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PurposeThis paper is derived from a thorough and systematic study, contributing to further understanding of the perception of authentic leadership in the context of Cyprus, by involving school principals' both espoused values and values in action coupled with their leadership styles.Design/methodology/approachData were drawn from a combination of methods, both quantitative (235 questionnaires) and qualitative (5 case studies), thus facilitating a more reliable and valid exploration of school principals' espoused values and values in action coupled with their leadership styles.FindingsSchool principals' values in action may be filtered by particular factors, which affect them, when they try to promote their espoused values during their leadership practice. In general, the findings indicated that practicing authentic leadership might be, in fact, impeded by specific factors connected to the broader context in which school principals operate.Research limitations/implicationsIt is not possible to draw concrete conclusions on relation between the espoused values and values in action, as only five school principals took part during the second research phase. However, in this study, the quantitative (first phase) and qualitative (second phase) research were combined in order to produce a general picture, with regards to the practice of authentic leadership.Originality/valueThe study of values has received an extensive research interest lately. In this study, it was approached collectively and cohesively by taking into consideration the differentiation between espoused values and values in action.

The relationship between education and organizational financial efficiency can be described as tense and ambiguous. Therefore, issues of educational leadership inspired by models stemming from the ...

The main purpose of this paper is to examine perspectives of successful and effective leadership as well as successful and effective schools in an effort to uncover the governance interventions which produce one or the other characterization. This examination is undertaken through the utilization of two guiding frameworks: the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework and the Bredeson and Johansson framework for principals’ functions. Additionally, views on success and effectiveness from around the world are utilized. Following this, in this theoretically focused paper we make the argument that successful schools institutionalize the right processes in order to achieve and sustain the desired results and thus become effective. Then, in an effort to bring context into the equation, we discuss what the context is for each education system and student and if schools can make up for the deficiencies of a student’s individual context. We end our discussion by stressing the fact that researchers, through their work, can inspire teachers and principals with their (often) simple descriptions of complex school improvement processes. These descriptions have a profound effect on the applied pedagogical work in schools, which is sometimes more influential than national policy decisions and educational reforms.

Policy makers increasingly acknowledge that problems and challenges arising at the school level should be resolved on site. At the same time, the political expectation to delegate more responsibility to the individual school is rather heavily contrasted with the weak knowledge about how this new public management approach can be translated into successful leadership practices. Thus, considering that there is a close relationship between context and leadership, principal preparation programmes should be guided by a deeper examination of contextual factors. Against this background, we aim to critically examine existing views of practitioners and researchers on the challenge of establishing more context-sensitive school leadership preparation programmes in an era of New Public Management in Education. In doing so, we introduce the Swedish Model of principal preparation as an example for a more context-sensitive leadership preparation program. To that end, we argue that a differentiated perspective about contextual conditions and their role as facilitators or obstacles to effective leadership must be further explored. Moreover, school leaders should be encouraged to consider the relevance of such approaches to their own needs.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to explore direct and indirect relationships between Leadership and Student Citizenship Outcomes in Cyprus middle schools. In the case of indirect effects the mediating role of School Academic Optimism and Instructional Quality was examined. Method: The specific study adopted a value-added quantitative design. Student achievement data were collected at the beginning and end of the term during which the subject of Citizenship Education was taught. Students also provided data about the quality of instruction, whereas teachers provided data about leadership and school academic optimism. Overall, a multistage sample of 20 middle schools, 114 classes, and 1,596 students participated in the current study. Multilevel modelling and single-level regression techniques were used to identify the relationships between the main variables of this study. Findings: A number of contextual student variables and one classroom variable were found to have a direct effect on citizenship outcomes. Neither School Leadership nor School Academic Optimism were found to have any direct or indirect effect. However, school leadership, along with a number of contextual variables, was found to have statistically significant effects on School Academic Optimism. Implications: The findings highlight the importance of the learning domain when searching for effectiveness factors at the classroom and school level. It is suggested that the subject of citizenship education is upgraded and principals as well as teachers are substantially supported to promote the subject goals.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether emotional intelligence and political skill (PS) of school principals influence the way they exercise leadership and the job satisfaction of their teachers.Design/methodology/approach– As regards to the methodology, quantitative research methods were used to conduct the research. Specifically, the data analysis was performed with the statistical program SPSS and the EQS program for the development of structural equation models. Participants were 182 principals of Cyprus public elementary schools and 910 teachers.Findings– The findings indicated that the emotional intelligence and PS of school principals are related to the educational leadership styles they use and to teachers’ job satisfaction. Such a relationship highlights the social skills of principals as an important area for further research.Research limitations/implications– Future research may benefit from developing and validating an investigating tool which rates school principals’ Emotional-Political Capacity because, as revealed from the current research, this new construct directly affects the leadership radius and teachers’ job satisfaction.Practical implications– This research provides important feedback to those organizations interested in educational leadership and reform, as it can further illuminate (unknown until now) qualities that an effective school principal must have.Originality/value– The importance of this research and its contribution to science, is illustrated by the fact that this is one of the first research efforts undertaken, which indicates that the emotional and political skills may be factors that shape effective educational leadership styles.

