Leadership in liquid times: reconceptualising the effects of policy on school leaders

Event Abstract Back to Event Emotional Intelligence, Educational Improvement, and Professional Development Pathways: The Case of Abu Dhabi School Leaders Rida Blaik Hourani1*, David Litz1 and Scott Parkman1 1 Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi is undergoing educational changes that necessitate improving and developing public school leaders’ skills within the realm of transformational leadership. Abu Dhabi school leaders are anticipated to perform within specific professional standards that encompass: leading the community, leading the people and leading the organization. These professional standards embed emotional intelligence attributes (Blaik Hourani & Stringer 2015). According to Wood and Kroese (2007), Arar (2017), and Cliffe (2011), in order to improve schools, leaders need to demonstrate various dimensions of emotional intelligence (EI). Grootenboer and Hardy (2017) discuss the praxis of school leadership through highlighting the forms of emotional intelligence. These forms revolve around: a) semantic space characterized by the construct of a shared and mutual understanding of the organizational operations and needs and b) social space featured by building social relationships and networking among school stakeholders. The latter form takes into account the praxis of school leaders from the circumstances and exigencies angles , so as to resolve conflicts, destress staff and address school problems encountered. Grootenboer and Hardy (2017) discuss that demonstrating social space is centered on values pertaining to, social justice, empathy, respect, inclusion and cooperation and these values are nurtured. As indicated by Benson, Fearon, McLaughlin and Garratt (2014) and Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, (2002) EI is a key attribute for innovative and effective school leadership. The above authors concur, that developing emotional school leaders’ traits contributes to successful school. EI attributes is considered important for transformational leadership and for managing organizations during educational reforms and changes. Benson, Fearon, McLaughlin and Garratt (2014), add that emotional intelligence is a complementary resource for creating competent school leaders and developing resilient school communities. Wong, Wong and Peng (2010) in a study conducted in Hong Kong they indicate that EI is essential is positively related to the middle-level school leaders’ performance and job success and satisfaction. Moreover Wong, Wong and Peng (2010), Goleman (2006a) and Bush (2011) have evidenced middle-level school leaders’ job improvement and professional performance that consequently leads to improved schools. Cliffe (2011) in a study conducted on school administrators indicated that school administrators with high EI demonstrated professional skills relevant to: self-awareness, emotional self-management, motivating oneself and others, recognizing emotions of others and handling intra-personal relationships ; this has shaped their professional performance as school administrators and therefore being over attuned to one’s own emotions can contribute to improved school leadership. Oplatka (2011) discusses that, often school leaders act as the only people in charge for motivating the teachers and staff and this involves the expression and demonstration of different emotions. Oplatka (2011) adds that school leaders constitute the focal point of professional emotions. Therefore, it becomes important for school leaders to be aware of this dimension (emotional) when performing their roles, especially that the emotional dimension heavily concentrates on how to deal with and influence others. Blackmore (2004) argue that an effective school that is moving towards progress requires the appearance and expression of emotions in organizational interactions. This study attempts to explore Abu Dhabi public school leaders’ emotional intelligence within Goleman’s (2006; 2007) five dimensions. This includes: a) self-awareness, b) managing emotions, c) motivating oneself, d) empathy, and e) social skills. This study is conceptualized within Van der Vyver et al. (2014) intertwined notions of ‘inherent value’, Goleman’s (2007) emotional intelligence dimensions and professional performance standards for Abu Dhabi school leaders. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of this study. Insert Figure 1: This research project addresses the following questions: 1. What emotional intelligence do school leaders exhibit along the following five dimensions: a) self-awareness, b) managing emotions, c) motivating oneself, d) empathy, and e) social skills? 2. How do school leaders utilize their emotional intelligence attributes professionally speaking? 3. What emotional intelligence dimensions are in alignment with leading the community, people and leading the organization as professional performance standards? 4. Are there any challenges situated within the emotional intelligence dimensions that school leaders face; that pertain to their professional responsibilities regarding leading the people and leading the organization and leading the community? 5. What emotional intelligence attributes and dimensions pertain to transformational leadership? Research question one was addressed through the quantitative research tool; whereas the research questions two, three, four and five were addressed through the qualitative research tool. This research employs mixed methods’ tools. The study included a random sample that consists of 30% of all Abu Dhabi government schools. The random sampling included cycle 1, 2 and 3 schools. Cycle 1 includes grades (1-4), cycle 2 includes grades (5-8) ad cycle 3 includes grades (9-12). Due to time constraints, Common Schools, Kindergartens and schools in Western region were excluded from this study. The school leaders that took part in this research included: Principals (PR), Vice Principals (VP), Academic Vice Principals(AVP), Head of Faculty-Arabic (HOFA), Head of Faculty-English (HOFE), Lead Principals(LP)and Social Workers(SW). The total number of research participants were 124 and they were involved in the quantitative component of this research and 30 research participants who took part in the quantitative data collection were interviewed. The following convey the quantitative findings: As the correlation matrix indicates there were some significant correlations between emotional intelligence characteristics. The strongest correlations were observed between Empathy and Social skills, with correlation coefficient of 0.756 and between Self-Awareness and Empathy with a correlation coefficient of 0.771. The weakest correlation was found between Self-Awareness and Managing Emotions, with a correlation coefficient of just 0.531. Table 2: Mean Emotional Intelligence Scores by Population The mean scores of all participants in each of the five characteristics of emotional intelligence were indicated and tracked through the quantitative research tool. There were differences in mean score values for specific sub-populations based on Nationality, Education level, Gender and Position. Managing Emotions has the lowest mean score both within the total population and within each subgroup, while Self Awareness has the highest rated characteristic across all groupings. None of the differences in mean scores across the five characteristics was found to be significant. Surprisingly, differences in characteristics were demonstrated to be least significant along gender lines than any other criteria. Insert Table 2 Table 3: Analysis of Variance The analysis of variance indicated that the items on the survey for emotional intelligence was, on the whole, a reliable instrument with the population of this study. Alpha Cronbach scores greater than 0.700 are considered sufficiently reliable. This indicates that there was strong independence between the individual items in the survey sufficient variance in the answers provided by the participants. Insert Table 3 Findings that came out of the qualitative research tools captured the following emerging themes: Emotional intelligence dimensions that portray educational leaders, Emotional intelligence attributes pertaining to the school leaders’ reflective practices, Emotional intelligence and areas needing professional development and nurturing, Emotional intelligence dimensions and school leaders’ transformational skills; Emotional intelligence and attributes that underpin leading the community, leading the people and leading the organization. Insert Table 1: Correlation Matrix Figure 1 Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 References

