Asking questions of leadership: Using social theory for more than critique

In an era where managerialism is proliferating throughout almost all school practices it is easy for scholarship that mobilises social theory to present negative images of control. Drawing from a single case study within a larger ongoing research program on school leadership, this article explicitly seeks to ask questions of what is it we recognise as leadership. Using the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, this article does not identify the various structures that inhibit leadership but rather provides a productive means of re-thinking leadership. In doing so, the central argument of the article moves beyond the reproduction of the status quo and provides potential avenues for further inquiry and discussion.