Associate teachers (ATs) play a crucial role in supporting beginning teachers but there is little research that identifies the practicum as an opportunity for advancing ATs' leadership capability. While research identifies mentoring as central to the way ATs support beginning teachers entering the profession, there is little explicit discussion of…

Effective strategic planning is an integral part of a principal's role, but this is a skill for which many principals are largely unprepared. The Springboard Trust's Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme (SLPP) is a 10-month leadership development programme for principals in New Zealand. Participants must have 2 years of experience as a…

This paper examines the application and efficacy of performance ethnography designed for adult professional learning. An ethnographic performance related to women in research leadership was constructed and performed in an executive tertiary leadership programme and the responses from the female audience/participants were investigated. The study…

Immersion in a strengths-based, study abroad program provides extensive opportunity for leadership growth. Navigating the unknown adds to the challenge students experience during their student-organized activities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how a strengths-based curricula design advanced the leadership competency levels…

Increasingly, universities are involved in providing leadership development opportunities that support students' academic endeavours and their personal and professional development, including employability and citizenship skills. Leadership experiences are beneficial not only for students, but also for universities, the wider community, and future…

Drawing on data from a phenomenological research study of Ako Matatupu/TeachFirst New Zealand (TFNZ), an affiliate of Teach for All, this article considers how differently positioned actors within New Zealand theorize the appeal of TFNZ as opposed to university-based pathways. Findings suggest that a multiplicity of factors influence the…

The importance of the principal's role in improving student learning outcomes has been acknowledged, however, there is global concern about the availability of appropriate professional learning for principals. This article explores the impact on host principals of a shadowing and mentoring intervention designed to prepare New Zealand aspiring…

Leading from a distance presents unique challenges, particularly with regards to building leadership capacity. This article draws from a small research project that explored the role of the professional leader supporting teachers within kindergartens and early childhood centres in a large geographically dispersed kindergarten association in…

Triangulation is a commonly used term often associated with enhancing the validity of findings from your research study. In this case, we identify both the merits and challenges of drawing on multiple forms of triangulation, particularly when a mixed-methods design is a suitable methodology. We draw on our experiences with a mixed-methods research…

The role of middle leaders in New Zealand secondary schools is a complex one, fraught with many challenges. Educational reforms that began in the 1980s have increased pressure on top-level educational leaders, resulting in the delegation of responsibilities to other levels in the school hierarchy, with a considerable intensification of management…

Rapidly changing educational contexts demand deft leadership responses. In this fluid environment, it is imperative that leadership learning models sound educational praxis. Such praxis necessitates the inclusion of participant voices within relational and dialogic processes that enable authentic, creative and collaborative thinking. This paper…

This paper reviews a selection of literature on secondary principal practice from which to propose an approach for further research. The review demonstrates that applications of Bourdieu's theory of practice have contributed to understandings about secondary principal practice, and that the distinction he made between rules and strategies has the…

This research note reports the views of members of a branch of a professional association about their career paths and the appropriateness of preparatory and succession strategies for leaders in New Zealand schools. This sample of 12 "seniors" was unusual for its relative professional seniority, span of responsibilities and postgraduate…

The purpose of this paper is to report on a small pilot study in which an heuristic was used to enable principals to reflect on the confidence they have in their existing leadership knowledge and how they might add to that knowledge in the future. The motivation for the study arose from a literature review of strategies for leadership development…

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…