ABSTRACT
A literature, or internet, search produces a superfluity of books, articles and forms of special pleading, much of it based on the premise that leadership is synonymous with larger than life, heroic individuals. Leadership theory, they write, has moved from an emphasis on individual traits and styles, to situational and relationship forms of leading, to the function of groups and group processes and to the interaction of the group members from which forms of conjoint leadership emerge. The conception of leadership as ‘stretched’ is akin to the distinction made between institutional roles and what occurs in the flow of practice. In an Italian context G. Barzano and F. Brotto reported reluctance for teachers to recognise their own leadership and their potential agency. The school leadership and management literature is replete with studies of school leaders and the qualities that those effective leaders bring to the role, argues Simpson, but a view that is too often left unchallenged.
