Description: In The Inner Principal: Reflections on Educational Leadership, veteran principal David Loader takes the reader on a journey through the heart and mind of a leader. Introspective and warm, thoughtful and imaginative, this timeless classic will provide insight and lessons for school leaders around the world.
Brief description: David Loader is a Principal Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Melbourne University and provides consulting, design, evaluation, and strategic goal setting services for school leaders and educational organizations. David is a consultant to Girl Guides Australia, reviewing their Australian Guide Program. As part of Daintree Associates, David runs conferences and study trips for school principals in China.
Review Quotes: "A book of provocative real-life stories that lay before us ways in which we might turn our dreams into realities." Deborah Meier - MacArthur Genius recipient, school principal, and author of "In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization" "This book is a classic. In an era when books on leadership are preoccupied with targets and accountabilities there is need for one that explores the inner life of the principal, and this book fills that need in brilliant fashion. It is eminently readable. Professional lives will change to the good for those who engage with its stories." Brian J. Caldwell - Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Education, University of Melbourne "David Loader's journey to realize his greatest potential as a school leader is one that every educator is well advised to read and reflect on. In this deeply personal, moving account, he captures the many important and complex parts of building and leading a school community and culture that puts children at the center, and forces us all consider what schools might become and, importantly what they ought to be." Will Richardson - Author of "Why School?" and Co-Founder of ModernLearners.com "This is a remarkable book written by an extraordinary principal. It's incredibly rare to get such a heartfelt, insightful view into the mind of a leader of a school building. The diverse mindsets, challenges, and lenses of the principalship that are described in this book serve to explicate the school administrator's tacit knowledge and day-to-day experiences that are usually hidden from public view. This is a fantastic resource for both practicing school leaders as well as preservice preparation programs, one that is guaranteed to spark a great deal of internal reflection." Scott McLeod - Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Colorado Denver