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Educational management.

• Richard Lynch , Richard Lynch Assumption University of Thailand
• Poonpilas Asavisanu , Poonpilas Asavisanu Assumption University of Thailand
• Kanog-on Rungrojngarmcharoen Kanog-on Rungrojngarmcharoen Srinakharinwirot University
•  and  Yan Ye Yan Ye Assumption University of Thailand
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.701
• Published online: 29 May 2020

Educational management is one of a trilogy of overlapping concepts, along with educational administration and educational leadership. These three concepts are related but nonetheless possess definitional differences depending on where the terms are applied.

The complexity of educational management as a concept is evidenced by its inclusion of related but subsidiary though important notions such as ethics, culture, and diversity within differing educational systems. The overall purpose of educational management is to effectively and efficiently create and maintain environments within educational institutions that promote, support, and sustain effective teaching and learning, but how those key objectives are set and the means by which they are attained may differ significantly depending upon education system or level and across educational cultures. In striving to accomplish these goals, educational managers, through thoughtful practical application of management principles, enlist and organize a society’s available resources to attain the educational goals that have been set by that society’s political leaders. As such, the various educational goals set by differing societies to which educational managers at all levels of the educational system must respond are by definition changeable along with changing socioeconomic conditions within a society and the disruption occasioned by the rapid development of digital technologies used as management tools. Educational management, while guiding planned change, must be responsive to unplanned, disruptive change created by rapid changes in both social structures and cultures as well as advances in digital technologies. This is where the element of educational leadership that directs and guides the entire process of educational management and administration takes on particular importance. Leadership includes both manager and teacher professional ethics and is expressed within a variety of theories of ethical leadership in education that respond to cultural imperatives in differing societies. Educational management must be responsive to both global and local changes due to technological developments that directly impact teaching and learning through changes in curriculum in terms of pedagogical and assessment practices. It is in how educational management as a discipline evolves to effectively meet the needs of educational systems contingent upon the challenges derived from technological, social, cultural, and economic changes sweeping the globe in the first decades of the 21st century that will determine the effectiveness and efficacy of management practices going forward. Effectively and innovatively managing change is the primary challenge facing educational management locally, regionally, and globally in the decades ahead.

• educational management
• educational administration
• educational leadership
• globalization
• team building

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Educational Leadership

Contemporary Theories, Principles, and Practices

• Donnie Adams   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-5187 0

Department of Educational Management, Planning and Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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• Includes educational leadership and management theories and models in the 21st century
• Includes international authors with deeply embedded understanding of educational leadership
• Also management in schools’ context, based on engagement with context specific policies, practices and research

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• Table of contents

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front matter, educational leadership in the twenty-first century.

Donnie Adams

Leadership for Learning in Schools in the Twenty-First Century

• Ashley Yoon Mooi Ng

Distributed Instructional Leadership: The SHARE Model

• Mohammad Noman

Authentic and Moral Leadership Practices in Schools

• Lokman Mohd Tahir, Siti Nisrin Mohd Anis, Mohd Fadzli Ali

Servant Leadership: Operationalising an Oxymoron

• Adrian Jarvis

Inclusive Leadership for Schools: Practices, Challenges, and Future Directions

• Donnie Adams, Shaheera Hussain, King Lok Tan

Contextual Leadership: Characteristics and Practices

• Tengku Faekah Tengku Ariffin, Suhaili Mohd Yusoff

Turnaround Leadership: Building the Sustainability of Schools

• Sock Beei Yeap, Donnie Adams

System Leadership in Educational Context

• Kenny S. L. Cheah

Technology Leadership for Schools in the Twenty-First Century

• Yuting Zhang, Donnie Adams, Kenny S. L. Cheah
• Theories of Educational Leadership in the 21st century
• 21st century Leadership Theories in Education
• Theories of Educational leadership
• Organizational management
• Management in the 21st century
• Educational Management in the 21st Century
• Leadership for Learning
• Distributed Instructional Leadership
• Authentic and Moral Leadership
• Inclusive School Leadership
• Turnaround School Leadership
• Academic Leadership
• Technology Leadership
• Contextual Leadership

Book Title : Educational Leadership

Book Subtitle : Contemporary Theories, Principles, and Practices

Editors : Donnie Adams

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8494-7

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-99-8493-0 Published: 22 December 2023

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-99-8496-1 Due: 22 January 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-981-99-8494-7 Published: 21 December 2023

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XV, 165

Number of Illustrations : 24 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour

Topics : Administration, Organization and Leadership , Management Education , Education, general , Educational Policy and Politics

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Review article, strategy and strategic leadership in education: a scoping review.

• 1 Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Research Centre for Human Development, Porto, Portugal
• 2 Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal

Strategy and strategic leadership are critical issues for school leaders. However, strategy as a field of research has largely been overlooked within the educational leadership literature. Most of the theoretical and empirical work on strategy and strategic leadership over the past decades has been related to non-educational settings, and scholarship devoted to these issues in education is still minimal. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant research regarding strategy and strategic leadership, identifying any gaps in the literature that could inform future research agendas and evidence for practice. The scoping review is underpinned by the five-stage framework of Arksey and O’Malley . The results indicate that there is scarce literature about strategy and that timid steps have been made toward a more integrated and comprehensive model of strategic leadership. It is necessary to expand research into more complex, longitudinal, and explanatory ways due to a better understanding of these constructs.

Introduction

Strategy and strategic leadership are critical issues for school leaders ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2011 ). However, strategy as a field of research has largely been overlooked in educational leadership literature ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). Most of the theoretical and empirical work on strategy and strategic leadership over the past decades has been related to non-educational settings, and scholarship devoted to these issues in education is still very limited ( Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ).

The concept of strategy appeared in educational management literature in the 1980s; however, little research was produced until the 1990s (cf. Eacott, 2008b ). Specific educational reforms led to large amounts of international literature mostly devoted to strategic planning ( Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Eacott, 2011 ). For a long period, the concept of strategy was incomplete and confusing. The word “strategy” was often used to characterize different kinds of actions, namely, to weight management activities, to describe a high range of leadership activities, to define planning, or to report to individual actions within an organization ( Eacott, 2008a ).

Strategy and strategic planning became synonymous ( Eacott, 2008b ). However, strategy and planning are different concepts, with the strategy being more than the pursuit of a plan ( Davies, 2003 , Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Both phases of plans’ design and plans’ implementation are related, and the quality of this second phase highly depends on planning’ quality ( Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Eacott, 2011 ; Meyers and VanGronigen, 2019 ). Planning and acting are related and must emerge from the strategy. As stated by Bell (2004) .

Planning based on a coherent strategy demands that the aims of the school are challenged, that both present and future environmental influences inform the development of the strategy, that there should be a clear and well-articulated vision of what the school should be like in the future and that planning should be long-term and holistic (p. 453).

Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive and holistic framework of strategy, considering it as a way of intentionally thinking and acting by giving sense to a specific school vision or mission ( Davies, 2003 , 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ).

The works of Davies and colleagues ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and Eacott (2008a , 2008b) , Eacott (2010a , 2011) were essential and contributed to a shift in the rationale regarding strategy by highlighting a more integrative and alternate view. Davies and colleagues ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) developed a comprehensive framework for strategically focused schools , comprising strategic processes, approaches, and leadership. In this model, the strategy is conceptualized as a framework for present and future actions, sustained by strategic thinking about medium to long term goals, and aligned to school vision or direction.

Strategic leadership assumes necessarily a relevant role in strategically focused schools. Eacott (2006) defines strategic leadership as “leadership strategies and behaviors relating to the initiation, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of strategic actions within an educational institution, taking into consideration the unique context (past, present, and future) and availability of resources, physical, financial and human” (p. 1). Thereby, key elements of strategic leadership can be identified as one that: 1) acts in a proactive way to contextual changes; 2) leads school analysis and response to changing environment; 3) leads planning and action for school effectiveness and improvement in face of contextual challenges and; 4) leads monitoring and evaluation processes to inform decision making strategically ( Cheng, 2010 ). This brings to the arena a complex and dynamic view of strategic leadership as it is a complex social activity that considers important historical, economic, technological, cultural, social, and political influences and challenges ( Eacott, 2011 ).

Along with these authors, this paper advocates a more comprehensive and contextualized view of strategy and strategic leadership, where strategy is the core element of any leadership action in schools ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). Here, strategic leadership is not seen as a new theory, but an element of all educational leadership and management theories ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ). Even so, these concepts can inform and be informed by diverse leadership theories, a strategy-specific framework is needed in the educational field.

Considering all the above, strategy can be identified as a topic that is being researched in education, in the recent decades. Nonetheless, there is still scarce educational literature about this issue ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ). After 10 years of Eacott’s analysis of literature on strategy in education, it seems that this educational construct is being overlooked as there is still no consensual definition of strategy, different studies are supported in diverse conceptual frameworks and empirical studies about this topic are scarce ( Cheng, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Chan, 2018 ). Moreover, despite the interest of a multidisciplinary vision of strategy and strategic leadership, we agree with Eacott (2008b) about the need for a meaningful definition of strategy and strategic leadership in education, as it is a field with its specifications. Hence, research is needed for a clear definition of strategy, an integrated and complete framework for strategic action, a better identification of multiple dimensions of strategy and a comprehensive model of strategic leadership that has strategic thinking and action as core elements for schools improvement (e.g., Eacott, 2010a ; Hopkins et al., 2014 ; Reynolds et al., 2014 ; Harris et al., 2015 ; Bellei et al., 2016 ). This paper aims to contribute to the field offering a scoping review on strategy and strategic leadership in the educational field.

A clear idea of what strategy and strategic leadership mean and what theory or theories support it are of great importance for research and practice. This scoping review is an attempt to contribute to a strategy-specific theory by continuing to focus on ways to appropriately develop specific theories about strategy and strategic leadership in the educational field, particularly focusing on school contexts.

This study is a scoping review of the literature related to strategy and strategic leadership, which aims to map its specific aspects as considered in educational literature. Scoping reviews are used to present a broad overview of the evidence about a topic, irrespective of study quality, and are useful when examining emergent areas, to clarify key concepts or to identify gaps in research (e.g., Arksey and O’Malley, 2005 ; Peters et al., 2015 ; Tricco et al., 2016 ). Since in the current study we wanted to explore and categorize, but not evaluate, information available concerning specific aspects of strategy in educational literature, we recognize that scoping review methodology serves well this purpose.

In this study, Arksey and O’Malley (2005) five-stage framework for scoping reviews, complemented by the guidelines of other authors ( Levac et al., 2010 ; Colquhoun et al., 2014 ; Peters et al., 2015 ; Khalil et al., 2016 ), was employed. The five stages of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework are 1) identifying the initial research questions, 2) identifying relevant studies, 3) study selection, 4) charting the data, and 5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. In the sections below, the process of this scoping review is presented.

Identifying the Initial Research Questions

The focus of this review was to explore key aspects of strategy and strategic leadership in educational literature. The primary question that guided this research was: What is known about strategy and strategic leadership in schools? This question was subdivided into the following questions: How should strategy and strategic leadership in schools be defined? What are the main characteristics of strategic leadership in schools? What key variables are related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools?

Identifying Relevant Studies

As suggested by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) , keywords for the search were defined, and databases were selected. Key concepts and search terms were developed to capture literature related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools, considering international perspectives. The linked descriptive key search algorithm that was developed to guide the search is outlined in Table 1 .

TABLE 1 . Key search algorithm.

Considering scoping review characteristics, time and resources available, inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed. Papers related to strategy and strategic leadership, published between 1990 and 2019, were included. Educational literature has reported the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership since the 1980s ( Eacott, 2008a ; 2008b ). However, it gained expansion between 1990 and 2000 with studies flourishing mostly about strategic planning ( Eacott, 2008b ). Previous research argues that strategy is more than planning, taking note of the need to distinguish the concepts. Considering our focus on strategy and strategic leadership, studies about strategic planning were excluded as well as papers specifically related to other theories of leadership than strategic leadership. A full list of inclusion and exclusion criteria is outlined in Table 2 .

TABLE 2 . Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The following six electronic databases were searched to identify peer-reviewed literature: ERIC, Education Source, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Emerland, and Web of Science. Additionally, a manual search of the reference lists of identified articles was undertaken, and Google Scholar was utilized to identify any other primary sources. The review of the literature was completed over 2 months, ending in August 2019.

Study Selection

The process of studies’ selection followed the Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement ( Moher et al., 2009 ). Figure 1 illustrates the process of article selection.

FIGURE 1 . PRISMA chart outlining the study selection process.

With the key search descriptors, 1,193 articles were identified. A further number of articles were identified using Google Scholar. However, a large number of articles were removed from the search, as they were duplicated in databases, and 231 studies were identified as being relevant.

The next phases of studies’ selection were guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria presented above. A screening of the titles, keywords, and abstracts revealed a large number of irrelevant articles, particularly those related to strategic planning (e.g., Agi, 2017 ) and with general ideas about leadership (e.g., Corral and Gámez, 2010 ). Only 67 studies were selected for full-text access and analyses.

Full-text versions of the 67 articles were obtained, with each article being reviewed and confirmed as appropriate. This process provided an opportunity to identify any further additional relevant literature from a review of the reference lists of each article (backward reference search; n = 2). Ultimately, both with database search and backward reference search, a total of 29 articles were included to be analyzed in the scoping review, considering inclusion and exclusion criteria. During this process of study selection, several studies were excluded. As in the previous phase, examples of excluded papers include studies related to strategic planning where the focus is on the planning processes (e.g., Bennett et al., 2000 ; Al-Zboon and Hasan, 2012 ; Schlebusch and Mokhatle, 2016 ) or with general ideas about leadership (e.g., FitzGerald and Quiñones, 2018 ). Additionally, articles that were primarily associated with other topics or related to specific leadership theories (e.g., instructional leadership, transformational leadership) and that only referred briefly to strategic leadership were excluded (e.g., Bandur, 2012 ; Malin and Hackmann, 2017 ). Despite the interest of all these topics for strategic action, we were interested specifically in the concepts of strategy, strategic leadership, and its specifications in educational literature.

Data Charting and Collation

The fourth stage of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) scoping review framework consists of charting the selected articles. Summaries were developed for each article related to the author, year, location of the study, participants, study methods, and a brief synthesis of study results related to our research questions. Details of included studies are provided in the table available in Supplementary Appendix S1 .

Summarising and Reporting Findings

The fifth and final stage of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) scoping review framework summarises and reports findings as presented in the next section. All the 29 articles were studied carefully and a content analysis was taken to answer research questions. Research questions guided summaries and synthesis of literature content.

In this section, results are presented first with a brief description of the origin and nature of the studies, and then as answering research questions previously defined.

This scoping review yielded 29 articles, specifically devoted to strategy and strategic leadership in education, from eleven different countries (cf. Figure 2 ). The United Kingdom and Australia have the highest numbers of papers. There is a notable dispersion of literature in terms of geographical distribution.

FIGURE 2 . Number of papers per country.

A large number of these articles were published by Brent Davies and colleagues ( N = 9) and Scott Eacott ( N = 6). Without question, these authors have influenced and shaped the theoretical grounding about strategy and strategic leadership in educational literature. While Davies and colleagues have contributed to design a framework of strategy and strategic leadership, influencing the emergence of other studies related to these topics, Eacott provided an essential contribution by exploring, systematizing, and problematizing the existing literature about these same issues. The other authors have published between one and two papers about these topics.

Seventeen papers are of conceptual or theoretical nature, and twelve are empirical research papers (quantitative methods–7; qualitative methods–4; mixed methods–1). The conceptual/theoretical papers analyze the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership, present a framework for strategic leadership, and discuss implications for leaders’ actions. The majority of empirical studies are related to the skills, characteristics, and actions of strategic leaders. Other empirical studies explore relations between strategic leadership and other variables, such as collaboration, culture of teaching, organizational learning, and school effectiveness.

How should Strategy and Strategic Leadership in Schools be Defined?

The concept of strategy is relatively new in educational literature and, in great part, related to school planning. In this scoping review, a more integrated and comprehensive view is adopted ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Davies (2003) defined strategy as a specific pattern of decisions and actions taken to achieve an organization’s goals (p. 295). This concept of strategy entails some specific aspects, mainly that strategy implies a broader view incorporating data about a specific situation or context ( Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). It is a broad organizational-wide perspective , supported by a vision and direction setting , that conceals longer-term views with short ones ( Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). It can be seen as a template for short-term action . However, it deals mostly with medium-and longer-term views of three-to 5-year perspectives ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ). In this sense, a strategy is much more a perspective or a way of thinking that frames strategically successful schools ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies and Davies, 2005 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ).

Eacott (2008a) has argued that strategy in the educational leadership context is a field of practice and application that is of a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary nature. More than a single definition of strategy, what is needed is a conceptual understanding and articulation of its fundamental features, which removes the need to answer, “what is a strategy?” Understanding strategy as choosing a direction within a given context, through leadership, and articulating that direction through management practices ( Eacott, 2008a , p. 356) brings to the arena diverse elements of strategy from both leadership and management. From this alternative point of view, a strategy may be seen as leadership ( Eacott, 2010a ). More than an answer to “what is a strategy?”, it is crucial to understand “when and how does the strategy exist?” ( Eacott, 2010a ), removing the focus on leaders’ behaviors and actions per se to cultural, social, and political relationships ( Eacott, 2011 ). Hence, research strategy and strategic leadership oblige by acknowledging the broader educational, societal, and political contexts ( Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ).

Strategic leadership is a critical component of school development ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ). However, to define leadership is challenging considering the amount of extensive, diverse literature about this issue. Instead of presenting a new categorization about leadership, the authors most devoted to strategic leadership consider it as a key dimension of any activity of leadership ( Davies and Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ). Barron et al. (1995) stressed the idea of change. As mentioned by the authors, implementation of strategic leadership means change: change in thinking, change in the way schools are organized, change in management styles, change in the distribution of power, change in teacher education programs, and change in roles of all participants ( Barron et al., 1995 , p. 180). Strategic leadership is about creating a vision, setting the direction of the school over the medium-to longer-term and translating it into action ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ). In that sense, strategic leadership is a new way of thinking ( Barron et al., 1995 ) that determines a dynamic and iterative process of functioning in schools ( Eacott, 2008b ).

In their model of strategic leadership, Davies and Davies (2006) consider that leadership must be based on strategic intelligence, summarised as three types of wisdom: 1) people wisdom, which includes participation and sharing information with others, developing creative thinking and motivation, and developing capabilities and competencies within the school; 2) contextual wisdom, which comprises understanding and developing school culture, sharing values and beliefs, developing networks, and understanding external environment; and 3) procedural wisdom, which consists of the continuous cycle of learning, aligning, timing and acting. This model also includes strategic processes and strategic approaches that authors define as the centre of this cycle ( Davies and Davies, 2006 , p. 136).

To deeply understand strategic leadership, it is necessary to explore strategic processes and approaches that leaders take ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ). In this sense, strategic leadership, strategic processes, and strategic approaches are key elements for sustainable and successful schools, which are found to be strategically focused. Davies (2006) designed a model for a strategically focused school that may be defined as one that is educationally effective in the short-term but also has a clear framework and processes to translate core moral purpose and vision into an excellent educational provision that is challenging and sustainable in the medium-to long-term (p.11). This model incorporates 1) strategic processes (conceptualization, engagement, articulation, and implementation), 2) strategic approaches (strategic planning, emergent strategy, decentralized strategy, and strategic intent), and 3) strategic leadership (organizational abilities and personal characteristics). Based on these different dimensions, strategically focused schools have built-in sustainability, develop set strategic measures to assess their success, are restless, are networked, use multi-approach planning processes, build the strategic architecture of the school, are strategically opportunistic, deploy strategy in timing and abandonment and sustain strategic leadership ( Davies, 2004 , pp.22–26).

What Are the Main Characteristics of Strategic Leadership in Schools?

Davies (2003) , Davies and Davies (2005) , Davies and Davies (2006) , Davies and Davies (2010) discuss what strategic leaders do (organizational abilities) and what characteristics strategic leaders display (personal characteristics). The key activities of strategic leaders, or organizational abilities, are 1) create a vision and setting a direction, 2) translate strategy into action, 3) influence and develop staff to deliver the strategy, 4) balance the strategic and the operational, 5) determine effective intervention points ( what, how, when, what not to do and what to give up ), 6) develop strategic capabilities, and 7) define measures of success ( Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ). The main characteristics that strategic leaders display, or their characteristics, are 1) dissatisfaction or restlessness with the present, 2) absorptive capacity, 3) adaptive capacity, and 4) wisdom.

Two specific studies explored the strategic leadership characteristics of Malaysian leaders ( Ali, 2012 ; Ali, 2018 ), considering the above-mentioned model as a framework. For Malaysian Quality National Primary School Leaders, the results supported three organizational capabilities (strategic orientation, translation, and alignment) and three individual characteristics of strategic leadership (dissatisfaction or restlessness with the present, absorptive capacity, and adaptive capacity). For Malaysian vocational college educational leaders, the results were consistent with seven distinct practices of strategic leadership, such as strategic orientation, strategic alignment, strategic intervention, restlessness, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and leadership wisdom.

Other studies were also focused on the characteristics of strategic leadership with different populations and countries. Chatchawaphun et al. (2016) identified the principles, attributes, and skills of the strategic leadership of secondary school administrators from Thailand. The principles identified within the sample of principals included appropriate values, modern visionary, future focusing strategy, empirical evidence focus, intention toward accomplishment, decency, and making relationships. The attributes found were strategic learning, strategic thinking, and value push up. The skills were learning, interpretation, forecasting, planning, challenge, and decision making. Chan (2018) explored strategic leadership practices performed by Hong Kong school leaders of early childhood education and identified effective planning and management, reflective and flexible thinking, and networking and professional development as variables. Eacott (2010c) investigated the strategic role of Australian public primary school principals concerning the leader characteristics of tenure (referring to the time in years in their current substantive position) and functional track (referring to the time in years spent at different levels of the organizational hierarchy). These demographic variables have moderating effects on the strategic leadership and management of participants. These five studies seem to be outstanding contributions to solidify a framework of strategic leadership and to test it with different populations in different countries.

Additionally, Quong and Walker (2010) present seven principles for effective and successful strategic leaders. Strategic leaders are future-oriented and have a future strategy, their practices are evidence-based and research-led, they get things done, open new horizons, are fit to lead, make good partners and do the “next” right thing—these seven principles of action seem related to the proposal of Davies and colleagues. Both authors highlighted visions for the future, future long-term plans, and plans’ translation into action as important characteristics of strategic leaders.

One other dimension that is being explored in research relates to ethics. Several authors assert that insufficient attention and research have been given to aspects related to moral or ethical leadership among school leaders ( Glanz, 2010 ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ; Kangaslahti, 2012 ). The seventh principle of the Quong and Walker (2010) model of strategic leadership is that leaders do the “next” right thing. This relates to the ethical dimension of leadership, meaning that strategic leaders recognize the importance of ethical behaviors and act accordingly. For some authors, ethics in strategic leadership is a critical issue for researchers and practitioners that needs to be taken into consideration ( Glanz, 2010 ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). Glanz (2010) underlined social justice and caring perspectives as required to frame strategic initiatives. Kangaslahti (2012) analyzed the strategic dilemmas that leaders face in educational settings (e.g., top-down strategy vs. bottom-up strategy process; leadership by authority vs. staff empowerment; focus on administration vs. focus on pedagogy; secret planning and decision making vs. open, transparent organization; the well-being of pupils vs. well-being of staff) and how they can be tackled by dilemma reconciliation. Chen (2008) , in case study research, explored the conflicts that school administrators have confronted in facilitating school reform in Taiwan. The author identified four themes related to strategic leadership in coping with the conflicts accompanying this school reform: 1) educational values, 2) timeframe for change, 3) capacity building, and 4) community involvement. These studies reinforce the idea that school improvement and success seem to be influenced by the way leaders think strategically and deal with conflicts or dilemmas. Researchers need to design ethical frameworks or models from which practitioners can think ethically about their strategic initiatives and their dilemmas or conflicts ( Chen, 2008 ; Glanz, 2010 ; Kangaslahti, 2012 ).

Despite the critical contribution of Davies’ models ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and subsequent works, Eacott (2010a) questions the production of lists of behaviors and traits. This is likely one of the main differences between Davies’ and Eacott’s contributions in this field. While Davies and colleagues include organizational abilities and personal characteristics in their model of strategic leadership, Eacott (2010a , 2010b) emphasizes the broader context where strategy occurs. These ideas, however, are not contradictory but complementary in the comprehension of strategy as leadership in education since both authors present a comprehensive and integrated model of strategic leadership. Even though Davies and colleagues present some specific characteristics of leaders, these characteristics are incorporated into a large model for strategy in schools.

What Are Other Key Variables Related to Strategy and Strategic Leadership in Schools?

Other studies investigated the relationship between strategic leadership and other key variables, such as collaboration ( Ismail et al., 2018 ), the culture of teaching ( Khumalo, 2018 ), organizational learning ( Aydin et al., 2015 ) and school effectiveness ( Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ).

One descriptive survey study presented teacher collaboration as a mediator of strategic leadership and teaching quality ( Ismail et al., 2018 ). The authors argue that school leaders who demonstrate strategic leadership practices can lead to the creation of collaborative practices among teachers and thus help to improve the professional standards among them, namely, teaching quality ( Ismail et al., 2018 ). One cross-sectional study identified positive and significant relations among the variables of strategic leadership actions and organizational learning. Transforming, political, and ethical leadership actions were identified as significant predictors of organizational learning. However, managing actions were not found to be a significant predictor ( Aydin et al., 2015 ). One other study establishes that strategic leadership practices promote a teaching culture defined as the commitment through quality teaching for learning outcomes ( Khumalo, 2018 ). These three studies provide essential highlights of the relevance of strategic leadership for school improvement and quality. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that in a research survey that examined the effect of leadership factors of administrators on school effectiveness, the authors concluded that the direct, indirect, and overall effects of the administrators’ strategic leadership had no significant impact on school effectiveness ( Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ). These studies introduce important questions that need to be explored both related to strategy and strategic leadership features and its relations and impacts on relevant school variables. Such studies stimulate researchers to explore these and other factors that relate to strategic leadership.

The knowledge about strategy and strategic leadership is still incomplete and confusing ( Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ). From the 29 studies selected, divergent data and multiple concepts of strategy can be identified which reinforces the confusion about these issues. Some integrative clarification is still needed about the concepts of strategy and strategic leadership as about its core features. In this section, it is intended to contribute to the clarification and integration of the concepts considering the studies selected.

The emergence of politics and reforms related to school autonomy and responsibility in terms of efficacy and accountability brings the concept of strategy to the educational literature ( Eacott, 2008b ; Cheng, 2010 ). It first appeared in the 1980s but gained momentum between 1990 and 2000. However, the main focus of the literature was on strategic planning based upon mechanistic or technical-rational models of strategy. Authors have criticized the conceptualization of strategy as a way for elaborating a specific plan of action for schools ( Davies, 2003 ; Davies, 2006 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2008b ; Quong and Walker, 2010 ). These same authors adopted a more comprehensive and holistic model of strategy. The concepts have been developed from a more rational and mechanistic view related to planning processes to a more comprehensive and complex view of strategy and leadership that take into consideration a situated and contextual framework. Considering the contribution of these studies, strategy incorporates three core dimensions, articulated with a schoolwide perspective 1) Vision, mission and direction (e.g., Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ) 2) Intentional thinking (e.g., Barron et al., 1995 ; Davies, 2003 ; Davies and Davies, 2005 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ): and; 3) Articulated decision-making and action (e.g., Davies, 2003 ; Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Davies and Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2006 ; Davies, 2007 ; Eacott, 2008a ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ).

Strategic leaders have an important role in strategy but, even considering this comprehensive and holistic concept of strategy, research poses the question of what are the main characteristics of strategic leaders in schools? From the literature reviewed, specific abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics may be identified. Looking for an integrated picture of strategic leadership, Table 3 represents the main contributions of the studies selected.

TABLE 3 . Strategic leadership: Main features.

Despite the contribution of these studies to deep knowledge about strategic leadership, the discussion here considers whether it is worthwhile to produce lists of behaviors and traits for strategic leaders in the absence of an integrated model that acknowledges the broader educational, societal and political context ( Dimmock and Walker, 2004 ; Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Eacott, 2011 ). Eacott (2011) argues that strategy, as constructed through analysis, is decontextualized and dehumanized and essentially a vacuous concept with limited utility to the practice that it seeks to explain (p. 426). Without a comprehensive and contextual model of strategy and strategic leadership, supported by research, the topics may still be overlooked and misunderstood. With this in mind, Figure 3 attempts to represent the core dimensions of strategy from a comprehensive perspective.

FIGURE 3 . Strategy and core dimensions from a comprehensive perspective.

As this is a scoping review, we tried to display a general view of the literature that can serve as a basis for a specific strategy theory in education and to more in-depth studies related to strategy and strategic leadership in schools. Nevertheless, we need to identify some methodological limitations of this study. As a scoping review, methods and reporting need improvement ( Tricco et al., 2018 ) and we are aware of this circumstance. Also, our search strategy may have overlooked some existing studies, since grey documents (e.g., reports) and studies from diverse languages than English were not included, that can misrepresent important data. Besides, inclusion criteria focused only on studies specifically devoted to strategy (not strategic planning) and strategic leadership (no other theories of leadership), but we acknowledge important contributions from this specific literature that were excluded. Finally, in our study there is no comparative analysis between the western and eastern/oriental contexts. However, we are aware that these contexts really differ and a context-specific reflection on strategy and strategic leadership in education would be useful. More research is needed to overcome the limitations mentioned.

Besides, the pandemic COVID19 brought new challenges in education, and particularly, to leaders. This study occurred before the pandemic and this condition was not acknowledged. However, much has changed in education as a consequence of the pandemic control measures, these changes vary from country to country, and schools’ strategies have changed for sure. Future research needs to explore strategy and strategic leadership in education considering a new era post pandemic.

With this scoping review, the authors aimed to contribute to enduring theories about strategy and strategic leadership in education. From our findings, it appears that this issue is being little explored. Despite the important contributions of authors cited in this scoping review ( Aydin et al., 2015 ; Chatchawaphun et al., 2016 ; Prasertcharoensuk and Tang, 2017 ; Ali, 2018 ; Chan, 2018 ; Ismail et al., 2018 ; Khumalo, 2018 ), minor advances seem to have been made after 2010. This is intriguing taking into account the leaders’ role in the third wave of educational reform, where strategic leadership pursues a new vision and new aims for education due to maximizing learning opportunities for students through “ triplisation in education’ (i.e., as an integrative process of globalization, localization and individualization in education)” ( Cheng, 2010 , p. 48). It was expected that research moved from rational planning models towards a more complex view of strategy in education ( Eacott, 2011 ). This review brings the idea that some timid and situated steps have been made.

Since the important review by Eacott, published in 2008, a step forward was made in the distinction between strategy and planning. Despite the significant number of papers about planning that were found during this review, the majority were published before 2008 (e.g., Nebgen, 1990 ; Broadhead et al., 1998 ; Bennett et al., 2000 ; Beach and Lindahl, 2004 ; Bell, 2004 ). Also, most of the papers selected adopt a more integrative, comprehensive, and complex view of strategy and strategic leadership (e.g., Eacott, 2010a ; Eacott, 2010b ; Davies and Davies, 2010 ; Eacott, 2011 ; Ali, 2012 ; Ali, 2018 ; Chan, 2018 ). More than identifying the “best of” strategy and strategic leadership, alternative models understand strategy as a way of thinking ( Davies and Davies, 2010 ) and a work in progress ( Eacott, 2011 ).

This also resonates with the educational literature about loosely coupled systems . There is evidence that loosely coupled educational organizations continue to exist and that resistance to change is a characteristic of school organizations ( Hautala et al., 2018 ). Strategic leadership gains relevance since leaders need to consider how to manage their loose and tight configurations and, hence, reinforce simultaneous personal and organizational dimensions related to school improvement. It is time to expand the research into more complex, longitudinal, and explanatory ways due to a better understanding of the constructs. This scoping review was an attempt to contribute to this endeavor by integrating and systematizing educational literature about strategy and strategic leadership.

Author Contributions

MC-collected and analyzed data, write the paper IC, JV, and JA-guided the research process and reviewed the paper.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the support to this publication (Ref. UIDB/04872/2020).

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.706608/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: strategy, strategic leadership, school leadership, scoping review, education

Citation: Carvalho M, Cabral I, Verdasca JL and Alves JM (2021) Strategy and Strategic Leadership in Education: A Scoping Review. Front. Educ. 6:706608. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.706608

Received: 07 May 2021; Accepted: 23 September 2021; Published: 15 October 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Carvalho, Cabral, Verdasca and Alves. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Marisa Carvalho, [email protected]

The discourse surrounding educational leadership and management has evolved significantly over the years, transitioning from 'educational administration' to 'educational management' and, more recently, to 'educational leadership'. The variation in terminology is sometimes geographical, with different terms employed across regions. For instance, ‘Management’ is extensively used in Great Britain, Europe, and Africa, while ‘administration’ is the overarching terminology in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Although these labels are often used interchangeably, they encompass distinct and, at times, competing aspects such as enhancing staff and student performance (pedagogical leadership), the day-to-day operations (management), and other administrative duties (administration). Despite the absence of a universal definition, educational leadership significantly influences students, teachers, staff, and school outcomes. Educational Leadership stands as one of the three key ingredients for a responsive and future-forward school. Its multidimensional impact positions it as the lynchpin to quality education. Since the launch of Agenda 2030, Educational Leadership has garnered significant priority in achieving SDG 4 - ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education while promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

School leadership ranks second highest in impacting student learning outcomes, among other factors. Furthermore, it plays a critical role in fortifying teacher recruitment, development, and retention through aspects such as teacher satisfaction, teacher leadership, distributive leadership, organizational learning, and development.

With responsibilities spanning stakeholders across the education system, it is important that leaders at every level of the hierarchy of the education ecosystem are involved, engaged, and held accountable. It is only through system-wide integrated efforts in the form of collaborative mechanisms and through professional learning communities that they can shape productive school cultures to achieve optimal outcomes for an education fit for the future we desire as a collective.

Various leadership styles and approaches — such as transformational leadership, pedagogical/instructional leadership, distributed leadership, and system leadership, among others — contribute significantly to effective educational leadership. For instance, Transformation Leadership sets the broader vision and strategy for the future while building new capacities in the present by engaging multiple stakeholders across the education system. Instructional Leadership establishes the importance of teaching and learning to improve outcomes by supervising and evaluating instruction, coordinating curriculum, and monitoring student progress etc.

Education is like clockwork, and its effectiveness and impact banks on collaborative efforts. Therefore, distributed leadership focuses on breaking down the silos by fostering practices and the interactions needed for stakeholders to effectively collaborate by co-creating structures such as professional learning communities, communities of practice, and professional networks. The effectiveness of these influential social relationships can be seen in how they helped minimize the harm caused to education, equity, and overall well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-existing networks of school leaders via the Schools Partnership Programme (SPP) in the UK, Building Learning Foundations (BLF) in Rwanda, the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) in Kenya, along with the Global Citizenship Foundation’s Educational Leadership Forum, and the Council for Global Citizenship Education played a crucial role in alleviating the risks of isolation while fostering collaboration — enabling innovative thinking, along with the capacity to address the gaps in education during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

An essential element common to leveraging these styles and approaches is leadership that earnestly embraces diversity and practices inclusion. This inclusive approach encompasses learners, parents, teaching and non-teaching staff, civil society, institutions of higher education, and the broader community.

However, despite the benefits of these various leadership styles, navigating the terrain of educational leadership is not devoid of challenges. Some of the critical hurdles include:

1. Lack of established qualifications for school leaders . School leadership roles often end up with senior teachers who lack experience and training because of no established standards for recruiting and appointing school administrators and leaders.

In an attempt to address this concern, policymakers can establish clear guidelines and recruitment approaches to help develop expectations for school leaders as part of the overall vision and objectives of improving educational outcomes. Transparent recruitment processes, with a clear focus on the skills of potential candidates, will help bring the right leaders to the fore.

2 . In the absence of any clear standards for educational leadership, there is a lack of incentive to become education leaders . Due to the demanding nature of the profession, which involves multiple responsibilities such as human and financial resources management, and developing stakeholder partnerships, school leaders often struggle with issues like higher time commitments, insufficient financial motivation, and restricted opportunities for career advancement.

Distinct career paths for school leadership positions should be separated from classroom teaching. Providing professional development training, can help teachers obtain certifications and achieve career milestones which ensures the retaining of the best leaders.

3 . Another key issue is the centralized decision-making and top-down approach adopted by the leadership that dissuades teachers from whole-hearted participation in the implementation of decisions and policies imposed by the top leadership. This top-down approach encourages the suppression of individual voices, potentially leading to false democracies over time.

It is crucial we encourage participative leadership by emphasizing decision-making within a group based on three assumptions: improving school effectiveness, using democratic principles to encourage participation, and making leadership available to any legitimate stakeholder.

4. Lack of instructional support to teachers due to excessive administrative burden . Educational leaders are often loaded with administrative work and thus, prioritize administrative work more than providing pedagogical support to teachers.

Education leaders can improve instruction and foster a learning culture by employing the seven principles of leverage leadership - utilizing data for instructional purposes, consistently observing and providing feedback to teachers, assisting lesson planning, offering professional development training, establishing a robust learning culture, and building a strong leadership team to support instructional aspects.

5. In educational leadership and management, leadership demographics and gender disparity remain the key barriers . Globally, men dominate the leadership positions in education. If and when women reach leadership roles, they are usually in primary or smaller schools rather than secondary and tertiary institutions.

Unconscious bias training can be provided for faculty and staff to address gender bias in hiring school leaders. As the gender pay gap remains one of the systemic inequalities for women in higher education, educational institutions can offer scholarships, grants, and fellowships as financial support .

The impact and challenges faced in educational leadership and management are crystal clear. As we step into an era demanding responsive and inclusive education, the evolution of educational leadership remains pivotal in sculpting the educational landscape and facing the unprecedented crises that await us.

The pursuit of quality education for all hinges on effective educational leadership. Only by addressing the challenges and implementing innovative solutions can we pave the way for transformative educational experiences.

In its fourth edition, the ‘.ed’ magazine explores the multi-faceted dimensions of impactful and effective educational leadership and management. This ranges from the need to cultivate  self-awareness and uphold personal values to the importance of being resilient enough to hold the fort in critical times and instill such resilience in learners. It also examines the rationale behind such leadership that facilitates the transition from rote learning to a “green-light” culture to prepare learners for their chosen career paths.

This edition delves into the wider policy measures that we need to complement the added responsibility of online learning on already burdened school leaders. From discussing disruptive reforms to opening the trap door for creating future leaders to shedding light on the creation of modernized, fresh, and unfettered solutions on our pathway to Sustainable development. This is our effort to contribute towards rethinking and purposely shaping and leveraging educational leadership to inspire and empower the leaders of today for a better tomorrow. Leadership that goes beyond expectations, becomes a gold standard across institutions of education.

This edition is an earnest attempt to dissect the theme of educational leadership and management to enable it as a catalyst for transforming education for human and planetary flourishing.

Let's embark on a course that empowers leaders, inspires educators, and nurtures the potential of every learner, steering towards a future where educational leadership is not just a role but a force that propels us towards excellence and equity in education.

Editor’s Note

Navigating educational leadership and management for future-forward education, aaryan salman, from affecting students and educators to improving learning outcomes and shaping future leaders and productive, positive cultures, educational leadership is critical for transforming education for human and planetary flourishing. leadership that makes a difference is our chance to motivate numerous others to steer the collective humanity toward an inclusive, equitable future. this edition of the .ed is an attempt to embark on that course..

Rethinking and purposely shaping educational leadership helps leaders of today for a better tomorrow. Leadership that goes beyond expectations becomes a gold standard across institutions of education.

Opening the Trap Door: Redesigning Educational Leadership for the Future

The current post-pandemic educational challenges necessitate a redesign of educational leadership that breaks away from the strategy of making minor, piecemeal adjustments to the education enterprise. This redesign, by definition, will disrupt and unsettle the power brokers that have a hold on the present state of education.

Prof. Maria Guajardo

Empowering Educational Leaders: Unleashing Optimal Performance through Values-Based Leadership

The article emphasizes self-reflection, posing critical questions about personal values and making decisions in alignment with those values. It asserts that a leader's core values, beyond skills, shape their character and relationships. It also highlights the role of values in decision-making, promoting internal cohesion, and meeting individual or collective needs.

Craig Fullerton

How to Lead Your Community Toward a Shared Vision of Student Success

This article talks about cultivating a culture of innovation through the modifying the curriculum and assessment to professional development and the use of resources. 

Authored by

Aaryan Salman is the President at the Global Citizenship Foundation and Chief Listener at the Global Debates.

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• v.9(6); 2023 Jun
• PMC10275767

A study on managerial leadership in education: A systematic literature review

Abdul karim.

a Department of Leadership & Islamic Educational Management, Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Indonesia

b Department of Management, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Cirebon, Indonesia

Nunung Nurnilasari

Dian widiantari.

c Department of Islamic Educational Management, Universitas Islam Bunga Bangsa Cirebon, Indonesia

Fikriyah Fikriyah

d Department of Primary Teacher Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Indonesia

Ros Awaliyah Rosadah

e Department of D3 Hospitality, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Cirebon, Indonesia

Aip Syarifudin

f Department of Early Chieldhood Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Indonesia

Wahyu Triono

g Department of Informatics Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Indonesia

Kirana Lesmi

h Department of Out of School Education, Universitas Insan Cendekia Mandiri (UICM) Bandung, Indonesia

Nurkholis Nurkholis

Associated data.

Data included in article/supp. material/referenced in article.

Articles on managerial leadership (ML) have been published from year to year, since 1950s. The use of ML theory in previous research is common, but some inconsistencies are found regarding the terms commonly used. In other words, there is a mismatch between the use of the term ML in article paper and structures. This will certainly have an impact on bias and ambiguity for future research literatures.

Theoretical review on this topic is rarely carried out, specifically in ML theory. The novelty of this research lies in the classification results of articles that used the term ML in accordance with the theory.

This theoretical review was conducted to examine the classification of accuracy of articles which were using the term ML in title with four consistency and accuracy indicators on the article structures starting from the problem, aim, literature, results and discussion, as well as conclusion sections.

This review as a qualitative literature research used a language and historical approach, as well as a ML theory. This study Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The technique and instrument used was bibliographic instruments, comprehensive list of keywords and mixed search terms to search the articles online with the help of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers. A total of 68 articles published from 1959 to 2022 as a final reviewed. They were obtained from several well-known digital journal content such as Jstor, Proquest, Oxford University Press, Google Scholar, and National Library, as well as various journals under major publishers such as Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, Emerald, Brill, and Wiley. The data collected were analyzed using content analysis with 4 indicators of consistent (accurate & additional) and inconsistent (difference & additional), and 4 accuracy category of accuracy, appropriate, bias, and error for determaining the articles classification, and validated them by using triangulation and grounded theory.

The results showed that in 1959 the first article appeared using the word ML, in 2012 the first and only article appeared that only used ML, and the last is in 2022. Then, the consistency of the title with other article sections is 17 articles (25% of 68) according to the accurate term indicator. Last, the accuracy of articles was divided into four categories: 10 articles (15% of 68) in the accuracy category.

Contribution

This systematic review contributes the article classification that can become a more established scientific roadmap of references and reasoning of studying ML.

1. Introduction

The study of leadership has been a central part of the literature on management behavior in an organization for several decades and has been widely researched. In relation to that, there has been growing interest in global leadership among scholars and practitioners due to the strategic importance of organizations for expanding services. The previous research suggested that certain cultural leadership characteristics are likely useful. This view is widely supported by findings from almost all major research. Currently, there have been a thousand articles on the related subject, and it has been increasing at a high rate and a large body of literature [ [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] ]. Classically, managerial leadership (ML) was an effective and efficient organizational approach [ 9 ]. It was an on-demand useful leadership [ 10 ]. Recently, ML theory has been a combination between the functions and work of the managers with the role of leaders in an educational organization and corporate [ [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] ]. In addition, the ML is set up to discuss obstacles inhibiting leadership performance in formal organizations from achieving success in the current environment [ 8 , 15 , 16 ].

This research contributes to knowledge with an exploratory research of a review of consistent managerial leadership (ML) terms to avoid bias in some reading sources and references. The analysis was done by classifying articles using the term viewed from how the consistency fits the article's structure, problems, objectives, literature, findings, and conclusions through indicators of consistency and accuracy.

The issue has been explored through the lens of an event's team, which is in response to the call for more empirical research on the enablers and inhibitors of successful events as articulated in the literature. The issues in this study focus on inconsistencies in ML terms between the title and other parts of the article structure, making the articles biased and resulting in terminology errors. One solution is implementing history, consistency, and classifying articles based on accuracy indicators.

Several phenomena emerged in research articles about ML are that in reviewing the leadership literature, however, little consensus exists among researchers and practitioners about how to develop leaders [ 5 ]. The key emerging knowledge gap is the fact that the available studies have not investigated the link between leadership ethics and services [ 4 ]. The massive size and scope of the literature precludes detailed descriptions of individual studies of every leadership reference [ 1 , 17 ]. Furthermore, the literature on leadership does not involve an extensive list of leadership styles [ 6 ]. Only a few good studies have contributed to the roles and functions of leaders [ 18 ]. Moreover, regarding the review on the leader roles, they often struggle to balance the expectations of their many roles and responsibilities [ 16 ]. Leadership has always been more difficult in challenging times. It calls for a renewed focus on genuine leadership [ 19 ]. Consequently, several conscious leaders are vacuumed in institutions. Therefore, principle leaders are urgently needed [ 20 ].

ML is often used as a reference in developing leadership theory in the world of education, this is what makes ML a contribution that can be utilized and applied by all leaders as one of the right strategies in educational institutions. Leaders' knowledge, understanding and experience of the institutions or organizations they lead also influence their success in actuating the managerial of educational institutions.

Accordingly, based on relevant previous studies and reviews related to ML terminology, including: Yukl reviewed major leadership theories and summarized findings from empirical research on leadership [ 1 ]. Bolden reviewed conceptual leadership to identify its origins for further work [ 17 ]. Lekka & Healey identified specific leadership styles, behaviors, and practices that represent effective leadership [ 2 ]. Nazari & Emami discussed the status of leadership theory concerning its purpose, construct definitions, and historical foundations for future research [ 19 ]. Igbaekemen & Odvwri found the missing link between leadership styles and the impact on the follower's performance in an organization [ 20 ]. Khan et al. found the social contract of leadership is viewed as a myth that functions to reinforce existing structure about the necessity of leaders in organization [ 3 ]. Rigii found a clearer understanding of the concept and the need for practitioners to work towards ensuring organizations are aligned with best practices for leadership qualities [ 4 ]. Park et al. critically examined the literature on leadership competencies and behaviors [ 5 ]. Xie investigated the relationship between leadership and organizational culture measured in the literature [ 6 ]. Besides, Gifford et al.’s systematic review revealed that leadership for research use involves change and task-oriented behaviors [ 7 ]. According to Karim, Mansir et al., the current literature on ML development is sparse [ 11 , 21 ]. This observation leads to a review of the relevant literature in managerial leadership in education.

The study and research on ML has indeed been carried out from various aspects and events that occur in the world of education, but the existing research has not thoroughly explained the ML concept that can be applied to educational institutions that are programmed in a systematic, precise, accurate and sustainable manner. Based on the previous studies, there is still little research which investigated managerial leadership in educational system and too much the research explored the leadership in education. This research will contribute to the review of the literature confirmed that what is really known about the link between ML and performance, still remains largely unanswered. Based on the phenomena, problems, and various opinions of previous researchers, the novelty of this study is a review of the consistency of articles using ML in the title with other article structures through accuracy indicators to produce history, consistency, and article accuracy classification.

Based on the literature review and the results of previous research observations conducted at educational institutions that implement ML as a system. This research will thoroughly discuss managerial leadership in education, an education system that is systematically designed in accordance with the decisions of the leadership, managerial leadership theory in terms of various aspects of organizational and institutional management, so that this research can bring out the novelty of theory from various literature related to managerial leadership.

Within this gap between what we know and what we do, this paper will focus an investigation on the litelature review connecting with managerial leadership in educational system as central key to build positive school culture to achieve educational objective. Managerial leadership represents a rapidly evolving research domain which has seen significant theoretical development to date, but is still lacking in empirical testing of theories proposed. This is an important shortcoming as managerial leadership is paramount for corporate success in education. This literature review aims to address three research questions (RQs).

To set the stage for the importance of the topic, some literature highlights the ubiquity, and increasing rate, of managerial leadership in education. On the others hand, we aimed to systematically review the published literature on managerial leadership in education with a focus on frequency, setting, content, learning evaluation, and learning outcomes. This article is a critical review of the terminology of 68 articles mentioning the word ‘ML’ in their titles. The review used four consistent and accurate indicators to classify which articles fell into accurate, appropriate, biased, and error categories.

Based on the facts and problems described in the background above, the objectives for the importance of this research can be formulated, including the history of articles using the word ML in the titles, the consistent of the articles in using the word ML in their title with article sections based on consistency indicators, and The accuracy classification of articles using the word ML measured on accuracy indicators. With this aim, a systematic review can analyze the history, consistency and accuracy of articles on ML.

2. Literature review

2.1. the theoretical origins of managerial leadership.

Managerial leadership (ML) is a term that integrates management and leadership into a coherent concept [ 22 ]. Espinoza & Schwarzbart handle the convergence of roles with the title of managerial leader (MLr) [ 23 ], while Sveningsson et al. defined the ML as a work practice. In order to understand leadership as a work practice, we need more theories of managers' behaviours [ 24 ]. Gifford et al. argued that ML, for both point-of-care and senior managers, inspire and encourage for staff through a combination of task-oriented behaviours that are responsive to specific situations [ 7 ]. Ather argued that ML is an approach of getting things done through others most effectively and efficiently in an organization [ 9 ]. The ML in very essential to influence the quality. Meanwhile, leadership is the process that managers use to influence subordinators work towards organizational goals. Conceptually, leadership can be seen as that combination of traits, values, attitudes, and behaviors that result in the effective long-term performance of organizations [ 25 ]. In line with this approach, Valentine & Prater argued that leader's belief that collective decision making is a stronger response to solving the larger, while choosing to exercise ML skills to make routine decisions [ 26 ]. Larson identified that the problem solving was important behaviors of ML during a crisis and praise-recognition were important behaviors during a stable situation [ 27 ]. ML strategy creates change that affects the function and structure of an organization.

Before discussing more deeply about ML, it is also necessary to understand theories about leadership and management of an institution or organization, one of which is transformational leadership which can improve the quality of management processes and product innovation in institutional or organizational management [ 28 ]. In the organizational management theory, an institution or company requires knowledge dynamics and organizational orientation to ensure that one's leadership can bring progress to the organization they lead [ 29 ]. A theoretical review of managerial leadership work demonstrated the need to explore the relationships between managerial leadership and staff job satisfaction in the educational institution [ 30 ]. The emphasis here is placed on the theoretical framework used in this study, the Multiple Linkage Model of Leader Effectiveness [ 31 ]. Moreover, This Multiple Linkage Model considered a series of leadership behaviors, leadership power/influence factors, leadership skills, overall managerial leadership effectiveness, and situational variables [ 32 ]. A combination of these factors appeared necessary for understanding effective managerial leadership. Leadership effectiveness is, of course, a relative concept [ 33 ]. A managerial leader is considered to be effective ifthe manager's staff performs their work well and is adequately satisfied with their working milieu [ 34 ].

ML provides a four-tiered approach that helps professionals from all walks of life develop strong management and leadership skills [ 35 ]. It includes top leadership models and frameworks, tools for assessing leadership strengths, techniques for handling change and growth [ 36 ]. Specifically, MLr must have several skills: they think strategically and build effective teams and they create a healthy organizational culture [ 37 , 38 ]. ML implies two fundamental dimensions: 1. Informal dimension, which steams from the expertise and the abilities the leader, possesses and which is built over time by means of others' recognition. 2. Formal dimension, which steams from his formal authority, associated with a formal managerial position.nent of management and it heavily influences the performances and outcomes of organizations [ 39 ]. Characteristics of ML which combined from some of the experts’ thought above are [ 1 ]; leadership roles; values, culture, attitudes, task behaviours, unstructured relationships, and loyalty motivation [ 13 , 40 , 41 ], [ 2 ] the function of manager; planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling, and [ 3 ] managerial roles; interpersonal, informational, and decisional [ 11 , 42 ].

ML in principle will set the pattern of institutional management to advance an organization. This is done as part of the implementation of quality and quality management. This ML character is built to create a healthy and civilized organizational environment. ML style can create a ready-to-work organization and solid teamwork [ [43] , [44] , [45] ]. ML can be applied to educational institutions led by school principals through three approaches, namely the trait approach, which emphasizes motivation and managerial skills; the power/influence approach, which examines the accumulation and use of power; and the behavioral approach, which focuses on managerial activities [ 46 , 47 ]. The concept of ML pattern knowledge will be studied with various literatures to produce new theories that support educational management to be more advanced and of high quality in accordance with the policies of leaders who manage their institutions.

2.2. Theoretical review

Reseachers usually define managerial leadership according to their individual perspective and the aspect of the phenomenon of mos interest to them. after a comprehensive review of the ML literature, [ 48 ]. Most definition of managerial leadership involve an influence process, but the numerous definition of leadership that have been proposed appear to little else common. most of reseacher pinpointed that ML has been defined in terms of individual traits, leader behavior, interaction patterns, role lelationship, follower perception, influence on task goals, and influence on institutional culture [ 48 , 49 ].

A theoretical framework is usually explained in the literature review section, such as ML and situational concepts [ 3 ]. In reviewing the theory, we aimed to synthesize relevant bodies of literature and make connections between knowledge bases to propose a conceptual framework. We followed guidelines; that is, location of articles, search period, number of articles screened, and criteria for screening [ 5 ]. Rigii argued that the framework depicts a situation where accountability and ethics first interact with leadership qualities [ 4 ]. Based on the conclusions and the conceptual framework, the review ends by outlining the implication of this paper on theory, practice and policy in the next section.

The authors argue that managerial concern for people determines event's success as it enhances the effectiveness of intra-team interaction, thus enabling better team performance. Managerial concern for people is closely linked to managerial competencies as they explain how effectively event managers can deal with event employees, not only when resolving conflicts, but also when setting goals. Moreover, effective leadership requires managers to develop cognitive, social and emotional intelligence in order to recognise the needs of all team members, thus anticipating changes in motivation.

2.3. Consistency terminology and accuracy indicators

In the scientific areas, the most important thing is a common understanding of the basic concepts and terms. People are historically devoted to achieving this goal [ 50 ]. Product definitions and the grant of rights are the backbone of any licensing agreement. Using consistent terminology is key [ 51 ]. Therefore, the indicators used to review the use of the ML in each part of the article are the indicators of consistency and accuracy initiated by Yablo [ 52 ], Pavese, Menditto et al., and Royer which involve being consistent and inconsistent [ 50 , 51 , 53 ], are.

2.3.1. Consistent

Consistency ensures that author, reader, leader, and manager get the information they need to make the best possible high-level of decisions [ 51 ].

• 1) Accurate term is the accuracy of the use of the word “managerial leadership” without additional terms.

Accuracy is a qualitative performance characteristics, expressing the closeness of agreement between a measurement result and the value of the measurand [ 53 ].

• 2) Additional term is the accuracy of the use of the word “managerial leadership” (ML), adding terms either at the beginning, middle, or end of the word ML in each section of the article.

Closeness of agreement between a quantity value obtained by measurement and the true value of the measurand. The misuse of the word accuracy in place of trueness in most analytical publications was recently addressed [ 53 ].

2.3.2. Inconsistent

According to Royer, inconsistent is we had realized that all our terminology was inconsistent, but had never come up with such clear, understandable, easy-to-follow language until implementing organization [ 51 ].

• 1) Different of term a term that is used differently from the word “ML,” but the article still discusses managerial and leadership theory.

An effort has being made to understand whether the apparent inconsistencies are due to historical stratification or to sound reasons (e.g. sectorial), and to find ways toward reducing their number –not necessarily toward a single set of meanings for the concepts and terms, but limited, in addition to their general meaning, to undisputable sectorial needs [ 50 ].

• 2) Additional variable are variables that are used differently from ML terms and even tend to be different. However, the article still discusses managerial or leadership.

Similarly, if one or more influence quantities cause effects on the measurement result that can be identified as systematic components of the error (systematic error), such effect is expressed by the performance characteristics trueness. It can be quantified as bias, i.e. the difference [ 53 ]. However, an inconsistent rule is not false; indeed it may be correct in the only sense that matters, that of according with speakers' semantic intentions [ 52 ]. Managerial leadership holds a proven positive effect on the event team's performance and employee motivation to collaborate in order to achieve the set event's objectives. So the strong leadership makes an event's more competitive in institutional competition.

The code of article section is divided into; problems (P), objectives (A), literature (L), results (R), and conclusions (C). While the indicator codes used are Accurate term (AT), Additional term (AdT), Different term (DT), and Additional variable (AV) as described by Table 1 . The code for 68 articles is sorted by order of the year of the article. For example, the first article in 1959 was written 1a to 2019 64a, and the last year 2022 was written 68a. For the year code, the last two digits are taken. For example, 1959–2022 was written 59-22, while names are coded with initials, such as DAE.

Consitency and accuracy indicators.

Based on the theoretical review and managerial theory terminology described above, it can be concluded that ML can be applied with various decision-making indicators, namely the consistency and accuracy of its leaders which can influence the success of leaders in managing and managing the organization they lead.

The objects in this review are articles using the word managerial leadership (ML) in the titles published from 1950 to 2022, an analysis of the consistency of articles in each section of the article, and the classification of articles that fall into accurate, appropriate, biased, and error categories.

3.1. Method and approachs

The systematic literature review presented in this research has conducted a commonly applied methodology [ 54 ]. By following systematic methods to explore and classify relevant literature, such reviews provide reproducible, reliable assessments of the current status of a field of a research and diminish potential bias that may occur in narrative styles of analysis [ 55 ] by using PRISMA statement in Fig. 1 . The resulting quantitative assessment evaluates the subject area, type of method used, and outcomes obtained.

Selection flow diagram for the studies. (Adapted from The PRISMA Group [ 56 ])

This study of the literature in relation to ML in educational management addresses three main aims [ 1 ]: to examine history of article using the word ML in the titles [ 2 ]; to identify the consistent are the articles using the word ML in their title with article sections based on consistency indicators; and [ 3 ] to identify the accuracy classification of articles using the word ML measured on accuracy indicators.

An extensive review of published papers from 1950 to 2022 was carried out in order to capture consistency terminology in the area of ML. The emphasis was on those issues that either represented inconsistency in using ML that have implications for the literatures and future researchers [ 2 ]. Furthermore, methodological issues in leadership research for improving ML terminology are discussed also [ 1 ]. This article used an ML theory approach to obtain in-depth data [ 57 ], combining the role of a leader and a manager's function [ 11 , 12 , 58 , 59 ], historical [ 60 ], and internationally accepted language with consistent indicators consisting of AT and AdT and inconsistent consisting of DT and AV [ 50 , 52 ]. In fact, the skill and competence of ML must be enhanced for the leader to create positive culture in the educational institution [ 61 ]. Today, digital competence for leaders is very significant.

3.2. Techniques and data instrument

This review was firstl conducted on targeted articles that were most relevant to our purpose and research question in multiple online databases [ 5 ] such as Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, Brill, Emerald, Springer, and Wiley, as well as several well-known digital journal content such as Jstor, Proquest, Oxford University Press, Google Scholar, and National Library with the help of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers [ 62 ]. The bibliographic instruments and comprehensive list of keywords and mixed search terms [ 63 ], such as ‘managerial leadership,’ ‘manager & leader,’ and ‘managerial leadership in education’ within the search titles were used to obtain 110 articles published from 1950 to 2020. The articles were selected based on the research objectives, especially the keyword ‘managerial leadership in education,’ to answer the problem formulations. As a result, this research identified 68 articles included in the final review, published between 1959 and 2022. The 68 articles were then presented according to year, name, title, and ML term in each article structures, such as problem, aims, literature, findings, and conclusions into “articles by year” files, “article section recapitulation,” and “review recapitulation” [ 64 ]. The year, name, and ML word in each article section and indicators were coded to simplify the review and analysis process. For example, in 1950, there was a DAE article. The code for the problem section that corresponded to the AT indicator was coded PAT1a59DAE, meaning that P stands for problem, AT means AT indicator, 1a means the first article, 59 means published in 1959, and DAE means the author's name [ 50 , 52 , 53 ].

3.3. Data analysis and validation

The 68 articles were analyzed using a content analysis technique through four indicators, namely AT, AdT, DT, and AV, to review the consistency of the use of the term ML in the title with other structures [ 65 ]. The data already contained in the file by year were analyzed for each part of the article structure. Then, each word was reduced and simplified so that only words or terminology appeared in each table according to indicators [ 66 , 67 ]. Once it had been simplified, the results were recapitulated and interpreted in a separate table. The data that had been successfully interpreted was then validated using the grounded theory ML technique to become data presented in the results and discussion [ 68 , 69 ].

4.1. Article history using world ML

Based on the data analysis of this study, the result of the history of articles using the word ML in the titles will be presented on Table 2 and Table 3 . Our systematic review attempted to analyze the paper based on history of publication from 1959 to 2022 concerning the ML in education. So we will illustrate in table below.

Articles details.

Articles titles type.

The article table using the word ML in the titles reveals: 1) GS provided 14 articles from 1999 to 2022 with article code/year/author/publisher/journal as follows: 16a99EY/GS/NDCC to 62a18WAG/GS/IS. 2) ProQuest provided 11 articles from 1980 to 1957 with codes 4a80 P/P/UO to 57a16HHHL/P/NDSU. 3) Elsevier published ten articles from 1971 to 2008 with the code 3a71NG/E/BH to 35a08JGJH/E/LQ. 4) Wiley published eight articles from 1959 to 2022 with the code 1a59DAE/W/PP to 68a22AB/W/JCN. 5) Taylor & Francis published seven articles in 1990–2022 with codes 5a86CM/T&F/JGHE to 66a22 kT/T&F/APJSWD. 5) JSTOR provided five articles from 1986 to 2017 with code 6a86JDM/Js/JDA up to 58a17ALD/Js/AMJ. 6) Emerald published five articles from 2006 to 2021 with codes 24a06AMMR/Em/LHS to 65a22ESO/Em/ERIJ. 7) SAGE published five articles from 1989 to 2022 with codes 9a89GY/S/JM to 67a22JKT/S/GBR. 7) Springer published two articles in 1990 and 2001 under the code: 10a90JIAR/S/JBE & 17a01 MG/S/JBE. 8) OUP published one article in 2012 with the code 49a12S/OUP/UQBSP. Wiley published the first and last articles with ML term in the titles. GS, the largest database of five other databases, provided 14 articles entitled ML. Meanwhile, Elsevier, the largest publisher of the six publishers, provided ten articles with ML in the titles.

In the 50s, one article was found with code 1a, then in the 60s with code 2a, and the 70s with code 3a. The three articles using ML are in the main title (header). In the 80s, six articles used the word ML with the following details: four articles with codes 4a - 9a with the word ML, then two articles with codes 7a and 8a with the addition of the words ethical and behavior. The word ML in the six articles is in the main title (header). In the 90s, seven articles had the word ML with the following details: five articles with codes 10a - 16a with the word ML, then two articles with codes 13a and 14a were added with the words practice, ethical, and behavior. The word ML in six articles with codes 10a - 16a is in the main title (header), while one with code 11a is in the sub-header. The title of the article published in 1959 that first used the word ML in the main title is an article with code 1a, with DAE as the author, W, as the published, and PP as the journal. In addition, the title of the first 1987 article with the addition of the word ‘ML’ located in the main title is the article coded 7a, with GE as the author, the Js database, and the JBE journal.

In the 2000s, the articles with the word ML in the titles reached 22 articles with the following details: twelve articles with codes 17a - 38a, then one with code 34a, with the word ‘managerial leaders’, and seven with code 19a- 32a with other words styles, roles, behaviors, development, practices, and implications, and two articles with codes 24a and 33a using ‘managers’ leadership.’ The words for both ML and ‘managers’ leadership’ in 21 articles with codes from 17a - 38a are in the main title (header). In contrast, another article coded 34a uses the word managerial leaders located in the sub-header. The title of the article published in 2008 using managerial leaders, which is in the sub-title, is the article coded 34a, with TOP as the author, T&F as the publisher, and PPMR as the journal. Meanwhile, the first 2006 issue title uses the other words managers' leadership style. It is in the main title is the article coded 24a, with AMMR as the author, E as the publisher, and LHS as the journal.

In the 2010s, the title of articles with ML term reached 26 articles with the following details: 14 articles with codes from 40a – 63a. One article coded 45a with the word managerial leaders, eleven articles coded from 39a - 70a with the words ‘behaviors’, ‘competencies,’ ‘styles,’ ‘roles,’ ‘strategies,’ and ‘skills,’ and an article with code 61a that only uses the word ‘leadership.’ As for the location of the words both ML and ‘managerial leaders,’ there are 24 articles with codes from 39a - 62a and 70a in the main title (header). Meanwhile, two other articles with the word ‘managerial leaders’ coded 55a and 63a are in the sub-header. The title of the first and only 2012 published article in the main title is an article coded 46a, with EMG as the author, T&F as the publisher, and ICUT as the journal. At the same time, the title of the last article published in 2019 using a hyphen (−) M-L skill located in the main title is an article coded 70a, with SV as the author, W, as the publisher, and PIQ as the journal. In addition, the only article titles published in 2018 that only use the word leadership are articles coded 61a, with LX as the author, E as the publisher, and EJTD as the journal. In the 2020s, four articles were found with code 65a – 68a. One article with code 68a uses the title MrL with the heading type, and one article with code 66a uses the title L as a sub-heading, while the other two articles with codes 65a and 67a use the title ML + T as a heading.

Research has consistently shown, however, that leadership is a skill that can be taught and improved. This theme of leadership teachability was echoed in several of the study populations reviewed in this study, where residents felt more confident after participating in explicit teaching programs about leadership.

4.2. Article consistency

Our systematical literature review in this stage, we have determined the publication papers in several reputable journals based on Problem, Aims, Literatures, Results, and Conclusion concerning ML. for further analysis we display in Table 4 below.

Review on articles’ problems (P), aims (A), literatures (L), results (R), and conclusion (C) published from 1959 to 2022.

According to the AT indicator, the problems section contains 17 items (20%) from articels code (PAT1a59DAE) to (PAT68a22AB), the aims section includes 21 items (24%) from code (AAT1a59DAE) to (AAT68a22AB), the literature section contains 20 items (23%) from code (LAT12a92LEF) to (LAT68a22AB), the results section includes 15 items (17%) from code (RAT12a92LEF) to (RAT68a22AB). The conclusion section contains 14 items (16%) from code (CAT4a80P) to (CAT68a22AB), with 87 items (25% of 340 items), it means 17 articles which were used the ML.

Beside that, according to the AdT indicator, the problems section contains 18 items (15%) from the code (PAdT7a87GE) to (PAdT67a22JKT). The aims section includes 28 items (23%) from the code (AAdT4a80P) to (AAdT67a22JKT), the literature section has 24 items (20.7%) from code (LAdT1a59DAE) to (LAdT67a22JKT), the results section include 26 items (21%) from code (RAdT1a59DAE) to (RAdT67a22JKT), the conclusion section consists of 25 items (21%) from code (CAdT1a59DAE) to (CAdT67a22JKT), with 121 items (36% of 340 items), it means 24 articles which are adding ML with the words ethical, behaviors, roles, style, development, function, position, skills, environmental, methods, principals, and performs.

Then, according to the DT indicator, the problems sections contains 14 items (26%) from the code (PDT6a86JDM) to (PDT63a19LMG), the aims section has 15 items (28%) from the code (ADT6a86JDM) to (ADT61a18LX), the literature section has 8 items (15%) from code (LDT66a22KT) to (LDT6a86JDM), the results section includes 9 items (17%) from code (RDT6a86JDM) to (RDT58a17ALD), the conclusion section contains 8 items (5%) from code (CDT6a86JDM) to (CDT63a19LMG), with 54 items (16% of 340 items), it means 11 articles not included in articles that use the word ML, but still discussing leaders and managers.

Additional indicators of variable suitability with the problems section contained 19 items (24%) from code (PAV2a65JKC-J) to (PAV66a22KT), the aims section has 4 items (5%) from code (AAV3a71NG) to (AAV66a22KT), literature section has 16 items (20%) from the code (LAV2a65JKC-J) up to (LAV61a18LX), the results section contains 18 items (23%) from the code (RAV2a65JKC-J) to (RAV61a18LX), the conclusion section contains 21 items (27%) from the code (CAV2a65JKC-J) to (CAV61a18LX), with 78 items (23% of 340 items), it means 16 articles not using the word ML, but still discussing managerial or leadership.

Thus, the consistency of the title with other article sections based on four indicators is as follows: 87 of 340 items (25% of 68 articles) is 17 articles according to the AT indicator, 121 of 340 items (36% of 68 artcles) is 24 articles with the AdT indicator, 54 of 340 items (16% of 68 articles) is 11 articles with the DT indicator, and 78 of 340 items (23% of 68 articles) is 16 articles with AV indicators. The article sections with four indicators show those 24 articles which are consistent with ML by additional terms (AdT).

A major finding in our study is that even managerial leadership may bear strong imprints of the constructions of subordinates and is even often initiated (or inhibited) by the very targets for leadership, i.e. the ‘followers’. This is to some extent in line with parts of the literature on active, selfleading followers, but in contrast, our study highlights the followers' initiation of the managerial leadership process, and therefore adds a new angle.

4.3. Article accuracy

The data in Table 5 for the 68 articles bellow show that approximately between 14 and 21 articles correspond to the AT indicator with the following details: 17 articles on the problem section, 21 articles on the aim, 20 articles on the literature, 15 articles on the results, and 14 articles on conclusion. Then other data shows that between 18 and 28 articles correspond to the AdT indicator with the following details: 18 articles on the problem section, 28 articles on the aim, 24 articles on the literature, 26 articles on the results, and 25 articles on the conclusion. Then the article data, according to the different term indicators, contain between 6 and 15 articles with the following details: 15 articles on the problem aspect, 15 articles on the aims, 6 articles on the literature, 9 articles on the results, and 7 articles on the conclusion. Finally, the article data that corresponds to the additional variable indicator contains approximately 4–22 articles with details as follows: 18 articles on the problem section, 4 articles on the aim, 18 articles on the literature, 18 articles on the results, and 22 articles on the conclusion section.

The clasification of articles accuracy.

Classification of articles those fall into the accuracy category in using the word managerial leadership (ML) in the title section with other article sections, namely 10 articles with article codes/year/author as follows: 7a87GE published in 1987, 8a89WFBA in 1989, 12a92LEF in 1992, 18a02DPK in 2002, 30a07SMA in 2007, 45a11RC in 2011, 48a12RRS in 2012, 55a14MB in 2014, 67a22JKT in 2022, and 68a22AB in 2022. Meanwhile, the classification of articles that fall into the category of accuracy in using the word ML adds the words ‘ethical,’ ‘behaviors,’ and ‘style’ in the title section with other article sections, namely 23 articles with the code: 9a89GY published in 1989, 13a95PEM in 1995, 14a96DRL in 1996, 1a04CK2 in 2004, 23a04S in 2004, 28a07FCM in 2007, 34a08TOP in 2008, 35a08JG(J.)H in 2008, 38a09ANb in 2009, 39a10CK in 2010, 42a11JYC in 2011, 43a11JWV in 2011, 44a11RFL in 2011, 49a12S in 2012, 50a12YJ in 2012, 51a13BDH in 2013, 53a13DG in 2013, 56a15FL in 2015, 57a16HHHL in 2016, 62a18WAG in 2018, 64a19SV in 2019, 65a21ESO in 2021, and 67a22JKT in 2022.

Then, the articles are categorized as appropriate in using the word ML in the title section with other article sections, namely 15 articles, divided into two groups. The first group, articles that use the word ML in the title but have other words in other parts of the article, are 10 articles with the following code: 1a59DAE published in 1959, 9a89GY in 1989, 23a04S in 2004, 28a07FCM in 2007, 34a08TOP in 2008, 38a09ANb in 2009, 43a11JWV in 2011, 49a12S in 2012, 57a16HHHL in 2016, and 62a18WAG in 2018. The second group is articles that use the word ML with other words in the title, but there is a change to the word ML in other sections, namely five articles with the code: 21a04CKa published in 2004, 39a10CKb in 2010, 42a11JYC in 2011, 56a15FL in 2015, 70a19SV in 2019, and 65a21ESO in 2021. As for the articles in the appropriate category based on the results of the score calculation, there are four articles with the codes: 14a96DRL, 35a08JG(J.)H, 44a11RFL, and 53a13DG were published between 1996 and 2013.

Beside that, the articles were categorized as biased in using the word ML in the title section, then changed to managerial and leadership words in the other articles, namely 1 article with code 6a86JDM published in 1986. Several articles with other biased categories based on the results of the score calculation; there were 23 articles divided into two groups: the first group with 16 articles that used the word ML in the title section and underwent changes in the article section, coded 4a80P, 10a90JIAR, 11a92HR, 16a99EY, 17a01MG, 22a04DBC, 26a07AEO-A, 31a07WGRN, 32a08HPN, 36a09ANa, 37a09DA, 40a11IHDA, 41a11IW, 47a12RMS, 52a13CS, and 63a19LMG published from 1965 were scattered until 2013. Meanwhile, in the second group, 7 articles used the word ML with additions in the title section and changed the parts of the article, namely articles coded 20a03AOD, 24a06AMMR, 25a06TH, 27a07EL, 58a17ALD, 59a18CS, and 66a22KT published from 2003 to 2018.

The last, the classification of articles was categorized as an error in using the word ML in the title section, then changed to the word managerial or leadership only in the article section, namely an article coded 3a71NG published in 1971. The article includes another error because it does not use the word ML in the title. Still, the word leadership later changed to managerial and leadership words in the article section; an article coded 61a18LX was published in 2018. In addition, nine other articles are categorized as errors based on the results of the calculation of scores which are divided into two groups: the first group contains five articles that use the word ML in the title and then change to managerial and leadership with the code 2a65JKC-J, 5a86CM, 15a98YAN, 46a12EMG, and 29a07WJrP which were published from 1965 to 2007. The second group contains four articles with the word ML and other words but changed to the word managerial and leadership, articles coded 19a02SKK, 33a08JS, 54a13LK, and 60a18DDM published from 2002 to 2018. Our results and findings highlight the vital role of followers in the initiation phase of managerial leadership, thereby contributing to an ‘expanded view’ of leadership/followership-dynamics. It is therefore also an example of how social constructionist studies can be social relevant to organizational concerns.

Based on the description of the research findings and Fig. 2 above, the researcher concludes that the ML literature has many research results that have been conducted and is divided into four categories, namely first, research whose theory is accurate and consistent according to the classification of the articles studied. Second, the results of appropriate research whose theories influence each other and support each other's variables so as to produce new theories related to ML. Third, research that is theoretically biased and does not support managerial leadership theory but can influence the concept of ML literature. Fourth, research with an error theory in this case means that the research results are not related and do not support each other so that there is a contradiction between the theories found and the previous theory. So that the research under study allows for a novelty theory about ML patterns in educational institutions which can be used as a reference for educational institutions with systemic management.

Clasification accuracy of articles.

5. Discussion

5.1. article history.

Based on the results analysis indicated that most articles using the word ‘managerial leadership’ (ML) in the title are provided by the database, followed by publishers. The database instrument is also used and recommended by Park et al. to obtain data online [ 5 , 70 ]. The 1959 was the first year articles using the title ML were found, as indicated by Emery, who wrote “ ML througn motivation by objectives [ 71 ] .” In addition, the first article to use the word ‘ethical’ was 1987 by Enderle [ 72 ], entitled Some perspective of MEL. Then in 2006, for the first time, the article used the word ‘managers’ leadership style’ as the main title, as written by Ref. [ 73 ], entitled A study of relationship between MrLS . Then in 2008, an article was found that first used the word ‘manager leaders’ as a subheading, written by Peterson & Fleet [ 74 ], entitled A tale of two situations: An empirical study of non-for-profit MLr. In 2012, the first and only article using the word ML only as the main title was written by Grassell [ 75 ]. Then in 2019, the last article with the word ML was found by Vandergoot et al., entitled Factors that influence the transfer generalization and maintenance of M-LSk: A retrospective study [ 76 ] . The newer published article from 2018 to 2023 pin pointed by Lekchiri who published the ML effectiveness in HE [ 77 ]. Rudolph et al. wrote the research paper concerning critique of research on health leadership in the organization [ 78 ]. As development theory in the leadership field Arici & Uysal investigated the leadership and green innovation creativity [ 79 ]. Fries discussed the leadership style and behavior [ 80 ].

5.2. Article consistency

A review in the problems section of 68 articles published from 1959 to 2022 found that 17 articles used the word ML in the problem section and matched the AT indicator. Then 18 articles using other ML words and according to AdT indicators. Then 15 and 18 articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership’ and are by indicators of different terms. Only one article (1a) matched the AT indicator or an article that used the word ML in the problem section. Emery emphasized the aim of his article to outline an approach to ML that provides practical means [ 35 , 71 ]. Only in the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s did all the problems in the article section meet four indicators described by Delbecq as the last article with an AT indicator with the issue of an overview on effective ML [ 81 ]. In addition, Murphy & Enderle also mentioned that the illustration of the MEL was not only influenced by the organization's practice [ 82 ].

In the aims section, 21 articles use the word ML, 28 articles use the word ML with additional terms, three articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership,’ and 15 and 4 articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership.’ From the 50's to the ’90s, almost only one article per era was found, such as 1a, which uses the word ML in the objective section, as it was written by Emery “to outline an approach to ML,” that “to outline an approach to ML [ 71 ],” and article 2a as shown in Chadwick‐Jones “to demonstrate from case-study material the importance of MnL [ 83 ],” as well as article 12a, which aims to compare the ML practices performed at the senior- and middle-levels of higher education administration [ 18 , 84 ]. It was only from the 2000s to 2022 that more articles used the word ML in the article's destination. For example, Vandergoot et al. (2019) wrote the goal “to examine the factors affecting transfer generalization and maintenance of M-LSk” as the last author of 2019 [ 76 ].

The findings in the literature section showed that 20 articles use the word ML, 24 articles use the word ML with other words, 6 and 18 articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership,’ and seven articles use the words' managerial’ and ‘leadership.’ In the 50s and 80s, no articles used the word ML. The word ML was only discovered in the 90s, as reinforced by Leonard and Lipsky with literature on ML practices and scales [ 18 , 85 ]. Since the 2000s, articles were found showing all indicators, although, in 2010, there were also empty different term indicators. However, a literature review showed that from 1959 to 2022, the AT indicator was the highest compared to other indicators. Kialain and Vandergoot used ML skills & development theory [ 8 , 76 ]. Kialain and Vandergoot et al. used ML skills & development theory [ 8 , 76 ]. The recent research was conducted by Ref. [ 80 ], Kafetzopoulos, and Kelemen discuss the development theory in the ML [ 86 , 87 ].

The data review of the results section of the article showed that 15 articles use the word ML, 26 articles use the word ML with other words, 9 and 18 articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership,’ and nine articles use the word ‘managerial’ and ‘leadership.’ Other findings showed that from the ’50s to ’80s, as well as the 2010s, the word ML was not found at all in the results section, even if there were additional words such as “the managerial style of the top manager ranged from the benevolent authoritative” by Emery and Wongruangwisarn [ 71 , 88 ], and reinforced by Larson who used “transformational leadership behavior of management by exception [ 27 ].” However, in the 90s, articles were found using the word ML as written by Leonard, namely “selected ML practices”. In a sense, ML is closely related to the success of higher education administrative management at both the secondary and senior levels. If the pattern of ML is applied properly, the administration of higher education that it manages will also produce good quality so that the graduates are of high quality [ 18 ].”

The review data for the conclusion section showed that 14 articles use the word ML, 25 articles use the word ML with other words, eight articles use the words' managerial’ and ‘leadership,’ and 7 & 21 articles use the word ‘managerial’ or ‘leadership.’ Articles from the ’50s to the ’90s have no articles with the word ML. It was only in the 2000s that Ather found an article that concluded, “A ML quality is expected to combat any managerial challenges and complexities of the centuries ahead [ 9 ].” In this period, there is not a single article conclusion that uses the words managerial and leadership. Even up to 2010–2022, only ML words were found with other words. Kleinman and Larson concluded that “organization culture was specifically associated with transformational leadership behavior of managers [ 27 , 89 ].” Rudolph and Tuffour concluded that “organization culture was specifically associated with transformational leadership behavior of managers [ 34 , 90 ].”

5.3. Article accuracy

The data on the consistency classification of articles that use the word ML with other articles showed four categories: first, 11 articles with accurate categories, confirmed by Leonard with An analysis of ML practices and substitutes for leadership in higher education administration [ 18 ], Blom with Leadership on demand: Followers as initiators and inhibitors of ML [ 10 ], Enderle with Some perspectives of ethical ML [ 72 ], and Howell with An examination of demographic characteristics, preferred ML style, and managerial effectiveness of full-service lodging managers [ 91 ]; Second, 15 articles with appropriate categories, as strengthened by Peterson & Fleet with A tale of two situations: An empirical study of behavior by not-for-profit managerial leaders [ 74 ], and Y Chin with Seven ML competencies [ 92 ]. Kelemen investigated the several innovation in leadership based on demand era [ 93 ] and Arici & Uysal discuss about innovation leadership [ 94 ]. Third, 23 articles with bias categories as exemplified by Montgomery, who described “the results from a study of management training needs for the public [ 95 ]; ” Fourth, 11 articles with an error category as written by George with the sentence “the relationships that emerge from leadership research should be regarded as diagnostic tools, not precise guidelines [ 96 ].”

Based on the results of the discussion above, it can be concluded that the consistency of articles was divided into four categories: 10 articles in the accuracy category, 23 articles in the appropriate category, 24 articles in the bias category, and 11 articles in the error category. Moreover, managerial leadership aspect becomes significant part to discuss in the management science, because the good leader and manager will create good culture in the education.

6. Conclusion

6.1. conclusion and limitation.

Based on the analysis of the research results and the discussion in the previous chapter, several conclusions can be drawn to provide answers to research purpose. The results show that [ 1 ]: the article history showed that articles with the word ‘managerial leadership’ (ML) in the titles were provided mainly by based data such as Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, followed by reputable publishers with various journals such as Taylor & Francis, Sage, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Emerald, and Erich. Started in 1959 the first article appeared using the word ML. In 1987 the first article appeared using the word ‘ethical ML,’ then in 2008, an article appeared using the word ‘managerial leaders.’ After that, in 2006, an article appeared using the words' managerial leadership style’. Then in 2012, the first and only article appeared that only used ‘ML’, and the development of theory of ML in 2022, the last article used the word ‘ML as effective leadership in educational institution.’ [ 2 ] A review of the consistency of the word ML in the title analyzed using four indicators against other sections showed that there are: 17 of 68 articles fall into category of AT indicator, 24 articles fall into category of AdT indicator, 11 articles into DT indicators, and 16 articles into AV indicator [ 3 ]. The consistency of articles was divided into four categories: 10 articles in the accuracy category, 23 articles in the appropriate category, 24 articles in the bias category, and 11 articles in the error category. Moreover, managerial leadership aspect becomes significant part to discuss in the management science, because the good leader and manager will create good culture in the education.

The review is limited to access to databases, publishers, and journals to get complete and more articles related to ML, resulting in an incomplete analysis of the articles found. In addition, qualitative methods with a few average and percentage formulations cause interpretation and validation results that still need improvements, thus requiring a mix of methods for further research. Therefore, based on the results of the research and the conclusions found, the researcher realizes that there are limitations to the research results so as to provide an opportunity for future researchers to be able to study managerial leadership from a chronological aspect of theory, namely bringing together or tracing from the first theory in 1959–2023.

6.2. Contribution and implication

The findings contribution imply that article classification can become a more established scientific roadmap and be used as reading material, literature, and a map of reasoning for further researchers, especially those studying ML. moreover, future studies may involve more literature review and theoreticah review connecting with managerial leadership and leadership style in many approach. It may also possibly include quantitative analysis to allow generalisation of findings. We also hope to analyze the digital competence of ML for future study.

This study implication describes the function of managerial leadership differs in various types of organizations specifically in education; how the typical skills of management and abilities of leadership combine in the various roles of managerial leadership; the extent to which the functions of management and leadership are culturally based paradigms.

Author contribution statement

All authors listed have significantly contributed to the development and the writing of this article.

Data availability statement

Additional information.

No additional information is available for this paper.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN : 0957-8234

Article publication date: 1 February 2004

• Management skills
• Educational administration

Yu, H. (2004), "Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies", Journal of Educational Administration , Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 116-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410517521

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

When compared to other books providing the basics of educational leadership and management, Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies is attractive because of its comprehensive coverage and its extensive review of research in the area. The book targets the development of essential leadership and management skills and competencies for current and prospective school leaders. It is particularly aimed at teachers in leadership roles, middle managers and school leaders in self‐managed schools.

This book contains 15 chapters carefully arranged in three distinctive parts, namely, the history and foundation of educational administration, the structures and processes of educational administration, and leadership and management skills relevant to educational organizations. Each chapter consists of a specific learning outcome, focus, conclusion and a set of review questions. Part one introduces the basic knowledge and concepts of educational administration necessary for school leaders to understand the field. Part two addresses organizational structures and processes. Key issues addressed include organizational communication, organizational decision making, educational planning, policy formation and conflict management. Part three focuses more directly on school leadership and management skills and competencies of educational organizations. It focuses on different styles of leadership, concepts and skills for leading and managing change, professional organization and human resource management. This section is particularly useful and may have benefited from more in depth coverage.

Section one includes five chapters. Chapter one describes the history and evolution of the field of administration and highlights the contributions of pioneers such as Frederick Taylor, Henry Fayol, Luther Gulick, Lyndall Urwick, Mary Parker Follett, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger, Chester Barnard, Herbert Simon and Max Weber in the field. However, coverage of the “informal organization” of schools was comparatively weaker and worthy of further explanation. In chapter two, the authors carefully examine the meaning of educational administration and its development as an applied field of study. Much of the discussion reminds readers of differences between an administrative or managerial role, and a teaching role. The topic of school‐based management is raised in this chapter and continues as a dominant theme throughout the book. A more complete introduction in the area of SBM would have been helpful to set the scene for this ongoing theme. In chapter three, the authors identify the key responsibilities and tasks of educational administrators. They examine the roles of administrators and three types of management skills, namely, time, stress and conflict. Chapters four and five highlight the importance of organizational behavior and organizational climate and culture. The authors point out that the individual, the group, the leadership, the organization and the environment are five crucial factors influencing organizational behavior. The authors state clearly that the cultural perspective is an extremely important one. Cultural models such as Ouchi's theory Z, Deal and Kennedy's corporate cultures, Sergiovanni's five forces and Schein's model of levels of organizational cultures are introduced in the chapter.

The second section includes five chapters. Chapters six to ten concentrate on organizational structures and processes. Chapter six introduces the nature of administrative structures and processes and includes discussion of different levels of organization and dimensions of administrative structures, issues of downsizing or right sizing for creating flatter structures and the advantages and disadvantages of flatter structures. The authors point out that the restructuring of school councils and participatory approaches to management is inevitably creating conflict within schools. Effective leaders or managers, according to the authors, need to pay special attention to this if they are to cope with these changes. In chapters seven and eight the authors suggest a range of strategies for the promotion of effective organizational communication. These include regulating communication flow, receiver orientation of empathy, encouraging mutual trust, effective timing, simplifying language, effective listening, using the grapevine and promoting ethical communications. Different models and styles of decision making are also summarized and the authors advise administrators to create structures and processes for staff participation as the path to increasing ownership and commitment. Chapter nine discusses educational planning and policy formation. It focuses specifically on strategic planning and management planning, providing a number of perspectives on strategy formation. Two useful models, the collaborative school model and outcomes driven development model, for policy making in schools are presented. The main focus of chapter ten is on the management and resolution of organizational conflicts. Different philosophies, styles, approaches, models and skills available for conflict management are identified. The authors emphasize the need for school leaders to understand, develop and employ skills for handling and managing conflicts in organizational settings.

The final section also comprises five chapters. Chapter 11 discusses how various styles of leadership and management lead to the achievement of organizational goals. The authors identify appropriate styles of leadership and management such as contingency approaches, Sergiovanni's five forces of leadership, transformational leadership, moral leadership and participatory management. They argue that a leader is a mix of the artist, architect and commissar. Chapter 12 focuses on leading and managing organizational change. The authors summarize theoretical contributions and list the skills needed to lead the change processes. They suggest that a school leader's competency to function as a change agent is becoming increasingly crucial. They also argue that more emphasis should be placed on being a facilitator rather than a leader. In order to continuously improve the organization, they suggest that an effective leader should have a vision and take a more organic approach that actively involves the staff. Chapter 13 suggests that leading a professionally staffed organization needs special techniques – the authors explain the dual roles of the leading professional and the CEO. They point out that empowerment and teacher participation in decision‐making processes can enhance teachers' professional commitment. Chapters 14 and 15 give a constructive view on human resources management and holding meetings. Skills covered include staff recruitment, training and development, industrial relations and performance appraisal, and techniques needed for planning and leading effective meetings. The content of this particular section could be enriched by adding more discussions on the topic of team building.

Readers of this book will find useful references for their work as teachers, middle managers, serving and prospective school leaders. The authors have done a good job in collecting literature about leadership and management theories and practices, and have systematically categorized them in three parts and 15 chapters. The book can help readers reflect on their practices and develop their competencies for leadership and management in educational contexts.

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Communities and whole societies are changing at a rapid pace, creating a tremendous need for practical-minded leaders who can innovate new ways of learning and meet the needs of diverse communities. Whether in traditional school settings, nonprofit organizations, or large corporations, thoughtful and skillful educational professionals in leadership roles can make all the difference. 

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Educational leaders like Keane can transform whole communities through their meaningful work. 

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• Equity and Educational Leadership
• Educational Leadership Jobs
• Educational Leadership Doctoral Programs: PhD vs. Ed.D.

What is educational leadership?

Educational leadership is built on the premise of constructing and applying knowledge in ways that make a positive difference. Through collaboration and communication, professionals in educational leadership work with diverse communities and build partnerships to promote positive outcomes by setting and meeting transformative goals. 

While many educational leadership professionals have advanced degrees and can work in academic settings, they are practitioners who work in applied positions. By connecting theory to real-world projects and contexts, educational leaders take a comprehensive, evidence-based, relational approach to problem-solving.

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Why educational leadership is important

The impact of educational leadership is felt throughout schools, nonprofits, and private sector organizations.

School Principals

A recent study by The Wallace Foundation reported that effective school leaders make both a stronger and broader positive impact on the schools they lead than research had previously shown. The study:

• Estimates that replacing a school principal in the 25th percentile of effectiveness with one in the 75th percentile of effectiveness would result in approximately three months of additional math and reading learning gains each year for students in that school
• Suggests that the impact of an effective principal on student learning is nearly as great as the impact of an effective teacher
• Finds that the way school principals approach educational leadership has a direct relationship with school outcomes and test scores

Higher Education Administrators

Leaders of educational institutions stand to influence everything from curricular decisions to public perception of their campus. Studies have found that the approach higher educational leaders take in making various decisions can have a powerful ripple effect throughout their faculty members, students, and even the broader community. For example:

• Higher education leaders’ positive attitudes toward diversity and inclusion efforts cultivate greater awareness of bias among employees who are less likely to experience the negative impacts of bias, thereby increasing the likelihood of those employees endorsing inclusion efforts.
• Leadership was found to be the most crucial enabler of agility in higher education institutions. 
• Higher education institutions whose leaders have implemented disability-related supports see significantly higher rates of student persistence among students with disabilities.

Nonprofit Leaders

Studies show that nonprofit organizations with poor leadership negatively affect the staff working with them, the clientele they serve, and even the public at-large. Poor leadership in the nonprofit sector erodes public trust . 

Conversely, nonprofit executives who receive relevant training in the knowledge and skills they need in order to effectively lead an organization experience positive personal outcomes (such as their mindsets) and improve their organization’s practices. Likewise, nonprofit leaders who guide their organizations in accountability, communication, and advocacy can help bring about more positive public perceptions of nonprofit organizations. 

Human Resources Directors

HR professionals with a post-grad education degree are especially skilled at strategic collaboration with diverse audiences and stakeholders and promoting change across diverse organizational settings. Those abilities can promote meaningful change in human resources roles. 

Effective human resources directors can make a noticeable difference in company culture, employee morale, and even the bottom line. Check out just a few statistics from McKinsey on the benefit of good human resources professionals:

• Organizations with human resources departments that facilitate a positive employee experience are 1.3 times more likely to report that they outperformed their organizational goals.
• Companies with cultures that rank in the top-quartile of the McKinsey Organization Health Index post a return to shareholders that is 60 percent higher than median companies and a staggering 200 percent higher than companies that rank in the bottom quartile.

Educational leadership qualities

While anyone can strive to become a successful educational leader, there are some common qualities that are found in professionals who tend to gravitate toward educational leadership: compassion, vision, and perseverance. 

The role of an educational leader is, at its core, a role that seeks to meet the needs of others. Rachael George, an elementary school principal, spoke to the role of compassion in educational leadership in “ Leading with Compassion ,” a blog post for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in which she discusses the impact of two colleagues in leadership roles:

“Creating bonds and intentionally fostering relationships with your community is the foundation for academic achievement. As three educational leaders, we strive to show genuine love for those in our community. That deep care is likely one of the reasons why our students have been successful, with each of our schools blasting through average scores on state assessments.”

Leadership roles involve goals and metrics, but they’re also about culture, creating a sense of belonging, and empowering people through connection. People who naturally come by compassion and seek to cultivate it in their lives have one of the key qualities of educational leaders—and, as George’s example shows, an emphasis on compassionate care for others often leads to positive outcomes and impressive metrics, as well.

Successful educational leaders tend to be people who can evaluate past challenges and policies where they work and develop a better way forward . Not only that—they can see, or collaborate in seeing, what it will take to get to that future place. Their ability to imagine and creatively plan, for example, can directly correlate to student success .

Take a look at a few examples of visionary leadership in an academic setting, nonprofit organization, and the private sector:

• A 2020 study found a positive relationship between visionary leadership in school principals and teacher performance. 
• Nonprofit leaders report that visionary leadership improves raising of funds as well as recruitment of volunteers.
• Visionary leadership is identified as one of five leadership styles that are components of an optimistic leadership style that can determine successful, future-driven leadership .

Perseverance

Educational leaders are faced with many challenges. They are often called upon when social and cultural issues arise , when injustice dominates current events, and when individuals and communities are suffering. Attempting to develop long-term fixes for systemic problems while responding to immediate, pressing needs can be a tightrope to walk.

That’s why perseverance matters so much for educational leaders. For example, DonorBox ranks “resilience and stamina” as the number one quality of a successful nonprofit founder :

Hardship is a daily reality for most nonprofit leaders. The Greater Good Science Center defines resilience skills as being able to minimize the impact of stress, which in turn helps us avoid burnout. Nonprofit founders need to be flexible, willing to adapt, and able to move forward despite setbacks— demonstrating persistence.

Educational leadership skills

Professionals who are trained in educational leadership are equipped with many of the top skills that employers are looking for in the modern workplace. Some of the most important educational leadership skills, which correlate with some of the most-wanted skills among recruiters, schools, and companies, are analytical thinking, collaboration, and leadership. 

Analytical Thinking

The World Economic Forum named “analytical thinking and innovation” as the number one skill for 2025 in “The Future of Jobs Report 2020 .” As more and more data becomes available in every sector, from education to the corporate world, leaders with strong analytical thinking skills are more necessary than ever when it comes to asking the right questions of the data set before them. 

Consider just a few examples of how analytical thinking has made a positive difference in organizations led by educational leaders :

• School administrators are applying analytical thinking to student data to improve their return on investment for technology purchases and to highlight best practices that lead to better student outcomes. For example, a charter school administrator analyzed data and discovered that one biology teacher specifically outperformed the other biology teachers in the school. So the leader designated that teacher as the biology mentor for all charter schools in their system. 
• Human resources directors are cutting through their cognitive biases and experiencing new insights in existing company cultures as they apply analytical thinking in minimizing bias and increasing fairness.
• Community college administrators find that good data analysis helps them to make more informed decisions and present compelling evidence to key stakeholders.

Collaboration 

Educational leaders often spend a great deal of time speaking to others—whether those they are serving, those who work within their organizations, or community partners. By collaborating with diverse audiences and stakeholders about organizational research, practices, and theories, educational leaders can make collaborative strategic plans that lead to positive outcomes. 

Here are some examples of how educational leaders have fostered collaboration to create positive effects:

• Ten liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania partner to facilitate faculty development, study abroad programs, and compliance and risk management.
• Community organizations in rural north central Wisconsin collaborated to serve over 1000 immigrant families and provide them with information about the COVID-19 pandemic in their preferred language.
• A school district, a pair of agencies serving homeless youth, and a group of local philanthropists in Texas repurposed an abandoned school into a shelter that serves approximately 4,000 unhoused students.

The top considerations of an educational leader

Professionals in educational leadership roles will perform a multitude of tasks based on their specific positions, which is to say that a superintendent’s day may look quite different from a human resource director’s day. But, if we peel back the layers just a bit, we’ll see that many of their decisions and approaches are likely shaped in similar ways and based in similar issues faced by educational leaders, including:

• How to answer questions of equity, ethics, and social justice 
• What it looks like to bring about solutions to complex problems
• The way to make a positive difference in a community or culture
• How to make and measure a positive impact in a given setting, person, or group

Equity and educational leadership

One of the highest callings of educational leaders is fostering diversity, inclusion, and equity among the people they lead. As a practitioner, the role of the educational leadership professional is not one of theory or distance from real communities. As people who work with people, educational leadership professionals are embedded every day in real-world circumstances that deal with questions of social justice, ethics, and equity.

Educational leaders may pursue greater equity for the people they serve through community partnerships, advocacy, or educational opportunities.

Educational leadership jobs

Careers in educational leadership range from small schools to huge corporations. Educational leadership often refers to administrative positions in schools, school districts, and universities. Many educational leadership professionals work as principals or assistant principals, instructional coordinators, and academic deans. These individuals help to meet the needs of students, families, and teachers so that each person has the opportunity to reach their goals and experience positive outcomes. 

But, as we’ve discussed, school settings are not the only place where educational leadership is important. Educational leadership is also put into practice in the corporate setting, such as in the case of human resources directors, chief learning officers, and trainers. In the nonprofit sector, educational leadership professionals work as program directors, executive directors, and community organizers. Educational leadership professionals who are interested in policy may work as education policy analysts for school systems, in think tanks, or for lobbying organizations.

Educational leadership doctoral programs: PhD vs. EdD

For those who are interested in educational leadership programs, there are several options. Some people will go with a masters degree, others a PhD, and others an EdD. While professionals with master’s degrees can have successful careers in educational leadership, those with doctorates will experience more open doors and greater potential for the careers they want. 

So then, what are the differences between a doctorate of education and PhD in education ? Before we get there, let’s note the similarities. Both degrees

• Are terminal degrees (the highest a student can go on that academic path)
• Focus on enhancing professional knowledge in various environments
• Make candidates more marketable and increase their salary potential
• Benefit graduates’ employers
• Prepare candidates for roles in administration, supervision, training, development, curriculum, instruction, and teaching 

From that common ground, some differences emerge. Let’s take a look at what they are. 

A PhD usually pursues a teaching career in academia and does first-hand research to help inform best practices. This allows candidates primary exploration of their field.

A PhD is likely to take on the role of an academic in higher education. PhD candidates are likely to publish original research in academic journals and present research papers at conferences.

An EdD program is designed to develop scholarly practitioners for applied positions in real-world settings. The research is oriented around making a local impact and developing a better understanding of a local context. An EdD will feature a substantial core curriculum in leading an organization, ethical leadership and social justice, and implementing organization change. 

Because of its emphasis on real-world application, the EdD leads to more opportunities for its graduates. While PhD graduates will largely work in research and theory, which may limit the workplace opportunities for them, EdD graduates can apply their leadership knowledge in nearly any setting . It’s difficult to think of any workplace that wouldn’t benefit from visionary leadership, an emphasis on meaningful change and transformative partnerships. With an EdD, leaders can bring about impactful change in schools, nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses that support whole communities.

Become an effective educational leader with an EdD from Marymount University Online

Are you ready to foster strategic collaboration, empower meaningful change, and innovate in ways that make a direct, positive impact in schools, communities, or organizations? If so, an EdD from Marymount University Online may be an ideal fit for you.

The degree program is designed for working professionals who want to bring elevated skills to their current organizations or find new opportunities for leadership. With no GRE requirement and a path to completion that’s less than three years long, active professionals can prepare for educational leadership while maintaining their current personal and professional responsibilities. 

Imagine your future in education administration, corporate leadership, nonprofit management, or policy analysis. You can take a step toward that future today. Prepare to use transformative leadership to promote change across diverse instructional and organizational settings. With our rigorous, practitioner-focused degree, you’ll be ready to effect change that matters.

Learn more about the EdD from Marymount University Online from our students .

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Higher education leadership and management (helm) – advancing and supporting leadership development in south african higher education through scholarship, oliver seale, birgit schreiber.

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Do leadership development programs deliver what they promise? Well, it depends …

Demand for leadership development programs is high—but companies may have their own goals when pursuing them

Pisitta Vongswasdi - April 22, 2024

Tips for practitioners

For today’s companies, developing the managerial skills of their employees can be a costly endeavor. So, it’s no surprise that more and more are investing in leadership development programs (LDPs). But most of these companies don’t look to see whether their LDPs are having the desired effect within their organization. And that begs the question whether the initial investment was even worth it. A new study from researchers at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and other institutions shows that LDPs are often much more than a mere path toward their managers’ professional development.

The researchers asked 40 managers active at eight different European companies how they would justify a company’s investment in an LDP. From their responses, two things have been made clear: that there are four distinct perspectives people may have of these programs; and that the programs in question have a positive effect at the office that extends beyond the leadership qualities of those in charge. And these results are surprising, as the companies surveyed had not sufficiently evaluated the programs based on how well they met the intended goal of advancing one’s managerial ability. What are these four distinct perspectives that managers could assume when it comes to LDPs?

The Empiricist Perspective

Many organizations assume a purely empiricist perspective when reviewing LDPs, i.e., they will consider the program useful if they can prove that the behavior exhibited by their managers has tangibly changed. From their point of view, the program’s success is highly dependent on how closely supervisors support their managers—and on the degree to which the program has been integrated into daily work life. Here, the LDP has an effect both on the managers’ behavior and their performance at work.

The Believer Perspective

Other companies offer such programs because they are convinced that they will build character and have far-reaching effects on the participants outside of their managerial duties. That is, there is the belief that the program will make them better people. Companies that assume this perspective consider it their duty to offer their employees such opportunities for self-development.

The Cynical Perspective

Those that take the cynical perspective will generally view LDPs with skepticism. Rather than seeing these programs as opportunities for development, they reduce them to superficial branding tools, a trend, little more than a way for the company to appear as a good employer to the outside world. The programs are seen as a step on one’s way up the corporate ladder, something that must be offered but is, at its core, dispensable.

The Pragmatic Perspective

A company that assumes a more pragmatic perspective judges a program through a strategic lens. It will consider whether the program will add value to its organization and align with its strategic goals. As such, the purpose of these programs affects more than the company’s managers. From the company’s point of view, the programs have the task of ensuring harmony between its own values and those of its employees, promoting an exchange of ideas within the organization, and ensuring the next generation of managers.

These four perspectives show that LDPs fulfill no singular purpose on their own and that it is important to consider various criteria when evaluating their effect and developing (i.e., improving) them. Each of these perspectives has its own advantage: With its scientific approach, the empiricist perspective allows one to easily refine an LDP, as it reveals pain points for practical improvement and holds upper management accountable. Where there is a belief in the promise of these programs, there is often stronger commitment among the participants and more impetus to start new initiatives. The programs themselves also tend to be more effective in such environments. Those who assume a more cynical perspective are motivated by reform, as they are already looking at existing managerial standards through a critical lens. And the pragmatist maintains a strategic overview that pulls LDP-related activities into an integrated organizational system.

• To determine which of the four perspectives are prevalent in the company, those in charge of leadership development should identify the prevailing attitudes and beliefs about the program already present at the organization. This will lead to better conclusions regarding the company’s true intentions.
• Make use of the diagnostic check list , drafted based upon the results of this study. It contains explanations of each of the four perspectives mentioned above and can be used to better understand the attitudes toward managerial development at your company, both individually and collectively.

Literature reference

- Vongswasdi, P./Leroy, H./Claeys, J./Anisman-Razin, M./van Dierendonck, D. (2023): Beyond Developing Leaders: Toward a Multinarrative Understanding of the Value of Leadership Development Programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, (ja), amle-2021. doi-org.eur.idm.oclc.org/10.5465/amle.2021.0231&nbsp ;

Co-author of the study

Assistant Professor Pisitta Vongswasdi

Pisitta Vongswasdi is an Assistant Professor at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. Her research and teaching interests focus on of leadership development, diversity management, and mindfulness in today’s organizations.

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