The health and well-being of school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely neglected compared to the health and well-being of students and teachers. This study assessed the magnitude of perceived stress and well-being and the associated factors, including number of working hours, work-related sense of coherence (work-SoC), perceived stress, self-endangering work behaviour, secondary burnout symptoms, and satisfaction with work, among school leaders in Hong Kong, China during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional, survey-based study collected demographic data and mental health measurements from 259 eligible school leaders in Hong Kong from April 2021 to February 2022. Pearson's correlation analyses, multilinear regression models, and independent-samples Student's t-tests were performed. The findings revealed that school leaders' perceived stress was negatively correlated with their well-being (r = -0.544, p < 0.01) and work-related SoC (r = -0.327, p < 0.01) but positively correlated with their extensification of work (r = 0.473, p < 0.01), exhaustion related to work situations (r = 0.559, p < 0.01), and psychosomatic complaints (r = 0.439, p < 0.01). In a model that adjusted for gender and age, student leaders with higher subjective well-being scores had a lower level of perceived stress (B = -0.031; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.59, -0.02; p = 0.034), whereas leaders in schools with a larger student population had a higher level of perceived stress (B = 0.002; 95% CI, 0.000, 0.003; p = 0.030). School leaders with a higher likelihood of performing the self-endangering work behaviour of 'intensification of work' had higher perceived stress levels (B = 1.497; 95% CI, 0.717, 2.278; p < 0.001). School leaders with a higher work-related SoC (B = 4.20; 95% CI, 1.290, 7.106; p = 0.005) had a higher level of well-being. School leaders with higher levels of perceived stress (B = -0.734; 95% CI, -1.423, -0.044; p = 0.037), a higher likelihood of performing the self-endangering work behaviour of 'extensification of work' (B = -4.846; 95% CI, -8.543, -1.149; p = 0.010), and a higher score for exhaustion related to work (B = -10.449; 95% CI, -13.864, -7.033; p = 0.000) showed lower levels of well-being. The finding of a high incidence of stress among school leadership justifies the need for more societal attention to the well-being of school leaders in Hong Kong. It is important that policies and initiatives are designed to enhance the well-being of school leaders and that they are supported in leading the management of schools and coping with stress in school settings.

