Understanding Relational and Responsible Leadership for School Leaders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Smit ◽  
Mapula Mabusela
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Relational Leadership ◽  
Responsible Leadership ◽  
Leadership Studies

Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and more attention can be paid to these leadership practices in educational leadership. Most educational leadership studies focus on distributed, instructional, teacher, and transformational leadership using mostly quantitative research. The aim is to explore and describe relational and responsible leadership in the context of educational leadership. Qualitative research methodology such as narrative inquiry is not often used for inquiries into educational leadership studies. Moreover, the scholarship on narrative inquiry as a relational methodology for relational and responsible educational leadership is scant, and there is a need to broaden the discussion to include appropriate the concepts of relational leadership and responsible leadership for educational leadership in a context of relational narrative inquiry. Relational and responsible leadership theories can be appropriated through a relational research methodology using narrative inquiry. These scholarly lenses may add value to school leadership research and to school leaders who wish to transform and change leadership practices, specifically in diverse school communities with challenging and problematic educational landscapes.

scholarly journals Expanding Educational Leadership Theories through Qualitative Relational Methodologies

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Brigitte Smit
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Relational Ethics ◽  
Relational Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Relational Framework

Educational leadership is conceptualised through a relational framework and empirically understood through qualitative relational methodologies such as relational ethics, ethics of care and narrative inquiry. Empirical data from narrative interviews revealed that in many cases where the school principals honed values such as care and relational attributes in their daily leadership practices, learners were more likely to respond to such relational and caring practices, which they witnessed and experienced. It appears that relational methodologies can elicit relational leadership styles, which set caring and supportive examples for both teachers and learners, adding much worth to a favourable educational landscape.

Preparing transformative leaders for diversity, immigration, and equitable expectations for school-wide excellence

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 661-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Liou ◽  
Carl Hermanns
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
Demographic Change ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Transformative Leadership ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Leadership Program ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diverse Student Populations ◽  
Diverse Student

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze an Arizona university’s educational leadership program and the revisioning/restructuring process that program faculty have engaged in to ensure that the program provides aspiring school leaders with the conceptual knowledge, dispositions, and skills necessary to transform their schools in ways that directly address the needs of Arizona’s increasing diverse student population and ensures equitable and excellent educational opportunities for every student. Design/methodology/approach Through a narrative inquiry approach (Clandinin, 2006), this study examined the Sonoran Leadership Academy and how the program faculty prepared aspiring school leaders to meet the needs of Arizona’s changing demographics. Findings The findings indicate that the program faculty have been able to work collaboratively to establish an ecological framework of transformative leadership to develop aspiring school principals’ dispositions to tackle systemic racism and practices associated with deficit thinking and low expectations of diverse student populations. By more explicitly and seamlessly weaving concepts and skills related to race, racism, and the structures and cultures that can either perpetuate or disrupt inequitable treatment of diverse student populations throughout all of the courses and experiences of the program, the program faculty made substantial progress in supporting their students to meet the program outcomes around equity and excellence and transformative leadership. Research limitations/implications The knowledge generated from this study is limited to one specific educational leadership program in Arizona, but the conceptual framework emerged from the study has implications on how educational leadership programs can embark on a similar revision effort to ensure that leadership studies is responsive to the issues of race and racism in the context of schooling and demographic change. Practical implications The results of this study will operationalize a new conceptual model to demonstrate concrete effective teaching practices on ways to prepare school leaders for diversity and demographic change. Social implications By the year 2050, it is estimated that white Americans will no longer make up the majority of the population in the USA. Since the school system has historically been envisioned as the bedrock of democracy, there is a pressing need for the educational system to respond to issues related to this demographic change and to prepare effective school leaders to establish conditions of equity and excellence for all children across multiple forms of diversity in their local schools. Originality/value This study contributes to scholarship in several ways. First, it introduces the field of educational leadership to an antiracist framework for critical race leadership studies and principal preparation. Second, it methodologically contributes to educational studies by using narrative inquiry to understand the experiences of those who are situated in the research context. Third, the paper connects theory to practice by identifying specific strategies on how to revise a program to meet the needs of diverse K-12 student populations, and how these efforts are connected to the university classrooms in the ways school leaders are prepared for transformative leadership.

