David Foo Seong Ng

A Review of Singapore Principals' Leadership Qualities, Styles, and Roles.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a review of empirical studies on principal leadership in Singapore. It seeks to provide a general picture of Singapore principals’ leadership qualities, styles, and roles. Design/methodology/approach – This is a systematic review of empirical studies, using a “bounded” approach with a focus on the main findings of the reviewed studies. In all, 36 studies were selected for the interview. The findings of these studies were open coded, synthesized, and clustered into different themes. Findings – The review revealed several qualities, characteristics, styles, and enacted roles of Singapore principals. While there are similarities between Singapore principals and principals elsewhere in the world, the review brought out some features unique to Singapore principals. Originality/value – This review contributes to the growing literature in comparative research on principals’ leadership and their enacted roles, and concurrently functions as a guide for further rese...

Distributed Leadership for ICT Reform in Singapore

This study examines distributed leadership in Information Communication Technology reform in a government school in Singapore. The study adopts a naturalistic inquiry approach, drawing upon a case study of the aforementioned school for much of its data. The study found that leadership for Information Communication Technology reform is distributed according to functions of transformational leadership, instructional leadership, emotional leadership, and the strategic management of resources. The key enabling factors are an official leadership position, access to expertise, support by senior management, and interpersonal synergies among the leaders. Senior management consistently performs transformational leadership, whereas middle management generally performs instructional leadership. Both senior and middle management provide emotional leadership.

Distributed leadership through the lens of Activity Theory

Purpose: Using Activity Theory as an interpretive lens to examine the distribution of leadership, this paper shares a case study on how leadership for an ICT project was distributed in a Singapore school. Method: The case study involved observations of 49 meetings and 34 interviews of leaders and the teachers who were involved in the ICT project. Findings: Applying the lens of third-generation Activity Theory helped to reveal two main interrelated activity systems, and the leadership actions performed by senior and middle management. The two activity systems comprised the school and the ICT project. The focus in Activity Theory on the social–cultural perspective highlighted the role played by social norms in mediating the leadership activity. Implications for future research: The conclusion focuses on the understanding of distributed leadership as analysed through the lens of Activity Theory and suggests future research directions. Activity Theory enables research on distributed leadership to identify and examine interrelated activity systems that various leaders are involved in, and how these impact the leadership provided.

Towards innovation: a paradigm shift in the school leadership preparation programme in Singapore

Among the many initiatives in the Singapore education system, schools are now tasked to be innovative in initiating school-based reform and to develop the spirit of innovation and enterprise in their students. To do so, school leaders will be the key. The Leaders in Education Programme (LEP) is a six-month full-time programme for specially selected vice-principals and ministry officers in Singapore to prepare them for school leadership. This paper describes how the programme attempts to develop innovative school leaders and identifies the key underlying principles of the programme. In particular, it examines one component, the innovation project, in detail so as to illustrate these principles and show how they operate in reality.

Factors which impact the distribution of leadership for an ICT reform: expertise vis-à-vis formal role?

This study examined the process of Information Communication Technology reform in a Singapore school. The focus was on distributed leadership actions, and the factors which enabled and constrained the distribution of leadership. This study adopted a naturalistic inquiry approach, involving the case study of a school. The study found that influencing factors consisted of people- and structure-related factors, including the possession of expertise, and the assignment of a formal role. Key enabling factors included an official leadership position and access to expertise, supported by senior management. Key constraints included a lack of expertise and perceived limited authority in ones official position.

Tensions in Distributed Leadership.

Purpose: This article proposes the utility of using activity theory as an analytical lens to examine the theoretical construct of distributed leadership, specifically to illuminate tensions encountered by leaders and how they resolved these tensions. Research Method: The study adopted the naturalistic inquiry approach of a case study of an elementary school in Singapore in the process of implementing a project using information and communications technology for instruction. The leaders identified included the principal, vice principals, and middle managers, including a senior teacher. Activity theory was used as the lens for data analysis. Findings: The article makes three contributions to distributed leadership. First, boundary-spanning aspects of work give rise to tensions in the distribution of leadership. Second, tensions provide a context for the exercise of influence by leaders—demonstrated through innovative solutions to counter the tensions. Third, the distribution of leadership is dynamic with the centrality of leadership shifting between multiple levels of leaders as they interact in intersecting activity systems. The case study also confirms the importance of studying the relation between structure and human agency in examining the distribution of leadership.

Leadership learning for complex organizations

Abstract Many school leadership programs are set and delivered in specific modules or workshops in order to achieve a pre-determined set of competencies, knowledge, and skills. In addition, these programs are driven by the faculty member and the prescribed content. As Singapore schools become more complex in the roles and responsibilities to educate the future of the nation, new ways to develop school leaders is needed. This study investigates the effects on leadership learning based on a complexity theory-based design leadership program. The learning outcome emerged as practical leadership knowledge that participants generated as they actively participate in the leadership program. A serious implication of complexity-based design would mean shifting from an “objective and course-driven” learning to “learning that emerged and process-driven.”

Instructional leadership structure in Singapore: a co-existence of hierarchy and heterarchy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the instructional leadership practices and structure in Singapore primary schools. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a qualitative approach. Data were collected from interviews of 30 Singapore primary school principals and 25 working-day observations of five principals. A grounded theory method was utilized to analyze the qualitative data. Findings The instructional leadership roles of principals can be categorized into four key themes: vision development and implementation, physical and organizational structure, professional development, and leading and managing instruction. Importantly, the study illuminates a hybrid structure of instructional leadership in which both hierarchical and heterarchical elements exist. Originality/value The current study expands the global knowledge base on instructional leadership by providing indigenous knowledge of how instructional leadership is enacted in Singapore schools. Simultaneously, this study suggests an agenda for future research on instructional leadership.

Developing Transformative Curriculum Leaders Through Reflective Inquiry

This case study examines the approaches and underlying principles of a new postgraduate teacher education programme called Management and Leadership in Schools (MLS) for heads of departments, levels and subjects in Singapore schools. The focus of our reflective inquiry is on the curriculum purpose and process, as well as the school communities and social contexts that support the development of these teacher-leaders. Through a critical analysis of our experience as developers and facilitators of the programme as well as the reflection of a sample of 50 MLS participants, the reports on their curriculum projects, and regional visits to a few Asian-Pacific nations, we gained some valuable insights and lessons. The results of our reflective inquiry have implications not only for the Singapore educators and policy makers but also other educators from countries with similar challenges to prepare a new type of school leaders for the twenty-first century.