The impact of educational leadership on student learning practices: tracing the flow of influence

ABSTRACT This article examines the dynamic flow of influence from leading to student’s learning practices in schools, reconceptualising leadership as a multifaceted complex of interrelated and ecologically integrated practices. Rather than privileging any single leadership role, it conceptualises leading as a coordinated social ensemble in which leaders work interdependently to shape the professional and educational conditions that support teaching and learning. Qualitative analysis of two in-depth ethnographic case studies conducted as part of a national Australian research focused on studying the influence of middle leadership aiming to show how leading practices reach learners in classrooms. It traces how practices travel from policy to principals to middle leaders to teachers, subsequently influencing student′s practices. Drawing on practice theory, findings illustrate ways leading practices create practice architectures which influence teachers′ and students′ learning. By tracing the ‘trail of evidence’ concerning specific school development initiatives being implemented in school sites, results reorient debates about the efficacy of leading school-based change towards understanding how a composite of leading practices emerges relationally and temporally through shared language, activity and responsiveness to local contexts. Findings offer an ecological interpretation of educational leadership influence, illuminating how coordinated leading practices contribute to professional learning, teaching, and student learning practices.