Unravelling the leadership recipe

David Gurr

By David Gurr
Community contribution / August 2, 2016

I have been in an academic role at The University of Melbourne for 20 years. Through teaching and research I have engaged with thousands of school leaders and researchers, here and throughout the world, discussing and exploring what successful school leaders do.

Over this time, there is now consensus that leadership matters to schools.

Not only does it matter, but also there ...

Business Manager: Caboolture Montessori School (QLD)

Business Manager: Caboolture Montessori School (QLD)

Caboolture Montessori School invites applications from experienced, relational and strategic leaders for the role of Business Manager. • Strategic leader with astu...

School Management / Apr 02, 2026

Primary Teacher - Performing Arts and/or Italian

Hume Anglican Grammar Mickleham VIC

A passionate Primary educator is sought to join our team as a Performing Arts and/or Italian teacher! Part time or full time capacity!

Teaching - Primary / Apr 02, 2026

SEN Teaching Assistant

Veritas Bradford

Teaching Aides & Special Needs / Apr 02, 2026

By David Gurr

Community

David Gurr is Associate Professor in educational leadership at the Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne. d.gurr@unimelb.edu.au

Similar news

Careers / Webster’s recipe for success School news / Unravelling gender stereotypes in media studies Leadership / Award-winning school leader shares recipe for boys' academic success

Latest comments

Great article Sarah. So important to shine a spotlight on the outrageous and problematic influence these misogynistic...

— Tim Perkins on Australian Boys Groomed Into Despising ‘Woke’ School System

Top events

"Leaders understand that ultimately they are responsible for their own professional development and are proactive in their development and restless for new ideas. They also understand that leadership is about influencing the behaviours of others in a deliberate process that leads to behaviour change."

— David Gurr

School news / Targeted school library resourcing a reading must: new report

Large numbers of Queensland state schools have a $0 book budget and no librarians new research has found.

School news / Schools and workplaces discriminating against trans and gender diverse: report

Discrimination against trans and gender diverse people is widespread, with serious impacts on safety, access to essential services and full participation in society, a new report has found.

School news / ‘Riddled with defects’: social media ban for under-16s faces scrutiny with new findings

The success of Australia’s social media ban for under-16s has been called into question, with a new eSafety report confirming a ‘substantial number’ of children are still using accounts or can easily create new ones.

School news / Big privacy shift for kids as sites face age-ban probe

Game developers and streaming platforms could be forced to tighten how they handle children's data as social media companies face allegations of lax age-verification measures.

School news / ‘Constellation of deep concern’: Burnt out and fed up Aussie principals eye the exit door

Dedicated and resilient Australian principals are grappling with the growing enormity of their job, putting in ‘dangerously long’ hours every week as many risk marching towards breaking point, a prominent national study has warned.

School news / ‘Accountability has arrived’: Meta, Google lose US trial over social media addiction

A Los Angeles ‌jury has found Alphabet's Google and Meta liable for damages in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of ‌similar cases against the tech companies.

School news / ‘Astounding’: violence against Australian school principals nearly doubles in 15 years

Australian school principals are enduring offensive behaviours at ‘unacceptably high’ rates, with an alarming percentage reporting they endured physical violence and threats last year, new national data has revealed.

School news / There are ways we can stem growing school principal turnover: new research

Education departments need to introduce workload reduction policies for principals that streamline administrative requirements and shift non-instructional tasks away from them if we are to stem growing school leader turnover concerns.

Leadership / Principal’s shift to top-down leadership brings remarkable results

Top-down decision making in schools has got a bad reputation, but doing away with a majority buy-in approach has allowed one Victorian school to seriously bolster its improvement agenda.

School news / ‘Struggling’: teachers strike in second capital city

Fed-up and burned out teachers have walked off the job, campaigning for better pay and conditions in the second capital city strike in as many days.

Comments