Understanding School Leadership

Introduction PART ONE: THE CHANGING ROLE AND NATURE OF HEADSHIP A Changing Discourse From Management to Leadership Stages of Headship Who Becomes a Head and How Long Do They Stay? The Changing Appeal and Reality of Headship Outstanding Leaders School Leadership in Action - A Case Study Accountability and Ethically Responsible School Leadership Images of Leadership PART TWO: DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT Leadership Teams and SMTs - Three Research Projects The Heart of the School? Middle Leaders Governing Bodies and Leadership Governing Bodies and School Improvement Effective Schools and Improvement Strategies Developing Leaders and Leadership Capacity

`This is a book packed with ideas and insights. It is informed by evidence from school leaders and provides a valuable overview of many important theories and research findings. A strength of the book is the way it pulls together empirical research the authors have conducted over the last 20 years. Such a long term view offers a new and needed long term perspective on school leadership and enables the authors to show how trends in leaders' careers, thinking and practice have emerged and unfolded. Researchers and practitioners alike will find something of value in this book' - Professor Geoff Southworth, Director of Research, National College for School Leadership '[A]n excellent, well-written, extensively referenced, empirically based contribution to school leadership thinking... Earley and Weindling offer valuable insights for all of us: serving headteachers/principles, advisory and distinct-wide policy makers and aspiring headteachers' - Journal of Educational Administration