Background The recent systemic reforms in the Scottish education landscape feature a complex agenda, elements of which involve structural and cultural change and addressing the achievement gap. This study builds knowledge of successful school principalship in the context of Scotland and highlights the perceptions and actions of successful principals in their efforts to build a connected school system in which all education agents work together. It considers the opportunities and constant challenges these leaders face, and their response to such challenges by focusing on cultivating personal and professional sense of agency. Theoretical Framework This research was guided by a systems-centred approach which investigated the ways in which successful leadership practices contribute to school improvement processes, conditions, and cultures. It considered the ecological systems approach from Bronfenbrenner (1979) a useful theoretical framework for understanding the processes and interactions at multiple levels within and beyond the school system, and that the dynamic, non-linear changes within an educational ecosystem could be effectively understood by applying complexity theory. An ecological model, therefore, examined interactions between the micro-, meso-, macro-, exo-, and chronosystems, and was used to develop context-sensitive accounts of successful leadership in Scottish schools. Methods of enquiry Using a combination of multi-perspective data, an online staff survey and documentary information, this mixed methods research provides in-depth and insightful examples of principals’ successful leadership practices and further investigates relevant perspectives of various key stakeholders in their schools. The focus was on their leadership practices and how their leadership influences the structures, cultures, and the standards in performance of the school. A purposive sample of three schools (two primary, one secondary) was selected as case study sites and was drawn from different geographical regions across the country ensuring a geographical spread. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed following an iterative process of inductive and deductive coding (Yin, 2018). This analysis integrated finding and interpreting similarities and differences and acquiring new insights of successful school leadership practices which create structural alignment and ensure coherence and sustainable transformation within schools. Findings Findings from this study provide insight on how successful school leaders consider their entire school as a complex system with interconnected parts and build social infrastructures in order to be established as learning ecosystems. The significance of building relationships through a common set of values, beliefs, and expectations of members within a school community has been a fundamental driver for leading successfully.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. Yin R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage.