I spent my professional career as a teacher in secondary education, culminating in the headship of a socially challenging urban comprehensive school.

My Fellowship explored how headteachers in Australia were sustained in their spiritual and moral leadership, building on similar work I had undertaken interviewing UK headteachers as a Research Associate at the National College for School Leadership. Although I am an Anglican priest, presently serving as Chaplain at Derby Cathedral, I used a very wide definition of spirituality, arguing this can draw on secular as well as religious sources. Following my Fellowship, I further developed this area of research, leading to the award of a doctorate and the publication of a book Reservoirs of Hope: sustaining spirituality in school leaders (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2010), and two summary booklets for school leaders: Sustaining Hope in School Leadership (Grove Books 2015) and Sustaining Faith in School Leadership (Grove Books, forthcoming in 2022). I have presented my findings on the importance of the moral and ethical foundations of leadership at a number of national and international conferences for school leaders.