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A Story of Change: Growing Leadership for Learning

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Abstract

This article examines the process of change in 22 schools which participated in a three year study of leadership spanning seven countries. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to establish a baseline in each of the schools, providing a basis for discussion at follow up workshops, and offering agendas for schools to work on and to refer to in face-to-face and virtual networking. Finding a common language and common instruments for purposes of comparison proved to be a strength rather than an impediment, as it challenged assumptions and taken-for-granted conventions from the outset and began at an early stage to sow the seeds of change. Over the three years, research teams in the respective country sites monitored the process of change and, through a dialogue among the participating schools, developed a set of leadership for learning principles, together with tools through which to realise those principles in practice. By the end of the three years participating teachers, principals and board members professed to profound changes in their thinking and practice, ascribed to the reframing that occurred by being exposed to differing practices across cultural boundaries.

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Correspondence to John MacBeath.

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MacBeath, J. A Story of Change: Growing Leadership for Learning. J Educ Change 7, 33–46 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-0011-6

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