Kathryn Riley

The notion of 'place' is a powerful one: the place where we are from; the place where we live; the place where we would like to be. It raises issues of identity and belonging (or lack of it), and about roots and connections (or lack of them). In a world that is more uncertain, more liquid, less known, place matters. This engaging and accessible book is the first of its kind to look at the role of place in schools and in the lives of young people today. Drawing on original research from the US, UK and South Africa, Kathryn Riley poses some tough questions to the practitioners who lead our schools, and to the politicians who decide the fate of our schools: ·Can schools create a space for young people to be safe and confident in who they are? ·Can they help them find their place in the world and understand how to shape it?

Stories from Schools in the US, UK and South Africa

Leadership of Place

In the 1970s, two events in particular, the William Tyndale School and James Callaghan's Ruskin speech, generated extensive media coverage and political activity and became 'watersheds' along the path to political and educational reform. This has shaped the system of school and governments in the 1990s. This book revisits Tyndale and Ruskin and examines their legacy. Drawing on contemporary accounts of a number of key individuals who were involved in those watershed events, it recasts their stories in the light of current changes in education. The book explores the extent to which both these events shifted assumptions about education and provided the rationale for policy changes. It argues that fundamental questions need to be asked about the nature of the reform agenda and in particular, the balance of power. It also places the reform agenda within an international context.

Power and politics

Whose School is it Anyway?

Place, Belonging and School Leadership offers research findings, analysis and accessible tools for further research inquiry that are designed to contribute to the development of professional learning communities. Researching about place and belonging, Kathryn Riley argues, gives new teachers powerful insights into children's experiences in the classroom and playground, and encourages them to review and change their professional practices. It provides young people with a vehicle to voice their experiences, grow their skill and talents, and develop a sense of agency. Place, Belonging and School Leadership helps school leaders to be 'place-makers' who make 'belonging' work for pupils from many different backgrounds. It builds trust, develops the knowledge and capacities of staff, and harnesses the creative potential of young people to explore, reflect and act. Riley offers an invaluable leadership tool that strengthens school cultures and nourishes leadership throughout the school.

Researching to Make the Difference

Place, Belonging and School Leadership

In Compassionate Leadership for School Belonging, Kathryn Riley draws on 40 years of international research and professional practice to show how schools can be places of safety and fulfilment, even in the most difficult of circumstances. When belonging is a school’s guiding principle, more young people at all levels experience a sense of connectedness and friendship, perform better academically, and come to believe in themselves; their teachers feel more professionally fulfilled, their families more accepted. The originality of this highly readable book lies in its scope. It offers international analysis from the OECD alongside insights from the author’s extensive research in schools, powerfully supported by observational vignettes and drawings from the children, young people and teachers who have been her co-researchers. The book reveals patterns of dislocation, disaffection and exclusion, and highlights the points of intervention in policy and practice needed across school systems to create the conditions for school belonging. The methodologies, concepts and research tools offered can be used by practitioners and researchers in their own contexts, and to guide school leaders towards creating their own places of belonging. This is an urgent book of hope, offering knowledge so that schools can open up possibilities to all children and young people in an increasingly uncertain world.

Compassionate Leadership for School Belonging

Karen Seashore Louis

School reform is a top priority for governments today. This timely and challenging book, edited by leading international researchers, Kathryn Riley and Karen Seashore Louis, offers a rich comparative perspective on leadership for change and school reform. Contributors form North America, Europe and Australia demonstrate how school leadership is influenced by global pressures, differing national and state contexts and local concerns. They illustrate the limitations of reform initiatives which focus on school leaders tot he exclusion of the many other organisations which affect school, such as national and local governments, professional associations and school communities. This book raises some important questions such as: *How can school leaders create intelligent, thinking schools? *How can leadership and learning be linked together? *What are the characteristics of effective local education authorities and school districts? *What is the role of teacher organisations in educational reform and change? *What happens if businesses, teachers, parents and local communities have different views of what makes a good school? The text illustrates the ways in which leadership is rooted in learning, and identifies new directions for school leadership. It challenges conventional notions of leadership, offering an expanded view, which sees leadership just as an individual role-based function, but as a network of relationships among people, structures and cultures. This lively and provocative book should be read by all those interested in education reform.

International Perspectives

Leadership for Change and School Reform

Demonstrates how schools in socially disadvantaged contexts, in the US, Britain and South Africa, can help young people create a sense of place and belonging.

Kathryn Riley

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