Educational Management Administration & Leadership

The aim of the article is to explore newly appointed principals’ professional identity formation in Sweden. By addressing five specific aspects of principals’ professional identity, the article analyses how principals depict their ‘knowledge’, ‘understandings’, ‘experiences and wisdom’, ‘values’ and ‘beliefs’ in forming a professional identity. Another focus is on newly appointed principals’ knowledge, understandings, experiences and wisdom, values and beliefs, given their biographical histories. The empirical analysis rests on a qualitative survey conducted with 87 principals who were about to begin the National Principal Training Programme that all newly appointed principals in Sweden have to follow. Theoretically, the analytical work rests on a biographical perspective on principals’ professional identity. The main results show that the identity of newly appointed principals is diverse and also fragmented. Moreover, from a biographical point of view, there are facts prior to professional experience-knowledge that are significant in identity construction and that give meaning to an identity as school principals.

Addressing early career school leader attrition and turnover, education systems assign mentors to ease novice principals’ socialization, but results are varied and many mechanisms of this variance are still unexplained. To fill gaps in the literature, different mentor profiles were typified. Fifty-six mentor and mentee interviews were thematically analyzed and socialization outcomes were appraised by comparing increase in person–organization compatibility or congruence. Literature alluded to leadership in education systems as fraught with conflicting loyalties and, accordingly, this study found organization-loyal mentors who tried to promote conformity, person-loyal mentors who tried to prioritize mentee needs, and balanced mentors who achieved skill development and emotional support by being active listeners, prioritizing confidentiality, and guiding reflective contemplation. Socialization tactics, fit, and self-determination theories were linked to explain the different mentors’ effects, recommend improvements, and reflect back on the theories themselves. In the context of mentoring principals in Israel, it is implied that needs–supplies fit and demands–abilities fit must both be effected for supplementary fit to increase. It is also implied that radically institutionalized or individualized tactics were ineffective, as only the balanced mentors seemed able to foster principals who can become more autonomous and motivated to persevere and succeed in their work.

The concept of distributed pedagogical leadership (DPL) practice in education is advanced as an acceptable element in enhancing the quality of pedagogical improvement and the academic achievement of learners across educational contexts. This concept is conceived as a leadership style, where stakeholders are formally and informally involved in the leadership process. The interdependence of stakeholders in the enactment of this concept is underpinned by the five dimensions of DPL, namely: enhancing shared consciousness of visions, and strategies between stakeholders; distributing responsibilities for pedagogical leadership; distributing and clarifying power relationship between the stakeholders; distributing the enactment of pedagogical improvement within centers; and developing a strategy for DPL. This study employed a systematic literature review that mapped relevant literature to the topic. The database of sources consists of 10 articles on DPL published in the English language and in high-ranking journals between January 2010 and December 2021. The review highlights empirical and theoretical-conceptual contributions to the literature on DPL including the methodologies used in the studies. The study extensively expounds on the underpinning theoretical and conceptual frameworks to elucidate this concept. The result implies the need to promote the culture of DPL in all learning levels and spheres of education.

Middle leaders were required to navigate the complexities of educational disruption and respond to internal and external demands throughout the pandemic. This shifting educational context necessitated a sensemaking process to better understand and act on the issues which gave rise to ambiguities in their school environment. This study investigated the sensemaking processes employed by 27 middle leaders from 20 government schools in Qatar, at a time when COVID-related restrictions had been lifted and face-to-face learning had resumed. To collect and analyze data, Q-methodology was applied. A 34-statement Q-sample was developed based on a proposed conceptual framework of sensemaking during times of disruption which included three dimensions: intrapersonal, relational, and institutional. Q-factor analysis revealed two significantly different viewpoints regarding how participants enacted certain practices in response to educational disruption. These were (1) sensemaking as a relational endeavor and (2) sensemaking as an agentic endeavor. The two viewpoints differed in sources of sensemaking and its mechanisms. Sensemaking offered a useful theoretical construct as it revealed middle leaders’ perceptions and enactments, and their struggles in maintaining a balance between structure and agency. The study has implications for middle leadership policy and practices in times of educational disruption and beyond, with its distinctive methodological and contextual contributions.

The development of teacher leadership is closely intertwined with the transformation of teacher roles. However, few studies have investigated how this concept, first developed in North America, is affected by teachers’ role identities (RIs) in an Asian context. To this end, this study aimed to examine the effects of teachers’ perceived role expectations (PREs) and RIs on their leadership behaviour. The sage teacher, professional teacher and labourer teacher framework was used for analysis, and 498 junior high school teachers in Taiwan participated in a survey. Structural equation modelling and bootstrap analysis were employed to analyse the data. The results showed that teachers’ PREs as professional and sage teachers were more significant than for labourer teachers. Their RIs also presented the same pattern. Moreover, although teacher leadership is closely related to the development of teacher professionalism, of the three types of teacher roles, only the PRE and RI of the sage teacher can significantly motivate teachers to lead in direct and indirect ways.

Teachers’ voice behaviour has attracted growing attention in universities due to its positive outcomes for institutional reform and improvement. This study investigated how and under what conditions university leaders’ transformational leadership is beneficial to teachers’ voice behaviour using data collected from 434 teachers from universities in China. As a result, we proposed a moderated mediation model of the association between transformational leadership and teachers’ voice behaviour in which group voice climate was used as the mediator and team psychological safety as the moderator. The results revealed evidence of an indirect effect of transformational leadership on teachers’ voice behaviour through the significant mediating role of group voice climate. Moreover, we found evidence that team psychological safety acts as a significant moderator of group voice climate and teachers’ voice behaviour and strengthens the effect of the entire mediating mechanism. Specifically, the mediation effect of group voice climate was significant when team psychological safety levels were at medium or high rather than low levels. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the benefits and effective mechanism of the impact of transformational leadership on teachers’ voice behaviour in the Chinese university context and offer practical suggestions for facilitating teachers’ voice behaviour in institutions.

