{"title":"Centring micro-politics in system leadership in a multi-academy trust","authors":"Mark Innes, Paul Armstrong, Steven Courtney","doi":"10.1177/17411432231210972","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231210972","url":null,"abstract":"System leadership has historically been used normatively as a concept to promote and privilege multi-site working across education institutions as part of a so-called self-improving system. In this article, we argue that a consequence of this definition is that any superficially ‘leaderful’ practice in such multi-site institutions is understood and legitimated through a system leadership lens. We argue further that when multi-academy trust (MAT) actors understand what they do as system leadership in this way, they may misdiagnose the role and importance of micro-politics as an explanatory model for their practice and motivations. Accepting a system leadership framing for their practice enables participants to underplay how they engage in careerist micro-political strategies and ploys within a wider framing of collaboration, networking and normal MAT functioning. To make these arguments, we draw on interview and observation data and analysis from a case study investigating literacy policy in a MAT in England. Our analysis contributes to the growing critical literature on system leadership and prompts questions about what organisational and sociological processes its claimed use conceals.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"86 8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135540413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Configuring effects of learning-centred leadership in promoting teacher professional learning and teacher self-efficacy","authors":"Lei Mee Thien, Sock Beei Yeap","doi":"10.1177/17411432231211431","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231211431","url":null,"abstract":"Comprehensive investigation of configuring effects of the learning-centred leadership that could sufficiently explain teacher outcomes has not been adequately addressed in the literature. Drawing on complexity theory, this study aims to investigate how the four dimensions of learning-centred leadership combine to lead to increased teacher professional learning and teacher self-efficacy using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric approaches. Data were collected from 453 secondary school teachers in Penang, Malaysia. The partial least squares structural equation modelling revealed the leadership support dimension has a significant positive effect on teacher professional learning. The modelling dimension has a significant positive effect on teacher professional learning and teacher self-efficacy. Fuzzy set-qualitative comparative analysis informed four configuring effects of learning-centred leadership dimensions on teacher professional learning, including a combination of high level of managing the learning programme and low level of building a learning vision leads to generate a high level of teacher professional learning. Likewise, there are four configuring effects of learning-centred leadership dimensions on teacher self-efficacy. This study contributes to the literature by advancing the theoretical foundation of how the learning-centred leadership dimensions combine to better explain high level of teacher professional learning and teacher self-efficacy.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135725973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gendered constructions of good management by men school leaders: Between hegemonic and caring masculinity","authors":"Roy Kabesa, Izhak Berkovich","doi":"10.1177/17411432231210379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231210379","url":null,"abstract":"This qualitative study explored the gendered constructions of good management by men school leaders. The research participants were 30 men school leaders in Israel, selected through purposive sampling. The study aimed to identify the dominant discourses of masculinity and how they shaped ideal school leadership practices. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants and used thematic analysis to explore the data. The findings suggest that the participants constructed good management using two prototypes of masculinity: hegemonic and caring. Hegemonic masculinity was associated with traditional managerial styles, such as being focused on the task and achieving excellence, using charismatic-visionary behaviours and a focus on resources and organizational structure. By contrast, caring masculinity involves more empowering behaviour styles, concern for others, and the distribution of power. To be regarded as good managers, some participants adopted an androgynous management style, indicating the ongoing struggles associated with the gender experiences of current men leaders.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"4 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135821680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"System leadership in England: Changing the landscape, for better or worse?","authors":"Tony Bush","doi":"10.1177/17411432231201718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231201718","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"38 1-2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135270840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Susanne Sahlin, Monica Sjöstrand, Maria Styf, Sandra Lund
{"title":"Novice principals coping strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden","authors":"Susanne Sahlin, Monica Sjöstrand, Maria Styf, Sandra Lund","doi":"10.1177/17411432231208789","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231208789","url":null,"abstract":"This study presents findings from a qualitative case study where principals ( n = 193), studying a national principal training programme, participated in a study exploring novice principals’ perceptions of how their leadership was impacted during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. A model classification of stressful situations related to coping strategies was used as the theoretical framework for the study and used in the content analysis with a deductive approach. In small groups, the principals used a specific conversation model and discussed their experiences of how their leadership had been affected during the pandemic. The findings showed that principals identified a lack of clarity and situations linked to the adaption to new rules required over time when staff and student absenteeism were consistent challenges. The majority of situations that the principals described can be linked to unclear but affectable situations, where they had to make uncomfortable decisions but also provide security and solutions. Principals mainly used problem-oriented stress management strategies by searching for information, analysing and finding new solutions.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"11 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135412921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiangyun Du, Aida Guerra, Juebei Chen, Euan Lindsay, Bente Nørdgaard
