Purpose This paper considers whether concepts of educational ecosystems can be used to better understand how professional capital operates within interacting and interrelated organizations and policies in different national systems and influence the effectiveness of educational systems in promoting educational equity. The paper offers analytical insights to inform policies and practices seeking to promote equitable and high-quality education while also contributing to related theory. The ideas in the paper are intended to both contribute to the conceptual discussion on educational ecological frameworks and associated analytical tools. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines descriptive and analytical approaches and draws on five different contexts – United States, Denmark, Scotland, Greece, and Bahrain - to examine how professional capital can help promote educational equity within educational ecosystems at school, municipal, and national levels. Findings The five national examples offer insights at school, municipal, and system-level perspectives to illustrate how ecosystem conditions can shape and be shaped by professional capital. They show how professional capital can be seen as promoting the flow of ‘energy’ within these various levels. The different cases also highlight the factors that support or hinder this process and equitable outcomes. The insights highlight the value of an ecosystem lens for understanding complex systems and advancing educational equity. Originality/value The paper demonstrates the value of adopting an ecosystems perspective to better understand complex educational systems. This perspective is helpful for informing policies and practices that seek to promote equitable education. The paper also contributes to the theory of professional capital as a key factor in advancing equitable, inclusive, and high-quality education.

Purpose This study aims to uncover the role of teacher professional capital (PC) in developing distributed leadership (DL) practices at Turkish public schools. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design. The quantitative phase included a stratified sample of 394 teachers. The qualitative findings reflected the insights of six purposefully selected school principals from the same research site. Findings The results revealed a strong and positive relationship between teachers’ PC and DL. Notably, PC scores significantly predicted 76% of the variance in DL practices. Qualitative findings highlighted the importance of trust-based leadership, shared responsibility and support for teacher development, alongside structural and cultural barriers. Leadership styles, teacher agency and school culture emerged as key contextual factors shaping the enactment of DL. Originality/value The paper expands the existing knowledge base regarding the role of teacher PC in promoting DL practices in centralized educational systems. Incorporating perspectives from both educators and administrators within the school offers valuable insights to policymakers, practitioners and researchers.

Purpose This qualitative study examines the factors that enhance or limit the development of collegiality among schoolteachers in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 teachers to gather insights into their experiences with and perspectives on collegiality. The interview data were then subjected to thematic analysis. Findings Collegiality was influenced by leadership practices, teachers’ personal attributes, cultural and language barriers and workload challenges. Originality/value While collegiality has been widely studied, limited research has explored how cultural diversity, language barriers and leadership styles influence it within the multicultural context of UAE schools. This study contributes original insight by examining the experiences of both expatriate and local teachers working together.

Purpose This study explored the mediating roles of teachers’ intrinsic motivation and sense of identification in the relationship between responsible leadership and teacher work effort. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a sample of 778 teachers working in 75 schools, this study employed multilevel structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships between the study variables at both the teacher level and the school level. Findings The results showed that responsible school leadership was positively related to teacher intrinsic motivation and identification. Likewise, teacher identification and intrinsic motivation were positively associated with teacher work effort. Responsible school leadership is not directly related to teacher work effort, but rather indirectly via intrinsic motivation and identification. Practical implications The findings highlight that responsible school leadership enhances teacher work effort indirectly by fostering intrinsic motivation and identification with the school. To maximize teacher productivity, leaders should focus on creating a supportive environment that promotes autonomy, purpose, and a strong sense of belonging. Originality/value This study provides valuable insights into the indirect mechanisms through which responsible school leadership influences teacher work effort, emphasizing the pivotal roles of intrinsic motivation and identification. Its originality lies in uncovering these pathways, offering practical guidance for leadership practices to enhance teacher engagement and productivity.

Purpose This study explores the relationships between principal trust in teachers, principal well-being, resilience, and leadership for learning. Specifically, we develop and test a theoretical model where principal trust in teachers is treated as the independent variable, leadership for learning as the dependent variable, and principal well-being and resilience as mediators. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 337 principals working in Turkish schools. The theoretical model was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings The results demonstrate a significant direct relationship between principal trust in teachers and leadership for learning, as well as an indirect relationship mediated by principal well-being and resilience. These findings underscore the pivotal role of principals’ personal resources in translating principal trust in teachers into implementing leadership for learning practices. Originality/value This study shifts the focus of trust, well-being, and resilience research from teachers to principals, offering rare empirical evidence on how these variables influence principal leadership. Uniquely positioning leadership for learning as an outcome variable, this study highlights the role of relational and personal resources in shaping leadership for learning practices.

