ABSTRACT
Research1 into educational effectiveness points to the magnetic north of change in schools – the school principal. However, while the principal may well be the keeper of the lodestone, the journey of discovery and change cannot be effected by the leadership qualities of the principal, without both leadership and followership being exercised by teachers, school staff and the wider community of governors, parents and learners. In such a complex environment, where multiple factors promote and inhibit innovation,2 the effectiveness of the school leader is the closest we have to a ‘silver bullet’. Leadership is, as we declare in the Introduction, a key element in the principle of sustaining the transformation of a school into an e-school. For, as we demonstrated in Chapter 5, outstanding practice in embedding ICT in learning in Northern Ireland e-schools is found only where there is excellent leadership to inspire and instil the curriculum changes which makes the most effective use of technology as a powerful resource. Where that practice is not found, the vision too is lacking.
