School Leadership Development Research Articles

Exploring the Perceptions of Omani School Principals About Their Leadership Preparation: A Mixed-Methods Study

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore school leadership preparation and development in Oman. Based on quantitative and qualitative data collected through surveys and focus group interviews, the study investigated how a sample of public school principals perceived their principalship preparation. The investigation included leadership learning experiences, adequacy of leadership preparation, problematic leadership areas, and conceptions of effective preparation. The study findings showed that while Omani principals felt they were adequately prepared for principalship, certain leadership aspects have remained problematic for them. Participants expressed their preference for organized training combining theoretical and practical elements but specifically valued experiential learning activities.

Advancing Leadership Education and Development: Integrating Adult Learning Theory

Leader development serves as a strong focus in the mission statements of many business school programs. Looking at business school leader development programs through the lens of adult learning theory, we assert that there is an overreliance on cognitive training (e.g., lecture) as the primary form of education used in preparing future business leaders, neglecting other relevant learning orientations. In response, we advance a comprehensive model of business leader education and training that incorporates and integrates five primary orientations to adult learning (cognitivist, behaviorist, humanistic, social cognitive, constructivist). We argue that other professional training curricula, most notably, medical school and military education, draw more fully on these five orientations to adult learning and that these represent comparative models for what business schools could be doing in leader development. We conclude by providing concrete suggestions for how business educators might apply the model in their own programs.

Coaching, professional community, and continuous improvement: rural school leader and coach development in a research-practice partnership

ABSTRACT The increased need for effective school leadership development, especially in rural and high-needs schools, has led to an increase in research-practice partnerships between districts and universities. Yet, there is a need for systematic analysis of the outcomes of such partnerships. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of a leadership development initiative on 16 school leaders and eight leadership coaches and their leadership and leadership coaching practices. The initiative, the Leadership Learning Community (LLC), was created through a research-practice partnership between a consortium of 12 predominantly rural, high-poverty school districts and two universities to meet the districts’ leadership development needs. The results of the study demonstrate the benefits of rural school districts partnering with other districts and universities to provide cross-district leadership development through facilitated professional communities and job-embedded coaching to develop rural school leaders and coaches able to lead continuous school improvement efforts.

School Leader Identification: Perceptions of Australian Faith-Based Education System Employees

This article aims to contribute to the literature on school leadership identification. It adopts an Australian faith-based education system case study to explore classroom teacher and school-based administrator perceptions of both current and future school leadership identification practices. This research utilised a qualitative research design, adopting semi-structured interviews to collect employee perceptions. The respondents identify six areas of importance for school leadership identification. These include:1) defining what constitutes excellence at the classroom, school, and system levels of leadership; 2) formalising school leadership identification processes; 3) conversing with early career teachers around school leadership aspirations; 4) improving processes to communicate interest in school leadership roles; 5) heightened levels of communication between school principals and system administrators regarding high potential teacher leaders; and 6) providing school-based opportunities for school leadership development.

Тeacher Professionalism and Leadership: Developing Teacher Leadership in Four Schools in Kazakhstan

This paper provides an account of an action-based study (Kemmis et al., 2014), which was conduct- ed with the purpose to develop teacher leadership in four schools in Kazakhstan. By drawing on a non- positional approach to teacher leadership (Frost et al., 2000), this study sought bottom-up approaches to educational reform, school leadership and professional development in schools in Kazakhstan. The nine-month intervention programme, which was called the Teacher Leadership for Learning and Col- laboration, introduced strategies and created conditions for teachers to lead educational improvement at classroom, school and system level. Teachers’ leadership projects had an impact on classroom and whole-school practices. The outcomes of this study indicate that there is a need for revisiting teachers’ professional roles in schools and transforming schools into a learning organisation. As such, educational reform and improvement requires building local capacity, which may involve creating conditions for leadership development and teacher empowerment within schools. Key words: teacher leadership development, school leadership, professional learning, school re- form, action-based research.

