My historical research has focused on asking:

How has theory reorganised professional and discursive practices?

To investigate this, I examine four historical processes:

1. Revisions to the history of practice
   Theory reorganises past, present, and future practice.
   It selects which practices we carry forward from the past, which practices are available options, and which practices hold the most promise.
2. Reformulations of subjects and objects of practice
   Theory outlines ‘who’ performs practices (administrators, organisers, managers, leaders).
   It also outlines ‘what’ practices count (decision-making and problem-solving, optimising operations, intervening in workplace situations or morale, or influencing stakeholder impressions).
3. Recalibrations of modes for evidencing practice
   Theory specifies the standards and procedures for evidence. These standards and procedures change over time, as theories do.
4. Reconfigurations to institutionalised research and training programmes
   Theory is reflected in trends of producing, disseminating, and utilising knowledge.

This is the approach that has guided my Leadership Theory in Schooling (LTS) project.

It continues to guide my current work on:

• The international dissemination of leadership theory through school research networks;
• The uptake of leadership theory through principal preparation programmes.
• Developing my own historically informed theory of school discourse and conduct.