Over the last two decades, research has reached the conclusion that educator teamwork is necessary to ensure the achievement of school goals. No attempts, however, have been made to provide integrative evidence regarding its contribution to school effectiveness. To fill this void, the authors review two decades of professional team research in the context of schools. Specifically, the article has two objectives: (1) To review the existing conceptualizations of the terms 'team' and 'teamwork' in the school context; (2) To provide a systematic review of the impact of teamwork on school effectiveness. The systematic search resulted in 23 papers reporting three non-empirical and 20 empirical studies. The results of the review revealed a lack of agreement concerning the conceptualization of the terms 'team' and 'teamwork', which may affect comparability among studies. Furthermore, no comprehensive picture emerges regarding the consequences of teamwork for the individual teacher, the team, or the school as a whole. Indeed, studies refer to a wide range of variables within different contexts and configurations. This review contributes several important insights that may set the agenda for the next wave of research on teamwork in schools.

Theories of distributed leadership suggest that organizational learning and change results not from the efforts of a single individual, but rather from a network of people working within their broader systems. Team empowering leadership enhances human resources development of the organization to promote the sharing of knowledge that is necessary for change. In this study, we study transformational and distributed leadership team that have been linked to improving working conditions and students’ learning in high-needs schools. Specifically, we highlight a team-based intervention where positive organizational improvements were made to academically struggling schools, and then qualitatively examined the associated processes to understand what enabled the occurrence of those positive changes. We find that the team structure allowed for the clarification of expectations, enhancement of communication, and improvement of educator working conditions through professional development support and distribution of leadership responsibility, which ultimately resulted in improvement in school culture and performance.

Special Unit students at a secondary education school in Cyprus were to be included in an action research project. Its primary objective was to study the challenges the headmaster/leader or other school leader faces while attempting to involve Special Unit students in the school's leadership, which was based on an inclusive leadership approach. The researchers concluded that Cyprus' centralized educational system is the biggest impediment. The primary research methods used to carry out the action research were interviews, focus groups, and observations. 85 teachers, 210 students, and 15 parents participated in the 8-month research, which was conducted in a secondary school in Cyprus with a special unit. By completing the research process, the researchers finally concluded that the solution to the problem might be the recruitment of an inclusive leadership model, which aims to use decentralized inclusive practices.

Teacher Leadership Teams (TLTs) are cross-functional teams, and thus knowledge integration is central to their teaming. Importantly, the existing literature maintains that cross-functional teams apply the traverse or transcend approach differently to integrate divergent knowledge, but few studies have directly focused on it within the context of TLTs. Studies on leadership teams in schools have highlighted political and/or cultural perspectives and mainly stressed team/organizational conditions that might influence the TLT process of using two knowledge integration approaches. Therefore, our research analyzed how one TLT employed two knowledge integration approaches in consideration of team/organizational conditions. More specifically, we conducted qualitative research using the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as an analytic lens. We identified that the TLT used traverse, transcend, and mixed approaches, and that its context influenced the team’s hybrid use by determining when the team utilized each approach. We believe that our findings contribute to revealing TLTs’ actual knowledge integration process by empirically examining one TLT’s use of knowledge integration approaches. Our findings also contribute to developing a more comprehensive framework to understand TLT knowledge integration by addressing existing research from political and cultural perspectives and suggesting further areas of focus (i.e., functional conditions) for future research.

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 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.

School leadership in Nepal is shaped by sociocultural, institutional, and resource-related challenges. This study fills a gap in the literature by examining leadership dynamics within this unique and diverse educational context. Guided by resilient leadership theory as a referent, this qualitative case study, grounded in a constructivist paradigm, involved semi-structured interviews with public high school principals to investigate their workplace challenges and coping strategies. The findings reveal challenges including sociocultural and gender biases, teachers’ resistance to modern pedagogical practices, and resource limitations. They navigate these challenges through strategies of humility, intrinsic motivation, and collaborative partnerships. The findings highlight the need for systemic reforms to promote gender equity, enhance professional development, and increase resource allocation. This study presents a resilient and adaptive leadership framework for policymakers, emphasising the need to implement gender-inclusive policies and leadership training programs to address the challenges faced by principals in their diverse educational contexts.

This study examines the characteristics, challenges, and strategies of school leadership in Cambodian high schools, with a focus on leadership in resource-constrained settings. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research investigates how principals in six northwestern provinces implement leadership practices to improve educational outcomes. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with 21 principals and analyzed via thematic analysis. Key findings reveal that visionary approaches, collaborative cultures, data-driven decision-making, and resilience characterize effective leadership. Challenges such as limited resources, variable teacher quality, and insufficient professional development hinder progress. The study contributes to educational leadership theory by highlighting the critical role of tailored leadership development programs and resource management in transforming underperforming schools. Practical implications include recommendations for policymakers to expand leadership training, enhance community engagement, and prioritize funding for underperforming schools. This research offers valuable insights for improving leadership in post conflict and resource-limited educational contexts.

This study investigates the role of educational leadership in supporting student mental health and promoting equity within schools. It examines three leadership models, transformational, trauma-informed, and equity-focused leadership, and their effectiveness in fostering inclusive school environments. By synthesizing recent empirical studies, this review identifies strategies that enhance student engagement, emotional resilience, and academic performance. The findings reveal that schools with proactive leadership in mental health experience improved student well-being, reduced behavioral challenges, and higher academic success. However, barriers such as resource constraints, inconsistent policy implementation, and a lack of specialized training for school leaders hinder the full integration of mental health initiatives. These challenges disproportionately affect marginalized student populations, underscoring the need for leadership approaches that address systemic inequities in education. This review emphasizes the importance of embedding mental health within broader school policies and practices. By prioritizing psychological safety, fostering strong school-community partnerships, and ensuring equitable access to mental health resources, educational leaders can create sustainable, supportive learning environments. The study offers practical recommendations for policymakers and school administrators to strengthen leadership practices that bridge the gap between academic achievement and student well-being. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on student mental health and equity, advocating for school environments that nurture both academic and emotional growth.

Instructional leadership is one of the central research trends in school management and leadership. The period from 2002 to 2023 marks the transition from theoretical research to practical research. This study aims to find out research trends on Instructional Leadership from 2002 to 2023, thereby finding new research directions and effective applications in the practice of Instructional Leadership associated with different school contexts at different local, national, and regional. Research directions also need to be expanded with a larger scope associated with educational innovation in the 4.0 revolution. Using the bibliometric analysis method with the support of VOSviewer software, 995 types of research consisting of journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and books were extracted from the Scopus database. Research results show that there are differences in research on Instructional Leadership in developed and developing countries in different socio-cultural contexts. There was the most significant growth from 2015-2017 in the volume, growth trends, and regional distribution of global IL press products. Leading Authors and IL Research Journals from the US and developing countries. Empirical studies follow three main directions: a school leader with the role of Instructional leadership, scholars who have focused on different aspects of Instructional leadership, and the actions in the instructional leadership models. Instructional Leadership from 2002 to 2023 focuses on teachers as well as student activities.