Exploring causal relationships qualitatively: An empirical illustration of how causal relationships become visible across episodes and contexts

Causal relationships are traditionally examined in quantitative research. However, this article informs the discussion surrounding the potential use of qualitative data to explore causal relationships qualitatively through an empirical illustration of a school leadership development team. As school leadership development is supposed to offer continuing development to practicing school leaders, it brings into question the issue of causal relationships. This study analyzes audio and video recordings from 10 workshops involving a team of principals, municipality leaders, and researchers who met over two years to support the principals in leading a local school improvement program. The process data are organized into episodes and analyzed in three layers of causation an interpretative layer, a contradictory layer, and an agentive layer grounded in cultural-historical activity theory. When tracing a problem statement across episodes and relating the processes to events in a principal practice, causal relationships became visible across the episodes and contexts. The argument, then, is that the results are achieved in the processes. As such, process data can reveal causal relationships that quantitative data cannot.

Strategy as learning in multi-academy trusts in England: strategic thinking in action

ABSTRACT Multi-academy trusts are groups of schools in England led by an Executive Head Teacher and a Board of Trustees. High profile failures of these organisations raise questions over the way they are strategically led. Leadership studies argue that the absence of strategic thinking is a major detractor from performance & sustainability. However, creating strategy for a single organisation is very different to creating it for a collaboration. This article adopts a schema-based approach to examine the ways in leadership boards approach strategy as learning. Drawing on 42 qualitative interviews it asks: What evidence is there that strategy is a learning activity; What organisational implications are there for this? What are the implications of this for Trustee and CEO development in this area? And what theoretical contribution does this study make to what is known about strategy learning in multi-level organisations? The paper concludes that there is evidence to suggest that respondents view strategy as learning, whilst also suggesting areas for professional development for school leaders. From a theoretical perspective, the paper adds to knowledge on the role of metacognition in a strategy as learning approach to strategic decision-making.

Caring practices and social justice leadership: case studies of school principals in Scotland and USA

ABSTRACT This article explores how headteachers/principals engage in social justice leadership practice using data gathered from the Scottish and American contributions to the International School Leadership Development Network’s (ISLDN) research on social justice leadership. While the literature focuses on high-level strategies to address issues of equity there is limited discussion of the day-to-day practice of social justice leadership. In fostering inclusive cultures, the day-to-day practice of headteachers/principals is critical in challenging low-level forms of discrimination, micro-aggressions, which create hostile environments for diverse groups of learners. The article considers the concept of ‘leadership practice’ by examining the notion of relational leadership to highlight the social processes of ‘organising activities’ of leadership. In this, we focus on caring practices and explore these through four case studies of headteachers/principals recognised for their social justice leadership. A framework of Noddings’ caring practices of modelling, dialogue and confirmation as relational organising activities, is used to begin to capture the day-to-day practice of social justice leadership.

Principals’ views on continuing professional development programmes: Evidence from Malaysia

This study reports on the professional development and school leadership programmes requested by principals in Malaysian schools. A total of 557 principals provided feedback on their preferred school leadership and professional development programmes which they believed as essential to be effective school leaders. Based on their feedback, mentoring was named the most needed leadership development programme as it allowed access to the guidance, knowledge and skills of senior principals. As for school leadership courses mentioned by school principals, financial management was considered as most useful. The study concludes by recommending suggestions to improve principals’ professional development programmes in Malaysia.

The Meaning of Mission Statements to School Practice and Professional Development: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

While mission statements (MSs) are included in schools often due to governing policy, evidence suggests they remain underutilized by leaders. Scant research is undertaken with regard to school mission statements and how these affects daily practice. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the extent to which school MSs influence daily practice, as well as professional development for school leaders and teachers. This study draws upon interviews with six individuals who lead or teach at two different international schools. The findings provide valuable insight into how MSs are experienced by leaders and teachers. The paper concludes with a discussion around the potential implications for policy makers and school leaders who wish to shape school culture and professional development.

School Leadership Development Process and Its Implementations in Public Secondary Schools of Bale Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The purpose of the study was to assess School leadership development process and is implementations in Oromia regional state Bale zone public secondary schools. To achieve this purpose, a survey research design, in focus, was used. Both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select participants from various groups. To this effect, total of 16 secondary schools were selected. There are total of 1046 populations from these 367 teachers selected by simple random and 41 school leaders were selected by available sampling techniques. Among 375 questionnaires distributed to secondary schools teacher and school leaders, 346 (92%) were properly filled and returned for analysis. Quantitative data have been presented via mean standardization and independent sample t test data analysis methods were used. The major findings of the study revealed that the current implementations of school leadership development process in the study area showed that school leadership development implementations has problems specially in selection, recruitment, assignment of school leaders for development before and after development. School leadership development process during implementations mainly dominated by political affiliation and intimacy were seen during school leaders recruitment, selection and assignment in the zone. The researcher recommended that secondary school leaders’ selection, recruitment and assignment had better implemented on the basis of clear and well defined criteria. The Education office has to adjust open access and diversified methods to invite potential applicants; they have to give the value to academic qualification merit based during selecting.

