Surviving and Thriving in Educational Leadership: Challenges and Coping Strategies of High School Principals in Nepal
School leadership in Nepal is shaped by sociocultural, institutional, and resource-related challenges. This study fills a gap in the literature by exa.
- Pub. date: March 15, 2025
- Online Pub. date: February 27, 2025
- Pages: 1-12
- 145 Downloads
- 740 Views
- 0 Citations
- #Educational leadership
- # gender equity
- # leadership challenges
- # Nepal
- # resilient leadership
- # school principals.
Abstract:
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.
educational leadership gender equity leadership challenges nepal resilient leadership school principals
Keywords: Educational leadership, gender equity, leadership challenges, Nepal, resilient leadership, school principals.
0
References
Adams, W. C. (2015). Conducting semi‐structured interviews. In K. E. Newcomer, H. P. Hatry, & J. S. Wholey (Eds.), Handbook of practical program evaluation (pp. 492-505). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171386.ch19
Arar, K., & Saiti, A. (2022). Ethical leadership, ethical dilemmas and decision making among school administrators. Equity in Education and Society, 1(1), 126-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/27526461211070828
Blase, J., & Blase, J. (2001). Empowering teachers: What successful principals do. Corwin Press.
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59(1), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.20
Bourdieu, P. (1967). Systems of education and systems of thought. International Social Science Journal, 19(3), 338-358.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage.
Browne-Ferrigno, T. (2016). Developing and empowering leaders for collective school leadership: Introduction to special issue. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 11(2), 151-157. http://doi.org/10.1177/1942775116658820
Bush, T. (2018). Professional learning communities and school leadership: Empowering teachers. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 46(5), 711-712. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218782316
Bush, T. (2021). Assessing successful school leadership: What do we know? Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 49(5), 687-689. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211034675
Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., Bywaters, D., & Walker, K. (2020). Purposive sampling: Complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(8), 652-661. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987120927206
Campbell-Stephens, R. M. (2021). Educational leadership and the global majority: Decolonising narratives. Springer.
Chance, N. L. (2022). Resilient leadership: A phenomenological exploration into how black women in higher education leadership navigate cultural adversity. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 62(1), 44-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678211003000
Charmaz, K. (2017). The power of constructivist grounded theory for critical inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(1), 34-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800416657105
Connolly, M., James, C., & Fertig, M. (2019). The difference between educational management and educational leadership and the importance of educational responsibility. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 47(4), 504-519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143217745880
Creemers, B. P. M., Peters, T., & Reynolds, D. (Eds.). (2022). School effectiveness and school improvement. Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Guetterman, T. C. (2019). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed.). Pearson.
Day, C., Sammons, P., & Gorgen, K. (2020, August 20). Successful school leadership 2020 publication. Education Development Trust. https://bit.ly/4bhiw0g
DeMatthews, D. E., Serafini, A., & Watson, T. N. (2021). Leading inclusive schools: Principal perceptions, practices, and challenges to meaningful change. Educational Administration Quarterly, 57(1), 3-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X20913897
Devkota, S. P., & Bagale, S. (2015). Social inequality in Nepal and right of education. Journal of Poverty, Investment and Development, 8, 1-4. https://shorturl.at/fskgS
Dhakal, S. (2024). Promoting equity and inclusivity: Exploring equitable leadership practices in diverse Nepali schools. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 9(2), 268-294. https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1427917
Dhakal, S., Jones, A., & Lummis, G. W. (2023). Leadership as a challenging opportunity: Nepali secondary principals’ contextual understandings and perception of their roles. International Journal of Leadership in Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2023.2276355
Dhakal, S., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2024a). Continuous professional development strategies of Nepali secondary principals: Navigating challenges in changing times. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 56(3), 335-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2023.2298322
Dhakal, S., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2024b). From perspectival myopia to professional transformation: An autoethnographic retrospection of a high school principal from Nepal. Leadership and Policy in Schools. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2024.2373480
Dhakal, S., Panta, C. N., Wagle, S. K., & Dhungana, S. (2024). Decolonising educational leadership in Nepal: An advocacy for revisiting Eurocentric legacy and promoting epistemic indigeneity. In A. E. Lopez, & H. Singh (Eds.), Decolonising educational knowledge: International perspectives and contestations (pp. 95-112). Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55688-3_6
Diaz-Gibson, J., Zaragoza, M. C., Daly, A. J., Mayayo, J. L., & Romani, J. R. (2017). Networked leadership in educational collaborative networks. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 45(6), 1040-1059. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216628532
Everly, G. S., & Athey, A. B. (2022). Leading beyond crisis: The five pillars of transformative resilient leadership. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000323-000
Froiland, J. M., & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Intrinsic motivation, learning goals, engagement, and achievement in a diverse high school. Psychology in the Schools, 53(3), 321-336. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21901
Fullan, M. (2023). The principal 2.0: Three keys to maximizing impact. Jossey-Bass.
Ghimire, D. D. (2023). Challenges facing women in school leadership positions: At community schools in Lalitpur Nepal. Pragyaratna, 5(1), 216-224. https://doi.org/10.3126/pragyaratna.v5i1.59290
Gidley, J. M. (2016). Postformal education: A philosophy for complex futures. Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29069-0
Gigliotti, R. A. (2024). Post-crisis leadership: Resilience, renewal, and reinvention in the aftermath of disruption. Rutgers University Press. http://doi.org/10.2307/jj.18654639
Greene, R. R. (Ed.). (2001). Resiliency: An integrated approach to practice, policy, and research. NASW Press
Greene, R. R. (2006). Social work practice: A risk and resilience perspective. Thomson Brooks.
