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1 – 10 of over 68000Geva Iftach and Orly Shapira-Lishchinsky
The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of the concept “school identity” as reflected in principals’ perceptions of their school logo, vision and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of the concept “school identity” as reflected in principals’ perceptions of their school logo, vision and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 principals from Israeli elementary, junior high and high schools. The content analysis of principals’ interviews, including open, axial and selective coding and confirmatory qualitative analysis was used to examine the principals’ perceptions regarding the school’s logo, vision and practice.
Findings
The principals’ perceptions of the logo, vision and practice comprised five main features: academic, traditional, national, organizational and social-ethical. Different types of relationships were found between these features: correspondence by appearance, correspondence by non-appearance and incongruence.
Research limitations/implications
The study suggests a new theoretical model for generating the concept of school identity. The study demonstrates that incongruent findings may be viewed as complementary rather than conflicting when establishing a school’s identity.
Practical implications
The findings can promote an understanding of the function of school logos and vision statements in school practice, and help develop and maintain school identity. All these may affect the surroundings that come in contact with the school principal, such as parental decision on school choice and governmental activities.
Originality/value
To date, no study has investigated the meaning of school identity based on the principals’ perceptions regarding the school logo, vision and practice. The findings can facilitate the development of an ecological approach, which can help in understanding the meaning of school identity and its effect on students, staff, parents, wider community and national policy.
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Maximiliano Jose Ritacco and Antonio Bolivar
The purpose of this paper is to propose an emerging approach in research on school leadership, within the framework of the “International Successful School Principalship Project…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an emerging approach in research on school leadership, within the framework of the “International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP)”, where one of the three key research strands is “Principals’ identities”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper responds, from a biographical-narrative approach, to knowledge about the impact of the Spanish model of school management on the professional identity of school principals. It analyses the biographical interviews of 15 school principals, through a process of structuring and categorizing the data collected, applying content analysis.
Findings
The dimensions of the principals’ identities emerge in different categories: personal identity, professional identity (internal perspective), professional identity (external perspective), social identity, professionalization and dual identity.
Research limitations/implications
The authors studied identities in a project entitled “Successful school principals”, understanding that successful leadership practices largely depend on headteachers’ identities. That is, when the identities are weak and unstable, with a poor identification with the managerial tasks and functions, and not recognised by the teaching staff, the school will probably be unsuccessful. On the contrary, when there are headteachers with a strong professional identity, the authors want to show that there is a positive impact on improvement of results. In the future, in the development of the research project, the authors aim to verify the relationship between headteachers’ identities and educational improvement.
Practical implications
The knowledge gained in our study would enable us to reimagine lines in order to increase the professionalization and identities of headteachers, redesigning work contexts in ways which can strengthen fragile and unstable identities. Finally, the implications of the study in relation to future research can be summarised by the following ideas.
Social implications
Understanding the world of the lives (lebenswelt) of Spanish headteachers means adopting a hermeneutic approach, observing the self-interpretation comments expressed by the subjects, where the temporal and biographical dimensions occupy a key role. The authors understand professional identity as a socially constructed and personally created experience with its own meanings, feelings and intentions. Therefore, it is logical to use, for data collection, individual interviews which explore the school context and the impact which it has on those subjects who are part of the professional environment. In addition, the authors have the intention of following up the study of identities.
Originality/value
It formulates, first, the theoretical framework for the professional identity from a narrative approach, linked – at the same time – to the practice of leadership, as an interactive relationship with the other members of the school. Successful leadership practices depend to a large degree on strong principals’ identities. Finally, the results are discussed, and future lines are proposed to articulate and strengthen the identity of school principals in Spain.
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A narrative inquiry was conducted to explore the complexities of learning English and Korean as subject matter in cross-cultural contexts in contributing to teacher identity, with…
Abstract
A narrative inquiry was conducted to explore the complexities of learning English and Korean as subject matter in cross-cultural contexts in contributing to teacher identity, with possible tensions of identity teachers experience as ethnic Koreans teaching at an international school in Korea that promotes non-Korean, international education in English as a “language of inclusion” and instruction. With expansions of international schools in South Korea, also growing are numbers of Korean teachers teaching at such schools as returnees, individuals with cross-cultural experience. Stories of one Korean language and literature teacher with international schooling experience were examined.
