critical issues in educational leadership

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By: Mike Wolking - Guest Author on August 15th, 2017

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6 Critical Issues in Educational Leadership and How to Address Them

Personalized Learning  |  School Districts  |  Innovative Leadership  |  District Leadership

When our team partners with a school district to tackle its toughest education leadership challenges , relationships are built at all levels of the organization. We may encounter superintendents and cabinet staff first, but we tend to find ourselves learning in many nooks and crannies of an organization over time, listening to content area specialists, IT staff, teachers and school leaders, and even attending parent nights or school board meetings.

The 6 Challenges Facing Educational Leadership 

With that concept in mind, I’ve found it extremely helpful to reference a diagnostic framework from Harvard professor Dean Williams, outlined in his book “ Real Leadership ”. Williams argues that good leaders do not simply create followers - rather, they facilitate learning within and across groups in order to address complex realities that demand change. In doing that work a variety of challenges may emerge, which Williams organizes into 6 primary domains. Over the past five years working with districts across the country, I’ve seen many of these challenges in action.

• The Activist Challenge

In an activist challenge, a group’s values and principles may not reflect the the reality of the choices it makes or the systems it has in place. In the classroom this might occur if a school espouses the belief that students learn at different paces but has no systems for students to make up work or receive extra support if they fall behind. The leadership work here entails helping a group align its values with its systems, structures, and actions. My teammates and I often find ourselves engaging in district work of this type when developing a leadership strategy that requires a vision and implementation plans for system-wide shifts to personalized learning or competency-based education .

• The Leadership Development Challenge

In a development challenge, a group has untapped potential that is simply not yet developed. For example, this challenge may be present in staffing models in which all teachers have the exact same responsibilities, when in reality some may be well-suited for coaching or curriculum work beyond the the 4 walls of their classroom (some good resources on how to address that here ). The leadership work here requires tapping into the raw potential of the group and bringing out latent capabilities that are overlooked or simply stifled by current systems.

• The Transition Challenge

In a transition challenge, if the current value set shifts to a new value set great progress can be made by the organization. I think of professor Todd Rose’s work challenging the conventional wisdom of averages in favor of individuality and “jaggedness” in education, and of technology’s role in accelerating and supporting that process. In the classroom, I think of the growth mindset transition in getting students to shift from “I’m not smart” to “I’m able to learn if I try.” The leadership work here involves helping a group unpack its current beliefs and principles in order embrace a new set of ideas that can improve performance.

• The Maintenance Challenge

In a maintenance challenge, a group must weather changing circumstances and preserve the work it has done in order to be able to move forward in the future. I saw this taking place a few years ago in several districts as Common Core support eroded in state legislatures and leaders were left alone to adjust to changing state standards and assessments. Effective leaders and teachers had been focused all along on broader competencies and principles of teaching and learning that allowed practitioners to stay focused on a coherent instructional vision; those hyper-focused on specific tests or curricular materials faced a more difficult battle in adjusting to a changing landscape. The leadership work here is to preserve the essentials and keep performance at a high level until a threat passes or the unknown becomes known.

• The Creative Challenge

In a creative challenge, a new opportunity arises that gives a group a window to explore new ways of thinking and doing in hopes of making a permanent and lasting change for the organization. This is often the “innovation” work that schools are charged to tackle through grants like Next Generation Learning Challenges , the XQ Super School Project , or Race to the Top funding; it might also come in the form of a community passing a penny tax to fund new resources for schools, an election that allows for a fresh start with a new school board majority, or a chance for leaders to enact policy waivers that enable new work. My colleagues and I are often called on to help groups with creative challenges such as these in order to imagine new realities, develop curiosity about possible solutions, and connect partners across the country doing similar work.

• The Crisis Challenge

In a crisis challenge, a group faces an unexpected event or change in circumstances that threatens its ways of working or even its very existence. This might occur when a state or district takes over management of schools, or when an abrupt shift in leadership occurs within an organization. The immediate leadership work is to establish a process to de-escalate the situation and then focus on addressing the key issues that led to the crisis in order to prevent its recurrence.

Whatever the challenges you face, leadership work will require a mix of short-term steps and long-term planning to address key structures in your organization and changing circumstances that surround it. It’s complex stuff, and having a framework in mind as you move through the process won’t solve all of your problems. But it might help determine just what type of challenge you are facing in the first place.'

Do you want to learn more about how to develop innovative leaders in your school districts? Read and download this free Innovative Leadership Development Guide .

About Mike Wolking - Guest Author

Mike Wolking was formerly a Senior Strategist at Education Elements, and left to pursue the Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy in New Zealand.

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Review article, strategy and strategic leadership in education: a scoping review.

• 1 Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Research Centre for Human Development, Porto, Portugal
• 2 Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal

Strategy and strategic leadership are critical issues for school leaders. However, strategy as a field of research has largely been overlooked within the educational leadership literature. Most of the theoretical and empirical work on strategy and strategic leadership over the past decades has been related to non-educational settings, and scholarship devoted to these issues in education is still minimal. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant research regarding strategy and strategic leadership, identifying any gaps in the literature that could inform future research agendas and evidence for practice. The scoping review is underpinned by the five-stage framework of Arksey and O’Malley . The results indicate that there is scarce literature about strategy and that timid steps have been made toward a more integrated and comprehensive model of strategic leadership. It is necessary to expand research into more complex, longitudinal, and explanatory ways due to a better understanding of these constructs.

Introduction

Strategy and strategic leadership are critical issues for school leaders ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2011 ). However, strategy as a field of research has largely been overlooked in educational leadership literature ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). Most of the theoretical and empirical work on strategy and strategic leadership over the past decades has been related to non-educational settings, and scholarship devoted to these issues in education is still very limited ( Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ).

The concept of strategy appeared in educational management literature in the 1980s; however, little research was produced until the 1990s (cf. Eacott, 2008b ). Specific educational reforms led to large amounts of international literature mostly devoted to strategic planning ( Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Eacott, 2011 ). For a long period, the concept of strategy was incomplete and confusing. The word “strategy” was often used to characterize different kinds of actions, namely, to weight management activities, to describe a high range of leadership activities, to define planning, or to report to individual actions within an organization ( Eacott, 2008a ).

Strategy and strategic planning became synonymous ( Eacott, 2008b ). However, strategy and planning are different concepts, with the strategy being more than the pursuit of a plan ( Davies, 2003 , Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Both phases of plans’ design and plans’ implementation are related, and the quality of this second phase highly depends on planning’ quality ( Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Eacott, 2011 ; Meyers and VanGronigen, 2019 ). Planning and acting are related and must emerge from the strategy. As stated by Bell (2004) .

Planning based on a coherent strategy demands that the aims of the school are challenged, that both present and future environmental influences inform the development of the strategy, that there should be a clear and well-articulated vision of what the school should be like in the future and that planning should be long-term and holistic (p. 453).

Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive and holistic framework of strategy, considering it as a way of intentionally thinking and acting by giving sense to a specific school vision or mission ( Davies, 2003 , 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ).

The works of Davies and colleagues ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and Eacott (2008a , 2008b) , Eacott (2010a , 2011) were essential and contributed to a shift in the rationale regarding strategy by highlighting a more integrative and alternate view. Davies and colleagues ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) developed a comprehensive framework for strategically focused schools , comprising strategic processes, approaches, and leadership. In this model, the strategy is conceptualized as a framework for present and future actions, sustained by strategic thinking about medium to long term goals, and aligned to school vision or direction.

