The Essentials of School Leadership

Citation

Heron, C. (2005), "The Essentials of School Leadership", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 450-451. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540510607770

Brent Davies has assembled an outstanding collection of contributors that makes this book a “must read” for all those involved in school leadership. In reflecting on my current leadership role, this book both reviews and develops my understanding of the key dimensions of my post. After the introduction, the book is divided into eleven chapters written by leading educationalists from around the world who have an international reputation for their work.

The first chapter by Brent and Barbara Davies sets the tone for the rest of the book. It provides a fresh perspective of the strategic dimension of leadership. Gone are the boring treatments of mechanistic strategic planning and instead the chapter focuses on a model, derived from NCSL research that seeks to build strategic leadership capability in schools. The chapter is split into three parts. The first two parts deal with “what strategic leaders do” and “the characteristics strategic leaders display”. The two powerful parts are given real authority by the “leadership voices” of the school leaders from a research project. The chapter builds to the final section with a model for strategic leadership that is ground breaking and insightful. This is an excellent chapter to start the book.

Having established a new model for strategic leadership, the book moves on to examine transformational leadership. Here the leading work in the field by Ken Leithwood and Doris Jantzi is presented in a concise and accessible way. This chapter demonstrates the central strength of the book, that of bringing the best writers to share their insights and communicating them effectively for the reader. Leithwood and Jantzi do this in an exceptional way by bringing together a powerful analysis. The third chapter by John Novak is an excellent account of his work on invitational leadership. For leaders in schools attempting the difficult task of reculturing relationships between staff and between staff and students this provides an ideal framework. It is a chapter that is all about developing a positive leadership culture in schools.

Robert Starratt brings together a significant review of ethical leadership in his chapter. This core role of leadership is also a core chapter of the book. This is also true of chapter five where Geoff Southworth undertakes a critique of learning‐centred leadership in which he uses a framework of modelling, monitoring and dialogue for leaders addressing the need to build a learning‐centred school. Linda Lambert is well known for her work on constructivist leadership. Her thesis that learning, teaching and leadership are intrinsically intertwined will resonate with many leaders. Her use of case examples brings the chapter alive with a number of powerful messages. Terry Deal has an outstanding reputation as an educational writer. When I read his chapter on poetical and political leadership, I was not disappointed. His ability to highlight key issues and his focus on the political dimension of leadership is important as it is often a neglected area in leadership books. These excellent insights are enriched by what he calls poetical leadership, a very good chapter.

The chapter on emotional leadership by Brenda Beatty was somewhat disappointing. While an important topic, the treatment was rather ponderous and too academic. This was not the case for entrepreneurial leadership by Guilbert Hentschke. This is a completely new insight and a first rate analysis. I have learnt a great deal from this chapter; it is very significant input to this excellent book. Alma Harris gives a coherent treatment of distributed leadership bringing together a number of common themes. This area is much in vogue at the moment and this chapter is a good way to access some of the key ideas. Andy Hargreaves concludes the book in chapter eleven where he argues for sustainable leadership. This topic seems to be an emerging area, given Michael Fullan's new book (2004). Hargreaves writes persuasively about this topic.

In conclusion this is an excellent collection of writers and their ideas. It is difficult to think where else such a resource would be available under one cover. An inspiring and valuable book that school leaders should read.