Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Leading Schools in the Twenty-First Century: Careful Driving in the Fast Lane

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Leadership in Diverse Learning Contexts

Part of the book series: Studies in Educational Leadership ((SIEL,volume 22))

Abstract

As many of the chapters in this book suggest, being a leader in a school today, almost anywhere in the world, can be roughly equated to being a careful driver finding oneself in the fast lane. What do careful drivers do? They look forward, look behind, and look to both sides. They try to make sure they don’t get in other drivers’ way, as being in the fast lane requires a form of teamwork for it to be able to exist in the first place. They consistently check the speedometer to make sure they are maintaining a similar speed to other drivers and they keep an eye out for any other vehicle encroaching on their space. They have to be more vigilant in the fast lane than they might be in the slow lane because things happen more quickly here. They don’t want an accident to happen, because the consequences of accidents in the fast lane are disastrous.

But as careful drivers they realise that what is happening is not necessarily the best for themselves or for the car. They may wish that they were not in the fast lane at all and may seek ways of moving out of it, all the time recognising that to do this may involve some risky behaviour and recognising that even if they were successful, they would quickly fall behind the other drivers in the fast lane. They entered this lane because they were good at what they did, and were prepared to push the limits of their abilities, but they are now finding that they are somewhat out of their depth. They wonder why the concept of a fast lane even exists when there seems to be a correlation between speed, car crashes, and personal injury, and the real point of having a car in the first place is to make sure all of the passengers (not just some of them) get to their destinations successfully. They look across to the slow lane and see many drivers there, taking the slower but more measured choice, not willing to take the risk of moving into the fast lane. They decide that the fast lane is where they want to be, but in order to be good there they will have to improve their driving skills.

There are so many ways in which we might characterise schools using a fast lane analogy, but perhaps three are more pressing in today’s educational environment – being in the fast lane of change, the fast lane of expectations, and the fast lane of accountability. I would like to look at these three issues, referring back to what my colleagues have said in earlier chapters and then to make some comments on what style of leadership might be appropriate to drive carefully and competently, when one has to live in the fast lane.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • ACEL (n.d.). Leadership capability framework. Sydney: Australian Council for Educational Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.acelleadership.org.au/acel-leadership-capability-framework-0

  • Acker-Hocevar, M. A., Ballenger, J., Place, A. W., & Ivory, G. (2012a). Snapshots of school leadership in the 21st century: Perils and promises of leading for social justice, school improvement, and democratic community (The UCEA voices from the field project). Charlotte: Information Age Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acker-Hocevar, M., Cruz-Janzen, M. I., & Wilson, C. L. (2012b). Leadership from the ground up: Sustainable school improvement in traditionally low performing schools. Charlotte: Information Age Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2001). Schools, achievement and inequality: A seasonal perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23, 171–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72, 167–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alsbury, T., & Whitaker, K. (2012). Pressure of outside forces, stress, and finding balance. In M. A. Acker-Hocevar, J. Ballenger, A. W. Place, & G. Ivory (Eds.), Snapshots of school leadership in the 21st century: Perils and promises of leading for social justice, school improvement, and democratic community (The UCEA voices from the field project, pp. 169–187). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, M. (1996). The learning game. London: Victor Gollanncz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M. (1990). Bass and Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: Theory, research and managerial applications (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blake, R., & Mouton, J. (1961). Group dynamics – Key to decision making. Houston: Gulf Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, J. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cirone, B. (2011). The story about blueberries. Available at http://sbceo.org/cirone/columns/6-1-11.shtml. Last accessed 26 Oct 2014.

  • Codding, J. (1997, June). Designing highly effective programs for successful schools. A keynote presentation at the Successful Schools Conference, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E., Hobson, C., McPartland, J., Mood, A., Weinfeld, F., & York, R. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, J., Pearce, C., & Perry, M. (2003). Toward a model of shared leadership and distributed influence in the innovation process: How shared leadership can enhance new product development team dynamics and effectiveness. In C. L. Pearce & J. A. Conger (Eds.), Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys (pp. 48–76). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Creemers, B. P. M., & Kyriakides, L. (2008). The dynamics of educational effectiveness: A contribution to policy, practice and theory in contemporary schools. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowther, F., & Associates. (2011). From school improvement to sustained capacity: The parallel leadership pathway. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dempster, N. (2009). Leadership for learning: A framework synthesising recent research. EdVentures, 1(13), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drath, W. (2001). The deep blue sea: Rethinking the source of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmore, R. F. (2003). A plea for strong practice. Educational Leadership, 61(3), 6–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, J. L., Coates, L., Salinas, K. C., Sanders, M. G., & Simon, B. S. (1997). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ETS. (2009). Parsing the achievement gap II: Policy information report. Princeton: Policy Information Center, Education Testing Service. Retrieved from http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/PICPARSINGII.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup. (2014). Education. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/1612/education.aspx

