In early childhood education, the concept of distributed leadership has emerged as a key analytical tool for understanding leadership as well as a normative guide for what leadership should be. The concept originates in Peter Gronn's work, where it is positioned as overcoming the structure-agency debate, which is a foundational question in the…

The purpose of this study is to understand and describe patterns of principal instructional leadership practice in Iranian primary schools and to then assess whether there are differences between the high- and low-rated principals. A mixed methods design was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from principals and teachers within…

In this paper, we work with the philosophy of Hannah Arendt to explore ethics and leadership in further education (FE), focusing on how leaders define the ethical compromises implied by austerity. Using questionnaires, interviews and observations we developed 10 case studies. It is not our intention to elaborate upon ethical leadership as a…

A prolific number of researchers have chosen to study metaphorical narratives, confirming their usefulness in educational research. The aim of this paper is to analyse the metaphorical expressions used by 68 principals from infant, primary and secondary schools in Alicante (Spain), concerning the way they see the figure of the principal and how it…

Using qualitative data collected from three high schools in Shanghai, this study explored the barriers to the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Chinese schools from the perspectives of school leaders and teachers. Results indicate that the barriers identified by teachers in the development of PLCs include insufficient…

Distributed leadership is one of the most prominent contemporary leadership theories in education. Its attraction in education is perhaps due to its potential to bring about school improvement. A review of the literature, however, reveals broadness in the way the construct is being conceptualized and operationalized; thus making it elusive. The…

The effective management of physical resources significantly impacts on the quality of teaching and learning in schools. The procurement, utilization and maintenance of physical resources through organized structures, well-designed policies and rigid processes are critical for quality education. According to the South African Schools Act 1996, a…

School boards are expected to monitor and enhance the educational quality of their schools. To know whether and how school boards are able to do so, we first of all need to know whether school boards are aware of the educational quality of their schools in the first place. Taking Dutch school boards in primary education as an exemplary case (N =…

This article presents a mixed-method study utilizing teacher ratings of principal mindfulness from 149 public schools in Texas and follow-up qualitative data analysis through semi-structured interviews conducted with the top 10 percent of princeipals identified as mindful. This research is based on the theoretical framework of mindfulness as…