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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 May 2024

Amy Fahy, Steven McCartney, Na Fu and Joseph Roche

Although significant research has examined the concept of transformational leadership, few studies have explored the indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual…

Abstract

Purpose

Although significant research has examined the concept of transformational leadership, few studies have explored the indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual and organizational outcomes within the context of crisis. Accordingly, this study aims to advance our understanding of the indirect impact of transformational leadership on school performance and principals' work alienation within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, this study contributes to this developing stream of literature by hypothesizing the indirect effect of two relational resources, namely employee trust and relational coordination, which mediate the relationship between transformational leadership, school performance and principals' work alienation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws on a unique sample of 634 principals from Irish primary schools navigating the COVID-19 crisis. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using Mplus 8.3 to test the hypothesized model.

Findings

Mixed findings emerged concerning the mediating process of relational resources and their impact on transformational leadership, school performance and principals' work-alienation. In particular, support is found for the critical role of principals whose transformational leadership style can help increase school performance. However, evidence suggests that employee trust does not mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and principals' work alienation.

Practical implications

This study provides several practical insights for education professionals, policymakers and HRM practitioners across each phase of the crisis management cycle. Firstly, regarding the pre-crisis stage, educational institutions should invest in targeted leadership development programs that prioritize relationship-building and effective communication among stakeholders. Second, during crises, the study emphasizes the role of relational resources in mediating the impact of leadership on school performance. Moreover, the study illustrates the importance of proactively cultivating strong connections with stakeholders, fostering timely, problem-solving-based communication. Finally, in the post-crisis phase, collaboration with government stakeholders is recommended to inform recovery policies.

Originality/value

This study makes several contributions to the literature on leadership and crisis management. First, this study adds new insights suggesting how principals as leaders influence school performance during crisis. Second, by adopting a relational perspective, this study suggests two types of relational resources (i.e. employee trust and relational coordination), as the mediators between transformational leadership, school performance and principals' work alienation. Third, this study moves the existing research on leadership during crisis forward by focusing on the functional effectiveness of leadership while focusing on the principals' work alienation during the pandemic.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2023

Luke Jones, Steven Tones, Gethin Foulkes and Andrew Newland

The broad aim of this paper is to use Noddings' theory of ethical care to analyse mentors' caring experiences. More specifically, it aims to analyse how physical education (PE…

Abstract

Purpose

The broad aim of this paper is to use Noddings' theory of ethical care to analyse mentors' caring experiences. More specifically, it aims to analyse how physical education (PE) mentors provide care, how they are cared for and how this impacts their role within the context of secondary PE initial teacher training (ITT).

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were used to generate data from 17 secondary PE mentors within the same university ITT partnership in the north-west of England. Questions focused on the mentors' experiences of care and the impact this had on their wellbeing and professional practice. A process of thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse and report patterns in the data.

Findings

The participants reflected established definitions of mentoring by prioritising the aim of developing the associate teachers' (ATs) teaching rather than explicitly providing support for their wellbeing. This aim could be challenging for mentors who face personal and professional difficulties while supporting the training of an AT. Mentors frequently referred to the support of their departmental colleagues in overcoming these difficulties and the importance of developing interdependent caring relationships. Receiving care did not impede mentors from providing support for others; it heightened awareness and increased their desire to develop caring habits.

Originality/value

Teacher wellbeing has drawn greater attention in recent years and is increasingly prioritised in public policy. These findings highlight the value of mentor wellbeing and how caring professional relationships can mitigate the pressures associated with performativity and managing a demanding workload.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2024

Jo Trowsdale and Richard Davies

There is a lack of clarity about what constitutes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and what the arts contribute. In this paper the authors…

Abstract

Purpose

There is a lack of clarity about what constitutes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and what the arts contribute. In this paper the authors discuss a distinct model, theorised from a five-year study of a particular, innovative STEAM education project (The Imagineerium), and developed by the researchers through working with primary school teachers in England within a second project (Teach-Make). The paper examines how teachers implemented this model, the Trowsdale art-making model for education (the TAME), and reflected on its value and positive impact on their planning and pedagogy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on two studies: firstly, a five-year, mixed methods, participative study of The Imagineerium and secondly a participative and collaborative qualitative study of Teach-Make.

Findings

Study of The Imagineerium showed strong positive educational outcomes for pupils and an appetite from teachers to translate the approach to the classroom. The Teach-Make project showed that with a clear curriculum model (the TAME) and professional development to improve teachers' planning and active pedagogical skills, they could design and deliver “imagineerium-like” schemes of work in their classrooms. Teachers reported a positive impact on both their own approach to supporting learning, as well as pupil progression and enjoyment.

