The increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation into education poses significant ethical and pedagogical challenges. Educators must manage technological adoption and assume the role of philosophical leaders to guide students in critical interactions with AI. This review synthesises theoretical, empirical, and policy contributions on the ethical integration of AI, focusing on philosophical leadership as a framework for teachers’ roles. A Conceptual Integrative Review design, employing a configurative qualitative evidence synthesis as its primary analytical technique, was applied to a refined corpus, following the comprehensive eligibility assessment of 160 full-text articles. The final synthesis systematically coded and integrated findings from 137 included sources, spanning randomized controlled trials and theoretical papers. This embedded approach allowed for the interpretation of quantitative data within a philosophical framework, strictly excluding sources lacking methodological transparency or relevance to the study's scope. The analysis identifies three converging dimensions of philosophical leadership: (i) ethical judgment regarding the risks and benefits of AI; (ii) pedagogical guidance that fosters critical thinking and learner empowerment; and (iii) policy translation, which fundamentally enables educators to seamlessly align daily classroom practices with high-level international governance frameworks. Evidence confirms that AI should enhance, not replace, human educators. Philosophical leadership, strengthened through mentoring and coaching, emerges as a key framework for ethically integrating AI while promoting equity and transparency. Education systems embracing these approaches are better positioned to balance innovation with human-centred values.

Leveraging complex systems: Leading for transformative change

Navigating social and emotional learning evidence in a polarized socio-political environment: A qualitative pilot study of SEL stakeholders

The Relationship Between Educational Leadership Practices of Department Heads and Classroom Interaction in Blended Learning Environments in UAE Secondary Schools from Teachers’ Perspectives

The accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education has intensified expectations regarding instructional quality and learning effectiveness, yet empirical evidence on its pedagogical value remains contextually contingent. This study investigates students' perceptions of AI-enabled teaching in Kazakhstan, with a specific focus on perceived instructional quality dimensions and discipline-related skill development. Grounded in contemporary AI-supported learning literature, a structured self-administered questionnaire was developed and administered using a stratified random sampling design across higher education institutions. Instrument reliability and construct validity were established through Cronbach's alpha and the Rasch Rating Scale Model using a pilot sample representing 10% of respondents. Power analysis indicated a minimum requirement of 1504 observations; 2700 valid responses were ultimately analyzed. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel and RStudio, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test seven hypothesized relationships within the proposed framework. The measurement model exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity, while the structural model showed low multicollinearity, strong explanatory and predictive power, and acceptable fit indices (SRMR, NFI, GoF). The findings reveal that usability, engagement, content quality, and accessibility of AI-based instruction significantly enhance student satisfaction, while instructional quality strongly predicts perceived skill acquisition, particularly in problem-solving, conceptual understanding, and technological competence. Conversely, perceived gains in interpersonal and diagnostic skills were comparatively weaker, and feedback-related pathways were not statistically significant, indicating limitations in current AI feedback mechanisms. The study offers robust perception-driven empirical evidence on the pedagogical implications of AI-integrated instruction in Kazakhstan's higher education system and provides actionable insights for evidence-based instructional design and AI-enabled teaching policy. • Power analysis established a minimum sample of 1504; the study analyzed 2700 valid student responses from Kazakhstan. • A large, demographically diverse dataset enhances the robustness and generalizability of findings on AI-enabled teaching. • PLS-SEM results demonstrate that usability, engagement, content quality, and accessibility significantly drive student satisfaction. • AI-supported instruction strongly predicts problem-solving, conceptual, and technological skill development, while feedback-related effects remain limited. • The findings provide actionable insights for higher education leaders and policymakers to optimize AI-driven teaching and digital strategies.

This article examines the association between perceived social sisterhood and alcohol consumption, binge drinking, hazing tolerance, and hazing rationale among sorority members at a large public university in the Southeast. It provides implications for leadership educators and organizational advisors, focusing on the essential nature of leadership education as a tool for prevention education. The study used a repeated cross-sectional design across four academic years (2021-2024), pooled ordinary least squares regression models with chapter fixed effects were estimated for a sample of 11,832 sorority members across 25 chapters. Findings support the theoretical argument that shared social sisterhood functions as a double-edge sword; a sisterhood that fosters connection and community while increasing behavioral risk.