{"title":"Supporting change in Polish higher education: Academic middle leaders’ perspectives","authors":"Xiangyun Du, Aida Guerra, Juebei Chen, Euan Lindsay, Bente Nørdgaard","doi":"10.1177/17411432231206247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231206247","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports a mixed-methods study examining 29 academic middle leaders’ viewpoints on supporting educational change in higher educational institutions in Poland. Following a three-dimensional conceptual framework emphasizing support at the individual, collegial, and environmental levels, Q methodology was adopted to collect and analyze data qualitatively and quantitatively. Four significantly different viewpoints were identified, respectively prioritizing (1) creating an institutional culture, (2) connecting people to form a support system, (3) supporting educators’ change readiness, and (4) supporting trust building. The follow-up focus groups, in addition to verifying the Q outcomes, identified a shared conceptualization of middle leaders as complex dynamic adaptive systems, despite their general lack of professional training for their positions. The identified consensus emphasized their shared concerns about a lack of institutional support, which echoes the prevailing research findings on university educators. The results also reveal a particular need for attention to pedagogical advancement, which has been historically neglected due to socioeconomic constraints. This study suggests broadening the scope of change, including higher education institutions’ policymaking, practice, and research, to provide systemic and systematic support to actors.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136078639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘Being happy means doing it together’: Exploring the interpersonal emotion regulation of kindergarten principals","authors":"Wenyan Jiang, Wenlan Wang, Hongbiao Yin","doi":"10.1177/17411432231206623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231206623","url":null,"abstract":"The interpersonal emotion regulation of principals has rarely been examined as an independent issue, although it has been widely recognized that educational leadership is an emotional endeavour situated in an interpersonal context. This study aimed to understand how kindergarten principals engage in interpersonal emotion regulation by examining their strategy use. A case study approach was used to collected data, and a thematic coding analysis was conducted to generalize the specific strategies adopted by 12 kindergarten principals from Hong Kong. The findings showed that the principals mainly used four types of strategies to regulate the emotions of self and others, namely, intrinsic emotion-improving, extrinsic emotion-improving, extrinsic emotion-worsening, and extrinsic emotion-suspending. Comparatively, emotion-improving strategies for both intrinsic and extrinsic regulation are the preferred choices of these kindergarten principals. This study identified a new category of interpersonal emotion regulation strategies for kindergarten principals, namely, extrinsic emotion-suspending which has rarely been examined in the literature. With these findings, this study offers fresh insights into kindergarten principals’ emotion regulation and leadership practices and extends the understanding of the role of emotions in educational leadership.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136358077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The promotion of distributed leadership in education at national level: Discursive change to maintain the old order – Lessons from Ireland","authors":"John O’Sullivan, Gerry Mac Ruairc","doi":"10.1177/17411432231206617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231206617","url":null,"abstract":"There is increasing evidence of the influence of neoliberal and New Public Management (NPM) agendas in education systems around the world. Research shows the associated restricted drive for efficiency and effectiveness has induced negative effects on students, teachers and school leaders. Distributed leadership features prominently in policy frameworks in such countries. Despite this, research shows it manifests in limited forms of delegation. Taking Ireland as an example, this study extends this via interrogation of discourses of educational leadership advanced by the Department of Education there. This allows for an understanding of not just what is occurring but illuminates why, thereby opening up opportunities for alternative practices. Specifically, having explicated the contested term ‘distributed leadership’, this research reports on a thematic and discourse analysis of the Department's Whole School Evaluation (WSE) reports on a sample of 12 post-primary schools. Key findings reveal the Department's espoused ‘enhanced’ model of ‘distributed leadership’ belies its advancement of delegated leadership and ‘discursive twists’ that enable ‘unleaderful’ activities of teachers and routine educational experiences of students to masquerade as leadership. Leadership implications for the Department that would enable, rather than constrain, enhanced educational leadership practice in schools are highlighted.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135197744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The roles of middle leaders in reinforcing academic optimism","authors":"Jannah Abigail D Gramaje, Jerome T Buenviaje","doi":"10.1177/17411432231201488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231201488","url":null,"abstract":"The exceeding importance of academic optimism and the promising potential of middle leadership demand research attention in contribution to student success and school improvement. This paper presents a critical analysis of the roles and contributions of middle leaders through the lens of the academic optimism model. This study used mixed methods with a nonexperimental, exploratory-sequential approach (case-selection variant), identifying best-case participants and featuring qualitative findings through semi-structured interviews with six public-school department heads. These participants represent two high, two average, and two low-optimistic departments. Findings revealed that middle leaders perform four key roles in reinforcing academic optimism: professional mentors, team builders, learning facilitators, and performance navigators.","PeriodicalId":47885,"journal":{"name":"Educational Management Administration & Leadership","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135308485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}