Strategic leadership assumes necessarily a relevant role in strategically focused schools. Eacott (2006) defines strategic leadership as “leadership strategies and behaviors relating to the initiation, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of strategic actions within an educational institution, taking into consideration the unique context (past, present, and future) and availability of resources, physical, financial and human” (p. 1). Thereby, key elements of strategic leadership can be identified as one that: 1) acts in a proactive way to contextual changes; 2) leads school analysis and response to changing environment; 3) leads planning and action for school effectiveness and improvement in face of contextual challenges and; 4) leads monitoring and evaluation processes to inform decision making strategically ( Cheng, 2010 ). This brings to the arena a complex and dynamic view of strategic leadership as it is a complex social activity that considers important historical, economic, technological, cultural, social, and political influences and challenges ( Eacott, 2011 ).

Along with these authors, this paper advocates a more comprehensive and contextualized view of strategy and strategic leadership, where strategy is the core element of any leadership action in schools ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). Here, strategic leadership is not seen as a new theory, but an element of all educational leadership and management theories ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ). Even so, these concepts can inform and be informed by diverse leadership theories, a strategy-specific framework is needed in the educational field.

Considering all the above, strategy can be identified as a topic that is being researched in education, in the recent decades. Nonetheless, there is still scarce educational literature about this issue ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ). After 10 years of Eacott’s analysis of literature on strategy in education, it seems that this educational construct is being overlooked as there is still no consensual definition of strategy, different studies are supported in diverse conceptual frameworks and empirical studies about this topic are scarce ( Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ). Moreover, despite the interest of a multidisciplinary vision of strategy and strategic leadership, we agree with Eacott (2008b) about the need for a meaningful definition of strategy and strategic leadership in education, as it is a field with its specifications. Hence, research is needed for a clear definition of strategy, an integrated and complete framework for strategic action, a better identification of multiple dimensions of strategy and a comprehensive model of strategic leadership that has strategic thinking and action as core elements for schools improvement (e.g., Eacott, 2010a ; Hopkins et al., 2014 ; Reynolds et al., 2014 ; Harris et al., 2015 ; Bellei et al., 2016 ). This paper aims to contribute to the field offering a scoping review on strategy and strategic leadership in the educational field.

A clear idea of what strategy and strategic leadership mean and what theory or theories support it are of great importance for research and practice. This scoping review is an attempt to contribute to a strategy-specific theory by continuing to focus on ways to appropriately develop specific theories about strategy and strategic leadership in the educational field, particularly focusing on school contexts.

This study is a scoping review of the literature related to strategy and strategic leadership, which aims to map its specific aspects as considered in educational literature. Scoping reviews are used to present a broad overview of the evidence about a topic, irrespective of study quality, and are useful when examining emergent areas, to clarify key concepts or to identify gaps in research (e.g., Arksey and O’Malley, 2005 ; Peters et al., 2015 ; Tricco et al., 2016 ). Since in the current study we wanted to explore and categorize, but not evaluate, information available concerning specific aspects of strategy in educational literature, we recognize that scoping review methodology serves well this purpose.

In this study, Arksey and O’Malley (2005) five-stage framework for scoping reviews, complemented by the guidelines of other authors ( Levac et al., 2010 ; Colquhoun et al., 2014 ; Peters et al., 2015 ; Khalil et al., 2016 ), was employed. The five stages of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework are 1) identifying the initial research questions, 2) identifying relevant studies, 3) study selection, 4) charting the data, and 5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. In the sections below, the process of this scoping review is presented.

Identifying the Initial Research Questions

The focus of this review was to explore key aspects of strategy and strategic leadership in educational literature. The primary question that guided this research was: What is known about strategy and strategic leadership in schools? This question was subdivided into the following questions: How should strategy and strategic leadership in schools be defined? What are the main characteristics of strategic leadership in schools? What key variables are related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools?

Identifying Relevant Studies

As suggested by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) , keywords for the search were defined, and databases were selected. Key concepts and search terms were developed to capture literature related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools, considering international perspectives. The linked descriptive key search algorithm that was developed to guide the search is outlined in Table 1 .

TABLE 1 . Key search algorithm.

Considering scoping review characteristics, time and resources available, inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed. Papers related to strategy and strategic leadership, published between 1990 and 2019, were included. Educational literature has reported the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership since the 1980s ( Eacott, 2008a ; 2008b ). However, it gained expansion between 1990 and 2000 with studies flourishing mostly about strategic planning ( Eacott, 2008b ). Previous research argues that strategy is more than planning, taking note of the need to distinguish the concepts. Considering our focus on strategy and strategic leadership, studies about strategic planning were excluded as well as papers specifically related to other theories of leadership than strategic leadership. A full list of inclusion and exclusion criteria is outlined in Table 2 .

TABLE 2 . Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The following six electronic databases were searched to identify peer-reviewed literature: ERIC, Education Source, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Emerland, and Web of Science. Additionally, a manual search of the reference lists of identified articles was undertaken, and Google Scholar was utilized to identify any other primary sources. The review of the literature was completed over 2 months, ending in August 2019.

Study Selection

The process of studies’ selection followed the Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement ( Moher et al., 2009 ). Figure 1 illustrates the process of article selection.

FIGURE 1 . PRISMA chart outlining the study selection process.

With the key search descriptors, 1,193 articles were identified. A further number of articles were identified using Google Scholar. However, a large number of articles were removed from the search, as they were duplicated in databases, and 231 studies were identified as being relevant.

The next phases of studies’ selection were guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria presented above. A screening of the titles, keywords, and abstracts revealed a large number of irrelevant articles, particularly those related to strategic planning (e.g., Agi, 2017 ) and with general ideas about leadership (e.g., Corral and Gámez, 2010 ). Only 67 studies were selected for full-text access and analyses.

Full-text versions of the 67 articles were obtained, with each article being reviewed and confirmed as appropriate. This process provided an opportunity to identify any further additional relevant literature from a review of the reference lists of each article (backward reference search; n = 2). Ultimately, both with database search and backward reference search, a total of 29 articles were included to be analyzed in the scoping review, considering inclusion and exclusion criteria. During this process of study selection, several studies were excluded. As in the previous phase, examples of excluded papers include studies related to strategic planning where the focus is on the planning processes (e.g., Bennett et al., 2000 ; Al-Zboon and Hasan, 2012 ; Schlebusch and Mokhatle, 2016 ) or with general ideas about leadership (e.g., FitzGerald and Quiñones, 2018 ). Additionally, articles that were primarily associated with other topics or related to specific leadership theories (e.g., instructional leadership, transformational leadership) and that only referred briefly to strategic leadership were excluded (e.g., Bandur, 2012 ; Malin and Hackmann, 2017 ). Despite the interest of all these topics for strategic action, we were interested specifically in the concepts of strategy, strategic leadership, and its specifications in educational literature.

Data Charting and Collation

The fourth stage of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) scoping review framework consists of charting the selected articles. Summaries were developed for each article related to the author, year, location of the study, participants, study methods, and a brief synthesis of study results related to our research questions. Details of included studies are provided in the table available in Supplementary Appendix S1 .

Summarising and Reporting Findings

The fifth and final stage of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) scoping review framework summarises and reports findings as presented in the next section. All the 29 articles were studied carefully and a content analysis was taken to answer research questions. Research questions guided summaries and synthesis of literature content.

In this section, results are presented first with a brief description of the origin and nature of the studies, and then as answering research questions previously defined.

