Search results for "educational leaders"

Three orientations for understanding educational autonomy: school principals’ voices from Australia, Finland, and Jamaica

2021

This paper reports on the findings from a multi-site case study conducted in Australia, Finland and Jamaica which explored the conditions that enabled and constrained the autonomy of school principals. Systematic data collection was carried out in the form of interviews of school principals and the data was analysed using a qualitative approach. The analysis indicates that: (1) school principals’ practices are prefigured by the peculiarities of historical trajectories and ideological traditions enmeshed in schooling sites; (2) these prefiguring arrangements in turn influence varying realisations of autonomous decision making practices across national sites; and (3) even in the expression of…

The Cultural and Social Foundations of Ethical Educational Leadership in Finland

2021

This chapter provides the Finnish scope on cultural and social foundations of ethical educational leadership. Finland is often seen as an outlier. Predominant transnational trends are recognized but they tend to reach Finland with a delay and manifest themselves somewhat differently from the mainstream. There are contextual reasons for the deviance. We will present these focusing on how cultural and social aspects have been evolving in Finland. Furthermore, we will analyse the constituents, organisation and responsibilities embedded in the Finnish education system. This analysis makes use of contemporary education policy documents including legislation and other regulations, curricula, and …

Toward a process paradigm of educational leadership

2020

A distributed leadership perspective on the Finnish curriculum reform 2014

2018

Bridging curriculum research with educational leadership, we examined the 2014 Finnish curriculum reform compilation and enactment process through the lens of distributed leadership.As a tool for t...

Analysis of leadership dynamics in educational settings during times of external and internal change

2017

Background: The article concerns the tensions that can arise during demanding external, and consequential internal changes and considers how educational leadership is able to respond to them. Leadership is here understood as a collaborative endeavour, producing shared sense-making in situations of tension. Purpose: The main research question was: what kinds of leadership dynamics underlie situations of tension brought about by external and internal change? The sub-question was: what kind of micro-level sense-making processes, argued to be the true source of change, assist in revealing these dynamics? Programme: Educational organisations increasingly face demanding external changes, such as …

An exploration of socio-cultural and organizational factors affecting women's access to educational leadership

2014

Recent global reports indicate that women have made tremendous improvements in educational enrolment and labour participation but are woefully underrepresented in top leadership positions. Moreover, studies have shown that feminine leadership strategies are embraced but leadership is still perceived as a prerogative of men in many societies. This study therefore sought to explore the socio-cultural and organizational factors influencing the underrepresentation of women in educational leadership within the Ghanaian cultural context. It also aimed at finding possible strategies for increasing the number female educational leaders in Ghana. The qualitative case study research method was employ…

An exploration into the applicability of school principals' training on the principals' leadership practices in Finland

2012

Quality leadership preparation has been shown to have positive influences on leadership practices of graduates. With five formal categories of leadership training programmes in the decentralized Finnish educational system, little is known about the leadership practices of graduates. This study explored the applicability of training on principals’ self-assessed leadership practices in Central Finland. Eight semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with principals from schools in and around the municipality of Jyväskylä. Purposive sampling was used as all participants had taken the advanced educational leadership training at the University of Jyväskylä in addition to other trainin…

Stress, Coping Strategies and Resources of Early Childhood Education Leaders during the COVID-19-Pandemic in Finland, Germany and Israel

2023

The exceptional circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 caused unexpected challenges for the leaders in Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres. The range of measures implemented for preventing the infection from spreading reduced opportunities for face-to-face communication and changed the form of professional cooperation. All that has affected the working conditions and work well-being of the leaders. In this article we examine the ECE centre leaders' experiences regarding stress, their coping strategies and coping resources according to the Lazarus & Folkman (1984) stress model during the COVID-19-pandemic in Finland, Germany and Israel. The aim is to understand leaders' …

Rehtoreiden kertoma johtajuus ja johtajaidentiteetti

2008

Rehtoreiden kertoma johtajuus rakentuu rehtorin ja toimintaympäristön välisissä sosiaalisissa vuorovaikutustilanteissa. Vuorovaikutustilanteissa rehtorit kokevat ristiriitaisia odotuksia eivätkä aina kykene tai halua vastata odotuksiin. Ristiriidat odotusten ja rehtoreiden oman tahtotilan välillä johtuvat ihmisten erilaisista näkemyksistä siitä minkälaista on hyvä, tehokas ja toivottu johtajuus. Näkemykset oppilaitoksen hyvästä johtajuudesta syntyvät ihmisten omien kokemusten ja yhteiskunnassa vallitsevien ja voimakkaimmin julkisuudessa esillä olevien esimerkkien ja kirjoitusten perusteella. Suomalaisen koulun johtamisen kuuliaisuutta ja esivaltaa kunnioittavat perinteet vaikuttavat niin ik…

An assession of the applicability of shared leadership tenets in Cameroon : the case of Buea municipality

2016

Leadership is considered very pivotal in institutions and no single leader can boss of executing leadership alone. In spite of the fact that shared leadership ideology can be dated as far back as 1920s, there has been multitude of supposition regarding shared leadership tenets and how it can be enacted in institutions. The intent of this quantitative study is to assess the applicability of shared leadership, by unlocking the key enablers and barriers of shared leadership needed for school improvement in Cameroon. The study makes use of a questionnaire for data collection and samples the opinions of 207 school professionals from secondary and high schools in Buea Municipality, Cameroon. Afte…