Critical reflection on authentic leadership and school leader development from a virtue ethical perspective

Abstract

Authentic leadership has attracted recent empirical research from a wide range of social science disciplines interested largely in its relationship to human resource management and organisational effectiveness. In contrast, the focus of this study is specifically on the philosophical foundations of authentic leadership and their implications for leadership practice and continuing professional development. It emphasises the contribution of virtue ethics by identifying key moral and intellectual virtues associated with authenticity and how they can provide an ethical framework for action guidance in the school leadership context. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research based on more interdisciplinary and international comparative studies, especially in non-Western societies and cultural contexts, both to deepen and broaden our understanding of authentic-ethical leadership and its impact.

Keywords:

• authentic leadership
• school leader development
• applied virtue ethics
• moral and intellectual virtues
• interdisciplinary and international comparative research

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of the anonymous referees, whose constructive feedback resulted in significant improvements to the original draft.