Principal authentic leadership and teacher engagement in Kuwait’s educational reform context

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322095733
Author(s):  
Ayeshah Ahmed Alazmi ◽  
Yasser F. Hendawy Al-Mahdy
Keyword(s):  
Educational Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Teacher Engagement ◽  
School Leadership Practices

Scholars have asserted that a school principal’s authentic leadership can raise the engagement of teachers under their charge. This paper delves into this consideration, within the context of Kuwaiti educational reform, by investigating the extent to which principal authentic leadership (PAL) affects teacher engagement (TE) by enhancing their occupational self-efficacy (OSE). The study used a non-experimental, predictive survey design, obtaining data from 333 teachers in 25 primary schools in Kuwait. The study tested a set of hypotheses drawn from a conceptualized model developed from previous research studies using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results indicated the validation of this model describing how PAL affects teacher OSE and TE. Data analysis from this study indicated that PAL has a significant, positive effect upon TE, as does OSE. Furthermore, OSE mediates the relationship between PAL and TE. These findings contribute to our understanding for the effects of authentic leadership in Kuwait. As such, this study offers insight into how Kuwaiti policymakers may improve and support school leadership practices to realize the aims of the nation’s educational reform goals. Additionally, this study builds upon, and extends, the foundations established in earlier research endeavours regarding school principal leadership within centralized education systems and outside Western society.

Exploring the effects of authentic leadership on academic optimism and teacher engagement in Thailand

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhirapat Kulophas ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Auyporn Ruengtrakul ◽  
Suwimon Wongwanich
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Academic Optimism ◽  
School Level ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Content Type

Purpose In the context of Thailand’s progress towards education reform, scholars have identified a lack of effective school-level leadership as an impeding factor. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a theoretical model of authentic leadership effects on teacher academic optimism and work engagement. Authentic leadership was considered a suitable model of school leadership in light of Thailand’s explicit recognition of the importance of developing the moral capacity of students and emphasis on ethical leadership. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Survey data were obtained from 605 teachers in a nationally representative sample of 182 primary schools. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that the model of authentic leadership effects on teachers’ academic optimism and work engagement was validated. A moderate relationship was observed between authentic leadership and the dependent measures of teacher attitudes. Practical implications The study identified a potentially important lack of alignment between the espoused values and actions/decisions of school principals in Thailand. When combined with prior research conducted on leadership for educational reform in Thailand, our findings highlight the systemic nature of the problem faced in changing traditional patterns of behavior in Thai schools. More specifically, despite change in the nation’s educational goals, human resource management of the nation’s school leaders continues to produce administrators and managers rather than leaders, either instructional or moral. Originality/value The study extends prior studies of school leadership in the context of Thailand’s education reform that focused more specifically on principal instructional leadership in Thailand. In addition, this study of authentic school leadership is one of only a few conducted outside of Western societies.

Examining school leadership in a transitional context: A mixed-methods study of leadership practices and school cultures as mechanisms of educational change

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322097128
Author(s):  
Jasna Kovačević ◽  
Alisa Mujkić ◽  
Amra Kapo
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Educational Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Cultures

This research presents the results of studies designed to observe the effects of school leadership and school culture as mechanisms of change in the context of a large-scale educational reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A mixed-methods approach was employed to illuminate how institutional context either activates or deactivates leadership and school cultures as mechanisms that influence teacher efficacy beliefs in times of large-scale educational reform. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed through three independent studies. Quantitative procedures included measurement model analysis, structural equation modeling and a non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test. The qualitative analytic approach encompassed procedures of content analysis and quantification of qualitative data from reform documents and semi-structured interviews in the form of hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling. The triangulation of findings occurred in the interpretation phase, characterized by the development of meta-inferences that go beyond the findings from each study.

Investigating principals’ data use in school: The impact of evidence-oriented attitudes and epistemological beliefs

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-942
Author(s):  
Ramona Buske ◽  
Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
School Leadership Practices ◽  
The Impact

In this study, we examine the relationships between principals’ evidence-oriented attitudes and their data use in school leadership practices. Based on theoretical assumptions and existing empirical research, we develop hypotheses on the correlation of evidence-oriented attitudes, epistemological beliefs and principals’ data use. We test these hypotheses based on data collected from a sample of N = 297 principals at 153 schools of different types using structural equation modelling. The findings show that the examined attitudes and epistemological beliefs have a slight, yet significant influence on principals’ data use. In particular, principals’ skepticism towards knowledge or academia influences data use. We conclude by addressing the limitations of our study and the challenges they pose for future research as well as implications for evidence-based school improvement.

Authentic leadership, organisational citizenship behaviours, and intention to quit: the indirect effect of psychological ownership

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-384
Author(s):  
Chantal Olckers ◽  
Marieta du Plessis ◽  
Riandi Casaleggio
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Psychological Ownership ◽  
Intention To Quit ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional

The aim of this study was to explore the influence of perceived authentic leadership on followers’ citizenship behaviour and their intention to quit their jobs, and to examine the indirect effect of psychological ownership in the relevant relationships. The study used a cross-sectional survey design to gather data from a sample of South African service industry employees ( N = 384). It employed structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses formulated. The study found that psychological ownership indirectly affected the relationship between authentic leadership and employees’ organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to quit. This study enables organisations to gain a better understanding of how a contextual resource such as authentic leadership behaviours can influence followers’ organisational citizenship and intention to quit through increasing feelings of ownership of the organisation.

