Introduction to Special Issue International Perspectives on Team Leadership

During the last several decades, the rise of the global economy launched an array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. These shifts contributed to heightened concern about the quality of schools and resulted in what “arguably is the most intense, comprehensive, and sustained effort to reform education in America’s history” (Bjork, 2001, p. 19). As policymakers and economists linked academic performance of students to their nation’s long-term economic survival, the scope and duration of educational reform around the globe expanded exponentially (Daun, 2002; Pang, 2013; Zhao, 2009). In retrospect, efforts to ensure national economic wellbeing have been defined by educational policies focused on ensuring broad-based access to schooling (Means, 2018), achieving academic excellence among students (Hanushek, Jamison, Jamison, & Woessman, 2008), networking among schools and students (Bathon, 2011; Glazer & Peurach, 2013), and reconceptualizing schooling (Ball, 2009; Mullen, 2017; Osborne, 2017). In many instances, these protracted efforts altered the conversation about education reform, particularly with regard to reconfiguring how leaders work (Fusarelli, Kowalski, & Petersen, 2011; Hairon, 2017; Nir, 2014).