The current case study examines secondary school principals’ social justice leadership (SJL) based on teachers’ perceptions. In the study, a qualitative research approach with a phenomenological design was used to explore the teachers’ perceptions regarding their principals’ SJL at Turkish secondary schools. The data were reached through semi-structured interviews. 11 participant teachers were determined as participants of the study with the maximum sampling method. The collected data were analyzed with content analysis, and three themes were reached: limited social justice, inclusive perspectives, and holistic leaders. Based on the results, teachers think that principals have a limited SJL and inclusion enactment. The participant teachers think that SJL should have a holistic perspective, including parents and teachers while ensuring social justice at school.

We know that school principals are critical to school success and must have the appropriate knowledge, skills, and dispositions to lead effectively. However, research shows that identifying these potentially effective leaders is difficult. Furthermore, little is known about the motivations and experiences of aspiring school leaders. This study, conducted at a university in the Southeast United States, aims to understand better the lived experiences and motivations of aspiring public and private school leaders enrolled in graduate principal preparatory programs. Through phenomenological document data analysis of 38 written narratives from 19 participants, the authors revealed several common experiences contributing to participants’ leadership identity development: early life leadership experiences, exposure to models of leadership, and leadership opportunities in their professional lives. Findings also support existing literature on the altruistic motivations of school leaders. Finally, the authors discuss implications centered primarily on growing the principal pipeline, suggesting a focus on youth/student leadership opportunities and teacher/staff leadership experiences.

A study showed Malaysian students were unable to achieve the minimum standards in Mathematics and Science subjects, prompting the need for educational reformation. With this, educators need to inculcate Professional Learning Community (PLC) to enhance the teaching quality. This study explores secondary school principals’ PLC practices and experiences to improve student achievement in Klang, Malaysia. The qualitative case study was conducted using randomly selected two secondary school principals in Klang. The interview session comprised four interview questions and was conducted via an online platform. The results showed two common PLC practices which are annual meetings and observation. The challenges faced by school principals to implement PLC were time factors, lack of budget, and teacher attitudes. The factors hindering students' learning achievement were family background, lack of focus on education, and teachers' resistance to change. The roles of principals to curb these issues were collecting data on students' learning achievement, equipping teachers with knowledge and resources, being good role models, and building relationships with parents. This study highlighted that school principal 1 has shown unique ideas and approaches in improving students' learning achievement compared to school principal 2. The study suggests using descriptive analysis using more than one group of participants.

This study delves into the role of leadership in addressing disparities in higher education arising from the post-COVID-19 era, as experienced by Vietnamese lecturers. Drawing on qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews with 15 university lecturers across diverse regions and institutions in Vietnam, the research aimed to capture the essence of effective leadership behaviors during this unprecedented crisis. The study is underpinned by the Transformational Leadership Theory and Sociocultural Theory. Findings underscore the significance of visionary and inspirational leadership, emphasizing a clear direction amidst adversities. The importance of empathetic and supportive leadership, active faculty engagement, flexibility, commitment to capacity-building, and transparent communication emerged as paramount. Viewed through the theoretical frameworks, the results elucidate how leadership strategies resonated with both universal leadership principles and culturally specific Vietnamese values. The implications drawn highlight the need for adaptive and culturally attuned leadership in crisis scenarios, especially in academic settings. Though the study offers a profound understanding of leadership in a post-pandemic Vietnamese educational context, it also recommends expanded, diverse, and cross-cultural investigations to provide a more holistic perspective in future research endeavors.

