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In 2017 the UK Government decided that the suite of National Professional Qualifications (National Professional Qualifications for Middle Leadership, National Professional Qualifications for Senior Leadership and National Professional Qualifications for Headship) needs to be updated in order to ensure they remained relevant to the changing shape of the educational landscape, particularly through the expansion of multi-academy trusts (MATs). At the same time, the Government proposed a new National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership aimed at the CEOs of MATs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the way in which the new National Professional Qualification (NPQ) programmes are having master’s level criteria embedded into them to facilitate a seamless progression into the master’s level study.

The paper combines desk research with reflections on the experience of developing the new NPQ programme within higher education institutions (HEIs) and considers the implications of this upon current and emerging HEI practice and research into educational leadership.

There were a number of key issues highlighted by the paper. Notably, the process of embedding academic criteria into a training programme, which was not used to support the notion of critical reflection. Also, the associated mechanisms of accreditation, existing professional networks and the upskilling of staff delivering the NPQ programme, and a professionally oriented interface between the university, employer and deliverer of the training.

This paper provides an original perspective involving the embedding of master’s level criteria into professional qualifications in the field of educational leadership.

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

Our chapter examines the ways national developments in Australia and New Zealand over the past two decades reflect distinctively antipodean understandings of educational leadership and management. Our interest is twofold. We are concerned about the extent to which these understandings are reflected in strategies designed to enhance the quality of school leadership. We are also concerned about the extent to which these strategies represent progress towards achieving ‘sustainable’ school leadership. We define sustainable leadership in terms of both building leadership capacity within the organisation and embedding lasting organisational change (Fink & Brayman, 2006; Hargreaves & Fink, 2006; Spillane, 2006). The concept used here implies both models of distributed or shared leadership and leadership succession.

The objective of this chapter is to analyze educational leadership policy in New Jersey, US, and Ontario, Canada, focusing on the inclusion of the unique needs of systematically marginalized students, specifically refugees and forced immigrant (RFI) youth. Modes of inquiry are qualitative document analysis of New Jersey and Ontario leadership policies, preparation requirements, and standards. The objective of this paper is to present an extensive literature review of policies related to educational leadership and supporting RFI youth and their teachers as well as to reveal gaps in policies and examine pre- and in-service training requirements. Within the field of comparative and international education, this chapter highlights the institutionalization of trends in educational leadership at state or provincial levels and how these macro-level policies influence educators’ abilities to meet the needs of students from marginalized communities, such as refugees and immigrants.

An analysis of traditional authoritarian preservice teacher development approaches in Pakistan demonstrates that they develop teachers as technicians who carbon copy the same authoritarian training model in their classrooms. The more contemporary approaches to teacher education with leadership development focus are mostly limited to in-service teacher education programs. The key dilemma with in-service education is that once the teachers have received higher qualification they tend to move out of the classrooms to assume management positions. What Pakistan requires is classroom teacher leaders who have the capacity to initiate and sustain school improvement. I propose the pedagogy of transformation, which is based on the principles of participation and emancipation suited to develop preservice teachers as active professionals who have the capacity to influence and drive improvements in their own learning and in the learning of the children. The transformation pedagogy encompasses five specific instructional strategies for nurturing teachers’ leadership skills in the current preservice teacher preparation program in Pakistan. These are: encourage active involvement and delegation of authority among preservice teachers, engage preservice teachers in critical analysis and meta-cognitive tasks, building collaborative teams and professional networks among preservice teachers, providing preservice teachers with experience of working with real-life teacher leaders, and develop preservice teachers’ moral and ethical reasoning. I bring the discussion to a closure in the form of a framework which encompasses key elements of the proposed pedagogy. The framework can be adopted or adapted to give due considerations to the complexities of the contexts where it is being implemented.

Modern educational environment in the system of vocational education focuses on the requirements of labour market and those of employers to the content of graduates’ professional competencies. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop practical guidance on the arrangement of cooperation between labour market and regional vocational education system.

Participative approach allowed considering the cooperation between labour market and regional system of vocational education as the process aimed at creating management tools for formation, use, development of human resources. The research involved 300 teachers, 400 students, 100 employers, who found out the effectiveness criteria for the cooperation between labour market and vocational education system.

The findings reveal national models characteristics and universal tools for cooperation between vocational education institutions and enterprise. National models characteristics allow identifying the most advantageous cooperation tools; comparing suggested tools with the experience of others and thereby assessing their relevance and implementation risks.

