Pragmatic Adaptive Leadership: Tools for Guiding in Complex Educational Systems

Available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Traditional governance in education often struggles to accommodate the dynamic and evolving interactions between cognitive, emotional and socio-cultural factors that shape learning.

This book introduces Pragmatic Adaptive Leadership, a systems-based approach that equips leaders and researchers with the tools to develop adaptive models of educational change. Drawing on social theory and complexity science, the authors provide practical frameworks for shaping future-orientated decision-making and policy development that meets learners where they are.

Essential reading for school leaders, policy makers, educators and researchers of learning sciences, this book offers vital tools for complexity-informed leadership.

Simon N. Leonard is Professor of the Learning Sciences at Adelaide University. An experienced educational designer and leader, his research focusses on sustainable research informed school improvement.

Samuel Fowler is Lecturer at Adelaide University. He researches psychological aspects of learning, including motivation and self-regulated learning, to develop authentic learning experiences and strengthen teachers’ pedagogical reasoning.

JohnPaul Kennedy is Senior Lecturer at Adelaide University. He researches students' attitudes towards learning and leads the development of light-touch measurement tools to facilitate data-informed educational change.

Deborah Devis is Research Fellow and educational designer at Adelaide University. She researches impactful educational change methodologies through systems and complexity thinking.