Izhak Berkovich
Publications - In press
Filter by type:
Abstract
Much research is concerned with the contribution of middle-level management in the education system. Yet, little research has been devoted to investigating supervisors’ considerations in outlining job definitions of middle-level managers, and how these elements shape diverse middle-level managers’ leadership models. This study draws on role theory to understand supervisors’ contribution to the design of middle-level management roles, with emphasis on leadership styles. Data included 25 interviews with preschool superintendents who appointed new middle-level managers in the role of early childhood leaders. Based on the interviews, we identified four types of middle-level leadership models: pedagogical, supportive, change, and administrative.
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the rigor strategies and ethical steps reported in qualitative research of educational administration journals in the recent decades. Using a focused search procedure, 321 relevant empirical qualitative articles were identified. Results suggest that qualitative educational administration, management, and leadership research frequently reported using some rigor strategies and greatly underreport on using ethical steps. Moreover, we found stability in the number of strategies and steps reported over a period of two decades. Thus, it is unclear whether rigor and ethics norms in the field have been crystallizing over time. The findings and their implications are discussed.
Abstract
Growing numbers of school systems and employers now provide and mandate mentoring for novice teachers. Most studies, however, have focused on the extensive mentoring provided during the first year of teaching, and not on mentoring in the following years. There is little research on the functions and on the relational aspects of mentoring new teachers. To address these issues, the present study implemented a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 Israeli novice teachers during their second year of teaching supported by a mentor. The findings shed light on the perceived meanings of the role of mentoring and the types of relationships that develop between the mentors and novice teachers in their second year of teaching. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Abstract
The organisational literature has overlooked the diversity of change agents’ psychological ownership experiences in the context of major (or second-order) change. The present study examined the psychological ownership of change agents while assimilating a second-order change in schools, specifically how psychological ownership is experienced, its components, and how it is perceived as guiding the agents’ actions. The study used the case study method and focused on six Israeli state-religious schools, which adopted a new liberal curriculum. Thirty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with six principals and 25 teachers (middle-level managers and educators). Analysis of the findings revealed the types of psychological ownership that change agents experience (ownership by process, by interest, and by means); two main components of the agents’ psychological ownership (accountability and territoriality); and three perceived types of sharing associated with ownership (active, passive, and defensive). The implications of the findings are discussed.
Abstract
This essay coins and conceptualizes the term “publicwashing.” In educational systems and organizations, publicwashing is a symbolic communication that emphasizes organizational publicness for the purpose of a superficial repair of reputation. The essay defines publicwashing and describes its motives and manifestations. Additionally, it illustrates publicwashing by discussing the concept in the context of the US charter school reform. Adopting the lens of symbolic communication in the charter school case illustrates how the discrepancy between the “public” label and private characteristics of charter schools is managed through public relations. Future studies of publicwashing in education can further apply the symbolic communication approach to various cases, contexts, and deceptive strategies.
Abstract
Despite the popularity of distributed leadership theory, the investigation of the micro-political aspects of such models have scarcely been explored, and insights on the cultural variety of distributed practices in schools are limited. The present study aimed to explore what micro-political aspects emerge in participative decision‐making in collectivist and individualist cultures. To this end, a multiple case study method was adopted, focusing on four Israeli public high schools. Schools were chosen to represent an ‘extreme’ case selection rationale: two non-religious urban schools representing individualist cases, and two communal schools in religious kibbutzim representing communal schools. The analysis shed light on three micro-political points of comparison between the prototypes of participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures related to control, actors, and stage crafting. The findings and implications are discussed.
Abstract
This article aims to integrate over two decades of empirical research findings on teachers’ organizational commitment (OC) to explore its antecedents and outcomes. Via a criteria-based approach, 68 peer reviewed quantitative empirical articles published between 1994 and 2018 were identified and included for analysis. A systematic review revealed three core themes: demographic, within-person and role related predictors of teachers’ OC; interpersonal and contextual predictors of teachers’ OC; and outcomes of teachers’ OC. Our review detected major “blind spots” related to antecedents, mediators and moderators, and outcomes. Recommendations are provided to help advance knowledge on teachers’ OC in upcoming decades.
Abstract
The present study explores the effect of teachers’ authentic leadership in second chance programmes on students’ psychological need satisfaction climate (according to self-determination theory), and the manner in which teachers’ gender moderates this effect. Data collected from 60 teachers and 183 students in second chance programmes in Israel wеrе analysed at the group level. The study found that for male teachers, authentic leadership negatively predicted psychological need satisfaction climate in the classroom. The implications of findings for authentic leadership in general and for teaching in second chance programmes are discussed.