Positive Leadership and the Mobilization of Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices

• In Event: Varied Perspectives on Educational Change

Abstract

Purpose: There exists little evidence about the role of positive leadership in relation to the mobilization of innovative teaching and learning practices. This paper reports on a study that examined the associations between school staffs’ perceptions of positive school leadership, their behaviours related to innovative practices, and their connections to other staff within a multi-school network. Methods: Thirty-one teaching staff from a federation of three infant schools in Hampshire, England participated in a cross-sectional survey combining traditional quantitative and social network data collection methods. Analyses included standard descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and descriptive and inferential network analysis. Findings: Findings from this study illustrate the importance of paying attention to positive leadership principles in the mobilization of innovative practices throughout schools.

Authors

• Stephen William MacGregor, University of Toronto

• Chris Brown, Durham University

• Jane Flood, Durham University