JDMcDsblog

i like this comment, which was in today’s TES http://www.tes.co.uk/2402843, 13.7.07), by a former head teacher who says,

“No. Today it’s all about distributed leadership, delegation and teamwork. And that’s fine, just so long as the senior management team doesn’t become a closed, inward-looking magic circle – like a mildly animated version of the Rollright Stones.

“Me, I’m with Caroline Badyal, head of Dartmouth high school in Sandwell, who believes that the right place for the leadership is around the place, being highly visible. And blow the paperwork. Describing to me once how she and her colleagues had improved behaviour and attendance, she said: “The most powerful tool is the profile of the senior team around the school.”

“And that really is something that’s borrowed from the world of business. The management guru Tom Peters discovered it in action at the technology firm Hewlett Packard, and christened it MBWA – “management by wandering around”.