Comparing leadership internationally: challenges and reflections

Abstract

This paper is a co-written paper by five MA Education students at the University of Northampton and James Underwood, Principal Lecturer at the University of Northampton and a PhD student at the University of Cambridge. We are all currently engaged in research that involves comparing aspects of education in the UK with another nation. The research that we are each personally undertaking addresses a range of topics. These all relate to an aspect of education leadership ranging from student leadership to school and university management. There is one common underlying research question which underpins all the studies which is: in what ways has comparison between nations been a valid approach to understanding education and leadership? This question is addressed successively via our individual stories in this paper. This paper is linked to a paper presented in May 2015 at the University of Cambridge entitled: “Breaking boundaries as writers, researchers and me-searchers, the challenges and rewards of completing an MA as a community of practice.” In which we discussed in depth our experience as a research community. This paper has therefore also been informed by a distinct perspective on the nature of Masters’ level study