Originality/value

The paper argues that the TAME, a consolidation of research evidence from The Imagineerium and developed through Teach-Make, offers both a distinctive and effective model for STEAM and broader education, one that is accessible to, valued by and manageable for teachers.

Details

Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2397-7604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Kate Thornton

This article aims to contribute to a clearer understanding of the importance of mentor preparation and provide recommendations for effective mentor preparation programmes based on…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to contribute to a clearer understanding of the importance of mentor preparation and provide recommendations for effective mentor preparation programmes based on the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A narrative review of a range of literature focussing on the importance and characteristics of effective mentor practice and preparation.

Findings

Many mentors working in educational contexts lack adequate preparation, and a shift in mentoring practice from a mentor as expert approach, which mentors are likely revert to without training, to a more collaborative relationship in line with educative mentoring is recommended. Relationship building, working collaboratively and encouraging critical reflection are essential mentoring capabilities, and can be supported by participation in effective mentoring preparation programmes. Characteristics of these programmes include: providing time for mentors to reflect on their personal capabilities and attitudes; strengthening their knowledge about mentoring and learning a range of approaches and tools.

Practical implications

Implications for mentor preparation include consideration of curricula that focus on the nature of effective mentoring relationships, provision of effective observation-based feedback and the facilitation of critical reflection. Blended learning models appear to have potential and organisational leaders need to recognise and value mentoring to ensure that it is prioritised.

Originality/value

This article makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature of effective mentor preparation programmes.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Benjamin Zonca and Josh Ambrosy

Government primary schools in Australia increasingly take up the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP) to supplement government-mandated curriculum and…

Abstract

Purpose

Government primary schools in Australia increasingly take up the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP) to supplement government-mandated curriculum and governance expectations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how teachers navigate and contest dual policy-practice expectations in the Victorian Government IB-PYP context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a narrative inquiry approach. The narratives of two teachers were generated through a narrative interview and then re-storied with participants through a set of conceptual lenses drawn out of the policy assemblage and affect studies theoretical spaces.

Findings

The stories participants told show that competing mandatory local policy expressions are experienced and contested both to stabilize a technocratic rationality and produce alternative critical-political educational futures.

Originality/value

There a few accounts of teachers' policy experience in government school settings implementing the IB-PYP. In addressing this gap, this paper directly responds to prior claims of the IB's failure to promote an emancipatory pedagogy, showing instead that when teachers who bring a more critical understanding of educational purpose to their work take up the IB-PYP policy to support the enactment of that purpose.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Valerie Hill-Jackson

School-university partnerships (SUPs) probe a range of P12 challenges and interests, with teacher residencies being chief among them. Because historically black colleges and…

Abstract

Purpose

School-university partnerships (SUPs) probe a range of P12 challenges and interests, with teacher residencies being chief among them. Because historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have impressive track records (Hill-Jackson, 2017) and knowhow (Marchitello & Trinidad, 2019; Petchauer & Mawhinney, 2017) in preparing teacher candidates to work effectively in diverse schools, this paper seeks deeper understandings of the types of SUPs for teacher residency collaborations employed by traditional versus HBCU programs.

Design/methodology/approach

This article draws upon the self-study as a methodology to review a SUP for a teacher residency at an HBCU in the southwestern United States to illustrate an equity-centric model.

Findings

Leveraging an equity and third space perspective, three separate approaches to the SUPs are unpacked to establish the outline for this proposal: ceremonial, conventional and communal teacher residency approaches.

Originality/value

A novel typology of three distinct approaches to SUPs for teacher residencies is outlined to establish the extent to which equity is foregrounded among teacher residencies.

Details

School-University Partnerships, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-7125

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2024

Mary Clare Relihan and Richard O'Donovan

This conceptual paper explores the complex, and neglected, area of mentor development in initial teacher education (ITE) in Australia. It focuses on the emotionality of…

Abstract

Purpose

This conceptual paper explores the complex, and neglected, area of mentor development in initial teacher education (ITE) in Australia. It focuses on the emotionality of mentoring, drawing on concepts of emotional labour and emotional intelligence to develop a framework of effective mentoring that helps explain the essence of a mentor’s role in supporting preservice teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper draws together mentor-support practice wisdom and research literature from several relevant areas. It draws on constructive developmental theories and complex stage theory to reaffirm the intricate nature of mentor learning and development. This paper critiques the current utilitarian emphasis on mentoring as a way to improve student outcomes without first having clarity on how to improve mentoring itself.

Findings

We introduce the mentoring as emotional labour framework as a way to better understand the nature of mentoring within ITE and as a tool for developing more effective mentor supports. We present “exemplar cases”, which are amalgamations of field observations to illustrate aspects of the framework – however, we do not claim they provide evidence of the utility or accuracy of the framework.

