Balance and Learning: Crucial Elements in Leadership for Democratic Schools

Using the image of a balance this paper first attempts to demonstrate the importance of major issues, paradoxes, dilemmas, tensions faced by school leaders. It puts the case for greater emphasis on continuity, independence, community and heterogeneity to balance what is seen as the current overemphasis on constant change, dependence, individualism, and homogeneity. Second, a key, our ability to understand, act on and value individual, group and organisational development, or learning, in educational organisations, is offered as a way overcome such imbalances and to better be able to know the crucial elements in leadership for democratic schools. To support the position taken recent research that examines leadership for organisational learning and improved student outcomes is summarised and its implications discussed. Third, and finally, the paper attempts to join together the various elements of balance, organisational learning and leadership in a single developmental model of school leadership.