Welcome to our website School Leadership Across Contexts.

by Prof. Ann Lopez

We are excited about this work, the potential and the possibilities. This work was born out of a need by scholars and practitioners to address the gap in educational and school leadership theorizing and discourse from the continent of Africa and other non-western contexts. We know that leadership is a crucial ingredient in bringing about change in schools and improving the learning outcomes for students. School leadership has emerged as an important factor in school reform and addressing inequities in education systems globally. It has become a priority in education policy agendas internationally and has implications for student outcomes, teacher engagement and capacity
building. Research in the field of school leadership has largely been done in western contexts. Historically, school leadership research has been conducted primarily by Western scholars in Western contexts which have prompted calls for more research to be done in the Global South broadening knowledge base of the field and including alternative epistemologies.

White scholars and scholars from developed countries exert a disproportionate influence on educational leadership theory, policy, and practice, creating a situation where a relatively small number of scholars and policymakers (representing less than 8% of the world’s population) purport to speak for the rest, and as a such greater influence on educational leadership discourse, theory and policy by scholars from developing countries are needed to broaden the field (Dimmock & Walker, 2000). While there have been some shifts over the last twenty years, more needs to be done to broaden the knowledge base of the field. Africa remains a gap in the literature, and a strong contextually driven body of knowledge and models need to be developed that are more responsive to the realities faced by African children (Moorosi, 2020). The OECD (2008) suggests the development of school leadership frameworks that respond to current and future educational environments, as countries adapt their education systems to the needs of contemporary society.

School leadership within the global south and African context is an emerging area of study geared towards theorization based on local experiences. School heads play an important role in school improvement because they influence the quality of educational programs, teacher professional growth and performance, and school climate (Sebastian & Allensworth, 2012). A review of educational leadership from the African continent reveals a sparsity of articles, and given the size of the continent, there is much-needed attention from researchers (Hallinger (2017). Bush (2008) calls for special attention to the developing world and to Africa as there remains a gap in the literature. Moorosi (2020) argues that there is very limited coverage of leadership perspectives from the global south and in particular Africa. While implications and lessons can be learnt from western experiences, relying on western notions of leadership does not help disrupt the colonial legacies and does not advance contextually based African knowledge (Eacott & Asuga, 2014; Pansiri, 2011). We have already conducted research in Jamaica, and Kenya and will begin research in Ghana shortly. The research was also conducted in the Greater Toronto Area to give comparative data. The overall objectives are to :

• broaden the field of school leadership theorizing and practice
• better understand how school leaders in these contexts make sense of their work as school leaders;
• impact of school leadership development programs
• How this school leadership knowledge from these contexts can support a deeper understanding of the ways in which coloniality continues to be perpetuated in education and schooling and how this can be disrupted in policy and practice

Examining School Leadership Literature
The term school leadership has gained prominence among researchers (Hallinger, 2014; Harris 2009a; Pont et al., 2008; Robinson et al., 2009). The terminology varies by country, culture, education governance and by school leadership practice (Pont, 2020). The meaning of
school leadership has evolved over the years, from educational administration to being associated with activities unique to and within K-12 educational settings. The use of the term “school leadership” reflects changes in the role of leaders over the last twenty to thirty years, a shift from a more administrative and bureaucratic function to one that is more involved in working with teachers and other staff for the improvement of school results (Adam & Jean-Marie, 2011; Glatter, 2014; Spillane & Kenney, 2012). What school leadership entails may
depend on who is asking and answering the question “what is school leadership?”.

School leadership may be focused on skills, styles, behaviours, relationships, competencies, attitudes, performance and so on; and as Glynn and Defordy (2010) argue “there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept”(p.12).] Leithwood et al., 2006) for example, suggest that school leadership focus on moving people, teachers, parents, and staff through practical influence; while scholars such as Yukl (2010) and Moors (2012) suggest that school leadership is about the effect of the leader on people, transformation, visionary ideas, and practical solutions in situations. Kouzes and Posner (2012) argue it is about building relationships with people, accomplishing goals and good
practices for student success. Notwithstanding definitional plurality, school leadership has become an education policy priority around the world (OECD, 2008). Leadership is a crucial ingredient in bringing about change in schools and improving learning outcomes for students, second only to teaching (Leithwood, et al., 2004). School leaders, especially principals, are responsible for school quality and improvement (Anderson & Mundy, 2014). School leaders serve as the key intermediaries between the classroom, the individual school, and the educational system as a whole. The OECD (2008) has called for the
development of school leadership frameworks that can respond to current and future educational environments, as countries seek to adapt their education systems to the needs of contemporary society. School leaders must be intentional in challenging the structures and systems that impede student learning, and develop clearly articulated goals or outcomes (Yulk, 2002). This is particularly the case in the increasingly globalized and knowledge-based global economy; schools must lay the foundation for lifelong learning while simultaneously dealing with new challenges such as changing demographic patterns, increased migration, changing knowledge markets, new technologies, and rapidly developing fields of knowledge (OECD, 2008). It is important to conduct research with school leaders from which frameworks can be developed from their narratives and knowledge. Kitavi and van Der Westhuizen, (1997) suggest that principals in developing countries face problems that are uniquely different from their counterparts in western countries, such as inadequate resources, students’ welfare and instructional language and as such leadership development initiatives need to be contextualized.

There is a history of colonization in Ghana and other countries on the African continent and across the globe. This history is important in shaping policy and practices not only in school leadership but in education in general. Education systems in Africa are shaped by the legacy of colonialism and the field of leadership is implicated. This has meant that even when post-colonial countries claim their independence, their education systems are still tied to colonial ideas in the curricula, approaches to teaching and leadership (Moorosi, 2020). The adoption of Western models has been criticized for its unsuitability in the African context, despite claims of independence by post-colonial countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Pansiri, 2011). “Education systems, and particularly leadership are still blindfolded by colonial ideals including that make school leaders completely ignorant of contextual realities that make these ideals challenging” (Pansiri, 2011, p.9). Eacott and Asuga (2014) critique the dependency on Western intervention and models, arguing that the colonial chains may never be shuffled off the ankles of African education systems. This speaks to the urgent need to decolonize education systems in postcolonial
contexts like Jamaica, Kenya and Ghana drawing on historical, cultural, and socio-political contexts that make leadership development, policies and practice more relevant. Decolonizing education implies that whole systems need to be changed to combat the legacy of colonialism and coloniality (Battiste, 2013). Decolonizing is the systematic rejection of colonialism and coloniality, the dominance and hegemonic knowledge, representation, and theory used in teaching, leading and learning within education (Absolon, 2019). Decolonizing educational praxis disturbs “the structural as well as the functional coherence of official knowledges and learning discourses and their selectively dysfunctional scribbling of totalizing Eurocentric metanarratives” (Abdi, 2012 p. 22). The failure to decolonize policies in countries such as Jamaica, Kenya and Ghana is arguably why the success of leadership preparation and development persists (Moorosi, 2020). Decolonizing educational leadership has implications for teaching, learning and leading, the field of educational leadership broadly, and challenging the ongoing presence of coloniality in these countries within a post-colonial context (Lopez, 2021).

References

Abdi, A. A. (2007). Oral sciences and colonial experiences: sub-Saharan Africa, and the de-facto
power of the written word. International Education, 37(1), 42-59.
Abdi, A. (Ed.). (2012). Decolonizing philosophies of education. Rotterdam,
Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Abonyi, U.K., & Sofo, F. (2019). Exploring instructional leadership practices of leaders in
Ghanaian basic schools. International Journal of Leadership in Education. DOI:
10.1080/13603124.2019.1629628.
Absolon, K. (2019). Decolonizing education and educator’s decolonizing. Intersectionalities: A
Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, 7 (1) 9-25.
Adams, C., & Jean-Marie, G., (2011). A diffusion approach to study leadership reform.
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Akyeampong, K., Djanhmah, J., Seidu, S., Oduro, A., & Hunt, F. (2007). Access to basic
education in Ghana: The evidence and the issues. Country Analytic Report, CREATE,
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Amakyi, A., & Ampah-Mensah, A. (2020). A focus on craft knowledge in the preparation
of school heads in Ghana. In In P. Mooroso and T. Bush (Eds.), Preparation and
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Lopez, A.E. (2019). Examining Educational Leadership in Non-Western Contexts: Implications
for School Leadership, Theory and Practice. Paper presented at UCEA, November, New
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Lopez, A.E. (2021a). Decolonizing Educational Leadership: Exploring Alternative Approaches
to Leading in Schools. Palgrave McMillan.
Lopez, A.E. (2021b). Examining alternative school leadership practices and approaches: A
decolonising school leadership approach. Intercultural Education, 32 (2). DOI:
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Lopez, A.E. & Roofe-Bowen, C. (2020) Examining school leadership practices in Canada and
Jamaica: Bridging the North South divide. Paper at Canada Research Symposium,
February,Kingston. Jamaica.
Lopez, A.E. & Rugano, P. (2018). Educational leadership in Post-Colonial Kenya: What can we
learn from the experiences of three female principals in Kenyan secondary schools?
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Lopez, A.E. & Rugano, P. (2019). School Leadership in Emerging Economies and the Global
South: Challenges and Possibilities. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for Studies
in Education (CSSE). June, Vancouver, BC.

Lopez, A.E. & Rugano, P. (2020). Examining School Leadership Practices and Approaches in
the Global South: Challenges and Possibilities. Paper presented at ICSEI Global, January,
Marrakech, Morocco.
Moorosi, P. (2020). Introduction and setting the scene. In P. Mooroso and T. Bush (Eds.),
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