Emotional Labor theory of Hochschild, 1983 and Grandey, (2002, 2015 &amp; 2017) provided as basis of current research that gives the regulation of emotions at workplace categorized the main two dimensions of EL as Surface Acting (SA) and Deep Acting level of the school leaders. Self developed Emotional Labor Measurement Scale for School Leaders (ELMS-SL) was used to measure the EL level of the public sector school leaders. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select the sample of 376 (male=194, 52% and females=182, 48%) school leaders working in public sector secondary schools of 19 district of Punjab province. The core objective of the research was to measure the EL level and contribution of demographic variables (gender, mode of job induction, marital status and work experience) towards the emotional regulation status through suppression of emotions and modification of feeling. To measure the EL level of public sector school leaders, data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, as well as t-tests, and ANOVA tests. The results revealed that public sector school leaders are practicing emotional labor. EL practices between male and female were significant difference, whereas mode of induction, marital status and job experience were found non-significant differences on EL.Key words: Emotional Labor, Surface Acting, Deep Acting, School Leaders, Demographic variables

[English abstract] Research shows that school leaders should adopt a social emotional learning (SEL) approach to acknowledge contextual elements in which students live. This approach includes assisting instructors in developing the necessary skill sets to navigate challenging talks concerning race, privilege, and power (Hamilton, 2020). SEL is a method of teaching pupils the skills and perspectives they need to understand and regulate emotions, define and achieve goals (CASEL, 2020). However, there is a growing body of research that is highlighting shortcomings of SEL in meeting the needs of students of color. As a result, culturally responsive social emotional learning (CRSEL) has surfaced to counter the one-size fits all approach for which SEL has been criticized. A culturally responsive approach, which situates and celebrates learning within students' rich cultural context, may be the key to closing this gap and ensuring that all students benefit from SEL training. During this timeframe heavily impacted by stress, CRSEL is needed more than ever as school leaders report poor impacts on student engagement (Hamilton, 2020). As a result, this phenomenological study sought to understand the relationship of school leaders' role in implementing CRSEL and addressing student struggles during times impacted by stress. With a critical race theory lens, this researcher explored school leaders' own beliefs and levels of understanding as it pertains to the needs of students to assist in addressing pervasive practices of inequity in schools. Research included qualitative data collection via a series of one-on-one interviews among nine public school leaders in Washington DC post COVID-19 pandemic. Through a phenomenological approach, data collected from school principals' and assistant principals' interview responses highlight four emergent themes that emphasize the importance of culturally responsive social-emotional learning in schools, supporting student well-being, equity, and academic success through collaborative efforts and intentional practices. Ultimately, the findings and results illustrate the significance of community, cultural awareness, empathy and students voice in meeting the needs of all students during times of adversity, as well as the benefit of intentional professional development and application of resources to support the successful implementation of CRSEL. During the period when data collection findings were published, there was widespread chaos and confusion due to President Trump's administration's efforts to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across all federal sectors, including the Department of Education. On January 23, 2025, the Department of Education issued a press release announcing actions to eliminate DEI. Despite these efforts, the author asserts that the relevance of the research study's findings and recommendations remains intact, addressing the ongoing stress and trauma experienced by students and staff in schools. [Spanish abstract] Las investigaciones demuestran que los líderes escolares deben adoptar