Machiavelli makes his presence felt in Further Education

The sequel to ‘Further Education and the Twelve Dancing Princesses’, this book is similarly playful, but deadly serious in intent.

We are pleased to say It features a chapter on the making of the Irish Further Education by a lecturer from our Department Dr Fergal Finnegan.

Using Machiavelli’s celebrated and contested treatise ‘The Prince’ as a metaphorical guide, the contributors each take a different perspective to interrogate leadership, agency and professionalism in Further Education (FE). The scope of The Principal is as wide as the sector, with chapters on adult education and the FE systems throughout the UK and in Ireland and Australia. The writers share a fierce commitment to FE and this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about how and where the FE sector is being led.
Practitioners and academics are meeting next weekend in the university of Huddersfield to launch the book and discuss the state of FE.

What the critics say:

This is a deeply refreshing and important contribution to the leadership literature of FE, written from the perspective of voices seldom heard. If read widely and taken seriously this book could revolutionise FE leadership discourse, professionalism and practice.’

— Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE,

‘The relevance of Machiavelli to current FE leadership is made horribly clear in this ingenious, fresh and challenging collection of essays. Political theory is used to devastating but useful effect to open up a space in which it is possible to think about power and the principal differently.’

— Stephen J. Ball, Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology of Education, UCL Institute of Education