Democratic School Leadership

The need for democratic school leadership is becoming increasingly important in many countries as one way of fostering democratic society. Without a more democratic system of education the development of a democratic society is unlikely to occur thus, the need for schools to nurture democratic citizens. This book explores school principals'', teachers'' and students'' perceptions of democratic school leadership and how these perceptions inform practices in schools. The book is based on a compressed ethnographic case study conducted in secondary schools in Kenya. The study adopted the interpretive-constructivists methodological paradigm. The findings reveal that while the perceptions were based on the ‘rational'' reasoning about democracy, most practices in the schools were not consistent with these perceptions and appeared embedded in the cultural orientations of the communities within which the schools were located. With its detailed coverage of the research process, democracy, social justice & culture, this book is suitable for researchers, postgraduate students, educational policy makers and anyone else who intends to interrogate issues of democracy and school leadership.