Understanding Educational Leadership: People, Power and Culture

List of figures, tables and vignettes
Preface

Considering schools as organisations and communities
Mediating the external policy contexts of schools
Where power lies within schools
School leaders as politicians: Governing in whose interests?
The heart of the matter: The moral dilemmas of working in educational settings
Creating cultures: Facilitating engagement
Leading and constructing the curriculum
Developing cultures of learning in subject areas
Strategies of success at middle leader level
Leading purposeful change in schools: People, power and culture

List of references
Index

This book shows how school leaders at all levels – from the most senior manager to the classroom teacher – can help to build learning communities through collaborating and negotiating with their colleagues, students and students’ parents and carers, as well as with external agencies and local communities, to sustain and develop the enjoyment of successful learning among the members of a school. It looks at how positive cultures can be constructed that support inclusive and exciting teaching, enthusiastic teachers and engaged students, parents and carers.

Drawing on research, the book examines topics such as the nature of leadership, especially distributed and teacher leadership; the politics of education management; the construction of inclusive cultures in schools; school improvement; and the construction of collaborative and inclusive work groups. It uses a range of critical perspectives to examine processes of change and the relationships of people in school communities to each other and to their social, economic and policy contexts. The book argues that it is essential to develop inclusive education in order to promote student engagement, social justice and equity within formal education.

Understanding Educational Leadership is key reading for teachers, headteachers, school leaders, policy makers, Education students and practitioners, and others who have an interest in improving schooling.