un enfoque de aprendizaje socioemocional (ASE) para reconocer los elementos contextuales en los que viven los estudiantes. Este enfoque incluye ayudar a los instructores a desarrollar las habilidades necesarias para abordar conversaciones complejas sobre raza, privilegio y poder (Hamilton, 2020). El ASE es un método que enseña a los alumnos las habilidades y perspectivas necesarias para comprender y regular las emociones, definir y alcanzar metas (CASEL, 2020). Sin embargo, cada vez hay más investigaciones que destacan las deficiencias del ASE para satisfacer las necesidades de los estudiantes de color. Como resultado, el aprendizaje socioemocional culturalmente receptivo (ASERC) ha surgido para contrarrestar el enfoque universal por el cual se ha criticado el ASE. Un enfoque culturalmente receptivo, que sitúa y celebra el aprendizaje dentro del rico contexto cultural de los estudiantes, puede ser la clave para cerrar esta brecha y garantizar que todos los estudiantes se beneficien de la formación en ASE. En este período de fuerte impacto del estrés, el ASERC es más necesario que nunca, ya que los líderes escolares reportan un impacto negativo en la participación estudiantil (Hamilton, 2020). Como resultado, este estudio fenomenológico buscó comprender la relación entre el rol de los líderes escolares en la implementación de CRSEL y la atención a las dificultades estudiantiles en momentos de estrés. Desde la perspectiva de la teoría crítica de la raza, este investigador exploró las creencias y niveles de comprensión de los líderes escolares respecto a las necesidades de los estudiantes para ayudar a abordar las prácticas generalizadas de inequidad en las escuelas. La investigación incluyó la recopilación de datos cualitativos mediante una serie de entrevistas individuales con nueve líderes de escuelas públicas en Washington D. C. tras la pandemia de COVID-19. Mediante un enfoque fenomenológico, los datos recopilados de las respuestas de directores y subdirectores escolares en las entrevistas destacan cuatro temas emergentes que enfatizan la importancia del aprendizaje socioemocional culturalmente receptivo en las escuelas, apoyando el bienestar estudiantil, la equidad y el éxito académico mediante esfuerzos colaborativos y prácticas intencionales. En definitiva, los hallazgos y resultados ilustran la importancia de la comunidad, la conciencia cultural, la empatía y la voz de los estudiantes para satisfacer las necesidades de todos los estudiantes en tiempos de adversidad, así como el beneficio del desarrollo profesional intencional y la aplicación de recursos para apoyar la implementación exitosa de CRSEL. Durante el período en que se publicaron los resultados de la recopilación de datos, hubo caos y confusión generalizados debido a los esfuerzos de la administración del presidente Trump por eliminar la Diversidad, Equidad e Inclusión (DEI) en todos los sectores federales, incluido el Departamento de Educación. El 23 de enero de 2025, el Departamento de Educación emitió un comunicado de prensa anunciando medidas para eliminar la DEI. A pesar de estos esfuerzos, el autor afirma que la relevancia de los hallazgos y recomendaciones del estudio de investigación se mantiene intacta, abordando el estrés y el trauma continuos que experimentan los estudiantes y el personal escolar.

PurposeDiocesan systems of Catholic schools in the USA have been trying to make urban elementary schools more sustainable in an era of declining enrollment. This paper sought to better understand how system and school leaders conceptualize what it takes to “sustain the legacy” of these schools.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative analysis of interview data collected from 44 Catholic system and school leaders, comparing leaders’ perspectives about what they believed urban Catholic school principals should be doing to contribute to sector reform initiatives.FindingsWe found system and school leaders agreed principals should take responsibility for “sustaining the legacy” of urban Catholic schools, but they disagreed about the ultimate purpose of sustaining these schools. These disagreements shaped the decisions each group believed principals should prioritize.Originality/valueWe demonstrate in this paper that a systemic reform lens is useful when attempting to make sense of whether or how certain conditions within diocesan systems as currently designed may account for ongoing and persistent organizational crises within the Catholic sector.

