School Leadership and Borderlands: Crossing into Uncharted Territory

Recently there has been an increasing recognition of the need to investigate how different contexts influence the nature and character of school leadership and to demonstrate how leaders in schools located within different environments shape their leadership accordingly. This has led to a growing body of work that has emerged from investigations into the ways leadership is understood and practiced in such distinctive environments. One such context that is likely to be revealing in this regard, yet which appears to have been somewhat neglected, apart from research on education along the border between the U.S.A. and Mexico, relates to leadership of schools located in 'borderlands'. By this, the authors mean schools that are situated at the confluence of different countries. A number of ways suggest themselves as to how to bring leadership in borderland education settings (other than in relation to the U.S.A.) out of the shadows. This paper is offered as a contribution by illuminating the nature of the various types of schools within these contexts, the issues and influences that their school leaders face, and the strategies that school leaders adopt to deal with the associated complexities. It is divided into four main sections. The first section examines the distinctive features of borderland contexts, especially in regard to the occurrence of recent developments and activities that have made them increasingly fluid. Secondly, the associated literature pertaining to education policies and practices in borderlands is interrogated. Thirdly, consideration is given to the implications that such complex contexts have for understandings and practices of school leadership. Finally, attention is turned to some ways in which school leadership may be nurtured in borderland contexts. In doing so, the authors highlight a variety of questions to pursue in conducting empirical projects which, they suggest, would help to establish a foundation for building a solid body of professional knowledge aimed at illuminating the complexity of leadership in borderland education settings and at encouraging others to rise to the challenge.