Leadership and secondary school improvement: case studies of tensions and possibilities

There is a relative absence of research that documents ways principals and other school members construct the concept of leadership and understand its relationship to school improvement. School improvement here is defined as the enhancement of student learning, through focusing on the teaching‐learning process and the conditions that support it (Hopkins ). This study reports principals’, teachers’, parents’ and students’ perspectives of leadership within secondary schools involved in school improvement initiatives. Findings support growing recognition that competent administrative and teacher leadership contribute to school success; reinforce recent literature that defines leadership as a shared social influence process; underscore that parents and students often feel excluded from leading in school improvement; and suggest that traditional school organization is a leadership‐resistant architecture. Implications are noted, including the need to consider ways in which non‐traditional perspectives of school leadership address issues related to influence and inclusion in setting and achieving goals for successful schooling.