Educational Leadership And Management Research Articles

Headteachers’ leadership practices in Ghana: Does a formal qualification in educational leadership and management programme matter?

This study investigated the leadership practices of headteachers (principals) who have obtained formal qualification/certification in educational leadership and management (ELM) programme with their counterparts who have not in a developing country context. The study, which employed the descriptive survey design and a questionnaire as the data collection instrument, was carried out in one educational district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Using a proportionate stratified sampling technique, 220 teachers participated in the study while an independent sample t-test was used as the data analytical technique. Findings from the study showed that there was a statistically significant difference between headteachers who had obtained formal qualification in ELM and headteachers who had not in all six leadership functions explored in the study. The study concludes that the era where prospective headteachers in Ghana and other developing countries are appointed primarily on the basis of their teaching record and rank should give way to a system where formal qualification in ELM would be considered a condition for appointment into headship roles.

Uncovering patterns of author productivity in educational leadership and management in Indonesia

Background of the study: The rapid development in the field of educational leadership and management (EDLM) recently has led to an increase in the number of publications. In line with this, bibliometric analysis has been widely conducted to assess various fields of study, particularly in Indonesia. The abundance of publications also necessitates an examination of the extent to which authors' productivity levels contribute to the field of EDLM in Indonesia. Purpose: This research aims to explore the pattern of author productivity by testing Lotka's Law on publications in the field of EDLM in Indonesia. Method: The testing is conducted using the complete count and straight count methods to compare the results obtained from both approaches. The data for the study were collected from all 44 Indonesian accredited journals in the EDLM field. A total of 7,796 articles were screened based on specific criteria, resulting in a final sample of 5,158 articles with 6,604 authors (complete count) and 4,301 authors (straight count). Findings: The results of the study indicate that the productivity levels of authors in the field of EDLM in Indonesia do not align with Lotka's law. While, most productive authors tend to publish their publication in a single journal only. Conclusion: The study also reveals a disparity in the productivity levels between the two methods, as well as a tendency for productive authors to publish their work in a single journal.

Published Articles on Deputy Principals From 1980 to 2020: A Systematic Literature Review

This article reports on the process and findings on a systematic review of published articles related to deputy principals on the area of educational leadership and management (EDLM). In achieving this purpose, quantitative and bibliometric content analysis methods were employed which studied 61 articles published in 24 international EDLM and educational-based journals. This review effort had examined general patterns of knowledge production, as well as research topics, production volumes, and methods employed by researchers in their deputy principals’ studies. Findings indicates that researchers from the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong have numbers of highest publication of articles on DPs’ knowledge production. Almost half of the topical foci covered on deputy principals are much related to roles and responsibilities, leadership and their professional and leadership development programs. Based on their methodological approach, qualitative case study with interviews, documents analysis and observation are the frequently used when studying deputy principals’ leadership, roles, and responsibilities and their career aspirations. Recommendations are forwarded for knowledge production development related to deputy principals.

School leadership in Indonesia: A systematic literature review

This paper reviews systematically literature on school leadership in the context of Indonesian education from 2004 to 2019. Its purpose is to investigate major issues which exist in the school leadership practices in Indonesia and propose some sustainable solutions so that educational policymakers, stakeholders and scholars can improve their awareness and knowledge of school leadership. Eight core international EDLM (educational leadership and management) journals were used as the source of the literature. Additionally, a high-quality journal with the indexation of Scopus and Social Sciences Citation Index, Asia Pacific Journal of Education (APJE), was included. The literature search yielded 16 articles that were reviewed. This study reports several crucial issues that need to have serious attention paid to them, including a lack of capacity to lead and manage schools, insufficiency of published studies, and the inappropriateness of principal selection processes. The suggested solutions for these problems consist of developing principal training centres in all the provinces of Indonesia, conducting more collaboration with overseas scholars, and improving principal selection procedures. Contributions for theory, practices and further study are provided.

