Insider change leadership in schools

Abstract

This article argues that ‘insiders’ can be effective leaders of change in institutions where they are regarded with trust and credibility by the various staffroom sub-cultures. They must be individuals who maintain an ‘outward’ focus in addition to their connectedness with the culture. Their authority is primarily moral—in resonance with teachers' primary purposes. Based upon evidence from a four-year experimental study, the article offers a process model of internally operated change which emphasizes the importance of ‘sustained’ interactivity in change processes.