AbstractDespite the abundance of research linking leadership behaviours to organisational effectiveness in various sectors, there is a lack of empirical studies that investigate how leadership behaviours influence performance in the context of research universities. The present study examined the effects of leadership behaviours on departmental performance in public research universities in Ethiopia. The study employed a quantitatively driven embedded type of mixed methods design. The participants of the study were 1176 academic staff (969 instructors and 207 department heads). They were selected from four public research universities using a simple random sampling technique. In addition, 14 key informants were selected using a purposive sampling technique based on their teaching‐learning, research and leadership lived experiences in higher education institutions and interviewed using semi‐structured guiding questions. Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires composed of demographic questions and adapted versions of two scales: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaires and a new tool for measuring global academic performance. The quantitative data were analysed using frequency, percentage, multiple correlations and regression, one sample t‐test, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Version 23.0 of Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) and SPSS‐23 were used for data analyses. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using open code version 4.03 software. The analyses showed that transactional leadership dimension and teaching‐learning dimension of departmental performance were practised predominantly. Dimensions of leadership behaviour were found to be positively and significantly related to dimensions of departmental performance. The joint contributions of dimensions of leadership behaviour were larger than their separate contributions, thereby supporting the formulated alternative hypotheses. Implications of the findings were discussed.Context and implicationsRationale for the studyLeadership is one of the indispensable factors that determine organisational success. However, empirical study findings that show the effects of leadership behaviours on departmental performance in public higher education institutions were scarce.Why the new findings matterThe new findings matter because the transactional leadership dimension of leadership behaviours and the teaching‐learning dimension of departmental performance are practiced predominantly in the sampled research universities. The findings demonstrated that the stated dimensions of leadership behaviour are positively and significantly related to departmental performance. It is more informative and contributes to knowledge and practice that the combined contributions of leadership behaviours are larger than their separate contributions.Implications for practitionersThe findings of the study have policy and practical implications for improving effectiveness of higher education leadership and departmental performance dimensions: the teaching‐learning process, research and community services in the context of Ethiopian public research universities. This finding further implies that schools and department heads need to use a combination of appropriate leadership behaviours in order to improve departmental performance dimensions.

AbstractThe hidden or overlooked nature of many of educators' professional activities complicates the already difficult task of supporting educators' labour—in both K‐12 and higher education settings. These efforts can be understood as types of invisible labour. Following PRISMA standards, we conducted a systematic literature review to answer a single research question: How have scholars framed educators' professional activities in terms of invisible labour? This systematic review searched 10 educational databases and identified 16 peer‐reviewed journal articles spanning 2011–2021. From thematic analysis of these studies, we developed a model of five types of invisibility that intersect and mask educators' professional efforts: background, care, precarious, identity and remote labour. The review also showed several overall themes related to educators' invisible labour, which we discuss in connection to the literature: effort is often semivisible, invisibility is subjective, effort by marginalised educators is often overlooked, labour in unexpected places often means effort is overlooked, and there are layers of factors masking effort. We then discuss implications for practice, starting with five invisible labour questions to prompt reflection, then how to apply invisible labour as an improvement lens for identifying needs, allocating resources, analysing jobs and tasks, and evaluating performance.

AbstractThis article reports on a systematic review of the evidence concerning the impact of citizenship education, specifically focusing on the effect of different teaching activities on a range of active citizenship outcomes. It provides a narrative synthesis of 109 articles in peer reviewed journals, representing a wide range of methodological approaches. The review was undertaken for a teacher audience and the research team identified four themes with practical implications. First, we discuss the significance of school ethos and distinguish between distinctive aspects of ethos in the literature including relationships between students and teachers, values and behaviours. Second, we explore some of the characteristics of successful projects, including detailed consideration of the type of projects selected for action by young people, the role of teachers, and the duration of projects. This discussion suggests that, whilst full project cycles (involving students identifying and researching areas for action and devising, implementing and reviewing action plans) are valuable, there is also evidence to suggest that short, partial projects may be easier to implement and still secure comparable benefits. Third, we consider the evidence about whether and how citizenship education can have some compensatory effect, closing the civic gap between different groups of young people. In the fourth theme we consider the wide range of teaching strategies which have been demonstrated to have some success in practice.Context and implicationsRationale for this studyThis literature review was undertaken on behalf of a teacher's organisation to consider the evidence base for citizenship education.Why the new findings matterThe review demonstrates the breadth of evidence for the positive impact of citizenship education and highlights several avenues for further exploration relating to school ethos, action projects and reducing inequalities.Implications for researchers and educational institutionsImplications for practice relate to the importance of how students perceive the ethos of the school as a whole, as well as their experiences when learning citizenship. This has specific implications for school leaders whose support is required to nurture a positive school ethos (beyond the formal curriculum). Implications for citizenship teachers include making use of short, partial active citizenship projects more routinely; and adopting strategies for closing the civic gap. Researchers are urged to move beyond large‐scale surveys to explore longitudinal studies in specific contexts to track impacts over time for different students.

