‘Al Faza’a’ leadership: An implicit cultural barrier to distributed leadership in Jordanian public schools

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322093258
Author(s):  
Reem Hashem
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Cultural Barrier

In 2003, the Jordanian government launched an ‘education reform for knowledge economy’ leadership programme in Jordanian public schools. The programme transformed school leadership structures by advocating patterns of distributed leadership. However, growing evidence in cross-cultural research shows the influence of local culture on implementation of foreign reform programmes. This paper aims to examine a culture-bound leadership practice during the implementation of the education reform for knowledge economy programme and the tensions it holds to the intent of distributed leadership. This leadership practice was identified by Jordanian school principals who participated in qualitative research to examine factors affecting the implementation of the education reform for knowledge economy programme. The research employed a grounded theory methodology for data collection and analysis. Principals termed this leadership practice ‘al faza’a’ leadership which is anchored in al faza’a social practice of Jordanian tribes. Findings demonstrate that Jordanian tribal leadership styles are seen in Jordanian public schools. ‘Al faza’a’ hegemonic leadership practices in the Jordanian public schools signify the embodiment of the tribal social and cultural values of solidarity and kinship. These values can be incongruent with the core values underlying the education reform for knowledge economy’s advocated distributed leadership programme. This paper concludes that ‘al faza’a’ practice can represent an implicit leadership theory in Jordanian schools.

scholarly journals Distributed Leadership in Greek Public Schools: Limits and Conditions

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Gkoros
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
School Organization ◽  
Power Distribution Network ◽  
Typical Structure ◽  
Educational Structure ◽  
Centralized System

Aim: To know whether the legal and institutional framework of the educational structure and operation, therefore of the school leadership as follows, is properly formed in Greek educational system and what the model of distributed leadership plays in the Greek educational context. Results: The organization of Greek formal education is based on the bureaucratic system. This centralized system of school organization leaves little room for action and initiative for principals and, consequently, for teachers. It is important that the personal vision of the principals is transmitted to the other members of the school, in possible sources of leadership, as a factor of change and inspiration for all, overcoming the abovementioned bureaucratic system but also for the system itself to change and become more diverse and flexible. Conclusion: In our opinion the detachment from the traditional, hierarchical forms of leadership and the transition to the division of responsibilities and the decentralization of power is imperative. Despite the typical structure of any education system, we believe that schools maintain some degree of autonomy that they can use to create a power distribution network, even informally.

scholarly journals PRINCIPALS DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP PRACTICE OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (SMP) SOUTH SULAWESI INDONESIA

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 85-89
Author(s):  
Usman Baharuddin ◽  
Khadijah Binti Daud
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Junior High ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
South Sulawesi

This paper aims to identify the principals distributed leadership practice toward school performance in Junior High Schools, State of South Sulawesi, Indonesia by using quantitative methods. Quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire interviews of 540 respondents from among the teachers. There are four dimensions required for Junior High School principals derived from questionnaire data with the respondent that the vision mission and goals of the school, the school culture, the sharing of responsibilities and leadership practices. The results showed that the culture of the school is the most dominant dimension that can affect school performance and distributed leadership has positive relationship in improving school performance. This means that if the principals perform well in school leadership the school performance can also be improved. Dimensions must be available on the school principals themselves to discharge their duties, especially in leadership activities to improve the performance of schools in South Sulawesi.

The role of cognitive validity testing in the development of CALL, the comprehensive assessment of leadership for learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark H. Blitz ◽  
Jason Salisbury ◽  
Carolyn Kelley
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Department Chairs ◽  
Comprehensive Assessment ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Validity Testing ◽  
Leadership For Learning ◽  
Cognitive Validity ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Purpose – The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) is an online task-based assessment of distributed instructional leadership. In developing CALL, researchers faced the challenge of structuring survey items that would measure leadership practice rather than individual traits. Critical in this work was developing items that accurately reflected current leadership practice. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to pilot the CALL instrument and conducted cognitive validity testing on the instrument. Design/methodology/approach – CALL researchers piloted the survey in six schools in Wisconsin in order to test and refine the survey instrument. Researchers conducted cognitive walk-through interviews with five participants from each school: principals, associate principals, teachers, department chairs, guidance counselors, and activities directors. The interviews focussed on specific items in order to observe the users’ thought processes and rationale in choosing a response for each item. The researchers focussed on relevancy, clarity, and accuracy of survey items in collecting and analyzing the resulting data. Findings – Three specific survey items were identified that exemplify these challenges and opportunities such as: accessible language, extended leadership, socially desirable responding, 360-degree perspectives, applying appropriate terminology, and identifying appropriate practices. These findings provided insight into survey development work and implications of distributed leadership. The authors discuss the challenges of creating a task-based leadership assessment. Originality/value – Developing a formative assessment of school leadership is valuable in supporting school leaders’ work. The process of utilizing a qualitative approach to develop a quantitative instrument has proven critical in measuring task-based distributed leadership.

