Educational Management Administration & Leadership

Research leadership, a much neglected area of educational leadership and management, is disadvantaged by having an underdeveloped and inadequate knowledge base. This article represents a contribution to this knowledge base through a conceptual analysis. It presents as propositional knowledge an original theoretical model of the componential structure of researcher development, as interpreted and defined stipulatively by the author. Three key components are identified: behavioural development; attitudinal development; and intellectual development. Each of these is further deconstructed to reveal its sub-components, of which 11 in total are identified, including: processual change; perceptual change; analytical change; and comprehensive change. Drawing upon examples of qualitative data found in the literature, the author demonstrates the model’s potential as an analytical framework for enhancing our understanding of what researcher development is and how it occurs. This, she argues, represents knowledge that is invaluable to university-based research leaders. In particular, it is important that research leaders recognize the width, multidimensionality and complexity of researcher development: that it is much more than changing observable behaviour and increasing productivity and output; it also involves changing viewpoints, mindsets and perceptions and increasing intellectual capacity.

Higher education institutions need to be able to adapt to changes, which requires flexibility and learning. Researchers have questioned whether higher education institutions are learning organizations, a concept of which university faculty have been traditionally skeptical. This article describes a study of faculty perceptions about their departments as learning organizations and departmental culture. The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire was adapted for faculty member use and administered via an online survey tool. Participants were 59 faculty of 663 contacted from public and private colleges and universities in Washington and Idaho. Results revealed men reporting more opportunity for individual and continuous learning than women, and faculty members at 4-year private institutions reported a more positive learning culture and more empowerment than faculty at the other types of institutions. Results are discussed and future research is proposed.

The notion of sufficiency has not yet entered mainstream educational thinking, and it still has to make its mark upon educational leadership. However, a number of related concepts – particularly those of sustainability and complexity theory – are beginning to be noticed. This article examines these two concepts and uses them to critique the quasi-economic notion of efficiency, before arguing that the concept of sufficiency arises naturally from this discussion. This concept, originally derived from environmental thinking, has both metaphorical and practical impact for educational organizations and their leadership. An examination of three possible meanings suggests that while an embrace of an imperative concept of sufficiency seems increasingly necessary, its adoption would probably lead to a number of other problems, as it challenges some fundamental societal values and assumptions. Nevertheless, the article argues that these need to be addressed for the sake of both sustainable leadership and a sustainable planet.

Over the past two decades, risk in education has stimulated increasing attention and prominence, with principals bearing responsibility and liability for ‘managing’ risk in schools. As a consequence, compulsory risk compliance régimes have become increasingly complex, technical and time-consuming. This article focuses on the responses of principals to issues surrounding ‘risk’ and suggests that some risk processes themselves may be inherently risky. Principals fear that risk management régimes can incur professional and personal danger while ignoring some commonly known, politically sensitive, ‘risky’ areas. The article considers the scope of risk in schools before turning to ‘undiscussables’: how risk management puts principals at risk, and issues surrounding leaders as risk. Principals’ concerns about marginalization from systemic risk decision-making, the individuation of risk management responsibility and suggestions for action are discussed, along with areas for future research.

Collegiality is often advocated as the best way in which to run a successful school subject department. This article explores this proposition in the light of power relationships within hierarchical organizations. Rather than viewing collegiality merely as a management model, it looks at the power relationships which condition the working lives of subject leaders to pose the question, is collegiality a deliberate strategy by, or an unavoidable necessity for, subject leaders? Fieldwork is considered in reaching the conclusion that collegiality can be seen not as a philosophical choice but as a straitjacket imposed by the severely circumscribed power resources of the subject leader.

The purpose of this article is to determine the relationship between transformational leadership of vocational school principals on vocational teachers’ organizational commitment. A random sample of 340 vocational teachers responded to a three-part instrument (the transformational leadership questionnaire, the organizational commitment questionnaire and a demographic section). Means, standard deviations, Pearson correlations and stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that a strong, positive and significant relationship exists between transformational leadership (overall) and the organizational commitment dimension. Furthermore, the relationship between each component of transformational leadership and organizational commitment was found to be moderate, positive and significant. Finally, it is suggested that more workshops and training courses in transformational leadership should be sponsored by the Ministry of Education in Jordan to promote organizational commitment among vocational teachers.

This research aimed to find out the extent to which the instructional leadership style had been adopted by the principals in some Lebanese intermediate public schools. A small-scale survey approach was used where a cross-sectional study design was assumed. By sampling extreme cases (five high-performing schools and five low-performing ones), the researcher was able to reveal the differences that existed in the principals’ leadership styles in the two sets of schools selected. To achieve her objective, the researcher analysed the quantitative data collected from questionnaires administered to 203 teachers, in addition to the qualitative data collected from interviews conducted with principals using a semi-structured interview schedule. Principals in the schools investigated were found to assume climate-related functions more than the technological ones under the instructional leadership style. Both sets of functions were significantly performed better by the principals in the high-achieving schools in comparison with the principals in the low-achieving schools. The researcher ended up by recommending short-term and long-term remedies to enhance the way leadership is exercised and thus enhancing the teaching’s quality in Lebanon.