ABSTRACT
Perhaps it is because I am not teacher that I began with teachers, to try to grasp their understanding of leadership, especially when it involved young pupils. What I did know much about was learning and leadership and how so many adults were not fulfilling their potential, including their leadership potential. What I knew was a world where companies and public-sector organisations had assessed, trained and fast-tracked individuals they considered to have leadership potential yet still cried: ‘where are our leaders?’ They hadn’t really considered that the problem was as much about their organisation with its rigid processes and structures as about the people themselves, and that leadership potential requires a mind-set shift and development, not just expensive training for employees. To bring about the necessary transformation there is a need to examine leadership as a concept; how it is perceived in schools and the role of teachers in this.
