Understanding Educational Leadership

Critical Perspectives and Approaches

Steven J. Courtney, Helen M. Gunter, Richard Niesche, Tina Trujillo, Steven J. Courtney, Helen M. Gunter, Richard Niesche, Tina Trujillo

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781350081819
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350081840
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

Understanding Educational Leadership guides you through critical perspectives and approaches across the world, taking in the global north and south, and explores the ways in which educational leadership is currently understood, theorised, researched, modelled and practised. The book also covers contemporary issues including gender, sexual identity and race, as well as topics such as governance, performativity and corporatisation. It brings together evidence and ideas that illuminate the power structures and relations in educational leaders, leading and leadership and helps you to consider the impact on policy and practice, and to think about changes needed to mitigate the issues identified. The book showcases a wide range of theorists, including Bourdieu, Foucault and Fraser. Its impressive scope includes analyses of collectivist, neoliberal and historical influences on educational leadership. It explores forensically leadership styles, with an explicit focus on distributed, instructional, democratic, autocratic, laissez-faire and organisational forms. Carefully curated by the editors, the world-leading contributors draw on their wealth of knowledge about research and practice to provide you with an overview of educational leadership today, looking at global research, evidence, arguments and conceptualisations. Each chapter is written in an engaging and inspiring way, following a consistent approach to help you to develop your understanding in each of the areas covered. Full pedagogical features throughout include chapter summaries, key questions, case studies, questions for readers and further reading suggestions with questions on key texts. A companion website provides links to open-access outputs, research-project outcomes, and networking seminars, conferences with links to local, national and global events and connections.

Table of contents

• Cover page
• Halftitle page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction Taking critical perspectives and using critical approaches in educational leadership
• Part one Critical perspectives and approaches across the world
• 1 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in the United States
• 2 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in England
• 3 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in Australia
• 4 Critical perspectives in educational leadership in South Africa
• 5 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in China
• 6 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in Indonesia
• 7 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educationa lleadership in two Nordic countries
• 8 Critical perspectives in and approaches to educational leadership in Chile
• Part two Critical perspectives on models and methods in educational leadership
• 9 Leading and managing in educational organizations
• 10 Using theory in educational leadership, management and administration research
• 11 Research methods in educational leadership
• 12 A historical deconstruction of leadership style
• 13 Distributed leadership
• 14 Educational and instructional leadership
• 15 Educational reform and leading school change
• Part three Critical perspectives and approaches to contemporary issues in educational leadership
• 16 Gender and educational leadership
• 17 Sexual identity and educational leadership
• 18 Race and educational leadership
• 19 Socio-economic class and educational leadership
• 20 Governance and educational leadership
• 21 Performativity, managerialism and educational leadership
• 22 Corporatization and educational leadership
• 23 Leadership in a genetics-informed education market
• Conclusion Putting critical approaches to work in educational leadership
• Index