Educational Leadership In Aotearoa New Zealand

This book presents 10 inspirational case studies of how centre leaders, principals and leadership teams in high-needs New Zealand educational settings have enacted leadership towards a more equitable and democratic society.

This book features case studies of 11 successful New Zealand educational leaders. It is intended as a testimony to their exemplary work and to help aspiring, new and experienced practitioners understand more about their leadership role. The case studies capture the exhilaration of being a leader in different school and early childhood centre settings and they identify key values, attributes and strategies that have enabled these leaders to achieve and maintain success. The New Zealand research that this book draws on is carried out under the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) which aims to focus research attention on factors behind principals' success. The editor and writers explore two major research questions: What practices do successful leaders use? What factors give rise to successful educational leadership? Readers will draw inspiration from this sample of successful New Zealand principals and early childhood leaders who have dedicated their professional lives to making a difference for students. Diverse reflections, questions and suggestions for further reading are woven through each case study to encourage aspiring and current educational leaders to think critically about their own workplace practices.

To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN), this book is a compilation of the work conducted by network scholars. This volume is the first comprehensive overview of the studies conducted by ISLDN members engaged in examining how social justice leaders and leaders of high-needs schools address the social conditions, learning experiences, and performance of their students. Other international school leadership research consortia have emerged in the 21st century; however, the ISLDN is the second longest operating project, after the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). Since its creation in 2010, ISLDN scholars have delivered papers at a variety of international conferences and shared findings in research publications, including books and special issues of journals. Until now, ISLDN research findings have been disseminated separately for the project’s two strands: (a) social justice leadership and (b) leadership in underperforming high-needs schools. Therefore, the purpose of the book is to document the history and evolution of the ISLDN and to provide descriptions and reflections of the project’s research findings, methodologies, and collaborative processes across the two strands. This volume captures studies of school leaders from 19 countries representing six continents - Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. The authors examine important external and internal contextual factors influencing schools in different cultural settings and provide insights about the values and practices of social justice leaders working in high-needs school settings. Numerous practical strategies are provided for school leaders working in schools with similar conditions. The concluding chapter by the co-editors synthesizes the structural factors, personal beliefs and values, and contextualized change management strategies that shape school leaders’ actions aimed at ensuring the best learning outcomes for their students. Besides capturing the range of findings emerging from various ISLDN studies conducted over the past decade, several chapters critically examine the project’s current contributions to the field. Authors suggest broadening the dissemination of our findings to increase the visibility of the project, expanding the research methods beyond qualitative interviews, incorporating studies from non-Anglophone countries, and augmenting the scope of our analyses and research focus. These researchers’ journeys also reveal the obstacles to and benefits of engaging in these types of international collaborative research ventures.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the core disciplines, and contemporary concerns, that inform the study of education in Aotearoa. As a collection, the work provides a critical account of education policy trajectories and speculates on their limits and possibilities in the changing social and political landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand in the first half of the 21st century. The work has two aims. First, to serve as an introductory text for students in initial teacher education and other education programmes. Secondly, to be a resource for practitioners, policy makers, administrators and other stakeholders seeking to update their knowledge of the disciplines that comprise education studies, and their application in the current environment. It builds on the premise detailed in the Introduction: that all educational theory--in Aotearoa and beyond--must be understood and applied with due regard to personal, historical, and global context.

The delivery of quality education to students relies heavily on the actions of an institution’s administrative staff. Effective leadership strategies allow for the continued progress of modern educational initiatives. Educational Leadership and Administration: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides comprehensive research perspectives on the multi-faceted issues of leadership and administration considerations within the education sector. Emphasizing theoretical frameworks, emerging strategic initiatives, and future outlooks, this publication is an ideal reference source for educators, professionals, school administrators, researchers, and practitioners in the field of education.

This volume builds upon emergent understandings about educational leadership and policy in hopes of continuing to refine our understanding of what effective leadership means in linguistically and culturally diverse school contexts. The volume seeks to entrench a deeper understanding of the broader leadership policies and practices that promote the success of linguistically and culturally diverse students, while also recognizing that effective leadership can be highly dependent on context. It offers original empirical research that enhances an understanding of the interdependencies between leadership, culture, language, and policy (i.e., the mechanisms that engender or hinder successful stewardship of linguistic and cultural plurality). The confluence of school leadership, linguistic diversity, and multiculturalism makes this volume unique, especially considering the pace at which global migration continues to accelerate, coupled with the need to accommodate an array of diverse learning needs in today’s schools.

“Although standards-based reform emerged in the United States and the United Kingdom, the idea has spread across the world, as an approach to systemic reform. It might appear that there is a world-wide “tsunami” of standards-based reform that will standardize and homogenize the educational system across the globe. This volume makes it very clear, however, that there is no one approach to standards-based reform and countries change – there is a danger in paying attention to its evolution and impact in only one context. That’s what makes this volume so valuable. Louis Volante has drawn together descriptions from a wide range of countries, all involved in large-scale reform and using standards and assessments as part of their process. What becomes very obvious is that the language may be the same but the words reflect different contexts and can represent very different ideals, values, and processes. I’m sure you will find this book as interesting and challenging as I have – a gem that pushes your thinking and does not allow readers to remain neutral.” (Lorna Earl)

This book documents and critiques the historical origins and historiography of schooling and teacher preparation in New Zealand. The country has a unique educational history, as the overview of the history and development of schools for the nation's children, both Pakeha (European) and Maori, will highlight.