ABSTRACT
Educational leadership preparation initiatives vary internationally, but are almost always culturally or even organizationally specific. Thus, aspiring and current principals follow programmes designed to enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to function as administrators in their local context. As a result, most school leaders get on by subscribing to a set of assumptions and beliefs shared by most other members of their specific educational communities. This chapter looks at the tensions, cognitive dissonance and potential benefits that ensue when examining the effects leadership programmes have on the success achieved by their participants.
