The Role Perceptions of Newly Appointed Senior School Leaders in the Western Cape, South Africa and Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates: A Comparative Case Study

The role of the senior school leader, in school leadership teams, has been intensely deliberated over the years. Professional learning and leadership approaches and experiences for newly appointed senior school leaders have been extensively linked to the role perceptions of new school leaders. The importance of appropriate recommendations for policy and practice highlight the need for complex developmental support ingenuities to support their perceived development needs. Extensive teaching experience may be the only requirement for being appointed as a senior school leader, as also suggested by the Western Cape Education system (WCED). A developing system such as the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) system, highly qualified individuals make up for a lack of experience. Both these perceptions support the notion that no further professional development is required for newly appointed school leaders, the problem addressed in this paper. This article report and compare the main findings of the perceived roles and responsibilities of newly appointed senior school leaders in the Western Cape, South Africa, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The perceived roles and responsibilities of newly appointed school leaders, suggest a unique and specialist development approach to support effective leadership. The outcomes of this study further suggest a need for contextualised, individualised training and support in their individualised roles and responsibilities. The paper, therefore, employs a mixed-method approach to gather data to understand the perceived roles and responsibilities of newly appointed senior school leaders in the Western Cape, South Africa and Abu Dhabi, UAE.

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Emotional intelligence and school leaders: Evidence from Abu Dhabi

Educational Management Administration & Leadership ◽

10.1177/1741143220913552 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 174114322091355 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rida Blaik Hourani ◽

David Litz ◽

Scott Parkman

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Professional Learning ◽

School Leaders ◽

Abu Dhabi ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Five Dimensions ◽

Roles And Responsibilities ◽

Professional Roles And Responsibilities

This is a qualitative exploratory study that focuses on emotional intelligence attributes of public-school leaders in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The research questions endorsed the emotional intelligence school leaders exhibit along five dimensions: (a) self-awareness; (b) managing emotions; (c) motivation; (d) empathy; and (e) social skills. Furthermore, the study focused on how school leaders and managers utilise their emotional intelligence attributes professionally. For the purpose of this study, a qualitative research methodology was employed, which involved the use of interactive and participatory data collection in the form of semi-structured interviews with various categories of school leaders and managers. Furthermore, thematic data analysis was conducted, in order to reveal Abu Dhabi school leaders’ exhibition and utilisation of emotional intelligence attributes within their professional roles and responsibilities. While the study was limited to school leaders and managers in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, the findings implied the need for school leaders and managers to develop and nurture their professional emotional intelligence attributes, as many job-embedded constraints and challenges require the demonstration of essential emotional intelligence skills and traits. Hence, professional learning opportunities within the perspective of emotional intelligence need to be considered and developed to enable, facilitate and enhance school changes.

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Post-concussion return-to-play: Perceptions of roles, responsibilities and guideline implementation among community club rugby stakeholders in South Africa

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching ◽

10.1177/1747954121996677 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 174795412199667

Author(s):

Wilbur Kraak ◽

Hanno van Vuuren ◽

Karen Welman

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Guideline Implementation ◽

Return To Play ◽

Practical Implementation ◽

Administrative Staff ◽

Western Cape ◽

Roles And Responsibilities ◽

Inadequate Knowledge ◽

And Training ◽

Inherent Part

Concussions are an inherent part of rugby; however, subsequent concussions can be decreased by following the appropriate post-concussion return-to-play (RTP) protocols. The aim of this study was to compare stakeholders’ perceptions regarding their roles and responsibilities in terms of the implementation of post-concussion RTP in community club rugby in the Western Cape, South Africa. The results of a post-concussion RTP implementation questionnaire revealed limited knowledge of the recommended 6-stage BokSmart™ RTP protocol among players. Although not essential that players have knowledge of this protocol, this can be indicative of coaches’ disregard of the importance of communicating concussion knowledge. Coaches were identified as having a major role to play in post-concussion RTP, being responsible for monitoring matches and training sessions for concussion. They were also considered the most knowledgeable stakeholders on post-concussion return-to-play guidelines. Yet, coaches and administrative staff demonstrated a relatively low ability to advise on when to safely return to play. Only two thirds of coaches and a third of administrative staff were found to implement the recommended protocol, while less than half of medical staff and only a third of coaches demonstrated the ability to implement the protocol correctly, revealing inadequate knowledge. Hence, the study underscored the significance of education focusing on the practical implementation of post-concussion RTP protocols within community club rugby.

