Leadership Learning Research Articles

Change leadership for future-ready learning

The author focuses on the problem that modern education should meet the needs and requirements of learners, one of which is readiness for the challenges of the future. This work defines future-ready learning on the example of Confucius’ “Dao” and examines functionalist and humanistic views of student learning. Moreover, policies and initiatives of Singapore’s Ministry of Education are presented along with programmes that support school leaders. Мақала авторы заманауи білім берудің оқушылардың қажеттіліктері мен сұраныстарына жауап беруі керек екеніне баса назар аударады, солардың бірі – болашақтың сын-тегеуріндеріне дайын болу. Бұл жұмыста Конфуцийдің «Дао» мысалы негізінде болашаққа бағытталған оқытудың анықтамасы ұсынылады және оқытудың функционалистік пен гуманистік көзқарастары қарастырылады. Сонымен қатар Сингапурдың Білім беру министрлігінің саясаты мен бастамалары, мектеп көшбасшыларын қолдайтын бағдарламалар ұсынылады. Основное внимание в работе автор акцентирует на том, что современное образование должно отвечать потребностям и запросам учеников, одним из которых является готовность к вызовам будущего. В этой работе дано определение обучения, ориентированного на будущее, на примере «Дао» Конфуция, и рассматриваются функционалистский и гуманистический взгляды на обучение учеников. Кроме того, представлены политика и инициативы Министерства образования Сингапура, а также программы, поддерживающие школьных лидеров.

Building maritime organisational competitiveness through resource, innovation, and resilience: A resource orchestration approach

Shipping operations are increasingly challenged by disruptive events, highlighting the importance of building organisational resilience and competitiveness. To understand the deployment of key socio-technical resources to enhance competitive advantage, this study uses the resource orchestration theory to explore the effects of technological and organisational learning resources on innovation, resilience and competitiveness. The resources identified in this study include digitalisation, technology & partnership, innovation-focused human resource management, digital leadership, and organisational learning. An empirical investigation is conducted in the maritime industry. One hundred and eighty-six maritime professionals participated in an online survey. Structural equation modelling is performed to analyse the collected data. The analysis results reveal that digital and learning resources have positive influences on innovation capability. Specifically, technology collaboration & partnership have the largest impact on innovation capability, followed by digital leadership, innovation-focused human resource management, organisational learning, and digitalisation. Moreover, innovation capability both directly and indirectly positively influences completeness via organisational resilience. This study contributes theoretically by positioning the importance of structuring and bundling technological and organisation learning resources to build innovation capabilities and leveraging resources to enhance resilience and competitiveness. Moreover, this study offers managerial recommendations on how resources can be prioritised to build resilience and develop competitive advantages.

Putting social and emotional learning into practice: Best practices in developing and implementing an SEL program through a university-1st-8th grade partnership

When successfully implemented, social and emotional learning programs can promote a number of positive social, emotional, health, and academic outcomes for youth over time (Bierman et al., 2010; Durlak, 2022; Taylor et al., 2017). Critical to SEL programming in elementary and middle schools is planning and implementation, which involves a number of resources and stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, families, and students (Shoesmith et al., 2021). This paper contributes to SEL implementation in practice for culturally diverse communities. We 1) discuss the SEL curriculum and steps to integrate it into existing curriculum with 1st-8th grade staff, (2) describe development and continuation of university-elementary/middle school partnerships, including planning with teachers and school administrators, as well as district administrators and parents, 3) outline training sessions with university students to become SEL mentors and coordinators, 4) discuss partnership and shifts since the COVID-19 pandemic, and 5) identify implications of this work for practices to be implemented in other schools, especially best practices of SEL delivery to disadvantaged youth, and methods to address diversity and inclusion in working with youth. Through a university-elementary/middle school partnership, students can receive holistic support and growth in critical social and emotional learning skills to address a number of academic, social, and mental health issues. At the same time, such programming integrating university students can create an environment and pathways that allow them to be future leaders in social and emotional learning.