The elusive Malayan tiger ‘captured’: A systematic review of research on educational leadership and management in Malaysia

Substantial progress has been made in the knowledge base of educational leadership and management (EDLM) in societies across the world. However, the evidence base in developing countries such as Malaysia remains limited. Thus, this article reports the results of a systematic review of research on EDLM in Malaysia. The review aimed at describing key features of the Malaysian knowledge base in EDLM with respect to publication volume, journal outlets, types of papers published, distribution of knowledge production across its states and key scholars, and the composition of research topics, methods, and maturity of its knowledge production. The review database encompassed 328 journal articles in English and Malay language published on EDLM in Malaysia. Systematic methods were applied in the identification of sources and data extraction from the journal articles. Data analysis relied primarily on quantitative methods for data interpretation to reveal the variability in patterns of knowledge production in Malaysia EDLM. The review found that the Malaysian literature in EDLM is largely contemporary; however, it is an ‘immature but emerging literature’ which bears similarities to literatures in other developing societies in Asia. Recommendations are made for topics, methods and other areas where capacity development is warranted.

Systematic review of research on educational leadership and management in Muslim societies

This article reports the results of a systematic review of research on educational leadership and management (EDLM) in Muslim societies. Quantitative methods were employed to examine 362 articles published in eight core international EDLM journals. This review examined general patterns of knowledge production, as well as research topics, conceptual models, and methods employed by scholars in Muslim societies. The results show that 44% of the articles had been published in the past 4 years, and 67% in the past 8 years. Turkey, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) qualified as the largest producers of knowledge production (45.6%). Almost 88.4% of the literature consisted of empirical studies with topical foci focused on leadership in K-12, principals, organizational behavior, climate, and culture. Recommendations were provided to advance the development of knowledge production in the field.

Research on school principals in the Gulf states: A systematic review of topics and conceptual models

In view of the growing emphasis by educational leadership and management (EDLM) scholars on diversifying the existing knowledge base in the field, this review of research analysed topics and conceptual models employed in 104 studies on school principals from the Arabian Gulf states published between 2000 and 2019. Systematic review methods were used to identify relevant studies documented in Arabic databases hosted by Dar Almandumah. Information was extracted from the articles and analysed using quantitative methods. The results revealed similarities between the data set under review and EDLM research from other developing countries in terms of research topics and conceptual development. Weaknesses are highlighted and recommendations are offered for strengthening future studies on school principals in the region.

Mapping the field of educational leadership and management in the Arabian Gulf region: A systematic review of Arabic research literature

The purpose of this systematic review was to identify trends in educational leadership and management (EDLM) knowledge production in the Arabian Gulf region, drawing on a database of 272 studies published in local (Arabic) journals over a 10-year period (2009–2018). The review focused on the geographic distribution of the literature, authorship trends, types of studies, research topics, research methods and data collection techniques. The study employed quantitative methods aimed at highlighting patterns of EDLM knowledge production rather than synthesising research findings. The study used the Arabic databases hosted by Dar Almandumah (EduSearch, EcoLink, IslamicInfo, AraBase, and Humanindex), in addition to the Shamaa database to identify relevant sources. The study found that the literature under investigation reflected many of the features characterising EDLM literatures from other developing countries, especially in terms of the types of studies, topical coverage and research methods. The most notable features included uneven geographic distribution, predominance of single-authored papers, absence of certain important topics, prevalence of empirical articles, and heavy reliance on quantitative research methods and data collection techniques. Recommendations were provided to improve future EDLM research in the region. The study supports findings from previous reviews of EDLM literature in the Arab region and highlights the need for more concerted efforts to enhance the quality and relevance of this literature to increase its ability to inform policy and practice.

