School Leadership Practices Research Articles

Leadership matters in democratic education: Calibrating the role of Principal in one democratic school

Abstract Through a series of conversations, Fintan McCutcheon and Joanna Haynes explore McCutcheon's reflections on school leadership in the contexts of the Educate Together movement (in the Republic of Ireland) and, specifically, in his aspiration to build an optimally democratic school in Balbriggan. Much of the academic and professional literature on school leadership depicts the role of school leaders as expressing a strong vision for the school, with charismatic communication and strategic skills, and putting explicit emphasis on high educational standards. On the ground, the school leader is required to maintain executive governance standards, is accountable to a range of hierarchies and audiences and is in a custodian role to traditions of school culture and human resource relationships. Taken together, these academic, professional and contractual obligations can corral the school leader into practice of limited scope, obstructed by protocol, risk-averse and curtailed in creativity and, in relation to developing a democratic school, lacking in the necessary room for innovation. The conversation focuses on the rough ground of incident and messiness, identified through critical moments of school life when the aspirations to be democratic, to lead democratically, to teach democracy and to create a sustaining democratic school culture are lived-out. Through this dialogue, the conversants observe a practice of school leadership grounded in practical reason. The dialogue touches on and threads congruence between the on-the-ground risk-taking, rule-breaking, action orientation, nuanced dialogue, passionate engagement and deep reflection that characterise day-to-day school leadership practice. It concludes with ideas concerning the dynamics of forms of democracy that can prevail.

Eurocentric Cultural Invasions on School Leadership Practices in Botswana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe

Eurocentric Cultural Invasions on School Leadership Practices in Botswana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe

Made in Sweden? Configured digitalized school leadership practice

ABSTRACT Few notions seem to capture the imagination of education policymakers today as completely as digitalization and leadership. Through these two, schools are believed to become transformed, and in turn, these transformed schools will transform people and society. This paper critically analyzes a Swedish official digital policy instrument that materializes digitalized school leadership practice. The policy instrument is made available as a ‘helpful tool’ by a Swedish official education agency. The paper scrutinizes the policy knowledge process set to work within the instrument by the agency. Particularly, how the instrument may influence people to come to know and change schools, and how responsibility and risk of digitalization in schools seems to first be transferred to, and then between, people in schools. The paper is concluded by a discussion of how (a) three knowledge phases interact in the knowledge process of the instrument, (b) the technical – rather than social – solution that digitalized school leadership practice is found to be, and (c) implications for digitalization in schools as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon of interest to research.

Tauhivā ako: Engaging Indigenous relationality in school leadership

My article privilege Indigenous relationality within the context of school leadership in Aotearoa. The Pacific concepts of vā, tauhivā and vātamaki are engaged as cultural alternatives to shifting the school system in Aotearoa. School leaders who engage cultural relational approaches in their practice are responsive to raising student outcomes for all students. In order to shift systems of domination and oppression, we must look within the source of Indigenous knowledge systems for solutions and strength to advance Indigenous concerns. My article is a personal and tauhivā reflection of a Tongan school leader who constantly navigates harmonious and disharmonious relations in their practice. It may be useful in thinking about how a cultural approach to leadership through relationality can enhance the theoretical and practical application of leadership practice in schools.

An Evaluation of Current Leadership Practices in Secondary Schools in Madrid

<p style="text-align: justify;">This study aims to evaluate the leadership practices of a sample of secondary school principals in the Madrid region. An attempt will be made to provide some insights into their professional profile, their performance of leadership tasks, and the different elements that define their leadership model. An online questionnaire was used to collect their opinions on the day-to-day performance of their leadership role, as well as on the factors that influence their leadership style. From a methodological point of view, a quantitative approach is used within an interpretative framework, given that the emphasis is not on the generalisation of results but on understanding how school principals operate in their particular context. Results revealed that instructional leadership in Spain is still seen as a challenging goal for principals. This is closely in line with the bureaucratic nature of the headship role in Spanish schools.</p>

Shifting the System: Battling uncertainties and activating agentic school leadership practices

Shifting the System: Battling uncertainties and activating agentic school leadership practices