Uncovering the role of principals in enhancing teacher professional learning in a centralized education system

PurposeCurrent school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap in understanding how principals facilitate professional learning, especially in centralized educational settings. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of school leadership in enhancing teacher professional learning within a highly centralized education system.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative case study delves into the lived experiences of 15 teachers and eight school leaders in eight primary schools in Mashhad, Iran. Through semistructured interviews, researchers employed open and axial coding to systematically explore and categorize qualitative data. The study focuses on understanding the role of principal leadership in facilitating teacher professional learning by connecting themes and sub-themes across transcripts.FindingsEffective principals worked on the cultivation of a culture that champions perpetual personal growth and development, the nurturing of a collaborative learning community, and the provision of essential resources and support. Findings showed the pivotal role of principals in promoting teachers' self-development, facilitating idea exchange and acknowledging their efforts. Principals appeared as key to encouraging information sharing, fostering collective learning, promoting professional development, overseeing teaching practices and ensuring the availability of resources to cultivate a supportive climate in a centralized education context.Originality/valueWe concluded that in centralized education, leadership practices for promoting teacher learning share similarities and differences with decentralized settings. The findings offer guidance for principals in centralized systems, supporting them in facilitating teacher professional learning in their schools.

Leading inclusion

The 42 school districts participating in the state of Washington’s Inclusionary Practices Project achieved a significant 12.8% increase in inclusion in the least restrictive environment (LRE 1, or in general education for 80-100% of the school day) over four years, surpassing the state average increase of 6.8%. Katie Novak and Helene Paroff highlight the importance of leadership, collaboration, progress assessment, and continuous professional learning to the success of the project. The project challenges the perception that inclusion is limited to special education and underscores the role of executive sponsorship. Above all, the work provides valuable insights for replicating and creating inclusive environments in other education systems.

Leadership Competency Development in Public Management: Key Factors for Successful Government

This journal article explores the critical factors contributing to successful government leadership competency development within the realm of public management. Recognizing the pivotal role of effective leadership in public sectors, the study delves into the key elements that foster competence and excellence in government leadership. By analyzing various dimensions such as strategic vision, decision-making skills, and adaptability, the research identifies essential competencies that leaders in public management should cultivate. The article employs a comprehensive review of existing literature and empirical studies to unveil patterns and insights into leadership competency development. It emphasizes the significance of continuous learning, training programs, and mentorship in shaping successful government leaders. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of leadership styles on competency development, highlighting the importance of aligning leadership approaches with the unique challenges of public management. In addressing the practical implications, the article provides recommendations for policymakers and human resource professionals involved in public sector leadership development initiatives. It underscores the need for targeted interventions that focus on identified competency gaps and emphasizes a holistic approach to leadership training. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on enhancing government leadership effectiveness and offer valuable insights for practitioners, educators, and researchers interested in the dynamics of leadership competency development in public management.

Improving the Performance of Worker in the E-commerce Industry Through Leadership Role, Creativity and Learning Culture

Objective: This research aims to analyze the influence of transformational leadership on employee creativity, which is moderated by knowledge sharing. Method: This research uses two combined research methods, namely exploratory research and descriptive research. Researchers combined non-probability sampling and judgment sampling. Researchers collected data through questionnaires and interviews. Researchers will process the data in this research using the factor analysis method with SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) software. Results and Discussion: Applying the transformational leadership style positively influences employee creativity. Apart from that, the knowledge-sharing variable also plays an important role in increasing employee creativity. Although some indicators of knowledge sharing fall into the good category while others are in the neutral category, they still positively contribute to employee creativity. Hypothesis testing shows that transformational leadership, with its four dimensions, has a positive and significant effect on employee creativity. However, the knowledge sharing variable does not strengthen the relationship between the influence of transformational leadership on employee creativity and is also not a moderator of the influence between the two. Research Implications: This study can provide a deeper understanding of how transformational leadership style and knowledge sharing can interact to influence employee creativity, especially in the context of organizations led by superiors and populated by generation Y employees. This research can also provide insight for companies in developing leadership strategies and a work culture that can increase creativity and innovation in the workplace. Originality/Value: This research adds significant value by combining two main concepts, namely transformational leadership and knowledge sharing, and applying them in the context of rapidly developing e-commerce companies. By not only examining the direct influence of transformational leadership on employee creativity but also looking at how knowledge sharing can moderate this relationship, this research provides a more comprehensive picture of the factors that influence creativity in organizations.