Finding Europe’s niche: science mapping the knowledge base on educational leadership and management in Europe, 1960–2018

ABSTRACT This review of research used science mapping to document European literature in the field of educational leadership and management (EDLM) and assess the extent to which there is a distinctive ‘European niche’ in this field. The review documents the volume, growth trajectory, and geographic distribution of EDLM scholarship and analyzes the intellectual structure and key topics studied in this literature. The authors identified 1,039 articles authored in continental European societies that had been published in 22 Scopus-indexed, EDLM journals. Bibliographic data associated with these articles were exported from Scopus and analyzed using Excel and VOSviewer programs. The review identified a robust European literature distinguished by 4 Schools of Thought. Two of these, ‘School Improvement and School Effectiveness’, and the ‘Social-Economic Effects of Education’ evidenced strong contributions from European scholars. Our results provide a baseline for future reviews of this literature and a basis for benchmarking the European literature against other regional literatures in EDLM from around the world.

Why has critical realism not been used more in educational leadership and management research? A critical realist exploration

ABSTRACTCritical realism is an established post-positivist philosophy applied by researchers in a number of fields and yet it is little used in educational leadership and management (ELM) research. This article responds to calls from the field for a more critical approach to educational leadership and management research by offering critical realism as a way to address these concerns and it explores why critical realism has not featured more in the field, particularly as it could provide that more critical approach. The use of critical realism as an analytical approach as well as a content enables the linkage of the calls from ELM to critical realist features and then to some constraints upon its use in the field. The theory around the application of critical realism is advanced providing insights for researchers in its use, though no claim is made that critical realism is the only way to do so.

A systematic review of educational leadership and management research in Turkey

Purpose While the current knowledge in the field of educational leadership and management (EDLM) has been primarily based on research produced in English-speaking Western societies, there have been significant efforts by other societies to contribute to the knowledge production, especially during the past decade. The purpose of this paper is to identify the contribution of Turkey to the international EDLM literature by investigating the topical focus, conceptual frameworks and research designs of papers published by EDLM scholars from Turkey. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive content analysis method was employed to examine 315 empirical, review, conceptual and commentary papers published by Turkish scholars in core educational administration and Web of Science journals. The time period of the review left open-ended. However, in practical terms, it begins in the year 1994 when the first article from Turkey was published in any of the selected sources and ends at the end of 2018. Information relevant to the research was extracted from each article and was coded to facilitate quantitative analysis. Using Excel software, descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages were provided for each research question. Findings Results show that Turkish EDLM scholars mostly rely on survey based quantitative research approach, employing advanced statistical techniques in the analysis of the data. However, mixed method and qualitative studies are relatively less common. Organizational behavior, school leadership and emotions stand out as most frequently used topics, while Turkish scholars are not interested in analyzing the educational outcomes such as student achievement and school improvement. Consistent with the findings related to topical foci, a large number of those who were interested in correlational studies examined the relationship between leadership roles and organizational behaviors. Research limitations/implications The data set only included journal articles and excluded conference proceedings, books and theses/dissertations. Nevertheless, the authors believe this review adds significantly to previous reviews of local EDLM journals conducted by Turkish scholars. The authors concluded that the Turkish scholars should direct their future research to exploring and better understanding the practices of Turkish principals in schools by: diversifying their research topics; incorporating more qualitative and mixed-method designs; and taking into account specific features of the culture and educational system in Turkey. Practical implications Based on the current higher education context, reducing scholars’ teaching load, diversifying research funding opportunities, and modifying access to tenure tracks seem necessary interventions to support EDLM research with strong ties to practice and to the sociocultural context. In addition, policy changes aiming professionalization of administrative positions and establishing some forms of formal training for school principalship are needed. Such changes can help transfer the knowledge produced by the Turkish EDLM researchers to the practice and provide solutions to problems related to school administration. Originality/value This paper will add to recent effort to identify how a developing nation outside Western perspective approaches the field, and contributes to the global knowledge base.

