Izhak Berkovich

Educational Leaders and Emotions An International Review of Empirical Evidence 1992–2012

The aim of the present article is to review the international evidence about emotional aspects related to educational leaders. The review focuses on empirical studies published in peer-refereed educational journals between 1992 and 2012. First, we address the importance of researching emotions for understanding educational leaders. Next, we present the method used in the production of this narrative review. The bulk of the article presents empirical evidence from 49 studies organized along themes. Three central themes have emerged in the review: (a) the factors influencing the leaders’ emotions, (b) leaders’ behaviors and their effects on followers’ emotions, and (c) leaders’ emotional abilities. Within each theme, we present subthemes that include summaries of the relevant key findings. The article concludes with several methodological recommendations and an outline of possible directions for future research.

A socio-ecological framework of social justice leadership in education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the gap between conceptualizations of social injustices and the desired social transformation that addresses multiple social subsystems and levels on one hand, and social justice leadership that addresses intra-school efforts on the other. The paper aims to expand the conceptualization of social justice leadership and tie it together with concepts of activism and social change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a socio-ecological perspective. It reviews works about social justice leadership in education, activism, and social change to present the notion that in light of existing social justice barriers educational leaders should serve as activists in schools and in the community and policy areas. Findings – The paper presents a macro framework, focussing on individual leaders in the field and on the consolidation of intentions, actions, and outcomes in a manner necessary for using social justice as an effective socio-political agenda in a soci...

Making the Right Choices: Ethical Judgments among Educational Leaders.

Purpose – Scholars have adopted a multiple ethical paradigms approach in an attempt to better understand the bases upon which everyday ethical dilemmas are resolved by educational leaders. The aim of this study is to examine the ethical considerations in ethical judgments of aspiring principals.Design/methodology/approach – To examine the ethical considerations involved in school leadership decision making, a specially designed ethical perspective instrument was developed that draws on the multiple ethical paradigms. This exploratory instrument was pre‐tested for validity and reliability among school principals and students of educational administration. The research sample consisted of 52 participants in principal training programs in Israel.Findings – Negative correlations were found between choices reflecting values of fairness and those reflecting utilitarianism and care. In addition, negative correlations were found between choices reflecting values of community and those reflecting care, critique, a...

The mediating role of principals’ transformational leadership behaviors in promoting teachers’ emotional wellness at work A study in Israeli primary schools

The present study aims to examine whether principals’ emotional intelligence (specifically, their ability to recognize emotions in others) makes them more effective transformational leaders, measured by the reframing of teachers’ emotions. The study uses multisource data from principals and their teachers in 69 randomly sampled primary schools. Principals undertook a performance task to allow assessment of their emotion recognition ability; half the teachers’ sampled (N = 319) reported on principals’ leadership behaviors and the other half (N = 320) on teachers’ subjective perceptions of principals as promoting teachers’ reframing of negative emotions into more positive ones. Data were analyzed through multilevel structural equation modeling. Findings indicated a cross-level relationship between principals’ transformational leadership behaviors and teachers’ emotional reframing, as well as a relationship between principals’ emotion recognition ability and their transformational behaviors. Furthermore, the study revealed that principals’ emotion recognition ability has an indirect effect on teachers’ emotional reframing through principals’ transformational leadership behaviors. The results provide empirical support for the claim that transformational leadership promotes emotional transformation. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

The Corrupted Industry and the “Wagon-Wheel Effect” A Cross-Country Exploration of the Effect of Government Corruption on Public Service Effectiveness

The present study addresses a topic neglected by the public administration literature: government corruption and its effects on public service systems. Specifically, the study focuses on the institutionalized form of government corruption and offers a framework to explain how corrupt industry operates. The results indicate that in countries with a high level of corruption, a higher ratio of public expenditure on education is associated with less effective educational outcomes, supporting the “wagon-wheel effect” (i.e., policy aimed to promote public service quality leads to its deterioration). The implications of the results for the administration of public service systems are discussed.