Purpose This study examines how Nigerian school leaders sustain education amid armed insurgency, communal violence, and separatist unrest. While adaptive leadership theory highlights flexibility and resilience, it offers limited empirical insight into leadership practices in active conflict zones, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study explores how school leaders balance immediate safety concerns with educational continuity under sustained conditions of risk and uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative design was employed. Data were generated through hypothetical crisis scenarios, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with school leaders in conflict-affected regions. Scenarios reflected real challenges, including armed incursions and severe resource shortages. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke's six-phase framework, supported by NVivo 14. Findings Four interrelated dimensions of wartime school leadership emerged: adaptability under uncertainty, provision of psychosocial support, mobilisation of community participation, and organisational flexibility for continuity. Leaders improvised schedules, relocated classes, and established temporary learning environments. Decentralised decision-making and community partnerships enabled rapid responses. Resilience emerged as both a creative survival strategy and an indicator of systemic fragility due to limited institutional support. Research limitations/implications The study draws on a small sample of ten participants and two focus groups, limiting generalisability. Future research could expand to additional regions and comparative contexts. Practical implications Findings highlight the need for leadership training in crisis decision-making, trauma-informed practice, and community mobilisation, alongside policies that institutionalise resilience. Originality/value The study provides empirical insight into leadership during ongoing conflict, extending adaptive leadership theory by emphasising its relational and moral dimensions in fragile contexts.

ABSTRACT This exploratory, qualitative study uses group interviews with thirteen predominantly white principals in one Midwestern U.S. state to initially understand how they make sense of and operationalize Community Engaged Leadership (CEL). The leaders currently work across urban, suburban, and exurban school spaces. This article uses critical whiteness in educational leadership as a key theoretical lens to critically examine the ontological limitations of contemporary principals and the field of educational leadership and leadership preparation, as well as the constraints on CEL praxis. The discussion and its implications thoroughly examine the current shortcomings and future possibilities of equity-focused, community-engaged school leadership and preparation.

Asbestos use has been banned in ~ 70 countries due to its health and environmental implications, even though for decades, evidence of its use in causing mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis has been firmly established. The lack of international governance in dealing with asbestos is complicated by global climatic changes, causing disasters that are dislodging existing asbestos; regional conflicts, which vaporizing asbestos without warning; the fact that the general public does not know how to identify materials containing asbestos, which makes them more vulnerable; and finally, emerging mechanisms for releasing existing asbestos, which are not governed by industrial mechanisms, making the situation worse. This paper, therefore, argues that international leadership, legislative mechanisms, and public education are not optional, but the bare minimum that must be done to stop the use of asbestos and the deaths that result from its use once and for all.

ABSTRACT This study examines how inclusive instructor leadership relates to self-directed learning (SDL) in higher education and tests student agency as a mediating mechanism. Survey data were collected from 195 international students enrolled at a state university in Türkiye. The proposed model was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that inclusive instructor leadership is positively associated with both student agency and SDL, and that student agency is strongly associated with SDL. Mediation analysis further shows that student agency partially mediates the relationship between inclusive instructor leadership and SDL, suggesting that inclusive teaching practices may support students’ autonomous learning primarily by strengthening their sense of agency. The study contributes to higher education teaching and learning research by clarifying a pathway through which inclusive instructor behaviours are linked to student self-directed learning. Practical implications are discussed for inclusive, student-centred instructional design and professional development.

ABSTRACT Care is widely recognised as an important aspect of school life, yet there is little empirical research examining how care is understood and enacted in post-primary (secondary) schools at an organisational level. This paper examines how care is organised, experienced, supported, and constrained within the Education and Training Board (ETB) post-primary sector in Ireland, where care is officially recognised as a core value. Focusing on leadership at the whole-school level, the study aims to explore the gap between care as an espoused ethos or policy aspiration and care as an enacted organisational practice. A sector wide survey was used to collect quantitative data which measured perceptions of care provision and qualitative data examining challenges in the provision of care and the supports required across the sector. Findings indicate that care is experienced through a range of organisational practices, including leadership approaches and structures for pastoral care. This study makes visible the labour through which care is sustained in practice and acknowledges that it is time-consuming, emotionally demanding and unevenly resourced. Participants identified systemic and resource-related challenges that impact the consistent enactment of care across the sector. The study contributes to understanding of care as an organisational construct and highlights implications for educational leadership.

