This article is based on nationally funded research into the role, capabilities, challenges and professional development needs of subject coordinators in Australian higher education. The second of three data collection phases involved a multi-institutional survey of staff in the role of subject coordinator with the aim of understanding the role…

This article describes a grounded theory constructed from a study of Singapore neighbourhood secondary school principals' engagement of their lowest stream, the Normal Technical students, in their schools. This substantive theory is labelled the "theory of selective engagement". It implies that how principals engage their lowest streamed…

The importance of effective school leadership is well known. The inevitable changing of school leaders raises concerns over the successfulness of the succession process. Directly linked to leader succession is socialization; therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the processes and practices of school systems that control the…

This article focuses on the construction of organizational identity and the strategic change in an educational organization. The aim of this empirical study is to examine how the members of an educational organization construct the meaning of "who we are" during an ongoing change. In addition, we examine whether it is reasonable to…

This article reports on research investigating the factors which impact on the recruitment and support of high performing leadership teams, funded by the National College. The research involved a comprehensive literature review and case studies of nine English schools. The results show that four themes emerged in relation to high performing teams:…

It is known that the work of headteachers is demanding. Observation, diaries and logs completed by headteachers show a relentless, complex and emotionally demanding workload. What can be learned about headship from how new headteachers spend their time, and perhaps as importantly, what can new headteachers themselves learn? This article draws upon…

Research has indicated that schools should be developed as inclusive learning communities that would support collaborative learning and problem solving in order to address learner diversity more effectively. This article explores school leadership as one determining factor which either affords or constrains collaborative teacher learning for…

The notion of localism and decentralization in national policy has come increasingly to the fore in recent years. The national succession planning strategy for headteachers in England introduced by the National College for School Leadership promoted "local solutions for a national challenge". This article deals with some aspects of the…

We have designed and deployed a mapping framework to present and analyse knowledge production and distributed leadership in schools. Positions are identified from within the field: functional (descriptive and normative), critical and socially critical. For each position we examine the purposes, rationales and narratives within selected texts that…

This study focuses on the leadership engagement of children, young people (CYP) and their families in six school-based extended services (ES) clusters in a single, large, urban local authority in England. Empirical research was carried out in two strands of activity that focused on outcomes and experiences for CYP and leaders and leadership.…

The study explores the attitudes of a sample of school principals in a Kuwaiti local authority towards the need for transformational leadership, the use of its behaviours, whether these school leaders are ready to behave in diverse ways or whether there are barriers that prevent them from acting in such a manner. The findings of this study…

This article presents findings from a study of 14 heads of construction in further education colleges in England as they manage the transition of new construction lecturers from a culture of hypermasculinity to one of emotional labour and caring. It focuses firstly on the dilemmas faced by heads of construction at the recruitment stage before…

This article examines illustrative cases of partnerships from a government-funded programme of experimental projects in England designed to test out the potential of senior business managers to provide leadership across a group of schools. The article places the programme within the context of international public service reforms and, more…

The most recent decade has seen a major growth in interest in teacher leadership, but there is limited research on the extent to which early career teachers can take on teacher leadership roles. In this article we explore this question by looking at teachers prepared through the alternative certification programme Teach First (TF), which aims to…

Formal and informal partnerships have become key features of education policy and practice in many countries and managing such collaborative arrangements is an important dimension of the role(s) of leaders of educational organizations. Recent research has shown both the tensions and conflict that can develop in partnerships as well as the…