Equity and inclusion: Finding strength through teacher diversityYip, Sun Yee; Saito, Eisuke
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231193834
In many Western countries, the student populations are largely ethno-culturally diversified due to large inflow of migrants. Despite this, the teaching workforce in these countries tends to be predominantly white. The large disparity between students and teachers has implications for equity and inclusive education. In this paper, we argue that a more diverse teacher workforce – particularly migrant teachers – can help to strengthen inclusiveness in schools along with the increasing diversity of the students in those countries. This ensures that students from diverse backgrounds can have their needs and voices heard and understood in their schools. It also allows migrant students to find their role models in schools as well as in societies. Simultaneously, it is critical to retain highly skilled migrant teachers in the workforce through the creation of more inclusive school policies, systems and overall school culture.
HEI employer-engagement – a practitioner's reflections using institutional logics lensesMcAllister, Katie
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231193831
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly engaging with businesses to provide opportunities for their students whilst also promoting their own relevance and impact in society. However, this engagement often involves navigating multiple internal processes and practices. This paper presents an employer-engagement practitioner's reflections on HEI employer-engagement, using the lens of two institutional logics – professional and corporate logics. This paper considers how these logics are shaping HEI employer-engagement, the challenges for employer engagement middle managers (EE-MM), and tensions with senior leadership teams (SLT).This paper is framed and located from the point of view of a middle manager working within employer engagement, reflecting the challenges being faced by myself and seven other EE-MM across five English HEIs as part of my doctoral research. It explores the tensions between EE-MM and HEI-wide SLT; highlighting the competing demands between day-to-day management and strategic overview.
Innovative approaches in the management of an educational institutionOmarov, Bakytzhan; Karkulova, Aigul; Ukubassova, Galiya; Abzhan, Zhanat
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231198631
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of using digital and other types of innovations in the management of educational institutions in the country. The methods of content analysis of documents and scientific papers, institutional, system-structural approaches, and other means of scientific and theoretical analysis were used in the study. The investigation of the main areas of improving the management of educational organisations in Kazakhstan, various management decisions and attempts to implement state programme measures endows this study with socioeconomic and applied research character. This study shows the shortcomings of the management plan on the development of school curricula for mathematics, natural sciences, and humanities using the results of representatives (schoolchildren) of educational organisations of Kazakhstan passing the international assessment and programme verification (Programme for International Student Assessment, Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study). The issues of the importance of advanced training of teachers of higher educational institutions, the reform of the entire education system, the problems of technical and technological provision of educational institutions in rural areas of the Turkestan region, digitalisation of the entire learning process were raised. The issues of material and financial security of educational activities in the region and the development of an inclusive education system were also considered. Based on the research of foreign researchers, the peculiarities of the introduction of innovations in education and the informatisation of education were considered.
Personal reflections on destructive leadership: A case studyRiad, Jennifer
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231172601
Failure does not indicate a bad leader; however, an inability or unwillingness to learn from a leadership failure makes an individual a bad leader. Most current literature focuses on studying good or effective leadership; however, lessons from leadership failures can be just as valuable as learning from leadership successes. Therefore, this article reviews a case study of leadership failure, provides a theory-based solution to learn from destructive leadership, and suggests recommendations for educational leaders and institutions.
School administrators’ experiences implementing a college and career readiness reform initiativeErin Biolchino,
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231200087
This paper shares results from a qualitative interview study about site- and district-level administrators' experiences and perceptions implementing a significant college and career readiness reform initiative. Linked Learning (LL) is one college and career readiness reform that has been growing in the U.S. and internationally in recent years. Linked Learning began in 2009 with nine school districts in CA, and currently there are 659 LL pathways across 20 states and 3 countries (Linked Learning Alliance, 2023). Twenty administrators from California schools and districts were interviewed using a protocol developed using Curry's (1992) model of reform implementation and institutionalization and the four core components of Linked Learning. Four significant themes emerged from the data related to advice that administrators shared for implementing a comprehensive school reform: know your stuff, follow your passion, plan your route, and build your team. Overall, these administrators recommended that the reform initiative within an organization should start with the hiring process to build a knowledgeable, passionate team and that personnel, including leaders, need support and training in order to effectively move a reform from the implementation to the institutionalization stage.
Exploring the training of school principals as educational leaders in MexicoOrozco Gonzalez, Lourdes Estefhany
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231203853
The study aimed to investigate novice principals’ pre-role training in educational leadership. The research was originally intended as a mixed-methods approach; an online questionnaire was applied for data collection to answer the research question: Are public secondary school principals trained to be successful leaders when they undertake this role in Mexico? The questionnaire explored principals’ pre-role formal and informal training, their sense of readiness and the main challenges undertaking the position. It reached 29 responses (n = 29), this very small sample is not representative, but provides insights for examining larger trends in school leaders’ training/preparation in Mexico. Most participants of this study did not have formal pre-appointment training in educational leadership. This seems to be related to Mexican recruitment processes for principalship, where leadership instruction is not required. Informal pre-role training/preparation was more reported to be helpful by participants. Their leadership was limited mainly by challenges related to administrative tasks. The study suggests the need to analyse and improve the Mexican recruitment process for principals, addressing pre-role training and job induction. If larger-scale studies corroborate this scenario, more detailed recommendations would be developed.
