This article reports on research regarding the leadership experience of women middle leaders in secondary schools. Previous research has focused on women in senior leadership in schools. Internationally, the teaching profession tends to be dominated by women, and yet in most countries, women do not occupy a commensurate proportion of senior…

Purpose: This paper adds depth to our understanding of how coaching works by exploring the experiences of 14 aspiring school principals who received one-to-one leadership coaching as part of a leadership development programme. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a phenomenological approach. Individual semi-structured interviews were…

Purpose: Little is known about the experiences of school leaders adopting and implementing real-world, scaled-up physical activity interventions in the Australian educational system. Transform-Us! is a novel physical activity and sedentary behaviour intervention available to all primary schools in Victoria, Australia, since September 2018. This…

Purpose: This research paper explores the perspectives of Australian school principals in the state of New South Wales (NSW) regarding what they believe constitutes "merit" when selecting deputy principals, assistant principals (primary) and head teachers (secondary). Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was utilised to collect…

As COVID-19 unfurled around the world in early 2020, it triggered volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) for school leaders. This study explores the experiences of four school leaders, working in inner Melbourne, Australia, through a VUCA lens, and identifies their perceptions of such contextual disruption. Data were collected…

Whilst extensive research has been undertaken concerning educational leadership and management, there is a paucity of scholarship regarding the merit-selection of school leaders other than principals. This is especially true of principal-led merit selection panels convened to recruit middle-level school leaders, namely deputy principals, assistant…

This paper examines the ways that Australian school leaders made sense of and responded to situations of crisis and uncertainty that resulted from the COVID-19 global pandemic. The paper draws on a qualitative study of the subjective experiences of eight school leaders and uses a sensemaking theoretical approach applied to crisis leadership to…

Disparity in educational and career outcomes between rural, regional and remote (RRR) students and their metropolitan counterparts persists despite successive federal and state government initiatives. In this paper, we will present a study that highlights one important, yet overlooked, avenue to improve outcomes for RRR students: early-stage…

Leading school mathematics is a complex task and the responsibilities and activities involved are not always clearly defined. School mathematics leaders (SML) in Australian schools are often expected to lead improvement in mathematics teaching and learning. Previous research typically focuses on the qualities of effective leaders rather than the…

Research regarding the recruitment of principals is well established in scholarly literature. However, scant research has been undertaken to scrutinise the perspectives of principals in the New South Wales Department of Education (NSWDE) regarding their merit selection practice and the extent to which school-based leadership recruitment decisions…

This paper presents findings from qualitative research which examines school principals' understandings of digital technologies policies for Australian schools during the period of the Digital Education Revolution (2008-2013). The concepts of 'steering at a distance' and policy enactment are used as a conceptual lens from which to position and…

In Australia, there is a national education agenda for school improvement with an increasing focus on how school leaders can fulfil this agenda. As school principals are arguably faced with increasing demands, the importance of school middle leaders is increasing. This article presents the initial findings from a larger project on middle…

This paper presents an account of a cross-sectorial study investigating whether shared understandings of practices might enhance continuity during transitions to school. Applying an ontological lens to cross-sectorial leading practices, the paper sheds light on the contextualised realities of transitions to school as a site specific lived…

In Australia, children with developmental delay and disability, who have an IQ less than 70, are eligible to attend a specialist school. These schools are called special schools or special developmental schools. Teachers, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists work in these schools together with integration aids. Children with…

Reasoning is an important aspect in the understanding and learning of mathematics. This paper reports on a case study presenting one Australian primary teacher's reflections regarding the role played by a professional learning program in her developing understanding of mathematical reasoning. Examination of the transcripts of two interviews…