This is a no-holds-barred account of school leaders' lives and work as they juggle with competing and often conflicting policy initiatives.

This book puts 'real life' back into the literature on school principalship. Through a life history approach, it portrays daily life in schools as a much more messy, contested and precarious existence, where principals struggle with passionate commitment to find continuity amongst frequently changing and often conflicting policy initiatives. The book draws on comprehensively in-depth interview data with new, experienced and veteran principals. Their life stories illustrate the struggles involved in the ongoing negotiation of identities through unprecedented change. The authors lucidly argue that: * The realities of principals' lives are much more demanding that rational linear approaches to reform suggest; * A revolving door approach to the appointment of principals is inadequate * Passion is central to the lives and work of principals, but this passion needs to be rejuvenated and rekindled through opportunities for learning * There is a need for further research on the relationship between the lifecycles of principals, the leadership legacies of school communities and the cycles of mandated reforms as a means of lending coherence to leadership learning and sustained and renewed leaders. This is essential reading for principals and their professional bodies, academics and researchers, school leaders on leadership courses internationally.

′I recommend the book as an inspiration to those who are looking for the words that express what they may already do (or will do in the future!) for these well known writers have world wide experience in recognising and knowing what it is that makes the passionate leader′ - International Journal of Educational Management ′This is a very interesting collection of chapters on leadership...Each chapter is written with verve and conviction, and it makes quite stimulating reading′ - Curriculum Perspectives ′Passionate Leadership is a fantastic book by leading thinkers and doers in the education field. It takes moral purpose to new levels, and above all it puts passion in perspective. The book shows that it is not passion by itself that counts but in combination with strategies, insights and daily wisdom. Above all this is a book of action , not rhetoric.′ - Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, OISE/University of Toronto and Special Adviser on Education to the Premier of Ontario ′How opportune that Brent Davies and Tim Brighouse have produced a book on "Passionate Leadership". As school leaders are becoming increasingly disillusioned with instrumental forms of educational reform, Davies, Brighouse and their contributors offer a new vision of leadership one that is driven by a belief that teaching is about enabling every child to reach their potential, and a conviction that schools should be places filled with joy and optimism in the pursuit of social justice. This inspiration will encourage all our leaders to take their work to a new level.′ - Professor David Hopkins, HSBC iNet Chair of International Leadership, Formerly the Chief Adviser to three Secretary of States In this book, internationally recognized writers on leadership explore what makes leaders passionate about their role and their schools. The contributors show that leadership must move on from the realm of a role or job towards an energy and commitment for enhancing children′s learning and children′s lives. They maintain that passion must be the driving force that moves vision into action, through a range of chapters from internationally known contributors Brent Davies, Tim Brighouse, Geoff Southworth, Chris Day, John MacBeath, Andy Hargreaves, John Novak, Brain Caldwell, and Alan Flintham. What sustains and drives leaders to achieve in a changing and challenging educational environment? What maintains their passion for education and children′s achievement? This book seeks to answer these questions. The book is essential for all students on leadership programs and educational professionals looking to achieve self and organisational improvement.

Become the “head learner” in your school by engaging in action research! Action research can serve as a critical element in the professional development of principals, administrators, and school leaders. Award-winning author Nancy Fichtman Dana guides leaders in identifying and exploring areas of interest for principal research, including staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, community/culture building, leadership skills, building management, and school performance. With a step-by-step approach, this resource: Helps principals develop a question, collect and analyze data, and share the results of their inquiry Includes numerous examples of actual principal inquiry Provides exercises to guide principals through their own inquiry projects

The book offers a progressive perspective of turnaround principals and adds to the current turnaround school literature. It includes stories of the lived experiences of three critically conscious principals' journey to school transformation. The turnaround principals in this book disrupted cultures of oppression in predominantly African American schools. Through the power of transformative leadership these school leaders improved the academic outcomes for students as well as the working conditions of teachers and staff.

This book provides a unique map of the focus and directions of contemporary research on school leadership since 2000 in 24 countries. Each of these directions has its own particular cultural, educational and policy history. Taken together, the various chapters in the volume provide a rich and varied mosaic of what is currently known and what is yet to be discovered about the roles and practices of principals, and their contributions to the improvement of teaching and the learning and achievement of students. The particular foci and methodological emphases of the research reported illustrate the different phases in the development of educational policies and provision in each country. This collection is an important addition to existing international research that has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that the influence of school principals is second only to that of teachers in their capacity to impact students’ progress and achievement and to promote equity and social justice.

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.

Having led change successfully at three sprawling, monumental organizations—the CIA, Texas A&M University, and the Department of Defense—Robert M. Gates offers the ultimate insider's look at how leaders can transform large organizations and companies. For many Americans, bureaucracy and corporate structure are code words for inertia. Gates knows that it doesn't have to be that way. With stunning clarity, he shares how simple plans, faithfully executed, can cut through the mire of bureaucracy to reform organizational culture. And he shows that great leaders listen and respond to their teams and embrace the power of compromise. Using the full weight of his wisdom, candor, and devotion to duty, he empowers leaders at any level to effectively implement his leadership strategies.

Exploring foundational theories for emotional dimensions of educational administration and leadership this collection covers a broad range of topics, such as ethics, personality, social justice, gender discrimination and organisational culture.

Will We Let the End of Public Education Be the End of Our Democracy? Are you a teacher who is tired of teaching to the test, and who feels constrained and dismissed by arbitrary evaluation systems? Are you a parent who wants your child to be excited about going to school every day instead of having test anxiety? Would you like to be more involved in your neighborhood school? Do you have professional expertise and a wealth of experience to offer students, teachers, and families? Would you like to lend your talents to local schools to prepare the next generation of citizens and workers? If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then fasten your seat belt and answer the call to action in Principal's Passion: A Quest for Quality Public Education. Susan Colton will guide you through a successful, common-sense process to transform our public schools. You will learn how to: - Create an innovative learning environment that engages all students. - Promote your school and build relationships with internal and external customers. - Invite local and state decision makers to experience the incredible work achieved by students and teachers. - Engage diverse school communities and restore trust in public education. Susan Colton offers firsthand perspectives on the necessary changes that will benefit students, teachers, and parents and create a school culture in which children can truly thrive and advance, intellectually, socially, and emotionally. She also gives an insider viewpoint on how public education has become a big business, and how communities must engage to prevent privatization and bring back the joy of learning.