Contribution of Islamic Worldview to Leadership and Student Learning Outcomes

Schools must be managed healthily and effectively for noble purposes, so people must lead schools with reliable leadership capacity and good integrity. Several studies have stated that the effectiveness of Islamic school management rests on its human resources, which are capable and must have the competence and integrity of a pious personality. From this conception, it is necessary to know how essential school leaders are. This study aims to determine the contribution of the Islamic worldview to school leadership and student learning outcomes. The research design used a survey and was ex post facto conducted on a sample of 154 from 38 districts/cities of Muhammadiyah Elementary School Principals using an area random sampling technique. From these data, it can be concluded that the Islamic worldview presented to the principal affects his leadership practice in Islamic elementary schools. At the same time, the student learning outcomes are indirect through the rational path – organizational and emotional path. It was found that the Islamic worldview factor, which theoretically covers human behaviour, has been shown to strongly contribute to the principal's leadership behaviour and teacher behaviour.

The impact of headmaster distributive leadership towards professional learning communities

<span lang="EN-US">Effective school leadership has a massive impact on excellence and success. This study was conducted to identify distributive leadership and professional learning communities (PLC) practice in cluster primary schools of excellence (CPSE) in Kedah, Malaysia. This study also aimed to analyze the extent of principals’ distributive leadership influencing PLC practices and examine the relationship between these two variables. A total of 162 respondents from randomly selected five primary schools participated in the survey. The findings showed that the level of distributive leadership (M=4.4, SD=0.4) and teacher PLC practice (M=4.3, SD=0.4) were very high. The findings also showed a strong and significant positive relationship between principals’ distributive leadership and teachers’ PLC practice (r=.72). Furthermore, the findings indicated the existence of a strong influence for all dimensions of distributive leadership on PLC practices (r2=.60, p<.05). The findings of this study can be used as an essential guide in improving skills, adding knowledge of leadership management, and enhancing PLC practices in producing positive work culture towards realizing educational excellence.</span>

School leadership practice at faith-based schools through a servant leadership lens

In this article we report on an investigation into developing people and serving the community at faith-based schools through a servant leadership theory lens. Relevant literature was reviewed, and data were collected from school leaders by means of individual semi-structured interviews. Twelve participants were purposively selected from schools classified as top performing schools in Gauteng, a province in South Africa. The interviews with these participants were audiotaped and transcribed, and the data analysed by using a process of abductive data analysis. The following measures were employed to review the servant leadership practices of faith-based leaders: being a serving leader, fostering people growth, and enhancing community relationships. Overall, principals were found to be effective leaders involved in a hands-on manner in both task-orientated and person-orientated activities. The servant leadership conception whereby “other” interests are regarded as more important than own interests serves as the basis for people development and there is a clear awareness that the enhancement of community relationships is a key facet in the communication that takes place between school principals and community members. The participants also showed concern for school-led development activities. It was evident that participating school staff were personally involved in facilitating learning activities such as collaborative workgroups and workshops and in creating a supporting structure for staff development. Apart from recommending that principals’ leadership behaviour in the abovementioned areas is consolidated, we strongly support their involvement in related matters such as coping with contextual realities and enhancing community relationships. The improvement of community relationships is eventually a challenging task to be exercised by principals within the social, political and demographic contexts of faith-based schools.

Theorizing a Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining School Leadership: Exploring the Intersections of Cultural Sustenance and Care

In the current American context where culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students frequently experience schools as uncaring spaces, exploring school leadership that values student identity is vital for providing an affirming environment for meaningful learning. Towards such ends, we echo the recent call for culturally sustaining approaches and explore the role school leaders might have in fostering cultural and linguistic pluralism at an organizational level. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to present a preliminary conceptual framework, culturally and linguistically sustaining school leadership (CLSL), that honors the intersections between critical caring and culturally sustaining theories. In doing so, we discuss reimagined school leadership values and practices that prioritize culturally and linguistically sustaining climates of care.

Middle leadership practices in secondary schools associated with improved student outcomes

ABSTRACT This paper describes findings related to the effectiveness of secondary school middle leaders as a contributor to within-school variation in academic results for students at department level in urban high schools. The ‘high-stakes’ academic assessment results for students in 10 urban high schools in New Zealand in English, mathematics and science were collated over three years. The analyses revealed variable subject department performance by 16- to 18-year-old students in the national qualification within these schools. The extent of the effectiveness of the middle leadership practices in these departments was investigated using individual questionnaires for each middle leader and the teachers who reported to them. This paper reports the results of the statistical analyses of the questionnaire compared with the aggregated academic results for students by department and finds specific middle leadership practices that were strongly associated with improved academic results. In schools where students were socially disadvantaged, the statistical significance of the results was greater. This study contributes to the previous schooling improvement literature on department effectiveness by enhancing our understanding of why students in departments in the same high school perform differently and how effective middle leaders can impact positively the student academic outcomes.

