This article discusses the type of organization and leadership that underlies a competency-based management rule established in Mexico (2008) applicable to principals in public upper high schools. This rule, identified as the 449 Agreement, describes competencies and communicates expected behavior. Implementation, however, is mediated by the…

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…

Educational leadership plays a significant role in school success, through its effects on teachers' emotions, attitudes, and behaviours. However, the knowledge of how school leaders influence teachers' emotions is very limited. Most existing evidence focuses on general explanations that are not the result of controlled research designs, which is…

The study of context-based leadership practices has gained currency during the last decade. This study aims to complement the recent efforts of researchers in identifying the context-based leadership practices of successful school leaders, and deliberating how these practices are enacted within their own unique contexts. An in-depth case study was…

The aim of this article is to examine how school principals perceive cultural diversity and management. To this end, qualitative research was carried out for one semester in four secondary schools in Andalusia (Spain). Through interviews and discussion groups, triangulated with other qualitative research techniques, we explored the mindset and…

In today's competitive and rapidly evolving educational environment, the ability to implement appropriate and effective change is of critical importance to an international school's ongoing success. This study examines leadership characteristics and styles that support the development and forward momentum of a change agenda within the context of…

Emerging from concerns about "contrived collegiality" in schools is also the recognition that breaking existing patterns of collegial interaction (or lack thereof) might necessitate some level of leader-initiated (or otherwise organizational) intervention. This paper presents the case of Middleville, a high-performing Midwestern US…

Systems thinking is a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. This study explores systems thinking among school middle leaders--teachers who have management responsibility for a team of teachers or for an aspect of the school's work. Interviews were held with 93 school coordinators, among them year heads, heads of…

Globally, there is increasing pressure on schools to enact change, and the literature indicates that transformational leadership is positively associated with school leaders' effectiveness at implementing positive reforms. Here, we report on a study conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) within the current context of intense educational…

This article explores qualitative shadowing as an interpretivist methodology, and explains how two researchers participating simultaneously in data collection using a video recorder, contextual interviews and video-stimulated recall interviews, conducted a qualitative shadowing study at six early childhood centres in Norway. This paper emerged…

What does it mean to be and to act like a school leader online? Although many school leaders might be comfortable navigating issues of identity in face-to-face environments, online environments may present new and unprecedented challenges. These challenges may range from concerns about privacy and surveillance to questions about how best to…

Principals' ability to lead their school towards its goals depends to a large extent on their leadership identity that influences the clarity of their mission, the way they see themselves as educational leaders and acceptance of their authority by their followers. Based on the concepts of leadership identity and role embeddedness, the present…

School principals have unique identities that influence capacity to manage change. This New Zealand study explores professional identity in educational leadership and addresses a lesser researched area of identity transformation in longer-serving principals. Principals were asked how they perceived themselves as changing or changed as they led…

This qualitative study used a critical intersectional lens to examine how two black female Canadian principals negotiated their professional identities in administrative contexts. Both principals encountered gender and race-related pressures to fit normative expectations of administrators as white males. Navigating their intersecting identities…

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and responsibilities with regard to the education of pupils. This article explores how power relations operate, within governing bodies, through struggles over which types of knowledge are claimed and valued. The article draws on the analysis of policy and on ethnographic research in the…