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1 – 10 of over 78000The global COVID-19 crisis posed many managerial and leadership challenges for principals. More specifically, after the crisis passed noticeable changes in school climate…
Abstract
Purpose
The global COVID-19 crisis posed many managerial and leadership challenges for principals. More specifically, after the crisis passed noticeable changes in school climate manifested and affected principal management style. The present study examined perceptions of principals regarding school climate and its impact on management style. The research literature clearly affirms the profound impact of school climate in terms of the relationship between students and school leaders. The study focused solely on religious high schools because, in Israel, the negative impact of the pandemic was most marked there.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was qualitative in nature, and included semi-structured interviews with 10 religious school principals in Israel. Study participants were asked about the existing school climate and their management style in light of the COVID-19 period.
Findings
This study indicated that positive school climate and interpersonal relationships between principals and students were affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Study participants reported that principals had to work arduously in the post-COVID-19 period to restore and improve positive school climate and consequently their management style also needed altering. Specifically, restoring open lines of communication and a sense of belonging as the main components of the school climate were the main foci of principal work. The principals' management style had to be more open and inclusive to restore a sense of belonging and security among students.
Originality/value
The study highlights the importance of an open and inclusive management style to restore positive school climate after crises.
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Curt Adams and Olajumoke Beulah Adigun
This study addressed a relatively understudied process of school leadership: the principal-teacher conversation about instructional change. Two distinct conversation structures…
Abstract
Purpose
This study addressed a relatively understudied process of school leadership: the principal-teacher conversation about instructional change. Two distinct conversation structures were examined: controlling conversation and transformative leadership conversation (TLC). Self-determination theory (SDT) was used to make the case that TLC is a better fit for instructional change than controlling conversation. Hypotheses were developed on the relationship between principal-teacher conversation and teacher trust in the principal, teacher autonomy and teacher vitality. These mental states were identified for empirical testing because of their influence on change processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study used a correlational research design with survey data. The data came from a random sample of 2,500 teachers from the population of certified teachers in a southwestern state in the USA. Useable survey responses were obtained from 1,615 teachers, for a response rate of 65 percent. Teachers in the sample averaged 15 years of teaching experience, with 7 years in their current school. Around 81% of teachers identified as female and 18 percent as male and 79% of teachers listed a racial identification as white. Hypotheses were tested in a path model using AMOS 28.0 with robust maximum likelihood (MLR).
Findings
As hypothesized, TLC had moderate to strong positive relationships with teacher trust in the principal, teacher autonomy and teacher vitality. Controlling conversation had small, negative relationships with teacher trust in the principal and teacher autonomy. Controlling conversation was not related to teacher vitality in the path analysis. Compared with controlling conversation, TLC had stronger relationships with teacher mental states.
Originality/value
The results of this study begin to reveal useful evidence on the inherent social-psychological mechanisms active in principal-teacher conversations. With results indicating that conversation structure has consequences for positive teacher mental states, the study directs attention to a ubiquitous yet understudied leadership process.
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Ingela Bäckström, Pernilla Ingelsson, Anna Mårtensson and Kristen M. Snyder
The purpose of this paper is to explore existing and desired methodologies for systematic quality work to promote quality in preschools from the principal’s perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore existing and desired methodologies for systematic quality work to promote quality in preschools from the principal’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A collaborative approach was used in this research project, and principals were asked to complete portfolio assignments. Their answers to those portfolio assignments were analysed by the research team and subsequently compared to total quality management values.
Findings
Existing and desired methodologies for systematic quality work are presented and sorted into 13 and 17 groups, respectively. The principals desire four times more methodologies than they are presently using to promote systematic quality work, and the results show that they must extend their methodologies to support TQM values.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on answers collected from 18 principals in one municipality in Sweden.
Practical implications
The use of the cornerstone model provides a framework to illustrate the application of TQM in preschools.
Originality/value
Principals struggle to find time for systemic quality work. The presented results can be used to work systematically with quality in preschools and other organizations.
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Yongmei Ni, Bichu Li, Yu Su and Jiangang Xia
As responsibilities of high school principals continue to expand, their workweeks become longer, and their attention is stretched in multiple directions. How principals from…
Abstract
Purpose
As responsibilities of high school principals continue to expand, their workweeks become longer, and their attention is stretched in multiple directions. How principals from various school types use their time is influenced by their organizational structures and external policies. To gain deeper insights into the workload, priorities and constraints faced by high school principals, this study examines principal time use (PTU) patterns across different school types, including traditional public schools (TPSs), charter schools, Catholic schools and non-Catholic private schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the national representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 in the USA, this study examines and compares PTU in various leadership tasks across different school types, controlling for school and principal characteristics.