This scoping review yielded 29 articles, specifically devoted to strategy and strategic leadership in education, from eleven different countries (cf. Figure 2 ). The United Kingdom and Australia have the highest numbers of papers. There is a notable dispersion of literature in terms of geographical distribution.

FIGURE 2 . Number of papers per country.

A large number of these articles were published by Brent Davies and colleagues ( N = 9) and Scott Eacott ( N = 6). Without question, these authors have influenced and shaped the theoretical grounding about strategy and strategic leadership in educational literature. While Davies and colleagues have contributed to design a framework of strategy and strategic leadership, influencing the emergence of other studies related to these topics, Eacott provided an essential contribution by exploring, systematizing, and problematizing the existing literature about these same issues. The other authors have published between one and two papers about these topics.

Seventeen papers are of conceptual or theoretical nature, and twelve are empirical research papers (quantitative methods–7; qualitative methods–4; mixed methods–1). The conceptual/theoretical papers analyze the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership, present a framework for strategic leadership, and discuss implications for leaders’ actions. The majority of empirical studies are related to the skills, characteristics, and actions of strategic leaders. Other empirical studies explore relations between strategic leadership and other variables, such as collaboration, culture of teaching, organizational learning, and school effectiveness.

How should Strategy and Strategic Leadership in Schools be Defined?

The concept of strategy is relatively new in educational literature and, in great part, related to school planning. In this scoping review, a more integrated and comprehensive view is adopted ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Davies (2003) defined strategy as a specific pattern of decisions and actions taken to achieve an organization’s goals (p. 295). This concept of strategy entails some specific aspects, mainly that strategy implies a broader view incorporating data about a specific situation or context ( Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). It is a broad organizational-wide perspective , supported by a vision and direction setting , that conceals longer-term views with short ones ( Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). It can be seen as a template for short-term action . However, it deals mostly with medium-and longer-term views of three-to 5-year perspectives ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). In this sense, a strategy is much more a perspective or a way of thinking that frames strategically successful schools ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies and Davies, 2005 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ).

Eacott (2008a) has argued that strategy in the educational leadership context is a field of practice and application that is of a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary nature. More than a single definition of strategy, what is needed is a conceptual understanding and articulation of its fundamental features, which removes the need to answer, “what is a strategy?” Understanding strategy as choosing a direction within a given context, through leadership, and articulating that direction through management practices ( Eacott, 2008a , p. 356) brings to the arena diverse elements of strategy from both leadership and management. From this alternative point of view, a strategy may be seen as leadership ( Eacott, 2010a ). More than an answer to “what is a strategy?”, it is crucial to understand “when and how does the strategy exist?” ( Eacott, 2010a ), removing the focus on leaders’ behaviors and actions per se to cultural, social, and political relationships ( Eacott, 2011 ). Hence, research strategy and strategic leadership oblige by acknowledging the broader educational, societal, and political contexts ( Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ).

Strategic leadership is a critical component of school development ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ). However, to define leadership is challenging considering the amount of extensive, diverse literature about this issue. Instead of presenting a new categorization about leadership, the authors most devoted to strategic leadership consider it as a key dimension of any activity of leadership ( Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ). Barron et al. (1995) stressed the idea of change. As mentioned by the authors, implementation of strategic leadership means change: change in thinking, change in the way schools are organized, change in management styles, change in the distribution of power, change in teacher education programs, and change in roles of all participants ( Barron et al., 1995 , p. 180). Strategic leadership is about creating a vision, setting the direction of the school over the medium-to longer-term and translating it into action ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). In that sense, strategic leadership is a new way of thinking ( Barron et al., 1995 ) that determines a dynamic and iterative process of functioning in schools ( Eacott, 2008b ).

In their model of strategic leadership, Davies and Davies (2006) consider that leadership must be based on strategic intelligence, summarised as three types of wisdom: 1) people wisdom, which includes participation and sharing information with others, developing creative thinking and motivation, and developing capabilities and competencies within the school; 2) contextual wisdom, which comprises understanding and developing school culture, sharing values and beliefs, developing networks, and understanding external environment; and 3) procedural wisdom, which consists of the continuous cycle of learning, aligning, timing and acting. This model also includes strategic processes and strategic approaches that authors define as the centre of this cycle ( Davies and Davies, 2006 , p. 136).

To deeply understand strategic leadership, it is necessary to explore strategic processes and approaches that leaders take ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ). In this sense, strategic leadership, strategic processes, and strategic approaches are key elements for sustainable and successful schools, which are found to be strategically focused. Davies (2006) designed a model for a strategically focused school that may be defined as one that is educationally effective in the short-term but also has a clear framework and processes to translate core moral purpose and vision into an excellent educational provision that is challenging and sustainable in the medium-to long-term (p.11). This model incorporates 1) strategic processes (conceptualization, engagement, articulation, and implementation), 2) strategic approaches (strategic planning, emergent strategy, decentralized strategy, and strategic intent), and 3) strategic leadership (organizational abilities and personal characteristics). Based on these different dimensions, strategically focused schools have built-in sustainability, develop set strategic measures to assess their success, are restless, are networked, use multi-approach planning processes, build the strategic architecture of the school, are strategically opportunistic, deploy strategy in timing and abandonment and sustain strategic leadership ( Davies, 2004 , pp.22–26).

What Are the Main Characteristics of Strategic Leadership in Schools?

Davies (2003) , Davies and Davies (2005) , Davies and Davies (2006) , Davies and Davies (2010) discuss what strategic leaders do (organizational abilities) and what characteristics strategic leaders display (personal characteristics). The key activities of strategic leaders, or organizational abilities, are 1) create a vision and setting a direction, 2) translate strategy into action, 3) influence and develop staff to deliver the strategy, 4) balance the strategic and the operational, 5) determine effective intervention points ( what, how, when, what not to do and what to give up ), 6) develop strategic capabilities, and 7) define measures of success ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ). The main characteristics that strategic leaders display, or their characteristics, are 1) dissatisfaction or restlessness with the present, 2) absorptive capacity, 3) adaptive capacity, and 4) wisdom.

Two specific studies explored the strategic leadership characteristics of Malaysian leaders ( Ali, 2012 ; Ali, 2018 ), considering the above-mentioned model as a framework. For Malaysian Quality National Primary School Leaders, the results supported three organizational capabilities (strategic orientation, translation, and alignment) and three individual characteristics of strategic leadership (dissatisfaction or restlessness with the present, absorptive capacity, and adaptive capacity). For Malaysian vocational college educational leaders, the results were consistent with seven distinct practices of strategic leadership, such as strategic orientation, strategic alignment, strategic intervention, restlessness, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and leadership wisdom.

Other studies were also focused on the characteristics of strategic leadership with different populations and countries. Chatchawaphun et al. (2016) identified the principles, attributes, and skills of the strategic leadership of secondary school administrators from Thailand. The principles identified within the sample of principals included appropriate values, modern visionary, future focusing strategy, empirical evidence focus, intention toward accomplishment, decency, and making relationships. The attributes found were strategic learning, strategic thinking, and value push up. The skills were learning, interpretation, forecasting, planning, challenge, and decision making. Chan (2018) explored strategic leadership practices performed by Hong Kong school leaders of early childhood education and identified effective planning and management, reflective and flexible thinking, and networking and professional development as variables. Eacott (2010c) investigated the strategic role of Australian public primary school principals concerning the leader characteristics of tenure (referring to the time in years in their current substantive position) and functional track (referring to the time in years spent at different levels of the organizational hierarchy). These demographic variables have moderating effects on the strategic leadership and management of participants. These five studies seem to be outstanding contributions to solidify a framework of strategic leadership and to test it with different populations in different countries.

