ESHA | HEADstart

HEADstart - Guidelines for school leaders

ESHA’s quality cards series HEADstart aims to help school heads with useful professional tips on how to develop and become better leaders of their teams. You can print your own copies for each topic.

HEADsign, a collection of HEADstart cards

With this collection of 25 HEADstart cards, we spotlight a powerful and accessible tool. It’s a HEADsign for a journey of insights and reflections for school leaders who want to be inspired by ESHA’s HEADstart cards. In this book you will find clearly described goals, inspiring questions that invite dialogue, and examples of concrete actions.

Download your copy here:

HEADstart #1

The school leader’s own development

How do I ensure that I keep on learning?
How do I set a good example as a learning school leader?

HEADstart #2

Stimulating teacher learning

How to move my team forward?
How do I get my teachers excited to learn?
How do I support?

HEADstart #3

Ensuring children’s agency in school

How can I ensure children’s agency in school?
How can I support parents to respect their child´s agency?
How can I ensure all children are able to participate in decision-making regardless of their socio-economical background?

HEADstart #4

Value compass for digital transformation of education

Building a frame of reference for structuring the digital transformation of your school;
Understanding the importance of ethics;
Using a value compass in your team

HEADstart #5

Leading change processes

How do I help teachers participate in making
changes in the educational system?
What does it require in my role of school leader to
make successful changes?

HEADstart #6

Collaborating with parents

How can we support parents to stimulate their children’s learning?
How do we use the expertise of parents to stimulate the learning of our students?
How do we have the right conversation with parents?

HEADstart #7

Stimulating collective self-efficacy

How do I stimulate teachers to bring out the best of
themselves?
How do I stimulate teachers to bring out the best of
their students?
How do I stimulate teachers to persist in teaching
the most vulnerable students?

HEADstart #8

Stimulating teachers to conduct small scale experiments for school development

How do I ensure that teachers’ experiments contribute to school development?
How do I ensure the meaningful participation of teachers in conducting small scale experiments?
How do I use our teachers’ talents, their experiences and beliefs, knowledge and skills for conducting small scale experiments?

HEADstart #9

Improving equity in schools by teaming up with the educational consultant

What is the role of the educational consultant for improving equity in school?

HEADstart #10

The use of artificial intelligence in schools

How do I make my team interested in using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in school?
How do I support my team and give guidance on implementing AI in school?

HEADstart #11

Providing a code of conduct

How can we build a safe space as a team?
How do we have the right conversation with each other?

HEADstart #12

The school as a learning organisation

How can school leaders develop their schools into a learning organisation?

HEADstart #13

Developing a vision and ambitions

How to develop and maintain a shared vision and ambitions?

HEADstart #14

Stimulating collective learning in teams

How do I support my teachers to learn collectively?
How can I develop professional learning opportunities based on what works?

HEADstart #15

Feedback processes

How can I stimulate feedback seeking behaviour in my teachers and staff?
How can I strengthen the quality of feedback processes?

HEADstart #16

Distributed leadership

What is distributed leadership?
Why should school leaders aim to enhance distributed leadership?
How can school leaders enhance distributed leadership?

HEADstart #17

Working on educational improvement in schools as learning organisations

How to work evidence-based on educational improvement
How to encourage teachers’ research-oriented attitude

HEADstart #18

Learning with partners

Why should you foster learning with partners?
What challenges can occur?
How can a school leader enhance learning with partners?

HEADstart #19

Fostering sustainable professional development

How can I select and implement professional development that aligns with my school’s needs and goals?
How can I create time, involve the right people, and build a culture of commitment for successful professional development?
How can I ensure the long-term impact and sustainability of professional development after completion?

HEADstart #20

The impact of GDPR and children’s data rights

What data handling procedures are necessary to create a legally compliant school environment?

HEADstart #21

The impact of GDPR and the UNCRC on conducting research in schools: considerations for school principals

What data handling procedures are necessary to create a legally compliant school environment?

HEADstart #22

(Cyber)Bullying

What is bullying and cyberbullying?
What to do when things go wrong?
How to create a bullying-resistant school culture?

HEADstart #23

Cybersecurity in school

How to minimize the effects of cyberattacks?
What are the most critical steps to mitigate effects of cyberattacks on my school?
How can I prepare the school community for cyberattacks?
What should I do if my school is attacked?

HEADstart #24

Cybersecurity education in school

How can I ensure students develop strong cybersecurity skills throughout their school careers?
How can I prepare staff to deliver and support this learning effectively?
How can I engage parents and carers, so they reinforce these skills at home?
What practical resources and tools can I use in the classroom?

HEADstart #25

Organisational structure and policy

How can school leaders design structures that support collaborative learning?
What does coherent policy look like in a learning organisation?
How can leaders align organisational conditions, communication and decision-making with sustainable school development?