ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the degree to which the identity of a school leader is framed and shaped by the diverse demands of the practice of everyday lives between leaders, teachers, learners and the wider school community in marginalised contexts. The data are drawn from a series of open-ended interviews, with school leaders working in a range of socioeconomically disadvantage contexts in large and small, urban and rural, primary schools. Using Layder’s Theory of Social Domains as an analytical framework, the chapter explores the alignment between the leaders’ sense of moral purpose and the imperatives for a deliberative leadership practice that draws strongly on discourses of social justice, equity and the transformative potential of education for learners’ lives. The manner in which the marginalised context creates, shapes and demands particular forms of practice has consequences for school leaders, particularly in relation to the intensity of the role and the emotional demands and consequences of managing multiple selves. The extent to which leaders manage themselves within this context provides an insight into the flexibility of individuals to respond to multiple contextual imperatives while at the same time striving to change and challenge many of these forces.