This study aims to investigate the views of active primary and secondary education teachers in Greece while implementing educational administration in the modern Greek school for issues related to multiculturalism and their intention to take an active role in co-shaping internal education policy, considering the country's centralized educational system and the flexibility it leaves for the participants in everyday educational reality. 1052 Primary and Secondary education teachers from Greece took part in the research. Descriptive statistics were used, followed by a test of the effect of the sample's social profile on their perceptions, and complex statistical analyzes such as correlations and multiple regression. The findings shape an educational leader who embraces the core principles of intercultural education. According to teachers, these findings are also considered encouraging, since they delineate a teacher who no longer rests, only, in their pedagogical duties, but understands that they must be part of the educational life. Finally, the findings confirmed the influence that an educational leader can exert with their behavior on the teachers at their school. This research sets the basis for the delineation of educational administration in the modern Greek multicultural educational reality by utilizing various statistical methods.

This study addresses the emergence of unwarranted conflicts and raptured ties within teacher-to-principal and teacher-to-teacher interactions. It highlights the neglect of emotions in relationships, which has been a gap in this research. Unlike existing scholarly focus on cognitive and pragmatic aspects of relationships, this study explores emotional geographies. Its objective is to promote positive relationships between and among teachers and principals by examining emotionality in their political and professional geographies. Furthermore, it seeks to formulate a policy and develop a program that restores ruptured interactions. This research employed an exploratory sequential mixed method. The qualitative analysis involved thematic and reflexive analysis. Statistical methods, such as frequencies and percentages, weighted mean, and Pearson correlation coefficient, were employed for quantitative analysis. The findings identified both positive and negative behaviors in the political and professional geographies. The results of the interviews produced a four-quadrant chart. Positive behaviors were positioned in Quadrants I and IV, and negative behaviors in Quadrants II and III. Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a moderate positive correlation in the interactions of teachers with the principal and interaction with colleagues in both political and professional geographies. This study concludes that addressing emotional geographies is crucial to repairing strained relationships between teachers and principals and among teachers. The formulation of educational management policies and programs is a vital step toward achieving this goal.

The study aims to analyze the relationship between teacher leadership and the organizational happiness of secondary school teachers. The research was designed in the relational survey model. The research sample group involves 358 teachers working in the state schools in the Bakirkoy district of Istanbul province. The Teacher Leadership Scale and the Organizational Happiness Scale were used to collect the data. The social sciences statistics program was used in the analysis of the data. It was found that teachers' teacher leadership and organizational happiness levels were high. There was a low level of positive significant relationship between teacher leadership and organizational happiness. and between the positive emotions sub-dimension of organizational happiness and the total score of teacher leadership. However, there was no relationship between the negative emotions sub-dimension of organizational happiness and teacher leadership. It was concluded that teacher leadership significantly positively affects teachers' organizational happiness.

The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) for the past 10 years to identify multiple paths through which school leadership exerted influences on school organizations and organizational outcomes. Our analysis of a network, consisting of 83 nodes (variables) and 242 variable ties from 29 reviewed studies identified four emergent themes. Reviewed studies (1) overwhelmingly framed the principal as the driver and teachers as the target of change; (2) suggested nine core variables (e.g., instructional leadership) to play central roles within the reviewed studies; (3) depicted student academic achievement as a function of the principal’s instructional leadership and their job satisfaction influenced by school context, principal qualification, and organizational conditions (e.g., respect for others); and (4) suggested teacher self-efficacy as the potential bridging variable between multiple change processes. The discussion includes implications for school leadership and future research.

Some secondary school principals are complaining about teachers’ reluctance to participate in any activities beyond classroom teaching. To understand this phenomenon, the study attempts to explore the inhibiting factors that hinder teachers in selected secondary schools in the Maseru district from supporting and engaging in teacher leadership (TL) activities. This qualitative inquiry is underpinned by the critical theory (CT), which among others aims at revealing the core factors that contributed to teachers’ lack of enthusiasm in performing various TL related activities. Also, to suggest strategies that could pioneer a change in teachers’ attitudes towards participation in school leadership beyond teaching. The study generated data from ten (10) purposively selected secondary school teachers. Using the thematic analysis method, despite participating teachers being able to conceptualise TL, they cited that, factors including; unmanageable teaching loads, inadequate induction, and use of top-down leadership approaches inhibited TL initiatives. To mitigate the abovementioned factors, participants suggested the creation of a supportive school environment, teacher training and recognition.

