Editorial: What’s in a Name?

Abstract

Happy new year and a warm welcome to the first issue of the journal bearing its new name of Educational Management Administration and Leadership (EMAL). We hope that you are happy with the revised title and that you also like the new design. Please let me know what you think. The journal began its life as Educational Administration, adding ‘Management’ when the former British Educational Administration Society (BEAS) became the British Educational Management and Administration Society (BEMAS). The recent change to the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) prompted consideration of a parallel change in the title of the journal. The new title was approved unanimously by the Editorial Board in May 2003, received the wholehearted backing of the BELMAS Council in June and also enjoyed the active support of our publishers, SAGE. I am grateful for the involvement of SAGE colleagues who have done splendid work in revising the journal’s design against a tight timetable. This description sets out the process of change but the wider rationale underpinning the new title requires further explanation. The proposal was prompted by the growing national and international significance of the concept of ‘leadership’. In England, this has led to the establishment of a National College for School Leadership (NCSL), which is having a major impact on our field and is likely to continue to do so. The third issue of this volume, 32(3), will be a special issue focusing exclusively on NCSL, with a number of specially commissioned articles from both national and international perspectives. The concept of leadership has been of growing significance for at least 15 years. In 1989 Beare et al. stressed its importance: