Questioning Leadership offers a diverse mix of cutting-edge research in the field of educational leadership, with contributions from expert and emerging leadership scholars. It contextualises school leadership within broader social and historical contexts and traces its influence on school performance through time, from its relatively modest role within a systems theory paradigm to its growing influence from the 1980s onwards, as exercising leadership came to be perceived as being largely responsible for improving educational outcomes. This book invites the reader to challenge the current orthodoxy of leader-centrism and instead reflect more broadly on the various structural and institutional interrelationships that determine how a school functions successfully. It poses challenging questions, such as: Is leadership really necessary for high-quality school performance? Can schools function effectively without leadership? Is it possible to describe the work that principals do without using the word 'leadership'? How do we challenge the assumption that leadership simply exists and that it is seen as the appropriate default explanation for school performance? This book does not assume that leadership is the key to organisational performance, although it acknowledges the work that principals do. It goes against current orthodoxy and offers varied perspectives on how leadership might be repositioned vis-a-vis organisational and institutional structures. It also suggests some new directions for leading and learning and throws open a discussion on leadership that for too long has been captured by the assumption that the leader is the cause of organisational performance and learning outcomes in schools. At a time when leadership's dominance seems unshakeable, this is a bold book that should appeal to postgraduate students of educational leadership and management, those undertaking training in educational administration and current school leaders interested in exploring the value of leadership for educational organisations.

The increased focus on raising standards in education requires leaders to engage in complex decision-making, related to the assessment of teachers, meeting mandated accountability measures, and collecting and using large amounts of data. Showcasing exemplary practices of school and district administrators, Decision-Making in Educational Leadership covers issues concerning the role of emotion, ethical and legal ramifications, the use of data, and complexity in decision-making. Chapter authors in this research-based volume explore what administrators and school leaders actually know about educational problems, how they draw upon and revise theories of action for responding to problems, and which theories are tenable in educational decision-making. This important resource provides a broad and international perspective on effective models and methods of educational decision-making and shares valuable knowledge about how theory can be translated into practice in a variety of school settings.

The increased focus on raising standards in education requires leaders to engage in complex decision-making, related to the assessment of teachers, meeting mandated accountability measures, and collecting and using large amounts of data. Showcasing exemplary practices of school and district administrators, Decision-Making in Educational Leadership covers issues concerning the role of emotion, ethical and legal ramifications, the use of data, and complexity in decision-making. Chapter authors in this research-based volume explore what administrators and school leaders actually know about educational problems, how they draw upon and revise theories of action for responding to problems, and which theories are tenable in educational decision-making. This important resource provides a broad and international perspective on effective models and methods of educational decision-making and shares valuable knowledge about how theory can be translated into practice in a variety of school settings.

Contents:
Introduction, Kam-cheung Wong and Colin W. Evers; 1. Moral Authority, Community and Diversity: Leadership Challenges for the 21st Century; 2. Regarding Principals: Leadership Effects and the Effectiveness and Improvement of Schools; 3. Culture and Educational Leadership, Kam-cheung Wong; 4. Vision Building among School Leaders, Kai-ming Cheng, 5. Leadership Study and Administrative Practice - Shall the Twain Ever Meet? Reflections on the Wisdom of Practicality, 6. Embedding Leadership in Task Performance, Viviane M. J. Robinson; 7. Knowing How to Lead: Theoretical Reflections on Inference to the Best Training, Colin W. Evers; 8. Leadership: Paradoxes and New Direction; 9. Systems of Quality and Quality Assurance in Basic Education: Perspectives from Mainland China; 10. Leadership in the Creation of World Class Schools: Beyond the Self-Managing School, Brian J. Caldwell

Questioning Leadership offers a diverse mix of cutting-edge research in the field of educational leadership, with contributions from expert and emerging leadership scholars. It contextualises school leadership within broader social and historical contexts and traces its influence on school performance through time, from its relatively modest role within a systems theory paradigm to its growing influence from the 1980s onwards, as exercising leadership came to be perceived as being largely responsible for improving educational outcomes. This book invites the reader to challenge the current orthodoxy of leader-centrism and instead reflect more broadly on the various structural and institutional interrelationships that determine how a school functions successfully. It poses challenging questions, such as: Is leadership really necessary for high-quality school performance? Can schools function effectively without leadership? Is it possible to describe the work that principals do without using the word 'leadership'? How do we challenge the assumption that leadership simply exists and that it is seen as the appropriate default explanation for school performance? This book does not assume that leadership is the key to organisational performance, although it acknowledges the work that principals do. It goes against current orthodoxy and offers varied perspectives on how leadership might be repositioned vis-a-vis organisational and institutional structures. It also suggests some new directions for leading and learning and throws open a discussion on leadership that for too long has been captured by the assumption that the leader is the cause of organisational performance and learning outcomes in schools. At a time when leadership's dominance seems unshakeable, this is a bold book that should appeal to postgraduate students of educational leadership and management, those undertaking training in educational administration and current school leaders interested in exploring the value of leadership for educational organisations.