Essential school leadership : developing vision and purpose in management /

Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-133) and index.

Successful school leadership is not characterized by a particular style or method but by consistent commitment to a few very important principles. Above all, it demands vision and purpose. But these terms are evocative rather than explanatory. What can the school leader do to bind such concepts into a workable and effective approach? In this optimistic and accessible survey of leadership challenges, Gary Holmes has analysed the complex and often conflicting messages that bombard today's school leaders and distilled them down to five essentials: building vision and purpose; leading learning; managing people; dilemmas, problems and purposes; and accountability. Working from this five-point plan, and invoking case studies to good effect, the author builds up a model of leadership that balances the essential with the optional. While it is safe to say, for example, that without vision and purpose a school will certainly flounder, successful leadership still embraces a wide variety of individual interpretations and approaches within its core principles. This cogent and persuasive book deals pragmatically with the central issues of consensus, change, motivation and communication, and will prove invaluable reading for all middle and senior managers in schools, as well as educationalists and students of educational management.