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Are school leaders culturally intelligent? Validation of the cultural intelligence (CQ) scale in the UAE

Journal for Multicultural Education ◽

10.1108/jme-11-2020-0125 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Ali Al Dhaheri

Keyword(s):

United Arab Emirates ◽

Private School ◽

Culturally Diverse ◽

Cultural Intelligence ◽

School Leaders ◽

Abu Dhabi ◽

Response Scale ◽

Public And Private ◽

Content Type ◽

Strongly Agree

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report results of testing and validation of the cultural intelligence (CQ) Scale in a new location, the culturally diverse United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in a new sector: public and private school leaders. Design/methodology/approach This study surveys 167 school leaders from public and private schools in the UAE using the 20-item version of the CQ Scale, which uses a seven-point Likert response scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree. An examination of the dimensionality of the 20 items was conducted using both principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Demographics were also gathered. Findings Results from testing and validation of the scale indicated a high level of CQ among school leaders in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. An examination of the dimensionality of the 20 items showed them to fall into the same structure of four sub-components as conceptually conceived: knowledge, strategy, motivation and behaviour. The mean scores for the four components of CQ in this study indicate high CQ amongst Abu Dhabi school leaders, although the knowledge dimension measured slightly lower. The results confirm previous research that found CQ to be higher in culturally diverse settings, which, according to socio-demographic details gathered in the study applies to the UAE. Originality/value This is the first known study to test the Cultural Intelligence Scale in UAE schools. It answers the call from the CQ Scale developers to validate the scale in diverse contexts.

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Do years of teaching experience make a difference for teachers working in Abu Dhabi government schools?

Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences ◽

10.18844/cjes.v11i4.347 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 471-481

Author(s):

Martina Dickson ◽

Melissa McMinn ◽

Hanadi Kadbey

Keyword(s):

United Arab Emirates ◽

Education System ◽

Classroom Practice ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Abu Dhabi ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Years Of Experience ◽

Government Schools ◽

Wide Range ◽

Years Of Teaching Experience

In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, subject teachers of English medium in government schools are recruited from overseas and have a wide range of years of teaching experience. Research is divided into whether or not years of experience necessarily translates into a positive correlation with student-centred classroom practice such as the use of hands-on learning and inquiry-based approaches to learning in science. Abu Dhabi is in the process of dramatically overturning its education system, resulting in at times challenging teaching environments. Teachers working here are in the unique situation of being part of a rapidly developing education system and face similar challenges regardless of their years of experiences. This study surveys 249 expatriate English medium teachers to explore how their number of years of experience varies with their classroom practice, teaching beliefs and confidence levels. Although teachers with more experience were far more likely to express confidence in their own abilities (self-efficacies), we found the classroom practices of those between five and ten years of experience aligned most closely with inquiry-based, student-centred learning approaches applied in Abu Dhabi classrooms. Keywords: Years’ teaching experience, classroom practice, reform.

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Preparing School Leaders in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Survey of Leadership Preferences of Principals in Western Cape

Journal of Leadership Studies ◽

10.1177/107179190200800306 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 63-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lynden Dale Krause ◽

Richard Powell

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

School Leaders ◽

Western Cape ◽

Leadership Preferences

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Educating Ms. Fatima

Al-Raida Journal ◽

10.32380/alrj.v0i0.351 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 56-63

Author(s):

Tim Walters ◽

Susan Swan ◽

Ron Wolfe ◽

John Whiteoak ◽

Jack Barwind

Keyword(s):

Federal Government ◽

Free Trade ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

High Technology ◽

Emerging Technology ◽

Abu Dhabi ◽

Free Trade Zones ◽

Knowledge Based ◽

K 12

The United Arab Emirates is a smallish Arabic/Islamic country about the size of Maine located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Though currently oil dependent, the country is moving rapidly from a petrocarbon to a people-based economy. As that economy modernizes and diversifies, the country’s underlying social ecology is being buffeted. The most significant of the winds of change that are blowing include a compulsory, free K-12 education system; an economy shifting from extractive to knowledge-based resources; and movement from the almost mythic Bedouin-inspired lifestyle to that of a sedentary highly urbanized society. Led by resource-rich Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the federal government has invested heavily in tourism, aviation, re-export commerce, free trade zones, and telecommunications. The Emirate of Dubai, in particular, also has invested billions of dirhams in high technology. The great dream is that educated and trained Emiratis will replace the thousands of foreign professionals now running the newly emerging technology and knowledge-driven economy.

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