An ineffective preparation? The scarce effect in primary school principals’ practices of school leadership preparation and training in seven countries in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Weinstein ◽  
Ariel Azar ◽  
Joseph Flessa
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Using Data ◽  
And Training

Latin American educational policy has relied on the assumption that better preparation can help school leaders improve their professional performance, thus improving quality of schools. Training programs for present or future school leaders have proliferated in the region, often publicly financed, but without enough evidence of their impact. Using data for seven Latin American countries from the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE), we seek to determine the association between school leaders’ formal education and training received, with well recognized dimensions of school leadership practices reported by their teachers. We estimated linear regression models for each country in Latin America to determine the relationship between principals’ preparation with indicators of educational leadership practices. Our results show that in most observed indicators of leadership practices the effect of education or training is marginal. We provide possible explanations for this finding, emphasizing the weaknesses in principals’ initial selection processes and their deficiencies. We also consider schools’ precarious conditions to support principals in order to put the knowledge they learned in training activities into practice. We point out the need to continue conducting specific studies on the effects of training on educational leadership among school leaders in the region, overcoming TERCE information restrictions.

scholarly journals Educational Leadership in a Fragile State: Comparative Insights from Haiti

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaetane Jean-Marie ◽  
Steve Sider
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Educational Change ◽  
International Research ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Fragile States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Fragile State ◽  
Developed World

Although there has been extensive examination of educational leadership in the developed world (e.g. Fullan, 2001; Leithwood & Sun, 2012), there has been much less research on school leadership in fragile states such as Haiti. This paper responds to Dimmock and Walker’s (2000) call for greater attention to comparative and international research on educational leadership specifically by examining school leadership in the Haitian context. The study on which this paper is based examines the experiences of eight school leaders in Haiti in response to the question: What types of leadership practices do school leaders in Haiti exhibit? Three themes are presented: responsiveness to localized needs, a commitment to educational change and improvement, and innovation in responding to challenging contexts. We discuss how these themes may be illuminating of school leadership in fragile states by considering communal and community-based leadership, resilience, and the momentum for change in consideration of Moorosi and Bush’s (2011) work on localized networks for change.

The Instructional Goals of the School Leadership Program: Future School Leaders’ and Educational Leadership Professors’ Perspectives1

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Jianping Shen ◽  
Chia-Lin Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Leadership Program ◽  
Instructional Goals ◽  
Future School

Through analyzing data from 147 professors of educational leadership and 457 future school leaders in a national sample, the study (a) inquired into the di mensionality of the instructional goals of the school leadership program and (b) com pared the importance of these instructional goals as perceived by the two groups. It was found that the respondents perceived there were multidimensions to the instruc tional goals of the school leadership program and that there was more similarity than difference between the two groups. Implications of the findings were discussed in terms of developing and improving the school leadership program.

“Getting Bruised, Hurting, and Dirty” in School Leadership

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-42
Author(s):  
Peter P. Grimmett
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Public Good ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Administration ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
Recruiting Teachers ◽  
Practice Of Teaching

Two themes, 1) administrative managerialism and 2) human kinship, are used to theorize an effective approach to educational leadership. The first arises from difficulty in Canada recruiting teachers into school administration. The second emphasizes human kinship, where we speak out of our materiality as an earthling. These themes suggest a leadership profile grounded in valuable experience gained in the practice of teaching. The intent of this chapter is to theorize an approach to leadership that emphasizes a sense of calling toward the public good, where school leaders can engage in the action that nurtures a culture encouraging teachers to be responsibly accountable and students to engage in assiduous study. “Careerists” rarely take time to understand the complexities of a symbolic/cultural approach and the author's claim is that we need to select leaders who understand how to infuse the work of teaching with value, meaning, passion, and purpose.

Using Narrative Inquiry to Explore “Wicked Problems” in Educational Leadership in the Anthropocene

2019 ◽  
pp. 144-167
Author(s):  
Nandakumar Mayakestan ◽  
Gopinathan Sarvanathan
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Viable Approach ◽  
Leadership Research

A highly contested issue in educational leadership research is the place of narrative inquiry to study school leadership practice. While the study of narratives has had long epistemological roots in the works of Dewey, Bruner, Clandinin, and Connelly, its potential for revealing the human condition and providing deeper insights into critical issues like power, inequity, social justice, and oppression is often underestimated. Moreover, the method has also drawn much debate for its limitations ranging from its highly reflexive nature to issues of validity and reliability of “storied” experiences. This chapter outlines some arguments for the use of narrative inquiry and suggests a nuanced and expanded understanding of the method as a viable approach to study “wicked” problems in the age of Anthropocene. The chapter also aims to inspire further discussions of how narrative inquiry could be further re-conceptualized to study educational leadership in the anthropogenic era.

