Departmental Leadership in a Post-Pandemic World

This chapter explores some of the specific departmental leadership issues that have emerged as universities around the world have struggled to adapt to restrictions imposed by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter argues that for academic departments to succeed and flourish in a post-pandemic world, there needs to be a major reconceptualization of what we mean by academic leadership at the department level. Consequently, a new model of academic leadership is proposed, one which is based on social and relational models of leadership practice, focused on a more individualized approach to leadership development than is currently the case, and which recognizes the crucial role that all academics must play in ensuring the future success of their departments.

Leadership malpractice: exposing the reality underpinning unleaderly behaviour

Background A mounting body of research literature is highlighting the prevalence of serious malpractice by persons in leadership positions. Arguably, too many of those appointed to a leadership position believe that they have the right to act in any way that they choose. They believe that the title of ‘leader’ affords them the licence to act with little regard for others. But just because a person has been appointed to a leadership position, this does not automatically make them a leader. Nor does it imply that everything they do is leadership. Thus, the impetus for this article is the acknowledgement that it's time to clearly distinguish what truly constitutes leadership from that which is its antithesis – leadership malpractice. Not to do so only allows serious leadership malpractice to become normalised as acceptable leadership activity. Research Aim Therefore, the aim of this article is to first use research literature to describe the growing concern about the prevalence of malpractice by persons in leadership positions and then to illustrate how such malpractice can be naturally eradicated when leadership is seen, fundamentally, as a relational phenomenon. The purpose of this article is thus to provide a new theoretical perspective of leadership, one that will help to distinguish between that which is and is not leadership. Findings A close inspection of the extremely damaging and injurious outcomes produced by leadership malpractice shows that these mirror those caused by persons with extremely harmful psychosocial disorders. Despite any short-term gains, the research shows that leadership malpractice can ultimately cause serious and enduring poisonous effects on the individuals, families, organizations, communities, and even entire societies they lead. Furthermore, rules, regulations and policies have proven powerless. Seemingly, one cannot mandate true leadership; its manifestation must be inherent within our leadership theory. Practical implications In response, this article first explores the foundational values, principles and norms underpinning true leadership practice and then presents a new way to understand leadership from a transrelational perspective which naturally eradicates malpractice by those in leadership positions. Social implications Given that worldwide research has demonstrated how leadership malpractice causes seriously toxic personal, organisational and social outcomes, this article seeks to provide a theoretical rather than a technical or practical way of redressing this untenable situation. By inference, when leadership is practiced properly, when it is based upon apporpriate foundational values and principles, then malpractice is ended and workplaces become safe, gratifying and productive. Originality This article makes a significant contribution to the expanding area of research that is exploring the benefits to be gained by theorising leadership as a relational phenomenon.

Trying out loud: Leadership development as experimentalism

Where does leadership development turn if its heroic ideals are no longer tenable? This study takes leadership practice, not the classroom, as its point of departure. Leadership studies have demonstrated the romance in leadership theory of an individual, stable, and coherent leadership figure, even if this figure does not connect to actual practices. In other streams of research, practice increasingly appears to be a resource for less presumptuous theorizing about leadership. These more situationally sensitive approaches call for equivalent leadership development practices, and extant literature in particular has escaped the confines of the executive management classroom to only a limited extent. While experiential learning has proved an efficient means of instigating and harvesting in-classroom experiences for subsequent reflection and learning, translating these experiences into (later) leadership practice has proved problematic. The mundanity of practice rarely corresponds to the theoretical exposés emanating from classrooms. Using a leadership development program (LDP) as our case, we explore accounts from managers carrying out in-practice experiments and analyze these processes in light of Dewey’s notion of experimentalism. Identifying a series of attributes associated with the experimental intervention, we illuminate some future avenues for situated leadership development as well as offer considerations for leadership development practice.

