`The book has a wide appeal to existing heads, aspiring heads, lecturers and writers about headship. The contributors to this book have lifted the curtain on the realities of headships and, in the process, have added to our understanding of what school leadership is all about these days' - Managing Schools Today

Practitioners and trainers understand how vitally important school leadership is to the practice of headship. Living Headship presents the experiences of successful heads working in primary and secondary schools. We hear in their accounts the authentic voices of heads determined to ensure that their leadership enhances the performance of their schools. Some have been in post for many years, and have been able to implement and sustain and reconsider their vision. Others have moved into schools with difficulties and brought them out of special measures. All demonstrate a profound commitment to the education of children and a determination to find ways to take their schools forward. Many of the chapters are underpinned by research, and all are based on a rigorous consideration of particular issues.

To set these analyses in context, the editors present an essential, in-depth history of the conceptualization of headship. The deep commitment to learning and the challenge presented here, make this book essential reading for practitioners, trainers and all concerned about the future of education.

Introduction - Helen Gunter, Pauline Smith and Harry Tomlinson
Constructing Headship - Today and Yesterday
PART ONE: PRIMARY
Strategic Planning in an Infant School - Angela Bird and Les Bell
Building the Vision - Gwenn Brockley and Ray Moorcroft
A TQM Approach
The Culture of Counselling as an Engine for Change - Carolyn Clarke and Terry Martin
Leading a Primary School to Enhance Its Distinctively Catholic Identity - Frances Hardy
Coming to Grips with the Realities of Marketing - John Loftus and Nick Selley
Developing and Sustaining School Effectiveness - Mo Williams
PART TWO: SECONDARY
Double Vision - Bernard Barker
40 Years On
A Vision for Lilian Baylis - Yvonne Bates
The Process of Vision Creation - Intuition and Accountability - John Cain
Leading the Creative School - Elizabeth Duffy
Modelling Development Alternatives - David Gower
Sustaining the Vision - Eric Tope
Quality Management and School Effectiveness
Teacher Participation in Decision Making - Tony Tuckwell
Creating the Vision and Making It Happen - Mark Wasserberg