Leading Queensland Schools: What some of the Research Can Tell Us

This article takes a reflective look at a number of research studies published by the author in the past few years, each of which is located, in the main, in the Queensland (Australia) schooling context. l It synthesises some of the key research findings from this set of studies and provides some useful perspectives on the state ofour understandings about school leadership in Queensland to date, as well as identifying some challenging research fields for future work. The paper makes no claim to being a definitive or comprehensive statement about school leadership in Queensland - there is much quality work being undertaken by others. Further, such a review of so many studies can only highlight some of the most significant findings, such that readers interested in particular studies are encouraged to consult the original sources for further discussion. It is to be noted that many of the studies drawn upon are collaborative endeavours of the author and other researchers. Like shared leadership, shared research endeavours make the work all the richer, drawing on the different ideas and perspectives of the researchers.