Young global city leaders: building an evidence base in London, New York and Toronto to support the next generation of school leadership innovation

Data was collected over 3 years. In the first year individual interviews were had with policy leaders. In years' 1 and 2 network events and focus group data were collected from young leaders. Years' 2 and 3 saw individual interviews with young leaders. Finally, year 3 saw school-based studies involving interviews and focus groups with young leaders and teachers.<p>Global Cities are internationally important sites of migration, diversity and innovation. As top 10 Global Cities, London, New York and Toronto are key places to explore educational trends. For example, London and other Global Cities are experiencing headteacher shortages due to headteacher retirements and teacher disinterest in leadership. As a result, leaders are taking up deputy and headteacher roles before they are 38 – younger than ever. This marks the entrance of a new generation of school leaders most of whom are from GenerationX (GenX) born between 1960-80. While GenXers are often described as flexible, globally engaged, technologically savvy, accepting of diversity and collaborative, there is little previous research related to age and leadership.

To explore this next generation of leaders, city-based Advisory Groups policy/practice experts and cohorts of 35-45 GenX leaders will be recruited for annual meetings. Annual leader interviews will examine career development; challenges and opportunities; relationships between age, experience, gender, ethnicity, nationality and leadership; and, school-level leadership practices. Outcomes will include City-based leadership profiles, policy briefs, within and across city interview analysis and school-level studies. Evidence will support policy and programme decision-makers and the leaders themselves. Findings, including reports, papers and resources, will be available at: www.globalcityleaders.org.</p>