ABSTRACT
Educating is political. Decisions regarding what is taught, how it is taught, and how students are assessed reflect a version of what makes an effective school. Of course, what is judged as effective is contested, but do we contest? I have no doubts that schools are good at what they prioritise—but are they clear about those priorities?
In the spirit of ‘flipping the system’, in this chapter I work through a relational approach I have been developing to propose a flipped approached to school leadership. My argument is built on three matters: i) effectiveness begins with clarity of purpose; ii) you are judged on your level of coherence against that purpose; and iii) you construct the narrative for your school. The result is a broad principle that recognises there is a one-size-fits-all approach to education, an embrace of professionalism in the justification of practices, and flipping the criteria for effective to educators and not those outside of schools. When taken together, this argument is about empowering educators to build a version of education and enacting that in the interests of students.
