Leading from the Chalk-face: An Overview of School Leadership

This article offers an overview of the school leadership literature by outlining the main theoretical perspectives that currently dominate much of the writing and research in this area. Its main purpose is to provide a commentary on the dominant theoretical positions that characterize the contemporary leadership field and to explore the empirical foundation of these different theoretical traditions. The article does not claim to be the definitive word on school leadership; instead it aims to provide an overview of the main theoretical perspectives on school leadership that, firstly, have a theoretical and empirical base and, secondly, offer some insight into the relationship between leadership practice and organizational change and improvement.