Additionally, Quong and Walker (2010) present seven principles for effective and successful strategic leaders. Strategic leaders are future-oriented and have a future strategy, their practices are evidence-based and research-led, they get things done, open new horizons, are fit to lead, make good partners and do the “next” right thing—these seven principles of action seem related to the proposal of Davies and colleagues. Both authors highlighted visions for the future, future long-term plans, and plans’ translation into action as important characteristics of strategic leaders.

One other dimension that is being explored in research relates to ethics. Several authors assert that insufficient attention and research have been given to aspects related to moral or ethical leadership among school leaders ( Glanz, 2010 ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ; Kangaslahti, 2012 ). The seventh principle of the Quong and Walker (2010) model of strategic leadership is that leaders do the “next” right thing. This relates to the ethical dimension of leadership, meaning that strategic leaders recognize the importance of ethical behaviors and act accordingly. For some authors, ethics in strategic leadership is a critical issue for researchers and practitioners that needs to be taken into consideration ( Glanz, 2010 ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Glanz (2010) underlined social justice and caring perspectives as required to frame strategic initiatives. Kangaslahti (2012) analyzed the strategic dilemmas that leaders face in educational settings (e.g., top-down strategy vs. bottom-up strategy process; leadership by authority vs. staff empowerment; focus on administration vs. focus on pedagogy; secret planning and decision making vs. open, transparent organization; the well-being of pupils vs. well-being of staff) and how they can be tackled by dilemma reconciliation. Chen (2008) , in case study research, explored the conflicts that school administrators have confronted in facilitating school reform in Taiwan. The author identified four themes related to strategic leadership in coping with the conflicts accompanying this school reform: 1) educational values, 2) timeframe for change, 3) capacity building, and 4) community involvement. These studies reinforce the idea that school improvement and success seem to be influenced by the way leaders think strategically and deal with conflicts or dilemmas. Researchers need to design ethical frameworks or models from which practitioners can think ethically about their strategic initiatives and their dilemmas or conflicts ( Chen, 2008 ; Glanz, 2010 ; Kangaslahti, 2012 ).

Despite the critical contribution of Davies’ models ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and subsequent works, Eacott (2010a) questions the production of lists of behaviors and traits. This is likely one of the main differences between Davies’ and Eacott’s contributions in this field. While Davies and colleagues include organizational abilities and personal characteristics in their model of strategic leadership, Eacott (2010a , 2010b) emphasizes the broader context where strategy occurs. These ideas, however, are not contradictory but complementary in the comprehension of strategy as leadership in education since both authors present a comprehensive and integrated model of strategic leadership. Even though Davies and colleagues present some specific characteristics of leaders, these characteristics are incorporated into a large model for strategy in schools.

What Are Other Key Variables Related to Strategy and Strategic Leadership in Schools?

Other studies investigated the relationship between strategic leadership and other key variables, such as collaboration ( Ismail et al., 2018 ), the culture of teaching ( Khumalo, 2018 ), organizational learning ( Aydin et al., 2015 ) and school effectiveness ( Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ).

One descriptive survey study presented teacher collaboration as a mediator of strategic leadership and teaching quality ( Ismail et al., 2018 ). The authors argue that school leaders who demonstrate strategic leadership practices can lead to the creation of collaborative practices among teachers and thus help to improve the professional standards among them, namely, teaching quality ( Ismail et al., 2018 ). One cross-sectional study identified positive and significant relations among the variables of strategic leadership actions and organizational learning. Transforming, political, and ethical leadership actions were identified as significant predictors of organizational learning. However, managing actions were not found to be a significant predictor ( Aydin et al., 2015 ). One other study establishes that strategic leadership practices promote a teaching culture defined as the commitment through quality teaching for learning outcomes ( Khumalo, 2018 ). These three studies provide essential highlights of the relevance of strategic leadership for school improvement and quality. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that in a research survey that examined the effect of leadership factors of administrators on school effectiveness, the authors concluded that the direct, indirect, and overall effects of the administrators’ strategic leadership had no significant impact on school effectiveness ( Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ). These studies introduce important questions that need to be explored both related to strategy and strategic leadership features and its relations and impacts on relevant school variables. Such studies stimulate researchers to explore these and other factors that relate to strategic leadership.

The knowledge about strategy and strategic leadership is still incomplete and confusing ( Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ). From the 29 studies selected, divergent data and multiple concepts of strategy can be identified which reinforces the confusion about these issues. Some integrative clarification is still needed about the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership as about its core features. In this section, it is intended to contribute to the clarification and integration of the concepts considering the studies selected.

The emergence of politics and reforms related to school autonomy and responsibility in terms of efficacy and accountability brings the concept of strategy to the educational literature ( Eacott, 2008b ; Cheng, 2010 ). It first appeared in the 1980s but gained momentum between 1990 and 2000. However, the main focus of the literature was on strategic planning based upon mechanistic or technical-rational models of strategy. Authors have criticized the conceptualization of strategy as a way for elaborating a specific plan of action for schools ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). These same authors adopted a more comprehensive and holistic model of strategy. The concepts have been developed from a more rational and mechanistic view related to planning processes to a more comprehensive and complex view of strategy and leadership that take into consideration a situated and contextual framework. Considering the contribution of these studies, strategy incorporates three core dimensions, articulated with a schoolwide perspective 1) Vision, mission and direction (e.g., Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ) 2) Intentional thinking (e.g., Barron et al., 1995 ; Davies, 2003 ; Davies and Davies, 2005 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ): and; 3) Articulated decision-making and action (e.g., Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ).

Strategic leaders have an important role in strategy but, even considering this comprehensive and holistic concept of strategy, research poses the question of what are the main characteristics of strategic leaders in schools? From the literature reviewed, specific abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics may be identified. Looking for an integrated picture of strategic leadership, Table 3 represents the main contributions of the studies selected.

TABLE 3 . Strategic leadership: Main features.

Despite the contribution of these studies to deep knowledge about strategic leadership, the discussion here considers whether it is worthwhile to produce lists of behaviors and traits for strategic leaders in the absence of an integrated model that acknowledges the broader educational, societal and political context ( Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ). Eacott (2011) argues that strategy, as constructed through analysis, is decontextualized and dehumanized and essentially a vacuous concept with limited utility to the practice that it seeks to explain (p. 426). Without a comprehensive and contextual model of strategy and strategic leadership, supported by research, the topics may still be overlooked and misunderstood. With this in mind, Figure 3 attempts to represent the core dimensions of strategy from a comprehensive perspective.

FIGURE 3 . Strategy and core dimensions from a comprehensive perspective.

As this is a scoping review, we tried to display a general view of the literature that can serve as a basis for a specific strategy theory in education and to more in-depth studies related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools. Nevertheless, we need to identify some methodological limitations of this study. As a scoping review, methods and reporting need improvement ( Tricco et al., 2018 ) and we are aware of this circumstance. Also, our search strategy may have overlooked some existing studies, since grey documents (e.g., reports) and studies from diverse languages than English were not included, that can misrepresent important data. Besides, inclusion criteria focused only on studies specifically devoted to strategy (not strategic planning) and strategic leadership (no other theories of leadership), but we acknowledge important contributions from this specific literature that were excluded. Finally, in our study there is no comparative analysis between the western and eastern/oriental contexts. However, we are aware that these contexts really differ and a context-specific reflection on strategy and strategic leadership in education would be useful. More research is needed to overcome the limitations mentioned.

