Cross-Cultural Stories of Practice from School Leaders

Abstract

Educational leadership has been the subject of a myriad of research studies with a plethora of checklists and frameworks, and most educational systems advocate for the evaluation of school leaders against principles of effective school leadership. However, the complexity of leadership is far more than adhering to predetermined frameworks and standards. This chapter delves deeper into the practices of a small sampling of school leaders as they reveal their stories of school leadership. Three sets of data from Australia, South Africa and Canada have been analysed with an emphasis on exposing the emergent themes, and bringing together a heightened level of understanding of, and empathy for school leadership across three countries.