Professional Development of Secondary School Leadership: Experiences and Expectations

This study is an attempt to explore the formal and informal professional training experiences of principals. The study also explored the barriers faced by them in the pursuit of professional development programs/training. This qualitative research study was based on interpretive paradigm. The data was collected through in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze data. The results revealed that the principals come across many negative and positive situations every day. Some of them were never given the opportunity for professional training. Others stated some professional and personal problems which generally create hurdles in the pursuit of professional development programs. They also emphasize the importance of teamwork. It was suggested that here should be a conduct of separate administrative trainings specifically designed for school principals/ heads and trainers/ resource persons should be highly qualified in the field of educational administration.

Liderazgo Directivo en Escuelas que Superan las Barreras del Contexto

Los directivos escolares son factores clave en el logro de buenas escuelas y esto es especialmente relevante en contextos de desigualdad como América Latina en general y Argentina en particular. El objetivo de investigación es comprender de qué manera el liderazgo directivo escolar opera como factor de equidad y eficacia en escuelas. Se adopta un enfoque cualitativo, de estudio de casos múltiples, centrado en las prácticas de directivos de cuatro escuelas secundarias públicas de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Para la selección de escuelas se toman los resultados del Índice de Equidad y Calidad de la Educación Porteña (IECEP) elaborado por el Ministerio de Educación de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires para sus escuelas secundarias y como indicador de vulnerabilidad educativa se considera el nivel educativo de la madre promedio por escuela, calculado por el mismo organismo. Los resultados aportan concepciones y prácticas del liderazgo directivo, que consisten en sostener una visión crítica y reflexiva sobre los problemas de desigualdad, construir un proyecto compartido con sentido de comunidad, mantener altas expectativas y compromiso pedagógico y promover estrategias equitativas y de inclusión. Los hallazgos son consistentes con la literatura de investigación sobre liderazgo pedagógico, inclusivo y distribuido. Las conclusiones realizan un aporte para las políticas educativas de desarrollo del liderazgo directivo, destinadas al logro de sistemas educativos de mayor calidad y más justos.

Leadership preparation, career pathways and the policy context: Irish novice principals’ perceptions of their experiences

Given recent large-scale reform of school leadership and management policy with implications for leadership preparation, the Republic of Ireland is an interesting context in which to explore leadership preparation. Although policy reforms have influenced the preparation and development of school leaders at all levels in the system, there is little available research on principals’ perceptions of their preparation to lead schools in the contemporary policy context. Addressing this gap in the research, in this study 12 recently appointed, novice primary and post-primary principals’ perceptions of their preparation to become a school leader and the reformed policy context are documented and analysed. Thematic analysis of principals’ accounts exposes a range of dualities they must navigate owing to recent reforms. Their accounts also paint their diverse pathways towards the principalship, illuminate challenges and complexities on this pathway and in their current position. Their perspectives inform a more dynamic framework of leadership preparation than that of the leadership pipeline, a common metaphor in leadership preparation, with relevance for many actors in the system, including policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and those involved in selection and appointment. Implications are drawn for the Irish context but may also be relevant to other jurisdictions considering or implementing reform of school leadership preparation.

Autonomy, leadership and leadership development in England’s school system

ABSTRACT The policy context for schools in England places great emphasis on leadership and autonomy as drivers of educational improvement. The purpose of this article is to explore how we can better understand, in this context, the challenges of leadership and autonomy and the conditions of leadership development that support or hinder the practice of ethical autonomy. The article summarises analyses of autonomy and the conditions affecting leadership preparation and development in England; in presenting the first of these two analyses, a definition is established of autonomy as adopting for oneself the principles to guide ethical action. The outcomes of the analyses are then considered together in order to frame thinking about the challenges entailed in autonomy and leadership. A key proposition is that principled autonomy is at the heart of this frame of thinking. At the conclusion of the article, implications are suggested for school leaders concerning the conditions for leadership development in schools.

