Editorial

Citation

Brian E. Roberts, D. (2013), "Editorial", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 27 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2013.06027gaa.001

Editorial

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Educational Management, Volume 27, Issue 7.

The last issue of the year contains seven papers from Iran, USA, Israel, UK and Pakistan. The first is written by Scott Eacott of the Australian Catholic University on the return on school leadership preparation and development programmes ��" a study on Australian university-based programmes. Using an illustrative example of Australian university-based educational leadership programmes the paper argues that methodologies for estimating the return on leadership development offers a powerful tool for making research informed decisions at the individual, organisational and systemic levels.

The second submission sees Ibrahim Duyar of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock USA with Sedat Gumus and Mehmet Sukru of Michigan State University contribute on “multilevel analysis of teacher work attitudes; the influence of principal leadership and teacher collaboration”. They state that a significant amount of research has linked teachers to student achievement and other educational outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the instructional and administrative leadership practice of principals and the professional collaboration among teachers, influence teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction in schools.

The next work is by Paul Gibbs of Middlesex University on ethics and academic freedom. This is a very different paper to most submitted to the journal and involves a discussion of ethics in education based upon Confucian ethics. The author states that a new way of looking at the ethics of higher education academics is through “role virtue ethics”. The role adopts much of the Confucian ethic and requires a systemic approach to higher education as a public good and the communities of “role virtuous” academics and scholars. Once achieved, mastery, expertise and wisdom comes about when good practitioners when good practitioners make good decisions in situations where rules might not have produced the intended benefit. This area of uncertainty requires which comes with experience and technical competence.

Transformational leadership in relation to male and female principals in Iran is the subject researched by Hassan Zeinabadi of Kharazmi University, Tehran. The purpose of the study is to investigate gender differences in transformational leadership and social exchange outcomes in public primary schools in Tehran using 400 teachers and 77 principals. The study suggests that there are some benefits associated with having female principals. Schools could benefit from having training programmes for principals that focus on developing the qualities that female principals display.

The subject of “Policy formation of international and globally minded educational leadership preparation” is developed by Pierre Tulowitzki of Kiel University, Germany and Jacob Easley of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA. The paper seeks to flesh out the major conditions and approaches for understanding and supporting school leader development within the international context. The work doesn’t propose a prescriptive agenda but seeks to describe and challenge current practices and ideological underpinnings. More specifically, this work aims to add to the literature by exposing intersections and gaps in the research on school leader development for globally minded twenty-first century school leaders.

Education in times of fiscal constraints and globalisation is the topic chosen by Iris BenDavid ��" Hader of bar Ilan University, Israel. Dissatisfaction with social arrangements in many societies is what lies in the attempt in the paper to provide an alternative to the viewpoint of a trade off between cohesiveness and competitiveness and strategies of redistribution that have led to the widespread dissatisfaction. Educational institutions are key elements of societal change. This study was conducted under the premise that the methods by which a state allocates resources to its educational institutions are the key operations for reforming and reshaping students’ academic achievements and by doing that to help reform society.

The final paper of this issue is on the quality of private universities in Pakistan ��" an analysis of Higher Education Commission rankings 2012 by Nelofer Halai of Aga Khan University, Karachi. The paper focuses on the ranking data of private universities; comparison with public universities has been undertaken where necessary. Two private universities have appeared in the top ten rankings for 2012 which has given a boost to that sector. The various intricacies of Pakistan university ranking is explained in the paper.

Dr Brian E. RobertsEditor