A Model of Successful School Leadership from the International Successful School Principalship Project

2017 ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gurr
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Heroic leadership in Australia, Sweden, and the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 785-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrie Drysdale ◽  
Jeffrey Bennett ◽  
Elizabeth T. Murakami ◽  
Olof Johansson ◽  
David Gurr
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Success ◽  
School Principals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Communities ◽  
The Usa ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw from data collected as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) and present cases of democratic and heroic leadership from three countries, discussing to what extent successful school principals in each of their research sites (Melbourne, Australia; Umeå, Sweden; Arizona and Texas in the USA) carry old and new perspectives of heroism in their leadership. In particular the paper explores two questions: first, how do school principals describe aspects of heroic and post-heroic leadership in their practices? and second, how do these heroic and post-heroic leadership practices meet contemporary demands such as accountability standards and build inclusive and collaborative school communities in challenging contexts? Design/methodology/approach – Multiple-perspective case studies involving semi-structured individual and group interviews with principals, teachers, students, parents and school board members were used to understand the contribution of principals and other leadership to school success. Findings – The definitions of heroic and post-heroic leadership are inadequate in defining successful principal leadership. The Australian, Swedish and American principals showed characteristics of both heroic and post-heroic leadership. They showed heroic qualities such as: inspiring and motivating others; challenging the status quo; showing integrity in conflicting situations; putting duty before self; taking risks to champion a better way; showing courage to stand up to those in authority; advocating for students in struggling neighbourhoods under the scrutiny of both district and public expectations; and, showing uncommon commitment. Yet our principals showed post-heroic leadership such as involving others in decision making and recognising that school success depended on collective effort, and being sensitive to community needs through a deep respect for the local culture. Originality/value – The research shows that we may need to redefine and recast our images of who school principals are today, and what they do to generate academic success for students. Both heroic and post-heroic images of leadership are needed to explain successful school leadership.

Successful school leadership for social justice in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Moral Santaella
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Leadership Identity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership For Social Justice ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School ◽  
Successful Principals

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to present the results obtained from the investigations that have been carried out within the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) project in the Spanish for social justice.Design/methodology/approachTwelve case studies have been carried out within the three lines of research proposed by ISSPP: successful principals, underperforming principals and principal leadership identity. All but one school were in challenging contexts. The methodological approach followed is based on multiple perspective case studies using a mixture of qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups and observations).FindingsResults show that successful principals not only believe in social justice through simple empathy with the concept of social justice, but also use strategies that combine transformational and instructional leadership processes and manage to reverse the bad situation of their disadvantaged schools, seeking excellence from equity. The leadership identity of successful principals is characterized to look to the future with hope, adopting a realistic utopian attitude to interpret their surrounding reality.Originality/valueFrom the case studies carried out, valuable information is obtained, which helps to understand the possibilities of implementing the ISSPP successful school leadership model in heterogeneous and disadvantaged context for equity and social justice.

Successful school leadership: case studies of four Singapore primary schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loke Heng Wang ◽  
David Gurr ◽  
Lawrie Drysdale
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Structures ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Purpose This paper explores the characteristics and practices of principals in four successful Singapore primary schools. Design/methodology/approach Multiple perspective case studies were used which included semi-structured interviews with the principal, teaching and non-teaching staff, students, parents and school board members in each school. Findings The principals were found to have contributed significantly to the success of their schools. Their leadership was underpinned by their personal qualities, beliefs and values, which guided their practices. The four principals were highly successful in improving school capacity through redesigning school structures, particularly those that facilitate improvement in the work of teachers. They enhanced the professional capacity of the teaching and non-teaching staff through professional development programmes and the development of future leaders. The principals also established meaningful partnerships with stakeholders inside and outside the school community. Each of the principals described how their leadership was built upon the legacy of previous principals at their schools. Originality/value As part of a larger project, the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), this research adds an important Asian context to the literature on successful school leadership. A 6E model - Educate, Envision, Energize, Engage, Enable and Embrace - was developed to describe how principals led their schools to achieve educational excellence.