There is an increasing trend of 1:1 coverage of tablets in schools in Scandinavia. Several studies have reported on pedagogical possibilities and challenges, but less is reported about how this change is perceived and practised by other stakeholders. We interviewed public school owners and leaders in Norway and found school owners used various models to support their schools, and school leaders held varied views on their roles in promoting the implementing 1:1 coverage in schools. Considering these findings, we discuss whether establishing overall national guidelines might help school owners and school leaders to effect digital transformation in schools and whether such guidelines would support or counteract school leaders’ autonomy and ability to adapt the digital transformation to their local context.

This descriptive correlational study examined the emotional intelligence and conflict resolution tactics of Southern Antique public secondary school leaders. We used the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and Conflict Mode Instrument to collect data. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test for independent samples, one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, and Pearson's r with inferential data set at 0.05 in a two-tailed test were employed. The study found that school leaders have “very high” emotional intelligence and “very good” conflict resolution skills, both collectively and by sex, age, highest educational attainment, and length of experience. School leaders' emotional intelligence differed by sex in regulating emotions and empathy, as well as social skills, with experience length being a significant factor, although age and highest educational achievement were not. Sex significantly affected school leaders' conflict resolution tactics, although age, highest educational attainment, and length of experience did not. A positive significant relationship was found between school leaders' emotional intelligence and conflict resolution strategies in managing emotions, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating, and compromising; motivating oneself with competing; empathy with all five CRS dimensions; and social skills with collaborating. A policy recommendation was made to enhance school leaders' emotional intelligence and conflict resolution skills.

Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to investigate nature of school leadership and the influence of politics in the public schools leadership process. Design/methods/approach - Qualitative case study research design was used. In this research 24 teaches and 10 principals public secondary schools were purposefully selected. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data from participants. Data analysis was done concurrently with the data collection process. Cods, categories and themes were extracted from the data and analysed. Findings - Teachers’ one- to-five group, education development/change army and school command post committees together were the core structure in school management and leadership activities. Principals were focus on coordinating and developing an ‘educational army’ in the school. The school principal has no mandate to make any decisions alone as it can be negated by the command post. Originality/value- This research is one of the first empirical studies on the issue of political interference of the government in the school leadership. The study also the first to submitted for publication in international referred journals. The study findings are valuable for the theoretical development of school leadership and lessons will take for similar context. Keywords - school leadership, command post, education development army, one-five group, principal, teacher, stet politics. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-25-03 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) is recognised in all Australian states’ and territories’ education systems in the senior secondary certificates of education. The federal government has researched the benefits of VETiS and promoted it as a subject area of worth through both policy and funding. System leadership in schools have also included VETiS in their strategic direction by establishing and resourcing Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to manage the compliance issues associated with the national Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. VETiS is offered in the majority of schools in New South Wales (NSW), including Catholic Schools; however, there are varying levels of implementation within schools along with wide differences in student participation across schools. With government and school leadership placing emphasis on the importance of VETiS as part of the curriculum, it is important to find out why some schools offer less VETiS than others, and why some schools have greater student take-up of VETiS than is found at other schools. Is this a result of limitations imposed by systems and situations which are difficult for schools to change, or is it caused by misunderstanding, misconceptions, or even ignorance, which—if left unchallenged— could have a detrimental impact on students’ academic choices, achievements, and ultimately, their career options? The reasons behind the variation between schools in implementation and participation in VETiS were the focus of this research. The research, situated in rural New South Wales, reports the experiences of four systemic Catholic schools and their students when making decisions in relation to Higher School Certificate (HSC) subjects. The perspectives of the students, parents, teachers and leadership were sought in order to unpack potential reasons for variation among schools and to identify any contributing issues that may impact on VETiS as a subject area of choice. The research utilised case study methodology, employing the epistemological approach of constructionism which is premised on the understanding that meaning is constructed rather than discovered. Constructionism focuses on the assumption that knowledge and meaning as constructed by the participants forms the basis for making judgements and decisions. The issues of subject implementation and subject choice provided the framework for the suite of data collection instruments, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches in a multisite case study. The research identified a number of major characteristics and factors that were found to affect the rate of participation and implementation of VETiS in specific schools. It was found that the combination of specific factors—including the characteristics of students, subject advice, school staff, subject decision processes, school leadership, school vision, school reputation and school culture—impacted on the number of courses implemented in schools and the participation rates of students. The most significant overriding contribution to decision-making both by school leadership and students about VETiS was found to be the school culture, which is established and maintained by school leadership with the principal at the top. Most other issues—curriculum choice, information dissemination, staff attitudes and commitment, and parity of subjects—were found to be a consequence of the school culture and leadership beliefs. In schools where the leadership was responsive to policy and equity issues, the school processes were found to enhance the quality of information provided to students about these subjects—and foster real choice. While the study focused on Catholic schools, the results give valuable insight into the VETiS experience which can be applied to the Australian educational sector more generally.