There is little empirical evidence that convinces the effectiveness of distributed leadership in contemporary educational research. Thus, many distinguished scholars suggest its’ statistical examination. Considering this need, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of principals’ distributed leadership practices on students’ learning outcomes at Technical and Vocational Education Training schools in Eritrea. The study was conducted based on quantitative design and applied structural equation modelling. A sample of six hundred and three students was employed. The researcher developed the structural equation model to test a model that hypothesized the relationship between the major variables using path analysis. The study results demonstrate that the principals’ distributed leadership practice has a direct and significant (.883, p<.001) effect on students’ learning outcomes keeping other things constant. The strongest predictor of students’ learning outcomes was capacity building, given it has the largest path coefficient (β=.346). Moreover, findings show gender disparity among the respondents and in terms of turnout rate; nevertheless, it was not statistically significant (p<.001). One of the study’s contributions is that it developed and assessed the validity of the principals’ distributed leadership practice scale for Eritrea’s TVET schools through CFA model. The study offered basic evidence that distributed type of leadership is a significant predictor of learning outcomes by exploring six factors of leadership practices, which shows a promising area for practice and future studies.

Organizationally, what does not get measured is not prioritized or improved. Unlike student outcomes, the leadership environment that produces the results is rarely examined for its merit and impact. In this study, a quantitative survey gathered information to investigate the impacts of leadership capacity constructs on academic achievement. Principals from 161 public high schools and their schools provided the data (leadership capacity, demographics, and reading and math scores). Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and regression statistics. Findings indicated significant high correlations among leadership capacity variables, significant relationships between school demographics (total school enrollment, percentage of low-income students, average class size, and attendance) and reading and math scores, and non-significant correlations between leadership capacity and academic achievement. The study delineated specific leadership capacity behaviors within the constructs that predicted student academic achievement in math and reading. The study suggests increased capacity and practice of these leadership behaviors to improve work setting and student achievement.

The study investigated the potential role of human resources exemplified by leaders' psychological capital (PsyCap) as a resource that may cross over to team-member exchange (TMX), and bring about desired organizational outcomes. We suggest a model where TMX of senior management teams serves as a team resource mediating the relationship between leaders’ PsyCap and organizational outcomes, as represented by team innovation, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and employees’ job satisfaction. The study, carried out among 86 elementary and junior high schools, indicated a positive relationship between leaders’ PsyCap and TMX. In addition, we found a significant relationship between TMX and the three measures of organizational outcomes. Furthermore, TMX partially mediated the relationship between leaders’ PsyCap and the desired outcomes, excepting innovation. The findings provide support for the importance of the leaders’ personal resource of psychological capital as a complementary perspective that may enhance our understanding of leadership’s impact on organizational success. In addition, the study provides significant support for the expanded model, broadening the definition of the crossover model by examining the translation of positive resources from leaders' PsyCap to organizational outcomes via teams' positive resources. From a practical perspective, the findings bring to the forefront the importance of psychological capital as a state-like construct that can be developed through leader preparation and professional development programs.

This study aims to examine the opinions of Religious Culture and Ethics Teachers (RCET) on mobbing in the workplace. The research focuses on RCET’s definition of mobbing, the reasons for mobbing, the results of mobbing, and the suggestions of RCET to prevent mobbing. This study used the phenomenological method, one of the qualitative research methods. The data obtained from the interview forms were analyzed by the content analysis method. The findings were organized and presented under themes and sub-themes. The study group of the research was determined by a systematic sampling technique, one of the probability-based sampling methods. The study group of the research consisted of 35 RCET working in the middle schools of Mersin central districts in the 2023-2024 academic years. Findings revealed that participants defined the concept of mobbing using terms such as pressure, violence, distress, attack, discomfort, implication, and exposure. It was found that participants expressed reasons for mobbing, such as establishing dominance, jealousy, inadequacy, and conflict of interest. It was determined that participants indicated the results of mobbing, such as asynchrony, inefficiency, failure, resignation, reluctance, and fear-anxiety. The participants suggested solutions such as support, awareness activities, relationships and communication, knowledge of legislation and laws, equality, responsibility, trust, problem identification, solution orientation, and providing education.

