Understanding Decision-Making in Educational Contexts presents 'problem cases' confronting school leaders in real settings, and illustrates the multiple approaches that school leaders draw upon to navigate complex and challenging decision-making contexts. Although school leaders draw upon knowledge and instruments that are available to them, the approach used for this volume is decidedly Popperian in nature. In this collection, each chapter presents a case study problem, a discussion of the salient concepts and principles of the case, an exploration of problem formulation, and concludes...

The best leaders lead by example, not by mandate. However, so much leadership has become conscripted by neoliberal values. Educators and politicians, who are increasingly making policy for educators, have come to believe that standardized test scores are the same as knowledge acquired, as if test scores actually measure knowledge as opposed to information. Simply put, educational policy is no longer being developed for educational purposes but education is increasingly being manipulated as an experiment in social engineering. Educational leaders are caught on the horns of a dilemma – to...