EDITORS This introduction to the International Handbook of Educational Lead­ ership and Administration describes some of the motivation for devel­ oping the book and several assumptions on which is based much of the work represented in its 31 chapters. A synopsis of the contents of those chapters is also provided. SOME KEY ASSUMPTIONS It is sometimes suggested that the search for an adequate understanding of leadership is doomed to fail. After all, there is little evidence of agreement about the concept in spite of prodigious efforts dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. Such a view is captured, for exam­ ple, in Bennis' observation that: Of all the hazy and confounding areas in social psychology, leadership theory undoubtedly contends for top nomination. Probably more has been written and less is known about lead­ ership than any other topic in the behavioural sciences. (1959, page 259) We do not find this state of affairs discouraging (nor entirely accurate) and, of course, it did not prevent Bennis from proceeding either. One reason for our desire to continue in the face of such discouraging words is that a great deal of leadership research aspires to develop a general theory, a theory which applies to all or most domains of organized human activity. This aspiration inevitably produces decontextualized and, therefore, abstract categories of practice. Howard Gardner's (1995) depiction of leadership as story telling is a case in point.

Section 1: The Context for Educational Leadership and Administration (Judith Chapman - Section Editor).- 1: A New Agenda for a New Society.- 2: Law and the Courts.- 3: Education and the Concept of Knowledge: Implications for the Curriculum and Leadership.- 4: Dilemmas for School Leaders and Administrators in Restructuring.- 5: Education reform, Management Approaches and Teacher Unions.- 6: Beyond the Boundaries: principals, P0 AND Communities Shaping the School Environment.- 7: Leadership in a Changing World.- Section 2: The Development of Educational Leadership and Administration (Ann Weaver hart - Section Editor).- 8: New Directions in the Preparation of Educational Leaders.- 9: Recruitment and Selection of Educational Administrators: Priorities for Today's Schools.- 10: Developing SUccessful School Leaders.- 11: Women's Place in Educational Administration: Past, Present, and Future.- 12: Role-Based Evaluation of Principals: Developing an Appraisal System.- 13: Leadership: Roles or Functions?.- 14: Professional Growth and Development.- Section 3: Cognitive Perspectives on Educational Leadership and Administration (Ken Leithwood - Section Editor).- 15: Research Outside the Field of Education.- 16: Problem Finding, Classification and Interpretation: In Search of a Theory of Administrative Problem Processing.- 17: Cognitive Perspectives on the Nature and Function of Values in Educational Administration.- 18: Understanding Organizational Learning for Educa tional Leadership and School Reform.- Section 4: Conceptions of Leadership and Administrative Practice (Philip Hallinger - Section Editor).- 19: Building Innovative Capacity and Leadership.- 20: Leadership for Change.- 21: The Principal's Role in School Effectiveness: An Assessment of MethodologicalProgress, 1980-1995.- 22: Transformational School Leadership.- 23: Perception, Prescription, and the Future of School Leadership.- 24: Gender, Organizations, and Leadership.- 25: Decentralization, Collaboration, and Normative Leadership: Implications for Central Office Practice and Research.- Section 5: Critical Perspectives on Educational Leadership and Administration (David Corson -Section Editor).- 26: The Cultural Politics of Schools: Implications for Leadership.- 27: Cultural Dynamics and Organizational Analysis: Leadership, Administration and The Management of Meaning in Schools.- 28: 'Breaking the Silence': Feminist Contributions to Educational Administration and Policy.- 29: Emancipatory Discursive Practices.- 30: Critical Theory and The Social Psychology of change.- 31: The Socially Just Alternative to The 'Self-Managing School'.- Name Index.