The Foundation for Leadership in Education would be run by the profession and be independent of government.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), and the National Governors' Association (NGA) have set out the plans and are to work with the Teaching Schools Council, employers and universities to create the Foundation.
It is hoped that the body can be up and running relatively quickly and SecEd understands it could be open for business in some form this autumn.
It intends to work closely with the planned College of Teaching and discussions have also been held with the government-run National College for Teaching and Leadership about areas where the organisations might overlap.
It is hoped that the Foundation's main functions will be to:
- Design and develop models for new leadership courses and qualifications.
- Work with organisations providing courses to ensure the highest possible standards.
- Help schools with their succession planning by developing opportunities for potential leaders to experience a broad range of work in different schools.
- Collect and send out the latest academic research about effective leadership
- Host constructive dialogue between education leaders and policy-makers.
Eventually, the Foundation hopes to extend its scope to the professional development of all school leaders, including school business managers.