Reflections on recent developments in the governance of schools in Ireland and the role of the churchConnolly, Michael; James, Chris; Murtagh, Luke
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231177535
This article analyses recent developments in school governance in Ireland. The context for school governance in Ireland is changing. Features of this new context include increased population diversity partly because of immigration; an increasingly negative attitude to religion; a decline in religious observance; economic growth; the school performance compared with other countries; increasing population size; the nature of the electoral system, which brings local issues to the fore; and the unionization of the teaching profession, which affects system change. This changing context is set against the embedded and strong influence of organised religion. Disquiet at the church's influence on educational policy and practice is increasing. The government's intention to address this influence is slow to impact but evidence indicates that the role of religious institutions in school governing in Ireland is declining. Because the present situation is unsustainable, a crisis in school patronage is looming.
Leading schools during a pandemic and beyond: Insights from principals in the PhilippinesAdams, Donnie; Namoco, Sarah O; Ng, Ashley Yoon Mooi; Cheah, Kenny S.L
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231177375
The Philippines is one of very few countries in the world where schools have continuously remained closed since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2019. There is little known about how school principals face the challenges that arise from the pandemic, and the future goals for the new normal. The purpose of this article is to explore the school principals’ management practices, leadership styles, challenges encountered, and future goals in response to the pandemic in the context of Philippine schools. This study employed a qualitative research approach using an open-ended online survey with 52 school principals. Findings rendered a contextualisation of their school management practices, leadership styles, challenges encountered during the pandemic, and future goals for the new normal. This study contributes to the knowledge base on school leadership during the pandemic by providing unique insights into the Philippines.
Reflection on visioning as a leadership practiceNoman, Mohammad
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231185935
This reflective essay argues that public school principals in China and Southeast Asia often demonstrate an inadequate understanding of their visioning responsibilities. They overlook the importance of creating a unique school vision that is tailored to their contextual requirements. Setting direction through a clear vision for the school is one of the four core leadership practices and has been extensively explored around the world. By drawing on personal reflection, this essay highlights the imperative for school principals from the regions to actively participate in developing a school vision that is contextually responsive for their school and also aligns with the guidelines of the department of education. Using three personal examples, it underscores the crucial role that visioning plays in a school's success and the indispensability of stakeholder's involvement in the visioning process.
Conceptualising headteachers’ leadership of technology in schools across the United Kingdom during early coronavirus disease 2019Beauchamp, Gary; Joyce-Gibbons, Andrew; Clarke, Linda; Hulme, Moira; Hamilton, Lorna; Harvey, Janet A
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231172603
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic brought seismic changes to schooling which few could have anticipated. Across the four countries of the UK, (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) urgent changes to the locus and focus of education were required. This paper conceptualises how headteachers led their schools in the use of digital technology as they adjusted to teaching and learning in the early stages of a UK wide school ‘lockdown’. The study uses data from extensive interviews with the headteachers of 12 schools across all phases of learning in schools in all four countries in the UK. The analysis uses elements of Cashman's et al.'s (2014) ‘leadership by convening’ lenses to conduct a threefold analysis of the transcripts: the direction of communications (internal/external); the timeframes (synchronous/asynchronous); and headteachers’ perceptions of how their digital technology helped them navigate challenges. These challenges are classified as: (a) technical – The solution required technology or technical expertise; (b) adaptive – The solution required a change in behaviour by at least one party in the communication process (internal or external); (c) organisational – solutions to these challenges contained both a technological and a behavioural component. A new model of leadership with technology is suggested.
The effect of process and context factors on teachers’ readiness for change in West Gojam Zone secondary schools of EthiopiaAlene, Abebaw Ayana; Kassa, Temesgen Melaku
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231181546
The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ readiness for change and the factors that contributed to it in secondary schools in the West Gojam Zone. The study used a correlational research design and a quantitative approach. Data were collected from 466 randomly selected teachers using a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, and percentage) and inferential statistics (one-sample t-test, independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression). The findings revealed that teachers were ready to implement planned educational changes. The principals made an effort to maintain strong staff cohesion, high organizational commitment, and minimal politicking during the change's implementation. They have also taken advantage of the school's positive track record of change. Process and context factors had statistically significant correlation with readiness for change at p < .05. The four context factors (organizational politicking, history of change, staff cohesion, and organizational commitment) and a process factor (communication of change) contribute to 31.3% of the variations in teachers’ readiness for change. This confirms that teachers’ readiness for change is a function of both context and process factors.
A systematic review of the International School Leadership Development Network, social justice strand research, 2010–2021Flood, Lee D; Angelle, Pamela; Koerber, Nate D
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231160648
This systematic review provides an overview of findings gleaned from the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN) cross-comparative research published since 2010. The purpose of this review considers outcomes linked to cross-national context and culture, rather than in-country outcomes linked to local context and respondent differences. The research question which guided this study was: How does ISLDN cross-national comparative research inform us about socially just leadership? All studies, without regard to country or the macro policies under which the schools operated, centered on the importance of the school principal as the impetus for the extent to which social justice was practiced. The principal's innate value system, the influence of the principal's biography, and the fidelity with which the principal implemented policy while meeting the needs of all children carried more weight for social justice than the macro and meso levels.
