School leadership models: what do we know?

Abstract

The growth in the importance of school leadership has been accompanied by theory development, with new models emerging and established approaches being redefined and further developed. The purpose of this paper is to review current and recent writing on leadership models. The paper examines theoretical literature, to see how leadership is conceptualised, and empirical literature, to demonstrate whether and how the research evidence supports these concepts. The paper shows that leadership models are subject to fashion but often serve to reflect, and to inform, changes in school leadership practice.

Assessing School Leadership Challenges in Ghana Using Leadership Practices Inventory

“…There are differences in the operations of such terminologies: administration, management, and leadership. There is a big difference between educational leadership and school leadership (Afful-Broni, 2004); (Bush and Glover, 2014). All these authors agree that there is great interest in leadership in all fronts in this century.…”

“…Because there are so many practices going on in schools that may not necessarily be termed leadership practices. Bush and Glover (2014) explain that the meaning of school leadership has gone through changes from educational administration to educational management and now associated with educational leadership. There are differences in the operations of such terminologies: administration, management, and leadership.…”

Tracing the Stages of Senior Leadership Team Development in New Zealand Primary Schools: Insights and Issues

“…The members of a Senior Leadership Team jointly undertake the achievement of school goals and to this end their work involves cascaded monitoring of the work of others in a form of structural distribution of leadership (Cardno, 2012;Gronn, 2003). Similar patterns are evident in the case of the United Kingdom where recent research into the performance of teams in primary, secondary and special schools associated the prevalence of these teams with the popular idea of distributing leadership and assumptions made about the impact of this type of leadership on improving student learning outcomes (Bush, Abbot, Glover, Goodall & Smith, 2012;Bush & Glover, 2014). As Tetzlaff (2016) notes, "Senior Leadership Teams have become an organisational 'must have' and are now the most common permanent team found in New Zealand schools" (p. 2).…”

Perceptions of School Leaders about the Use and Value of ICT for Educational Change and Innovation

“…De manera más concreta, tratamos de acercarnos a la realidad A de los centros a través de la visión de los Directivos escolares (directores, jefes de estudios, cargos directivos en general con responsabilidad en la organización y la gestión de los procesos educativos del centro al que pertenecen), centrando la atención en los procesos de integración de las Tecnologías Digitales como promotoras del cambio e innovación educativa. La opinión de los directores en nuestro trabajo es muy importante, ya que en su papel de liderazgo se ven obligados a conocer y mediar sobre las actitudes, creencias, motivaciones y comportamientos del profesorado (Yukl, 2002;Bush y Glover, 2003), así como a "implementar y responder de todos los procesos de administración, desarrollo e innovación de una organización educativa establecida para atender la demanda de educación, y hacerlo de acuerdo con ciertos objetivos predeterminados" (Valle, 2012, p. 7).…”