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which presents the quality of leadership as being somewhat aggressive. In the school environment however, such a view of leadership might not be entirely appropriate, because aggressive or “instructional” leadership would tend to ignore the benefits of teamwork or “transformational” leadership. With a school environment, leadership would be more about leaders extending invitations to the individuals and groups with whom they interact, in order to build “a shared and evolving vision of enhanced educational experiences for pupils.” (Stoll and Fink, 1996: 109).

Leadership theories and models:

Within an educational context, existing leadership practices for school leaders prior to the 1950s were focused upon the lessons to be learnt from the prior experiences of school administrators and their insights into effective practice methods on the basis of their personal experiences. (Heck and Hallinger, 2005). This approach was however inadequate and attention shifted to the need to apply scientific principles based on empiricism rather than on the basis of ideals or personal beliefs and experiences.

A transactional leadership style involves leaders who exchange tangible rewards for the work and the loyalty of their followers, thereby adopting a purely practical approach. Transformational leaders on the other hand, are able to motivate and inspire their followers and raise their consciousness about the desired objectives and outcomes, and how they could be achieved (Gellis, 2001; Judge and Piccolo, 2004). A later approach however, suggested that these two styles of leadership were not necessarily mutually exclusive; rather most good leaders appear to demonstrate some traits of both styles of leadership (Judge and Piccolo, 2004:755).

A transformational leadership style relies largely upon the personality of the leader and his or her capacity to inspire and motivate followers. As Everard and Morris (1985) have pointed out within the school context however, an important task in an educational institution is the “reconciliation of value systems” of different people in such a manner that a clear statement of aims and beliefs is derived, to which a “majority of the stakeholders can subscribe.” (Everard and Morris, 1985:142). This must also be coupled with a clear, educationally focused vision, which articulates a “realistic, credible, attractive” future for the organization (Deal and Peterson, 1994). While the input, vision and ideals of the principal are important, the school context requires “bringing together the ideas and commitments of a variety of people who have a stake in the success of the school.” (Tom Sergiovanni, 1987). As Beare, Caldwell and Millikan (1989) have stated, outstanding leaders are those who have a vision for their school, but they also share this mental picture with everyone in the school community.

The vision of the principal is vital because it serves as a pointer to the direction in which the school should go; however, if this vision is the principal’s alone and is not shared by the other members of the organization, then staff and students may tend to merely go through the motions rather than actually supporting the vision and being deeply committed to it.

As Hopkins has pointed out, effective school leadership must embrace both the distinctive aspects of the school which set it apart, as well as the inclusive contex