The great resignation: Exploring the effect of regular and digital instructional leadership on teachers’ intention to leaveBerkovich, Izhak
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231163984
Research on the effect of COVID-19 and its aftermath on education is gaining momentum. Nevertheless, this expanding contemporary literature only scarcely addresses principals’ digital instructional leadership and has not investigated how principals’ regular instructional leadership aligns with it. Moreover, the emerging writing on the aftermath of COVID-19 notes the phenomenon of teacher shortages in schools as a result of a growing tendency of teachers to leave the profession, but the possible connection with various forms of principals’ instructional leadership remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of combinations of different levels of principals’ regular instructional leadership and digital instructional leadership on teachers’ intention to leave. Cluster analysis of data of 267 school teachers in Israel was conducted. The results indicate an association between differences in teachers’ intention to leave the profession and mixtures of regular and digital instructional leadership. The results and their implications are discussed.
Educational equity could be improved by better professional learning - a case studyCole, Martin James
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231178905
Equal opportunities for children, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or gender, have been well publicised in recent times with equity in education recognised as an influential factor in social mobility. Progress in this area should not be left to chance; nor should it be dependent on which teacher a child is taught by, which school they attend or the quality of a school's professional development provision. Studies however repeatedly show significant variation in children's learning experiences when compared both within a school and between different schools. The effective leadership of professional learning can act as a positive change vehicle for improving teacher quality and consistency to support educational equity; yet ironically teachers, whose core purpose is to help their students learn, often experience ineffective professional learning opportunities themselves. This case study provides five key interdependent themes which can be used to inform effective leadership of professional learning within British Curriculum Primary schools.
Lessons from former principals: Possible approaches to mitigating school leader turnoverHeffernan, Amanda; Courtney, Steven J; Doherty, Joanne
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231201536
Attention is being paid by researchers and policymakers globally to the problem of principal burnout and attrition, caused by rising workloads and stressful conditions. This paper identifies several possible mitigating strategies or practices, drawing on lessons learnt from former school principals about their professional experiences. The paper draws upon a case study of principal attraction and retention in Australia, focusing particularly on survey results from a subset of 56 Australian former school principals. The analysis is theorised through turnover theory, specifically with a lens on the push factors that influenced principals’ turnover and attrition. Our analysis shows that principals left the profession due to a perceived lack of support, complexity of the role and overwhelming workload. These are identified as priorities for new policies and practices that better support principals working in an increasingly challenging profession. The paper provides an original contribution to the field through its specific focus on retention and former principals’ perspectives. While the paper is focused on Australian principals, their experiences can provide insights into wider patterns being seen in countries with pressurised workloads, increasingly poor principal health and well-being, and subsequent concerns about the attraction and retention of school leaders.
Factors influencing perceived stress in middle leaders of educationLambert, Steve
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231189844
The role of middle leaders, that is, those who report to a member of the organisation's senior leadership, in bringing about improvements to schools is well documented. Yet middle leadership is often considered one of the most challenging roles within educational leadership, often under-conceptualised and theorised. Before we can look at the literature on resilience and any potential role it has in mediating against stress within the workplace, we need to know what stressors middle leaders in education experience. This paper outlines some initial findings from a study of 62 middle leaders, in England, exploring the key stressors they experience in their role. All participants were asked to complete a short online survey where they could enter free text when asked to identify the 5 stressors they most commonly experienced. Participants felt that staffing issues, followed by a lack of time and increasing workloads as the most prevalent issues. Commonly cited stressors such as inspections did not score highly, due to the temporary nature of the stress being induced. This is particularly important if staff are to be encouraged into leadership roles and senior leaders are to provide support for those already occupying middle leadership positions.
Does the professional learning community intermediate the effects of principal's leadership on teaching innovation?Paletta, Angelo; Alimehmeti, Genc
2023 Management in Education
doi: 10.1177/08920206231200099
This study explores the intricate dynamics of leadership, professional learning communities (PLCs), and their collective impact on driving teaching innovation. We analyze an original dataset from 352 schools from five Italian regions by combining two original datasets from a principals’ questionnaire and innovative didactic project information for each school. We use structural equation modeling to analyze factors influencing innovation. Our results reveal a significant and positive influence of both supportive and instructional leadership styles on the organizational capabilities of the PLC, indirectly affecting teaching innovation. Interestingly, while organizational capabilities exhibited a strong positive relationship with teaching innovation, personal and interpersonal capabilities do not show a significant relationship. This suggests that these aspects of PLC alone may not suffice in driving pedagogical innovation. Overall, this paper underlines the importance of effective leadership and robust PLCs in fostering an environment conducive to innovative teaching practices. It offers valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and school leaders aiming to cultivate a culture of pedagogical innovation in their institutions.