Methodological review of studies on educational leaders and emotions (1992-2012): Insights into the meaning of an emerging research field in educational administration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to do methodological review of the literature on educational leaders and emotions that includes 49 empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1992 and 2012. Design/methodology/approach The work systematically analyzes descriptive information, methods, and designs in these studies, and their development over time. Findings The review suggests that scholarly interest in educational leaders and emotions has increased over time, and identifies methodological patterns in this body of research. The results are compared with methodological data from other syntheses in the disciplines of educational administration (EA) and organizational behavior for the purpose of using the findings to produce broader insights into the meaning of an emerging research field in EA. Originality/value The findings of the methodological review are interpreted from two conceptual perspectives: functionalist and critical. Together, they offer a holistic portrayal of the meaning of producing scientific knowledge in an emerging research field in EA.

Emotional Reframing as a Mediator of the Relationships between Transformational School Leadership and Teachers' Motivation and Commitment.

Purpose Empirical evidence links transformational school leadership to teachers’ autonomous motivation and affective organizational commitment. Little empirical research, however, has focused on the emotional mechanisms behind these relations. Following the argument in the literature that transformational leadership can transform followers’ emotions, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether teacher’s experience of emotional reframing by principal mediates the relationships between transformational school leadership and these work-related outcomes (i.e. teachers’ motivation and commitment). Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were used to collect information from 639 primary school teachers nested in 69 randomly sampled schools. The data were analyzed using multilevel path analysis software. Findings The results indicated that the effect of transformational school leadership behaviors on teachers’ autonomous motivation was fully mediated by emotional reframing, and that the effect of transformational school leadership on affective organizational commitment was partially mediated by it. The authors further found an indirect relationship of transformational school leadership with affective organizational commitment through emotional reframing and autonomous motivation. Originality/value The present study makes a unique contribution to the literature by confirming that teachers’ sense of emotional reframing is a key affective mechanism by which school leaders influence teachers’ motivation and commitment.

Good Cop, Bad Cop: Exploring School Principals' Emotionally Manipulative Behaviours.

Research on school principals’ behaviours that affect teachers’ emotional states is limited. Currently, the focus is primarily on extreme manifestations of mistreatment and emotional abuse; normative daily behaviours, such as emotionally manipulative ones, have yet to be explored. The purpose of the present study is to investigate primary school principals’ manipulative behaviours, that is, principals’ actions aimed at enlisting others to advance their goals by stimulating emotions. Based on the self-report scale of Austin et al. (2007), we developed a modified other-report scale to explore principals’ emotionally manipulative behaviours with both negative and positive orientations. The scale was used in a cross-sectional field survey, in which teachers rated their principals’ manipulative behaviours. We found support for the prevalence of both types of principals’ emotionally manipulative behaviours and of their effects on teachers’ negative and positive emotions arising from interactions with the principals. We also found that principals who ranked higher in negative and positive emotionally manipulative behaviours self-reported having greater controlling tendencies. The findings and their implications are discussed.

School Leaders and Transformational Leadership Theory: Time to Part Ways?.

Purpose – After decades in which transformational leadership theory has prevailed as the dominant paradigm in leadership scholarship, critical voices have started raising serious concerns about its falsifiability, suggesting that transformational leadership theory should be abandoned. Although transformational leadership is a key to conceptualizing ideal school leadership, the discourse did not find its way into the education field. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The essay combines a review of the critique of the falsifiability of the transformational leadership theory with a discussion of the utility and fit of the theory. Findings – On the 25th anniversary of transformational leadership theory, the author suggest to the educational administration community not to abandon transformational leadership, but to address its shortcomings and look toward future challenges as the community contemplates the promises the theory holds for the field. Originality/value – The ess...

Will it sink or will it float: Putting three common conceptions about principals’ transformational leadership to the test

In discussions about transformational leadership theory, three conceptions frequently emerge: (a) principals’ transformational leadership behaviours are more prevalent in national contexts that are restructuring-oriented; (b) principals’ transformational behaviours are more effective than transactional behaviours; and (c) principals are either transformational or transactional. These conceptions are repeatedly addressed but seldom explored in an empirical manner. Accepting conceptions as given might result in flattening scholarly discourse and depriving practice of research knowledge. The present paper aims to investigate these conceptions based on data derived from published works and from the author’s database. The results of the investigation suggest that conceptions about principals’ transformational leadership in education are unsupported by empirical exploration. Educational leadership research may be improved by periodically subjecting conceptions to empirical test, and incorporating in future works only those that show empirical support. Such exploration is necessary to maintain relevance in an applied research field such as education.