Melanie C. Brooks

Fear and Trembling in the American High School Educational Reform and Teacher Alienation

This article reports findings from a two-year case study of teachers in a single public high school. Data were gathered and analyzed using a conceptual framework that conceived of alienation as a set of five sub-constructs: powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, isolation, and estrangement. Findings suggested that teachers experienced each of these forms of alienation, but that each individual teacher interpreted them in a unique manner. Moreover, data suggested that for individual teachers, experiences of alienation varied from situation to situation and evolved over time. The authors concluded that teacher alienation was a fluid phenomenon, a seemingly basic assertion that has profound implications for teachers, administrators, and policymakers as they consider adopting or implementing reform initiatives.

School principals in Southern Thailand Exploring trust with community leaders during conflict

This article reports findings from a case study of school principals in Southern Thailand who work in areas targeted by Muslim separatist groups. Data were gathered and analyzed using a conceptual framework that conceived of trust as five interrelated constructs: benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competence. This study builds on prior trust research by examining trust in a specific non-Western cultural context that is moderated by two cultural phenomena: violence and ethno-religious difference. This study is a unique contribution to both the broader research on trust and to our understanding of how leadership is enacted in different cultural contexts. More narrowly, this study also helps us understand the way school leaders in southernmost Thailand build and sustain trust with community leaders. Findings suggested that school principals experienced each of these forms of trust, yet each individual principal interpreted them in a unique manner. In addition, in regards to principal work, fear and problems with communication were found to hinder leadership efforts.

Mis) Understanding Islam in a Suburban Texas School District

This case study reports 1 Texas suburban school districts efforts to promote cultural proficiency after leadership trainings and explores how and in what ways this may or may not have improved school leaders’ understanding of Islam. Terrell and Lindseys (2009) conceptual framework of Leadership and the Cultural Proficiency Continuum guided the inquiry, which was comprised of constructs that span from culturally destructive to proficient. Data collection included semistructured interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and documents. The analysis of data revealed that the cultural proficiency trainings did and did not influence the cultural proficiency of educators working in the district.

The challenges to and the need for international research in educational leadership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: to discuss methodological challenges facing US scholars when conducting international research; and to present personal reflections as educational leadership faculty in the USA conducting and publishing on research undertaken in Haiti and Thailand. Design/methodology/approach – This study drew from educational leadership literature and personal experiences to identify methodological challenges to conducting and publishing international research in the field of educational leadership. Findings – The methodological challenges facing international research – language, data, publication, and career incentives – should not be reasons to hinder scholars from conducting research in international contexts. Allowing methodological deterrents to impede international research limits US scholar engagement in global conversations and places the field of educational leadership in the USA at risk of a parochial and myopic future. Originality/value – This paper explores the...

‘We still have bombings’: school principals and insurgent violence in Southern Thailand

This study explored how principals in Southern Thailand lead schools in areas of violent conflict. In order to better understand principals’ perspectives on working in such a context, the study was guided by Lynn Davies’ Drivers of Fragility Framework, which identifies five ‘drivers’ of conflict in communities: (1) problems of governance; (2) lack of security; (3) weak economy; (4) cultures of power; and (5) environmental degradation. Data were collected through 30 interviews and 6 school site observations. We used Davies’ Drivers of Fragility Framework as a priori analytic codes. Then, using analytic induction, we gathered additional data to identify and then refine emergent categories. Two themes emerged from the analysis of the findings, specifically the misalignment of national education policies to the local context and poor teacher quality. The findings suggested that principals were able to influence local governance, community-based security, and environmental sustainability, but were limited in their ability to influence the weak economy or cultures of power in their communities. This study is a unique contribution to research focused on how leadership is enacted in non-Western cultural contexts and sheds light on what influence principals may have in alleviating social fragility.

Religious Conversion to Islam and Its Influence on Workplace Relationships in American and Egyptian Schools: A Case Study

This single-subject case study explored one teacher’s religious conversion to Islam and her workplace relationships in the United States and Egypt. Key findings of the study suggested that social context of schools influenced workplace relationships. As a Muslim-American teacher working in the American public schools, she was uncomfortable revealing her Muslim identity. Teaching in an Islamic-American school, she was welcomed as a member of the community. In Egypt, she viewed the schools through an American lens and chose to outwardly disapprove of administrative decisions. Her Muslim identity had no bearing on her ability to gain acceptance; rather, it was her overconfidence and ego that harmed her workplace relationships. Although Amy failed to foster positive interpersonal relationships while teaching, she continued to pursue teaching, hoping for a better situation at another Egyptian private school.

Islamic School Leadership: A Conceptual Framework.

ABSTRACT It is urgent that education scholars explore how Islamic values shape (and are shaped by) Muslim school leader beliefs, given the heightened anti-Muslim sentiment present in western contexts. Yet, there is a lack of scholarship on non-western approaches to leading schools. To address this gap, we drew from extant Islamic and educational leadership literature to develop a conceptual framework for Islamic school leadership. The framework is grounded in Islamic values and beliefs that cross socio-religious and contextual boundaries. Outside the framework are Islamic leader values. Inside the framework are four inner domains that influence the encircling values. Some beliefs will hold more sway that others, which will provide new insight into how Muslim leaders perceive their work and how this may influence their practice. Our expectation is that this framework will be tested, refined, and interrogated through empirical inquiry, thereby furthering scholarship in non-western contexts.

How does a Muslim teacher fit? One teacher's journey into and out of the American public school system

This comparative case study explored a Muslim teachers experience in 2 different types of schools: a public school and an Islamic private school. A conceptual framework guided the inquiry, which was comprised of constructs such as school culture, workplace relationships, and professional fit. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews and observations at the public and Islamic schools. The analysis of data revealed to this Muslim teacher that her failure to fit in at public school was a direct result of her identity as a Muslim. In each school, the direct and indirect actions of administrators were critical to her sense of belonging.

Developing from assistant to full principal in a context of social unrest: the case of Southern Thailand

Abstract This chapter reports findings from a qualitative case study of principals and assistant school principals in southern Thailand who work in areas targeted by Muslim separatist groups. Principals and assistant school principals discussed the pressures they experienced working in an area of conflict and the requirements placed upon them by the Thai Ministry of Education (MoE). This study emphasizes the importance of social context to school leadership and career development. Findings suggested that the MoE’s centralized practice of policy implementation has particular consequences on the development of principals in the three border provinces because it fails to take into account the unstable social context. Consequently, many teachers working to become principals and principals wanting to become senior principals find themselves unable to meet the requirements and resort to unethical practices to achieve promotion.

Islam and educational leadership: advancing new spaces for dialogue and understanding

As existing educational leadership thought is principally grounded in western Judeo-Christian beliefs and values, it is important to consider Islam as it relates to educational leadership and the e...