Learning for school leadership: using concept mapping to explore learning from everyday experience*

*Editor's note. This paper was a finalist in the journal's graduate student manuscript competition for 2006. Congratulations Ann! For information on how to submit manuscripts for the competition or on how to volunteer to be a reviewer please visit the journal web site or contact Dr Michele Acker‐Hocevar at [email protected]

Abstract

This study explores concepts of learning used by leaders, focusing on learning for leadership through day‐to‐day workplace experiences. The participants were drawn from the senior management team within a school, the chair of governors of the school and the local authority school improvement advisor. Concept mapping was used as a participatory research method. Maps were created by the participants and linkages discussed. The maps indicated that learning for leadership from experience was multifaceted. The language used to describe concepts of learning reflected generic and everyday concepts, rather than the language of pedagogy or concepts used in professional training/the literature. The study alerts us to the difficulties in embedding concepts used in formal training in the everyday life of educational professionals. It also highlights the use of concept mapping as a technique for exploring workplace learning.

*Editor's note. This paper was a finalist in the journal's graduate student manuscript competition for 2006. Congratulations Ann! For information on how to submit manuscripts for the competition or on how to volunteer to be a reviewer please visit the journal web site or contact Dr Michele Acker‐Hocevar at [email protected]

Notes

*Editor's note. This paper was a finalist in the journal's graduate student manuscript competition for 2006. Congratulations Ann! For information on how to submit manuscripts for the competition or on how to volunteer to be a reviewer please visit the journal web site or contact Dr Michele Acker‐Hocevar at [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Elizabeth Pegg

Ann Elizabeth Pegg began her Ph.D. programme at the Open University Centre for Educational Policy, Leadership and Lifelong Learning, Stuart Hall Building, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK 7 6AA, UK, in October 2005. Email: [email protected]. She has a background in adult education and lifelong learning and is currently a chair of governors at a local school and a distance learning tutor.