School leadership practice across international policy contexts: Organizational roles and distributed leadership in Denmark and the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-352
Author(s):  
Marsha E Modeste ◽  
Søren Buhl Hornskov ◽  
Helle Bjerg ◽  
Carolyn J Kelley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
The Us

This comparative analysis applies a distributed leadership framework to data from teachers and leaders taking the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL). Because the policies educators in Denmark and the United States respond to in their daily practice are related through the transnational policy borrowing process, we are better able to understand how these policies impact educators in their respective countries by comparing their leadership practice through a shared lens: the CALL framework. In this exploratory analysis, we take a comparative perspective by asking: How does distributed leadership practice compare in the US and the Danish contexts of schooling? And: How do views on leadership practice vary according to professional roles in specific national and local (school) contexts? Our conceptual framework has three components: neoinstitutional theory, translation theory, and distributed leadership. We use multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and t-tests with SY2015–2016 CALL data to compare and contrast the pattern of leadership practices teachers and school leaders take-up in Danish and US schools. We found that the leadership practices aligned to a school-wide focus on learning are closely associated with the work of monitoring teaching and learning and building nested learning communities, particularly in the US context of schooling.

Socially distributed leadership in elementary schools: teacher and staff leadership practice in Denmark and the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marsha E. Modeste ◽  
Chi Nguyen ◽  
Rhoda Nanre Nafziger ◽  
Jonathan Hermansen
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
International Study ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the nature of socially distributed leadership in Denmark and the USA, specifically teacher and staff leadership practices distributed in schools.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a confirmatory factor analysis and a second-order factor analysis to examine elementary USA and 0–9 Danish school educators’ responses to the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning.FindingsFindings from this analysis of leadership practice demonstrate (1) different approaches to teacher and staff leadership in Denmark and the USA; (2) the importance of a collaborative approach to developing and maintaining professional learning communities in schools in both contexts; and (3) different patterns of leadership practice that broadly reflect the local structure and approach to school leadership while responding to external policy demands.Originality/valueDrawing on the globalization scholarship, which acknowledges the connection between global policy development and local spaces of implementation, this comparative international study allowed us to examine how policy ideas are parlayed into practice through the use of a shared assessment of leadership practice. The results of this study suggest that while the work of teacher and staff leadership is important and something that educators in Denmark and the USA are engaging in to advance the overall instructional mission of their schools, the approaches taken in each context are different and reflect a local-level negotiation between contextual cultural norms and policy expectations.

scholarly journals School leadership theories and the Malaysia Education Blueprint

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1245-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Bush ◽  
Suriani Abdul Hamid ◽  
Ashley Ng ◽  
Maria Kaparou
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Western Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Models

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the Malaysian literature on three prominent leadership models (instructional, distributed and transformational), linked to a major educational reform initiative captured in the Ministry of Education’s Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB). Design/methodology/approach The approach is a systematic review of all relevant Malaysian literature, in English and Bahasa Malaysia, on instructional, distributed and transformational leadership and alternative terms linked to these models. Findings The findings show that there is an emerging literature on these leadership models and their prevalence in Malaysian schools but that they have been interpreted in ways that are distinctive to the highly centralised Malaysian context. For example, instructional leadership is prescribed, so there is some evidence of its practice, notably in respect of monitoring. Similarly, distributed leadership is allocative, rather than emergent, as suggested in western literature. Research limitations/implications The findings show that, while research on these models is emerging, much more research is required to establish whether and how leadership practice in Malaysia differs from that outlined in the normative western literature. Practical implications There is emerging evidence to suggest that instructional and distributed leadership, if enacted carefully, can have a positive impact on student outcomes. Social implications The leadership models were developed in western, mainly decentralised, contexts, and there are clear implications for how such models might apply in highly centralised cultures, such as that prevailing in Malaysia. Originality/value This is believed to be the first systematic review of the Malaysian literature on school leadership models, linked to the MEB. It is also distinctive in including both English language and Bahasa Malaysia sources.

scholarly journals Confucian values and school leadership in Vietnam

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thang Dinh Truong ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Kabini Sanga
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Global Consensus ◽  
Principal Decision Making

There is an emerging global consensus that the knowledge base in educational leadership and management must offer a deeper examination of leadership practice across a more diverse set of national contexts. Nonetheless, a recent review of the literature in this field concluded that this challenge has yet to be adequately addressed with respect to research in Asia. This study was an in-depth, qualitative examination of how the decision-making practices of Vietnamese school principals respond to their socio-cultural context. The study employed Hofstede’s ‘dimensions of national culture’ to aid in this analysis of Vietnamese school leadership. Qualitative data were used to construct case studies of principal decision-making in three Vietnamese schools. The findings highlight the strong influence of power distance and collectivism on the decision making of Vietnamese school principals. The results illuminate the value of adopting an ‘indigenous perspective’ on school leadership. Our description of how socio-cultural values shape the practice of school leadership in Vietnam offers a useful contrast with descriptions from mainstream research on educational leadership and management.

No Child Left Behind: The Ongoing Movement for Public Education Reform

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROD PAIGE
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Public Education System ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Public Education Reform ◽  
Original Goal

In this essay, former secretary of education Rod Paige depicts the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as the culmination of more than half a century of urgent but largely unheeded calls for reform of the nation's public education system. He explains the rationale for the design of NCLB and responds to several criticisms of the legislation, including the notion that it is a one-size-fits-all mandate and that its improvement targets are unrealistic. He further argues that the nation's public schools must become more responsive to the needs of students and their families in order to remain viable. Finally, he contends that subsequent reauthorizations should stay true to NCLB's original goal of holding school systems accountable for equipping all students with the academic skills on which America's future depends.

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