Purpose The study examines how department leadership and principal instructional leadership are associated with teacher professional learning in Chinese primary and middle schools. It focuses on teachers’ perceived learning value of work as a potential mediating factor. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 3,219 teachers across 121 schools. A multilevel moderated mediation model was used to examine the relationships among leadership practices, perceived learning value of work, and teacher professional learning. Findings The results suggest that principal instructional leadership is associated with a stronger relationship between department leadership and teachers’ perceived learning value of work. It may also strengthen the indirect association between department leadership and teacher professional learning via this mediating variable. Originality/value The study highlights that the relationship between department leadership and teachers’ learning experiences may vary depending on the degree of principal engagement in instructional leadership. The findings offer insight into how leadership practices at different levels may jointly support teacher professional learning.

Purpose This study provides empirical evidence on how values act as intangible forms of professional capital that influence teachers’ inclinations to integrate teaching practices with varied pedagogical values. With this knowledge, we employ identity grafting as a key mediating construct to identify the thinking processes that shape teaching practice based on their sensemaking of how differences in values are to be reconciled. Design/methodology/approach This study engaged 634 teachers across multiple schools. We utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine both the direct and mediated impacts of cultural values on teaching practices, employing measurements that we adapted and validated in our study context of Hong Kong. Findings The results confirmed that cultural values significantly influenced teachers’ identity grafting strategies, affecting their teaching practices. Power distance strongly promoted identity reversals, which had a negative impact on teaching practices. Uncertainty avoidance and risk-taking, on the other hand, encouraged identity integration, which positively influenced the diversification of teaching practices. Originality/value This study introduces a novel perspective by exploring how values influence teachers’ abilities to transform professional capital into effective practices. However, working around values with proxy measures to promote educational change may be a less intrusive approach. Hence, we introduce identity grafting as a tool to support teachers in reconciling differences in values during educational change, recognizing that values are a change-resistant aspect of teacher identity.

Purpose This study focuses on the role of Structural Capital as facilitator in professional learning networks(PLN) and organizational learning of university. This study investigates how structural capital mediates between human capital of professional learning networks and organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose of the study, quantitative methodology has been used. A five-point Likert scale survey questionnaire was developed to collect data from 235 teachers from 12 high performing universities of Haryana, India. who are associated in professional learning network. The data are analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 4. Findings The results show that human capital of professional learning networks (PLN) has a positive significant relationship with structural capital of university and organizational learning respectively. Similarly, structural capital also has a positive significant relationship with organizational learning. The mediation analysis shows that structural capital partially mediates the relationship between human capital of PLN and organizational learning. Research limitations/implications The study confirms that structural capital plays a positive role in the upliftment of human capital of PLN and the organizational learning of the university. Thus, university should give special importance to framing policies, regulations and databases to optimize human capital and organizational Learning. Originality/value This study adds to the literature of professional learning networks by describing the importance of facilitators in increasing the skills, abilities of PLN and thereby enhancing the organizational learning.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the interconnectedness of instructional and administrative advice-seeking relationships (ASRs) among school principals within a rural district, controlling for the influence of existing one-way and mutual friendship ties comparatively. Design/methodology/approach We collected data from a low-density rural district in Istanbul, Türkiye. Using exponential random graph models (ERGMs), we performed social network analysis (SNA) to examine the patterns of instructional and administrative ASRs between school principals. Findings Grounded in social capital theory, our research reveals distinct network patterns: Instructional ASRs are characterized by a decentralized, relatively dense, but hierarchical structure, while administrative ASRs tend to be sparse and non-reciprocal. Mutual friendship ties are critical in facilitating instructional ASRs among principals, unlike one-way friendship nominations. Notably, we found a significant transitivity effect; when reciprocal administrative ASRs occur, although they are infrequent, they may lead to increased engagement in instructional ASRs, but the reverse is not significantly observed. Originality/value This research contributes to the social capital theory by introducing likely tie transitions at play, where reciprocal administrative ASRs predict the transition of instructional ASRs, while revealing nuanced asymmetries in network dynamics. In addition, it innovatively employs ERGMs to examine the role of friendship ties in instructional and administrative ASRs, bridging a methodological gap in educational leadership studies. The findings demonstrate how friendship ties facilitate access to instrumental resources in rural settings, offering new insights into relational dynamics within non-urban educational districts.