Developing Leadership: Creating the schools of tomorrow (Professional Learning)

• What is our best present understandingof good school leadership?
• How do I lead my school to make itrelevant to students of the 21st century?

The idea for this book grew out of aninternational conference organized by theNational College for School Leadership,An International Future: learning frombest practice worldwide, which exploredinnovative and significant aspects ofeducational leadership and brought together internationalcolleagues to generate new understandings. The conference proved adynamic forum for debate for researchers, academics, policy-makersand practitioners. It was clear at the conference that there was aconsensus of understanding around certain key themes that crossednational boundaries. In Developing Leadership, well-knowninternational contributors explore this consensus to promote the keythemes which reflect our best present understanding of good schoolleadership, and to inform school leaders about leading edge thinkingwhich bears on their role.

These key ideas, which are highlighted at various points throughoutthe book, are built around professional learning communities;distributed leadership; strategic thinking about ICT; sustainability;internship; mentoring and coaching.

Contributors: Ray Bolam, Martin Coles, Gary Crow, Clive Dimmock,Dean Fink, David Green, Andy Hargreaves, Sing Kong Lee, BillMulford, Fred Paterson, Tony Richardson, Geoff Southworth, JamesSpillane, Louise Stoll, Ken Stott, Allan Walker, John West-Burnham

Martin Coles and Geoff Southworth are both at the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), Nottingham.

Raymond Bolam is Emeritus Professor of Education in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and a Visiting Professor in the Departments of Education at the Universities of Bath and Leicester. H has also held Chairs in Education at Cardiff and Swansea Universities, He has acted as consultant to the UNESCO, the OECD, the British Council, and the European Commission as well as to governments and national and international agencies in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. His research and publications have focused on school leadership, professional development, school improvement and the management of change. He is currently co-directing a nationally funded study on `Creating and Sustaining Effective Professional Learning Communities’ in schools.

Gary M. Crow is Professor and Chair in the Department of Educational Leadership at The University of Utah (USA). His research interests include work socialization of school site leaders and school reform. His most recent, co-authored, book is Being and Becoming a Principal. He is president-elect of the University Council for Educational Administration.

Clive Dimmock is Professor of Educational Leadership and Director of the Centre for Educational Leadership and Management, University of Leicester. He has published extensively in the areas of cultural and cross-cultural approaches to leadership and school improvement, and has an abiding interest in Asian education and the leadership of multi-ethnic schools in both Anglo-American and Asian contexts.

Dean Fink is a former superintendent and principal in Ontario, Canada, an associate of the International Centre for Educational Change at the University of Toronto, and a visiting a fellow of the International Leadership Centre at the University of Hull. His most recent book is It’s About Learning and It’s About Time (with Louise Stoll and Lorna Earl).

Dr. Andy Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. Prior to that, he was Professor of Educational Leadership and Change at the University of Nottingham, England and Co-director of and Professor in the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is holder of the Canadian Education Association/Whitworth 2000 Award for outstanding contributions to educational research. Andy Hargreaves is the author and editor of more than twenty books in the fields of teacher development, the culture of the school and educational change. His most recent book, Teaching In The Knowledge Society: education in the age of insecurity, was given the 2004 Outstanding Book Award in curriculum studies by the American Educational Research Association.

Bill Mulford, Professor and Director of the Leadership for Learning Research Group in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania. Bill is a former teacher, school principal, Assistant Director of Education and Past President and of both national and international professional associations in educational administration,. He is an adviser to state and national Departments of Education and a consultant to international organisations.

Dr. Fred Paterson is Senior Research Officer for the National College for School Leadership and `lead enquirer’ for the New Visions programme. Previously, Fred worked as an educational researcher at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, an advisory teacher and a primary practitioner in Nottinghamshire.

Tony Richardson, Director of Online Learning. The National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Tony has been a primary headteacher, an education adviser specialising in Information and Communications Technology, a senior primary adviser and most recently Chief Education Adviser and Head of Northamptonshire LEA Inspection and Advisory Service (NIAS). Tony has lead responsibility for the NCSL’s virtual presence and online learning.

Halia Silins is an internationally recognised researcher in educational leadership. She has led numerous programmes on managing change in Australia, UK, USA and Malaysia. Her consultancies bring her research and practical skills together to help leaders achieve personal goals and improved organisational outcomes. Halia is an Associate Professor at Flinders University of South Australia.

Professor Lee Sing Kong is the Dean of Graduate Programmes and Research at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Professor Lee has spearheaded several innovation projects in the fields of education and science, and has received several national and international awards in recognition of his achievements.

Jim Spillane is Associate Professor of Education and Social Policy, and a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, where he teaches in both the Learning Sciences and Human Development and Social Policy graduate programs. His most recent book is Standards Deviations: How Local Schools Misunderstand Policy (Harvard University Press, 2004).

Louise Stoll is an educational consultant, President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and School Improvement, and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London and at the University of Bath. Her research, development work and writing focus on school improvement, leadership and capacity for learning and change.

Dr Ken Stott is an Associate Dean at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where he is in charge of school leadership development programmes. He has written a wide range of books and articles on management and leadership, and his work on management teams is well-known internationally.

Allan Walker is professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also Associate Director of the Hong Kong Centre for the Development of Educational Leadership. His research interests include principalship preparation and development, cultural influence on school leadership and leadership needs analysis.

John West-Burnham is a Senior Research Adviser at NCSL. Having worked in schools, further and adult education for fifteen years, John’s work has taken him to the Open University, Crewe and Alsager College, University of Leicester, University of Lincoln, and University of Hull. John’s current research and writing interests include transformational leadership, leadership learning and development, and educational leadership in the community.