Abstract

This study examines how school leaders use Facebook as a leadership practice within contexts of public visibility, accountability, and governance. Drawing on dialogic public relations theory, it explores how policy demands and institutional expectations shape communication strategies. Using qualitative interviews with 20 Israeli school leaders who manage school Facebook pages, the study identifies key themes through thematic analysis. Four main audience groups emerged: education authorities, parents, city residents, and school staff. Participants emphasized image management, community engagement, visual content, and collaborative production with teachers. The findings highlight strategic challenges and question the effectiveness of dialogue-oriented practices under accountability pressures.

Abstract

This study examines disciplinary policy in Israeli schools and the relationship between the Ministry of Education’s formal directives and their implementation. Interviews with 30 principals and teachers revealed that the Ministry’s discipline circulars are seen as impenetrable, irrelevant texts that create an “implementation gap” and a sense of disconnection from official policy. Educators treat the policy as a “dead letter” and rely mainly on their own judgment. Their sense-making responds to the policy’s perceived absence, interpreted as autonomy. The gap also generates fear of legal claims, as policy is used mostly in extreme cases.

Abstract

Synchronicity remains an underexplored perspective in the study of educational change. Traditional models often neglect the intricate interaction between management, communication, and emotional alignment, identified here as factors essential for implementing effective change. To address this gap, we investigated the role of synchronicity between school principals and school teams in shaping teachers’ readiness for change. Specifically, we examine synchronicity in three areas: managerial innovation, team communication, and team emotional synchronicity.

We used an online survey to collect data from 275 teachers in Israeli public schools and performed paired t-tests, clustering analysis, and ANOVAs on the data. Paired t-test analyses revealed that team communication synchronicity was significantly higher than team emotional and managerial innovation synchronicity, demonstrating the critical role of team communication as a key synchronizing force in educational settings. When conceptualized as coupled oscillators, the three synchronicity variables interact to produce distinct states of synchronicity. The k-means clustering analysis distinguished three groups: two corresponding to chimera states and a third reflecting self-organization. In the first (management-based) chimera state, managerial innovation synchronicity was high, while team communication and team emotional synchronicity were low. The second (team-based) chimera state demonstrated the opposite pattern, with high team-based but low managerial synchronicity. The self-organization state exhibited high levels across all synchronicity types. Readiness for change varied significantly across these states, with the highest levels observed in the self-organization state, followed closely by the team-based chimera state, with the management-based chimera state showing the lowest readiness for change.

The findings offer new insights into the mechanisms underlying educational change, noting the importance of synchronicity in promoting adaptability and readiness for transformation. We suggest that mapping concrete synchronicity patterns to readiness for change provides a conceptual and empirical foundation for improving managerial strategies, team dynamics, and systemic change in schools. The insights offer practical implications for encouraging innovation and effective leadership in schools.

Abstract

With the growing interest in using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for work tasks, empirical research is needed to understand the conditions facilitating and hindering such use. Drawing on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study examined the moderating effect of innovation culture in schools on the relationship between school leaders’ openness to experience and the integration of GenAI in school leadership tasks. This research used a cross-sectional survey design, collecting data from 302 Israeli school leaders in primary and secondary schools. Regression analysis was used to analyze the relationships between the variables. Correlations indicated that school leaders with higher openness to experience are more likely to integrate GenAI into their school leadership tasks. The moderation analysis showed that only the presence of a strong innovation culture significantly strengthens this relationship. The moderation analysis also pointed out that, by contrast, in schools with a low innovation culture, school leaders’ openness to experience is not related to integrating GenAI into school leadership work. The study contributes empirically to the emerging discourse on AI in educational leadership by clarifying the role school leaders’ personality traits and institutional culture play in this change and the relevance of the interaction between the factors.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study sought to investigate how principal-teacher relationship patterns interact with transformational leadership to influence teachers’ innovativeness and resistance to change, drawing on the leader-member exchange theory.

Method: Data was collected from 1005 teachers across 92 schools in Türkiye. Multilevel latent profile moderation analysis was conducted to reveal teacher-principal relationship profiles and how each profile moderates the association between transformational leadership and teacher resistance to change and transformational leadership and teacher innovativeness.

