In this important new book, Geoff Southworth, a leading researcher in headship, specifically addresses how school size impacts on the role of the headteacher.
In this important new book, Geoff Southworth, a leading researcher in headship, specifically addresses how school size impacts on the role of the headteacher.
This book explores the current status of primary schools in Rwanda and the history behind their development. It argues that current primary school leaders in the area encounter a wide range of problems relating to conflict prevention, teachers' and school leaders' professionalism, financial and resourcing constraints, student attrition, and parental disengagement, many of which can be attributed to the legacies of war and the genocide in 1994. The book also presents a range of strategies that are pursued by school leaders while dealing with these concerns, as the Rwandan government invests in reconstructing education following the country's turmoil. Through examining the issues of the past and the present, the book provides valuable insights for researchers of educational leadership, school leaders, education policy makers, and those in charge of preparing, developing, and implementing professional development programmes for school leaders and teachers in Rwanda, as well as in other post-war and developing countries.
This new edition brings together leading authorities from across the globe to provide a truly international perspective into educational leadership and management in school and post-school sectors. Covering both developed and developing countries, it is underpinned by a substantially updated analysis of theory, research, policy and practice. Key topics include: - How leadership and management differ in education - An overview of key models of educational leadership - The relationship between leadership capabilities and enhanced student outcomes - Leading for diversity and inclusion and the policy and practice challenges that follow leadership for social justice This is essential reading for anyone taking courses in educational leadership and management at postgraduate level, or as professional development, and for current and aspiring educational leaders seeking to enhance their practice.
`This is a book packed with ideas and insights. It is informed by evidence from school leaders and provides a valuable overview of many important theories and research findings. A strength of the book is the way it pulls together empirical research the authors have conducted over the last 20 years. Such a long term view offers a new and needed long term perspective on school leadership and enables the authors to show how trends in leaders' careers, thinking and practice have emerged and unfolded. Researchers and practitioners alike will find something of value in this book' - Professor Geoff Southworth, Director of Research, National College for School Leadership '[A]n excellent, well-written, extensively referenced, empirically based contribution to school leadership thinking... Earley and Weindling offer valuable insights for all of us: serving headteachers/principles, advisory and distinct-wide policy makers and aspiring headteachers' - Journal of Educational Administration By giving a detailed picture of the rapidly developing field of educational leadership, this book focuses on how to become a more effective manager and on understanding the vital importance of the manager's role in school improvement. Written in a clear and readable style, it contains an extensive exploration of leadership models and management strategies and is based on the latest research. The text is supplemented with case studies of leadership in action. Understanding School Leadership is indispensable reading for those who have a managerial role within their school and for students of educational management.
This book investigates the relationship between context and leadership in post-conflict Cambodia. Building on the understanding that approaches to leadership are tightly woven within the contexts that leaders operate, the authors examine the case of primary school leadership in Cambodia. A low-income and post-conflict society rocked by civil war and genocide between the 1960s and the 1990s, the country is – perhaps unsurprisingly – faced with numerous challenges as it engages in the process of national rehabilitation and reconstruction, particularly in relation to the education system. The authors provide a comprehensive historical background to primary school leadership not only in Cambodia, but in post-conflict environments more broadly: informing school leadership preparation, development and support, and facilitating understanding of the context in which school leaders work. This book will be of value to students and scholars of primary school education and education in post-conflict countries, as well as to practitioners and policy makers.
A successful administrator is one who applies suitable or appropriate leadership styles in various situations or contexts. It is crucial to investigate how effective administrators lead their organizations in challenging and difficult times, as well as promote the accomplishments of their organization. Predictive Models for School Leadership and Practices is an essential reference source that discusses academic administration as well as administrative effectiveness in achieving organizational goals. Featuring research on topics such as teacher collaboration, school crisis management, and ITC integration, this book is ideally designed for principals, researchers, academics, educational policymakers, and teachers seeking coverage on academic leadership and leadership models.