Contagious resilience – how leaders’ resilient behaviour promotes followers’ resilient behaviour

PurposeLeaders are role models and through social influence processes, they shape the behaviour of their followers. We build on social learning, social identity and person-environment (P-E) fit theories of leadership to explore the association between leaders’ and followers’ resilient behaviours.Design/methodology/approachIn a three-wave, multisource study amongst 269 Dutch leaders and their followers, we investigate the mediating role of coaching in the relationship between leaders’ resilient behaviour and followers’ resilient behaviour and the moderating role of regulatory focus in this mediation path.FindingsOur results show that coaching is a key relational vehicle through which leaders’ resilient behaviours shape employees’ resilient behaviours, and this indirect association is stronger for employees scoring low on promotion focus. In addition, our results show that resilient employees attract more coaching from their leaders, which further strengthens their resilient behaviours.Originality/valueExisting studies have shown the occurrence of trickle-down effects of various leader behaviours, moods and work states on those of their followers. However, it remained obscure whether leaders’ resilient behaviour could trickle down to followers’ as well. Our study shows that such a link indeed exists and that coaching is a relational vehicle that embodies two key mechanisms to (1) foster social learning through behavioural entrainment and contagion and (2) facilitate support provision through which leaders promote resilient behaviour in their followers.

Peran Kepemimpinan Dalam Meningkatkan Kualitas Manajemen Bisnis Sekolah Di SMAN 2 Mandailing Natal

The Service Learning approach has been adopted as a method to improve the quality of school business management at SMAN 2 Mandailing Natal. Through Service Learning, steps to identify community needs, project planning, implementation, evaluation and reflective learning have been carried out. With effective collaboration between school stakeholders and the local community, Service Learning projects succeed in providing real benefits to the surrounding community and strengthen students' skills and understanding of business management. As a result, SMAN 2 Mandailing Natal has been able to integrate business management principles into its school operations, including resource management, marketing and business strategy development. Thus, the Service Learning approach has brought positive changes in improving the quality of school business management, while producing a significant impact on local communities and student learning. This means that this article emphasizes that the role of leadership in encouraging Service Learning has been the key to success in developing quality and sustainable school business management.

Leadership practices and support structures enabling teachers’ informal learning for educational technology use: an appreciative inquiry approach

ABSTRACT Teachers increasingly turn to informal learning but often encounter challenges in their agency to improve technology integration practices. Through a qualitative paradigm and partly adopting the strength-based Appreciative Inquiry (AI) method, this study explored best leadership practices and considered how teachers’ self-directed learning might be enabled to better support technology use in pedagogy. Applying the discovery and dream phases of AI, the study engaged Ghana’s teachers, headteachers and education officials in constructive phone dialogues to identify practices that foster teachers’ informal learning. Different shared themes emerged through thematic analysis, revealing enabling leadership and support mechanisms contributing to teachers’ self-directed learning. Leadership support from key individuals at home, the district, and the school ecosystem surfaced as enablers for engagement in informal learning during the discovery phase. At the dream stage, teacher motivation, access to computers, headteachers’ leadership for collaborative learning, and dedicated time for independent and informal collaboration were envisioned to nurture teachers’ cointinuing self-directed learning. Findings have implications for education researchers and leaders to transition from deficits towards a strength-based inquiry as a promising tool to uncover inspiring leadership practices, actors, and support structures that cultivate and reinforce teachers’ self-directed learning to supplement formal professional development for technology integration.

Teacher leadership in professional learning communities in early childhood education: A Chinese perspective

To address the research gap in exploring teacher leadership and professional learning community (PLC) in early childhood education in China, this study explored how PLC members enacted leadership and how preschool principals influenced the enactment of such leadership. Purposive sampling was used to select research participants based on the current local governmental preschool quality ratings: Excellent, Good, and Average. Data were collected from three public preschools with corresponding levels of autonomy and hierarchical structures, and semistructured interviews were conducted with nine preschool practitioners. In terms of roles, PLC leaders served as pseudo leaders, and classroom teachers served as active learners but passive leaders in PLCs. PLC members implemented strategies that included the provision of learning support and communication to facilitate PLCs. Although preschool principals were found to serve as helmsmen, they positively managed the learning programmes and invited experts to conduct teacher training.

