Purpose: This paper presents a case study of successful rural school leadership in Victoria, Australia. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices were adapted to secure rural school success. Design/methodology/approach: The author used the International Successful School Principalship Project research protocols to…

In this article, we reveal the complex and contested nature of principals' understandings of inclusion policy in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drawing upon critical policy sociology, research into inclusion, and interviews with 18 principals from rural, regional and urban areas throughout the state, the research shows how principals…

Investigating the role of school principal continues to be important, for research continues to show that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on student learning. Within the study of school leadership, the differentiated experiences of those leading 'small' schools can be overlooked. In Australia, the majority of…

Australian higher education participation continues to expand, yet in unequal ways. Regional, rural, and remote (RRR) student participation is stubbornly stalled, despite sustained research and policy initiatives to support these cohorts. To address this complex issue, we interviewed 10 RRR principals in Queensland and Victoria to explore specific…

To alleviate overpopulation in Australia's metropolitan areas and counter population decline in regional areas, regional settlement of newly arrived migrants and refugees has emerged in recent policy debates. With a new federal government plan to introduce mandatory regional settlement for migrants, significant responsibility is placed on regional…

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many existing inequalities in education systems across the world. Not all children have easy access to educational online resources or digital technologies, a situation more amplified in rural contexts where access, connectivity and affordability play a significant factor. This qualitative account reveals…

This paper advances an alternative leadership metaphor of 'punk rock leadership'. I work through the usefulness of a metaphor of punk rock leadership as a way of exploring one principal's vision of leadership and his efforts to work outside of system expectations in his quest to achieve the school's goals. In doing so, I contribute to our wider…

There remains strong political support for school autonomy reform within Australian public education despite evidence linking this reform to exacerbating school and systemic inequities. This paper presents interview data from key education stakeholders gathered from a broader study that is investigating the social justice implications of school…

The participation and performance of Indigenous students in Australia's schools is below that of other students and is a matter of national concern. Evidence suggests that the impact on student learning of school principals' leadership is significant. What then, can school principals do to improve schooling outcomes for Indigenous students?…

Pedagogy of the Rural is an approach to capture the complexities of rural space and place by challenging simple understandings of what it means to be a teacher in rural settings. Using Harré's positioning theory, Baudrillard's concepts of simulation and simulacra, and Lefebvre's space and economic geographies to form a composite theory through…

While the literature on women and educational leadership has been addressed in substantive ways in recent years, the experiences that reflect female Australian educational leaders are rare. This article reports findings from a study of five female Indigenous principals in the Northern Territory utilising biographic narratives and foregrounds their…

This article reports on the experiences of teachers at a small rural school located in the North Coast region of New South Wales in Australia who participated in a school improvement project based on an approach developed over many years by David Townsend and Pam Adams in Alberta, Canada. The project involved monthly meetings between the teachers…

School farms were established in Tasmania in the 1930s following a visit of an Australian eduation official to the United States and the United Kingdom. There are still more than 30 school farm operations functioning in some capacity throughout the state, unlike in the rest of Australia where similar small school farms are not common. In this…

A difficult nexus can arise in positivist research when developing a model or theoretical framework that is then used to underpin the construction of measuring instruments that are subsequently used to test the assumptions underlying the model. This paper explores this nexus through consideration of a study of risk-taking in decision-making for…

When a major fire occurs in a school, the impact can be felt for years to come. How the school community rebuilds depends on strong leadership and the resilience of the members of that community. This article explores the stories of four Australian schools, two rural NSW schools, Kelso High School and Oxley High School and two urban schools;…