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The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a piece of research concerning the practice of Cypriot school principals’ instructional role and its effect on teachers’ job satisfaction, and also to investigate whether higher levels of teachers’ job satisfaction can be predicted when school principals deal with and accomplish their instructional tasks.

Quantitative methods were used (two questionnaires) together with qualitative methods (observation, interviews, informal conversations, and collection of artifacts).

The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that higher levels of teachers’ job satisfaction are not predicted when principals deal with and accomplish their instructional tasks. This result is rather unexpected, considering the trends of modern bibliography regarding the value and effects on teachers of principal’s instructional and transformational leadership. The triangulation of the results helped the authors to re-examine the research question and creates a deeper understanding of the practice of principals’ instructional role and the sources of teachers’ job satisfaction.

The results are analyzed and discussed in order to reach conclusions about the evaluation, selection, and training of school principals. Through the description of the instructional practice of school principals, useful information concerning teachers’ job satisfaction are also provided. Finally, the conclusions of this research may prove useful for educational policy makers, since they can guide them on the successful implementation of changes. Changes are needed in the evaluation and promotion system of Cyprus and in the content of principals’ training programs. School principals must be taught different leadership styles (e.g. transformational and transactional leadership) and learn to modify their leadership behavior according to the situation and the professional maturity of their teachers. In this way, they will be able to increase the level of teachers’ satisfaction as to become more effective in their teaching.

At a time when instructional/transformational leadership is presented to be a panacea for many educational issues, including raising teachers’ job satisfaction, this research with its mixed methodology highlights the complexity and the various interpretations of these concepts and also provides explanations on why many principals do not act as instructional leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how internationally recognized styles of transactional, instructional, transformational and distributed leadership have emerged in the Japanese education system.

National legislation and policy documents in Japan since 1945 were collected by searching for the word “principal” or “head of school.” Then, four types are excluded: those that are unique only to one school type, do not explicitly deal with the role of the principal, are in subordinate laws prescribing contents that essentially overlap with those in superordinate statutes and define procedural roles of the principal. As a result, 17 legal provisions and 35 policy documents remained, each of which was analyzed by using four leadership styles.

Despite an increasing focus on instructional, transformational and distributed styles, Japan has not comprehensively articulated attributes and abilities expected of the principal. Additionally, a movement away from instructional leadership in the 2000s contrasts with the recent emphasis on “educational leadership.” Moreover, transformational leadership has centered on the school–family–community collaboration and the expansion of principal autonomy, and distributed leadership has taken the forms of new positions that support the principal, both of which were influenced by the decentralization movement.

It points to the susceptibility of the role of the principal in Japan and western countries alike to broader structural reforms but with different implications and distinct timing of the advent of leadership styles among them. Additionally, Japan has adopted a modified approach to distributed leadership style, which is somewhat similar to delegation, to make a compromise between the emergent theory and the centrality of the principal in the school hierarchy. Furthermore, instructional leadership seems to be a “late bloomer” in Japan because of its practice-based nature and unsuitability to daily realities of the principal.

As an arguably unprecedented attempt to apply leadership styles to legislation and policy documents, this study builds a foundation for understanding how school leadership is shaped by education policies. Moreover, while making connections to the western view, it creates a paradigm for future studies of school leadership in Japan and in the field of comparative educational administration.

Leadership for learning emerged as an integrated leadership framework; however, attempts to establish an empirical measurement model have been limited. Critically, not much is known about how much teachers' beliefs (e.g. self-efficacy) can mediate leadership for learning impact on teacher behaviors. This study establishes a leadership for learning measurement model and examines whether teacher self-efficacy mediates the effect of leadership for learning tasks on teacher collaboration, instructional quality, intention to leave current schools and their confidence in equitable teaching practice.

Drawing on the most recent 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), the study employed a structural equation modeling mediation approach.

Results suggested that teacher self-efficacy statistically significantly mediated 16 out of 20 of the relationships between leadership for learning task domains and teacher outcomes. Especially, in explaining the variance in instructional quality and teacher confidence in implementing equitable teaching practices, considerable proportions of the predictive power of leadership for learning tasks were accounted for (i.e. mediated) by teacher self-efficacy.

