Following in the tradition of systematic reviews of research, this paper reports the findings of an overview of Arab scholarship in educational administration, management and leadership. We first articulated a framework for analysis anchored to a proposed 'scholarship maturity' theoretical model then applied it to analyze 20 reviews of Arab…

Substantial progress has been made in the knowledge base of educational leadership and management (EDLM) in societies across the world. However, the evidence base in developing countries such as Malaysia remains limited. Thus, this article reports the results of a systematic review of research on EDLM in Malaysia. The review aimed at describing…

Despite the popularity of distributed leadership theory, the investigation of the micro-political aspects of such models have scarcely been explored, and insights on the cultural variety of distributed practices in schools are limited. The present study aimed to explore what micro-political aspects emerge in participative decision making in…

This article reports the results of a systematic review of research on educational leadership and management (EDLM) in Muslim societies. Quantitative methods were employed to examine 362 articles published in eight core international EDLM journals. This review examined general patterns of knowledge production, as well as research topics,…

Intentionally provocative, this article identifies weaknesses in mainstream educational leadership scholarship, and draws upon 'new wave' critical leadership studies to propose a new, potentially paradigm-shifting, direction for the field. The central argument is that educational leadership researchers, in focusing predominantly on how…

The doctrine of leader centrism, supported by the concept of methodological individualism, dominates contemporary accounts of leadership in education and is generally applied as the default option that explains how organizations such as schools function. We argue that methodological individualism is not defensible and that as a result, the…

Research and practice regarding politics within and for the educational management administration and leadership community are well established. The 50th anniversary issue of the journal educational management, administration and leadership is an opportunity to examine knowledge production where I have developed a new conceptual framework based on…

The main thrust of this paper is to explore factors from the business sector, which could inspire school leaders in terms of issue/problem formulation during their decision-making process. This conceptual paper examines diachronically and conceptually the issues of uncertainty, not only in terms of context and decision-making, but also having in…

The field of educational-leadership research has broadened over the last 50 years, with diverse knowledge-production traditions (e.g. functionalist and critical); audiences (e.g. practitioners, researchers and policymakers) and preferred sites of publication. In this article, we trace how the objectives, methods, claims and relative significance…

This article examines how "Educational Management, Administration and Leadership" has embodied the values, concepts and practice of the field of educational leadership over 50 years and so played a part in challenging or sustaining inequality in education. The article explores selected key concepts, equal opportunities, diversity, and…

This review has two purposes. First, we document the body of knowledge that has accumulated in "Educational Management, Administration & Leadership" over its five decades of publication. Second, we seek to identify the distinctive contributions of "Educational Management, Administration & Leadership" as a research…

This scoping review of the international literature published over the last 50 years in educational leadership and management journals provides a thematic exploration of factors influencing pathways at the pre-entry stage of a principal's career. Findings from a thematic analysis of 68 publications show that attention to prospective principals…

The main objective of this research is to investigate the perceptions and experiences of senior female educational leaders in Malta, where senior leaders are considered as those leaders from the Minister of Education to leaders at directorial level. Although Malta's laws relating to gender equity are in line with those of the European Union,…

In 2003, the Jordanian government launched an 'education reform for knowledge economy' leadership programme in Jordanian public schools. The programme transformed school leadership structures by advocating patterns of distributed leadership. However, growing evidence in cross-cultural research shows the influence of local culture on implementation…

The purpose of this systematic review was to identify trends in educational leadership and management (EDLM) knowledge production in the Arabian Gulf region, drawing on a database of 272 studies published in local (Arabic) journals over a 10-year period (2009-2018). The review focused on the geographic distribution of the literature, authorship…