Viewing Leadership as Leading

• In Event: 33.079 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 33.079-2 - School Leadership Paradigms for the Current Context of Education

Abstract

In this article, we outline our theory of practice architectures (a theory about what practices are composed of) and ecologies of practices (how practices relate to one another). Drawing on case studies of four Australian primary schools, we examine how practices of leading relate to other educational practices: professional learning, teaching, student learning, and researching and reflecting.

We find 'leading' not only in the work of principals and other formal leadership positions, but also in the activities of teachers and students. We show that changing leading practices requires changing more than the professional practice knowledge of individuals; it also requires changing the practice architectures (cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements) in sites where leading and its interconnected practices are conducted.

Authors

• Jane Wilkinson, Monash University

• Stephen Kemmis, Charles Sturt University