IEMA

 



Developing and Refining an East Asian Conceptualization of Principal Instructional Leadership

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Principal Investigator
Professor Allan Walker
Director of APCLC,
The Education University of Hong Kong
 
Co-Investigators
Professor Philip Hallinger
Professor Kantamara Pornkasem
Professor Nguyen Vu Bich Hien
Professor Edmond Law
Professor Lee Moo Sung
Dr. Ho Choi-wa Dora
Dr. Lu Jiafang
 
Funding Source
General Research Fund
 
Project Duration
2013-2016

Description

Over the past decade, policymakers in East Asia have implemented new policies and programs aimed at increasing the capacity for leadership in schools (Cheng & Walker, 2008; Hallinger, 2011; Walker & Kwan, 2008). The rationale for overhauling school management systems (e.g., school based management, quality systems, accountability structures) and developing new approaches to the recruitment, selection, training, and evaluation of school leaders is based upon an increasingly substantial empirical knowledge base concerning the contributions that instructional leadership makes to school performance (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Leithwood et al., 2006; Robinson et al., 2008).

At the same time, scholars have noted that this knowledge base consists largely of theory and empirical research from Western cultural contexts (Cheng, 1995; Hallinger, 1995, in press; Walker & Dimmock, 2002). This limitation of the knowledge base on school leadership in East Asia represents the focus of this project. The proposed project seeks to contribute to the development of the knowledge base on principal instructional leadership in four East Asian societies: Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. The fund would support data collection in Hong Kong, as well as the planning and synthesis of data collected by teams of researchers in all three societies. The data collected in Mainland China, Thailand and Vietnam will be collected and initially analyzed by collaborating researchers in those societies using their own funds. 

Objectives and / or expected outcomes or impact
  1. To identify the boundaries of the current knowledge base on the instructional leadership practices of primary school principals in East Asia based upon literature review of indigenous conceptual and empirical literature in China, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
  2. To develop a preliminary empirically-based understanding of how primary school principals in three East Asian societies conceive and enact their role as instructional leaders.
  3. To synthesize the results of qualitative research conducted in three East Asian societies in order to generate propositions concerning commonalities and differences in the enactment of principal instructional leadership within the region.
  4. To compare propositions emerging from this study of instructional leadership in East Asia with findings from the Western literature on educational leadership and management.
Outputs

Book
  1. Walker, A., & Qian, H. Y. (2017). Deciphering Chinese school leadership: Conceptualizations, context and complexities. UK: Routledge.
Book Chapter
  1. Qian, H. Y., & Walker, A., & Zheng, Y. L. (2015). Research on Chinese principals and their work. In H. Arlestig, J. Olof & Day, C. (Eds.), Research on principals and their work - Cross-cultural perspectives, pp. 331-356. Netherlands: Springer.
Refereed Journals
  1. Walker, A., & Qian, H. Y. (2017). Leading schools with migrant children in Shanghai: Understanding policies and practices. International. Journal of Educational Management, 31(5): 564-579.
  2. Hallinger, P., & Walker, A. (2017). Leading learning in Asia – Emerging empirical insights from five societies. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(2), 130-146.
  3. Qian, H. Y., Walker, A., & Li, X. J. (2017). The west wind vs the east wind: instructional leadership model in China. Journal of Educational Administration. 55(2), 186-206.
  4. Hallinger, P., Walker, A., Trung, G. T., & Nguyen, D., & Nguyen, T. T. (2017). Perspectives on principal instructional leadership in Vietnam: A preliminary model. Journal of Educational Administration. 55(2), 222-239.
  5. Walker, A., & Hallinger, P. (2015). A synthesis of reviews of research on principal leadership in East Asia. Journal of Educational Administration. 53(4), 554-570.
  6. Szeto, E., Lee, T., & Hallinger, P. (2015). A systematic review of research on educational leadership in Hong Kong, 1995-2014. Journal of Educational Administration. 53(4), 534-553.
  7. Walker, A., & Qian, H. Y. (2015). Review of research on school principal leadership in Mainland China, 1998-2013: Continuity and change. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(4), 467-491.
  8. Hallinger, P., Walker, A., & Trung, G. T. (2015). Making sense of images of fact and fiction: A critical review of the knowledge base for school leadership in Vietnam. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(4), 445-466.
  9. Hallinger, P., & Chen, J. (2015). Review of research in educational leadership and management in Asia: A comparative analysis of research topics and methods, 1995-2012. Educational Management, Administration and Leadership, 43(1), 5-27
  10. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D.A. (2014). Exploring features of highly productive research contexts in Asia: A comparison of knowledge production in educational leadership in Israel and Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. 36(1), 165-184.
  11. Hallinger, P., & Thang, T.D. (2014). Exploring the contours of context and leadership effectiveness in Vietnam. Leading & Managing, 20(2), 43-59.
  12. Tang, S., Lu, J., & Hallinger, P. (2014). Leading School Change in China: A review of related literature and preliminary investigation. Journal of Educational Administration, 28(6), 655-675.
  13. Hallinger, P. (2013). Reviewing reviews of research in educational leadership: An empirical assessment. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(4), 539-576.
  14. Hallinger, P., Lee, T. H. T., & Szeto, E. (2013). Review of research on educational leadership and management in Hong Kong, 1995-2012: Topographical analysis of an emergent knowledge base. Leadership Policy in Schools, 12(3), 256-281.
  15. Hallinger, P. (2013). A conceptual framework for systematic reviews of research in educational leadership and management. Journal of Educational Administration, 51(2), 126-149.
  16. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. A. (2013). Accelerating knowledge production on educational leadership and management in East Asia: a strategic analysis. School Leadership and Management, 33(3), 202-223.
  17. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. A. (2013). Mapping the terrain of educational leadership and management in East Asia. Journal of Educational Administration, 51(5), 618-637.
  18. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. A. (2013). Synthesis of findings from 15 years of educational reform in Thailand: Lessons on leading educational change in East Asia. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 16(4), 399-418.
  19. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. A. (2013). Review of research publication on educational leadership and management in Asia: A comparative analysis of three regions. Oxford Review of Education, 39(3), 307-328.
Refereed Conference Papers
  1. Li, X. J., Walker, A., & Qian, H. Y. (2016, April 8-12). A contextualized instructional leadership model in China: Perceptions of 22 principals in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting 2016, Washington, USA.
  2. Szeto, E., Lee, T., Hallinger, P., & Walker, A. (2015, March). A systematic review of research on educational leadership in Hong Kong, 1995-2014. Asia Leadership Roundtable 2015, Bangkok, Thailand.
  3. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D.A. (2013, April). Extending the educational leadership knowledge base in Asia: A comparison of research productivity in Israel and Hong Kong. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting 2013, San Francisco, CA.
  4. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D.A. (2013, March). Mapping the terrain of educational leadership and management in East Asia. Asia Leadership Roundtable 2013, Shanghai, China.
  5. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. A. (2013, January). Review of research publication on educational leadership and management in Asia: A comparative analysis of three regions. Paper presented at The Dubai International Conference in Higher Education: Succeeding in the pursuit of quality, Dubai, UAE.