Abstract:
This paper draws on a case study of a team leadership initiative developed during 1991 when a group of three women set up the sharing of the senior teacher responsibilities in their intermediate school syndicate area. All the staff involved agreed that this way of working enabled the pooling and development of the teaching and management strengths of a group of teachers. For the women in particular, it provided effective personal and career development. Despite these gains, and the transformative potential of this style of leadership, the original team was broken up. This paper discusses some of the difficulties encountered as a result of `interrupting' dominant leadership discourses within bureaucratic and gendered school structures and practices.