School-wide efforts to craft the school vision for learning must be coupled with enhancing teacher self-efficacy. Critically, leadership efforts may fall short of implementing equitable teaching practice and quality instruction without addressing teacher confidence in their ability in instruction, classroom management and student engagement.

This study is the first of its kind to evidence teacher self-efficacy mediates leadership for learning practice impact on teacher behaviors.

This research aimed to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa.

This study employed qualitative research approach to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Data were gathered from a small sample of six principals from six selected secondary schools which were engaged in the implementation of a peace education programme, and data were analysed using thematic content analyses.

Findings of the study suggest that principals possess a low level of understanding or awareness of their leadership role in the implementation of peace education. The study pointed out the constraints such as time constraints and learners' negative attitudes and social influences hinder the effective implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools.

First, the data were self-reported and therefore subject to social desirability bias; participants may have provided socially desirable responses rather than their true belief or experiences. Thus, participants may have overstated their role in and commitment to the peace education programme.

Studies that aim to explore alternative approaches to combat violence, such as peace education, are still limited in South Africa. Hence, this paper served to close that gap by contributing to the growing body of research on the leadership role of the principal in the implementation of peace education in the school and exploring barriers hampering its effective implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to seek insights into the demands and challenges faced by school principals in Spain, especially in their dealings with local education authorities.

In all, 100 principals from public infant, primary and secondary schools in Alicante (Spain) participated in the study, which was carried out from a qualitative research perspective using deductive content analysis.

Most participants noted the need to improve channels of communication with, and support from, the local education authority. They also stressed the desirability of increasing their autonomy, reducing bureaucratic tasks and improving working conditions, which is in line with the international framework. Their narratives make it clear that they remain tied to a management leadership model but actually aspire to an instructive leadership.

An absence of triangulation and the use of a single data collection technique are the limitations of this paper.

These participants are practising professionals who are proposing ways to improve aspects of their working lives based on actual experience. Acknowledging their voices could inspire the design of policies aimed at improving the principal’s role in Spain.

Knowledge is contributed to the area of study into proposals for improving the role of the principal, but with new and contextualised insights.

The New Zealand Ministry of Education has constructed a wide‐ranging “Professional Development Plan” providing a four‐stage national pathway for progression to principalship; the first stage has been the conduction of the National Aspiring Principals Pilot (NAPP) programme in five regional locations. The purpose of this paper is to outline the evaluation of the programme.

A mixed method approach for evaluation was employed where qualitative and quantitative data were collected almost simultaneously, and compared and contrasted.

Key findings indicated overall sound programme delivery, curriculum coherence, high relevancy to stakeholders and good rates of principal appointments. Greater emphasis is placed on distinctive findings that have not been reported elsewhere. These included: primary‐sector participants rating course facilitation, online learning, and “relevancy of the course for principal development” more positively than their secondary counterparts; aspirants who had partial or full completion of a relevant post‐graduate leadership qualification rating eight aspects of NAPP lower than those without such qualifications; and aspirants who were approached and encouraged to apply for NAPP by their principal and subsequently supported by them, finding the programme more relevant and applicable.

The multiple positive outcomes reported reveal short‐term programme adequacy and effectiveness against a range of indicators. Long‐term impact (including capacity to change leadership practice, student learning and school improvement) evaluation is required to determine sustained effectiveness.

The paper provides distinctive findings that have not been reported previously for principal development and more general findings that should inform such development programmes.

This study aims to explore the relationship between authoritarian leadership and commitment and the mediating roles of silence and trust in school principals.

This study employed a cross-sectional design to illustrate the relationships among authoritarian leadership, trust in the principal, silence and affective commitment using path analysis evidence provided by 409 K–12 teachers.

The findings revealed that authoritarian leadership indirectly affected teacher commitment through trust in the principal and acquiescent silence. Furthermore, trust in the principal played a partial mediating role between authoritarian leadership and defensive silence. Authoritarian leadership behaviours decreased teachers' affective commitment by decreasing trust in the principal and increasing organisational silence.

Although leadership and culture have been studied intensively in recent years, authoritarian leadership, which is more commonly seen in Eastern societies, has been less studied in school contexts in the Middle East and Asia. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by examining the factors that might influence affective commitment in schools in an urban setting: authoritarian leadership, silence and trust in school principals.

