Explore the vast range of titles available.

The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) is a recognition by the Government of the importance placed on training and developing aspiring headteachers to take up the challenging and significant role of headship. School improvement and school effectiveness research has, for many years, proclaimed the pivotal role played by the headteacher in transforming and developing the school as a learning community. This paper examines the development and implementation of the NPQH, particularly the Needs Assessment process, from the perspective of one regional assessment centre manager. The views and reflections outlined are those of the author and the paper will use, as its evidence base, the evaluations undertaken at the London Assessment Centre throughout its first year of operation. The author will reflect on the role played by assessment centres, the development of this role and how the assessment process itself is contributing to the training and development of tomorrow's headteachers. The recommendations included and the conclusions drawn suggest ways in which the process of assessment within the NPQH can: (i) facilitate the development of the NPQH; (ii) improve the outcome for the candidate.

This portfolio investigates the development of the National College for School Leadership, first announced by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at the first New Headteachers Conference in October 1998 and confirmed in the Green Paper 'teachers meeting the challenge of change'. The portfolio covers the twelve-month period between New Headteachers Conferences. At the first conference the College was announced; at the second we learned it would be sited at Nottingham University. The portfolio is designed to contribute to the debate about what should underpin the workings of the College. It contains a series of separate papers which also interrelate. The papers focus on four factors which are likely to impact on the work of the College. The author considers these factors to be crucial to the development and growth of the College and its acceptance by the profession both nationally and internationally as, in the words of the Prime Minister, a 'centre of excellence'. These factors are: • the impact of policy development; • the definition of and role of leadership; • what we mean by learning; and • a preferred future for schools in the 21st Century. Section 1 provides an introduction and a rationale of why the work has been undertaken. It argues that the knowledge age demands new and radical thinking in how we train and develop school leaders. Section 2 provides the theoretical framework for the portfolio. Section 2a provides the research design and methodology and the systemic model which the author has developed to underpin both the College and the portfolio's propositions. Section 2b contains a series of papers which review the literature relating to the four factors. Section 3 comprises a series of research papers dealing with the author's work on policy development, leadership, learning and futures models. These papers present both a national and international perspective. Included is the author's own research into the development of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) culminating in a new model for its transfer to the College. The final paper in the series provides a model for the College. This model is not intended to 'be set in stone' but reflects the author's research position and views at the time of writing. Section 4 is an analytical and reflective narrative outlining the author's journey through this portfolio. This study is essentially both postmodernist and a tale. It does not reach any final conclusions but sets out a series of propositions and seeks ideas and possible routes of pursuit to inform the development of the College. It asks questions, but it provides no definitive answers. Rather, it is intended to contribute to Socratic dialogue, a theme the author pursues throughout. Since the papers are independent and targeted for different purposes there is some overlap and variety in style. John Wheeler, the quantum physicist, posited recently: December, 2000 is the 100thanniversary of the greatest discovery ever made in the world of physics, the quantum. To celebrate, I would propose the title 'The Quantum: The Glory and the Shame'. Why glory? Because there is not a branch of physics which the quantum does not illuminate. The shame, because we still do not know 'how come the quantum?' (contained in a letter from John Wheeler to J. P. McEvoy, the author of 'Introducing Quantum Theory'). This stance informs the spirit of this research