  • Goldstein, J., Hazy, J. K., & Lichtenstein, B. (2010). Complexity and the nexus of leadership: Leveraging nonlinear science to create ecologies of innovation. Englewood Cliffs: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, S. (2010, November). Developing UAE citizens for the modern world: The human/technology balance. Keynote paper at the Education Competitiveness Conference, Dubai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grint, K. (2005). Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of ‘leadership’. Human Relations, 58, 1467–1494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gronn, P. (2002). Distributed leadership as a unit of analysis. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 423–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gronn, P. (2011). Risk, trust and leadership. In C. Sugrue & T. Solbrekke (Eds.), Professional responsibility: New horizons of praxis (pp. 89–101). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the instructional management behaviour of principals. The Elementary School Journal, 86(2), 217–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, D. (2012). Systems redesign for systems capacity building. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(6), 685–700.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2006). Sustainable leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, D., & Jackson, D. (2003). Building the capacity for leading and learning. In A. Harris, C. Day, D. Hopkins, M. Hadfield, A. Hargreaves, & C. Chapman (Eds.), Effective leadership for school improvement (pp. 84–104). New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurst, J. (2011, April 19). Teachers: Blame only where blame is due. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/teachers-blame-only-where-blame-is-due/2011/04/18/AFXszF2D_blog.html

  • Imig, D., Wiseman, D., & Imig, S. (2011). Teacher education in the United States of America. Journal of Education for Teaching, 37(4), 399–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jencks, C. S., Smith, M., Ackland, H., Bane, M. J., Cohen, D., Gintis, H., Heyns, B., & Michelson, S. (1972). Inequality: A reassessment of the effect of the family and schooling in America. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerachsky, S. (2009). National assessment of educational progress: NAEP 2008 trends in academic progress. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/remarks2009/4_28_2009.asp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leithwood, K., & Steinbach, R. (1995). Expert problem solving: Evidence from school and district leaders. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenstein, B., Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R., Seers, A., Orten, J. D., & Schreiber, C. (2006). Complexity leadership theory: An interactive perspective on leading in complex adaptive systems. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 8, 2–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacBeath, J., & Townsend, T. (2011). Thinking and acting both locally and globally: What do we know now and how do we continue to improve? In T. Townsend & J. MacBeath (Eds.), The international handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 1241–1259). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamee, S., & Gergen, K. J. (1999). Relational responsibility: Resources for sustainable dialogue. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, C., & Sackney, L. (2011). Building and leading within learning ecologies. In T. Townsend & J. MacBeath (Eds.), The international handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 993–1012). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murakami-Ramalho, E., & Rodríguez, M. A. (2012). School superintendents and principals meeting the academic needs of all learners. In M. A. Acker-Hocevar, J. Ballenger, A. W. Place, & G. Ivory (Eds.), Snapshots of school leadership in the 21st century: Perils and promises of leading for social justice, school improvement, and democratic community (The UCEA voices from the field project, pp. 55–74). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., Elliott, S., Goldring, E., & Porter, A. (2007). Leadership for learning: A research-based model and taxonomy of behaviors. School Leadership & Management, 27(2), 179–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. Q. (2008). Utilization-focused evaluation (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedwell, L., Levin, B., Pervin, B., Gallagher, M. J., Connor, M., & Beck, H. (2011). Building leadership capacity across 5,000 schools. In T. Townsend & J. MacBeath (Eds.), The international handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 601–616). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisapia, J. (2009). The strategic leader. Charlotte: Information Age Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Place, A. W. (2011). Principals who dare to care. Larchmont: Eye on Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, H., & Walker, A. (2011). Leadership for learning in China: The political and policy context. In T. Townsend & J. MacBeath (Eds.), The international handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 209–224). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Guerra, D. (2012, November). Innovative school leadership preparation programs: How partnerships between districts and universities can address the learning needs of school leaders. Paper presented at the XVI International educational seminar APRENDO, Santo Domingo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, D., Sammons, P., De Fraine, B., Townsend, T., Van Damme, J., Teddlie, C., & Stringfield, S. (2014). Educational effectiveness research (EER): A state of the art review. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 25(2), 197–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, K. J., Acker-Hocevar, M., & Snyder, K. M. (2008). Living on the edge of chaos: Leading schools into the global age. Milwaukee: Quality.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toffler, A. (1971). Future shock. London: Pan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T. (1994). Effective schooling for the community. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T. (1998). The primary school of the future: Third world or third millennium? In T. Townsend (Ed.), The primary school in changing times: The Australian experience (pp. 235–247). London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T. (2009). Third millennium leaders: Thinking and acting both locally and globally. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 8, 355–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T., & MacBeath, J. (Eds.). (2013). The international handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 209–224). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T., & Otero, G. (1999). The global classroom: Engaging students in third millennium schools. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T., Acker-Hocevar, M., Ballenger, J., & Place, A. W. (2013a). Voices from the field: What have we learned about instructional leadership? Leadership and Policy in Schools, 12(1), 60–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T., Pisapia, J., & Razzaq, J. (2013b). Fostering interdisciplinary research in universities: A case study of leadership, alignment and support Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/03075079.2013.842218

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhl-Bien, M. (2006). Relational leadership theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 654–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R., & McKelvey, B. (2007). Complexity leadership theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly, 18, 298–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Mt. Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Tony Townsend

Authors
  1. Tony Townsend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tony Townsend .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University, Griffith Institute for Educational Resea, Mt Gravatt, Queensland, Australia

    Greer Johnson

  2. Griffith University, Griffith Institute for Educational Resea, Mt Gravatt, Queensland, Australia

    Neil Dempster

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Townsend, T. (2016). Leading Schools in the Twenty-First Century: Careful Driving in the Fast Lane. In: Johnson, G., Dempster, N. (eds) Leadership in Diverse Learning Contexts. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28302-9_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28302-9_21

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28300-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28302-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation