The path to principalship in Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida is not one taken lightly. After receiving the Wallace Foundation Principal Pipeline Initiative grant, Hillsborough was one of six districts that developed a comprehensive principal pipeline based on four key components: leader standards that define the role of principal;…

Background: Systems thinking is a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. It does not try to break systems down into parts in order to understand them; instead, it focuses attention on how the parts act together in networks of interactions. Purpose: This study explored the development of holistic school leadership--an…

This study aimed to explore teachers' and head teachers' understandings of how they work to support pupils' mental health through their everyday practices. A qualitative study, including individual interviews with head teachers and focus groups with teachers, was conducted in lower secondary schools in Norway. Rich descriptions of teachers' and…

This qualitative study investigated the perceived educational values of Omani school principals. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview form which focused on the core values of school administration as perceived by a sample of 44 school principals; a focus group interview was also held. Data were analysed using Nvivo software. The…

The paper we present here is part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), which is designed to analyse the characteristic traits of successful leadership in different contexts and countries [Day, C., and K. Leithwood. 2007. "Successful School Leadership in Times of Change." Dordrecht: Springer-Kluwer; Day,…

Emerging from concerns about "contrived collegiality" in schools is also the recognition that breaking existing patterns of collegial interaction (or lack thereof) might necessitate some level of leader-initiated (or otherwise organizational) intervention. This paper presents the case of Middleville, a high-performing Midwestern US…

Background: In recent decades, the alignment of health and education has been at the forefront of school reform. Whereas the establishment of national in-school physical activity (ISPA) recommendations and state-level mandates demonstrates success, there has been less achievement in areas that address health disparities. The purpose of this…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the reduction of school violence from the management point of view. It reflects on the utterances by teachers, principals, learners and members of school governing bodies (SGBs) to establish the influence that school management practices can have on the prevalence of school violence.…

This paper aims to provide an account of how school leaders in Kazakhstan learn about leadership and management, and what strategies are in place to support leadership development. The paper draws on empirical data collected over three years, derived mainly from interviews and focus groups with school leaders and teachers. The findings suggest…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the program structure and design considerations of a 25-day, full-time apprenticeship in a university-based principal preparation program. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study used a qualitative case study design that drew upon interviews and focus groups with program participants as well as…

Background: Schools should be safe spaces for students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff. For the concept of "safety" to be meaningful, it must be interpreted broadly to encompass well-being in its widest sense. A common challenge for schools and educational authorities is, therefore, to manage school safety appropriately not only…

This article seeks to provide an insight into the role of school principals dealing with newly multicultural and multi-faith student populations by drawing on a mixed-methods study on state-funded multi-denominational community national schools in Ireland. The study explores the extent to which school principals address the increasing social and…

This study aimed at investigating school principals' and teachers' perceptions of the processes pursued in principal assignments and the potential outcomes of the recently enacted initiative concerning the assignments in Turkish public schools. The intrinsic case study was used as the research design. The data were collected through one-on-one…

As instructional leadership involves attempts to understand and improve complex systems, this study explored principals' perceptions regarding possible contributions of systems thinking to instructional leadership. Based on a qualitative analysis, systems thinking was perceived by middle and high school principals to contribute to the following…

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive case study was to explore how principals, teachers, and instructional specialists (in small rural communities) perceive the influence of principal leadership style on teacher capacity, motivation, and setting, and the subsequent influence on student achievement in northern Arizona. The study sample was…