Leaders And Leadership In Education

Leadership within educational settings is widely regarded as essential for organizational effectiveness and the improvement of learning outcomes. Through an extensive review of theory and practice, Helen Gunter explores the contested field of leadership studies. She describes and critiques the different contributions made by · education management · school effectiveness · school improvement · critical studies. Leadership is examined as function, as behaviour and as leadership relationship, from students as leaders, through to headteachers. The author provides an up-to-date review of current thinking about leadership, which challenges the reader to engage wit

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.

The Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders brings together empirical research on leadership preparation and development to provide a comprehensive overview and synthesis of what we know about preparing school leaders today. With contributions from the field’s foremost scholars, this new edition investigates the methodological foundations of leadership preparation research, reviews the pedagogical and curricular features of preparation programs, and presents valuable insights into the demographic, economic, and political factors affecting school leaders. This volume both mirrors the first edition’s macro-level approach to leadership preparation and presents the most up-to-date research in the field. Updates to this edition cover recent state and federal government efforts to improve leadership in education, new challenges for the field, and significant gaps and critical questions for framing, researching, evaluating, and improving the education of school leaders. Sponsored by the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA), this handbook is an essential resource for students and scholars of educational leadership, as well as practitioners, policymakers, and other educators interested in professional leadership. .

`Leadership in education is receiving increasing attention, and this text contributes much to the debate. A useful text that will appeal to a wide audience of senior managers, teachers, programme designers and researchers' - Learning and Skills Research `If one were on a fact-finding mission to gain insight into leadership thought and practice in education, then this book is an excellent resource' - Education News `This book makes an excellent contribution to the current debate on Educational Leadership. It blends theory with practice and provides an important resource for many aspects of leadership development programmes at a variety of levels. The book will appeal to the academic reader, the postgraduate student and those involved in providing leadership courses at a professional level. There is an international perspective on the analysis of leadership theory and practice, integrating examples from a variety of cultural settings and exploring education at all phases from primary to higher' - Stephen Merrill, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Journal of In-Service Education `Leadership in Education offers an excellent analysis of the current debate: well informed on research and practice, positive but critical. It is particularly strong on what it calls "the railway-bookstall offerings of context-independent leadership".... There is a great deal of practical wisdom within these very accessible pages' - Michael Duffy, Times Educational Supplement This book deals with leadership in all sectors, from primary to higher education. It presents an international perspective on the analysis of leadership theory and practice, with the integration of exemplars from different cultural settings. The authors provide a wide range of conceptual perspectives on leadership. Themes include: - the efficacy of centralized versus distributed concepts of leadership - the contrast between competency and academic models of leadership development - the contradistinction between functionalist and democratic models of leadership. These themes are developed in four sections: - Conceptualization - Leadership development - Teachers as leaders - Leadership in practice Contributors include: Clive Dimmock, Peter Gronn, Marianne Coleman, Peter Ribbins, Ray Bolam, Peter Newton, Kenneth Leithwood, Helen Gunter, Lynn Davis, Clive Harber and Graham Peeke This book is recommended to all involved in educational management, particularly to students, teachers, researchers, policy makers and educational administrators. The Centre for Educational Leadership and Management series, edited by Tony Bush, examines the impact of the many changes in the management of schools and colleges, drawing on empirical evidence. The approach if analytical rather than descriptive and generates conclusions about the most effective ways of managing schools on the basis of research evidence.

Leadership in Education is an evocative, forward-looking text that is grounded in years of research gathered in hundreds of schools and across districts. The text calls teachers, supervisors, and school administrators to action in the classroom, demonstrating effective leadership skills that affirm mutual respect, build trust, stimulate reflection, strengthen partnerships, and use inquiry to direct action. Building multi-faceted and nuanced links between educational leadership, school improvement, teaching effectiveness, and student learning, this succinct and compelling guide offers highly effective strategies for provoking meaningful growth in the classroom. The authors guide the reader through the process of using generative dialogue in leadership roles, from provocation to reflection, a shift in thinking, and implementation of highly effective leadership practices. The volume reinforces the ethical responsibility of educators to focus on practices that provide optimal learning environments for all students. Both an academic resource and an interactive manual, Leadership in Education features literature reviews, suggested readings, a glossary, thought provocations, and case studies with reflection questions to encourage deeper learning. Grounded in lived experiences and brimming with real stories of educators, this critical guidebook is ideal for graduate students in education and leadership programs.