While identifying the practical benefits of acquiring English, she expresses her concern for the presumed loss of Korean as a product of the prioritized use of English on campus. Equally recognized are the diverse opportunities not commonly available at Korean public schools that the participant upholds from her own experience. She acknowledged that her opportunities for the development of English language skills to a high level of proficiency through international education is not commonly accessible to all students in the Korean public school system. She also considered possible impacts associated with prioritizing the use of English over Korean in her international education experience, including their influence on: her sense of identity as a teacher and as Korean; her cultural knowledge as Korean; and her teacher knowledge as she supports her students' learning of English as subject matter in ways that might, in turn, also impact their sense of identity as Korean.
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Antonios Kafa and Petros Pashiardis
The purpose of this paper is to explore a broader understanding of the role of Cypriot school principals’ personal identities, through a values system perspective, when exercising…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore a broader understanding of the role of Cypriot school principals’ personal identities, through a values system perspective, when exercising their leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A multicase study methodology was followed with five school principals, representing five different leadership styles. In each case, an in-depth investigation of the school principal’s personal identity was undertaken. School principals’ personal values were explored during interviews, staff meetings and daily activities observations, as well as through the use of the think-aloud protocol method. This study utilized the Schwartz Theory of Basic Human Values, as well as the Pashiardis–Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework, as the guiding theoretical framework.
Findings
School principals’ personal identities in Cyprus seem to influence, to some extent, their daily leadership practice. However, particular factors associated with the context in which they live (social identity) and work (professional identity), seemed to be affecting the personal values embedded throughout their personal identities.
Research limitations/implications
Five school principals are not enough to make generalizations on the relationships between leadership styles and values. However, through this paper, the authors sought to provide examples on how school principals’ personal identities influence their leadership practice.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the important role and attention to school principals’ personal identities, beyond the core management and leadership courses. The findings also shed light on the importance of looking more closely at contextual elements “outside” and “inside” the school and to what extent these could influence school principals’ personal identities.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights into school principals’ personal identities, through a values system perspective, and how these personal identities influence their leadership practice.
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Catherine D. Marcum, George E. Higgins and Alexandria Mackinnon
The purpose of this paper was to explore the identity theft victimization experiences of high school students, as well as the predictors of it being reported to school counselors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to explore the identity theft victimization experiences of high school students, as well as the predictors of it being reported to school counselors.
Design/methodology/approach
In July and August 2014, an online survey was sent to every registered member of the American School Counselor’s Association (ASCA). School counselors were questioned about their experiences in regarding online victimization of their students.
Findings
Results of this analysis revealed extremely interesting predictors of school counselor demographics related to the number of reports filed by students.
Research limitations/implications
There was a small response rate because the survey was sent to all registered members of the ASCA, instead of a specific targeted group (which would have been more appropriate).
Practical implications
The results indicate a need for further resources and training dedicated to school counselors to manage identity theft victimization of students.
Originality/value
As far as the authors are aware, no other study of this kind has previously been performed. In addition, there is little known about identity theft victimization of adolescents.
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Antoinette Halsell Miranda, Halima Alhassan and Maureen J. Ito
Identity construction is a dynamic process that encompasses a variety of factors such as commonalities, loyalties, power struggles, and survival instincts (Lei, 2003). The complex…
Abstract
Identity construction is a dynamic process that encompasses a variety of factors such as commonalities, loyalties, power struggles, and survival instincts (Lei, 2003). The complex dimensions of Black identity are influenced, in part, by community, comfort, and acceptance which at times imposes fixed categorizations, characteristics, and singular depictions. Recent research suggests that more attention be paid to the needs of Black adolescent girls and how their race and gender impact what happens in schools (Koonce, 2012). Moreover, it challenges and influences academic success, as it is challenging and difficult to excel in environments that fail to value every aspect of one's identity or identities (Rollock, 2007).
Black girls' interaction with each other, especially in urban schools, can also be problematic and resemble “relational aggression,” when in fact it is a form of posturing to increase their social status. Contextual factors (e.g., culture, school climate) can serve as risk or protective factors for involvement in posturing, relationship aggression, or increasing one's social status. Research focused on peer relationships has found differences in friendship patterns among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse youth, suggesting the importance of examining friendships within the context of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity (see Brown, Way, & Duff, 1999; Crothers, Field, & Kolbert, 2005). Sisterhood among Black girls can serve as a supportive network that enhances the “Black girl experience” as well as promote wellness and healthy identity.