Besides, the pandemic COVID19 brought new challenges in education, and particularly, to leaders. This study occurred before the pandemic and this condition was not acknowledged. However, much has changed in education as a consequence of the pandemic control measures, these changes vary from country to country, and schools’ strategies have changed for sure. Future research needs to explore strategy and strategic leadership in education considering a new era post pandemic.

With this scoping review, the authors aimed to contribute to enduring theories about strategy and strategic leadership in education. From our findings, it appears that this issue is being little explored. Despite the important contributions of authors cited in this scoping review ( Aydin et al., 2015 ; Chatchawaphun et al., 2016 ; Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ; Ali, 2018 ; Chan, 2018 ; Ismail et al., 2018 ; Khumalo, 2018 ), minor advances seem to have been made after 2010. This is intriguing taking into account the leaders’ role in the third wave of educational reform, where strategic leadership pursues a new vision and new aims for education due to maximizing learning opportunities for students through “ triplisation in education’ (i.e., as an integrative process of globalization, localization and individualization in education)” ( Cheng, 2010 , p. 48). It was expected that research moved from rational planning models towards a more complex view of strategy in education ( Eacott, 2011 ). This review brings the idea that some timid and situated steps have been made.

Since the important review by Eacott, published in 2008, a step forward was made in the distinction between strategy and planning. Despite the significant number of papers about planning that were found during this review, the majority were published before 2008 (e.g., Nebgen, 1990 ; Broadhead et al., 1998 ; Bennett et al., 2000 ; Beach and Lindahl, 2004 ; Bell, 2004 ). Also, most of the papers selected adopt a more integrative, comprehensive, and complex view of strategy and strategic leadership (e.g., Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Ali, 2012 ; Ali, 2018 ; Chan, 2018 ). More than identifying the “best of” strategy and strategic leadership, alternative models understand strategy as a way of thinking ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and a work in progress ( Eacott, 2011 ).

This also resonates with the educational literature about loosely coupled systems . There is evidence that loosely coupled educational organizations continue to exist and that resistance to change is a characteristic of school organizations ( Hautala et al., 2018 ). Strategic leadership gains relevance since leaders need to consider how to manage their loose and tight configurations and, hence, reinforce simultaneous personal and organizational dimensions related to school improvement. It is time to expand the research into more complex, longitudinal, and explanatory ways due to a better understanding of the constructs. This scoping review was an attempt to contribute to this endeavor by integrating and systematizing educational literature about strategy and strategic leadership.

Author Contributions

MC-collected and analyzed data, write the paper IC, JV, and JA-guided the research process and reviewed the paper.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the support to this publication (Ref. UIDB/04872/2020).

Critical Perspectives in Educational Leadership: A New ‘Theory Turn’?

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• Christina Gowlett 6  

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This chapter presents the argument that there is a new phase or ‘theory turn’ in the field of educational leadership. These more critical perspectives in the field of educational leadership have typically been marginalised by the larger body of orthodox approaches due to a perceived lack of focus on best practice and ‘what works’ discourses, and especially in recent years with the rise of the school effectiveness and improvement movement. However, critical perspectives in educational leadership constitute an essential and vibrant part of educational leadership scholarship and discourse. Using the notion of discourse, this chapter examines how critical perspectives have been constituted historically, with some of the main themes of research. This foregrounding also highlights a number of limitations with more orthodox and hegemonic leadership discourses. A number of key writers in the field are identified and then situated in the current theory turn with an emphasis on theoretically informed research that have been prolific over the last 5–10 years.

The work of an intellectual is not to mold the political will of others, it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions… . Foucault ( 1996 , p. 462)

This chapter is based on an earlier journal article – see Niesche, R. (2017). Critical perspectives in educational leadership: A new theory turn? Journal of Educational Administration and History , 50(3), 145–158. For the online version, see https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6wikw2jypAmBZ8ukCxtr/full . This chapter has used the initial paper as a framework to expand some of the arguments and provide more details that were unable to be included due to the prescribed word limitations. It is also important to note a response from Scott Eacott to this paper: Eacott, S. (2018). Social epistemology and the theory turn: A response to Niesche. Journal of Educational Administration and History , 50(4), 316–324. This can be accessed online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220620.2018.1508128

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We use the word ‘field’ throughout this paper but also acknowledge the issues and limitations of doing so. We recognise the problem with identifying a field of educational administration and or leadership as a stable, coherent phenomena or body of work. Some important critiques of this notion occur in Culbertson ( 1988 ), Donmoyer ( 1999 ) and English ( 2002 ).

This is the only course of its kind in Australian programs to our knowledge.

This course has since been on hiatus in 2019 due to a course rationalisation process despite the course receiving exceedingly high student evaluations, thus arguably supporting the argument made! The content has been incorporated into another foundational course but one senses this will be an ongoing issue for the marginalisation of content that doesn’t ‘fit’ a traditional mainstream interpretation of what educational is or should be.

We spend considerably more time explaining Foucault’s meaning of the term discourse in Chap. 3 .

At least across Australia, New Zealand and the UK although in some informal conversations with colleagues in other countries it may also be more widespread.

This is of course highly selective as it is not possible to cover all of the various writings and research in the area of critical scholarship. Our apologies to those whose works we are not able to cover.

We have chosen to focus on gender and social justice in this section due to space restrictions; however, there has also been work in postmodern analyses of educational leadership (see Maxcy, 1994 ; English, 2003 ), as well as explorations of culture (e.g. Dimmock and Walker, 2005 ; Collard & Reynolds, 2005 ) and race and ethnicity (Brooks, 2012 ; Ma Rhea, 2014 ). A variety of different perspectives can be found in some of the edited collections cited in the next section.

And this is certainly a limitation of what we are proposing in this article, a Western-dominated set of approaches to critical scholarship in educational leadership. We are also conscious of Connell’s writing in Southern Theory on this issue (Connell, 2007 ).

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Niesche, R., Gowlett, C. (2019). Critical Perspectives in Educational Leadership: A New ‘Theory Turn’?. In: Social, Critical and Political Theories for Educational Leadership. Educational Leadership Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8241-3_2

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Four of the biggest problems facing education—and four trends that could make a difference

Eduardo velez bustillo, harry a. patrinos.

In 2022, we published, Lessons for the education sector from the COVID-19 pandemic , which was a follow up to,  Four Education Trends that Countries Everywhere Should Know About , which summarized views of education experts around the world on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the education sector then. We focused on neuroscience, the role of the private sector, education technology, inequality, and pedagogy.

Unfortunately, we think the four biggest problems facing education today in developing countries are the same ones we have identified in the last decades .

1. The learning crisis was made worse by COVID-19 school closures

Low quality instruction is a major constraint and prior to COVID-19, the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries was 57% (6 out of 10 children could not read and understand basic texts by age 10). More dramatic is the case of Sub-Saharan Africa with a rate even higher at 86%. Several analyses show that the impact of the pandemic on student learning was significant, leaving students in low- and middle-income countries way behind in mathematics, reading and other subjects.  Some argue that learning poverty may be close to 70% after the pandemic , with a substantial long-term negative effect in future earnings. This generation could lose around $21 trillion in future salaries, with the vulnerable students affected the most.

