Dulat Irzhanov

About the work

I work with leadership teams in education at the point where a decision is already being discussed and its consequences cannot be reversed without loss.

It usually looks like this: changes have been launched but the system is not responding, the team is working but something important remains unspoken, or accreditation is underway while the internal doubt does not go away.

In these situations there is usually enough information. What is missing is a precise name for what is happening. That is where the conversation begins.

I do not offer ready-made solutions and do not manage projects end to end. The work begins with one conversation. Sometimes that is enough.

Why work with me

Quality in a school comes from decisions, and the best decisions I have seen were made by leaders who knew how other systems had solved the same problem. I help schools bring that international practice into their own work.

I work in Kazakh, Russian and English, so practice from abroad reaches you already adapted to your context.

Where I can help

• Seeing the school clearly. An outside read of how the school is run, what its documents say and what is missing.
• Decisions and governance. Who decides what, how the founder, board and head of school share responsibility, and how decisions are recorded.
• Strategy and development plans. Turning intentions into priorities, owners and measures.
• Policies and standards. A coherent set of policies and procedures that match how the school actually works.
• Preparing for external review. Getting a school ready to be examined by an outside body, on any framework.
• Ongoing advisory support for the head of school. A structured, recurring engagement with an advisor who has observed the same governance issues at other institutions.

Every engagement begins with a confidentiality agreement, and I work only with the information a school chooses to share.

Referral

A school introduced by another school receives a discount on its first engagement. Details on request.

Request an advisory conversation