the arguments presented by wright (2001,2003 and 2004) thrupp (2004) and hatcher (2005) were in part a specific response to work by others (day et al.2000, moore et al.2002 and gold et al.2003) who have offered a more optimistic view of school leaders and argued that effective leaders can create spaces within which progressive and distinctive internal policy agendas might be developed, even when these are at odds with the demands of external structures. these contributions may perhaps be described as critical optimists . they are critical because in their studies the