2. Countries are not paying enough attention to early childhood care and education (ECCE)

At the pre-school level about two-thirds of countries do not have a proper legal framework to provide free and compulsory pre-primary education. According to UNESCO, only a minority of countries, mostly high-income, were making timely progress towards SDG4 benchmarks on early childhood indicators prior to the onset of COVID-19. And remember that ECCE is not only preparation for primary school. It can be the foundation for emotional wellbeing and learning throughout life; one of the best investments a country can make.

3. There is an inadequate supply of high-quality teachers

Low quality teaching is a huge problem and getting worse in many low- and middle-income countries.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the percentage of trained teachers fell from 84% in 2000 to 69% in 2019 . In addition, in many countries teachers are formally trained and as such qualified, but do not have the minimum pedagogical training. Globally, teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are the biggest shortfalls.

4. Decision-makers are not implementing evidence-based or pro-equity policies that guarantee solid foundations

It is difficult to understand the continued focus on non-evidence-based policies when there is so much that we know now about what works. Two factors contribute to this problem. One is the short tenure that top officials have when leading education systems. Examples of countries where ministers last less than one year on average are plentiful. The second and more worrisome deals with the fact that there is little attention given to empirical evidence when designing education policies.

To help improve on these four fronts, we see four supporting trends:

1. Neuroscience should be integrated into education policies

Policies considering neuroscience can help ensure that students get proper attention early to support brain development in the first 2-3 years of life. It can also help ensure that children learn to read at the proper age so that they will be able to acquire foundational skills to learn during the primary education cycle and from there on. Inputs like micronutrients, early child stimulation for gross and fine motor skills, speech and language and playing with other children before the age of three are cost-effective ways to get proper development. Early grade reading, using the pedagogical suggestion by the Early Grade Reading Assessment model, has improved learning outcomes in many low- and middle-income countries. We now have the tools to incorporate these advances into the teaching and learning system with AI , ChatGPT , MOOCs and online tutoring.

2. Reversing learning losses at home and at school

There is a real need to address the remaining and lingering losses due to school closures because of COVID-19.  Most students living in households with incomes under the poverty line in the developing world, roughly the bottom 80% in low-income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries, do not have the minimum conditions to learn at home . These students do not have access to the internet, and, often, their parents or guardians do not have the necessary schooling level or the time to help them in their learning process. Connectivity for poor households is a priority. But learning continuity also requires the presence of an adult as a facilitator—a parent, guardian, instructor, or community worker assisting the student during the learning process while schools are closed or e-learning is used.

To recover from the negative impact of the pandemic, the school system will need to develop at the student level: (i) active and reflective learning; (ii) analytical and applied skills; (iii) strong self-esteem; (iv) attitudes supportive of cooperation and solidarity; and (v) a good knowledge of the curriculum areas. At the teacher (instructor, facilitator, parent) level, the system should aim to develop a new disposition toward the role of teacher as a guide and facilitator. And finally, the system also needs to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and be active part in the solution of the children’s problems. The Escuela Nueva Learning Circles or the Pratham Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) are models that can be used.

3. Use of evidence to improve teaching and learning

We now know more about what works at scale to address the learning crisis. To help countries improve teaching and learning and make teaching an attractive profession, based on available empirical world-wide evidence , we need to improve its status, compensation policies and career progression structures; ensure pre-service education includes a strong practicum component so teachers are well equipped to transition and perform effectively in the classroom; and provide high-quality in-service professional development to ensure they keep teaching in an effective way. We also have the tools to address learning issues cost-effectively. The returns to schooling are high and increasing post-pandemic. But we also have the cost-benefit tools to make good decisions, and these suggest that structured pedagogy, teaching according to learning levels (with and without technology use) are proven effective and cost-effective .

4. The role of the private sector

When properly regulated the private sector can be an effective education provider, and it can help address the specific needs of countries. Most of the pedagogical models that have received international recognition come from the private sector. For example, the recipients of the Yidan Prize on education development are from the non-state sector experiences (Escuela Nueva, BRAC, edX, Pratham, CAMFED and New Education Initiative). In the context of the Artificial Intelligence movement, most of the tools that will revolutionize teaching and learning come from the private sector (i.e., big data, machine learning, electronic pedagogies like OER-Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, etc.). Around the world education technology start-ups are developing AI tools that may have a good potential to help improve quality of education .

After decades asking the same questions on how to improve the education systems of countries, we, finally, are finding answers that are very promising.  Governments need to be aware of this fact.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Theories of Educational Leadership

Introduction, general overview of educational leadership styles and related theories.

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• Journals and Professional Organizations
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• Conceptual Approaches and Frameworks Exemplars
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Theories of Educational Leadership by Lorri Michelle Johnson Santamaría LAST REVIEWED: 30 August 2016 LAST MODIFIED: 30 August 2016 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0153

Prior to understanding theories of educational leadership, it is important to begin with a comprehensive definition of educational leadership. In this article, educational leadership is the professional practice of a leader (or leaders) in an administrative role(s) working with, guiding, and influencing educators in a particular context toward improving learning and other educational processes in early childhood education centers and in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions. These people are most often individuals or small teams employed as school site leaders, principals, and assistant or associate administrators. In early childhood, higher education, or other educational settings these individuals may serve as center director, head of school, department chair, academic dean, provost, or president. Theories of educational leadership have origins in the United States, where frameworks have been drawn largely from industry and commerce management principles. Leadership theories and practices drawn from business-oriented frames of reference have been adopted and adapted for use in educational settings in the United States and similarly developed nations. Therefore, theories of educational leadership have been derived from a diversity of interdisciplinary conceptualizations and models over time. As a result, theories of leadership can be considered emergent, dynamic, and subject to further evolution. In fact, every theory of educational leadership is subject to investigation by researchers in educational centers, schools, and university settings who seek to better understand the dynamics of leadership in a variety of educational contexts. Beyond seminal notions and ideations of educational leadership, developing and sometimes groundbreaking theories contribute to the existing canonical literature in the field. Nonetheless, most theories of educational leadership comprise key elements, which often include capabilities, approaches, and practices. A closer look at these elements further reveals theoretical types of educational leadership (e.g., styles, traits, behaviors), characteristics of educational leadership (e.g., management versus leadership, power, coercion, conceptual frameworks), or the activities or practices educational leaders engage in as expressions of their leadership in action (e.g., approaches, ways of leading). Each element is dependent on the educational context within which it occurs and warrants the consideration of multiple and international perspectives for relevance in diverse and global societies in the 21st century. Therefore, this article includes a representative sampling of influential textbooks, handbooks, journals, and relevant literature as exemplars of sources to explain, illuminate, introduce, interrogate, and evaluate a variety of educational leadership theories. Additionally, this article provides historical and philosophical foundations, general overviews, conceptual frameworks, supporting literature on large data sets, and multiple complementary international perspectives of the theories considered. Pertinent examples are provided from each area for further exploration, consideration, and study by readers.

