Studies of the principalship have failed to keep pace with the changing contexts in which principals must act. Advocates an edited topical life-history approach to address this problem. Illustrates this claim, using a Western Australia study exploring why some principals are more successful than others at guiding school restructuring initiatives.…

Written as a position statement on educational leadership, this article uses a heart metaphor to delineate a workable managerial framework. Leadership is at the heart of managing all educational levels. Leading is the educational lifeblood that guides and flows into planning, organizing, and monitoring teachers' work. (Contains 43 references.)…

Reports on a broad-scale leadership and gender study, based on research on 400 principals in Victoria, Australia, between 1996-99. Although findings confirm previous claims concerning significant differences in female and male leaders' perceptions and beliefs, they acknowledge the importance of organizational cultures, value systems, and same-sex…

The complexity of principals' work may be characterized according to three dilemmas: accountability, autonomy, and efficiency. Narrative vignettes of 74 Australian principals revealed that principals were fair and inclusive. When faced with restructuring dilemmas, however, they favored strong over shared leadership, efficiency over collaboration,…