindsets, have deeper discussions and debrief sessions throughout the program, and build a shared understanding.
Participating teams often include: Principals, DPs, APs, Heads of Department, Head Teachers, Learning Specialists and Instructional Leaders.
Loved by learners across the globe
Find out what some past participants have to say about our program
This program has refined what the leadership team is doing so that we can provide a clear structure to staff. It has changed my way of thinking to be more precise and targeted with my actions, and the proformas have made it simple to implement.
This program has helped refine the school improvement process – making a large-scale project manageable through the use of targeted dialogue and explicit planning.
Having a chance to work as a leadership team, apply learning to our own context and spend time talking through areas of improvement within our own site is something we rarely have time to do. The different tools gave us a more succinct way of moving through the process so that we can remain focused and driven and we look forward to sharing it with our staff.
The program has provided some really effective and efficient tools to support our work as a leadership team. The mixed mode of delivery has been easy to follow and very engaging. The Agile team has been very supportive and helpful in coaching sessions.
We are now clear, more focused and targeted on our improvement.
The whole premise of doing less in a focused, productive and deep way really resonated with me. Love the clarity of it all!
It gave a great insight in how to be realistic in your approaches, how less is more and how to make a real change to the lives of children and our own practises.
I have been involved in numerous Leadership programs over the years. This one has been particularly excellent. It doesn’t matter how many courses you do over the years, this course has fresh and up to date ideas which has been refreshing. The format is terrific.
This program has provided me with new ways of thinking and working. It has also provided me with the evidence to confidently push back on demands from sources outside of my school.
This program has provided our team with a simpler view of moving forward in our school planning.
The learning gained from this program will support me to work with a team of leaders and teachers in a direct and effective manner.
It was wonderful to be involved in a process that intentionally and simplistically connects leadership experiences and behaviours with solution focused strategies and tools. Simon and Ryan are very personable and makes the experience practical for all involved. The in-between (tutorial) sessions allow you to go further and monitor your own learning.
We’re now moving in a clear direction as a School Improvement team. The program really built our understanding of how to effectively and clearly build effective practices.
This course has given our team a clear structure to move forward in our school improvement work. It has helped us target and track our work and is definitely a process we will continue to use moving forward!
Commonly Asked Questions
Can I do this program on my own?
Yes of course! Every cohort has at least 20-30% of participants who join on their own. Whilst we strongly advocate for the benefit of team learning, you can still experience a rich learning program engaging on your own.
How much time will this take?
The minimum engagement required to understand our core practices and tools is about 12 hours over three months. This involves 3 x 3-hour live zoom workshop sessions (or watching recordings) and 3 hours of applying the tools (through our optional tutorials or your own application in context). Of course with a comprehensive digital curriculum available many students choose to go far deeper into the available content either during the initial 12-week program or throughout their 12-month access to the online content. We will never pressure you during the program. Do what you can, with the time that you have, and we will be there every step of the way to help you gain as much benefit as possible.
What happens if I miss sessions?
We totally understand how busy and unpredictable school life can be. All of our faculty have worked in schools, and spend time with educators every week. All of our live sessions and tutorials are recorded and made available within 24 hours of delivery. So never feel pressured or stressed about missing a session or needing to rush out to do with an unexpected incident. We are with you every step of the way with flexible approaches for you to engage with the content when you have the time and cognitive bandwidth. Remember you will have access to our full online digital curriculum and can dip in and out of the content and recorded sessions for 12 months.
Will this help my team move forward together?
The simple resounding answer we hear from Alumni who have engaged their entire leadership team is YES! We have worked with team sizes from 2 to 18. Our common language, tools and ways of working can help you achieve two years’ worth of team formation in 3 months. Turn up with your team and let our faculty help to work alongside you to move the needle. Sometimes teams just need to hear the same core messages from someone outside the organisation. Our experts and faculty can do exactly that.
What time zone do the live sessions run in, and are they recorded?
We run each of our live workshops at two different timezone options to best meet the needs of our global community. Our smaller-group optional tutorials are offered at a range of times to ensure all participants can find a time that works for them. So while you may not be able to make 100% of the available sessions, we record every session so that you can engage in your own time with the content that is most relevant to you.
What do I need to complete in order to receive a certificate?
You will need to attend or catch up on the live recordings for each of the live sessions and demonstrate your understanding and application of 5 simple tools. We will build your capability to understand these tools in the workshops, and you will be supported to apply these tools during tutorial sessions.
What are the tutorials and do I need to attend?
These practical 50 minute smaller group sessions are fully optional. We didn’t want to add additional attendance burdens on busy school leaders, but many program attendees told us they wanted time to try out the tools, ask questions and be energized to take the next steps. Our tutorials are run 1-3 weeks after each workshop and are focused on applying the core tools to your own context. There is absolutely no pressure to have done anything before the session. Just turn up to a session that works for you, and enjoy making some progress supported by faculty members and colleagues from around the world.
How long will I have access to the course materials?
You will have access to all course materials for one year. Your access period will start the date you enrol. The workbooks, tools and slides are all downloadable. So you’ll have access to these materials for as long as you like. If we make updates or upgrades to our tools or frameworks, we will send them out to you as part of our Agile School Leadership Alumni community.
What happens once I complete the 12 weeks course?
You will join our global Alumni community and have access to our private LinkedIn Group. You will be invited to consider joining our Progress Collective. This is our ongoing implementation community that works together to develop new habits and routines for improvement by embedding the agile school improvement methodologies and tools.
Still wondering if this course is right for you?
Please reach out to our team, and we can help explore whether our work is likely to be a good fit for you and your team. Email us at agileleaders@simonbreakspear.com