Published to coincide with the launch of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), this work challenges the notion that there is "one right way" to approach school leadership. Presenting the key policies and approaches to organization and management of 14 successful school leaders from the UK and internationally, the book seeks to reflect the diversity of approaches that are possible in given situations, and to act as a guide for anyone facing the challenges of leadership in education today. It has a focus on generic and transferable factors.

Eighteen years of Conservative stewardship ensured that the Labour government's education policy did not begin with a tabula rasa, for its starting point has been defined by the previous government to a greater extent than any other incoming government has found. In this book the practitioners discuss the micro effect of the policies in their schools. This book will make an important contribution to continuing debate about the best way forward for state education in England and Wales.

John Dunford was general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders from 1998 to 2010. Prior to that, he was a member of the leadership team of three secondary schools in the north-east of England from 1974 to 1998, including 16 years as head of Durham Johnston Comprehensive School, an 11-18 school with 1500 pupils. In this outstanding book, John reveals all that he has learned about teaching and leadership over a stellar 40-year career, interweaved with a series of enlightening stories about government education policy over the last 20 years and the way in which successful schools have navigated the changing policy landscape.