School superintendents meet situations that range from those that require quick thinking to those that need thoughtful reflection and long-range planning. But almost every challenge requires some degree of political thinking and behavior. The authors have witnessed many school leaders get into sticky predicaments as a result of trying to maneuver…

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the nature of planning and the influences on planning among intern and novice teachers in Illinois. Sixteen intern teachers and 15 novice teachers participated in reflections, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. In regard to the nature of planning, both intern and novice…

This article connects teachers' experiences of reflective school portfolio development to the idea of teachers' knowledge communities, the different groups and individuals with whom teachers negotiate meaning for their stories of experience, lived and told, and re-lived and re-told, over time. The reflective analysis makes the case that the…

Educational administration scholars have long argued that reflective practice and meaningful critical dialogue are important aspects of thoughtful leadership. This article explores the efficacy and utility of these two activities in relation to learning about and enacting leadership for social justice. The article centers on the reflective…

In this article, the author examines her racial identity and its impact on her interpretation of the schooling experiences of a 10th grade Latina in an ethnographic case study. Prior to this study, the author had been working in a university-based family literacy program where she met Zulmy's mother, Manuela. Due to her experience as a middle…

In this article we challenge the widespread advocacy for leadership learning to be tied to decontexualised lists of "best practice," especially at an international level. After reviewing some of the reasons for why such lists may do little to promote the improvement of leadership practice we suggest that energy could be more usefully…

After 12 years, the long overdue translation of Derrida's "Du droit a la philosophie" has just been made available in English. It is a collection of essays, interviews, and conferences produced by Derrida between 1974 and 1990. They focus on questions of education and research, in schools and universities, with a critical reflection on academic…

A summer course was specifically designed for principals and aspiring principals to help them become more expert in principles of early childhood education. During the pilot, 10 volunteer participants completed a survey of beliefs on early childhood education before and after the course and submitted a piece of reflective writing each day. Gains…

The development of both reflective critical practice and innovative or creative approaches in English teaching have been key elements of the PGCE English training courses which have evolved over the last fifty years. However the deluge of documentation and initiatives continually pouring out from government agencies means that the professional…

Leaders in schools rely for their effectiveness on a good deal of interpersonal contact. Partly stimulated by writers on emotional intelligence (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997; Goleman, 1995), there is a renewed interest in the emotional side of schools. Fineman proposes that the idea of the rational organisation is a naive assumption by those who manage…

Teacher preparation requires exemplary teaching that illustrates the systematic reflection encouraged among preservice teachers. This article provides an investigation of an innovative model for integrating action research into a preservice teacher education program. Through a self-study, one teacher educator presents reflections on action…

The study examined the influences of reflection on the self-perception of empowerment in the workplace. The convenience sample consisted of non-management knowledge workers at a software company headquartered in the United States. A pretest, posttest control group design was used. The experimental group kept guided journals of their learning…

We are thesis examiners within the Australian academic system who formed a community of practice to try to resolve some of the issues we were facing. Stories of examiners reflecting on and examining their own practice are a notable silence in the higher degree research literature. In this study we have adopted a storytelling inquiry method that…

An in-depth, 2-year instrumental case study considered the degree to which ongoing reflection, within the context of mentoring relationships and administrative portfolio writing, supported the development of administrative leadership practice within an Administrative Leadership Academy: Entry Year Program. By observing the ways in which entry-year…

The relationship between empathy and forgiveness is explored through the painful experience of divorce and relationship loss. Authors propose a literary exercise, the Novel Approach, to help clients discover the power of empathy and find resolution to past pains. Included is a case study used to describe the Novel Approach and to highlight its…