Repositioning school and system leadership was at the heart of the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce recommendations in 2019 to tackle the longstanding and worsening issues of equity in our schooling system. This commentary traverses the current situation and moves towards improvement, in relation to the continuing challenges to ensure effective and sustainable school leadership in all of the country’s 2,306 schools, and government frameworks and support for school leadership.

School choice policies, such as charter schools and vouchers, are in part designed to induce competition between schools. While several studies have examined the impact of private school competition on public schools, few studies have explored school leaders’ perceptions of private school competitors. This study examines the extent to which public school leaders in New Orleans, which already has a robust public school choice system, perceived competition with private schools, and the characteristics that predicted competition between the two types of schools. We find that while over half of principals reported competing with private schools for students, there was a wide range of the number and percentage of possible competitors reported. Furthermore, the results suggest that school voucher policies did not play a major role in influencing why schools competed with private schools. In addition, public school leaders who did lose students to private schools through the voucher program reported that they often recouped those losses, when parents returned to public schools unsatisfied or facing additional unexpected costs.

Educational technology (EdTech) interoperability throughout cyberspace provides the financial opportunity to collect and sell student privacy information in digital learning environments, challenging school leaders to govern schools and keep children safe. School leaders provide the resources, funding, planning, decision making, and administration for EdTech cybersecurity practices and policies, yet little is known about what public school leaders understand. A quantitative study was designed using primary data collected from an online survey. Four research questions guided this study: What are the differences in cybersecurity practices and policy response scores (1) between male and female school leaders; (2) among leaders with different educational achievements; (3) among leaders of different age ranges; and (4) among leaders of different types of school districts? Participants were purposefully identified by their roles from 1,121 Texas public school districts. The sample population was &lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt; = 173 and consisted mainly of board members, superintendents, principals, and other district managers. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine significant differences between the variables, which revealed a significant difference between men and women in terms of technical terminology, with &lt;em&gt;F &lt;/em&gt;(&lt;sub&gt;1, 171&lt;/sub&gt;) = 5.28, &lt;em&gt;MSE &lt;/em&gt;= 3.50, &lt;em&gt;ρ&lt;/em&gt; = .023, &lt;em&gt;n&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/em&gt; = .030, &lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt; = 173. Mode analysis revealed that 33.98% of participants correctly responded to questions about EdTech practices affecting children in schools, and 40.70% correctly responded to questions about school cyber practices, indicating knowledge gaps exist. The implications of narrowing the knowledge gap in schools are critical, leading to potential improvements in student digital security and safety. Also, narrowing the gap can mitigate analytical profiling throughout a student’s lifetime, which can lead to loss of education, job, and financial opportunities. Key Words: educational technology (EdTech), cybersecurity, public schools, privacy, data collection

