Wood, Kevin

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The zombification of the principalship: the learning mindset in a system guided by achievement
(Sage, 2025) Wood, Kevin
School leaders are expected to plan and execute change and growth to address the ongoing social and pedagogical transformation required in schools. The purpose of this article is to initiate a robust conversation and broaden the discourse about instructional leadership. Attention is placed on the challenge that principals face to remain open-minded and focused on learning (as an action) while providing leadership within the context of a dynamic system pieced together from standards and constructs. Policymakers, educational leaders, and leadership training educators might broaden their concept of leadership by viewing the topic through the lens of zombification. This conceptual inquiry contemplated whether leaders cultivate the learning (again, as an action) community simply by knowing what to do or whether they must actively facilitate a lively enactment of learning. The article contends that the leader of learning must have specific knowledge, attitudes, and attributes to understand the theoretical considerations properly and translate the act of leading learning into a practical reality. The metaphor of zombification is utilized to describe how a principal might lose sight of learning and instead focus on meeting and achieving standards and system outcomes.