Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics and practices of principals in four successful Singapore primary schools. Design/methodology/approach – Multiple perspective case studies were used which included semi-structured interviews with the principal, teaching and non-teaching staff, students, parents and school board members in each school. Findings – The principals were found to have contributed significantly to the success of their schools. Their leadership was underpinned by their personal qualities, beliefs and values, which guided their practices. The four principals were highly successful in improving school capacity through redesigning school structures, particularly those that facilitate improvement in the work of teachers. They enhanced the professional capacity of the teaching and non-teaching staff through professional development programmes and the development of future leaders. The principals also established meaningful partnerships with stakeholders inside and outside the school community. Each of the principals described how their leadership was built upon the legacy of previous principals at their schools. Originality/value – As part of a larger project, the International Successful School Principalship Project, this research adds an important Asian context to the literature on successful school leadership. A 6E model – educate, envision, energise, engage, enable and embrace – was developed to describe how principals led their schools to achieve educational excellence.

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It is easy to dismiss the work of “teaching students to apply formula” as a low-order priority and thus trivialises the professional knowledge associated with this practice. Our encounter with an experienced teacher—through the examination of her practices and elaborations—challenges this simplistic assumption. There are layers of complexities that are as yet under-discussed in the existing literature. This paper reports a case study of her practices that reflect a complex integration of relevant theories in task design. Through examining her praxis around the theme of “recognise the form”, we discuss theoretical ideas that can potentially advance principles in the sequencing of examples for the purpose of helping students develop proficiency in applying formula.