The main task of every school is to contribute to student learning and achievement. In the twenty-first century, national and international evaluations and comparisons have focussed on measurable student and school results. Not only teachers but also principals are held accountable for school results, which increase expectations of principals to work to enhance student learning and improve outcomes. In Sweden, a principal's work with a given school's core mission is labeled as pedagogical leadership, a concept that includes diverse activities related to national goals and school results. Aspects of pedagogical leadership include principals’ classroom observations and communication about teaching and learning issues. The purpose of this paper is to describe a model of pedagogical leadership as a base for principals’ experience with the aim to develop their understanding of pedagogical leadership.

The paper builds on data from three groups of principals who participated in a course to learn more about pedagogical leadership.

The participating principals performed their pedagogical leadership in different manners and with varying quality. During the course, there was a shift in what activities and duties the principals prioritized. The findings highlight the importance of democratic leadership and the improvement of teacher capacity and student outcomes.

The paper gives practical examples on how principals can improve their understanding of pedagogical leadership.

There are few articles on how pedagogical leadership is understood and practiced. The paper provides a model for pedagogical leadership and empirical data that shows that the concept deserves to be viewed as a qualitative concept that need interpretation.

Research on school leadership has confirmed that principals influence teacher and student learning by building an “academic-focused ethos” in their schools. In this study, our objective was to examine if and how the learning-centered leadership of principals influenced academic optimism of teachers and the resulting effects on their engagement in professional learning. More specifically, we examined this hypothesized set of leadership effects among teachers and principals in high schools located in Thailand.

The study was conducted with 1,763 teachers and 152 principals from 159 randomly selected, medium size secondary schools located in Thailand. The research employed multi-level structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analyses in order to test and explore these relationships in a mediation model of school leadership effects on teacher professional learning through academic optimism.

Results of this study reinforce prior research which has found that principal leadership can have significant direct and indirect effects on the professional learning of teachers. This finding is important because, as elaborated earlier, scholars believe that teacher professional learning is a key to sustainable improvement in schools. More specifically, our results extend prior research in two ways. First, as the first study to link Learning-Centered Leadership with Academic Optimism, this study extends findings that point to the role of school leadership in sustaining a culture of academic optimism in schools. Second, this study also established Academic Optimism as a mediator through which school leadership supports Teacher Professional Learning.

Although our results support a positive conclusion concerning the effects of school leadership and academic optimism on teacher learning, this was a cross-sectional study. Therefore, caution must be exercised before drawing causal attributions. For example, research has also found that teachers who work in schools that evidence features of a professional learning community are more likely to have a greater sense of collective teacher efficacy, a variable that is also associated with Academic Optimism. Therefore, although our study proposed Academic Optimism as the mediator and teacher professional learning as the dependent variable, it is also possible that this relationship could be reversed or reciprocal (i.e. mutually reinforcing). Future research should continue to examine these possibilities using longitudinal and/or experimental research designs that enable clearer delineation of causal relationships. We also suggest the utility of qualitative and mixed methods studies capable of exploring in greater depth the mechanisms through which school leadership contributes to productive teacher learning.

There is a need in Thailand, and elsewhere, to redefine the formal roles and professional standards of school leaders to include learning-centered practices. These standards should be embedded into the redesign of pre-service and in-service education programs for teachers and principals. We believe that, at present, relatively few school leaders in Thailand genuinely understand the meaningful impact they can have on teacher learning, and by extension, on student learning. Thus, there is a need for systemic change that recasts the nature of leadership expected from principals as well as the level of lifelong learning expected of teachers.

The findings from this research contribute to an evolving knowledge base on how school leaders influence teacher learning in different national contexts. The research also extends prior research by exploring the role of academic optimism as a mediator of school leadership effects on teacher learning.

Notes that, while there have been periodic calls for comparative work in educational administration, few empirical studies have been designed specifically to compare principal leadership practices between contextual and cultural settings. Suggests that conducting such studies raises several conceptual and methodological problems with respect to underlying assumptions about knowledge, appropriate conceptualizations of principal leadership, and methods of inquiry. Proposes first to identify some of the salient conceptual and methodological issues involved in cross‐cultural research, and then to explore and elaborate on these issues in greater detail by investigating principal leadership across two cultural settings.