An Intellectual History of School Leadership Practice and Research [Hardcover]

An Intellectual History of School Leadership Practice and Researchpresents a detailed and critical account of the ideas that underpin the practice of educational leadership, through drawing on over 20 years of research into those who generate, popularise and use those ideas. It moves from abstracted accounts of knowledge claims based on studying field outputs, towards the biographies and practices of those actively involved in the production and use of field knowledge.

The book presents a critical account of the ideas underpinning educational leadership, and engages with those ideas by examining the origins, development and use of conceptual frameworks and models of best practice. It deploys an original approach to the design and composition of an intellectual history, and as such it speaks to a wider audience of scholars who are interested in developing and deploying such approaches in their particular fields.

Helen M. Gunteris Professor of Educational Policy and Sarah Fielden Professor of Education in The Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She co-edits theJournal of Educational Administration and History. Her work focuses on education policy and knowledge production in the field of school leadership. Her most recent books areLeadership and the Reform of Education(2012) andEducational Leadership and Hannah Arendt(2014).

This is a tour de force, a brilliant organisation of an increasingly complex field. It is both a history and a commentary on the intellectual currents that have shaped the field from within and from the broader world of the social sciences. A significant contribution to knowledge production in educational administration, management and leadership. Richard Bates, Emeritus Professor, School of Education, Deakin University, Australia

Helen Gunter has articulated an insightful and nuanced account of the intellcš