Editorial

Welcome, readers, to the latest issue of Management in Education (MiE). It is a somewhat cold and murky day in late April as I write this editorial for the July edition by which time, I hope, we will be basking in summer sunshine (at least in the Northern hemisphere). Whilst I cannot predict the weather, I can guarantee you will find something that captures your interest and gives you pause for reflection in this month's issue which includes four research articles, an interview, and a report from one of the BELMAS Research Interest Groups (RIG).

In the first of our research articles Waheed Shahbour Hammad and Ayeshah Alazmi report on an important review of the knowledge base surrounding educational leadership and management from the Gulf states. Focusing specifically on Arabic literature within the field of school leadership they identify a number of common themes and conceptual models guiding this body of research. This kind of work is vital to the development of an educational leadership knowledge base that remains overreliant on research and thinking from western and Anglo contexts.

Staying in the Gulf region we turn our attention to Saudi Arabia for the next article in which Abdullah Alghulayqah discuss findings from a qualitative study exploring generative leadership amongst high school principals in Riyadh. Their findings suggest that whilst the centralised school system within this context is a constraining factor, school leaders are still able to carve out space for innovation and inclusivity which, in turn, serves to facilitate improvements in student performance. This article is particularly pertinent to one of the findings from the previous article, that topics such as social justice for leadership receive little attention from scholars from the Gulf region.

In the third article, Nurul Ulfatin, Mustiningsih and Raden Bambang Sumarsono from the University of Malang along with Jamal Nordin Yunus from the Sultan Idris University report on factors relating to the successful implementation of school-based management in junior high schools in Malaysia. Their findings throw light on the interrelationship between the policy context and a range of other areas including principal leadership, teacher performance, community participation, school effectiveness and student achievement. They conclude with the claim that the teacher is often the focal point of innovation and reform in schools within this context.

The final article is written by Dayang Rafidah Syariff M. Fuad, Khalip Musa and Zahari Hashim who pick up the theme of cultural innovation in education in their review of the literature in this area of the field. This is quite a long read for MiE but well worth pursuing as the authors draw on theories of cultural dimension and innovation culture to explore what we know about innovative cultures within educational settings and, just as importantly, what we need to know more about. They identify several themes within their review, organised under three categories: organisational culture, sociocultural norms, and national cultures.

Social justice and inclusion are central to the next feature in which Chris Oates interviews Adrian Sugden, Principal of Henshaws Specialist College, Harrogate, England, about his passion for special education and his role as a leader of educational provision for young people with disabilities and specific clinical needs. Another brilliant interview by Chris shining light on both an underappreciated area of the system and an area the field that has received little scholarly attention.

We conclude this issue with the latest report from the Leading for Parental Engagement RIG from RIG Convenor, Janet Goodall. Readers interested in this or any of the other BELMAS RIGs, encompassing a wide range of issue relating to education and educational leadership, can find more information via the BELMAS website.