Leading the small rural school

What is it about?

The project compares the ways that principals in Iceland and Australia build leadership capacity in small rural schools. We found that these schools were good schools, hardly noticed and rarely visited by their respective educational authority personnel. Their principals accommodate the changes they face, accepting the conditions they find. These schools are characterised by a culture of acceptance, where expectations for performance and behaviour are known and shared and not questioned. But is this enough? Could they be great schools or even simply better schools? In what ways? At what cost? How might these schools become great schools if principals were to develop a culture of inquiry?

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Why is it important?

The study contributes to the knowledge base of the work and leadership of principals in small rural schools and both answers and raises questions of the importance of the context (Place).