1st Edition
School Level Leadership in Post-conflict Societies The importance of context
How do different contexts influence the nature and character of school leadership?
This book is predicated on the simple, yet profound, observation that school leadership can only be understood within the context in which it is exercised. The observation is particularly valid in relation to post-conflict societies especially when they have eventuated from new-wars. Schools in these contexts face highly complex circumstances and a level of environmental turbulence requiring different kinds of leadership from those operating in less complicated and relatively stable situations.
By assembling an impressive array of international experts, this book investigates a much neglected area of research. Each chapter highlights the importance of context for understanding the realities of school leadership, and reveals the challenges and influences that school leaders face as well as the strategies they adopt to deal with the complexities of their work. In particular, valuable insights are provided into how intractable problems faced by schools can affect student, professional and organizational learning agendas. There are also important glimpses of the progression that can be made in schools by:
-Enhancing the curriculum
-Energizing teaching capacity; and
-Optimising leadership capacity.
Depictions of post-new war environments include Angola, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Lebanon, Kosovo, Timor-Leste and Northern Ireland. The book will be key reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying educational leadership, comparative education and education policy.
1: The Case for Studying Educational Leadership at the Individual School Level in Post-conflict Societies Simon Clarke and Tom O'Donoghue 2: Educational Leadership at the Individual School Level in Post-conflict Societies: The Broad Context Tom O'Donoghue and Simon Clarke 3: Angola: Fostering Teacher Professionalism and Safe Schools Lynn Davies 4: Ghana: Resolving the Tensions Between Colonial Values and Contemporary Policies John MacBeath and Sue Swaffield 5: Sri Lanka: School Leadership in the Conflict-affected North and East Jaya Earnest 6: Rwanda: Challenges for School Leadership in a Transitional Post-conflict Nation Jaya Earnest 7: Kenya: School Leadership and the 2007 Post-election Violence Aqeela A. Datoo and David Johnson 8: Solomon Islands: Adaptive Leadership Strategies in Schools Jack Maebuta 9: Lebanon: Post-civil Implications for Schools Nina Maadad 10: Kosovo: Transitioning School Leadership from Conflict to Coherence J. Tim Goddard and Osman Buleshkaj 11: Timor-Leste: The Now in the Not Yet of School Leadership Margie Beck and Silvanio Araujo 12: Northern Ireland: Some Post-conflict Challenges in Education Sam McGuinness, Lesley Abbott and Frank Cassidy 13: Educational Leadership in Post-new War Societies: Insights from the Field into Challenges and Possibilities Simon Clarke and Tom O'Donoghue
Biography
Simon R. P. Clarke is Professor of Education, Deputy Head of School and the Masters Programs Course Coordinator at the Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia.
Thomas A. O’Donoghue is Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, and an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Royal Historical Society.
