Women in School Leadership (WISL) Program

The Women in School Leadership (WISL) 2023-24 program was designed as a professional development opportunity for a selected group of women school leaders in Victoria and Delhi, India. 

The program was part of Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future and one of three school education initiatives enhancing engagement between Victorian and Indian schools.

Through WISL, participants engaged in online professional learning sessions and reciprocal immersion experiences in Delhi and Bengaluru in India and in Victoria. 

The theme of the WISL program was ‘Leading schools for social change,’ with a specific emphasis on learning and wellbeing. 

Participation in the program enabled school leaders to: 

• Develop best practices in school and community leadership and social change management.
• Explore innovative approaches to student learning and wellbeing in alignment with FISO 2.0, VATL, and NEP.
• Forge strong connections between Victorian and Indian school leaders.

The program was developed and delivered by Asialink Education in partnership with the Australia India Institute and Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, and the National Progressive School’s Conference and O.P. Jindal Global University in India. It was funded by the Department of Education, Victoria. 

Program structure 

The 9-month professional learning program structure included: 

• face-to-face (in-country) and virtual workshops focused on educational leadership, cultural intelligence, system knowledge-building and action research 
• one mandatory face-to-face pre-departure session   
• weekly self-directed learning   
• peer-to-peer learning activities   
• leadership coaching sessions   
• development and presentation of a school improvement action research project.   

The in-country components of the program included: 

• offshore immersion: 14 days in-country for 12 female Victorian school leaders (to Delhi and Bengaluru, India), to engage in education-based and cultural activities, including shadowing at a host school 
• reciprocal immersion: 8 days reciprocal visit for up to 12 female Indian school leaders (to Melbourne, Australia), for a similar program involving education-based and cultural activities, including shadowing at a host school.  

Professional learning workshops were delivered online via Zoom, with learning materials, resources, and discussion forums available via Canvas LMS (Learning Management Systems). 

The workshops covered the following topics: 

• Intercultural Understanding and Global Competence  
• Wellbeing in Schools 
• Comparative education perspectives of India and Australia  
• Action Research  
• Diversity and Inclusion  
• Student Centred learning (with a focus on engaging girls)  
• Assessment 

WISL followed a Community of Practice model, led by the participants who form partnerships for peer-to-peer learning on themes and topics relevant to their school setting and needs. Participants also followed a framework of Action Research to develop their own action research project for their school.  

Read

In this article, Victorian participants share their insights and reflections on their India immersion experience as part of the Women in School Leadership program.

Watch

Program funder

The Women in School Leadership Program was funded by the Department of Education, Victoria as part of Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future.