�This book is a fascinating addition to the literature on school leadership. It is based on the real-life experience of a long-serving school principal and is a must-read for prospective and serving school leaders and academics everywhere.� (�ine Hyland, Emeritus Professor of Education, UCC) �The author has used his detailed and intricate knowledge of research on school leadership together with his experiences as a long-serving principal to provide us with a comprehensive, illuminating and very readable account of ...
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�This book is a fascinating addition to the literature on school leadership. It is based on the real-life experience of a long-serving school principal and is a must-read for prospective and serving school leaders and academics everywhere.� (�ine Hyland, Emeritus Professor of Education, UCC) �The author has used his detailed and intricate knowledge of research on school leadership together with his experiences as a long-serving principal to provide us with a comprehensive, illuminating and very readable account of the role and its many challenges. This book is essential reading for current and aspiring school leaders.� (Judith Harford, Professor of Education, UCD) Books on school leadership are usually written from a theoretical viewpoint. The insights that emerge, whilst very valuable, are based on an imaginary school, devoid of distinctive human agency, and located in a context-free setting. However, in the real world leadership is not enacted in a vacuum. This study is set in a school where the author served as principal. He describes the impact of various contextual factors, including policy developments at national level since the 1980s, that had an important effect on a principal's role and the nature of provision. In the history of Irish education, a book of this nature has never before been written from the perspective of a principal. The author analyses the various theories on leadership, and describes the practice that he and his colleagues devised and implemented in a real life setting. Finally, he explores the thinking of various scholars in an attempt to identify the core elements that are essential for successful principalship.
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