Dan Riley

School leadership in times of crisis

The leadership attributes and skills required of school leaders in times of crisis are fundamentally different from those generally required as part of the ‘normal’ school environment. Strong school leadership generally is about positioning the school for the future, and about supporting and empowering staff and students in the pursuit of teaching and learning excellence. Leadership in times of crisis is about dealing with events, emotions and consequences in the immediate present in ways that minimise personal and organisational harm to the school and school community. This paper interrogates the crisis management literature in an attempt to understand the nature of the leadership necessary for schools to successfully deal with – and learn from – the crises they inevitably will encounter. Nine key attributes for effective crisis leadership are identified. The challenge that emerges from the paper is how to develop the necessary crisis leadership attributes and skills in both our present and future school leaders when crises are, by their very nature, mostly unpredictable and inherently unique events.

England's National College for School Leadership: a model for leadership education?

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to critique the strengths and weaknesses of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). The primary purpose of the NCSL is to improve student attainment levels through enhancement of leadership capacity within Englands government schools. The critique aims to include the issues of strategic rethinking, definition of terms, leadership competencies, core competencies, selection criteria, and research needs.Design/methodology/approach – This article provides a review of literature related to leadership capacity building and challenges to the NCSL enhancement of student attainment levels in Englands government schools.Findings – The article indicates that the NCSL had numerous strengths adequate for the initial core activities of headteacher development. Subsequent broadening of those responsibilities to include all leadership development in government schools is a challenging task. The continued increase in expectations necessitates a strategic rethinking of ...

Staff Bullying in Australian Schools.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate the prevalence of staff bullying in Australian schools, to identify bullies and targets and to examine some implications for school leaders in dealing with staff bullying.Design/methodology/approach – The quantitative research design survey instrument contained 11 demographic items, 44 questions of bullying experience, two lists of possible bullies and targets, plus three open‐ended questions.Findings – Data revealed that 99.6 per cent of respondents had experienced some form of bullying during their employment. Half the respondents experienced 32 or more of the 44 listed survey items, while their health was adversely affected by persistent and frequent bullying.Practical implications – The research revealed the existence of workplace bullying in Australian schools and some obvious implications for leadership. It profiled the experiences of respondents and identified strategies to eliminate or reduce bullying in Australian schools.Originality/value – The ...

Anti-social behaviour: children, schools and parents

Under Prime Minister Tony Blairs New Labour government, increased criminalisation of previously non-criminal behaviour, anti-social behaviour and greater accountability of children and parents for their behaviour were evident. The article provides an overview of anti-social behaviour legislation and the implications for children, schools and parents. It focuses upon the interconnectedness of families and schools with the intention to better inform educational leaders of the changes to roles and responsibilities under the legislation.