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Successful Educational Leadership in New Zealand: Case studies of schools and an early childhood centre

This book features case studies of 11 successful New Zealand educational leaders. It is intended as a testimony to their exemplary work and to help aspiring, new and experienced practitioners understand more about their leadership role. The case studies capture the exhilaration of being a leader in different school and early childhood centre settings and they identify key values, attributes and strategies that have enabled these leaders to achieve and maintain success.

The New Zealand research that this book draws on is carried out under the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) which aims to focus research attention on factors behind principals’ success.

The editor and writers explore two major research questions:
• What practices do successful leaders use?
• What factors give rise to successful educational leadership?


Readers will draw inspiration from this sample of successful New Zealand principals and early childhood leaders who have dedicated their professional lives to making a difference for students. Diverse reflections, questions and suggestions for further reading are woven through each case study to encourage aspiring and current educational leaders to think critically about their own
workplace practices.

Digital editions

This title is available in e-book and kindle editions from mebooks.co.nz


Ross Notman is director of the Centre for Educational Leadership and Administration at the University of Otago and was foundation head of department, Education Studies and Professional Practice, at the University of Otago College of Education. He is the New Zealand project director of an international study, across 14 countries, into the leadership practices of successful school principals, and is the director of a government-funded research project that examines values teaching and learning in the New Zealand school curriculum. Ross presents at international leadership conferences and has edited a significant journal publication about successful leaders in New Zealand schools.