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This paper was written in response to the tendency for the international education literature to position the international teacher in essentialist and western-centric terms. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper was written in response to the tendency for the international education literature to position the international teacher in essentialist and western-centric terms. The international school landscape has changed significantly in the last 20 years, leading to the rise of type C non-traditional international schools, which requires a reconceptualisation of the international teacher. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a Chinese English teacher (Daisy) in an internationalised school in Shanghai constructed her identity as an international teacher.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper drew upon concepts from the teacher identity literature in order to construct a comparative conceptual framework comprised of personal, professional and cross-cultural domains of experience. Commensurate with this framework, in-depth phenomenological interviewing and member-checking were utilised in order to gain access to the participant’s lived experiences. Member-checking and data analysis became a dialogic and recursive process in which rapport was continually maintained and strengthened through the sharing of raw and analysed data, with additional comments and suggestions being fed back into an emerging interpretation in order to generate more data and enhance validity.
Findings
The findings highlighted how Daisy was active in not only constructing her identity as an international educator but also mobilising this identity to challenge the western-centric nature of international education. The findings also revealed moments of discursive dissonance. Daisy simultaneously constructed an identity as an “internationalising” teacher, but was also constructed as an international teacher through a discourse that presented international education as constructivist, and therefore western-centric, in nature. Implications and recommendations are made for practice and research based on these findings.
Originality/value
This paper offers an alternative perspective on the international teacher experience, which continues to be western-centric in focus, by exploring the development of an international teacher identity from a Chinese perspective.
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Avi Kaplan, Mirit Sinai and Hanoch Flum
Identity exploration is a central mechanism for identity formation that has been found to be associated with intense engagement, positive coping, openness to change, flexible…
Abstract
Purpose
Identity exploration is a central mechanism for identity formation that has been found to be associated with intense engagement, positive coping, openness to change, flexible cognition, and meaningful learning. Moreover, identity exploration in school has been associated with adaptive motivation for learning the academic material. Particularly in the fast-changing environment of contemporary society, confidence and skills in identity exploration and self-construction seems to be increasingly important. Therefore, promoting students’ identity exploration in school within the curriculum and in relation to the academic content should be adopted as an important educational goal. The purpose of this paper is to describe a conceptual framework for interventions to promote students’ identity exploration within the curriculum. The framework involves the application of four interrelated principles: (1) promoting self-relevance; (2) triggering exploration; (3) facilitating a sense of safety; and (4) scaffolding exploratory actions.
Approach
We begin the paper with a conceptual review of identity exploration. We follow by specifying the conceptual framework for interventions. We then present a methodological-intervention approach for applying this framework and describe three such interventions in middle-school contexts, in the domains of environmental education, literature, and mathematics.
Findings
In each intervention, applying the principles contributed to students’ adaptive motivation and engagement in the academic material and also contributed to students’ identity exploration, though not among all students. The findings highlight the contextual, dynamic, and indeterminate nature of identity exploration among early adolescents in educational settings, and the utility of the conceptual framework and approach for conceptualizing and intervening to promote identity exploration among students.
Value
This paper contributes to the conceptual understanding of identity exploration in educational settings, highlights the benefits and the challenges in intervening to promote identity exploration among students, and discusses the future directions in theory, research, and practice concerned with the promotion of identity exploration in educational settings.
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Samuel Alexeeff, Emma Dearing, Kylie Lipscombe and Sharon Tindall-Ford
This chapter explores middle leadership identity through the real-world accounts of how two middle leaders construct and develop their leadership identity and how this impacts the…
Abstract
This chapter explores middle leadership identity through the real-world accounts of how two middle leaders construct and develop their leadership identity and how this impacts the way their middle leadership is practiced. Leadership identity, an internal narrative of oneself as a leader which is practised professionally in context, represents a concept that is best understood as being unique to an individual, enduring over time, and a consequence of human experiences. Middle leadership is often the first promotion for teachers from teacher to leader and, as such, how middle leaders perceive themselves as a leader and how this formative process of leadership identity underpins middle leaders’ practices can make a significant impact on a leader’s decision making, professional relationships, behaviours, and actions. This chapter is co-authored by two researchers and two middle leaders with the intention of understanding middle leader identity development and its influence on middle leadership practices. Using interviews, middle leaders’ stories of identity were co-composed and re-storied to construct each middle leader’s narrative. This chapter concludes with a discussion on the influences of identity for middle leaders and considerations for leadership development.
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