Educational leaders in a globalising world: a new set of priorities?

This paper argues that a globalising world is now the context within which educational leaders need to frame their work, and that there are a number of forces occurring at the global level which profoundly affect nation state education policies, and which then result in significant tensions in the work of educational leaders. It is therefore argued that an understanding of the global nature of policy issues, and of their impact upon educational work, needs to be incorporated into a reconception of roles and responsibilities. This paper suggests a number of meanings of ‘globalisation’, and looks at the tensions and paradoxes these create, as well as the changes to professional values they induce. It concludes by suggesting a number of requirements for educational leaders to take forward if educational professionals are to continue to have relevance in the twenty-first century.