′Overall, and as one has come to expect from Fink, this is a readable text that thinks outside the box of leadership theory... I have no doubt that the text will be welcomed by many readers for an engaging style that places human interest at the heart of the discourse in the field′ - Mark Brundrett, writing in Educational Management Administration and Leadership ′It is a ′must read′ for those in educational leadership roles in schools, both to gain invaluable insights and to draw on a framework for individual reflection′ - Professor Brent Davies, University of Hull `I enjoyed reading this book. The combination of critical reflection of his experience in the light of relevant literature makes for a lively and thought-provoking book. I was going to say "little" book, because at times I would have liked to have read more. But on the other hand, it is the sort of book one - the academic and the leader - could read in one sitting, enjoy and come back to for some ideas. I recommend you to do so′ - ESCalate `This book provides a refreshing alternative to the rhetoric about ′superheads′, and ′mavericks′ that has been prevalent in some of the recent discourse about leadership. Dean Fink draws heavily upon the work of Andy Hargreaves, Michael Fullan and his own research with Louise Stoll so some of the ideas are familiar. However, what makes Leadership for Mortals interesting is the way in which he untangles the complexities of leadership by using genuine examples alongside the theory. Dean Fink′s writing is accessible and his anecdotal style should resonate with his intended audience of current and prospective leaders′ - LDR, The Magazine for School Leaders `This book is a welcome antidote to the notion of school leaders as heroic figures. Dean Fink′s commitment to enhancing the life chances of young people shines through the pages′ - Kate Myers, Times Educational Supplement `With great wisdom and insight, Dean Fink invites us into his leadership stories to masterfully illustrate that school leadership is no longer a person but an intricate network of ′mortals′ working together to enhance learning experiences for students. They are truly leaders of learning, where commitment to successful learning for all students is the locus of their passion, perseverance and persuasion. Balanced with connections to respected leadership literature, this lucid and eloquent book will inspire current and future school leaders to reflect and develop their leadership practice to higher levels of effectiveness. An outstanding and optimistic read for all school leadership mortals, practitioners and scholars alike. I enjoyed it immensely′ - David Eddy, Director, First-time Principals Programme, The University of Auckland `Practitioners will find this book at the same time reassuring and challenging. Fink includes stories of leadership that highlight effective strategies and some approaches that have gone wrong. They are real and ring true and therefore credible and instructive′ - Ken Thompson Principal, Gladstone Park Secondary College, Australia `A great story about schools and their leaders progressing towards a knowledge driven world and the roads they choose to travel. Building sustainable communities of practice and the credible and varied examples of how the combination of leadership behaviour and enabling and disabling processes can make or break a successful school are clearly illustrated in Leadership for Mortals. A significant read for all aspirant and accomplished leaders′ - - Jenny Lewis,Executive Officer, Australian Council for Educational Leaders ′Dean Fink brings together a wealth of learning from his own experience as a leader and learner to provide some powerful messages. This is a well-informed book with a strong theoretical basis but it is also personal and real, making sense of educational leadership in a way that is both profound and down-to-earth. School leaders in the UK and elsewhere will find inspiration, reassurance and challenge in this book′ - Steve Munby, Chief Executive, National College for School Leadership ′Grounded in solid knowledge base and profound lived experience, Dean Fink′s Leadership for Mortals provides deep insights on how ordinary practitioners could become great and sustainable leaders of learning. Fink′s book is not a "quick-fix" how-to-do-it manual. It stimulates us to reflect on education leadership both as a personalized, value-laden journey and an art as well as reminds us of the imperative issues of extraordinary commitment, effort and determination in making a difference on leading students and teachers′ learning. This is a must-read book for aspiring and serving leaders in the field of education′ - Professor John Chi-kin Lee, Dean of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong ′Its style is conversational and unpatronizing, yet it makes powerful statements about the key components that contribute to successful leadership. It is always practical, and readers will come away from this book knowing they have learned something that they will be keen to try out for themselves...Readers will recognise leaders good and bad that they have come across, at times being reassured that they are getting it right and at others despairing as they identify situations in which they, too, got it wrong. Fink′s writing makes it clear that leadership is not exact science! He reminds us that, although we are mortals, with good mentoring and better training our own potential has a better chance of being realised, and that this is the best way to enable our students to achieve their own potential.′ Journal of Research in International Education Leadership in recent years has become a growth industry. Politicians demand more of it, academics decry the lack of it, and potential school leaders are deciding ′to hell with it′ .....we are making the business of leadership so complicated that we seem to need John Wayne at his mythological best or Xena the Warrior Princess to run a school. Most educational leaders are not ′heroic′ but rather ordinary people who through extraordinary commitment, effort, and determination have become extraordinary, and have made the people around them exceptional. Educational leadership is more art than science; it is more about character than technique; it is more about inspiration than charisma; it is more about leading students and teachers′ learning than the management of things This resource for prospective and practising school leaders: - motivates and inspires - addresses the challenges of contemporary school leadership - presents a model for leadership development, selection and succession - challenges existing and prospective leaders to develop and live by a set of core values based on students′ learning - describes and explains the ′learnings′ required by effective leaders of learning - describes the intellectual ′tool kit′ that leaders can develop - describes the trajectories through which leaders proceed, and the ′learnings′ required at each stage of the leaders evolution - presents a template for leadership development and succession.