Research has shown that school leaders’ engagement in teacher induction is vital for establishing supportive school structures and conditions that are conducive to successful socialization and long-term sustenance of newly qualified teachers (NQTs). In Malta, the problem of teacher recruitment and a growing attrition rate is becoming very acute. This article describes findings from an exploratory qualitative study that examined the perceptions of five heads of schools regarding their engagement in the induction and mentoring programs that have been designed to support NQTs in Malta. The findings describe the ways through which the heads of school support NQTs and their advice for new heads of schools working with NQTs. The article offers a discussion of research results in relation to the extant literature and concludes with implications for practice and further research.

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) directors are crucial for sustainable quality ECCD centre management, leading to a focus on efficient 21st-century practices. Planning principles are essential for managing the complexity of early childhood education services. This paper aimed to explore how ECCD directors plan management activities in their centres in Ghana. The study was conducted in sixteen ECCD centres located in five metropolitan and municipal districts within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The study involved 20 participants, including directors/head teachers and board members, selected using a purposive sampling strategy. Data were collected through interviews and document reviews. Although evidence from the study showed that ECCD directors put much effort into managing their centres, the study found that ECCD directors experience various challenges concerning applying the basic management principle of planning at their centres. In this article, the authors contend that planning is a crucial management function that sets achievable goals in line with the ECCD centre's vision and provides direction for actions to achieve ECCD goals. In addressing the identified challenges, the researchers developed a systems-based planning framework to guide directors in their planning roles at the ECCD centres.

Due to the tremendous attack of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, educational institutions struggled noticeably to cope with its associated predicament. In the initial stage of the pandemic attack, knowledge about Coronavirus and its socio-economic effects was scarce, and school leaders lacked adequate training on crisis management during a pandemic. Thus, the pandemic posed a dilemma and an ultimate test for educational leaders worldwide. This study aimed to explore the challenges secondary school leaders in Bangladesh encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their leadership strategies to cope with the crisis. The ‘measurement model of crisis leadership’ was applied as the conceptual framework. Using a qualitative approach and thematic analysis framework for data analysis, the study revealed leaders’ considerable academic, financial, and socio-emotional challenges. The leaders were found to apply certain crisis leadership attributes consistent with the ‘measurement model of crisis leadership’. However, the study identified the absence of inclusiveness’ in the framework, thereby proposing the inclusion of ‘equity and social justice’ in the existing framework since leaders' ability to ensure equal access to all students appeared essential during the crisis. Finally, this study brings the recommendations for policy-level reformation in school leadership training on crisis management in Bangladesh to develop leaders’ competence for managing risk effectively and maximizing risk-reduction actions required during critical times.

Turnover in middle management can be very expensive for a school, not just financially, but also in terms of providing continuity of leadership, sustainability of management practices, and quality student experiences. Therefore, a rigorous understanding of why middle managers in schools are thinking of leaving post can provide senior leaders an opportunity to develop strategies to reduce this turnover cost. Using the case of Lady Agatha’s Boarding School in England, this paper uses a novel approach to investigate the complexities of school middle management from a social perspective, arguing that by using a Bordieuan lens, researchers can investigate the complex matrix nature of working in middle management. By using the Bordieuan tools of field, habitus, doxa, capital, and symbolic violence, researchers can observe the struggles that the middle managers engage in to acquire capital or resources compared to other actors in the field, as tournaments of socio-political dominance. By using this original ontological turn in analysing turnover antecedents, researchers as well as practitioners could make significant impacts in the way turnover can be understood and its costs mitigated.