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Generation X School Leaders as Agents of Care: Leader and Teacher Perspectives from Toronto, New York City and London

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How School Leaders Contribute to Student Success

Part of the book series: Studies in Educational Leadership ((SIEL,volume 23))

Abstract

This chapter draws on evidence from a 3-year study of the lives, experiences and aspirations of Generation X (under 40 years of age) principals and vice-principals in London, New York City, and Toronto. More specifically, the paper examines a thin slice of interview evidence from nine school-based studies in which nine leaders and 54 teachers discuss their perspectives on the question: Is it the leader’s role to care for his or her teachers? The evidence demonstrates that leaders and teachers both place a high level of importance on leaders’ ability and willingness to be supportive, understanding, and approachable. Teachers also expect leaders to serve as advocates for and role models of good work/life balance. While the school-level studies take place in radically different city-based contexts, the expectation of leaders’ care for teachers transcends different accountability and policy structures. Both groups focus their discussion on work/life balance and, more specifically, the need for leaders to understand that teachers are people with lives beyond school

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the ESRC (RES-061-25-0532) for their funding of the Young Global City Leaders project. We would also like to thank our Advisory Group members, participants and research team colleagues Dr. Paul Armstrong, Helen Green, and Kerrie Kennedy for their contributions to the project. Finally, the authors would like to thank the Editors and reviewers for their thoughtful and detailed comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK

    Karen Edge

  2. New Zealand Human Rights Commission, Wellington, New Zealand

    Katherine Descours

  3. University College London Institute of Education, London, UK

    Katherine Descours

  4. London Center for Leadership in Learning at the Institute of Education, UCL, London, UK

    Keren Frayman

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  1. Karen Edge
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  2. Katherine Descours
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Correspondence to Karen Edge .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto, Ontario, Ontario, Canada

    Kenneth Leithwood

  2. University of Alabama, The College of Education University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA

    Jingping Sun

  3. Western University, Faculty of Education Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

    Katina Pollock

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Edge, K., Descours, K., Frayman, K. (2017). Generation X School Leaders as Agents of Care: Leader and Teacher Perspectives from Toronto, New York City and London. In: Leithwood, K., Sun, J., Pollock, K. (eds) How School Leaders Contribute to Student Success. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50980-8_9

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