During my first year of practice as a new action learning facilitator undertaking an "ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation", an innovative Individual Service Fund pilot was launched by "Certitude", the organisation for which I work. The aim of this pilot was to enable people with learning disabilities and…

This paper documents the multiplicative benefits from an experiential extracurricular activity--i.e., participation in a Model United Nations (MUN) Club. Management instructors are encouraged to sponsor such activities to give leadership training to students. The benefits are especially rich in liberal-arts institutions, like Park University,…

The aim of this work is to explore recent research in the field of leadership as related to education and to link such research to a possible research project. This research project would focus on increasing standardized test scores in California schools focusing on the elementary school level through focusing on increasing reading competency and…

The recruitment of sufficient numbers of suitably qualified teachers into headship is an international issue and to address this in Scotland alternative headship preparation programmes were trialled to provide greater flexibility in order to better match the individual development needs and circumstances of the aspirant head teachers. Drawing from…

The School of Social Work and Disability Studies Accessibility Planning Committee (APC) is a student-driven initiative that has been in existence for over 10 years. This practice brief looked at the committee through interviews with faculty and student members. The investigation aimed to determine whether the benefits of having a student-driven…

Middle leaders are "recognised as a significant source in ensuring that quality education reaches out to pupils" (Low and Lim "1997", p. 77) for they are "the human link between national education policy as manifested in school-level strategic planning...and the teaching staff whose "field tactics" are used to…

This study examined the perceptions of a cross section of new and experienced assistant principals regarding the realities of their jobs. Findings indicated that their challenges pertain to workload and task management, conflicts with adults and students, and curriculum and instruction issues. Novice and experienced assistant principals' responses…

The accountability movement in higher education is gaining momentum in the United States and around the world. In recent years, there has been a growing pressure on higher education institutions to demonstrate their value through various accountability measures with a strong focus upon the assessment of student progress and success. In the U.S.…

This article argues that leadership knowledge should be included in teacher education curricula. The authors discuss the political realities that affect teachers and how these realities are best met with teacher leadership knowledge. Failure to include ideas of educational leadership in teacher education denies teachers an understanding of the…

Since 2000, the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) has offered graduate-level programs in sub-Saharan Africa. These programs have been highly successful in creating a cadre of early childhood development (ECD) leaders in countries throughout Africa. When ECDVU was launched, the program was considered to be at the cutting edge…

In this article the author examines the meaning of epistemology in relation to educational leadership. Argued is the position that generalizing the intent and tendencies of modernistic and postmodernistic approaches to educational reform and leadership preparation makes space for a critical pragmatic approach. Critical pragmatists as…

Purpose: This study attempted to determine the influence of exemplary leadership preparation on what principals learn about leadership, their use of effective leadership practices, and how their practices influence school improvement and the school's learning climate. The authors also investigated how the frequency of effective leadership…

This study follows leadership candidates through the first phase of a comprehensive effort to reform master's-level principal preparation at a large, urban California university. The reforms placed an 18-month field experience at the center of candidates' preparation. Researchers sought to capture the changes over time in candidates' beliefs about…

The evaluation of a program designed to assist principals recently appointed to their positions is the focus of this article. Researchers conducted a variety of qualitative assessments including focus group interviews, a review of training session feedback forms, participant reflective writing, and an assessment of training materials and program…

This article examines how novice principals reflect on the adequacy or otherwise of their preparation. It looks at data drawn from the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), and in particular a questionnaire of principals up to three years in post, in Scotland. The principals find much about their preparation has helped them gain…