This article examines external support for school leaders, and focuses on the relationship between head teachers and other professionals who play the role of their 'critical friends'. Most existing research in this area concentrates upon the activity of the critical friend without reference to the role partner, thereby losing the dynamic in the…

Achieving sustainable improvement in schools facing challenging circumstances remains a major challenge for policy-makers and practitioners alike. This paper analyses the strategies used within a group of English secondary schools that have succeeded in increasing and sustaining attainment levels over time in order to learn more about the factors…

This article reports findings arising from a systematic review of literature relating to mentoring new head teachers. The review found that all major studies of formal mentoring programmes for new heads reported that such programmes have been effective, and that the mentoring of new heads can result in a range of perceived benefits for both…

Over recent years increasing attention has been given to professional development for aspiring heads in the UK and elsewhere. In Scotland, the Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH) was devised as a means of preparing for headship. This paper draws from the national evaluation of the SQH in order to assess the extent to which this programme…

Styles of leadership which encourage leaders to share responsibilities and authority have been the subject of much recent interest. Initiatives, such as that for encouraging distributed models of leadership, are attracting much attention. Within this movement the head teacher is encouraged to work with staff, utilizing their expertise and…

This paper explores the claim that appropriately trained heads can motivate teachers and students to achieve challenging targets and transform the prospects of future generations. Theory derived from the leadership literature is tested against the experience of three headteachers in the field. Case study evidence is used to examine how Hillside…

The expansion of Specialist Subject Schools (SSS) will cost taxpayers 113 million British pounds in start-up costs in the next three years, taking the annual cost of the programme to 373 million British pounds (Times Educational Supplement [TES], 2003 ). This paper adopts a case study approach, examining the processes, outcomes and implications of…

This is the first article to evaluate OfSTED reports on the management of attendance within secondary schools. Two hundred and twenty-seven OfSTED reports undertaken on secondary schools inspected during 2003 were scrutinised. These data were broken down and analysed using four distinct areas for investigation. These were: statistical data;…

Work-related self-identities are central to middle leaders' work. Their development takes place in social, policy and personal contexts. At the core of middle leaders' work-related identities lie values that guide how they interact with colleagues, students and senior management staff when trying to shape and implement departmental and school…

Based on life story interviews with five women teachers, the current paper provides insight into the relationship between externally mandated change and teachers' self-renewal, as well as into the context facilitating this kind of association. Interestingly, the decision of the Ministry of Education to modify the teachers' area of teaching was…

Educational policies proposed with and without the aid of Decision Support Systems (DSS) were compared. 120 teachers responded to a questionnaire describing two hypothetical incidents and presenting a series of options with respect to homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping of pupils according to achievement level. After selection of preferred…

In the "Leadership for Learning" project we have collaborated with participating schools in writing an initial portrait of each school. Based on official descriptions and interviews with stakeholders in the developmental process we have constructed a narrative or a portrait of the school's and stakeholders' conceptions of learning and leadership…

This essay intends to examine the moral character of learning and teaching and the concomitant implications for educational leaders. With the academic curriculum in mind, I ask the basic question: why should young people learn the standard academic curriculum that schools confront them with? Although the expected answer might be, in the present…

Teaching is a critical consideration in investigations of primary school leadership and not just as an outcome variable. Factoring in instruction as an explanatory variable in scholarship on school leadership involves moving away from views of teaching as a monolithic or unitary practice. When it comes to leadership in primary schools, the subject…

This paper derives from a National College of School Leadership sponsored study conducted within schools in three English local authorities exploring what distributed leadership looked like in practice and how it was seen by headteachers and teachers in the 11 participating schools. On the basis of questionnaires, shadowing and workshops with…