School leadership

School leadership, which is about providing direction, whether at the micro level of schools
or at a system level, is essential for the quality of education. Leadership is never vested in one
single individual and does not depend on formal positions. Rather, it is always distributed to
some degree and may be exercised by a wide range of agents. Individual and formal
leadership roles, including principals and senior school management, however, also matter.
Principals play a key role in creating effective learning environments through their influence
on factors such as teachers' development and cooperation, motivations and working
conditions and the general school climate and environment. They can foster leadership
among their teachers to take on responsibility for developing the quality of teaching and
learning within schools. School leaders are, furthermore, pivotal for bridging education
policy and practice and for linking schools to their wider community. Increasing
decentralisation and school autonomy, the introduction of accountability measures, and wider
changes in society and education have heightened the need for effective leadership in schools
and for the appraisal of school leaders. At the same time, these developments have changed
leadership roles and responsibilities and increased school leaders' workload. The school
leadership profession faces a number of challenges: insufficient preparation and training,
limited career prospects and inadequate support and rewards make it difficult to attract
suitable candidates into the profession; in addition, in some countries retirements of ageing
school leaders call for succession planning.