This paper draws from a review of the global literature on school leadership during the first 30 months of the pandemic (2020-2022), when educational leaders were faced with complexity on an unprecedented scale. COVID-19 challenged school leadership, providing opportunities to reflect on: leadership practice within and beyond school contexts;…

We have used the concept of ethnography as explanatory critique in earlier research in three projects in Spain relating to teacher professional development and leadership for socially just schools. This research involved participant observations, interviews, informal conversations, document analysis and virtual ethnography. However, we have also…

After outlining the central role of leadership for individual and interorganisational learning in sustainable Professional Learning Networks (PLN), this article describes Austria's professional learning environment and professional learning (PL) within this changing field. In order to meet urgent institutional requests for sustainable PL, new…

School principals play a key role in the creation and nurture of school conditions conducive to Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). In China, whereas the term PLC itself is an imported concept and rarely used by school practitioners, the precept of PLCs, collaborative teacher learning activities, are firmly embedded in teachers' daily work.…

This paper's commentary is guided by Gramsci's distinction between, on one hand, the pessimism of the intellect and, on the other, optimism of the will. Accordingly, we seek initially to convey some of the intractable challenges that tend to be encountered by school leaders in the contemporary education context. In doing so, we argue that these…

The main aim of the study was to examine whether headteachers in Malaysian primary schools were equipped with the relevant competencies to execute school change, in the light of increasing demands for educational excellence and ensuing school reforms. A comparison was made between the National School (NS) and National-Type Chinese School (NTCS).…

The starting point for this article is the lack of a robust research base regarding details of what works and why for school leaders' professional development. The article extends work undertaken for a recent commissioned literature review of selected international reports on supporting school leaders' development strategies. The authors reveal…

Research demonstrating the importance and impact of the earliest years on long-term outcomes is now well established, and the link between effective leadership and quality provision has been clearly made. However, the nature of the best preparation for such leadership remains contested. The qualitative research reported here is related to the…

Through case-study reports, this paper examines the development of two induction-year teachers (years one to three) through their participation in a professional development community in the United States: the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) of the National Writing Project. Typically, the ISI focuses its professional development efforts on…

In South Africa, until recently, mentoring has not been formalized as part of school leadership induction programmes or of leadership professional development. However, the South African government identified mentoring as a distinctive aspect of its pilot leadership development programme for school principals. This programme signalled a shift from…

This study is part of the International Study of Principal Preparation project and reports on a Canadian Catholic Board's mentoring programme for novice school principals. This programme aims to produce effective managers and provide formal collegial support. A pragmatic, mixed-method approach involving interviews with participants along with an…

There has been a significant increase in interest in the development of educational leadership in recent years, not least in the school sector. However, little research exists on how leaders in higher education have learnt to lead, particularly those in "middle-leadership" positions such as heads of faculties and departments. This study…

The Scottish Chartered Teacher Scheme was designed to recognise and reward teachers who attained high standards of practice. The scheme emerged in 2001 as part of an agreement between government, local employing authorities and teacher organisations. Policies such as the chartered teacher scheme aim to benefit students in two main ways: by…

This paper argues that the professional development and in-service educational needs of faith school leaders have been neglected by mainstream providers of continuing professional development programmes in the United Kingdom. Given the substantial presence of Church of England and Roman Catholic schools and colleges in the UK system and current…

This article reports on outcomes from a study funded by the National College for School Leadership designed to explore the factors that assist in the leadership development of teachers at a number of stages of their career development. More specifically, the study sought to identify issues associated with leadership talent identification,…