Leadership in Extraordinarily Challenging Circumstances: The Predicament of Schools Located in Post-New War Contexts

• In Event: Roundtable Session 45
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring the Role of School Leaders

Abstract

Leadership must be understood within the context in which it is exercised and decisions on the leadership approach adopted in particular educational circumstances should be influenced by the nature of that context. The paper is presented in response to this position applied to school leadership in post-new war societies. First, we consider the nature of ‘new wars’. We then turn to the recent emphasis on the importance placed on the role of education in post-new war settings. Lastly, we state the case, with references to the scant work undertaken in the field, for engaging in research aimed at generating context-rich accounts of organizational life meaningful to school leaders for helping them understand themselves and their environments to enhance their decision-making.

Authors

• Simon Clarke, University of Western Australia

• Tom O'Donoghue, University of Western Australia