![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
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.
References
Section:
|
Alsaeedi, F, Male, T (2013) Transformational leadership and globalization: Attitudes of school principals in Kuwait. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 41(5): 640–657. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Antonakis, J, Avolio, BJ, Sivasubramaniam, N (2003) Context and leadership: An examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The Leadership Quarterly 14(3): 261–295. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Avney, Rosha (2008) The Principal’s Role Perception in the State of Israel. Jerusalem: Avney Rosha. Google Scholar | |
|
Aydin, A, Sarier, Y, Uysal, S (2013) The effect of school principals’ leadership styles on teachers’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 13(2): 806–811. Google Scholar | |
|
Bass, BM, Avolio, BJ (1994) Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Transformational Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Bass, BM (1985) Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. Free Press: Collier Macmillan. Google Scholar | |
|
Bass, BM (1997) Does the transactional–transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American Psychologist 52(2): 130. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Berkovich, I (2014) Neoliberal governance and the new professionalism of Israeli principals. Comparative Education Review 58(3): 428–456. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Berkovich, I (2016) School leaders and transformational leadership theory: Time to part ways? Journal of Educational Administration 54(5): 609–622. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Berkovich, I, Eyal, O (2017) The mediating role of principals transformational leadership behaviors in promoting teachers emotional wellness at work: A study in Israeli primary schools. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 45(2): 316–335. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Blanchard, KH, Zigarmi, D, Zigarmi, P (1985) Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership. New York: Morrow. Google Scholar | |
|
Bogler, R (2001) The influence of leadership style on teacher job satisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly 37(5): 662–683. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Burns, JM (1978) Leadership. NY: Harper & Row. Google Scholar | |
|
Bush, T (2011) Theories of Educational Leadership and Management, 4th ed. London: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Bush, T (2014) Instructional and transformational leadership: Alternative and complementary models? Educational Management Administration and Leadership 42(4): 443–444. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Cairney, P (2013) Standing on the shoulders of giants: How do we combine the insights of multiple theories in public policy studies? Policy Studies Journal 41(1): 1–21. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
CCSSO (2015) Model Principal Supervisor Professional Standards 2015. Washington, DC: CCSSO. Google Scholar | |
|
Cemaloglu, N (2011) Primary principals’ leadership styles, school organizational health and workplace bullying. Journal of Educational Administration 49(5): 495–512. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Conger, JA (1999) Charismatic and transformational leadership in organizations: An insider’s perspective on these developing streams of research. The Leadership Quarterly 10(2): 145–179. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Dinh, JE, Lord, RG, Meuser, JD, Liden, RC, Hu, J (2014) Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly 25(1): 36–62. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Eyal, O, Kark, R (2004) How do transformational leaders transform organizations? A study of the relationship between leadership and entrepreneurship. Leadership and Policy in Schools 3(3): 211–235. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Eyal, O, Roth, G (2011) Principals’ leadership and teachers’ motivation: Self-determination theory analysis. Journal of Educational Administration 49(3): 256–275. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Gumus, S, Bellibas, MS, Esen, M, Gumus, E (2016) A systematic review of studies on leadership models in educational research from 1980 to 2014. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. Epub ahead of print 22 September 2016. doi:10.1177/1741143216659296. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Hallinger, P (1992) The evolving role of American principals: from managerial to instructional to transformational leaders. Journal of Educational Administration 30(3): 35–48. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hallinger, P (2003) Leading educational change: Reflections on the practice of instructional and transformational leadership. Cambridge Journal of Education 33(3): 329–352. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Hardman, BK (2011) Teacher’s Perception of Their Principal’s Leadership Style and the Effects on Student Achievement in Improving and Non-Improving Schools. Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Florida, USA. Google Scholar | |
|
Hariri, H, Monypenny, R, Prideaux, M (2014) Leadership styles and decision-making styles in an Indonesian school context. School Leadership and Management 34(3): 284–298. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Heidmets, M, Liik, K (2014) School principals’ leadership style and teachers’ subjective well-being at school. Problems of Education in the 21st Century 62: 40–50. Google Scholar | |
|
Hersey, P, Blanchard, K (1982) Management of Organizational Behavior, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Hinkin, TR, Schriesheim, CA (2008) An examination of “nonleadership”: from laissez-faire leadership to leader reward omission and punishment omission. Journal of Applied Psychology 93(6): 1234. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Howell-Jack, A (2014) Fact or Fiction: The Influence of Leadership Styles on Student Achievement in Private Primary Schools in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Doctoral Dissertation, Minneapolis, MN: Capella University. Google Scholar | |
|
Hoy, WK, Miskel, CG (2013) Educational Administration: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
Humborstad, SIW, Giessner, SR (2015) The Thin line between empowering and laissez-faire leadership: An expectancy-match perspective. Journal of Management Epub ahead of print 9 July 2016. doi:10.1177/0149206315574597. Google Scholar | |
|
Judge, TA, Piccolo, RF (2004) Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology 89(5): 755. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Khasawneh, S, Omari, A, Abu-Tineh, AM (2012) The relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment: The case for vocational teachers in Jordan. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 40(4): 494–508. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Kuğuoğlu, İH, Küçük, M (2013) Turkish primary school principals’ transformative leadership styles perceived by teachers. Turkish Journal of Teacher Education 1(2): 90–101. Google Scholar | |