Studies suggest the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted women. Related research and literature suggest leadership approaches commonly associated with women are more effective during crises, a notion that we sought to explore in this study. This investigation explored how senior women leaders in the UK Higher Education exhibited leadership during the pandemic, whether their approaches had changed during this time and the impact leading during this period had on them. The research used semi-structured interviews with six women senior leaders to uncover insights into their lived experiences. Findings show while their fundamental leadership styles did not change, all participants exhibited situational approaches with higher levels of distributed leadership than pre-pandemic. In several instances, their perception was this was based on gendered differences in their leadership approaches, probably developed because of their socialisation as women. The pressures on participants during the pandemic had a significant personal toll, with this period being articulated as the most difficult in their careers. Peer-to-peer networks functioned as critical support mechanisms for these women leaders. The greatest emergent stressor, however, was government policy changes unrelated to COVID-19 which participants considered would have greater long-term impact and served to destabilise higher education at an already difficult time.

Mexico, the second-largest economy in Latin America after Brazil, has a gender gap index score of 76.4% in 2022 compared to 75.7% in 2021 and is ranked 31 out of 146 countries for 2022. Mexico has become one of the world's leaders in gender-political equality, which shows that the gender ceiling is cracking, and it is yet to see if gender parity is achieved in other sectors as well. The women's leadership topic has been widely researched in many countries, but with this changing dimension in the political sector, it is important to know if any changes are happening in the education sector as well. This exploratory research aims to identify what motivates women to take up leadership roles and whether they still experience barriers in higher education institutions (HEIs). This study was conducted with 22 women participants from Mexico's HEIs. The study used a qualitative narrative research design to understand what enablers and barriers are experienced by Mexican female academics. The study identified four key barriers and four enablers that affected women's career and leadership development. Gaining a deeper understanding of the barriers and enablers that affect women's career and leadership development can be used to investigate how culturally appropriate developmental relationships can create ways to overcome the barriers they experience. Further, the study's implications can support human resource development initiatives.

This article provides school leaders with insights into within and beyond-school influences on school collaborative culture. The study examines how social demographics, and school culture prevalent in different school bandings, influence school capacities (principalleadership; shared and supportive leadership; shared values and vision; and collaborative learning). A structural equation model is constructed from 10 Hong Kong schools’ survey data to trace the path influences of the study variables. The results show that hierarchical cultures tend to prevail in lower banding schools, affecting school collaborative culture negatively. In contrast, rule-seeking cultures have a positive influence on individuals with humbler childhood family upbringing. Likewise at the individual level, unlike most risk-takers found to negatively influence school collaborative culture, English childhood home language speakers’ risk-taking values do not have a significant influence on such school capacities. Nevertheless, rule-seeking and risk-taking teachers are as likely to be recruited in schools regardless of school banding. The results have global significance on how broader social hierarchy embeds in leadership relations differentiated by school banding, with an impact on school collaborative culture. School leaders may consider leveraging leadership relations and professional development to promote school cultures that enhance collaboration at different levels of the organizational hierarchy.

This paper considers wellbeing in the context of those working in the further education (FE) sector in England and how this has been affected by the Covid pandemic. There has been a growth of research into the impact of the pandemic on the workforce in the higher education sector and some considerations for schools. However, research that examines the FE sector's workforce, an education sector which is often considered under-resourced, can be lacking. Our empirical research seeks to begin to address this gap and provide a unique contribution through the replication of a pre-pandemic national FE workforce wellbeing study commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation. The current study uses the same scale framework as the 2019 study to assess the wellbeing of FE sector employees. The results from 347 responses show that the pandemic had a negative impact on the wellbeing of employees, but employees drew upon their resilience to cope with increasing demands in the sector.

Relying on the social cognitive theory, which postulates that human behaviour is due to social experiences and cognitive interpretation, the current study seeks to investigate the mediating role of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) in the relationship between principals’ systems thinking (PST) and school effectiveness in terms of academic emphasis and student academic achievement after accounting for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. A three-source survey design with self-report and non-self-report data was used, from a sample of 423 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included school management team (SMT) members and teachers who were not SMT members. Data were aggregated at the school level of analysis. The results from structural equation modelling and bootstrapping analysis indicated that CTE partially mediates the relationship between PST and academic emphasis, irrespective of the students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

School leadership research literature has a large number of widely used constructs. Could fewer constructs bring more clarity? This study evaluates construct content validity, defined as the extent to which a measure's items reflect a theoretical content domain, in school leadership literature. To do so, we reviewed 29 articles that used Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) as data sources to study school leadership, and developed a construct co-occurrence network in which nodes represented constructs in the 29 reviewed articles and ties connected a pair of constructs that used the same TALIS survey items. Among the 82 constructs, 43 constructs had overlapping measures with one another in the TALIS literature on school leadership. Results of network analysis suggest three problematic issues with constructs of TALIS literature on school leadership: (1) same measures for different constructs, (2) different measures for the same constructs, and (3) missing alignment between theoretical and operational definitions. To strive for construct clarity, we provide four recommendations for future research: (1) efforts to prevent construct proliferation, (2) alignment of theoretical and operational definitions, (3) rigorous evaluation of construct validity, and (4) following a fundamental principle of parsimony.