The final issue of this volume includes articles on a range of issues from the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, and Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The first article by Houssart and Croucher highlights a tension between arguments about the support and role of teaching assistants in English schools made in this journal (Webster et al. Citation2011) and broader policy documentation, and those found in the broader management and educational literature. In the second article Forde, McMahon, and Gronn explore the concept of individualised leadership development programmes. Drawing on evaluative evidence from Scotland the authors analyse the key learning processes critical for the design of individualised leadership development programmes and conclude with four key recommendations regarding the design of individualised leadership development programmes.
The third article by Lahtero and Kuusilehto-Awale focuses on team members’ experiences of strategic leadership in basic education schools in one city in Finland. The authors argue, interpreting the findings from this study, that teacher professionalism, qualifications and autonomy are important factors that must be taken into account. In the fourth article Al-Omari and Wuzynani discuss the factors influencing Jordanian and Saudi Arabian teachers’ motivations for pursuing headship. The study draws on the perceptions of 800 state school teachers in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The findings indicate no significant differences between the two contexts but stress, time commitment, paperwork and accountability were identified as the major deterrents against moving into headship.
The fifth article by Terhart focuses on standards-based reform and explores the ‘inconvenient truth’ of German teachers’ resistance to change. The article argues only a small part of the workforce engages with feedback and large-scale reforms take on an identity of their own, becoming unstoppable irrespective of any unintended outcomes. In the sixth article of this volume Ho and Chen take us to Hong Kong to examine school capacity building in early years settings. This article reports the findings from a case study of an action research project in a preschool which suggest restructuring was a key part of the capacity-building process in this case. The final article by Williams and Williams brings us back to the United Kingdom. The authors report the findings from a small-scale study investigating the leadership and management challenges faced by Heads of Physical Education Departments. While there is an established literature on middle-level leadership, the leadership of Physical Education in schools is an under-researched area.
As we look forward to the first issue of 2014 I would once again like to thank all of you that have chosen School Leadership & Management as an outlet for your work and we look forward to receiving further submissions from you and also welcome new authors who have not published with us in the past. Finally, thanks to all our reviewers and the editorial board for your continued support and guidance.
Christopher Chapman
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK