Educational Leadership is a major research book on contemporary leadership challenges for educational leaders. In this groundbreaking new work, educational leaders in schools, including teachers, are provided with ways of analysing and resolving common but complex leadership challenges. Ethical tensions inherent in these challenges are identified; tools for their analysis presented and explained; and clear and practitioner-focused guidelines for ethical decision making, in the form of ten practical steps, recommended. Included in this discussion is a jargon-free description and explanation of ethical theories and principles. Written by a leading researcher in the field, and recipient of the Australian Council for Educational Leadership Gold Medal for excellence, Educational Leadership: Key Challenges and Ethical Tensions is an important book that provides a practical framework for analysing ethical tensions and presenting, explaining, and applying ethical concepts and theories to real-life situations in practitioner language.

Table of Contents

Introduction and overview; 1. Contemporary leaders and leadership under the spotlight; 2. Key challenges for educational leaders; 3. Leadership challenges as tensions and dilemmas; 4. A framework for analysing and managing tensions; 5. Making decisions in situations of paradox and dilemma: a values and ethics approach; 6. A method for ethical decision making; 7. In an age of uncertainty and unpredictable change educational leaders need to be capable and authentic human beings; 8. Educational leaders should build cultures of shared and distributed leadership in their school communities; 9. Why we need authentic educational leaders; 10. The formation of capable and authentic educational leaders: beyond competency-based approaches; References.

About the Author

Patrick Duignan is currently the Foundation Professor in Educational Leadership and Director of the Flagship for Creative & Authentic Leadership at ACU National.