Science mapping the knowledge base on educational leadership and management from the emerging regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, 1965–2018

This bibliometric review of research sought to document and compare trends in educational leadership and management (EDLM) knowledge production from the emerging regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Using a science mapping methodology, the review identified 1171 articles published in nine “core” EDLM journals between 1965 and August 2018. This represented 22% of the full corpus of articles published in these EDLM journals during this period of time. Despite representing a relatively small portion of the overall corpus, these studies from emerging regions grew to comprise 42.5% of the corpus published between 2015 and 2018. Despite this broad pattern of growth, there was also significant geographical variation in the volume of articles published in these journals both between and within the regions. The review also identified “canonical scholars and documents” that have demonstrated lasting influence on this knowledge base. Co-citation analyses also revealed several schools of thought within this literature. The review concludes that the global literature in EDLM is undergoing a significant change in composition. The findings will inform scholarly efforts to develop a more diverse, representative, and globally relevant knowledge base. Recommendations are offered for strengthening the quality and scope of research from emerging regions of the world.

Learners as leaders in Namibian schools: taking responsibility and exercising agency

Educational leadership and management (ELM) research has, all-too-often, attributed a positional quality to leadership and equated school leadership with the principal at the top of the management hierarchy. We argue that leadership is not limited by formal authority and can be exercised by individuals and groups other than the principal. Of specific interest to us is the leadership of learners. However, research in this niche area is limited, and particularly so in African countries such as Namibia. Framed by the concepts of learner voice and democratic citizenship, this article focuses on the leadership development of Namibian school learners and argues that learners should be treated as people whose ideas matter. It draws on a Bachelor of Education Honours ELM elective which required Honours students (practicing teachers) to establish leadership clubs in their schools and involve learners in a change initiative in pursuit of leadership development. The research which informed this article was designed as a case study to explore learner voice and the development of leadership across extra-curricular leadership clubs in 32 Namibian schools. Data were generated from a number of different sources and analysed thematically. The purpose of this article is two-fold; first to give a broad overview of the 32 Namibian clubs and show, through the identification of the focus areas of their club projects for the year, ‘what mattered’ to learners, and second to discuss, in detail, one of these 32 clubs. On the basis of our findings, we argue that learners can indeed be developed as leaders through the introduction of learner leadership clubs in schools. Given the appropriate forum, learners are able to articulate what matters to them in schools; they are able to develop a voice. Given the right conditions and concomitant support, learners can enact leadership, particularly when they have conceptualised the school change initiative. Because learners are central to school life, they are well placed to bring about school change. Yet, we caution, the leadership development of learners is unlikely to be sustained without bold and continued leadership on the part of teachers and the school management team.

Systematic review of research on educational leadership and management in Latin America, 1991–2017

The purpose of this systematic review was to further our understanding of educational leadership and management (EDLM) knowledge production in Latin America. We conducted a “topographical review” of 48 articles from Latin America published in eight “core” EDLM journals published between 1991 and 2017. Data analysis focused on analyzing identified modal trends as well as highlighting variability in patterns of knowledge production. Notably, 75% of the studies had been published in the past 10 years, and 56% in the past five years. Geographic coverage was highly uneven across Latin America. While there were 19 articles from Chile, numerous Latin American societies were unrepresented in the database. Almost 80% of the corpus consisted of empirical studies and topical foci were highly diverse. Comparison of these results with findings reported in recent reviews of EDLM research from other developing societies yielded recommendations for enhancing research capacity and output in Latin America. A key limitation of the review was its exclusion of local language sources. This led to the further recommendation for Latin American scholars to undertake broader multi-language reviews of the EDLM knowledge base in Latin America.

