Abstract:
A framework based on the concepts of agency and structure (Giddens 1984) has been developed to assist leaders in analysing and monitoring their leadership practices in relation to change in schools. Three inter-relationships are considered. The historical and contextual influences of education systems and of specific schools; the way people in schools know how to act and, in so doing, have relative autonomy over their practices; and the rules and resources which guide the actions of school administrators and teachers. Three propositions, developed from the framework, are tested in a case study of the actions of personnel in a primary school.