Cultivation of Character for Ethical Leadership: The Department of Leadership Education at Culver Academies

Since 1894, Culver Academies has aimed to develop leaders of character. Rooted in the military academy and boarding school traditions, Culver has centered leadership development around central virtues and values. In 1986, recognizing the need to provide integrated, successive leadership learning experiences for students across 4 years, Culver instituted a standalone academic Department of Leadership Education. The Department of Leadership Education, housed in the Schrage Leadership Center, is unique among secondary boarding schools in offering four successive academic leadership education classroom experiences alongside Student Life curricula. Each year’s curriculum is centered in a transformational leadership framework, utilizing evidence-based tools to guide students’ leadership and character growth at each level. Ultimately, students’ growth is assessed by faculty (and students themselves) according to core leadership and character competencies developed by the Academies. Continual improvement of the department is ensured through a comprehensive triennial review process. The aim of this article is to illustrate a successful, iterative character and leadership education experience in a 4-year secondary school context.

Using staged teaching and assessment approaches to facilitate inter-university collaboration and problem-based learning.

This article describes the segmented module design and problem-based learning approaches employed to enable parts of a higher education environmental health module (course) to be shared between universities in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Australia. The module requires students to identify the needs and assets of a community then design community-based interventions to address problems and undertake an evaluation of those interventions. Accreditation body and the degree program learning outcome requirements in the UK and Australia were found to hold many comparable knowledge, skills, and graduate attribute criteria, eliminating a potential barrier for international learning and teaching collaboration between higher education institutions. Instead, barriers to collaboration were associated with institutional issues and practicalities such as timetabling and assessment requirements. Taking a segmented approach to module design allowed staged and varied levels of collaboration between participating institutions, all delivering modules (courses) with similar learning outcomes. This provided a more sustainable environment to facilitate shared learning and teaching and fostered closer relations between programs, within these constraining factors. Students using problem-based learning and its group-working component exhibited the development of leadership, communication, and independent learning skills.

What do leaders really want to learn in a workplace? A study of the shifting agendas of leadership coaching

Multiple theories of leadership postulate specific capability requirements with an expectation that leaders recognize the need for such capabilities and become motivated to develop them. In the workplace, leaders’ development is also expected to respond to the immediate demands of the organizational context. However, what leaders end up learning in the workplace remains largely unexplored. Hence our inquiry is into what leaders choose to learn, when they are in role and face the realities and demands of their immediate and wider environment. In line with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and concept of ‘perezhivanie’ we explore what actually becomes important for leaders to learn when they receive developmental support from a coach. We do this by identifying the content of coaching conversations: what is demonstrably discussed in coaching - the main themes of the actual coaching conversations and how the predominance of different themes changes over the coaching engagement. Based on the analysis of the sequencing of coaching themes in 153 organizational coaching engagements we discuss the dynamic interplay of the personal and the organizational agendas in the changing foci of leader learning. We propose a novel and theoretically-grounded explanation of leaders’ choices for learning in real complex environments. The results of uniquely gathered data and analysis challenge some current trends in the scholarship and praxis of leader development.

Understanding Leadership for Learning of School Leaders in Disadvantaged Areas in the Context of Education Reform in Vietnam

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the interrelationships between leaders’ personal traits, leadership behaviors, and leadership competencies for learning. This quantitative study utilizes structural equation modeling to analyze survey data collected from 563 school leaders across primary, secondary, and postsecondary schools situated in disadvantaged regions of Vietnam. Study participants from disadvantaged areas in Vietnam completed 20-item questionnaires, providing their perspectives on leader traits, leadership behaviors, and competencies related to leadership for learning. The findings revealed a positive correlation between leaders’ personal traits, leadership behaviors, and leadership competencies regarding learning. The research model successfully explained 54.70% of the variance in leadership competencies for learning. The results indicate instructional leadership behaviors have the most significant influence on competencies of leadership for learning, followed by shared leadership behaviors and transformational leadership behaviors. This highlights the integral role of school leaders in effectively implementing new curricula in Vietnam and advancing positive change, especially in disadvantaged schools. These insights hold practical implications for developing impactful leadership strategies in educational institutions to benefit students and shape a brighter future for Vietnam’s educational landscape.

A framework for the facilitation of accelerated leadership and management capability development in the workplace

A holistic framework for the design of leadership and management programs to accelerate leadership and management capability development in the workplace is presented. Previous models and frameworks have been primarily based on program design inputs and outcomes and have not adequately considered the mediating role of learning processes and learner preferences in the relationship between program design inputs and outcomes. Additionally, most existing models and frameworks do not offer holistic approaches. Four theoretical implications and five practical applications of the framework are presented. The three defining features of the leadership and management learning framework are the focus on the development of competencies that underpin effective leadership, the central role of learning facilitation in this development, and the workplace learning processes that enable leadership and management development, and specifically meta-learning processes. Contributions to theory involve the integration of meta-learning and facilitation in the framework and the six propositions posited. A series of practical implications for advancing leadership program design, delivery and evaluation is also presented.

