Abstract:
A great deal has been written about the role of school leaders in educational redesign. Terms such as 'transformational leadership' (Hallinger, 2003), 'invitational leadership' (Novak, 2005) and 'constructivist leadership' (Lambert, 2002) have been used to describe school leaders who see continual improvement as a key part of their leadership brief. Conversely, little has been written about the role of project leaders in educational redesign initiatives even though the impetus for redesign often comes from schools' participation in funded projects. One such project, Learning to Learn, has been funded in South Australia since 1999. It is an innovative South Australian project aimed at teacher learning and curriculum policy for the future around the central question of: 'What does it mean to educate for a future that matters?' To date over 160 schools have participated in three successive phases resulting in significant redesign outcomes at the school and system level. This paper draws on data collected through interview, written survey, document analysis and field notes to explore the contribution made by the project leader to the achievement of these outcomes. It explores the extent to which the characteristics of effective project leadership are similar to those identified for school based leaders of educational redesign.