Educational Leadership and Self-Determination Theory in Collectivist Cultures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrita Kaur ◽  
Mohammad Noman
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Teacher Motivation ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Collectivist Cultures

The nature of practices of educational leaders and their outcome in terms of productivity and teacher motivation are greatly shaped by the sociocultural norms that regulate them. The sociocultural norms proposed by Hofstede are widely considered as the benchmark for national cultural examination and comparison, which suggests that collectivist cultures are characterized by higher scores on power distance and uncertainty avoidance and lower on individualism, masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence. These dimensions may exert positive, negative, or mixed influence, especially on organizations such as schools that constitute intricate work structures with a variety of stakeholders influencing them from multiple directions. Educational leadership for effective change in school requires the ability to integrate traditional sociocultural norms with the global principles for effective outcomes. Work settings in collectivists cultures are characterized by hierarchy based on age, seniority, or position, and authority, conformity, and compliance are some of the prevalent elements that influence Asian school leadership practices. The issue of developing leadership practices by merging Western principles with indigenous ways that encourages more democratic participation of teachers is always been critical to effective leadership practices. In the context of work-organization, self-determination theory (SDT) has emerged as an effective motivational theory that proposes autonomy, competence, and relatedness as three universal psychological needs; satisfaction of these needs would predict optimal outcomes. Providing autonomous work environments has been widely found to be the most effective of these principles that lead to higher productivity and enhanced teacher motivation. We propose that just like their individualistic culture counterparts, it is possible for school leaders in predominantly collectivist cultures to function in a need-supporting way to provide autonomous work environment for their teachers to yield desired outcomes.

Learning to Transform Through Interplay Between the Confucian and Western Cultural Heritages: A Case Study of School Leadership Development in Beijing, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Kang ◽  
Qi Sun ◽  
Lei Lyu
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Local School ◽  
School Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership Practices ◽  
Beijing China

Taking a case study approach and utilizing Hoggan’s transformative learning (TL) typology and criteria as a framework, we examined the self-reported TL experiences of 12 local school leaders in Beijing, China. These local school leaders gained cross-cultural learning from a school leadership development program that was designed to prepare school leaders for education internationalization. Our data analysis indicated that these 12 local school leaders had experienced significant changes in their educational epistemology, self-identity, and school leadership practices. Further examining these changes at the intersection of the Confucian and Western cultural heritages, we discovered that these school leaders had developed an integrated approach to education, started to consciously reflect on what their social- and self-identities entail, and began the process of transitioning from conservative to appreciative school leadership practices.

A systematic review of conceptual models and methodologies in research on school principals in Iran

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rezvan Hosseingholizadeh ◽  
Atefeh Sharif ◽  
Nafiseh Taghizadeh Kerman
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis study aims to present a review of topics, conceptual models and methodologies in research on Iranian school principals over the past four decades.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a descriptive quantitative form of a systematic review of research to analyze topics, conceptual models and methodologies employed in 565 studies published by Iranian scholars in the national and international databases.FindingsThe content analysis of the studies revealed the increasing interest of the Iranian scholars in the two topical foci, namely, the school leadership models and principal profile, with a focus on the direct-effects (Model B) and the antecedent-effects (Model A). The evidence also suggests the disinclination of the researchers to study leadership concerning student learning outcomes. The most frequently used school leadership model in the Iranian schools has been transformational leadership, while the distributive/collaborative and instructional leadership studies were few. The scholars have mostly relied on a survey-based quantitative research approach, using correlation analysis techniques.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that despite the increasing global acceptance of school leadership, its implementation in practice is inevitably shaped by the institutional policies and cultural values of different societies.Social implicationsThe findings of this study strengthen the supposition that the differences in school leadership across societies are influenced by various cultural and contextual factors.Originality/valueThis paper is the first systematic review of the empirical studies that present insight into topics, conceptual models and methodologies in research on school principals in Iran.

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