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.…

In about a decade the theory of distributed leadership has moved from a tool to better understand the ecology of leadership to a widely prescribed practice. This article considers how to account for its spread and dominance and what purpose it serves. The concept offers an enticing suggestion of including more in leadership, and even sometimes…

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 move in England towards extended services was a core part of the educational policy of successive Labour governments throughout the 2000s. Sitting alongside like-minded initiatives, school leaders were encouraged to envision, plan for and operate a range of activities and services aimed at deepening and extending schools' relationships with…

This article presents the perceptions of approximately 300 experienced New Zealand principals who participated in a pilot leadership development initiative funded by the Ministry of Education. The Experienced Principals Development Programme (EPDP) underwent a rigorous evaluation that included formative (mid-point) and summative (end-point)…

This concept article discusses the importance of developing psychic income as an administrative strategy to enhance the context of school environments and to curb high teacher turnover. The hope is to promote further debate and research in order to establish the extent to which psychic income influences retention rates in hard-to-staff schools.…

This article presents a mixed-method study utilizing teacher ratings of principal mindfulness from 149 public schools in Texas and follow-up qualitative data analysis through semi-structured interviews conducted with the top 10 percent of princeipals identified as mindful. This research is based on the theoretical framework of mindfulness as…

The "Achievement for All" (AfA) pilot initiative, delivered in partnership by the Department for Education (DfE), (formerly the Department for Children, Schools and Families [DCSF]), National Strategies and the National College (NCSL), aims to increase the attainment and progress of children in schools with special educational needs and…

Senior leadership positions in Jordanian Ministry of Education are held predominantly by men. Women are teachers and/or school principals. This under-representation of women is primarily due to culturally derived stereotypes that see women as teachers or school principals, but not as superintendents. The purpose of this study was to investigate,…

The last decade or so has seen an emerging literature supporting the position that school leaders and school leadership are important. This article argues, however, that recent developments in the area of school leadership have led to an orthodoxy that needs to be challenged and tested. It is an orthodoxy that has been driven essentially by those…

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 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:…

This article reports research conducted recently into evaluation policy. The research comprises two parts: a questionnaire survey and qualitative interviews. Drawing from data collected in a survey of 65 curriculum leaders and interviews with 12 from the group, the article discusses how school evaluation policy functions to help make schools…

The provision of customized black and minority ethnic (BME) leadership courses and programmes is one of the measures being employed to address the under-representation of teachers and school leaders from minority ethnic backgrounds. This strategy has always attracted controversy as opinions have been divided about its value and benefits. Yet there…