Knowledge production on educational leadership and management in Arab societies: A systematic review of research

The study that we report in this paper was undertaken within the context of recent efforts to diversify the global knowledge base in educational leadership and management (EDLM). This systematic review of research synthesized trends in EDLM research from Arab societies published between 2000 and 2016. In contrast with Oplatka and Arar's (2017) recent review of theories and findings within the Arab EDLM literature, this review focused on synthesizing trends in knowledge production. The review employed systematic methods to identify 62 articles published in nine core international EDLM journals. Information was extracted from the articles and analyzed using quantitative methods. Trends identified in the review were benchmarked against findings reported in recent reviews EDLM research from other developing societies in Asia and Africa. The review found that the Arab EDLM literature is relatively small, largely of recent vintage, and geographically dispersed. No ‘centers of research excellence’ were identified either in terms of societies or universities within the Arab world. The Arab EDLM literature is composed primarily of empirical studies with few conceptual or review papers. The authors conclude that this is an ‘emerging literature’ which bears similarities to literatures from other developing societies in Asia and Africa. Recommendations for strengthening future EDLM research from this region center on developing research capacity through international networking among Arab scholars and encouraging scholars to conceptualize distinctive features of leading and managing in Arab societies.

Surfacing a hidden literature

Scholars throughout the world are working to diversify the knowledge base in educational leadership and management (EDLM). In concert with this effort, this article reports the results of a systematic review of research on EDLM in Africa. The goals of the review were to describe trends with respect to the volume of journal publications, national sources, research designs, methods, topics, authors and citation impact. The review database was comprised of 506 journal articles published on EDLM in Africa. A conceptual framework was used to organize the review, consisting of context and personal antecedents, leadership/management, teachers and school, and school outcomes. Systematic methods were employed to identify sources and extract data from the articles. Data analysis relied on quantitative synthesis aimed at identifying trends within Africa as a region, across its composite societies, and in change over time. The review found a surprisingly large literature, 90% of which had been published since 2005. This impression of an ‘emerging literature’ was reinforced by other trends, which bore a striking resemblance to features of the American literature in the 1970s and Asia post-2000. Recommendations are made for topics and methods as well as areas where capacity development is warranted.

Using assessment strategically to gestate a student thesis: learning through community

In the context of higher education in South Africa and drawing on the author's experience as a lecturer in two higher education institutions (HEIs), this article presents her attempts to bring together - and into balance - teaching, supervision and research in an endeavour to offer a transformative learning experience for her post graduate students. It does this by foregrounding student assessment in the Master of Education (MEd) degree in the field of Educational Leadership and Management (ELM) where the development of a half thesis, underpinned by research, stands as the evidence of success. The author suggests that the MEd (ELM) degree be conceptualised differently in order that the half thesis be permitted to gestate over a two-year period. Within this conceptualisation, she argues that inspired teaching and meaningful research is best attained through a community of learning approach which seeks to foreground participatory learning, the advancement of scholarly discourse and the development of student agency. Through the use of a case study, the author provides evidence to suggest that a range of authentic assessment strategies which are purposeful and in alignment with the teaching strategies, the content and the intended outcomes of the qualification being taught are essential. She further argues that well-crafted, formative, recursive and sustainable feedback is an essential part of the gestation process.

Invoking learner voice and developing leadership: what matters to learners?

Educational leadership and management (ELM) research overly focuses on adult leadership development at the expense of leadership of learners. Framed by the concept of learner voice, this article focuses on learner leadership and argues that learners should be treated as people whose ideas matter. It draws on a Bachelor of Education Honours (ELM) elective which required students (practicing teachers) to establish school leadership clubs and involve learners in a reform initiative in pursuit of leadership development. The longitudinal study which informed this article was designed as a multi-case study to explore learner voice and the development of leadership across 44 leadership clubs drawing on three data sources. The study found that while the phenomenon of learner leadership was not common across schools, leadership clubs offered a space for the development of learner voice. Learner voice was generated in relation to the school physical environment, English proficiency amongst learners, improved learner conduct, developments pertaining to the extra-mural curriculum, and leadership training initiatives. In addition, the clubs afforded learners the opportunity to initiate and lead a change project in their schools. However, the take-up of learner leadership as a whole school initiative was problematic in the majority of schools. The article concludes with some suggestions for a future research agenda emerging out of the first phase of the project.