Leadership in educational management has a strategic role in determining the success of educational implementation. This study aims to examine the integrative paradigm between psychology and leadership in educational management, focusing on the psychological dimensions of educational leadership. This research employs a qualitative approach using a systematic literature review method. Data were collected from scientific articles published between 2020 and 2026 through Google Scholar using Publish or Perish. The findings indicate that the integration of psychological perspectives into leadership significantly enhances organizational effectiveness, particularly in fostering work motivation, strengthening interpersonal communication, and improving adaptive decision-making. Furthermore, psychological approaches contribute to conflict management and the development of a positive organizational climate. The study also highlights that leadership effectiveness is strongly influenced by psychological characteristics such as personality, emotional intelligence, and empathy. Therefore, integrating psychology into leadership serves as a strategic foundation for advancing educational management and improving human resource performance sustainably.

ABSTRACT This study validates the Leadership Integral Development (LID) scale as a virtue-based measure of leadership education grounded in an Aristotelian-Thomistic framework. Using data from 2,927 university students in Spain and Mexico, we examined the psychometric properties of the original LID-45 and its abbreviated LID-12. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a coherent three-domain structure—cognitive, relational, and performative—while multigroup CFA demonstrated configural, metric, and scalar invariance across cultural contexts. Convergent validity analyses showed significant associations with character- and virtue-based measures (VIA, QCV, MHM) and with authentic leadership (ALQ), especially in competencies linked to resilience, humility, and magnanimity. These findings underscore the central role of emotional regulation and transcendent virtues in students’ understanding of effective leadership. Overall, the LID emerges as a theoretically grounded, culturally robust, and pedagogically meaningful instrument for formative assessment in higher education, supporting institutions in evaluating leadership programmes and fostering students’ integral formation.

Leadership education in professional graduate programs often prioritizes technical competency over relational and collaborative leadership capacity. This practice article describes the integration of collaborative leadership learning groups (CLLGs) into a graduate veterinary course on shelter operations consultation at Kansas State University. Drawing on leadership-as-practice development (LAPD) frameworks, this article details how the consultation team's own interactions become the "case" for leadership learning. We situate CLLGs within the broader landscape of practice-based leadership pedagogies by briefly comparing this approach to the ontological-phenomenological-phronetic-transformative (OPPT-in) method. Practical implications for leadership educators seeking to embed LAPD into professional graduate curricula are discussed.

ABSTRACT This study systematically reviewed empirical and conceptual research on Islamic educational leadership to identify its core characteristics and administrative principles. Using a systematic review method, the authors examined 18 peer-reviewed studies (11 empirical and 7 conceptual) retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The findings show that Islamic educational leadership operates through two interconnected dimensions: the Islamic Spiritual Core of Leadership, which includes God-consciousness (Taqwa) and sincerity (Ikhlas), and the Application of Islamic Administrative Principles, which includes trustworthiness (Amanah), honesty (Sidq), compassion (Rahma), patience (Sabr), justice (Adl), and consultation (Shura). These dimensions reflect a progression from internal spiritual values to observable leadership practices. Although leadership practices may differ across Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts, the study concludes that Islamic educational leadership is grounded in universal moral and theological principles that transcend geographical boundaries.

Higher education leadership programs increasingly seek to prepare students to navigate complex social, political, and technological environments. Yet the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation in digital media ecosystems remains insufficiently addressed in leadership curricula. Digital media literacy should be treated as a core competency of college student leadership learning. In a digitally mediated public sphere, emerging leaders must evaluate information critically while also communicating responsibly, ethically, and effectively across networked platforms.

