Foreground A The theme of this guest-edited issue is “mapping a landscape of leadership.” This space is devoted entirely to teachers’ voices and the practical issues of leadership involving change. This collection is, metaphorically speaking, an expansive landscape of the interiority of schools that displays the shifting ideologies and evolving practices of educators at the grassroots level. The creators of this inland scenery are aspiring administra- tive leaders who work at elementary, middle, and secondary schools in Florida. As guest editor, I have envisioned my project role as “cartographer,” or maker of maps, and “landscaper”—one who lays out the grounds for visi- tors to explore and develop further. “The New Country” that lies ahead, as the artwork suggests, was crafted as much through creative means as analytical: “if it is the left handed artist who imagines the possibility of a new country, it is the right handed philosopher who follows, naming, comparing, contrasting, and exploring the possibility of making maps” (Peck, 2001, p. 47). Cultivating the “professional knowledge landscape” of schools (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995) from the perspective of insiders can enrich the leadership and curriculum fields. Toward this end, I offer a map for becoming oriented to one teacher group’s vision for improv- ing school environments. During the summer of 2001, 33 practicing teachers gathered for a univer- sity class, not knowing what to expect. Enrolled in “Case Studies in School Administration,” a master’s course in educational leadership that I teach an- nually at the University of South Florida, the participants experienced a writ- ing/research workshop that integrates theory and practice. This publication subsequently grew out of our adventure in “cartography.” In my mind’s eye, I saw the students as scholar-practitioners who could ar- ticulate maps for the field of leadership through thoughtful brush strokes. My pedagogical goal was to affirm the great potential of school persons to sculpt something worthy of their vision. From the 33 papers that materialized on contemporary issues and major challenges of school leadership, a selection of International Journal of Educational Reform, Vol. 13, No. 2 / Spring 2004 101 Mapping a Landscape of Leadership: Cultivating Scholarly–Practical Inquiry Carol A. Mullen