|
Kuhn, T (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Kurland, H, Peretz, H, Hertz-Lazarowitz, R (2010) Leadership style and organizational learning: The mediate effect of school vision. Journal of Educational Administration 48(1): 7–30. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kythreotis, A, Pashiardis, P, Kyriakides, L (2010) The influence of school leadership styles and culture on students’ achievement in Cyprus primary schools. Journal of Educational Administration 48(2): 218–240. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Leithwood, K (1994) Leadership for school restructuring. Educational Administration Quarterly 30(4): 498–518. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Leithwood, K, Jantzi, D (1990) Transformational leadership: how principals can help reform school cultures. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 1(4): 249–280. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Leithwood, K, Jantzi, D (2000) The effects of transformational leadership on organizational conditions and student engagement with school. Journal of Educational Administration 38(2): 112–129. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Leithwood, K, Jantzi, D (2005) A review of transformational school leadership research 1996–2005. Leadership and Policy in Schools 4(3): 177–199. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Leithwood, K, Jantzi, D, Steinbach, R (1999) Changing Leadership for Changing Times. UK: McGraw-Hill Education. Google Scholar | |
|
Litz, D, Scott, S (2017) Transformational leadership in the educational system of the United Arab Emirates. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 45(4): 566–587. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Lunenburg, FC, Ornstein, AO (2012) Educational Administration: Concepts and Practices, 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Google Scholar | |
|
MacKenzie, SB, Podsakoff, PM (2012) Common method bias in marketing: causes, mechanisms, and procedural remedies. Journal of Retailing 88(4): 542–555. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Maroy, C (2009) Convergences and hybridization of educational policies around ‘post-bureaucratic’ models of regulation. Compare 39(1): 71–84. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Meier, KJ (2009) Policy theory, policy theory everywhere. Policy Studies Journal 37(1): 5–11 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Menon, M (2014) The relationship between transformational leadership, perceived leader effectiveness and teachers’ job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Administration 52(4): 509–528. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Murphy, J (2006) Preparing School Leaders: An Agenda for Research and Action. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Google Scholar | |
|
Nir, AE, Hameiri, L (2014) School principals’ leadership style and school outcomes: The mediating effect of powerbase utilization. Journal of Educational Administration 52(2): 210–227. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Nir, AE, Kranot, N (2006) School principals’ leadership style and teachers’ Self-efficacy. Planning and Changing 37: 205–218. Google Scholar | |
|
Nyenyembe, FW, Maslowski, R, Nimrod, BS, Peter, L (2016) Leadership styles and teachers’ job satisfaction in Tanzanian public secondary schools. Universal Journal of Educational Research 4(5): 980–988 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Oplatka, I (2007) The Basics of Educational Administration: Leadership and Management in the Educational System. Haifa: Pardes Publishing. [Hebrew]. Google Scholar | |
|
Oplatka, I (2014) Differentiating the scholarly identity of educational administration: An epistemological comparison of two neighbouring fields of study. Journal of Educational Administration 52(1): 116–136. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Popper, K (1959) The Logic of Scientific Discovery. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar | |
|
Preacher, KJ (2002) Calculation for the test of the difference between two independent correlation coefficients [Computer software]. Available from http://quantpsy.org. Google Scholar | |
|
Razik, TA, Swanson, AD (2010) Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership and Management, 3rd ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon. Google Scholar | |
|
Retna, KS, Ng, P (2010) The need for transformational leadership in Singapore’s school-based reform. Journal of School Leadership 19(1): 19–33. Google Scholar | |
|
Sayadi, Y (2016) The effect of dimensions of transformational, transactional, and non-leadership on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of teachers in Iran. Management in Education 30(2): 57–65. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Shatzer, RH, Caldarella, P, Hallam, PR, Brown, BL (2014) Comparing the effects of instructional and transformational leadership on student achievement Implications for practice. Educational Management Administration and Leadership 42(4) 445–459. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Song, JH, Bae, SH, Park, S, Kim, HK (2013) Influential factors for knowledge creation practices of CTE teachers: mutual impact of perceived school support, transformational leadership, and work engagement. Asia Pacific Education Review 14(4): 467–482. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Steiner-Khamsi, G (2014) Cross-national policy borrowing: understanding reception and translation. Asia Pacific Journal of Education 34(2): 153–167. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Tesfaw, TA (2014) The relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction: The case of government secondary school teachers in Ethiopia. Educational Management Administration and Leadership 42(6): 903–918. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Urick, A, Bowers, AJ (2014) What are the different types of principals across the United States? A latent class analysis of principal perception of leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly 50(1): 96–134. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Van Knippenberg, D, Sitkin, SB (2013) A critical assessment of charismatic—Transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board? The Academy of Management Annals 7(1): 1–60. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Waters, KK (2013) The Relationship between Principals’ Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction as Perceived by Primary School Teachers Across NSW Independent Schools. Doctoral Study, The University of Wollongong. Google Scholar | |
|
Weber, M (1968) On Charisma and Institution Building. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Wu, C, Neubert, MJ, Yi, X (2007) Transformational leadership, cohesion perceptions, and employee cynicism about organizational change the mediating role of justice perceptions. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 43(3): 327–351. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals |
