Restructuring is an international phenomenon, and great stress is placed on the role of the innovative principle in the process. To date, studies have concentrated on innovative practice or the schools themselves, rather than considering the crucial nexus of principle-school interrelationship. This text offers insights into the ways in which six principals go about leading the change process in their schools, and looks for ways of understanding why and how principals behave and think in the way they do. Its topical life history approach identifies key events, experiences and significant others in the lives of the case study managers, and shows how these have shaped the way they implement changes to curriculum, teaching and learning in their schools.