scholarly journals An open systems model of successful school leadership

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gurr ◽  
Lawrie Drysdale ◽  
Helen Goode
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Model ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School ◽  
Complex Phenomena

PurposeThrough description and consideration of 12 models developed as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), a new model of successful school leadership is developed.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is necessarily descriptive in nature. For the first time, 12 ISSPP models are described together, and these descriptions are then used inductively to create a new successful school leadership model.FindingsThe open systems approach adopted depicts schools as a continuous cycle of input-transformation-output with feedback loops that inform each stage of the cycle. The inputs are the variables that lead to transformation. The transformation stage is the actions or processes that individuals, groups and organisations engage in because of the inputs, and these lead to a range of student and school outcomes. Feedback loops connect the stages, and the whole model is open to the influence of five contextual forces: economic, political, socio-cultural, technological and system, institutional and educational.Originality/valueModels are an important way to make sense of complex phenomena. A new model of successful school leadership, with an open systems approach, provides a different frame to consider the findings of the ISSPP and potentially allows the ISSPP research to inform practice and connect with other school leadership views in new ways.

Global Research on Principal Leadership

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gurr ◽  
Lawrie Drysdale ◽  
Helen Goode
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
International Study ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
International Projects ◽  
International Comparative ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School ◽  
International Testing

Large, sustained, multinational, and collaborative research networks are becoming more popular because of their power to produce findings that generalize across contexts as well as to provide contextually nuanced views of a phenomenon. In educational leadership, four major projects have been initiated since the beginning of the 21st century: The International Successful School Principalship Project; the International Study of the Preparation of Principals; Leadership for Learning; and the International School Leadership Development. These projects cover from seven to more than 20 countries and have run for 5 or more years. The discussion of these projects provides insight into principal effectiveness research and some guidance to those who seek to collaborate with colleagues nationally and internationally. International projects like these bring the interplay of leadership and context into focus and show that context is important in terms of educational success and how leadership is enacted. Despite the complexity in considering leadership and context, a standout feature of the projects is that across different contexts, there are general findings that emerge, either confirming contemporary understandings or proposing new views through the construction of leadership models, and recommendations emerge that can transcend contexts (such as the need for high-quality but contextually relevant leadership preparation programs). These international comparative projects are important works, as they endeavor to counter the blancmange view of education that comes through the pervasiveness of things like international testing programs and the reliance on meta-analyses.

Successful leadership in a rural, high-poverty school: the case of County Line Middle School

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans W. Klar ◽  
Curtis A. Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Leadership Strategies ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Purpose – In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices and beliefs were adapted to increase student achievement in this rural, high-poverty school in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach – After purposefully selecting this school, the authors adapted interview protocols, questionnaires, and analysis frameworks from the International Successful School Principalship Project to develop a multi-perspective case study of principal leadership practices at the school. Findings – The findings illustrate the practices which led to students at this school, previously the lowest-performing in the district, achieving significantly higher on state standardized tests, getting along “like a family,” and regularly participating in service learning activities and charity events. A particularly interesting finding was how the principal confronted the school's negative self-image and adapted common leadership practices to implement a school-wide reform that suited its unique context. Research limitations/implications – While the findings of the study explicate the specific ways the principal adapted leadership strategies to enhance student learning, this study also highlights the need to understand how principals become familiar with their community's needs, cultures, norms, and values, and exercise leadership in accordance with them. Practical implications – The case offers an example of the need for context-responsive leadership in schools. In particular, it illustrates how this principal enacted leadership strategies that successfully negotiated what Woods (2006) referred to as the changing politics of the rural. To realize this success, the principal utilized his understanding of this low income, rural community to guide his leadership practices. Critically, part of this understanding included the ways the community was connected to and isolated from dominant sub-urban and urban societies, and how to build enthusiasm and capacity through appeals to local values. Originality/value – While it is widely acknowledged that school leaders need to consider their school and community contexts when making leadership decisions, less research has focussed on understanding how this can be achieved. This case provides rich examples of how this was accomplished in a rural, high-poverty middle school.

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