School turnaround lessons for policy and practice: A systematic review of research and evaluation

While there currently exists a vast body of research around school turnaround policies, few studies speak to why they have or have not worked. This paper undertakes a systematic review of research literature on school turnaround policies to explore why this lack of understanding prevails in the field. We find key disconnects between “policy” and “practice” research on the topic of school turnaround. We contend that this divide negates the potential to learn from school leadership policy and practice in turnaround settings. We offer implications of these findings within turnaround research and policy while pointing out that this apparent divide seems to extend beyond the example of turnaround.

Navigating Turbulent Waters: Leading One Manitoba School in a Time of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the practice of school leadership, requiring greater flexibility, creativity, and innovation. Guided by institutional theory, this paper suggests that leadership adaptations are influenced by environmental pressures such as coercive (e.g., from governmental or regulatory agencies), mimetic (e.g., attempts to emulate best practices from other schools), and normative pressures (e.g., professional standards endorsed by professional societies or unions). By using a qualitative co-constructed autoethnographic approach (See Kempster & Iszatt-White, 2012), the paper presents the Covid-19 timeline in Manitoba, identifying stakeholders and associated environmental pressures. It also features the personal leadership adaptations experienced by a school principal (Susan). The findings suggest that coercive pressures are mostly associated with creativity and inventive leadership practices. Mimetic pressures may lead to copying behaviours, and normative pressures are associated with enhanced foundational knowledges, all depending on contextual factors. The findings also highlight the significant emotional and physical toll the pandemic has taken on school principals.

School leadership practices, challenges and opportunities in Spain from key agents’ perspective

Research on school improvement and effectiveness has marked the development of educational reforms to decentralise educational systems, professionalise the management function, increase training programmes for leaders, and develop skills profiles and standards across the globe. This preliminary study explores the practices, challenges and opportunities for school governance and educational leadership in Spain. A qualitative exploratory approach was utilised involving 17 semi-structured interviews with national and internationally recognised key education agents from different sectors. The results show a common view regarding the lack of real school autonomy and the persistence of an excessively bureaucratic leadership model. Participants fully agree on the need to promote pedagogical and distributed leadership and, consequently, the personal, social and professional competences required to exercise it. The opportunities envisioned by key education agents to achieve it refer to flexibility, accountability and the provision of more material and human resources for an effective leadership. Additionally, challenges and opportunities for using frameworks or standards systems that define effective school leaders’ functions and skills are identified. Schools must become learning organisations by creating spaces for reflection and continuous improvement, and by involving different agents of the educational community to enhance school governance.

Building Future for Education Through Ethical Leadership: The Educational Administrators’ and Planners’ Lens

In order for school leaders to reconcile their duties as leaders and managers under one roof, they must integrate values into school management. This study depicts the practice of ethical leadership based on seven characteristics as espoused by Vikaraman et al., 2018: “honesty, fairness, people orientation, power sharing, ethical guidance, role clarity, and concern for sustainability (a subset of value-based leadership)”. Ethics in leadership refers to the ability of a given leader to distinguish the good from bad, and right from the wrong for the purpose of achieving pre-determined goals of the organisation and also impact on subordinates. That is, ethical leaders set norms, follow them, and work to enforce them. It is important to stress that ethical leadership is essential for the future of education at all levels. It is important therefore that ethical codes should be in a written form for the school leaders at all levels so that decisions can be made with objectivity, honesty and ethics, particularly regarding personnel issues, and that ethical leadership should be integrated into current school leadership practices to better understand its significance.

The Nexus between School Leadership Preparation and Student Achievement

The major objective of this study is to assess the most common school leadership practices in the Dire Dawa Administrative region and their relationship with student achievement. To this end, it used a cross-sectional and correlational study design. Sample schools were selected using purposive sampling techniques and principals and vice-principals were selected using the availability sampling method. Accordingly, 16 schools and 48 principals participated in the study. Data was collected using a self-developed questionnaire, interview and document analysis. The reliability of the self-developed questionnaire was .77. Student achievement data for the three years the principal/vice principal was assigned were collected from the regional education bureau data set. The collected data was analyzed using narrative analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics. The relationship between leadership preparation and student achievement was analyzed using correlation and simple regression. The findings indicated strong relationship between leadership development and student achievement with r=0.18 at a p<0.05 level of significance. The relationship is moderate but significant at a p<0.05 level of significance and with rho=0.426. Whereas the most common leadership preparation strategy employed is experience sharing, with other strategies such as short-term training and job assignments being less common.

