The growth in the importance of school leadership has been accompanied by theory development, with new models emerging and established approaches being redefined and further developed. The purpose of this paper is to review current and recent writing on leadership models. The paper examines theoretical literature, to see how leadership is…

Heroic models of leadership based on the role of the principal have been supplemented by an emerging recognition of the value of "distributed leadership". The work of effective senior leadership teams (SLTs) is an important manifestation of distributed leadership, but there has been only limited research addressing the relationship between this…

Black and minority ethnic (BME) leaders are greatly under-represented in English schools compared with the number of BME pupils. This paper reports the findings from research with BME leaders in 2004-2005 and links them to insights from a systematic literature review. The paper shows that BME teachers experience many barriers in developing their…

This paper reports some of the findings from an evaluation of the New Visions programme, piloted by the National College for School Leadership in 2002-2003. The programme is targeted at school leaders in their first three years of headship and has a strong emphasis on experiential learning. The evaluation evidence is deployed against an earlier…

Examines whether the technicist-rational approach to school development planning, advocated in England's Office for Standards in Education guidelines, is appropriate for primary schools, based on case studies of nine schools. School staff remain unconvinced that technicist-rational planning is key to implementing change. (Contains 39 references.)…

Examines senior managers' and subject teachers' perceptions of department heads' participation in policy development and leadership in 24 British secondary schools. Readiness to embrace newer approaches matters. Schools that value and develop their subject leaders, often through reformed structures, generally have subject staff who feel well led.…

Considers aspects of managing change as illustrated in 25 British secondary schools that have implemented antibullying policies for pupils. Despite staff ownership, problems arising from the subjectivity of policy interpretation and contextual pressures are likely to affect outcomes. Analysis of questionnaire and report data shows that policy…

Analyzes to what extent 120 British primary schools' practice matched criteria for national management and development outlined in official guidelines. Primary schools have been slower than secondary schools to embrace the principles of strategic and long-term development planning. Inspectors' application of criteria in resource-management matters…