In this chapter, the authors investigate the social skills that school principals ought to exhibit in order to be more effective in the complex environment that characterizes modern schools. Thus, the main aim of this chapter is to provide an in-depth exploration of those social skills that are needed in order for school principals to become more flexible to external and internal requirements and to balance the need for change with stability. Therefore, an attempt is made to investigate the linkages between school leadership, emotional intelligence, political skill, and teachers' job satisfaction, as well as to examine the correlation of emotional and political skills of principals with the job satisfaction of their teachers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of (Co‐LEAD) (Commonwealth project on leadership in education assessment and development), the overall purpose of which was to find out school leaders' training needs around the Commonwealth in order to provide some answers with regards to the professional development needs of school principals.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach (e.g. both qualitative as well as quantitative) was utilized in order to carry out this study. The questionnaire consisted of 46 statements which make reference to the main functions of school leadership, such as, School Climate and School Improvement, Instructional Leadership and Human Resource Management, as well as Relations with Parents and the Community. The gap analysis method was used for the questionnaire items. Finally, complimentary to the questionnaires, it was decided to have on‐site visitations and interviews with “real people” on the ground.Findings – Based on the authors' analyses and...

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how school principals combine instructional and entrepreneurial aspects of leadership in their effort to build capacity for student learning. Four cases of successful school principals in rural primary schools in Cyprus are described as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). Purposive sampling was used in a multiperspective research methodology employing a semistructured interview protocol. The findings of the case studies formed the basis of a framework of successful school leadership, according to which instructional and entrepreneurial leadership are two vital and complementary constituents of successful leadership. The specific framework holds unique importance since it illustrates that successful leadership can promote learning both within the school itself but also through the utilization of its wider environment. Findings suggest that practitioners and policymakers need to think and act in a systemic manner by taking ...

The purpose of this article is twofold as it aims to compliment the effort of identifying the personal qualities and professional competencies generic to effective school leaders and to contribute to the comparison of effective leadership in diverse cultural contexts. Five examples of successful school principals in rural primary schools in Cyprus are described as part of the International Successful School Principals Project (ISSPP). Purposive sampling was used in a multi-perspective research methodology employing a semi-structured interview protocol. The findings of the case studies formed the basis of a framework of successful leadership according to which people-centered leadership, clearly communicated values and visions, a strong emphasis on the promotion of learning, the use of networked leadership as well as the creative management of competing values are all vital constituents of a successful leadership. The implications are significant both for practitioners and for policymakers since the framework demonstrates that successful leadership is effectuated through the realization of multiple intertwined leadership domains especially with regards to the specific context of rural primary schools in Cyprus.

In this conceptual paper, an exploration of the leadership gap between theory and praxis, which manifests itself in three different kinds of fissure in current thinking and research in the field of educational leadership, management and administration, will be undertaken. It is argued that there is a public image/communication gap, which current research and thinking in educational leadership needs to fulfill. This leads to the second issue, which is the gap between what is said (the rhetoric) and what is done (the praxis). Leaders must strive to reduce the gap between rhetoric and reality. This leads us to the third gap, which is the values gap. The world is indeed full of antithetical and oftentimes conflicting and dilemmatic situations in which morality and ethical behaviour play an important role. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to provide an in‐depth exploration of the three gaps and in doing so to provide answers as to how to narrow these gaps in order for school leaders to improve their practic...