Findings: Our findings revealed three teacher-principal relationship profiles within schools: cohesive, conflicting, and balancing as well as two school profiles: cohesive schools and blended schools. Additionally, principal-teacher relationship profiles played a moderating role in the effects of transformational leadership on teacher innovativeness and resistance to change at both the school and individual levels. We found that transformational leaders were more effective in promoting teacher innovativeness and mitigating teacher resistance to change when they had a cohesive relationship with teachers. These associations were not significant in the case of conflicting or balancing relationships. At the school level, transformational leadership had a stronger association with teacher innovativeness if the school was characterized as cohesive rather than blended. However, transformational leadership was related to less resistance to change only in cohesive schools. Leadership remained ineffective in reducing resistance when there was a mixture of cohesive and conflicting teachers (blended schools).

Conclusion: Effective principal-teacher interactions serve as the foundation for transformational leadership to inspire innovation and reduce resistance to change within and across schools.

Abstract

This qualitative study explored ethical perceptions in primary school homeroom teaching, focusing on ethical caring. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Israeli homeroom teachers (grades 1-2) in Arab (n=20) and Jewish (n=20) state primary schools (39 women). Thematic analysis identified four themes that represent various facets of emotional and instrumental caring of these educators in the professional context, encompassing both in-role and extra-role commitments. The first theme, “care without limits,” shows teachers’ deep emotional connections beyond formal duties. The second, “emotional care,” reflects empathy integrated into assigned tasks. The third, “care for promoting academic success or socialization,” describes caring as a tool to enhance learning and socialization. The fourth, “contractual care,” portrays a task-oriented, minimal approach. The study suggests teachers could benefit from training on ethical dimensions, schools should support navigating ethical dilemmas, and policymakers can use these findings to enhance teacher evaluation and professional development, ultimately improving education quality.

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has affected many aspects of life, including education. One of the main groups of actors that took part in the leadership and management of the crisis in education during the pandemic was that of school principals. This study examined the leadership practices that were viewed as effective by school principals during the COVID-19 crisis and how these practices corresponded with the guidelines formulated by Schechter et al. (2024). This qualitative study was based on interviews with 20 school principals in Israel who had at least five years of seniority, working with students of different age groups in various regions of the country. The participating principals were selected by purposive sampling. We analysed the qualitative data with a deductive approach, using directed content analysis, where the guidelines of Schechter et al. (2024) served as the primary guide to coding. The eight strategies were divided into 22 practices. Additionally, principals’ accounts revealed a multifaceted pyramid of actions that leaders adopt during crises, combining universal strategies with tailored and infrequent ones to effectively navigate challenges. The findings and their implications are discussed.

Abstract

Schools are considered a microcosm of society, and as such, often reflect structural injustices that limit students’ development. Among those limits are limits on students’ ability to satisfy both basic and advanced needs, which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs addresses. The pressing need for effective school leadership is in schools with the most challenging social, economic, and political circumstances. Fulfilling students’ needs is highly challenging in schools and communities characterized by poverty and a lack of resources. This qualitative study explored nine social justice leaders operating in Arab schools in Israel. The findings reveal that school leaders recognized a range of Maslow’s basic and advanced needs requiring their attention to effectively promote social justice for students. To satisfy the students’ needs and promote social justice, these school leaders adopted an integrated leadership style, including instructional, social-emotional, and distributed leadership. The results demonstrate how the motivational framework is linked with (in)justice in schools operating in very challenging circumstances, as well as how a diverse range of students’ needs in these settings demands multimodal leadership action. The contribution of the paper lies in offering the Integrated Leadership for Promoting Social Justice (In-Lead for SJ) model specific to educational settings with complex school conditions.

Abstract

The research explored the role of organisational support for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in predicting middle leaders’ GenAI integration in school leadership work, with a focus on GenAI self-efficacy and valuing as mediators of that effect. The study was based on social cognition theory and a sample of 277 Israeli middle leaders from public elementary and secondary schools. The data were analysed using SPSS and the PROCESS macro. The findings indicate that support for GenAI positively influences both GenAI self-efficacy and valuing but only GenAI self-efficacy emerged as a significant mediator. The results expand the limited empirical scholarship on AI in school leadership, most of which is non-empirical. The results suggest that middle leaders’ confidence in their ability to use GenAI plays a critical role in their engagement with the technology and that organisational support helps promote GenAI adoption. Middle leaders’ GenAI self-efficacy was shown to play a key role in channeling the beneficial effect of school support on integration in practice. The results and their implications are discussed.