AbstractAssumptions around the association between boredom and creativity are contentious. Although studies suggest positive effects of boredom, it is also considered a negative predictor of creativity. Researchers also assume that creativity reduces boredom, but boredom can also occur during creative tasks. In this review, we identify and systematise the empirical evidence available to date on the association between creativity and boredom in educational contexts. The string‐guided electronic search yielded 2849 publications. Nineteen publications based on 27 empirical studies met the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers extracted definitions, theories, methods, operationalisations, measurement instruments, and outcomes from the studies using a coding scheme. We identified a range of different theoretical and methodological approaches. The largest cache of empirical evidence was obtained from experimental and quasi‐experimental studies (five positive associations, four negative, two contradictory, and three insignificant results). Correlation studies identified three negative, one contradictory, and seven insignificant correlations between boredom and creativity. In addition, two studies with exploratory, statistically not relevant results contributed to the body of research. The results from the identified and evaluated studies argue both for and against the sensitivity of creative processes in relation to boredom—but a clear causal, positive or negative effect of boredom on creativity is not currently supported by the empirical evidence available. Previous research has also not yet demonstrated an apparent effect of creative states or traits on academic boredom. Future research should aim to explore under what circumstances different relationships between boredom and creativity can be observed and reliably replicated.

AbstractThe COVID‐19 global pandemic was a socio‐scientific issue (SSI) that had an impact on various aspects of life including education. Educational institutions adapted to new learning, teaching and assessment approaches to be effective in responding to the pandemic. This study aims to determine the research trends and contributions of science education during the COVID‐19 pandemic in order to follow up on possible impacts and other crises in the future. The study involved a narrative systematic literature review of 898 articles published in three selected journals from 2018 to 2021. The analysis was divided into two stages. First, to compare research trends between 2018 and 2019 as the baseline with research trends for 2020–2021 during COVID‐19. Second, to systematically analyse the content of articles published between 2020 and 2021 to explore the contribution of science education amidst COVID‐19 descriptively. The results show that the empirical type of research during the COVID‐19 pandemic has increased compared to the baseline. Research topics on learning contexts dominate the baseline and amidst the pandemic, but ‘teaching’ topics are current and future trends in science education research. The three selected journals contributed many publications related to understanding and resolving the crisis during the COVID‐19 pandemic directly and indirectly. In addition, science education amidst COVID‐19 contributes to preparing the younger generation to become resilient citizens capable of dealing with crises. Direct evidence of preparing resilient citizens amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic is contributed by technological and pedagogical knowledge, content and context knowledge, futurising education, and student mobility programmes in science education. Furthermore, indirect evidence is contributed by science education publications published in the three selected journals between 2020 and 2021. Most publications are carried out at the high school level. More articles in the integrated sciences are published than in separate disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and earth/space science. Furthermore, the details of research trends and contributions of science education amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic are discussed.

AbstractEvery country desires and aspires for an education system that caters for learners’ physiological needs, belonging, love, self‐esteem, security and self‐actualisation at the top, which are rarely provided by a few countries. With a review focus on the Ugandan education system, several challenges related to the education borrowing suggestions as proposed by John Dewey have been attributed to creating an environment that has seen most graduates ending up unemployed, and with leadership challenges, inadequate funding, poor teacher perception, low research and innovations in higher institutions of learning, less involvement of the informal sector in development, low literacy levels, political interference among others. Thus this exploratory analytical‐qualitative review focuses on John Dewey's teachings in his book Education and Democracy—specifically chapter 1, ‘Education as Necessity for Life’—with attention on how education as an engine that empowers life, ensures independence through self‐reliance, sustenance, freedom, and is syndrome‐free to enhance appreciation of the contemporary trends in education—critical aspects that are extremely lacking within the current Ugandan education system and can impact on the future of education to the future of education as recommended in National Development Plan III (NDP III). Thus the review recommends that while reflecting on the state of the Ugandan education system, there is a need to revitalise the research and innovations in higher institutions, especially catering for an integral‐education system with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from primary school to university, involvement of the informal sector through skills education as proposed by the Ugandan Vision 2040 and NDP III, as well as addressing low literacy levels and providing adequate teaching and learning through quality and balanced funding from all relevant government agencies and development partners.

AbstractThis paper offers a meta‐analysis scoping study of doctoral dissertations completed in the last 20 years in one doctoral programme of Educational Leadership (EL) at a higher education institution in Texas, aiming at identifying topical foci, epistemology, methodology and main themes. Therefore, we systematically collected, documented, securitised and analysed completed dissertations following the steps identified by PRISMA guidelines. The review aimed to answer the following four questions: (1) What are the general trends of doctoral dissertations in the studied programme? (2) What is the topical foci of these dissertations? (3) What are the prevailing epistemological constructs and genres informing this work? (4) What are the gaps in this research focus within the scope of educational leadership and policy? Based on our analysis, four main key themes were identified: educational leadership and policy, public education, equity and social justice, and race and ethnicity. Further implications, utility of research and future dissertations in educational leadership in this programme and other similar programmes are fully discussed.