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

A Study of Black Female Principals Leading through Twin Pandemics

In 2020, the United States experienced twin pandemics disproportionately impacting BIPOC communities and their schools and school systems—one new, COVID-19, and one longstanding, that of white supremacy and anti-Black racism. This phenomenological study of 20 Black female principals in two states provides insights into how these leaders, who so often center racial justice and caring for BIPOC children and communities in their leadership practice, grappled with these pandemics and how doing so impacted their leadership and work. Findings suggest that leading through these twin pandemics further cemented these women’s commitments to engage in advocacy and justice work on behalf of their communities and students. They also reported, regarding racial inequity and white supremacy, feeling both a cautious optimism stemming from seeing the work they had long engaged in being taken up at scale, and by white colleagues in particular, and frustration, experiencing this engagement often as “performative” and thus unlikely to lead to real change. And yet they also spoke of their deep commitment to advocacy and social justice moving forward and their role in ensuring that all their students receive the education, opportunities, and outcomes they deserve.

Bringing life to leadership: The emergence of principal leadership practice for educational success in low socio-economic schools

<p>The persistent educational achievement gap and historically haphazard nature of progress for students in impoverished contexts in New Zealand primary schools is a deep-seated problem needing urgent attention. This multifaceted and interconnected problem has no distinct origin and no clear solution and is continuing to harm individual and collective futures. This thesis explores principal leadership practice and how it intersects with the low socio-economic context, to improve outcomes for vulnerable students. Using a case study approach, two principals and their schools are holistically described using a theoretical framework grounded in complexity theory. Both the approach and theory uniquely explores principal practice as an individual and collective phenomenon, as a living, evolving network of self-organisation where both parts and wholes are significant, and as practice grounded in context. The theory also offers a unique way to arrange and interpret findings. The study findings identified local notions of educational success as a way of understanding the trajectory of the ecosystem whole. The broad principal leadership patterns of practice included: building the network; integrating multiple perspectives; facilitating cohesion; and confronting and addressing injustices. These patterns evidenced a tight coupling between theory and practice. In the spirit of complexity theory, principal leadership practice is additionally explained as a sum greater than its parts. The capability of the network is described through concepts of stability and flow and shows, that no matter how competent the principal leader and their network, the contribution to education reform grapples to be transformational. Recommendations are made for principal leaders, professional development providers, as well as the Ministry of Education and policymakers that offer hope and contribute to disrupting the current trajectory, so transformational change is more likely. Areas of instability and important leverage points, include professional learning and development, community-school connections and resourcing.</p>

Bringing life to leadership: The emergence of principal leadership practice for educational success in low socio-economic schools

<p>The persistent educational achievement gap and historically haphazard nature of progress for students in impoverished contexts in New Zealand primary schools is a deep-seated problem needing urgent attention. This multifaceted and interconnected problem has no distinct origin and no clear solution and is continuing to harm individual and collective futures. This thesis explores principal leadership practice and how it intersects with the low socio-economic context, to improve outcomes for vulnerable students. Using a case study approach, two principals and their schools are holistically described using a theoretical framework grounded in complexity theory. Both the approach and theory uniquely explores principal practice as an individual and collective phenomenon, as a living, evolving network of self-organisation where both parts and wholes are significant, and as practice grounded in context. The theory also offers a unique way to arrange and interpret findings. The study findings identified local notions of educational success as a way of understanding the trajectory of the ecosystem whole. The broad principal leadership patterns of practice included: building the network; integrating multiple perspectives; facilitating cohesion; and confronting and addressing injustices. These patterns evidenced a tight coupling between theory and practice. In the spirit of complexity theory, principal leadership practice is additionally explained as a sum greater than its parts. The capability of the network is described through concepts of stability and flow and shows, that no matter how competent the principal leader and their network, the contribution to education reform grapples to be transformational. Recommendations are made for principal leaders, professional development providers, as well as the Ministry of Education and policymakers that offer hope and contribute to disrupting the current trajectory, so transformational change is more likely. Areas of instability and important leverage points, include professional learning and development, community-school connections and resourcing.</p>

