ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the precipice between the past and the future in the field of educational leadership, exploring the importance of both, and the relationships between the sub-fields of management and administration. It theorises school leadership through the lens of wayfinding. The book argues that the future of educational leadership is shared, collaborative, networked, and distributed. It also argues that current and future eras will demand a new form of professionalism where networks of ideas and remote support enhance professional expertise. The book discusses a multilevel distributed framing to educational leadership that involves a broad set of individuals and organisations taking collective responsibility for leading and for the human, material, and social resources required to lead in education. It explores how messy, intersecting, and conflicting oppressions interact and overlap with identities.
