Leadership for learning has emerged as a framework that subsumes the core characteristics of instructional leadership, transformational leadership, and distributed leadership. It acknowledges that leadership responsibilities are shared across stakeholders, inviting wider sources of leadership. If leadership for learning conceptualizes leadership…

In this paper, a site ontological approach to practice seeks to understand how educational development can be accomplished through the practices of 'middle leaders'--educators who exercise their leading 'between' the principal and the teaching staff. Analysis of two vignettes of leading in extraordinary circumstances untangles the web of…

Despite research highlighting the negative impact of ability grouping on student outcomes in mathematics, the practice seems entrenched in New Zealand schools. The Ministry of Education launched a professional development initiative with the aim that mathematics lead teachers would drive change towards teaching in mixed-ability groups using a…

The notion of a dual teacher-leader identity in education is elusive. This article builds on existing research by reporting a qualitative, interpretive case study. The study explored the perspectives of 16 early childhood teachers with and without leadership positions regarding their own leadership practice and leader identity, and 10 parents…

Inter-school networks have been promoted in many school systems globally to facilitate: knowledge generation and dissemination; responsiveness to increasingly diverse student and societal needs; and emotional and practical peer support for educational professionals. In understanding contemporary education as a 'wicked' problem, this paper explores…

A starting point for realising connections between leadership and professional learning is to focus specifically on teachers and their conceptions of leadership. Typically, leadership is understood as a designated position with a defined role and responsibilities for individuals. An alternative conception is to view leadership as collective rather…

Purpose: This article investigates goal pursuit practices in a sample of 31 New Zealand high schools. It examines goal knowledge of middle and senior leaders, the alignment of this knowledge and factors related to improvement. Design/methodology/approach: Goals from schools' annual improvement plans were identified and counted at the beginning of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reframe transformative and culturally sustaining leadership for a diverse global society by addressing the need for educational systems to better serve people of color, situated in the urban Auckland area of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), who have been marginalized by the societies to which they immigrate.…

This presentation retraces some of the often forgotten history, dating back to 1860s, of Aotearoa/New Zealand that formed aspects of our education structures. Of particular interest is the relationship between educational innovation and change that came about through the active involvement of teachers as policy champions as they pursued their goal…

This study describes the outcomes of an intervention focused on the strategies and practices of high-expectation teachers. Specifically, the intervention involved 84 teachers who were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The research methodology was primarily qualitative, grounded in the interpretive tradition. Data collected from…

This paper explores the factors that may influence the social and relational development of empathy in a Year 13 classroom from a kaupapa Maori perspective, and discusses how these factors compare with a Western perspective of empathy. Understandings of empathy are widely documented in the conventional literature and, while the realities…

In the complex and diverse region of Oceania, researchers often work across more than one cultural understanding. Thus, a researcher's position with regard to their research requires careful ongoing negotiation because position, when understood through relationality, is fluid. Negotiating position requires acute reflexivity of the researcher but…

The recruitment of overseas trained teachers (OTTs) in England is a matter that has received as much attention inside the United Kingdom as outside. Education systems in small island and developing states, especially, were believed to have been placed 'at risk' following the departure of experienced and qualified teachers. Correspondingly, the…

Beginning a new career as an academic is a daunting task. Carol Mutch's latest book aims to demystify the process by providing new and intending academics with an insight in what to expect. The book is based around the real-life concerns and questions that were raised by the early career academics she worked with in her innovative Emerging…

There is growing awareness of the contribution teachers can make to school leadership, particularly in relation to improvements in curriculum and pedagogy. Teacher leadership offers the potential to engage teachers in bottom-up approaches to school improvement and liberate the professional creativity of teachers. Despite such positioning, clearer…