Manurau: A conceptual framework of Māori leadership practice in the New Zealand public sector

<p>This kaupapa Māori examination of Māori leadership in the New Zealand public sector reveals that the experience of Māori working in government agencies is neither well understood nor specifically addressed in the fields of public administration and public-sector leadership. The study found that a key leadership practice of Māori public servants is to position themselves strategically and thoughtfully to advance mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori. They are public servants who are cognisant of the Crown–Māori spaces in which they occupy. They are careful in their assumptions and views about the underlying forces at play and the responsibility they have in working for government. They are concerned about the legitimate place of mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori in kāwanatanga spaces and work to alleviate and mitigate bureaucratic pressures imposed by the dominant Westminster model of governance. Māori leadership practices are designed and constructed through personal models of leadership shaped by Māori values, legacies, whakapapa, and whānau upbringing. Māori leadership practice has influence beyond the hierarchical structures of kāwanatanga. Metaphorically, Māori public servants are manu kōrero (literally, knowledge birds) who, given the right conditions, would not operate alone singularly, but operate as many birds, as Manurau (literally, one hundred birds). They work inside kāwanatanga – empowering and leading others, expressing rangatiratanga from a position of personal integrity, humility, and authority. This study applied critical theoretical tools for research and analysis and found answers that are rooted in kaupapa and mātauranga Māori methodologies. Te Arawatanga, as a tribal framework, positions the insider Māori researcher into a safe cultural space to be courageous about expressing rangatiratanga in a kāwanatanga context. Whakapapa analysis grounds the research within a Māori ontology. Whakataukī emphasises the Māori voices and narratives framed within the wisdom of ancestors. This study can be said to rest on the shoulders of those with lived experience who see with Māori eyes, hear with Māori ears and feel with a Māori heart. The significance of this thesis therefore provides a ‘starting point’ that seeks to legitimate the Māori leadership contribution to New Zealand’s public service and advocates for greater recognition and validation of Māori leadership practice and indigenous leadership in public administration globally.</p>

Manurau: A conceptual framework of Māori leadership practice in the New Zealand public sector

<p>This kaupapa Māori examination of Māori leadership in the New Zealand public sector reveals that the experience of Māori working in government agencies is neither well understood nor specifically addressed in the fields of public administration and public-sector leadership. The study found that a key leadership practice of Māori public servants is to position themselves strategically and thoughtfully to advance mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori. They are public servants who are cognisant of the Crown–Māori spaces in which they occupy. They are careful in their assumptions and views about the underlying forces at play and the responsibility they have in working for government. They are concerned about the legitimate place of mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori in kāwanatanga spaces and work to alleviate and mitigate bureaucratic pressures imposed by the dominant Westminster model of governance. Māori leadership practices are designed and constructed through personal models of leadership shaped by Māori values, legacies, whakapapa, and whānau upbringing. Māori leadership practice has influence beyond the hierarchical structures of kāwanatanga. Metaphorically, Māori public servants are manu kōrero (literally, knowledge birds) who, given the right conditions, would not operate alone singularly, but operate as many birds, as Manurau (literally, one hundred birds). They work inside kāwanatanga – empowering and leading others, expressing rangatiratanga from a position of personal integrity, humility, and authority. This study applied critical theoretical tools for research and analysis and found answers that are rooted in kaupapa and mātauranga Māori methodologies. Te Arawatanga, as a tribal framework, positions the insider Māori researcher into a safe cultural space to be courageous about expressing rangatiratanga in a kāwanatanga context. Whakapapa analysis grounds the research within a Māori ontology. Whakataukī emphasises the Māori voices and narratives framed within the wisdom of ancestors. This study can be said to rest on the shoulders of those with lived experience who see with Māori eyes, hear with Māori ears and feel with a Māori heart. The significance of this thesis therefore provides a ‘starting point’ that seeks to legitimate the Māori leadership contribution to New Zealand’s public service and advocates for greater recognition and validation of Māori leadership practice and indigenous leadership in public administration globally.</p>