The research results allow us to plan strategies for further studies of this problem, which are related to the development of models for cooperation between labour market and vocational education system.

The identification of universal tools for cooperation between vocational education institutions and enterprise promotes the integration of national vocational education systems into national educational space. The materials of the paper can be useful for university leaders and professors; employees of centres for professional advancement and retraining in selecting and structuring the content of academic and teaching staff’s advanced training.

The revealed criteria contribute to vocational education programmes integration, connection between professional and educational standards, students’ professional identity.

The effectiveness of the cooperation between labour market and vocational education system will be improved by studying national models and identifying the most advantageous cooperation tools (modular training, voluntary social/ecological year, educational resources integration, state and public management, clustering vocational education institutions and industry companies). This will allow comparing the suggested tools for collaboration between labour market and vocational education system with the experience of others and thereby assess their relevance and implementation risks. Improving the cooperation between labour market and vocational education system will be successful provided that universal tools for cooperation (socio-economic, educational, practical, innovative and technological) are identified, which promotes the integration of national vocational education systems into national educational space. The effectiveness of cooperation between labour market and vocational education system will increase on condition of criterion assessment (clustering, subjectivity, transdisciplinarity), promoting vocational education programmes integration, connection between professional and educational standards, students’ professional identity, students’ engagement in the development and implementation of research and production projects, stepped formation of professional competencies.

This chapter offers Australian and international insights into leadership development and discusses how aspirant and current middle leaders can use leader and teacher professional standards to foster their professional growth. Standards help inform performance and development planning, and shape feedback and provide a framework for professional learning design. This chapter provides an overview of how systems such as New Zealand, Australia, and Scotland, among others, describe leadership in terms of standards. When used alongside an annual performance and development process, middle leaders can tap into the power of standards to continually sharpen their leadership practice and create a thriving career leading from the middle. Practical guidance is provided for middle leaders to engage with national teacher and leadership standards.

The effectiveness of educational leadership varies considerably from one culture to another and by region of the world. Cultural differences and how they may be negotiated, to a large extent, determines the level of effectiveness of educational leaders (Nahavandi, 2009). Although many theoretical descriptions proffer ideal cases of “best practice” instructional leadership, what is manifested by the behavior of leaders is what really counts.

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the role of School Leaders (SLs) in building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in schools, as well as to expand a literature-driven PLC model within the Pakistani context.

The study involved the purposive selection of two schools affiliated with a university. The sample comprised one school leader, one academic coordinator and five teachers from each school, altogether 14 participants. The participants shared similar demographic characteristics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, which were analysed thematically.

The findings of the study revealed that both schools have created PLCs to some extent and that school goals and culture were contributing factors in building these communities. Additionally, the SLs played a key role in promoting PLCs by encouraging teacher collaboration. The study concludes that SLs have the potential to strategize their actions to foster positive professional relations among teachers and ensure their well-being.

The study contributes to the literature on professional communities in Pakistan by validating a literature-driven PLC model. The model emphasizes collaboration among teachers, which can be facilitated by SLs. As such, the study implicates SLs in prioritizing the professional development of teachers to enhance student learning and achieve school success.

This study is unique in expanding a literature-driven PLC model within the Pakistani context, with a focus on teacher collaboration as facilitated by SLs. The model has the potential for replication in other contexts and can serve as a useful tool for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers’ perspectives on school leaders’ selection and development strategies in order to propose/recommend strategies that are relevant to the context of the United Arab Emirates.

The study gathered data through group discussion of school teachers who attended the module “leadership for school improvement” taught by the researchers. The teachers who participated in this study include local and expat teachers who are currently working in both public and private schools in the UAE. The reports of the group discussion were used as transcripts and thematic analysis was used to analyse the results.

The results indicate that there is a strong aspiration for setting better standards for the selection of the school leaders. There is great interest in engaging experts and instrumenting accredited continued professional development training on developing school leaders. The respondents emphasised on the required qualifications, experiences and knowledge, and the need for mentorship approach.

The key limitation of the study is the smaller sample size.

The outcome of the study offers necessary insight to the decision makers on the selection and development of school leaders in the UAE.

The study insists that the social and cultural values of the UAE to be considered in the selection and development of school leaders in the UAE.

The study offers potential gap and scope for further research on school leadership in the UAE that could be further explored with many samples and cases for broader understanding.