The Business Of School Leadership

The intention of this book is to assist school leaders to understand and develop the knowledge and skills of business processes. It highlights the key principles and tactics of business operation that school leaders need if they are to effectively manage both the educational and business imperatives of their schools. The book is designed to act as a single reliable resource that can be referred to on a daily basis. [Back cover, ed].

Recent research into school effectiveness has corroborated the theory that the school leader plays a pivotal role making their school a successful institution, and is most often cited as the key factor in a school’s development. Reflecting the importance it is given in the today’s education landscape, this book explores the latest trends in school leadership from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Each chapter provides insight into an aspect of current research, with detailed case studies coming from as far afield as Hong Kong and Canada. In the context of the ever-increasing burden of responsibility placed on education management to safeguard and enhance the quality of education they provide, school leadership is now a core concern of policy makers. In addition, most countries are undertaking fundamental education reforms that will have a major influence on the nature of school leadership. Offering the most up-to-date research on this central issue, this book will both inform and shape the debate.

Building on the success of the first edition, this book provides a focused up-to-date introduction to the current themes and dimensions of educational leadership through contributions from some of the leading authors in the field. Each chapter introduces the reader to a key aspect of leadership. This new edition has been fully updated to include recent developments, new chapter summaries and further reading, and a new chapter on Developing Leadership. Written in an accessible style, this book is essential reading for school leaders who wish to have a better understanding of their leadership role. It is also suitable for Masters/Doctoral students worldwide, and will give those on professional development courses a valuable insight into school leadership.

Sustaining Depth and Meaning in School Leadership: Keeping Your Headconcerns the emotional and psychological experience of school leadership - in particular, the felt experience of life as a headteacher. It describes the pressures and rewards of their roles, together with some of the ways that school leaders successfully sustain and develop themselves and their teams in what has become an increasingly complex, challenging, and highly accountable role. This book explores the personal experience of leading schools. Section one provides an overview and analysis of current and historical trends in school leadership, and offers some theoretical frameworks for making sense of these. Section two then offers psychodynamic approaches to supporting and developing school leaders and the impact that trends in executive education continue to have on this. Section three looks at approaches to school leadership development more generally, including team development; influences from the business world; the growth of mentoring and coaching as a leadership intervention; the design and evaluation of leadership development programs and a case study on whole-system development. The last word is given to ten serving headteachers and deputies and their leadership journeys. This range of chapters, concepts and perspectives will support school leaders to maintain an emotional equilibrium while navigating the multi-layered tightrope of intra-psychic, interpersonal and organisational dynamics inherent in school life. Rooted in Jackson and Berkeley's belief that school leaders are likely to be at their best when they find their own unique and authentic way of taking up their leadership role, this book is an accessible, supportive and developmental contribution for all those involved in education leadership.

The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is the largest international accreditation body for business schools, with more than 950 members across 92 countries, including the world's highest-ranked schools. A not-for-profit, mission-led institution, the EFMD plays a central role in shaping a global approach to management education, emphasizing the development of socially responsible leaders. As part of EFMD's fiftieth anniversary celebrations, its President, Professor Eric Cornuel, has edited this volume, featuring contributions from leaders in management education, including the presidents and deans of the top business schools from across the world. Each contribution will address the challenges and dilemmas facing business schools today, with respect to four key themes: the 'higher purpose' of business schools; the social impact of business schools; the internationalization of business schools; and crisis management within business schools, with a special focus on the impact of COVID-19. This volume is also available via Open Access.

This highly detailed study maps four decades of evolution of the concept of what constitutes effective school leadership. It analyses the theoretical background to these developments and advocates the utility of thinking of a ‘lean’ form of school leadership that is comparable to the concept of ‘meta-control’. A wide-ranging survey of the empirical research literature on leadership effects includes the presentation of results from earlier meta-analyses as well as a new meta-analysis on some 25 studies carried out between 2005 and 2010. This survey demonstrates that older reviews and meta-analyses were predominantly based on so-called ‘direct effect’ studies, while more recent studies have tried to quantify the indirect effects of leadership, mediated by other school variables. While acknowledging the relatively small total effect of leadership on student outcomes, the study does identify promising intermediary factors which, stimulated by specific leadership behaviours, impact on student performance. The book ends by drawing out wider implications for educational practice and policy, presented under headings such as ‘schools need leadership’, ‘the toolkit of the school leader as a meta-controller’, ‘the special case of turning around failing schools’ and ‘efficiency of school leadership’. In passing, the authors make several suggestions about potentially fruitful next steps in researching the effects of school leadership.

This book explores school leadership through a cross-cultural comparative lens, drawing on data from 16 countries located on five continents. The book gives a voice to both primary and secondary school principals, who discuss the nature of their work and explain their understanding of school leadership, strategies used to support their leadership, and how they 'do leadership' in a time of unprecedented change. The book highlights a number of important elements in school leadership: that it is personal and internally-motivated; change oriented and entrepreneurial; dependent on the qualities and motivations of school teachers; dependent on environmental factors related to economy, geography, political stability; heavily influenced by policies within and outside the field of education; and dependent on partnerships within and outside education. The book provides an authoritative cross-cultural account of what school leaders regard as school leadership. It will be essential reading for students, researchers and policy-makers in the fields of educational leadership and management, in particular those with an interest in comparative and international research, school leadership, and education policy.

This landmark book translates positive and asset-based understandings of organizations to develop a powerful model of school leadership that is grounded in both existing research and the complexities of life in schools. The authors—both senior scholars in educational leadership—apply insights from positive psychology to the role and function of educational leaders. The Positive School Leadership (PSL) model draws on the strengths of relationships among staff and the broader school community to communicate and instill shared values and a common mission. This book builds a compelling case for creating a more inclusive, less “mechanistic” approach to leadership. Designed to engage both the hearts and minds of readers, the text is organized around reflective questioning of educational practice and current assumptions about the purposes and goals of leadership in schools. “This integrated theory of leadership is compelling, useable, and grounded in research . . . an essential and inspiring read.” —Michelle D. Young, University Council for Educational Administration “Murphy and Louis offer a hopeful vision of leadership for those facing the enormous challenges of school improvement.” —Daniel L. Duke, University of Virginia “Let the renewal of leadership and organizations begin, and let it be guided by this fine body of work.” —Alan J. Daly, University of California, San Diego “In a world of education reforms that have fallen short of expectations, Murphy and Louis make a strong case that positive leadership can create the foundation for sustainable change.” —Philip Hallinger, Mahidol University