Originality/value

Previous research and policy have tended to gloss over the skills required for effective mentoring, whereas this paper places the emotional labour of mentoring front and centre, explicitly conceptualising and describing the personal and interpersonal skills required in a way that aims to support and empower mentors to recognise existing strengths and areas of potential growth.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2024

Jeroen Pronk, Sui Lin Goei, Tirza Bosma and Wilma Jongejan

Despite their pivotal role in classroom social dynamics, teachers are not always aware of, and/or do not know how to respond to, bottlenecks in these dynamics. This study…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite their pivotal role in classroom social dynamics, teachers are not always aware of, and/or do not know how to respond to, bottlenecks in these dynamics. This study investigated the effectiveness of the Social Classroom Dynamics Intervention with Lesson Study (SKILS, acronym of the Dutch program name) in supporting teachers with regards to improving their classrooms' social dynamics.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of Dutch secondary school classrooms was divided into five SKILS classrooms (n = 86; 53.5% boys; Mage-T0 = 13.62 years and SD = 1.02 years) and nine control classrooms (n = 156; 50.6% boys; Mage-T0 = 13.55 years and SD = 0.89 years). Involvement in bullying and social cohesion was assessed pre- and post-intervention using student peer reports. Teachers of SKILS classrooms formed SKILS teams of five teachers (N = 25; 60% male; Mage-T0 = 42.45 years and SD = 12.81 years; teacher's experience: MT0 = 11.35 years and SD = 8.36 years). Teachers were interviewed post-intervention.

Findings

While SKILS had little effect on classroom bullying dynamics, it had a positive effect on student social cohesion. Teachers indicated a learning effect with regard to identifying bottlenecks within classroom dynamics and felt more competent to intervene in response to bottlenecks due to SKILS.

Originality/value

The findings suggest that teachers can successfully impact classroom social cohesion by increasing their knowledge of classroom dynamics and working in Lesson Study (LS) teams with colleagues to develop tailored interventions for these dynamics.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2024

Tue Ngoc Hoang and Phong Ba Le

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of transformational leadership (TL) of school leaders on tacit and explicit knowledge sharing (KS) of teachers via the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of transformational leadership (TL) of school leaders on tacit and explicit knowledge sharing (KS) of teachers via the mediating roles of knowledge self-efficacy. This study also attempts to bring a deeper insight on the correlation between TL and KS by exploring the moderating effect of knowledge-oriented school culture (KSC).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used the quantitative approach and structural equation modeling to test the relationship among the latent factors in the proposed research model using data collected from 335 teachers in Vietnamese universities.

Findings

The findings revealed that TL might be an important precursor to create significant influences on tacit and explicit KS behaviors of teachers directly or indirectly through its positive effect on knowledge self-efficacy. In addition, the paper highlights the moderating role of KSC in strengthening the impact of TL on tacit and explicit KS behaviors of teachers.

Research limitations/implications

This paper offers principals and managers in higher education a novel approach and valuable understanding of the effective pathways to foster KS behaviors of teachers.

Originality/value

This study is unique in its attempts to bridge research gaps in the literature and advance the insights of how school leadership fosters knowledge self-efficacy and KS willingness of teachers through practicing TL style and building a knowledge-oriented climate in higher education.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Ibraheem Abdulaziz Almuaqel

The study aims to qualitatively analyze how faculty can mobilize the intellectual capital of higher education institutions (HEIs), comprising human, structural and relational…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to qualitatively analyze how faculty can mobilize the intellectual capital of higher education institutions (HEIs), comprising human, structural and relational capital to enable the education and learning of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon the extant literature, the researcher conducted a qualitative study through written, in-depth interviews with a sample of 40 academic staff/faculty members having prior experience in teaching individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The data was collected through a set of questions formulated as key questions, to be asked to all participants for their responses.

Findings

Results of the analysis demonstrated that intellectual capital’s contribution to higher education of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be best understood in terms of its three components/dimensions. Accordingly, three main themes, with each comprising two sub-themes were uncovered. The first theme, leveraging human capital comprised: faculty acumen and faculty training as sub-themes; the second theme, resourcing structural capital comprised: tangible and intangible structural capital as sub-themes; and the third theme, nurturing relational capital comprised: in-class engagement and the second is ex-class connection as sub-themes.

Originality/value

The paper collects data from 40 faculty having prior experience in teaching individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to explore and reveal a completely new perspective of looking at intellectual capital as a means of providing accessible and inclusive higher education to differently-abled students, making them a part of the mainstream.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

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