scholarly journals The Critical Potential of Nordic School Leadership Research: Fundamental but Often Forgotten Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Critical Potential ◽  
Leadership Research

Shadowing school principals: what do we learn?

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Tulowitzki
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Leadership Research

While shadowing as a method has been analysed and discussed, these discussions have often been focused on (business) management research as opposed to school leadership research. Additionally, little attention has so far been paid to the parameters of shadowing. Without knowledge of these matters, the validity, merits and difficulties of shadowing and data collected through shadowing are impossible to assess. This contribution aims at tackling these issues. First, it attempts to offer an overview of shadowing. Next, studies on school principals making use of shadowing are analysed, guided by the following research questions: What are the aims of the studies? How is shadowing defined by the author(s)? What are the parameters of the shadowing activities (duration, observers, observed persons)? What are the categories of observation? In conjunction with what other – if any – methods is shadowing used? What – if any – merits or pitfalls of shadowing are discussed? Finally, implications of the current use of shadowing are discussed and suggestions are offered to address desiderata uncovered during the analysis as well as to further develop the method.

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.

scholarly journals Using Data Mining in Educational Administration: A Case Study on Improving School Attendance

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Moodley ◽  
Francisco Chiclana ◽  
Jenny Carter ◽  
Fabio Caraffini
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Educational Administration ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Leadership Research ◽  
Future Work

Pupil absenteeism remains a significant problem for schools across the globe with negative impacts on overall pupil performance being well-documented. Whilst all schools continue to emphasize good attendance, some schools still find it difficult to reach the required average attendance, which in the UK is 96%. A novel approach is proposed to help schools improve attendance that leverages the market target model, which is built on association rule mining and probability theory, to target sessions that are most impactful to overall poor attendance. Tests conducted at Willen Primary School, in Milton Keynes, UK, showed that significant improvements can be made to overall attendance, attendance in the target session, and persistent (chronic) absenteeism, through the use of this approach. The paper concludes by discussing school leadership, research implications, and highlights future work which includes the development of a software program that can be rolled-out to other schools.

scholarly journals Emergence in School Systems: Lessons from Complexity and Pedagogical Leadership

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-82
Author(s):  
Gabriela Alonso-Yanez ◽  
Armando Paulino Preciado-Babb ◽  
Barbara Brown ◽  
Sharon Friesen
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Complexity Thinking ◽  
Leadership Research ◽  
Standardized Examinations

The theoretical framework for this study draws on conceptual advances from two bodies of scholarship: 1) complexity thinking in education, which has recently focused on school system change and, 2) school leadership research, which has recently attended to the effects of leadership interventions to school improvement. Using a complexity-thinking framework, the purpose of this study was to understand how leadership practices contribute to shaping change in school systems and how change occurred across the system. Our study was conducted in an urban centre in Alberta within a public-school jurisdiction and in an area of the city that had a high population of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds from low-income households compared to other areas across the school jurisdiction. Students in this area typically scored in the lowest quartile on provincial standardized examinations. Our findings are significant because complexity thinking in the context of school leadership has not received sufficient empirical attention. In our study we identified and described pedagogical leadership practices that play a central role in redressing disparities currently found in schools.

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