Purpose – This research, based on a case study carried out in a Portuguese public school, was undertaken with the main purpose of investigating the perceptions of secondary school teachers regarding their principal and his leadership style.Design/methodology/approach – Teachers received a questionnaire which included 57 items, grouped under the following nine areas: school climate, school leadership and management, curriculum development, personnel management, administration and fiscal management, student management, professional development and in‐service, relations with parents and the community, problem solving and decision making. After the questionnaires were collected, the semi‐structured interview process began with the principal. The areas that were discussed were identical to those of the questionnaire in order to be able to make certain comparisons and draw some conclusions about possible discrepancies between what the teachers perceived and what the principal thought of himself. In the case pre...

In this chapter, school climate variables are employed in order to explore school principals’ influence on student achievement through the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework. The aim is to identify the mechanisms through which leadership influences student learning. For the purposes of the LISA project, a number of school climate variables were used as mediating variables between the principal’s leadership styles and student achievement. All analyses pointed towards a model comprising seven such mediating factors. The seven school climate factors were labeled as follows: Professional Development Opportunities, Evaluation and Feedback, Teacher Commitment, Parental Involvement, Teaching and Learning Practices, Student-Teacher Interactions, and Student Expectations. Then, an analysis was performed that examined the degree to which school leadership styles reliably predicted school climate variables. The findings suggest that the Instructional, the Structuring, and the Entrepreneurial leadership styles are utilized by school principals in order to enhance student achievement.

In this chapter, an examination of the various theories developed on leadership, such as situational theories and transactional and transformational theories, is initially presented. Following, there is an examination of the main empirical findings about the effects of school leadership on student achievement. Finally, an in-depth presentation of the five leadership styles that school principals are likely to employ in their work is provided, as follows: (1) instructional style, (2) structuring style, (3) participative style, (4) entrepreneurial, and (5) personnel development style. Additionally, a more in-depth analysis of the most prominent school climate variables is presented, which includes a learning and orderly climate, personal achievement orientation, evaluation and feedback practices, teachers’ job satisfaction and commitment to the school, teacher-student interactions, students’ opportunity to learn, explicit teaching strategies, and parental involvement. In the end, a description is offered about how all these components are placed together in order to create the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework in its initial conceptualization.

In this chapter, an examination of the main results of the LISA and the Pro-LEAD projects together is presented. The argument made is that school leaders have a measurable, mostly indirect influence on learning outcomes. After the validation process of the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework was finished, it became evident from the analyses that the Instructional, the Structuring, and the Entrepreneurial Leadership Styles are necessary ingredients when school principals decide what leadership mix to use in their effort to influence students’ achievement. It seems that school principals’ perception is that an Entrepreneurial Leadership Style, that is, an outward-looking style, entails more involvement of external forces and agents who will monitor and support the work of the school. It seems that this style is also connected with relativist epistemological beliefs. In any case, the argument is presented that the “generic ingredients” which make up school leadership seem to be known and global; however, the specific mix seems to be increasingly local and situational.

In this chapter, an exploration of a new cocktail leadership mix among school principals’ epistemological beliefs and leadership practices in Cyprus is undertaken. The main objective of this chapter is to explore the relationship between the leadership styles school principals adopt and their epistemological worldviews within the contextual and governance structures in which they operate. To achieve this goal, a presentation and discussion of the results of the Pro-LEAD main study (methodology was described in Chap. 3) is offered. Again, as with the LISA study, the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework was utilized as the guiding model through which the relationship between school leaders’ epistemological beliefs and their leadership styles were explored. In summary, the findings showed that there was a relationship between the Entrepreneurial and Participative Leadership Styles and the Relativism Epistemological Worldviews. The practical applications of these results are discussed specifically with regard to their implications for the design of evidence-based school leadership training programs.

The Handbook focuses on global scholarship on educational leadership preparation and development at the primary and secondary education levels. This includes empirical studies, conceptual analyses, and critical interpretations of trends, challenges, and opportunities across the globe in the field of educational leadership development. The purpose is to provide an extensive review of the state of the art of leadership development in the primary and secondary educational contexts drawing on the work of leading scholars. The Handbook provides both a critical description of the current debates and issues in this area and an assessment of where the discipline of leadership development is headed. An international perspective is highly informative to the field given the global awareness of the importance of leadership in education and the increasing globalization of education in which borrowing of leadership development strategies and perspectives across national and regional borders is occurring. The handbook includes authors from a variety of national, cultural, and ideological perspectives to describe these issues and trends in educational leadership development. The collaboration of three major international professional associations facilitated extensive perspectives.