<i>Leading Schools in Challenging Circumstances: Strategies for Success</i> by Philip Smith and Les Bell. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. 171 pp. $42.95. ISBN 978-1-4411-8405-4.

Previous articleNext article FreeBook ReviewsLeading Schools in Challenging Circumstances: Strategies for Success by Philip Smith and Les Bell. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. 171 pp. $42.95. ISBN 978-1-4411-8405-4.Karen S. ActonKaren S. ActonUniversity of Toronto Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThe relentless quest for school improvement is not new, and in many countries the social, economic, and political pressures have resulted in rigorous, top-down, neoliberal education reforms. Improving student achievement is problematic in many schools, but it is especially difficult for disadvantaged groups who consistently fail to see the same successes as their more affluent or higher social class counterparts. Combating underachievement is a high priority in the United Kingdom, where the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects schools and holds them to account. This provides the context for Leading Schools in Challenging Circumstances: Strategies for Success. Smith and Bell outline their research study on headteacher (principal) leadership in secondary schools situated in northern England in former mining areas “with high levels of deprivation” (133). The so-called deprived areas are described as having elevated levels of crime, high unemployment, low family income, poor student attendance rates, and lack of positive parental involvement. The book outlines the authors’ two-phase study, the first of which explores the transactional and transformational leadership of four headteachers to determine the key strategies that best support school improvement in challenging circumstances. The second phase examines the effect of implementing these strategies in a fifth school with similar characteristics.The book begins with a short overview of leadership theory, as one of Smith and Bell’s stated assumptions is that “the most direct route to school improvement is through the role of the headteacher” (7). The authors explain their choice for the study’s conceptual framework, which is based on the attributes of transactional and transformational leadership. They define transactional leadership as managerial and task oriented, whereas transformational leadership is visionary, people-centered, and has the potential to change the culture of a school. The authors argue, “transformational leadership might be the most effective method of leading a school due to the extent to which it can facilitate improvements in the achievements of students” (31). It was surprising, however, for a study on leadership to not also mention other contemporary models such as distributed, sustainable, or inclusive leadership, as these have also been viewed as fundamental for achieving equity in schools. A rationale for ruling out these other models would have strengthened the argument for the authors’ choice.The next three chapters describe the findings of the first phase of the study exploring the leadership in secondary schools in the deprived local authority of Coalborough (all names are pseudonyms). Smith and Bell used opportunity sampling to recruit four headteachers and their deputy heads to participate in semistructured interviews. The chapters include numerous excerpts from the interview transcripts, and the reader is left with a thorough grasp of the differences between transactional and transformational leadership. Sharing a vision and building relationships was found to be a key theme, as illustrated by the words of one headteacher: “I think if people have bought into your vision and feel … that they’ve been listened to and feel they’ve been supported and been given their opportunity that they will move along with you” (83). The overall results of phase 1 indicated that the school leaders utilized both styles of leadership, depending on the situation. The argument the authors make, however, is that task-oriented leadership is often used out of necessity to comply with the external pressures of politically motivated mandates. They assert that without the relational and visionary component of transformational leadership, school improvement would be hindered.Although the headteachers’ insights were interesting, the methodology used for the first phase of the study seemed to be lacking in rigor. First, as opposed to exploring the proven leadership in high achieving, disadvantaged schools, convenience sampling was used, and “none of the schools showed any high-level continual improvements and, of the four schools, three were below national and local averages” (13). All but one of the headteachers had been at their school for 5 or more years, yet there was little evidence of significant progress. While the authors included the mention of an increased number of field trips at two schools as well as positive results in one student satisfaction survey (at the most affluent school in the study), these few examples only served to highlight the sparseness of the overall evidence. The book did include a few statistical charts in the appendix, but notably missing were the performance figures over time for the four schools. Second, it was surprising that the authors did not strengthen the reliability of data collected from the small sample of self-reports of the headteachers, as common criticisms of the self-report method include inconsistent introspective ability of the participants as well as response bias. Validity could have been enhanced by coupling interview data with other sources, such as observations, documents, or surveys with staff and students. In summary, phase 1 seemed to be more of a description of transactional and transformational leadership, using specific examples from schools, as opposed to a research study.Chapter 6, “Implementing Transformational Leadership in a School: A Case Study,” is perhaps the strongest section of the book. It describes the second phase of the investigation, whereby the leadership strategies that the authors identified as successful in phase 1 were implemented by Dr. Hurst, the new headteacher of Packwood School. This school, located in the northern England local authority of Willbridge, had similar characteristics to the schools in the first study and was designated a failing school that had been placed on special measures by Ofsted. What the first phase of the study lacked in persuasive data and measurable observations is remedied in this phase by the detailed description of the impressive outcomes of the headteacher’s efforts. The evidence collected in this case study was more robust, as interview data was not only obtained from Dr. Hurst but also from a range of staff and parents. In addition, a questionnaire was sent to students, parents, staff, and governors, and supplemental documents such as reports, e-mail messages, and articles were also examined. The study revealed that the strategies implemented by Dr. Hurst, both transactional and transformation in nature, resulted in significant changes at the school. Dr. Hurst was a former deputy head from one of the four schools in the first study and was thus quite familiar with the nature of the study and keen to participate. In this chapter, the reader can’t help but be drawn into the narrative with the rich descriptions of the school, such as when Dr. Hurst first arrived: “It is a two-story school with balconies where students would stand pouring orange juice onto passers-by. On some occasions students would hang and drop between floors rather than use the stairs. It was a very menacing place where you felt unsafe just being around the site; in my first two weeks here, I was personally assaulted on more than one occasion, and saw other teachers being pushed, sworn at, and having things thrown at them” (108). Yet within two terms, following the implementation of a new vision and “rigorous and consistent enforcement of simple rules” (115), such as the dress code, truancy rules, and student discipline, the school underwent a remarkable turnaround. This was accompanied by a new and intensive model for staff training and mentoring. The authors attribute the school’s improvement to the transformational leadership of Dr. Hurst. Their findings indicated that his focus was on empowering individuals—he demonstrated an unwavering belief in the abilities of both staff and students. The school turned into a “calm, peaceful place of learning” (129) where teachers now enjoyed teaching, as they no longer spent all their time managing behavior and instead “discussion between staff changed to become focused on the quality of learning and the high levels of provision that students receive” (120). Further evidence corroborates this perception, as truancy rates had fallen, vandalism costs were down, absences of staff had declined, and the school’s scores increased by 16 percent in 1 year, to move it from one of the lowest performing schools in the district to one that was now ranked satisfactory in all areas. A letter to Dr. Hurst from a graduating student sums up the transformation: “Thanks for your positive and determined attitude towards wanting change to take place and for being a figurehead for that transformation—I now see a fantastic place for learning and a setting to be proud” (131).Whether one attributes the remarkable results of Packwood School to transformational leadership or more to the remarkable and passionate abilities of Dr. Hurst can be left up to the reader to determine. What this book does achieve, however, is the offer of hope that with the right kind of leader, school improvement can be achieved even in schools in challenging circumstances. School boards and administrators looking for help on how to transform a school and reach their most disadvantaged students will find encouragement in this narrative. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 61, Number 1February 2017 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/690063 For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

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