This book presents a new approach to school leadership – Holistic School Leadership, whereby school leaders lead schools through systems-thinking concepts and procedures. Facing growing complexity, change and diversity, school leaders need to regularly apply the systems view and perform at the systems level. This book proposes a holistic approach, providing school leaders with systemic principles of action for excellence in education. “What a wonderful book – once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. The book masterfully makes a systems leadership perspective accessible and grounded in the reality of the daily life of educators. Holistic School Leadership is a “must read” for anyone who has the responsibility for making schools better places, from professors to emerging teacher leaders.” Karen Seashore (Louis), Regents Professor of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development, University of Minnesota “Shaked and Schechter have constructed a much needed bridge to the future of educational leadership, a future of systemic thinking and positivity.” Joseph Murphy, Professor of Education and Public Policy, Peabody College of Education, Vanderbilt University “Shaked and Schechter offer a comprehensive yet concise account of the meaning of systems thinking. The authors systematically develop their Holistic School Leadership approach with compelling examples, carefully attending to the perennial challenge of implementation. Important reading for scholars and practitioners of school leadership and management!" James P. Spillane, Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change, Northwestern University “This is the most important book on systems thinking since Senge’s (1990) seminal work on learning organizations. Shaked and Schechter demonstrate the critical and practical utility of systems thinking for school leaders—a must read for all reflective practitioners.” Wayne K. Hoy, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University. “Holistic School Leadership provides an innovative and exciting look into a new perspective on educational leadership that holds tremendous potential in reshaping educational research, policy, and practice. The idea of interdependence alone makes this powerful new book required reading for anyone concerned with the future of education and educational leadership in particular. Give yourself, your colleagues, your students, and your system the gift of the wisdom in this book.” Alan J. Daly, Chair and Professor, Department of Education Studies, University of California, San Diego “In this informative book, Shaked and Schechter offer a fresh application of systems thinking to schools and to the work of school leaders. This book is a useful addition to the bookshelves of both those who prepare and those who support school leaders.” Megan Tschannen-Moran, Professor of Educational Leadership, College of William and Mary

How can school leaders shape organisations that offer consistently high quality, rounded and equitable education in the context of rapid change? How can wider education systems support and encourage all schools to succeed in this way? What are the challenges and opportunities involved? What can we learn from existing evidence and research? School Leadership and Education System Reform considers the ways in which school leadership and its practice has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational context over the last decade. This new edition is substantially revised and updated, with ten completely new chapters. It includes contributions from a range of leading thinkers and researchers in the field of educational leadership and management. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors draw on recent empirical research studies into leadership, learning and system reform in England and more widely to explore the key issues for contemporary school leadership and management in high-autonomy-high-accountability systems. New chapters look at: · System governance and lateral accountability in 'self-improving' school systems · Leading curriculum development and accelerating progress for disadvantaged children in schools · Effective deployment of teaching assistants/leadership for inclusion · School collaboration, partnerships and 'system leadership' · Securing improvement at scale, across multiple schools and across localities · New conceptions of leadership, including ethical and invitational leadership School Leadership and Education System Reform provides accessible but research and theory-informed chapters, each of which includes summaries and suggestions for further reading.