Driving innovation in health care: exploring the impact of ambidextrous leadership on creative performance among frontline health professionals in Norway

BackgroundIn recent years, there has been an increasing focus on enhancing frontline health professionals’ ability to think and act innovatively, also known as their creative performance. However, previous research has had two limitations. First, only a few leadership styles and their associations with this capability have been examined. Second, there has been a lack of research on identifying potential process mediators and examining their role in the relationship between leadership styles and the professionals’ capability. To address this knowledge gap, our study investigates the impact of ambidextrous leadership, a relatively new leadership style, on frontline health professionals’ creative performance. Additionally, we explore whether frontline health professionals’ learning orientation (an individual factor) and relationship learning (an organizational factor) act as process mediators in this association. No previous research has focused on these relationships. Thus, the study offers a unique contribution to health services research.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of N = 258 health professionals in nine Norwegian municipalities. The results of this study were analyzed using PLS-SEM with SmartPLS 3 software. The study examined both direct and indirect relationships through bootstrapping.ResultsThe results reveal a positive link between health professionals’ creative performance and ambidextrous leadership \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ (\\beta $$\\end{document} = 0.224). Both relationship learning and learning orientation were found to operate as complementary process-mediating factors between health professionals’ creative performance and ambidextrous leadership. The strength of the two individual relationships that constitute the process-mediating factors indicates that ambidextrous leadership has a stronger impact on relationship learning than on learning orientation \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ (\\beta $$\\end{document} = 0.504 versus \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\beta $$\\end{document} = 0.276). However, when we examined the individual associations between the two factors and creative performance, the strength of the relationships was quite different. The findings reveal that learning orientation is significantly more positively associated with creative performance than relationship learning \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ (\\beta $$\\end{document} = 0.302 versus \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\beta $$\\end{document} = 0.163). Ambidextrous leadership, learning orientation, and relationship learning explain 26% (R2 = 0.262) of the variance in professionals’ creative performance.ConclusionsThis study suggests that ambidextrous leadership can facilitate health professionals’ creative performance directly and indirectly through the two process-mediating factors: relationship learning and learning orientation. Thus, a practical implication is the importance for health service organizations of clear awareness of the numerous advantages of having leaders who actively practice an ambidextrous leadership style.

Decolonial interventions: Intentional emergence, Black Shoals, and the pedagogical possibilities.

Using Black Shoals as a theoretical guide, we explore how intentional emergence (IE) can help erode the colonial and capitalist underpinnings of leadership education. Informed by Black Shoals and IE, we offer three pedagogical recommendations we frame as decolonial interventions-dissolving the center, weaving the margins, and collective imagining. Attending to these, and other, interventions stand to disrupt the normative structures and cultures of leadership learning, catalyze new relations and relationships, and engendering new possibilities for leadership development and social change.

Role‐Playing Games as a New Adventure for Leadership‐As‐Practice: Forming a Leadership Framework Around Collective Creativity and Development

The current paper explores a transformative approach to leadership that integrates with a view of analog role‐playing games (RPGs) as a system for human interaction, aiming to leverage these experiences and foster collective creative leadership. In the face of urgent global challenges, traditional leadership models prove inadequate, necessitating a shift in understanding leadership as a process of adaptive change among human groups. Drawing on phenomenology, relational sociology and constructivist perspectives, I advocate for a conceptualization of leadership as a socially constructed, meaning‐making endeavor mutually embedded within and generating cultural context. I emphasize the essential role of collective cultural approaches and propose a co‐creative education process that incorporates play and creativity for effective leadership development. Then, I delve further into the intersection of leadership and play, highlighting the potential of RPGs in facilitating transformative, collective creativity. The proposed model views RPGs as Leadership‐As‐Practice Development (LAPD) and explores how analog RPGs can be employed as dynamic platforms for leadership learning, identity development, team‐building, and symbolic storytelling processes.

The influence of interdisciplinary entrepreneurial leadership learning on entrepreneurial mindset development

The influence of interdisciplinary entrepreneurial leadership learning on entrepreneurial mindset development