It was with some trepidation that I started reviewing this book having previously reviewed, in this journal, two books that John West‐Burnham had co‐authored: Understanding Systems Leadership 2008 with Pat Collarbone (Continuum) and Spiritual and Moral Development in Schools with Vanessa Huws Jones 2008 (Continuum). These were very unimpressive and the co‐authors seemed to add little to the educational debate. However this book is the authentic voice of West‐Burnham and reverts back to the quality and insightfulness that have long been associated with his work.
The book is a perceptive account of leadership which provides the educationalist with a wealth of insights and perspective in order to reflect on their own understanding and practice of leadership. There are ten chapters in the book. The chapters provide a rich and inviting dialogue on leadership and transformation, creativity, democracy and consider issues such as moral leadership, interpersonal leadership and leadership and spirituality. The final four chapters consider the leader as an intellectual, leading learning communities, leadership development and personal effectiveness and finally strategies to support transformation. These chapters are well structured and engaging, and provide an anti‐dote to the managerial techniques approach of much national training in the field.
This is a book that provides an inspiring read and the production values are much better in this book and that aides the accessibility of the text and ideas. Each chapter deals with a distinctive topic and could be read as a freestanding article. However the combination of all the chapters forms an integrated approach to rethinking the nature of educational leadership. It would be an ideal vehicle for senior leadership teams in schools to buy the book and read a chapter a month and then discuss it to enable them to renew and extend their leadership understanding and practice.
This is an outstanding book that adds considerably to our understanding of educational leadership.