Supporting teacher knowledge sharing in China: The effect of principal authentic leadership, teacher psychological empowerment and interactional justice

Teacher knowledge sharing plays a critical role in teacher professional development and education reforms, and principal leadership acts as a facilitator in this process. The current study investigates how and under what conditions principal authentic leadership contributes to teacher knowledge sharing. Data collected from 890 teachers in 29 primary schools in mainland China were analysed using regression analysis and bootstrapping tests. This research tested a moderated mediation model of principal authentic leadership effects on teacher knowledge sharing in which teacher psychological empowerment was included as the mediator and interactional justice as the moderator. The results affirmed the partial mediation model and found significant direct and indirect effects of principal authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing. Moreover, interactional justice positively moderated the relationship between authentic leadership and psychological empowerment and further strengthened the whole mediating mechanism. When teachers perceived higher interactional justice, the effects of principal authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing were stronger than on counterparts who perceived low interactional justice. Our discussion highlights the benefits of understanding the roles of psychological empowerment and interactional justice involved in the effectiveness of authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing and offers recommendations for school leadership practices.

School Leadership Practices and Identity Politics in a Multicultural Society: The Case of Indonesia

This article aims to explore school leadership practices in the context of the multicultural society of Indonesia. Effective school leaders in a diverse context demonstrate a type of moral leadership characterized by high awareness and sensitivity to cultural diversity and act accordingly to enable everyone in school to pursue his or her goals. This study used a qualitative case study approach by selecting three different schools and interviewing the principals, teachers, and students. The findings suggest that while in rhetoric school leaders convey a commitment to recognize and respect diversity, they exercise covertly some discriminative policies towards powerless groups. In these schools, both cultural and religious identities were used to maintain domination in school. Consequently, the schools have hardly become a venue for social justice and multicultural citizenship. By doing so, this article contributes to a better understanding of the nuance of school leadership in multicultural societies like Indonesia.

Are school leaders working as instructional leaders? Exploration of school leadership practices in rural Pakistan

School Leadership is widely acknowledged as a prime determiner of school improvement. Among the various leadership models, Instructional Leadership (IL) is considered as having greater impact upon the school, teachers, and student achievement. Consequently, an increasing attention has been paid to IL across the globe. However, we lack any empirical evidence regarding how IL unfolds in rural contexts characterized by many challenges. Hence, this research explores IL practices in a secondary school in rural Sindh, Pakistan. Data are collected from school leaders and teachers through focused group and semi-structured interviews, observations of leadership practices and document analysis. The findings of the study revealed that school leaders played restricted role as instructional leaders (ILs). Their priorities were more administrative and managerial related tasks rather than student achievement, teachers’ professional development (PD) and creating learning culture as suggested in educational literature. The outcomes of this research provoke thoughts in relation to school leadership in the developing world especially in rural contexts having significant implications for policy makers, educational reformers and school leaders.

A systematic review of research on the relationship between school leadership and student achievement: An updated framework and future direction

This systematic review sought to expand our knowledge of the increasing research studies focusing on the empirical link between school leadership and student achievement. Using five different data sources (Scopus, WoS, ERIC, Google Scholar, and Retrospective Reference Harvesting Procedure), we created a data set of 144 journal articles. Descriptive analysis of bibliographic data and content analysis of full texts were employed in the review process. The results revealed instructional leadership as the most frequently used school leadership model in the relevant research. There has been a growing tendency to use the direct effect model with the increase in the studies from non-English speaking western societies. Indeed, the use of rational and organizational variables has dominated the mediating effect studies, while moderating effect studies as well as exploratory and explanatory type of studies have not received much attention. Based on these results, a framework representing the broader picture of the current research on the relationship between school leadership and student learning is provided. In addition, several recommendations were made, aiming to build the research capacity in furthering our understanding of how school leadership practices impact student learning and achievement.