Leadership within educational settings is widely regarded as essential for organizational effectiveness and the improvement of learning outcomes. Leaders and Leadership in Education provides an up-to-date review of current thinking about leadership, which challenges the reader to develop alternative ways of thinking about their own leadership. Through an extensive review of theory and practice, Helen Gunter explores the contested terrain of leadership studies. She describes and critiques the different contributions made by education management, school effectiveness, school improvement and critical theory. The book explores the full spectrum of people taking leadership roles from students as leaders, through to head teachers, and examines: leadership as function; leadership as behaviour; leadership as relationship