This paper explores the professional practice of the Action Learning (AL) facilitator through a process of critical inquiry, self-reflection and evaluation of action learning practice within a Higher Education Leadership Programme, commissioned by an English NHS Mental Health Trust. Action research was adopted as the overarching research approach…

This article serves as an overview of qualitative inquiry for leadership development practitioner-scholars both new and experienced. It begins with a discussion of the need for the qualitative inquiry to create knowledge about leadership development. Then, it overviews design components and includes examples of both research and assessment. We…

This article dives into the complexity of managing our "self" and our "roles," and how we can acknowledge the vast multitudes contained in each of our identities in our work as leadership educators. We wanted to incorporate a more conversational format to this article by highlighting the different ways ideas can be expressed…

This article describes my tumultuous journey as a course instructor and researcher investigating imagination in an educational leadership graduate seminar. I employ an arts-based pedagogy and research methodology known as Performative Inquiry. Sharing my experiences delivering this course informs my future teaching and can support colleagues…

The twin processes of collaborative inquiry and generative dialogue underpin two closely aligned and increasingly influential school leadership development programs, one in Alberta, Canada, and the other in New South Wales, Australia. This paper focuses primarily on the Australian program, the character of which has been strongly influenced by its…

This article reviews the work of two Albertan educators, David Townsend and Pam Adams, in their application of collaborative inquiry to improving school leadership. Collaborative inquiry is essentially a professional practice that has yet not been comprehensively theorized. This article seeks to lay some foundations for a theorization of the…

The confluence of crises facing our global and local communities have challenged leadership educators to think and practice differently. This has meant shifts in how we teach, how we connect with students, and how we understand our role in making change in our institutions and communities. How can we navigate change personally and as a community?…

As a result of ongoing racial tension, interest in learning and development around diversity and inclusion has continued to rise across disciplines in recent decades. To prepare students to lead across differences, leadership educators must cultivate students' capacity to engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion principles. This article…

Purpose: In view of the expanding global interest in leadership learning and development programmes for centre leaders, this study aims to investigate how an early childhood education leadership programme can enhance Norwegian centre leaders' learning and development as a network professional learning community (PLC) by way of Schön's reflective…

This mixed-methods phenomenological case study investigated how the alumni of Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became change agents in their communities as a result of their time as students at the school. At the heart of SLA's innovative pedagogy is inquiry-based learning. The school is focused…

Transformative education exists in a complex, dynamic, and ambiguous state seeking structural definitions and relationships within an interdisciplinary arena often critiqued for its limitations as an individual--rather than social--practice. This type of education encompasses learning processes that may facilitate the development of civic-minded,…

While learning agility has become a hot topic in recent decades, there's not yet widespread understanding of its underlying nature, nor the best way for organizations and talent development leaders to leverage it, especially because it isn't a skill that's necessarily concentrated at the top of an organization. Instead, it's likely dispersed among…

This paper explores the thinking and practice of 'action inquiry' an embedded learning practice that can help navigate complexity when practising change together. The paper uses examples from social contexts where there are concerns about community wellbeing and health care. These are drawn from collaborative or collective leadership development…

Teachers are too rarely supported in investing in the shared inquiry, embedded professional learning, and collaborative culture building that peer observation cycles facilitate. But teachers can disrupt these patterns by opening their doors to colleagues and engaging with them in critical reflection, dialogue, and shared innovation. In this…

In Penn State's work with aspiring teacher leaders over the last decade, two core strategies have emerged that hold significant promise for fostering teacher leadership: (1) provide teachers with the skills they need to create their own jobs; and (2) provide training and extended (e.g. post-graduate) support in developing ongoing professional…