This paper outlines issues and theoretical outcomes from two recent case studies conducted in similar yet contrasting highly disadvantaged communities in England. The paper outlines dilemmas and problematic issues concerning leadership and practice in these schools/communities:

-The nature of leadership required

-The fragility of leadership

-The need for idealism and pragmatism

-The difficulties yet leadership necessity of working with parents and the surrounding community

-Raising horizons and expectations

-The political leadership task involved in work with other agencies locally

-Raising and maintaining a school's reputation.

Aspects of a "Subversive Leadership" approach are explored. This way of working involves boundary crossing, building networks and operating in a complex micro-political environment. These networks need to operate for the benefit of local people, especially children attending school, with child-centred values being essential to providing a positive response to their needs. School leaders are viewed as most effective where they feel able to subvert external policy imperatives to meet the needs of local children in a whilst addressing colleagues' collective values.

Introduction

This paper outlines policy and practice outcomes from recent qualitative case study research, carried out in the North of England in two highly disadvantaged communities. The studies employed mainstream techniques triangulating data from three methods: informal "reality check" interviews, semi-structured interviews and observation studies. The research was carried out over an eight month period, with one community being "white working class" (Burntake) and the other "multi-cultural" (Thurlby). This paper provides illustrative outcomes from the studies involving the two secondary schools in both areas and also Chatsworth primary school in Burntake, specifically in relation to possible effective school leadership responses to a highly disadvantaged context and a challenging policy environment.

These outcomes arise from a broader piece of research encompassing pilot and scoping fieldwork with a central research question:

What is perceived to be successful school leadership in highly disadvantaged communities?

There were also four areas of inquiry for the work:

1. Where is leadership located?

2. How do those in leadership positions carry out their roles and how are they influenced by their values?

3. What is perceived to be successful leadership and why?

4. What happens in initiatives and what are the consequences?

The research sits within the non-positivist paradigm, whilst making use of as many "concrete" reference points as possible. The approach adopts elements of "constructivism" and "critical theory", employing an "abductive" way of working, aiming to make a contribution to theory using "grounded methods" of data collection, without relying on the data alone for the generation of concepts and theoretical issues. A process of theoretical sampling was adopted for the case studies, aiming to examine what is perceived to "work" for schools and their leaders in highly disadvantaged contexts.

1. Networking and micro-politics

This section outlines a number of issues and potential ways forward for school leadership in highly disadvantaged communities. The difficult nature of inner city contexts can impact severely on young people's life-chances. At the same time in the UK, there currently tend to be too many unco-ordinated initiatives targeted at these communities in an often unhelpful way. School leaders are expected to raise standards and contend with market forces impacting on fragile environments. Greater effort is required to address the overarching social needs of these areas if educational progress is to be made more easily by pupils.

Nevertheless, school co-operation at local level, school leaders networking effectively with a range of service providers to join up local effort, and the treatment of parents as partners in the educational enterprise can make a positive difference in spite of context. If parents and local residents can be encouraged to be involved and employed in the nearby school and if pupils can take advantage of placements for work experience and other opportunities in the community, a synergy of advantage can be created to local young people's benefit. So, a great deal can be done to "subvert" the prevailing culture and policy environment at local level, but the task is enormous and the role of school leaders is complex and demanding.

2. Meeting Local Needs and aspirations

An approach is suggested here which can take account of contextual difficulties but also recognises that concerted action at the local level can make a positive difference. Where staff wish to pursue their own child-centred and collectivist approach, this is possible to do if a pragmatic set of actions relevant to local young people' are adopted. It is recognised that measures locally to build social capital will ease behavioural difficulties in the medium to long term and that this can be helped through concerted inter-agency co-operation. Where it is possible to concentrate on the contributors to poor behaviour through such measures as individual child support, work with parents, educational psychology provision and specific pathway schemes for diaffected pupils, inroads can be made in disaffection overall. In the inner city context, the fragility of the situation can tip a school into a "vicious circle", but equally success can help create a "virtuous circle" within a market context.

School improvement research evidence can provide important means to address underachievement. A school creating conditions for improving examination results, positive local networking, and ong-term capacity-building in the local area can effectively "subvert" the market system and make it work to young people's advantage. Applying the inclusion agenda in inner city contexts is a major challenge, particularly when schools are required to produce ever-higher examination and test scores. It represents a considerable pedagogical challenge also, and in curriculum terms. The dangers of integration rather than inclusion taking place, together with adverse impacts on other pupils are potential down sides. Nevertheless, practical and child=centred measures taken at local level can avois intergation, coupled with some additional targeted resources.

Finally, the importance and relevance of child-centred values underpinning practice in these contexts is asserted strongly. Coupled with effective teaching and learning and parental involvement in children's education representing a people-centred approach can be made work in the most challenging contexts. However, passion and community awareness and "people skills" of leaders is absolutely necessary in these situations to combat negativity and inertia.

Conclusion

So, in the challenging context of inner city schooling, not only do leaders need to address the major school improvement issues but increasingly will need to work with partners to effect change wider than the school in a networked way. The context is likely to throw up a bewildering number of initiatives, often imposed from outside, which the school leader will often need to aim to co-ordinate to maximum benefit of local highly disadvantaged people in a subversive way. At the same time, the role of school leader is likely to involve balancing personal values against external and internal pressures in a challenging manner. In these circumstances, then, school leaders are likely to be most successful if they aim for local solutions to these challenges, maximising school improvement internally but at the same time also making an impact on the surrounding context itself.