scholarly journals Denying Special Education to Students in Need: A Case of Accountability, Compliance, and Fear in a Texas Elementary School

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. DeMatthews ◽  
David S. Knight
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Accountability Policy ◽  
Texas Education ◽  
School Leadership Practices ◽  
Education Accountability

Accountability policies have impacted school leadership practices both positively and negatively. In Texas, the adoption of a special education accountability policy led many schools and districts to delay or denial of special education to eligible students. This article includes an undisguised case describing the Texas Education Agency’s district performance indicator that influenced districts to lower the percentage of students provided with special education. This case provides the context for a fictional scenario of a newly hired elementary school principal who is pressured to maintain low special education rates by her director supervisor and superintendent. The case explores special education law, top-down accountability, the intersectional identities of vulnerable students and families, and ethical decisions confronted by principals seeking to ensure all students are successful.

School Culture and Educational Leadership

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula kwan ◽  
Yi-Lee Wong
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
School Structure ◽  
Student Culture ◽  
And Performance ◽  
School Leadership Practices ◽  
The Impact

Two commonly researched leadership practices in the education literature—instructional and transformational—can be linked to Schein’s multilevel model on organizational culture. There is a mediating effect of school leadership on the school structure and school culture relationships. The literature related to this subject confirms that the culture of a school, shaped by its principal, affects the competency and capacity of teachers; it also recognizes that school leadership practices affect student academic outcomes. Some studies, however, attempt to understand the impact a school principal can make on its student culture. If school culture is an avenue for understanding the behaviors and performance of school leaders and teachers, then student culture is a platform for understanding the affective and academic performance of students.

A female advantage? Gender and educational leadership practices in urban primary schools in Chile

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110194
Author(s):  
José Weinstein ◽  
Matías Sembler ◽  
Marisa Weinstein ◽  
Javiera Marfán ◽  
Paulina Valenzuela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Personal Traits ◽  
Female Principals ◽  
Interaction Detection ◽  
Female Advantage ◽  
Chi Squared ◽  
Educational Leadership Practices ◽  
School Leadership Practices

What differences are there, according to teachers’ opinions, in school leadership practices between male principals (MPs) and female principals (FPs) in urban primary schools in Chile? A national survey has been done to address this topic, which was answered by the principal and five teachers in 381 urban primary schools. Following Leithwood’s school leadership four-category model, 14 practices were considered and measured. Data were analysed by statistical procedures, including the decision tree technique, chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID). Findings showed that in 9 out of 14 practices, FPs have a significantly more favourable evaluation from teachers. Data confirmed that, when compared to other personal traits of principals or school features, gender is the strongest independent variable related with leadership practices. Nonetheless, this advantage occurs in an overall scenario in which both FPs and MPs engage unevenly with the leadership practices across the dimensions of the model. This study does not aim to explain the female advantage, but to show the shape of leadership differences by gender regarding theoretically relevant practices. Nevertheless, its data allow ruling out some possible hypotheses for interpreting those differences. The article suggests that further research is needed to theoretically explain the reasons behind differences in leadership practice by FPs and MPs.

scholarly journals Association between the school physical activity environment, measured and self-reported student physical activity and active transport behaviours in Victoria, Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Crooks ◽  
Laura Alston ◽  
Melanie Nichols ◽  
Kristy A. Bolton ◽  
Steven Allender ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Active Transport ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Physical Activity Environment ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Socioeconomic Composition

Abstract Background Environments within schools including the physical, social-cultural and policy/practice environments have the potential to influence children’s physical activity (PA) behaviours and weight status. This Australian first study comprehensively examined the association(s) of physical, social-cultural and policy/practice environments with PA, active transport (AT) and weight status among regional primary school children. Methods Data were from two childhood obesity monitoring systems in regional Victoria, Australia. Measured height and weight were collected from students in Year 2 (aged approx. 7–8 years), Year 4 (9–10 years), and Year 6 (11–12 years). Self–reported PA behaviour, including AT were collected from students in Year 4 and 6 and a sub-sample wore an ActiGraph (wGT3X-BT) accelerometer for 7-days. A school physical activity environment audit was completed by the school principal and responses were used to calculate school physical activity environment scores (PAES) and active transport environment scores (ATES). Mixed effects logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the proportion of students meeting the PA guidelines (≥60mins/day of moderate-to-vigorous PA) and PAES tertiles (low, medium, high) and those using AT and school ATES tertiles, controlling for gender, school size/type and socioeconomic composition. Results The analysed sample included 54/146 (37%) schools and 3360/5376 (64%) students. In stratified analysis, girls in schools with a medium PAES score were more likely to meet the objectively measured PA guideline compared to low PAES score (OR 2.3, 95%CI 1.27, 4.16). Similarly, students in schools with a medium or high ATES score had higher odds of self-reported AT (medium OR 3.15, 95%CI 1.67, 5.94; high OR 3.71, 95%CI: 1.80, 7.64). No association between PAES or ATES and weight status were observed. Self-reported AT among boys (OR 1.59, 95%CI 1.19, 2.13) and girls (OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.08, 2.27) was associated with higher odds of meeting self-reported PA guidelines on all 7-days than those who did not report using AT. Conclusions In this study of regional Victorian primary schools, PA environments were only associated with girls’ adherence to PA guidelines. School AT environments were strongly associated with students’ AT behaviours and with increased likelihood of students being physically active.

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