While literature on educational leadership styles and related leadership theories has been contested by scholars in works such as Spillane, et al. 2004 , representative research discusses leadership styles as relevant to the field. Contributions on educational leadership styles provide reference points from which to begin a deeper consideration of theories of educational leadership. Familiarity with these works (e.g., servant, authentic, instructional/ pedagogical, distributed, transactional, transformational, etc.) is relevant for students, aspiring leaders, practitioners, and academics interested in the discipline to understand ways in which the theories have been developed, are manifested, and are sometimes contested in educational settings. Following the general to specific, business, commerce, management to education progression, and cross-disciplinary nature of educational leadership theories, servant leadership emerges as one of the oldest if not the first leadership style. Many researchers have studied servant leadership, however, Greenleaf and Spears 2002 (originally published in 1977) provide the most thorough presentation of the type. The authors of these works present philosophical underpinnings of servant leadership in educational and other contexts with clear connections to authentic, transactional, and transformational conceptualizations of leadership in education. Evidence of the dynamic nature of educational leadership is provided in the varied opinions on particular leadership styles. For example, scholars, in works such as Avolio and Gardner 2005 , present authentic leadership in schools, while Southworth 2012 and West-Burnham 2013 present understandings of and counter-perspectives to instructional and pedagogical leadership. Similarly, Harris 2004 features the pros and cons of distributed leadership specific to educational contexts. Building on multiple voices in educational leadership, an intriguing juxtaposition is found to exist between transactional and transformational leadership. To learn about it, new students and practitioners should consult Bass 1999 . Complementing this work, the contributors to Leithwood, et al. 2009 write about and assert the benefits of transformational leadership, whereas Fink 2005 and Day 2003 offer critiques of this style. In a further departure of transactional leadership, Shields 2010 pushes beyond the theory by introducing transformative leadership as a style more inclusive of leadership for social justice and more appropriate for culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. This work is similar to those of Bogotch 2002 and Brown 2004 . Further demonstrating the multiple ways in which educational leadership styles can be conceptualized by scholars and researchers in the field, Fehr, et al. 2015 and Frick 2009 investigate moral leadership. Readers are reminded that this comprehensive general overview is open to additional exploration and, as such, it is not exhaustive. It is designed to set the stage for conceptual framing of educational leadership theories through a deeper consideration of the theme. Selected handbooks and textbooks serve to bring together all of the aspects covered in this entry in single volumes from a variety of worldviews and perspectives.

Avolio, Bruce J., and William L. Gardner. 2005. Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly 16.3: 315–338.

DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001

Excellent read. Leading scholars in the field provide readers with diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives, including discourse on definitions for the constructs of authenticity, authentic leaders, authentic leadership, and authentic leadership development, including a detailed description of the components of authentic leadership theory.

Bass, Bernard M. 1999. Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 8.1: 9–32.

DOI: 10.1080/135943299398410

Peer-reviewed article is significant because it offers a review of the research to the date of publication on transformational leadership considering application in interdisciplinary contexts (business, military, industrial, hospital, and educational). A key contribution because it states research findings that indicate women leaders tend to be more transformational than their male counterparts.

Bogotch, Ira E. 2002. Educational leadership and social justice: Practice into theory. Journal of School Leadership 12.2: 138–156.

Expert author in the field explores and defines social justice leadership in educational contexts and concludes its creation is dependent on community context and players with pluralistic or individual means and ends. Important foundational reading for understanding other theorists who include social justice aspects in their scholarly contributions on educational leadership.

Brown, Kathleen M. 2004. Leadership for social justice and equity weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy. Educational Administration Quarterly 40.1: 79–110.

DOI: 10.1177/0013161X03259147

Features strategies to help pre-service leaders develop as transformative, reflective scholars and practitioners actively engaged in political, emancipatory interests by way of examination of ontological and epistemological assumptions, values and beliefs, context and experience, and competing worldviews.

Day, Christopher. 2003. What successful leadership in schools looks like: Implications for policy and practice. In Handbook of educational leadership and management . Edited by Brent Davies and John West-Burnham, 87–204. London: Pearson Education.

Book chapter in edited handbook. Offers a balanced critique of transformational leadership from an international perspective.

Fehr, Ryan, Kai Chi Sam Yam, and Carolyn Dang. 2015. Moralized leadership: The construction and consequences of ethical leader perceptions. Academy of Management Review 40.2: 182–209.

DOI: 10.5465/amr.2013.0358

Current research provides an overview of moral leadership and features the construction and consequences of ethical leader perceptions. It also reveals ways in which values underlying the moralized behaviors of leaders determine specific types of follower behavior.

Fink, Dean. 2005. Developing leaders for their future not our past. In Developing leadership: Creating the schools of tomorrow . Edited by Martin J. Coles and Geoff Southworth, 1–20. Maidenhead, UK: Open Univ. Press.

Frick, William C. 2009. Principals’ value-informed decision making, intrapersonal moral discord, and pathways to resolution: The complexities of moral leadership praxis. Journal of Educational Administration 47.1: 50–74.

DOI: 10.1108/09578230910928089

Good article for understanding the nuances of what is meant by moral leadership. The research featured explores internal struggles experienced by school leaders when making ethically informed judgments. Contains principals’ intimate reflections about professional decision making in response to personal versus organizational and/or professional value discrepancy.

Greenleaf, Robert K., and Larry C. Spears. 2002. Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness . Mahwah, NJ: Paulist.

The seminal book on servant leadership, this book is an interdisciplinary must-read for those interested in learning more about this enduring leadership style. Originally published in 1977.

Harris, Alma. 2004. Distributed leadership and school improvement: Leading or misleading? Educational Management Administration & Leadership 32.1: 11–24.

DOI: 10.1177/1741143204039297

Important article on the topic by a leading scholar who suggests further research is needed to confirm a relationship between distributed forms of leadership and improved student learning outcomes.

Leithwood, Ken, Doris Jantzi, and Rosanne Steinbach. 2009. Changing leadership for changing times . 2d ed. Maidenhead, UK: Open Univ. Press.

Originally published in 1998. Examines the types of leadership that are likely to be productive in creating and sustaining schools with records of improvement. It is based on a long term study of “transformational” leadership in school restructuring contexts and offers what the authors consider to be a highly readable account of leadership that is grounded in empirical evidence.

Shields, Carolyn M. 2010. Transformative leadership: Working for equity in diverse contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly 46.4: 558–589.

DOI: 10.1177/0013161X10375609

Author/scholar and leader in the field delineates a theory of transformative leadership, distinct from other theories (transformational or transactional leadership) to assess the utility of the theory for guiding the practice of educational leaders who want to effect both educational and broader social change.

Southworth, Geoff. 2012. Connecting leadership and learning. In Leadership and learning . Edited by Jan Robertson and Helen Timperley, 71–85. London: SAGE.

The author in this edited book argues that leadership should be focused on teaching and learning and, in particular, pedagogical practices.

Spillane, James P., Richard Halverson, and John B. Diamond. 2004. Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies 36.1: 3–34.

DOI: 10.1080/0022027032000106726

Widely read scholars of educational leadership suggest the term style offers a fixed approach to leadership and that more critique of this term is called for with regard to educational leadership.

West-Burnham, John. 2013. Contemporary issues in educational leadership. In Principles of school leadership . Edited by Mark Brundrett, 9–26. London: SAGE.

West-Burnham offers a commentary on the evolution of school leadership and management theory.

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The Ongoing Challenges, and Possible Solutions, to Improving Educational Equity

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Schools across the country were already facing major equity challenges before the pandemic, but the disruptions it caused exacerbated them.

After students came back to school buildings after more than a year of hybrid schooling, districts were dealing with discipline challenges and re-segregating schools. In a national EdWeek Research Center survey from October, 65 percent of the 824 teachers, and school and district leaders surveyed said they were more concerned now than before the pandemic about closing academic opportunity gaps that impact learning for students of different races, socioeconomic levels, disability categories, and English-learner statuses.

But educators trying to prioritize equity have an uphill battle to overcome these challenges, especially in the face of legislation and school policies attempting to fight equity initiatives across the country.