Champions are individuals who demonstrate strong commitment to promoting sustained implementation efforts through their expertise, enthusiasm, and influence, and are known to enable the implementation of evidence-based educational programs. However, existing research has predominantly examined champion effectiveness during implementation and early sustainment phases, with limited attention to their role in long-term program or innovation sustainment. This study investigated how champions influence organisational capacity for sustained program implementation over extended timeframes. A multiple case study design examined champion dynamics across three Australian organisations sustaining implementation of the Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) for 10 or more years. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants, including senior leaders, program managers, educational leaders, and practitioners. Thematic analysis informed by critical realist epistemology identified mechanisms through which champions influenced long-term sustainability. Cross-case analysis suggested the presence of what we term a 'champion paradox': the factors that make champions effective in driving implementation may simultaneously create systemic vulnerabilities that can threaten long-term program sustainability. Across these cases, the paradox appeared to operate through three interconnected mechanisms: (1) knowledge concentration, where expertise accumulates in individuals rather than organisational systems; (2) dependency creation, where organisations become reliant on champions for quality assurance, problem-solving, and program continuity; and (3) system capacity prevention, where champion effectiveness conceals organisational need for systematic capacity building. These mechanisms were interpreted as forming a self-reinforcing cycle that may strengthen champion dependency while inhibiting organisational independent capacity. The champion paradox framework invites reconsideration of widespread assumptions that individual champions inherently strengthen organisational implementation capacity. Findings suggest potential value of a shift from champion-dependent to more system-dependent implementation models, with implications for champion selection and development, organisational design, sustainability assessment, and policy frameworks. Implementation strategies may be strengthened by positioning champions as transitional resources focused on building collective organisational capacity rather than as permanent drivers of program quality.

Moral distress is a significant issue among critical care nurses who frequently encounter ethically complex situations that contradict their moral and professional values. In Pakistan, research on this phenomenon remains limited particularly regarding how nurses perceive and manage moral distress. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perspectives of critical care nurses in a public sector tertiary care setting regarding the causes and psychological impact of moral distress, and the strategies employed to cope with it. An exploratory-interpretive qualitative design was employed to explore moral distress among critical care nurses in a public sector tertiary care setting in Pakistan, a low- and middle-income country. This study was guided by Jameton's concept of moral distress, which describes the psychological and ethical conflict experienced when nurses are unable to act according to their professional and moral judgment due to various constraints. Employing purposive sampling techniques, 15 nurses working in Intensive Care Unit at a public sector tertiary care setting were interviewed based on their eligibility and availability. The data were transcribed, analyzed manually, and presented as themes and subthemes. Three themes were extracted. Theme One: 'The Genesis of Moral Distress: A Conflict Between Ethics and Reality', theme two: 'The Pervasive Impact of Moral Distress: Psychological and Professional Toll' and theme three: 'Navigating the Aftermath: Coping in a Constrained Environment'. Findings suggest that moral distress arises from factors such as inadequate staffing, the hierarchical system in Pakistan which gives dominance to physician over nurses, systemic and resources constraint, consequences of moral distress; anxiety, emotional breakdown and reduced job satisfaction leading to burnout. Coping mechanism included avoidance and detachment, peer and family support and spiritual healing. There was a lack of organizational support for coping with moral distress, participants urged for structured and formal support from organization to mitigate moral distress. The study underscores urgent need for organizational support, ethical education and supportive leadership to address moral distress among critical care nurses which directly affect patients care.

ABSTRACT It is important to develop educational leadership skills in academics to benefit their developmental needs, as well as the organisational needs of universities. Faculty development (FD) programmes aimed at developing educational leadership often require participants to implement educational innovation projects. The current study investigates the role these projects and the facilitation by academic developers play in the development of educational leadership. Interviews with three facilitators and six participants from two different leadership programmes indicate that the project serves to connect the programme and practice, acting as a boundary object. Facilitators play an important role in supporting and coaching learning. By referencing their own leadership expertise, they can serve as role-models for participants. It is suggested that academic developers take opportunities to develop their own leadership skills, before facilitating programmes aimed at developing educational leadership.

ABSTRACT This study investigated the extent to which Doctor of Education (EdD) students at Northeastern University integrated social justice principles into their dissertations in practice. To guide this inquiry, the research team developed an operational social justice framework through an iterative process of refinement. The initial aim of the study was to critically evaluate the degree to which students’ research aligned with a comprehensive conception of social justice, particularly in advancing equity and fostering transformative educational practices. As the study evolved, it assumed a dual focus: a) assessing the depth of students’ engagement with social justice and b) serving as a methodological case study on the iterative development and application of the framework itself. Content analysis was used to examine 186 dissertations operationalizing social justice across four dimensions: Educational Access and Equity, Instructional Practice, Community Engagement, and Professional Development. Findings revealed variations in applying social justice frameworks across an EdD program and identified facilitating or hindering factors. Drawing on action research, critical theory, and transformative learning, the study developed an iterative approach prioritizing methodological adaptability specific to social justice. Findings suggest EdD programs should integrate equity-focused action research into curriculum and mentorship to develop socially conscious educational leaders.