ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the current ‘state of play’ of leadership in post-compulsory education. We trace briefly the role of prior leadership studies on PCE, observing that there is a need for ‘ordinary heroes’ to take up the challenge of leadership in the context of a problematic and under-theorised legacy. We define the basic terms and focus of the book, and note that mechanistic target-setting of a post-incorporation ‘performative’, masculinist and reductive culture particularly prevalent in some parts of the sector, notably FE, needs urgently to be replaced by more variegated, subtle, flexible and creative local leadership responses. We discuss 2004 Ofsted reports on FE college performance, and furious reactions to these comments. We observe that poor standards in leadership, bullying and scandals have occurred, but move on to celebrate some successes of post-compulsory education, considering the appropriacy of measurements for leadership used in the Common Inspection Framework We observe that there is a need to create a culture of continuous improvement, to strive for excellence and purposeful creativity in leadership in the future. Having briefly described the succession crisis, we consider the setting up of the new Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) following Success for All (DfES, 2002) and note that CEL has a formative role to play in developing leadership. We discuss the need for a ‘step change’ in leadership, and round up this chapter by describing the motivation to write this book. Finally, we outline the role of the case study interviews in Part Two, and the fact that these examples of outstanding leadership have been drawn up to provide inspiration for leaders of the future.