The leadership and management of schools play an essential role in determining students' academic progress. The head teacher or school principal is one of the most important stakeholders in education since they are responsible for establishing an encouraging learning environment, executing policies, and making sure that the curriculum is implemented smoothly. This article examines how educational institution management and leadership perceive the head teacher's contribution to students' academic success. In Nepal's educational system, student performance and school leadership remain significant concerns. From a perspective of school management and leadership, we explore the relationship between student performance and school leadership. The opposite characteristics of weak learner performance on the school system or the quality of education are emphasized, even if the causes are just as diverse as the nation itself. As a result, in relation to the leadership of secondary school head teachers, we examined student performance and school leadership. The empirical support for this paper came from the experiences of head teachers. The purposive sampling strategy was used to select participants and in-depth interview was conducted to dig out the information for this study. Four head teachers/principals from four secondary schools in the sindhupalchok district in the Bagmati province, Nepal, were selected as participants in the study. The results show that by performing effective leadership and creating a favorable learning atmosphere, a head teacher's leadership significantly influences academic achievement. Students' overall achievement is determined by their willingness to collaborate with stakeholders, use strategic management, and respond to new educational challenges.

Policy implementation requires the act of translating the goals and objectives of policy into actions. Policy implementation is a difficult process because how policy actors and implementers act on the policy on a large scale may decide whether it succeeds or fails. There is a growing recognition that policies do not succeed or fail on their own, but instead due to a lack of leadership qualities in policy implementation. The study aims to develop and validate the instrument for measuring the public leadership construct of school leaders in Malaysia. The instrument was adapted from the previous study and modified to suit the current study. The study also added ten new items to complement the original instrument of public leadership initiated by Tummers and Knies (2016). The target population is school leaders in the national-type primary schools in Malaysia. A simple random sampling method was utilized to select a random sample of 381 participants from the sampling frame of eligible school leaders in the country. Content validity and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the instrument before the confirmatory factor analysis. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) procedure confirmed the existence of four sub-constructs of the public leadership construct that are accountability leadership, rule-following/lawfulness leadership, political loyal leadership, and network governance leadership. The CFA process has deleted four items due to poor factor loading (less than 0.6). The fitness indexes for all fit categories have achieved the required level of a model fit. Meanwhile, the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR), which reflect the convergent validity and construct reliability, respectively, have also achieved the required level of a model fit. Hence, the revised instrument for measuring the public leadership construct of school leaders in Malaysia is valid and reliable for use to determine the policy implementation performance of the public primary school leaders in Malaysia.

Background While student and teacher health enjoy a high level of interest in health research, research on the health of school leaders has hardly been studied so far, especially in the German-speaking countries. How school leaders cope with work-related stress and the extent to which work-related coping behaviors are associated with mental health has not been studied to date. This paper focuses on the relationship between work-related stress and exhaustion of school leaders in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the job demands-resources model. Methods Data from the COVID-HL school leadership study are used, which was conducted in 2021 with N = 2186 school leaders from Germany and N = 293 school leaders from Switzerland. Structural equation modeling in R (R Team, 2020) is used to model the relation of stress, coping strategies, and exhaustion. Coping behavior, measured as different strategies for dealing with stress, is examined as potential explanation for the relationship between stress and exhaustion. Results The study shows systematic country differences to the disadvantage of German school leaders for all factors: German school leaders report to be more stressed, and they engage more in self-endangering coping strategies such as intensification of work, extensification of worktime or quality reduction in their work. In addition, German school leaders are more exhausted than Swiss school leaders. Stress is associated with exhaustion and is partly mediated through the strategy of intensifying work (working in a pace that is burdensome). Stress also causes school leaders to work longer hours and reduce the quality of work, but this has no further influence on exhaustion. Conclusions School leaders should become a target of school health promotion. There is a need for a holistic stress prevention, which promotes not only healthy work conditions but also adaptive coping strategies.