The Principal Difference: Key Issues in School Leadership and How to Deal with Them Successfully

Luke Lawson is a teacher and administrator in Vancouver, B.C.

In this book, educator, researcher, and consultant Susan Church explores
six key leadership issues facing principals today. Individual chapters
deal with professional learning communities, students and parents and
the wider community, multicultural communities, gender issues,
accountability, and managing to lead. Each of these brief chapters
outlines some key concerns for principals (and teachers), backed up by
some well-placed quotations from educators. As well, there are neat
to-do lists that principals should take into account when
managing/leading a school.

While the information provided in the book is relevant and to the
point, it is anything but original. In the chapter on gender and
schooling, for example, principals and teachers are advised to use
gender-neutral language, to challenge sexist language and behaviours, to
ensure that the school and classroom environments reflect diverse
groups, and so on. The same points have been made ad nauseam in other
books on educational leadership. The Principal Difference is yet another
title that adds nothing new to the discussion.