Grissom, J., Egalite, A. J., & Lindsay, C. A. (2021). How principals affect students and schools: A systematic synthesis of two decades of research. The Wallace Foundation. https://doi.org/10.59656/EL-SB1065.001
Haecker, B. M., Lane, F. C., & Zientek, L. R. (2017). Evidence-based decision-making: Influences on central office administrators’ decision-making practices. Journal of School Leadership, 27(6), 860-883. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461702700604
Hallinger, P. (2018). Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 46(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216670652
Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (2002). What do you call people with visions? The role of vision, mission, and goals in school leadership and improvement. In K. Leithwood, & P. Hallinger (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 9-40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_2
Hamilton, L., & Corbett-Whittier, C. (2013). Using case study in education research. Sage Publications.
Harris, A., Azorin, C., & Jones, M. (2023). Network leadership: A new educational imperative? Journal of Leadership in Education, 26(5), 919-935. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.1919320
Hartley, D. (2023). Education policy, distributed leadership and socio-cultural theory. In J. Martin, M. Bowl, & G. Banks (Eds.), Mapping the field (pp. 199-210). Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403708-17
Hodges, J. (2017). Cracking the walls of leadership: Women in Saudi Arabia. Gender in Management, 32(1), 34-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-11-2015-0106
Jerdborg, S. (2022). Educating school leaders: Engaging in diverse orientations to leadership practice. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 25(2), 287-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2020.1770867
Khanal, J., Rana, K., Sharma, L., Whybrow, N., & Ghimire, S. (2023). Context-specific leadership practices: An examination of evidence of successful community school headteachers in Nepal. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 22(1), 200-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2021.1921223
Ledesma, J. (2014). Conceptual frameworks and research models on resilience in leadership. Sage Open, 4(3), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014545464
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership and Management, 40(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2016). The constructivist credo. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315418810
Mackenzie, N., & Knipe, S. (2006). Research dilemmas: Paradigms, methods and methodology. Issues in Educational Research, 16(2), 193-205. https://www.iier.org.au/iier16/mackenzie.html
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). A realist approach for qualitative research. Sage Publications.
McLeod, S., & Dulsky, S. (2021). Resilience, reorientation, and reinvention: School leadership during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 637075. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.637075
Morris, A. (2015). A practical introduction to in-depth interviewing. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473921344
Müller, U., Hancock, D. R., Wang, C., Stricker, T., Cui, T., & Lambert, M. (2022). School leadership, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of principals in China, Germany, and the USA. Education Sciences, 12(12), Article 853. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120853
Nadelson, L. S., Albritton, S., Couture, V. G., Green, C., Loyless, S. D., & Shaw, E. O. (2020). Principals’ Perceptions of Education Equity: A Mindset for Practice. Journal of Education and Learning, 9(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v9n1p1
Nishikawa, Y. (2006). Thriving in the face of adversity: Perceptions of elementary-school principals. University of La Verne.
Olmo-Extremera, M., Townsend, A., & Domingo Segovia, J. (2022). Resilient leadership in principals: Case studies of challenged schools in Spain. International Journal of Leadership in Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2022.2052758
Özen, H., & Yavuz, P. (2024). A Theoretical Analysis for Resilience: Developing a Complex Adaptive Leadership Model in Schools. Anatolian Journal of Educational Leadership and Instruction /Anadolu Eğitim Liderliği Ve Öğretim Dergisi, 12(1), 49-72. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ajeli/issue/85313/1494652 |
Özmusul, M. (2019). We need resilient school leaders in the face of chaos and complexity. In Ş. Ş. Erçetin & N. Potas (Eds.), Chaos, complexity and leadership 2017: Explorations of chaos and complexity theory (pp. 179-182). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89875-9_15
Pherali, T. J. (2011). Education and conflict in Nepal: Possibilities for reconstruction. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9(1), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2010.513590
Pineda-Báez, C., Bauman, C., & Andrews, D. (2020). Empowering teacher leadership: A cross-country study. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 23(4), 388-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1543804
Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2019). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Sage Publications.
Robinson, V., & Gray, E. (2019). What difference does school leadership make to student outcomes? Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 49(2), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2019.1582075
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, Article 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage Publications.
Schwandt, T. A. (2000). Three epistemological stances for qualitative inquiry: Interpretivism, hermeneutics, and social constructionism. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 189-213). Sage Publishing.
Shields, C. M., & Hesbol, K. A. (2020). transformative leadership approaches to inclusion, equity, and social justice. Journal of School Leadership, 30(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052684619873343
Spillane, J. P., & Lee, L. C. (2014). Novice school principals’ sense of ultimate responsibility: Problems of practice in transitioning to the principal’s office. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(3), 431-465. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x13505290
Stronge, J. H., & Xu, X. (2021). Qualities of effective principals. ASCD.
Szeto, E. (2021). How do principals’ practices reflect democratic leadership for inclusion in diverse school settings? A Hong Kong case study. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 49(3), 471-492. http://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220915922
Theoharis, G. (2024). The school leaders our children deserve: Seven keys to equity, social justice, and school reform. Teachers College Press.
Walton, R., & Vialle, W. (2021) Spirituality and giftedness: Threading the path of identity. In S. R. Smith (Ed.), Handbook of giftedness and talent development in the Asia-Pacific (pp.257-282). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3041-4_12
Wang, F. (2018). Social Justice Leadership—Theory and practice: A case of Ontario. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(3), 470-498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18761341
Watkins, D., Earnhardt, M., Pittenger, L., Roberts, R., Rietsema, K., & Cosman-Ross, J. (2017). Thriving in complexity: A framework for leadership education. Journal of Leadership Education, 16(4), 148-163. https://doi.org/10.12806/V16/I4/T4
Yanow, D., & Schwartz-Shea, P. (2014). Interpretation and method: Empirical research methods and the interpretive turn (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage Publications.