′I recommend the book as an inspiration to those who are looking for the words that express what they may already do (or will do in the future!) for these well known writers have world wide experience in recognising and knowing what it is that makes the passionate leader′ - International Journal of Educational Management ′This is a very interesting collection of chapters on leadership...Each chapter is written with verve and conviction, and it makes quite stimulating reading′ - Curriculum Perspectives ′Passionate Leadership is a fantastic book by leading thinkers and doers in the education field. It takes moral purpose to new levels, and above all it puts passion in perspective. The book shows that it is not passion by itself that counts but in combination with strategies, insights and daily wisdom. Above all this is a book of action , not rhetoric.′ - Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, OISE/University of Toronto and Special Adviser on Education to the Premier of Ontario ′How opportune that Brent Davies and Tim Brighouse have produced a book on "Passionate Leadership". As school leaders are becoming increasingly disillusioned with instrumental forms of educational reform, Davies, Brighouse and their contributors offer a new vision of leadership one that is driven by a belief that teaching is about enabling every child to reach their potential, and a conviction that schools should be places filled with joy and optimism in the pursuit of social justice. This inspiration will encourage all our leaders to take their work to a new level.′ - Professor David Hopkins, HSBC iNet Chair of International Leadership, Formerly the Chief Adviser to three Secretary of States In this book, internationally recognized writers on leadership explore what makes leaders passionate about their role and their schools. The contributors show that leadership must move on from the realm of a role or job towards an energy and commitment for enhancing children′s learning and children′s lives. They maintain that passion must be the driving force that moves vision into action, through a range of chapters from internationally known contributors Brent Davies, Tim Brighouse, Geoff Southworth, Chris Day, John MacBeath, Andy Hargreaves, John Novak, Brain Caldwell, and Alan Flintham. What sustains and drives leaders to achieve in a changing and challenging educational environment? What maintains their passion for education and children′s achievement? This book seeks to answer these questions. The book is essential for all students on leadership programs and educational professionals looking to achieve self and organisational improvement.

This book puts 'real life' back into the literature on school principalship. Through a life history approach, it portrays daily life in schools as a much more messy, contested and precarious existence, where principals struggle with passionate commitment to find continuity amongst frequently changing and often conflicting policy initiatives. The book draws on comprehensively in-depth interview data with new, experienced and veteran principals. Their life stories illustrate the struggles involved in the ongoing negotiation of identities through unprecedented change. The authors lucidly argue that: * The realities of principals' lives are much more demanding that rational linear approaches to reform suggest; * A revolving door approach to the appointment of principals is inadequate * Passion is central to the lives and work of principals, but this passion needs to be rejuvenated and rekindled through opportunities for learning * There is a need for further research on the relationship between the lifecycles of principals, the leadership legacies of school communities and the cycles of mandated reforms as a means of lending coherence to leadership learning and sustained and renewed leaders. This is essential reading for principals and their professional bodies, academics and researchers, school leaders on leadership courses internationally.

Reignite your passion for serving children! Have you fallen into a rut? Has your position become simply a "role" or a "job?" The authors of this book will remind you why education, the most important profession in our society, demands passionate leadership. Passionate Leadership is an aspiring call to action for teachers and principals around the world to recommit to passionately serving children, building the communities children deserve, and celebrating our successes. Take ownership, push to new heights, and break old boundaries by following the strategies in this book. Discover Practical ideas and suggestions for how to serve as a beacon of hope in the field First-hand experiences from enthusiastic leaders modeling what passionate leadership looks like Charts and graphs that will help you assess your strong points and identify areas you can improve on Student success and growth begin with leaders who commit to taking courageous action!

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.

This book concentrates on the 'heart' of teaching; teachers' moral purposes, the nature of care, emotional commitment and motivation - celebrating and acknowledging the best teaching and the best teachers.

`This is an important book for anyone who is serious about introducing or sustaining democratic leadership in schools. Busy practitioners will get much from it by going straight to the chapters about how democratic leadership could be made to work`- Kate Myers, Times Educational Supplement `I found this an interesting and stimulating book. The book's ideas are a useful counterpoint to some of the daft notions of macho leadership and management being peddled in education and indeed the public sector more widely. Woods' book has the merits that, though radical, it seeks to base its recommendations in the real world and to argue that there are possibilities for change that can bring about real improvements in everyone's experience and outcomes. Matching the rhetoric of democracy with reality - or at least making them closer - might also improve the quality of our political process, and hence increase interest and reduce cynicism about politics, something which surely should be welcomed. Woods' agenda is significant and his book certainly worth reading' - ESCalate `Philip Woods productively refocuses our attention, not on heroes and visions but on how we understand and practise within educational institutions in ways that are social and relational. He provides a realistic and yet challenging analysis of democratic leadership in ways that speak to practitioners, policy makers and researchers. We deal everyday with issues of social justice, and Philip Woods shows us how we might think differently about it, and so work for a better system of learning and schooling' - Professor Helen Gunter, School of Education, University of Manchester 'Not another bunny, but a welcome academic fox' - Kevin Avison, Steiner Waldorf Schools' Fellowship 'The theory and practice of democracy and democratic leadership have implications for how we understand what ought to be counted as `improving schools' In this book the author focuses on the idea of democratic leadership. He examines what is meant by democratic leadership, and what forms it can take, and shows how it is relevant to school education and learning. The author shows how the ideals and theories of democratic leadership can translate into practice, and sets out some of the challenges that democratic leadership poses in the context of contemporary education . This book challenges many of the assumptions inherent in educational policy and conventional approaches to leadership. It is about understanding and exploring both the idea of democratic leadership and its practical relevance through examples drawn from practice and research. This book is for practitioners and students on professional development and academic courses. It will be essential reading for all policy-makers, academics and others (such as inspectors) who critically examine leadership and management of educational institutions. 'Every now and then a book is written in the field of leadership that stands out, says something different, is coherent, original and makes us really ponder and think. This is such a book - it will provoke policy-makers, academics, experienced practitioners and advanced students' - Camridge Journal & Education