This paper reports on an investigation into early career teachers’ (ECTs) aspirations and the factors that influence them, including their perceptions of school leadership, their experiences of developmental opportunities, their leadership aspirations and their developing identities as teachers and leaders. ECTs were supported in developing accounts of their experiences of leadership practice and development, and the impact of these on their motivation, aspirations, dispositions and self-perceptions as actual and potential leaders.

ECTs articulated a range of perspectives on the characteristics, features and value for their leadership development of leadership practices they had initiated themselves, and on the significance of the leadership practices of others for their own developing leadership practices, identities and aspirations.  ECTs also gave accounts of their perceptions and experiences of leadership structures, processes, expectations, and systems of support in schools.  We aimed to ascertain whether there are 
patterns of variation in the perspectives and experiences of different groups of ECTs, and to gain insights into their motivations, aspirations, dispositions and self-perceptions as leaders in schools.  We wanted to know
whether and how the cultures and established practices of leadership and leadership development in schools differentially influence scope and opportunity for different groups of ECTs to  develop leadership skills and dispositions, and whether there are gendered or other patterns of leadership aspiration.

ECTs’ perceptions of leadership are considered in the light of three images of contemporary school leadership reflected in the post-1990 literature.  The first presents a view of school leadership as managerialist, business-oriented, finance and market-driven (for example, Fidler & Atton, 2004; Davies & Ellison, 1991), the second  as caring and people-oriented  (for example, Sherman, 2000; Hall, 1996; Shakeshaft, 1995; Gray 1993). The third image disrupts notions of hierarchical power structures in which the locus of power is with the individual at the apex of the institution, emphasizing instead the scope for distributed leadership, collaboration and teacher agency (for example, Spillane, 2006; Harris, 2005; Frost & Durrant, 2003; Sergiovanni, 2001).  We wanted to ascertain whether there is a predominant view(s) of leadership amongst ECTs, and whether their view of leadership works to attract them to or discourage them from aspiring to leadership positions.

The study builds on previous research focusing on factors affecting the career aspirations and choices of women teachers (Smith, 2007; 2008; 2011a; 2011b), which provided insights into reasons why women are under-represented at secondary headship level in UK schools (as elsewhere, e.g., Gökçe, 2009), even though they form more than half of the secondary teaching workforce (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2011).   Important factors emerging from the research included the women teachers’ largely negative perceptions of headship (Smith, 2011a), personal and professional values relating to positive relationships and an ethic of care (Smith, 2008) and the extent to which women were agentic in their approach to career (Smith, 2011b). Perceptions of leadership, professional values and questions of agency in enacting leadership practice are explored from ECTs’ perspectives on their experiences, and consideration given to the impact of their differing experiences and constructions of leadership on their leadership aspirations.

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