One of the most important actions that school leaders pay attention to and spend time to develop is setting a strategic plan for their school as it helps in shedding the light on the upcoming achievements and developments that their school aims to and require to achieve in a certain period of time. It is more important at this stage to think about…

This article considers the conditions, possibilities, and challenges of creating what is referred to here as a 'reflective space' within a higher education course for principals. It is informed by the findings of a qualitative research inquiry conducted in the interests of enhancing the principals' learning and professional praxis and the…

Few researchers have explicitly examined the benefits to practicing principals engaged in mentoring aspiring principals. Through the lens of transformative learning, the purpose of our study was to examine the professional learning of practicing principals engaged as mentors with aspiring principals in a leadership preparation program. Two…

This guide grew out of material used in the Transformation Academy, a professional learning program for principals charged with achieving the rapid improvement of their school. The intent of that program is to help principals get started with transforming instruction -- the change that is at the heart of school improvement. Transforming…

This open access book presents an in-depth analysis of data from ICCS. An international group of scholars critically address the state of civic and citizenship education in the four Nordic countries that participated in the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) in 2009 and 2016. The findings are of particular relevance to…

Contradictions and contestations with regard to the implementation of religion policies have become a worldwide phenomenon. Research suggest an increasing number of costly and protracted court and legislative battles between schools and parents over religion in schools. In this article, I aim to highlight some of the conflicting issues that need…

School principals have unique identities that influence capacity to manage change. This New Zealand study explores professional identity in educational leadership and addresses a lesser researched area of identity transformation in longer-serving principals. Principals were asked how they perceived themselves as changing or changed as they led…

There is developing interest in how professional identity can support educational leaders' management of change. This article explores the conceptualisation and interplay of identity formation with adaptive and contingent forms of educational leadership. The article draws on qualitative data obtained from two New Zealand school principals and…

Linked Learning is an approach that has proven effective in transforming the learning experiences for high school students. An instrumental case study was conducted in a large urban district in Southern California where district and school leaders implemented Linked Learning as a systemic high school reform initiative. Analysis of the data…

The author reprises "The Man in the Principal's Office," by Harry Wolcott (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1973) to tell a story of how the principalship and thus principals have changed since the late 1960s, when the book closely examined day-to-day tasks of a principal. The differences are stark and many. Parent, community, and…

The importance of leadership in organizations has increased and leadership training and development has advanced and peoples' performance. Institutions in higher education are investing heavily in advancement of leadership programs aimed at improving learners' leadership skills and scholars. To this day, many scholars in higher institutions…

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative secondary analysis of two empirical studies that focused on the leadership practices of female practitioners at the secondary level engaging in discourse and practices to disrupt educational inequities. The guiding research question is, "How do school leaders engage in courageous…

Aspiring leaders in preparation programs need up-to-date research applied in real-life situations. University faculty need to change their understandings of what it means to effectively promote leadership development through university programs. This article presents understandings on how exploratory, field-based coursework offered through a…

The Arkansas Leadership Academy (ALA) was established in 1991 and is a nationally recognized statewide partnership that includes 15 universities, 9 professional associations, the Arkansas Departments of Education, Higher Education, Career Education, and several other government and business agencies. In 2011, there were 49 partners involved…

Understanding people and school communities is complex. Facilitating helpful and meaningful change--at an individual or school-wide level--is challenging. As a clinician-educator and a socially and emotionally informed educator, we describe what we do and do not understand about School ABC. We suggest that at the school and individual levels,…