Findings
Among various high school types, principals in TPS had the longest workweeks. However, the extended workweek did not necessarily result in significantly more hours or a larger proportion of their time dedicated to instructional leadership. Instead, TPS principals allocated more time to administrative tasks and student affairs than principals in other school types.
Originality/value
By examining PTU of different school types, this study adds new evidence on the influence of contextual factors on leadership behavior. It also offers policy implications to enhance principals’ capacities, alleviate their workload and to prioritize time use in different leadership domains.
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Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that places great emphasis on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explored the enabling factors of…
Abstract
Purpose
Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that places great emphasis on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explored the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants in this qualitative study were 24 subject coordinators in elementary schools in Israel. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis included three stages: sorting, coding and categorizing.
Findings
The findings identified three significant enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators: pedagogical knowledge, relationship capability and support from the principal.
Originality/value
This study suggests that the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators differ from those of instructional leadership in principals because of their different places in the school structure and explains the enablers of instructional leadership in subject coordinators as middle leaders.
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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.
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Tahani Hassan and Izhak Berkovich
This study investigated the relationship between principals' abusive leadership and teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, exploring the potential moderating effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the relationship between principals' abusive leadership and teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, exploring the potential moderating effects of the duration of the relationship and group size within educational settings.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a sample of teachers in Bahrain, using self-report measures. The data were analyzed using regression analyses.
Findings
The findings reveal a significant negative relationship between principals' abusive leadership and teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The results also show that the duration of the relationship moderates the correlation between abusive leadership and teachers' extrinsic motivation, with teachers who have been in longer relationships with their principals showing greater resistance to the detrimental effects of abusive leadership on their extrinsic motivation. Group size was found to moderate this correlation, with larger groups exhibiting stronger buffering against the negative effect of abusive leadership.
Originality/value
The findings provide valuable insights into the dynamics of abusive leadership in educational settings and the potential moderating factors that can help alleviate its detrimental effects on teachers' motivations.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces
Design/methodology/approach
The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.
Findings
Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.
Research limitations/implications
The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.
Practical implications
Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.
Originality/value
A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.
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Linda J. Searby and Denise Armstrong
The purpose of this paper is to introduce readers to the special issue on “middle space” education leaders (those individuals who are second-in-command in schools). The special…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce readers to the special issue on “middle space” education leaders (those individuals who are second-in-command in schools). The special issue contains papers pertaining to mentoring those preparing for and aspiring to the assistant school leader role, as well as papers on programs that support new assistant principals/vice-principals through mentoring and coaching. The authors provide background on middle space leadership and mentoring from existing research literature, introduce the international papers selected for the issue, and identify unifying themes across the papers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide highlights of relevant research literature on the importance of mentoring for school leaders in general, but also specifically address the need for mentoring for middle space leaders from the scant literature that exists on the topic. After reviewing the relevant literature, the authors provide an overview of the seven papers that were chosen for the issue through a rigorous peer-review process.
Findings
The co-editors of this special issue identify common themes that emerged from the papers chosen for the issue. In general, authors note that middle space leaders have unique mentoring and coaching needs, and there are few formal programs that address their needs. However, there is a growing awareness of the need to support assistant principals through structured mentoring programs, as well as preparing and mentoring those who aspire to the position.
Research limitations/implications
The seven papers chosen for the special issue represent a variety of research methodologies. A limitation is that the majority of the studies are qualitative, with small sample populations. However, even with small sample sizes, commonalities can be seen across the studies and across international contexts.
Practical implications
This review summarizes the issues facing middle space leaders in education and how they can be effectively addressed. The global audience that can benefit from engaging with the papers in this special issue includes educational leadership faculty, educational governing bodies, policymakers, school district central office personnel, senior principals, and assistant principals themselves.
Originality/value
This paper and the seven that follow extend the scant research literature in the realm of middle space leaders in education. They provide unique insights – from different international contexts including the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, and New Zealand – into the need for and potential benefits of mentoring and coaching aspiring and new middle space leaders.
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Reports on a research project which investigated the preparation ofbeginning principals in Queensland primary and secondary governmentschools. Thirty‐six principals completed a…
Abstract
Reports on a research project which investigated the preparation of beginning principals in Queensland primary and secondary government schools. Thirty‐six principals completed a questionnaire, a return rate of about 80 per cent. Of these principals, 13 were surveyed early in the second year of their principalship, and 23 in August of their first year. Six of the first‐year principals were interviewed in the following month. Presents an overview of the findings, along with some general observations on their practical implications and recommendations for action.
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