This book is a longitudinal life history of the lives and work of primary school principals in Ireland. It provides a unique opportunity to peer inside the realities of leading schools in changing times. In a system that until recently did not prepare principals for the onerous roles and responsibilities, a small system with limited mobility, inter-personal relationships emerge as critical, frequently privileged over professional relationships. Consequently, principals struggle to bring about change, to build trust in order to cultivate a transformative leadership agenda, while several aspects of systemic structures and processes emerge as constraints on leadership capacity building. In the absence of comprehensive leadership portfolio development, classroom teachers, catapulted into the principal’s office, tend to be cautious and careful in ways that tend to perpetuate the status quo while putting a premium on the exercise of soft power and an over-reliance on the good will of colleagues. Several of the ‘leadership lessons’ that emerge from this in-depth analysis concur with an increasing international consensus that due to complexity and increasingly performative policy demands, learning about leadership for all is an absolute necessity. However, care must be taken to avoid overly scripted programmes. Critical to the cultivation of a professionally responsible leadership disposition, rather than capitulation to ‘technologies of control,’ is professional renewal cultivated through adequate attention to the Zone of Proximal Distance.
School Leadership in Diverse Contexts demonstrates the centrality of context to understanding school leadership. It offers varied portrayals of leadership in a diverse range of distinct settings. Each chapter highlights the prominence of context in understanding the realities of school leadership, focusing on issues and influences that school leaders face, strategies school leaders adopt to deal with the complexities of their work, and conceptualisations of school leadership relevant to the context. An impressive array of international experts examine this neglected area of research by considering school leadership in nine heterogeneous contexts, providing rich and varied portrayals of school leadership and suggesting ways in which the leadership may be enhanced. School Leadership in Diverse Contexts is an ideal book for undergraduate and postgraduate students, particularly those studying units in educational leadership, comparative education and educational policy. Similarly undergraduate and postgraduate students engaged with development studies, history, sociology, law, human geography will be attracted to this text.
By using evidence from interviews with primary headteachers, this book highlights the most serious problems experienced by primary heads. The management of school finance and premises and relationships with a range of other people involved in the life and work of the school are shown to be recurring historical issues in primary headship.
This book focuses on the leadership of practice and, in particular, how to bring about changes which improve practice. It draws on research into a group of early years leaders which followed them for almost three years as they attempted to improve provision in their settings as 'change agents' and 'leaders of practice'. Through exploring their successes and failures, the book builds a picture of what it takes to lead improvements in practice. This book develops four principles of practice that many leaders adopt as they innovate. These principles provide basic guidance about how to bring about improvements in practice and are derived from the real-life attempts of both inexperienced and established leaders to improve the quality of provision. With its strong research methodology and skilled analysis, this book provides an excellent insight into the challenges of leadership for quality provision in early years settings. If you are working as a leader in the early years sector, or aspire to a leadership role in the early years, this book is inspiring and essential reading. Mark Hadfield is Professor in the School of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff, UK. Michael Jopling is Professor in Education at Northumbria University, UK. Martin Needham is Principal Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. This book provides unique insights into Early Years 'practice leadership' and uses research to inform quality improvement. The authors set the scene with a review of policy and its effects on practice leadership, before combining key aspects emerging from their own research and wider theory with practical guidance on how to assess and improve practice leadership and quality Early Years provision. There is a strong focus on the relationships which support and develop inclusion and shared responsibility for creating a culture of change and improvement and include the perspectives of children and parents as equal partners. This book will be of value to all involved in Early Years practice and leadership as well as students at all levels and researchers. Michael Gasper, Early Years Consultant The introduction of a graduate leader has been one of the most significant developments in early years in recent times. This book therefore provides essential reading for all 'leaders' in the early years especially those with Early Years Professional Status or currently undertaking Early Years Teacher Status (0-5). Drawing upon the longitudinal national evaluation of Early Years Professional Status, it provides clear evidence to support those in leadership roles to reflect upon and develop their practice. Most importantly it recognises that there is not one type of leader and that innovation occurs when the graduate leader is able to apply their professional training and experience to a specific setting. Dr Eunice Lumsden, Head of Early Years, The University of Northampton
This book focuses on primary school leadership in the post-conflict and developing country of Timor-Leste. In doing so, it reports on research that has charted a ‘narrative arc’ comprising the historical background to primary school leadership, as well as the current concerns perceived by primary school leaders and the strategies they adopt when dealing with the challenges encountered in their day-to-day work. This exposition reveals the significant progress that has been made in establishing a universal, mandatory, and free Basic Education system during the country’s emergence as a post-conflict society. It also conveys the ‘lived experience’ of practitioners and describes vividly the realities of their work in leading their schools and communities. The book will be useful for researchers in the field of educational leadership, for school leaders, for education policy makers, and for those responsible for preparing, developing, and supporting primary school leaders in Timor-Leste, as well as in other post-conflict and developing countries.
