The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between distributed leadership, teachers' academic optimism and student achievement in learning. The study targeted public elementary schools in Taiwan and adopted stratified random sampling to investigate 1500 teachers. Teachers' perceptions were collected by a self-report scale. In…

To enhance the cost effectiveness of primary schools, the government of Hong Kong imposed a regulation for operating primary one classes up to a minimum enrolment rate in 2003. This policy has forced a number of village schools to cease operation. During 2005-2006, 36 of them were involved in this enforcement, accounting for two-thirds of the…

The purpose of this article is to increase our knowledge about the role that directors of education play as leaders of educational activities. For its analytical framework, the study uses the qualitative research approach known as phenomenography and examines the study's findings against the rationalist perspective, against systems theory and…

Throughout the world, rapid political and economic change has applied enormous pressure on educators addressing leadership and accountability measures to improve instructional practices and student performance. Decentralisation of central authority regarding school site-based decision-making has drastically changed the educational environment in…

The role of school leadership in educational reform has reached the status of a truism, and led to major changes in school leader recruitment, selection, training and appraisal. While similar policy trends are evident in East Asia, the empirical knowledge base underlying these measures is distorted and lacking in validation. This paper begins by…

In recent years international trends towards teacher empowerment and leadership have gained increased attraction in East Asia's education policy and practice. Yet, as scholars have noted, the values underlying these practices often conflict with traditional cultural norms of East Asian societies which stress hierarchical and status differences.…

This paper argues that it is timely for educational researchers in Asia, and Singapore in particular, to generate cultural- and empirical-knowledge bases in school leadership that will speak to the specific interests of Asian students, educators and practitioners. As economic and social development across Asia gathers momentum, the more advanced…

This article presents the findings of a study into the leadership practices of Hong Kong principals working within an environment of increasing accountability. The study set out to investigate the relationships between sets of principal leadership practices and the levels of "alignment," "coherence and structure" and "support for students" in the…

As part of the International Successful School Leadership Project, an updated model of successful school leadership based on Australian case studies is described. This model attempts to capture the relationship between the characteristics of the school leader (who they are), the interventions they initiate (what they do), and the way they respond…

There are concerns about the supply of head teachers in many countries. In England, this problem arises from demographic changes and the perceived difficulty of the job. The National College responded to this problem by initiating a Succession Planning programme. This article reports the main findings from the external evaluation of the programme…

Emotion is a growing focus for contemporary thinking about leadership in public policy and corporate arenas. In British education systems, three imperatives are evident: the idea that transformation is essential; leadership succession in crisis; and, more recently, that leaders must be able to run organisations that address the emotional…

Following serious disturbances in some northern cities in England in 2001, concerns about possible rising inter-communal tension have led to a statutory duty to promote community cohesion being placed on schools. Inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) are required to make judgements in the leadership and management section…

Experienced leaders face challenges that demand different leadership approaches to those of inexperienced leaders. The purposes of this article are to: (1) explore the leadership initiatives prominent for experienced leaders compared with inexperienced leaders; (2) examine the relationship between transformational leadership and these initiatives;…

This article reports on a study of six women head teachers in Romania where through their life stories there is a focus on how they have extended their caring roles as mothers, wives, partners and carers into work-related situations and the impact this has on both their personal and professional lives. The article begins with establishing the…

Singapore has a high performing school system; its students top international tests in maths and science. Yet while the Singapore government cherishes its world class "brand", it realises that in a globally competitive world, its schools need to prepare students for the twenty-first-century knowledge-based economy (KBE). Accordingly, over the past…