The pandemic and the 2020 murder of George Floyd drove many districts to recognize longstanding racial disparities in academics, discipline, and access to resources and commit to addressing them. But in 2021, a backlash to such equity initiatives accelerated, and has now resulted in 18 states passing laws restricting lessons on race and racism, and many also passing laws restricting the rights and well-being of LGBTQ students.

This slew of Republican-driven legislation presents a new hurdle for districts looking to address racial and other inequities in public schools.

During an Education Week K-12 Essentials forum last week, journalists, educators, and researchers talked about these challenges, and possible solutions to improving equity in education.

Takeru Nagayoshi, who was the Massachusetts teacher of the year in 2020, and one of the speakers at the forum, said he never felt represented as a gay, Asian kid in public school until he read about the Stonewall Riots, the Civil Rights Movement, and the full history of marginalized groups working together to change systems of oppression.

“Those are the learning experiences that inspired me to be a teacher and to commit to a life of making our country better for everyone,” he said.

“Our students really benefit the most when they learn about themselves and the world that they’re in. They’re in a safe space with teachers who provide them with an honest education and accurate history.”

Here are some takeaways from the discussion:

Schools are still heavily segregated

Almost 70 years after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, most students attend schools where they see a majority of other students of their racial demographics .

Black students, who accounted for 15 percent of public school enrollment in 2019, attended schools where Black students made up an average of 47 percent of enrollment, according to a UCLA report.

They attended schools with a combined Black and Latinx enrollment averaging 67 percent, while Latinx students attended schools with a combined Black and Latinx enrollment averaging 66 percent.

Overall, the proportion of schools where the majority of students are not white increased from 14.8 percent of schools in 2003 to 18.2 percent in 2016.

“Predominantly minority schools [get] fewer resources, and that’s one problem, but there’s another problem too, and it’s a sort of a problem for democracy,” said John Borkowski, education lawyer at Husch Blackwell.

“I think it’s much better for a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy, when people have opportunities to interact with one another, to learn together, you know, and you see all of the problems we’ve had in recent years with the rising of white supremacy, and white supremacist groups.”

School discipline issues were exacerbated because of student trauma

In the absence of national data on school discipline, anecdotal evidence and expert interviews suggest that suspensions—both in and out of school—and expulsions, declined when students went remote.

In 2021, the number of incidents increased again when most students were back in school buildings, but were still lower than pre-pandemic levels , according to research by Richard Welsh, an associate professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education.

But forum attendees, who were mostly district and school leaders as well as teachers, disagreed, with 66 percent saying that the pandemic made school incidents warranting discipline worse. That’s likely because of heightened student trauma from the pandemic. Eighty-three percent of forum attendees who responded to a spot survey said they had noticed an increase in behavioral issues since resuming in-person school.

Restorative justice in education is gaining popularity

One reason Welsh thought discipline incidents did not yet surpass pre-pandemic levels despite heightened student trauma is the adoption of restorative justice practices, which focus on conflict resolution, understanding the causes of students’ disruptive behavior, and addressing the reason behind it instead of handing out punishments.

Kansas City Public Schools is one example of a district that has had improvement with restorative justice, with about two thirds of the district’s 35 schools seeing a decrease in suspensions and expulsions in 2021 compared with 2019.

Forum attendees echoed the need for or success of restorative justice, with 36 percent of those who answered a poll within the forum saying restorative justice works in their district or school, and 27 percent saying they wished their district would implement some of its tenets.

However, 12 percent of poll respondents also said that restorative justice had not worked for them. Racial disparities in school discipline also still persist, despite restorative justice being implemented, which indicates that those practices might not be ideal for addressing the over-disciplining of Black, Latinx, and other historically marginalized students.

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How Evolving Educational Leadership Shapes K-12 Success

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Quality education, every child’s fundamental right, needs much attention from all the stakeholders, from parents, school leaders, and the broader community. The educational leadership needs to be excellent for the K-12 learning centers to produce good results.

These administration figures, such as principals and superintendents, must exhibit the best leadership attributes to create healthy, cordial learning environments. This blog post focuses on the roles of education leaders in dynamic K-12 education.

Continual Professional Development 

K-12 education thrives when the team at the school’s helm knows how best to inspire the staff to keep honing their skills and knowledge. This cannot be overstated with the advancements and changes happening in the industry. It will make a center remain competitive and relevant over the years. 

As change agents, these leaders have a huge role in leading by example by taking courses to sharpen their skills more. As you enroll in Saint Mary’s University’s Principal Certificate Program, you want to be adaptive even in the changing educational landscapes.

The k-12 principal certificate will improve your contemporary education leadership pathways. They can bring effectiveness by fostering better collaborative leadership and encouraging mentorship opportunities. 

Visionary Planners 

Every institution needs to have a common purpose and vision for which all its activities aim. The administrative figures have a crucial role in this by being good at articulating the vision clearly and in a compelling way. It’s often possible through perfection in defining long-term goals and creating plans to steer the institution in the right direction. 

An outstanding leader should have excellent ways of articulating the objectives and strategies capable of making the targets attainable. This helps avoid confusion or ambiguity in the daily operations. 

Empowering Teachers and Staff 

A good school administration needs to view the teaching and non-teaching staff as the backbone of the facility. It should be followed by proper resource allocation and the necessary support to motivate them. 

Such efforts go beyond improving teaching quality and nurturing a culture of growth. They make an education center adaptive to the prevailing changes in the sector, preserving its competitiveness. Much focus also needs to shift to the emerging common challenges and creating the right plans to solve them. 

Advocate for Equity and Inclusion 

As the educational landscape is diversifying , it’s important for institutions to embrace inclusivity. Educational leadership has a critical role here through pushing for the learning settings to have friendly policies which bring in more equity. For instance, it can involve encouraging practices and procedures which eliminate the systemic inequalities .

Leaders who aim to break common barriers to success give a learning center a good reputation, which matters in its growth. Plans such as investing in structures like wheelchair ramps send an excellent image of respect to those with disabilities. 

Community Building 

There ought to be a sense of harmony and cohesion between all stakeholders in education, from parents to education-based community organizations. With a robust relationship, creating a supportive network is crucial for the student’s learning experiences. Competent educational leadership will acknowledge that education needs to go beyond the classroom. 

Community building can only be possible when efficient communication lines and collaboration opportunities exist. The best thing to do is schedule regular workshops and events where you’ll bring everyone on board for candid discussions. 

Resource Management 

For educational goals to be achieved, the resources need to be in order, including finances, physical, and human resources. This makes it essential to have excellent budgeting and inventory management efforts to ensure optimal resource utilization. This can sometimes involve regular audits of the K-12 learning centers to determine the changing needs of every department. 

School leaders can then use this to guide resource redistribution to achieve efficiency. For human resources, it’s paramount to work on your hiring programs to attract only the top talents. The onboarding must also be excellent for them to transition smoothly into the facility. 

Data-Informed Decision Makers 

Educational leaders should know how to capitalize on data to guide their resolutions. Apart from the collection and analysis, the interpretation must also be excellent. Using software for the analytics can be helpful. 

Depending on the tool a leader invests in, it will become effortless to track the performance metrics for the respective classes and learners in real-time. The software will also generate automated reports on the statistics you want.

Educational leadership has a significant impact on how a learning center excels being the driver for change. They need to be excellent at keeping everyone focused in the right direction. It’s prudent for them to be excellent in managerial work and inspire teams to push their limits within the learning center.