Place, Belonging and School Leadership: Researching to Make the Difference - Hardcover

Kathryn Riley is here extending what is an increasingly urgent debate about school, both as a place of belonging and as a site of struggle. In the neo-liberal education marketplace, more and more schools are adopting measures, including police in corridors and classrooms, school exclusion and even the banning of parents, to win compliance with school values and ethos by coercion and to operate a regime with a primary focus on punishment and varying degrees of institutional bullying of students. Students have a capacity to do horrible things to one another and to dent their peers' confidence and sense of safety and wellbeing, especially through their use of social media and threats of violence in and out of school. Kathryn Riley underscores the importance of distributing leadership to the level of students themselves and delivering an essential part of their educational entitlement, i.e., guidance and support for each student in embracing their personal responsibility to act in a manner that helps to make the school a place where all can feel they belong, are valued and can learn and teach in safety and comfort. * Gus John, Visiting Professor, Coventry University, UK * Kathryn Riley's passion and scholarship are powerfully demonstrated throughout her new book. Bringing her life-long commitment to making the world a better place for young people, she creates an inspirational and universally applicable approach to school improvement, richly illustrated, theoretically robust, and eminently practical. * Helen Wildy, Professor of Education, The University of Western Australia, Australia *

Place, Belonging and School Leadership offers research findings, analysis and accessible tools for further research inquiry that are designed to contribute to the development of professional learning communities. Researching about place and belonging, Kathryn Riley argues, gives new teachers powerful insights into children's experiences in the classroom and playground, and encourages them to review and change their professional practices. It provides young people with a vehicle to voice their experiences, grow their skill and talents, and develop a sense of agency. Place, Belonging and School Leadership helps school leaders to be `place-makers' who make `belonging' work for pupils from many different backgrounds. It builds trust, develops the knowledge and capacities of staff, and harnesses the creative potential of young people to explore, reflect and act. Riley offers an invaluable leadership tool that strengthens school cultures and nourishes leadership throughout the school.