again by Gunter (2001), among others, that still need to be fully addressed
include:
1. How do we understand the professional practice of leadership?
2. What are the knowledge claims that the leadership development
programmes have been based on and how does this ‘fit’ with debates
about leadership, leadership preparation and professional
development?
What appears to be evident from the descriptions and discussions of leadership
training in both the UK and New Zealand is that there has been a gradual shift in
emphasis. Initially preparation for headship or principalship was voluntary and
involved the gaining of academic credentials. While the authors acknowledge
that initiatives for the formal preparation and professional development of school
leaders were necessary, it is feasible to suggest that the formal machinery of
policy making at the macro-level dictated the level, form and content of such
programmes. As Ozga (1999) has cogently argued, policy is bound up with
historical and political demands. Similarly Bolam has pointed out:
… models of leadership development are often being devised in political
contexts in which external, ‘restructuring’ changes, initiated by national,
state or local authorities to raise standards of achievement, exert priority
over school leaders’ own vision of needed improvements (Bolam,
2003:84).