Objectives and Framework

In recent years, many nation states have enacted accountability policies with student learning measured by externalized evaluations. Some nation states (e.g., United States) have state-based education systems with shifts toward centralization; others have a long history of educational centralization (e.g., France); and still others have shifted from centralized systems to more decentralized systems (e.g., Italy). School leaders must, then, navigate accountability policy changes in relation to different transformations and other changes (e.g., student demographics, digitalization). 

This symposium presents research from the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), the longest standing and largest leadership research network with members from 20+ countries. In ISSPP research, schools are considered adaptive social systems that sit at the nexus of policy, communities, and society. Researching school leadership amidst a complex and rapidly changing society requires conceptualisations and methodologies to be sufficiently robust and dynamic to capture the nuances of the ways that multi-layered influences in society, communities, and schools shape, and are shaped by, what successful principals do. This symposium presents new ISSPP research findings using the new conceptual framework and comparative, mixed methods research methodology. Papers in this symposium discuss how the ISSPP conceptualization and methodologies enable the research to capture the ways in which principals navigate within and between systems and layers of influence over time to grow and sustain success. 

Research Questions

RQ1: How appropriate is complexity theory to furthering understandings of successful school leadership, and how will such understandings advance the application of complexity theory in social and comparative research in education?

RQ2: To what extent, and in what ways, do diverse socioeconomic, cultural, political systems, and professional contexts at different levels of the education system influence how schools operate to bring about valued educational outcomes, especially those  serving high need communities?

RQ3: To what extent, and in what ways, is ‘success’ in schools perceived and measured similarly and/or differently within and across different countries?  

RQ4: What are the key enablers and constraints for achieving school ‘success’ in different contexts within and across different countries?

RQ5: How do different key stakeholders within and outside the school community and at different levels of the education system define successful school leadership practices? What similarities and differences can be identified within and across different countries?

RQ6: What similarities and differences can be identified in the values, beliefs, and behaviors of successful school principals across different schools in the same country, and across national cultures and policy contexts?  

In seeking to answer the urgent issues of defining how success is achieved and sustained in all schools, and especially those serving high need communities amidst the contemporary uncertainties, the ISSPP research examines school leadership through the lens of ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) which theorizes individual practices and development within the context of various dynamically interacting layers of social and ecological systems to capture the processes and actions in which schools operate, develop, and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable, globalized world.  

Methodology

The ISSPP utilizes a comparative, mixed methods design with a variety of data sources in order to bring multiple perspectives to bear in the inquiry (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Patton, 2002). Sampling features principals who lead successful schools in their communities. Data sources within each case study include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district/municipality, governors, principal, teachers, parents, and students, and a whole-school teacher survey. The comparative analysis of these data sources within and across different schools and countries (Authors, 2021) enables trustworthiness and enhances rigor (Denzin, 2012).

Structure of the session 

This session will begin with an overview from the chair followed by three paper presentations and audience discussion. 

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Two decades of developments in qualitative inquiry: A personal, experiential perspective. Qualitative social work, 1(3), 261-283.