Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook, by David Silverman, Los Angeles, Sage, 2010, 456 pp., AU$65.00, ISBN 978-1-84860-033-1, ISBN 978-1-94960-034-8. Available in Australia and New Zeal...

Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook

International evidence suggests that educational reform’s progress
depends on teachers’ individual and collective capacity and its link with schoolwide
capacity for promoting pupils’ learning. Building capacity is therefore
critical. Capacity is a complex blend of motivation, skill, positive learning,
organisational conditions and culture, and infrastructure of support. Put together,
it gives individuals, groups, whole school communities and school systems the
power to get involved in and sustain learning over time. Developing professional
learning communities appears to hold considerable promise for capacity building
for sustainable improvement. As such, it has become a ‘hot topic’ in many
countries.

Professional Learning Communities: A Review of the Literature

This article argues for a reconceptualization of leadership. Possible substitutes for leadership are reviewed along with a number of existing dualisms. These are rejected in favour of the claim that the leadership of organizations is most appropriately understood as a distributed, rather thanas a focused, phenomenon. Various attributes, dimensions and applications of distribution are then considered, and a revised approach to action and influence in organizations centred on conjointly performed activities is thenproposed. For this new formulation a summary is provided of the core concepts of, and recent developments in, activity theory. It is shown that two particular advantages of this approach include the helpful model it provides for contextual analysis—an aspect sorely neglected by the field of leadership—and its focus on the evolving division of labour in organizations, the prime mover for tracking emerging patterns of distributed leadership.

Distributed Properties A New Architecture for Leadership

This article considers the relationship between distributed leadership and school improvement. Drawing upon empirical evidence from two contemporary studies of successful school leadership and recent studies of school improvement, it explores the extent to which distributed forms of leadership can contribute to school improvement. The article argues that the distributed perspective offers a new and important theoretical lens through which leadership practice in school can be reconfigured and reconceptualized. It concludes by suggesting that, while evidence would suggest that distributed forms of leadership can assist capacity building within schools which contributes to school improvement, further research is needed to confirm a relationship between distributed forms of leadership and improved student learning outcomes.

Distributed Leadership and School Improvement: Leading or Misleading?.

Preface - Tony Bush et al Introduction - Tony Bush Setting the Scene PART ONE: SCHOOLS AND SELF-MANAGEMENT - Ron Glatter Modern Headship for the Rationally Managed School - Rosalind Levacic et al Combining Cerebral and Insightful Approaches Decentralization and Deregulation in Europe - Peter Karstanje Towards a Conceptual Framework Continuities and Changes in Primary Headship - Geoff Southworth Primary Schools and the Nature of the Education Market Place - Les Bell PART TWO: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - Ray Bolam Understanding Leadership - Peter Ribbins Developing Headteachers Stages of Headship - Dick Weindling Promoting Continuing Professional Development for Teachers - Agnes McMahon An Achievable Target for School Leaders? Headteachers' Knowledge, Practice and Mode of Cognition - Michael Eraut PART THREE: THEORY DEVELOPMENT - Peter Ribbins Combining Cultural and Political Perspectives - Mike Wallace The Best of Both Conceptual Worlds? Institutional Transformation and Educational Management - Chris James Gender and Education Management - Valerie Hall Duel or Dialogue? School Effectiveness and School Improvement - Janet Ouston Critique of a Movement Can Leadership Enhance School Effectiveness? - Philip Hallinger and Ronald Heck PART FOUR: RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT - Les Bell Educational Administration, Leadership and Management - Ray Bolam Towards a Research Agenda Overview of a Group of Research Projects with Relevance to School Management - Mike Wallace and Dick Weindling Pedagogy, Educational Management and the TTA Research Agenda - Philippa Cordingley Researching and Constructing Histories of the Field of Educational Management - Helen Gunter

Educational management : redefining theory, policy and practice

Mentoring is an important mode of professional development in many countries. It involves an experienced colleague supporting the development of a new principal. Reports the findings of one aspect of a major national research project on mentoring and teacher education in England and Wales. Considers the nature and purpose of mentoring and examines the “match” between mentor and the new headteacher. Reports on the benefits of mentoring for new principals, mentors and the educational system, and discusses certain limitations of this approach to professional development. Presents several conceptual models of the mentor relationship and reports that the dominant normative conception is that of peer support. Concludes that mentoring is valuable in supporting principals as they adapt to their new role but it may lack the rigour to be a really effective mode of professional development.

Professional development for heads: the role of mentoring

PART ONE: LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE Introduction: New Directions in Educational Leadership - Tony Bush, Les Bell and David Middlewood School Leaders' Influences on Student Learning: The Four Paths - Kenneth Leithwood et al Leading with Moral Purpose: The Place of Ethics - Paul T Begley Distributed Leadership: Evidence and Implications - Alma Harris Where to Next for Educational Leadership? - Peter Gronn PART TWO: DEVELOPING LEADERS Teacher Professionalism and Continuing Professional Development: Contested Concepts and Their Implications for School Leaders - Les Bell and Ray Bolam Leadership Development - Tony Bush Managing People and Performance - David Middlewood PART THREE: LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING Leadership for Learning - Christopher Rhodes and Mark Brundrett Building and Leading Learning Cultures - Allan Walker Managing Resources to Support Learning - Rosalind Levacic PART FOUR: LEADERSHIP FOR INCLUSION Leadership for Diversity and Inclusion - Jacky Lumby Leading Educational Partnerships: New Models for Leadership? - Ann R J Briggs Leadership and Educational Networks - Andrew Townsend Community and Leadership in Education - Tracey Allen

The Principles Of Educational Leadership And Management

Preparation for school leadership and management has become one of the major educational issues of the late 1990s. The Teacher Training Agency's National Professional Qualification for Headship is arguably the most important initiative because it leads to a threshold qualification for headship which is intended to become mandatory. This paper will examine NPQH and contrast it with both the recent history of school management provision in England and Wales and with international practice. The paper concludes that NPQH is likely to make an important contribution to the preparation of the next generation of school leaders but requires modification to address certain weaknesses.

The National Professional Qualification for Headship: The key to effective school leadership?

Educational management is a relatively new academic discipline but it has grown strongly in the United Kingdom and in most other English-speaking countries. The widespread shift to selfmanagement has served to enhance the importance of effective leadership within educational institutions and the parallel need for theory and research to establish what constitutes good practice. Rapid and multiple policy change constitutes a challenging context for educational management but also points to the need for a review of the discipline. This article examines the opportunities and challenges for educational management at the end of the 20th century and concludes that the discipline has to develop a new sense of direction to meet the needs of educational institutions and practitioners in the new millennium.

Tony Bush

Papers

Educational management : redefining theory, policy and practice

Professional development for heads: the role of mentoring

The Principles Of Educational Leadership And Management

The National Professional Qualification for Headship: The key to effective school leadership?

Crisis or Crossroads? The Discipline of Educational Management in the Late 1990s