Systems Leadership Is No Leadership at All Without a Moral Compass: A Scottish Perspective

• In Event: Roundtable Session 44
  In Roundtable Session: An International Perspective on Social Justice

Abstract

This conceptual paper provides a critical analysis of the current convergence of major policy initiatives in Scotland to improve learning and teaching, promote greater equity and close the attainment gap through systems level leadership and change. However system level leadership is not unproblematic, with the terms system and leadership seen as malleable concepts (Boylan, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to interrogate how system level leadership has been understood and applied as an underpinning strategy for policy reform and systems change in the Scottish context. The paper argues that systems leadership without a clear moral purpose is unlikely to be able to rise to the scale of the challenge and, as argued by Bates (2013), may even be detrimental.

Authors

• Joan Gaynor Mowat, University of Strathclyde

• Margery Anne McMahon, University of Glasgow