This paper contributes to method development in educational leadership research. The focus is on a visual method and the inclusion of visual material in data collection and analysis. Core concepts in this paper are educational leadership, power and authority. The method was used in face-to-face interviews in a research project that studied the…

Central coordination characterises centralised education systems. Centralised systems pride themselves on efficient systemic planning for strategic foresightedness. This study investigates how educators fostered partnerships towards lateral networking propensities or "laterality" in a centralised system with hierarchical tendencies. A…

Contemporary accountability frameworks position school leaders as being essential to improving school performance and driving innovation. Simultaneously, new accountability demands have forced the restructuring of school leadership, both in terms of form and function. In this paper, we look at the growing trend of distributed leadership among…

This paper explores different conceptions of responsibility within and beyond neoliberal frames. Such exploration draws on the experiences and accounts of "Ashleigh," a head teacher at a primary school in outer London that is part of an academy chain. Ashleigh and her school were key participants in a study that explored matters of…

This article reports research into the role and responsibilities of the chairs of governing bodies of further education colleges and sixth-form colleges in England. Further education colleges and sixth-form colleges represent a significant part of post-16 educational provision in England. Every college in the sector has a governing body, which has…

The past 20 years have been a period of reforms for school systems in Visegrad countries. However, the successful implementation of educational reforms requires effective leaders and managers and, to produce effective leaders, changes in the system of leadership and management programmes need to be adopted. From 2004, the Czech Republic saw a…

Universities are in a highly competitive environment, needing strong academic leadership. Some heads of departments have been appointed into leadership positions in a healthcare faculty after having been mere academics for a few years. They are more likely to experience challenges. This study aimed to explore the views and understanding of heads…

This phenomenological study intends to capture and describe Filipino college deans' lived experiences of ethical dilemmas as they carry out their work as administrators. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews and following Collaizzi's method, data was collected and subjected to cool and warm analyses yielding a set of themes and sub-themes that…

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and responsibilities with regard to the education of pupils. This article explores how power relations operate, within governing bodies, through struggles over which types of knowledge are claimed and valued. The article draws on the analysis of policy and on ethnographic research in the…

The transnational trend towards school autonomy has been enacted in England through the academies programme. The programme is poised to enter its third phase of expansion in light of government commitment to the conversion of all state-funded schools to academies. This article considers the moral implications of the expansion of the programme that…

This article is based on the findings of an externally funded, mixed-methods research project conducted at one English university. This small-scale project aimed to examine leadership, barriers to becoming a leader and the support needed to overcome them, from the perspectives of disabled staff. An online questionnaire was sent to all 66 members…

In the UK the title "professor" is generally applied only to the most senior academics--equivalent to North American full professors--and whom anecdotal evidence indicates to be often unprepared for the increasingly expansive academic leadership roles that they are expected to fulfil. The study reported in this paper was directed at…

This article discusses the work of mid-level management at Finnish universities of applied sciences. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 line managers, this study investigates how the standardized management ideas of rational management and employee empowerment are used in the leadership of lecturers at these institutions. The findings indicate…

We focus on gender stereotypes in West European university management by comparing two countries: Sweden and Ireland. In secular Sweden there are strong policies that are implemented at all political levels supported by the public discourse; while in Ireland such measures are few and the equality infrastructures and discourse have been weakened by…

A positive teacher learning culture is important to effect meaningful changes in schools. Literature has established that successful school leaders can build and nurture learning cultures among teachers. However, less is known about how school leaders can shape the culture and make learning conditions happen at the schools in the Chinese education…