Who Lead the School? The Influence of State Politics in School Leadership, Ethiopia

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

Critical skills for deputy principals in South African secondary schools

The development of critical skills for deputy principals is a matter which deserves attention, owing to the critical role which deputy principals are expected to play in school management. However, this area of research is neglected and has received limited attention in the literature that focuses on school leadership development. In this vein, the critical skills needed by deputy principals should be identified in order to suggest measures or programmes to develop the skills. Moreover, the role of deputy principals in school management and leadership brings expectations which need to be met through effective performance. In order for deputy principals to perform their duties as expected, they need proper skills and professional development. The purpose of the study reported on here was to identify and establish the extent of the need of critical skills for deputy principals in secondary schools. In order to achieve the aim of the study, a quantitative survey was adopted to collect the data. The paradigm used was the post-positivist paradigm. The participants in the study were 157 secondary school deputy principals from one province in South Africa. Data were gathered using a standardised questionnaire and analysed by means of descriptive statistical techniques, including frequencies, means and percentages. The results reveal that deputy principals in the studied sample needed positional-awareness or role-awareness, technical, socialisation and self-awareness skills in order to perform their duties effectively. We recommend a preparation programme, mentoring and ongoing professional development to develop these skills for deputy principals in order to empower them to contribute to the attainment of quality education.

Professional development of school leadership as boundary work: patterns of initiatives and interactions based on a Norwegian case

ABSTRACT Research on the professional development of school leadership often highlights the value of partnerships across institutions. Increasingly, partnership has been labeled boundary work. However, few empirical studies have been conducted on school leaders’ professional development as boundary work. The aim is to contribute empirical insight into the phenomenon based on a specific case and present findings from a qualitative study. The study is grounded on audio and video data collected over a 2-year period in a team of participants from schools, a local educational authority, and a university in Norway. This enables attention to the minute details of participant discursive initiatives and interactions. The third generation of the cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) is the chosen theoretical framework. Through extensive coding of discursive individual initiatives during 10 meetings, the analysis revealed 13 types of initiatives and their patterns of distribution across the three institutions. The interaction analysis shows how the different initiatives contributed to an expansion of the problem-spaces being worked on and how the issues of leadership, power, and authority emerged in the interactions. Attention to the initiatives and the interactions is essential to ensure that boundary work aids school leadership development in the future.

Professional development for school leaders in England: decision-making for social justice

ABSTRACT A study of nine headteachers in England, using a research protocol developed and carried out in Ontario, finds implications for the professional development of school leaders with respect to their decision-making to achieve greater equity. The types of professional development that leaders found to be most effective within their particular contexts are identified. The challenges faced by school leaders are explored in relation to their efforts to reduce context-specific achievement gaps. The data generated from semi-structured interviews are examined within the context of the English school system, which is highly neoliberalised and has a performative driven policy landscape. The impact of this context on the practice of school leadership for social justice is discussed and, in particular, how data-based decision-making can be improved through professional development in order to achieve more equitable outcomes, especially for disadvantaged students. The paper has relevance for practitioners in how its findings illuminate professional development practices that school leaders might benefit from and from an argument that reflective and reflexive school leaders are more likely to make objective, critically informed decisions.

Transformational Leadership Style Training for School Leaders

This research focused on the training of school leaders in transformational leadership - which is recommended for educational leaders all over the world (Alkhasawneh, 2018) - and to determine if it impacts their leadership skills or not. Based on relevant literature and training need analysis, training was planned and given to 120 in-service school heads for one month. The research was quasi-experimental that used a one-group pre-test post-test design because no similar group was available. The experimental group was divided into two groups; public and private, for a comparison. Also, a follow-up study was conducted to keep it nearer to the experimental approach. The training delivered to the school principals comprised of selected content about the concept of leadership and transformational leadership. This content was reinforced by real-world examples and relevant leadership activities. Participants were assessed under pre-defined grading criteria that were their attendance, participation, and performance in quizzes and assignments during the training. After completion, they were observed and evaluated for their leadership skills at their workplaces and awarded with the points. This quantitative data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-test for knowing and comparing the results. It was found that the transformational leadership style training had improved the effectiveness and leadership skills of school leaders. Similar training courses have been endorsed by training participants for enhancing the leadership styles of school leaders.
 Keywords: School Leadership, Transformational Leadership Development, School Leadership Development, Transformational Leadership in Schools