This article is exploratory and experimental. It starts from the premise that leadership scholarship is a site of disagreement, where mainstream claims are challenged by critical scholars. Some criticism focuses on conceptual clarity, and incorporates consideration of who should be categorised as a leader, and on what basis, and whether it is…

This paper presents a dilemmatic approach to democratic school leadership and governance (DSL). Rather than viewing dilemmas and inner tensions as debilitating democratic governance, a dilemmatic approach views tensions between core values as a defining feature of DSL. A dilemmatic approach differs from central views in the field by regarding DSL…

Historical and contemporary factors have disenfranchised and destabilized certain school communities (specifically communities of color). Education leaders can be more inclusive and address the persistent impacts of these broader trends by embracing a community-focused approach to leadership. Darrius A. Stanley, Dan Brogan, and Emily Colton borrow…

Behind every thriving school or district are deeply interconnected teams that consistently engage in a reciprocal transfer of learning. "Leading with Intention" aims to make this process visible by helping leaders and teachers understand how their thinking impacts their decision-making and the overall well-being of their learning…

This philosophical essay explores the purpose of educational leadership with a particular focus on where and how leaders interact with education policy. Building on the idea that the purpose of educational leadership should differ from that of business management, this paper analyzes how mechanisms of policy engineering might construct educational…

Although the teaching profession is dominated by women in Canada, they are still under-represented in the top leadership roles in the education system. This study highlights the current situation in Alberta, examines the barriers to women progressing to the top positions in the field of education and presents the most recurrent suggestions as…

To afford school middle leaders meaningful opportunities to initiate change, we must provide them with the space and flexibility to engage with agentic and creative responses to policy and practice. Whilst we argue that the tensions identified in Bennett's seminal reviews persist, there may, nonetheless, be opportunities for school middle leaders…

Vice Chancellors, Presidents, or Rectors occupy elite public positions in universities. A cursory glance of the roll call of names across elite universities ('top 100') globally reveals the dominance of white males. Research has given us some insight into the profiles of these senior leaders and their selection, but not with a particular focus on…

This article explores the experiences of those who lead undergraduate education-related programmes in further education (FE) colleges in England. Questionnaire and interview fieldwork with 14 further education-based programme leaders were supplemented by a comparison survey of equivalent professionals from higher education institutions (HEIs).…

This paper argues that school leaders and managers are being forced to abandon their educational purpose and that leadership and management activities of school leaders are now purposed towards satisfying the needs of a managerialist elite. As a result, the best interests of learners/ students are placed secondary to the interests of the…

In this conceptual article, the issues and insights in leadership are examined in the context of ECE settings. This is a unique field with a predominantly female workforce, and the issue of making a distinction between leadership and management needs to be considered. It is important to develop an understanding of the concept of leadership and…

Over the past 36 months, the world has experienced an abundance of crises happening consecutively and concurrently. The COVID-19 pandemic has maintained its stronghold, while the war in Ukraine rages and mass shootings have affected the United States, Germany, and Nigeria. All these events have led to a collective shift in 'normalcy' and moved…

Bolman and Deal (2017) presented four traditional frames of reference through which the complexity of an organization and its issues can be discerned. They identified the (a) structural, (b) human resources, (c) political, and (d) symbolic frames as the classifications for understanding the challenges in the body of an organization. For the…

This article aims to utilize an adapted version of Trentham's Inverse Consistency Protocol (ICP) as a way in which any ecclesial organization can act productively when confronted with seemingly controversial paradigms such as social emotional learning (SEL). The ICP can help Christian leaders discern potential areas of inconsistency or affirm…

Purpose: The pracademia movement is gaining increasing traction in education, particularly in educational leadership. Offered as a means to bridge practice and academia, questions remain as to whether it resolves or perpetuates the theory-practice divide. This paper systematically approaches this problem. Design/methodology/approach: Theoretically…