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This collection of [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL research reports examines leadership and the learner voice in the UK learning and skills sector (LSS). Exploring the diversity of learner engagement practices in [further education] FE and adult learning, these six reports highlight the value of students’ increased and continuous involvement in their own education and in the organizations where they study. The reports demonstrate that enhanced learner engagement often produces positive outcomes related to student learning, quality improvement and sustainable organisational change. The findings from these studies also reinforce the recommendations of UK policy makers who increasingly encourage the introduction of more extensive communication mechanisms that can facilitate student voice through feedback, dialogue and participation. The volume comprises two main sections. The first, ‘The learner voice and quality improvement’, contains three reports that reveal the important contribution of learner voice initiatives to quality improvement in FE and adult learning. The reports are: The impact of learner voice on quality improvement / Colin Forrest, John Lawton, Anne Adams, Trevor Louth and Ian Swain; Learner involvement in decision making / John Shuttle; Developing professional and community leaders to maximise learner involvement in adult and community learning / Ros Pilkington and Dave Eatock. The second section, ‘The learner voice and diversity’, consists of three reports that consider how such initiatives can inform equality and diversity programmes. The reports are: Listening to the learner voice: a ‘bottom-up’ approach to equality and diversity / Rachael Drennan; Investigating the under-performance of ethnic groups by listening to the voice of staff and students / Darrell Bate and Steven Sutton; Spirituality and students with particular needs: exploring staff and learner voice / Andrew Coleby, Heather Pike and Richard Wales.

This edited volume of [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL Practitioner Research Projects seeks to showcase a number of final reports produced by those working in the learning and skills sector on leadership-related themes. It is the first collection of research-informed practitioner papers to be published as a CEL edited volume. Selected from the first two rounds of CEL research, these nine papers highlight a number of important policy implications for CEL as well as for leadership both in theory and practice. They point to the potential organisational and leadership benefits accruing from closer attention to communication within colleges, to the learner’s experience and the role of governance boards in enhancing effective leadership and quality improvements in organisations. They emphasise the importance of formalised and planned leadership development and succession programmes for middle managers and programme managers in [further education] FE colleges. The projects suggest that more attention needs to be paid to the challenging role of middle leaders and how it can be supported. These research reports also highlight numerous leadership challenges around diversity and suggest some of the initiatives that can be instigated to improve equality in the sector. The volume is broken down into three primary sub-themes: (1) ‘Leading quality improvement’ containing the following reports: Talking about talk: an analysis of communication and the management of change in further education / Alex Louis; How do leaders and colleges sustain growth whilst maintaining quality? / Gill Alton, Biddy Rowe, Amanda Rudolph and Paul Smith; The role and performance of college governing bodies in relation to the employment of principals of further education colleges / Ron Hill; (2) ‘Developing middle leadership’ containing the following reports: Developing multi-level leadership in adult and community learning / Kate Watters and Lorraine Casey; The preparedness of middle managers for senior roles in Scotland’s colleges / Lesley Whelan, Karen Kerr and Eugene Rauch; Succession planning for middle managers: exploring the factors which affect the recruitment of teachers to middle management posts / Philip Barker; and (3) ‘Leading diversity’ containing the following reports: Management, leadership and diversity: strategies for leading a diverse workforce in an inner city London college / Margaret Andrews, Andry Anastasiou, Urmi Joshi, Joannie Andrews and Lisa Yates; Leaders of the future: integrating diversity within the learning and skills sector / Viki Holton and Colin Bertie; Diversity, emotional intelligence and racial identity / Sue Chambers.

This volume of four [Centre for Excellence in Leadership] CEL research reports reinforces the growing interest in collaborative leadership by presenting case study examples from the UK learning and skills sector (LSS). The first two case studies describe practices in [further education] FE colleges whilst the second two are drawn from adult learning. Addressing the important inter-relationships between collaborative leadership, quality improvement and sustainable organisational change, these four research reports highlight a number of important policy implications for the sector, for CEL and for leadership both in theory and practice. The research reports are: Collaborative leadership in a study centre context / Kathleen M Gardner, Patricia M. Woolford and John Colvin; Collaborative leadership in FE-led multi-agency partnerships: a local, national and trans-European perspective / Greg Dean; Curriculum development for adult learning through collaborative leadership / Katie Clarricoates, Sharon Cope and Peter Sapsford; Exploring a consortium model for adult learning provision / Rose-Marie Best, Rosemary Sloman, Neville Hayles and Sandy Hathaway.