Abstract 

This study examined the moderating influence of transformational leadership on the relationship between social justice leadership and teachers’ psychological capital to seek empirical evidence for the impact of the transformative social justice leadership framework. The research was conducted with 991 teachers across 97 schools using multilevel structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrated significant positive associations between principals’ social justice leadership and transformational leadership practices with all dimensions of psychological capital: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism. Furthermore, the interaction between social justice leadership and transformational leadership was positively associated with all dimensions of psychological capital. The study revealed that principals’ high levels of transformational leadership enhanced social justice leadership’s capacity to improve teachers’ psychological capital. These findings highlight the potential of integrating transformational and social justice leadership into a unified framework, conceptualised as transformative social justice leadership, and its critical role in enhancing teachers’ self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, particularly in times of intense educational, political, and economic pressure.

Abstract

Given the demanding nature of their managerial positions and obligations, school leaders frequently struggle with work-family conflict. This qualitative study investigates the lived experiences of work-family conflict and coping mechanisms used by male school leaders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 male school leaders. The findings describe the perception of management as demanding; the degree of involvement in raising the children; work-family conflict experiences and strategies for dealing with them. The findings revealed that all school leaders experienced work-family conflicts and difficulties in meeting the requirements of their professional positions and household chores. Differences between the participants were found in the level of experiencing the conflict. The study revealed a connection between the perception of the management role as a demanding one and a high level of work-family conflict, and between coping strategies associated with an internal locus of control and a low level of work-family conflict. The study contributes to the broader understanding of the work-family conflict of male educational leaders in the West at times of changing notions of manhood and fatherhood, offering insights for policymakers and school leaders on improving workplace conditions, promoting sustainable effective leadership, and achieving better work-family balance.

Abstract

Purpose- This study investigated the relationships between leadership styles (transformational, transactional, and passive) and teachers’ autonomous motivation (intrinsic and identified) in teachers with high and low levels of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB).

Design- In a sample of 651 teachers from Israeli schools, several groups were identified: 107 teachers with the highest OCB scores (saints), 104 teachers with the lowest OCB scores (sinners), and 440 teachers with OCB scores in the middle range. Findings- Regression analysis indicated that the intrinsic motivation of OCB saints was significantly predicted by passive leadership style, whereas that of the OCB norm by transformational leadership style. The analysis further indicated that the identified motivation of OCB sinners was significantly predicted by transactional leadership style, whereas that of the OCB norm by transformational leadership style.

Originality- The results challenge the assumption of a one-size-fits-all approach to “effective” principals’ leadership styles and suggest that to cultivate teachers’ autonomous motivation they should be treated differently in leadership efforts. The implications of the study may be useful in improving school effectiveness and designing training programs for school leaders to enhance their leadership skills.

Abstract

This study highlights the growing significance of integrating digital technology into instructional leadership in schools. Educational administration research cannot ignore the fact that digital technology has become an integral part of human interactions and organisational processes in 21st-century workplaces. This paper aims to explore digital instructional leadership behaviours of principals during the COVID-19 pandemic and explain behavioural differences in leadership related to different levels of socio-economic school settings. Data were collected through an online study from 380 teachers in Bahrain. We used a series of two-sample t-tests between percentages to compare differences in digital instructional leadership behaviours. The study revealed that means of principals’ digital instructional leadership behaviours were generally higher in schools serving student populations with a high rather than low socio-economic background. Principals in schools serving student populations with low socio-economic background were higher than their peers only in one digital instructional leadership behaviours, and this was related to socio-economic gaps. The study contributes to better understanding of digital instructional leadership, an approach that is becoming highly prevalent because of the pandemic, and sheds light on how levels of principals’ behaviours vary in different circumstances. Overall, the findings attest to the presence of a digital instructional leadership divide.