`Leadership in education is receiving increasing attention, and this text contributes much to the debate. A useful text that will appeal to a wide audience of senior managers, teachers, programme designers and researchers' - Learning and Skills Research `If one were on a fact-finding mission to gain insight into leadership thought and practice in education, then this book is an excellent resource' - Education News `This book makes an excellent contribution to the current debate on Educational Leadership. It blends theory with practice and provides an important resource for many aspects of leadership development programmes at a variety of levels. The book will appeal to the academic reader, the postgraduate student and those involved in providing leadership courses at a professional level. There is an international perspective on the analysis of leadership theory and practice, integrating examples from a variety of cultural settings and exploring education at all phases from primary to higher' - Stephen Merrill, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Journal of In-Service Education `Leadership in Education offers an excellent analysis of the current debate: well informed on research and practice, positive but critical. It is particularly strong on what it calls "the railway-bookstall offerings of context-independent leadership"…. There is a great deal of practical wisdom within these very accessible pages' - Michael Duffy, Times Educational Supplement This book deals with leadership in all sectors, from primary to higher education. It presents an international perspective on the analysis of leadership theory and practice, with the integration of exemplars from different cultural settings. The authors provide a wide range of conceptual perspectives on leadership. Themes include: - the efficacy of centralized versus distributed concepts of leadership - the contrast between competency and academic models of leadership development - the contradistinction between functionalist and democratic models of leadership. These themes are developed in four sections: - Conceptualization - Leadership development - Teachers as leaders - Leadership in practice Contributors include: Clive Dimmock, Peter Gronn, Marianne Coleman, Peter Ribbins, Ray Bolam, Peter Newton, Kenneth Leithwood, Helen Gunter, Lynn Davis, Clive Harber and Graham Peeke This book is recommended to all involved in educational management, particularly to students, teachers, researchers, policy makers and educational administrators. The Centre for Educational Leadership and Management series, edited by Tony Bush, examines the impact of the many changes in the management of schools and colleges, drawing on empirical evidence. The approach if analytical rather than descriptive and generates conclusions about the most effective ways of managing schools on the basis of research evidence.