This book investigates the localised effects of reform by exploring the impact of a school improvement policy agenda on the work of three experienced principals. It presents three longitudinal case studies within a shared specific leadership context in Queensland, Australia. The case studies enable an exploration of the way the principalship in this context has evolved over time, providing deep insights into the practices and beliefs of three experienced school leaders working in a period of rapid and urgent systemic reform. The nature of global reform policy borrowing means that the research and the findings within this monograph are relevant for international audiences. The book describes a new way to understand and theorise the effects of reform policies and associated pressures on school leaders. Using post-structural theory, it provides a better understanding of the specific effects of reform policy ensembles, particularly when combined with an analysis of the ways policy and discourse work together at a wider level to create an environment that disciplines the principalship. Further, it sheds lights on the means of complying with or contesting policy influences and how the work of leaders has changed over time.

The School Leadership Survival Guide: What to Do When Things Go Wrong, How to Learn from Mistakes, and Why You Should Prepare for the Worst is intended as an uncommon guide for school leaders and a resource they can turn to when confronted with issues they might not normally face in typical practice. The book serves as a bridge between research and day-to-day school leadership, and is intended to help leaders and school communities improve in areas they routinely avoid. In this sense, the book is meant as a "go to" resource for principals, those who train and teach them, and scholars. Although authors recognize the complexity of issues raised in the book, each chapter has a "How to" "What to do" or "Why You Should" ethos in order to give the book a unifying structure and help provide a practical translation of research and theory into practice. Some of the issues addressed include: How to elevate student voice; How to navigate religious conflict in the school and community; How to improve support for LGBTIQ students; Why You Should develop a natural disaster plan; How to work against racism in the school and community; How to practice inclusion in the school; How to make a vision and mission come to life; How to manage relationships with difficult people; What to do when there is racial tension in the community; How to learn the history of your school and community-and why that matters; How to guide and support a leadership team, and; What to do in a school with low trust

This book brings together diverse, international scholarly perspectives on education and democracy in response to contemporary challenges for educational leadership, policy and practice. The contributions meaningfully engage with a range of local and global issues regarding democratic participation and agency, with a particular focus on implications for educational access, engagement and justice. Each chapter considers the complex tensions and interplay between education histories, policies, practices and research to better understand how education can be for democracy in the twenty-first century. There is much work to be done in the field of democratic education, whether it be in the search of a better understanding of education and democracy’s relationship to one another, questions of how education might be for democracy, the importance of teaching young people about democracy, and whether education can be more democratic. This book makes a small, but important, contribution to these struggles for more democratic and socially just futures through education. Education, Policy and Democracy: Contemporary Challenges and Possibilities will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of education leadership and policy, educational administration, politics, research methods, and sociology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Educational Administration and History.

This book brings critical perspectives towards questions of how precarity and precariousness affect the work of leaders and educators in schools and universities around the world. It theorises the effects of precarity, and the experiences of educators working in precarious environments. The work of school improvement takes time. Developing a highly-skilled and confident teaching workforce requires a long-term investment and commitment. Schools in vulnerable communities face higher rates of turnover and difficulty in staffing than advantaged schools do. Tackling the big issues in education – inequity, opportunity gaps, democracy and cohesion – also takes time. Education systems and sectors around the globe are functioning in increasingly casualised workforce environments, which has implications for leadership in schools and in higher education institutions. Precarity also holds serious implications for policymakers and for the leaders and educators who have to enact those policies. This book brings together experts in the field to offer critical perspectives on questions of how we might theorise the effects of precarity, and the experiences of those people working in precarious environments. Educational Leadership and Policy in a Time of Precarity will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of education leadership and policy, educational administration, research methods, and sociology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Educational Administration and History.

New Perspectives on Education for Democracy brings together diverse communities of education research in an innovative way to develop a nuanced understanding of the relationship between education and democracy. This book synthesises a range of theoretical, conceptual, and empirical approaches to address the complex challenges faced by young people and societies in the 21st century. Each chapter provides accounts of local democratic encounters in education, while engaging with global debates and issues, such as de-democratisation and growing social, economic, and educational inequality. This book presents new ways of thinking about democracy, local-global enactments of democracy through teaching and learning, and future thinking for a new era of democracy. This book will be relevant for educators, researchers, and policymakers who are interested in educational sociology, critical pedagogy, and democratic education.

Theorising Identity and Subjectivity in Educational Leadership Research brings together a range of international scholars to examine identity and subjectivities in educational leadership in new and original ways. The chapters draw on a variety of approaches in theory and method to demonstrate the important new developments in understanding identity and subjectivity beyond the traditional ways of understanding and thinking about identity in the field of educational leadership. The book highlights empirical, theoretical and conceptual research that offers new ways of thinking about the work of educational leaders. The authors take critical approaches to exploring the influences of gender, race, sexuality, class, power and discourse on the identity and subjectivity formation of educational leaders. It provides global perspectives on educational leadership research and researchers and offer exciting new approaches to theorising and researching these issues. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and professionals working in the fields of educational leadership and sociology, and the chapters within offer readers new perspectives in understanding educational leaders, their work and their identities.

New Perspectives on Education for Democracy brings together diverse communities of education research in an innovative way to develop a nuanced understanding of the relationship between education and democracy. This book synthesises a range of theoretical, conceptual, and empirical approaches to address the complex challenges faced by young people and societies in the 21st century. Each chapter provides accounts of local democratic encounters in education, while engaging with global debates and issues, such as de-democratisation and growing social, economic, and educational inequality. This book presents new ways of thinking about democracy, local-global enactments of democracy through teaching and learning, and future thinking for a new era of democracy. This book will be relevant for educators, researchers, and policymakers who are interested in educational sociology, critical pedagogy, and democratic education.

Theorising Identity and Subjectivity in Educational Leadership Research brings together a range of international scholars to examine identity and subjectivities in educational leadership in new and original ways. The chapters draw on a variety of approaches in theory and method to demonstrate the important new developments in understanding identity and subjectivity beyond the traditional ways of understanding and thinking about identity in the field of educational leadership. The book highlights empirical, theoretical and conceptual research that offers new ways of thinking about the work of educational leaders. The authors take critical approaches to exploring the influences of gender, race, sexuality, class, power and discourse on the identity and subjectivity formation of educational leaders. It provides global perspectives on educational leadership research and researchers and offer exciting new approaches to theorising and researching these issues. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and professionals working in the fields of educational leadership and sociology, and the chapters within offer readers new perspectives in understanding educational leaders, their work and their identities.

The School Leadership Survival Guide: What to Do When Things Go Wrong, How to Learn from Mistakes, and Why You Should Prepare for the Worst is intended as an uncommon guide for school leaders and a resource they can turn to when confronted with issues they might not normally face in typical practice. The book serves as a bridge between research and day-to-day school leadership, and is intended to help leaders and school communities improve in areas they routinely avoid. In this sense, the book is meant as a "go to" resource for principals, those who train and teach them, and scholars. Although authors recognize the complexity of issues raised in the book, each chapter has a "How to" "What to do" or "Why You Should" ethos in order to give the book a unifying structure and help provide a practical translation of research and theory into practice. Some of the issues addressed include: How to elevate student voice; How to navigate religious conflict in the school and community; How to improve support for LGBTIQ students; Why You Should develop a natural disaster plan; How to work against racism in the school and community; How to practice inclusion in the school; How to make a vision and mission come to life; How to manage relationships with difficult people; What to do when there is racial tension in the community; How to learn the history of your school and community-and why that matters; How to guide and support a leadership team, and; What to do in a school with low trust