This section of the website encourages you to think critically about the nature of leadership: your own leadership and the collective leadership capacity within a school.

We explore the various styles of leadership that are exhibited in schools.However, the IB recognizes that there is no one way of doing leadership. Leadership is a personal matter, to which we bring our own individual characteristics to bear in our leadership roles. Leadership also needs to be sensitive to the needs of culture and context. A leadership style that works in one context may not work in another. Therefore IB leaders needs to be flexible and adaptive.

We engage with the various theories about leadership and how these have evolved over time. There is a focus on the ways in which organizational structures and models of leadership in schools have changed and evolved over time. You will apply these various models to your own setting, through reflective inquiry on your own practice and appreciative inquiry using case studies.

This section encourages you to think through your own Philosophy of Leadership and to capture this in the form of a personal statement which articulates your vision, principles, and values.

The pages are designed to be used as pieces of professional inquiry for yourself as the Head of School as well as for use with the leadership team within your school.

Professional Inquiry

Our professional inquiry will explore the following questions:

• Where have your concepts of leadership come from? What or who has influenced your leadership?
• What will guide your approach to leadership?
• What does research tell us about effective leadership?
• How do cultural and organizational factors determine, in part, effective leadership practices?
• How do I create a personal model of leadership applicable to a variety of contexts?
• What are your universal values and which values will be malleable to different settings?
• What is my personal philosophy of leadership? What's my vision, my beliefs and the values which drive my leadership?