Educational Leadership and the Impact of Societal Culture on Effective Practices

Abstract

Research into what is effective leadership in different cultures provides guidance for leaders moving from one culture to another (House et al, 2014). There is a paucity of empirical research into how culture impacts effective educational leadership in culturally diverse communities, which provides the direction and focus for this study. The cultural backgrounds of staff can impact what they expect about i) how leaders communicate, ii) what actions help build trust and collaboration and iii) how decisions can or should be made (Hofstede, 1991; Meyer, 2014). This study analyses the extent to which school leaders adapt their behaviours in response to the cultures of their staff. Findings suggest that leaders in schools do adapt their actions, most often using different communication styles but also methods of building collaboration and trust, and decision-making structures. Culture impacts what are effective leadership practices (Dorfman et al, 2012) and educational leaders need to understand these potential impacts if they work in culturally diverse communities. This is important to consider for school leaders and leadership preparation programmes.

The Mediating Role of Intercultural Competence on the Relationship between the 21st-Century Leadership Skills and Teachers' Job Satisfaction

“…Bican (2021) posited that cross-cultural competence is inevitable in driving the world. Thus, Fisher (2021) said that school leaders must promote, practice, and uphold respect, mainly in how people communicate with diverse communities. Bhisamai et al (2022) also added that respect should be the utmost concern of everyone in communicating, regardless of cultural affiliation.…”

Proposed Model for the Excellent Educational System: Overview of the Field

“…Findings of the study publicized that leaders in schools adjust their actions and methods based on the surrounding cultural impact. Thus, educational leaders need to understand these potential impacts if they work in culturally diverse communities [39].…”

Listening to Leaders

“…Local research into entrepreneurship education leadership could take into consideration local values for leadership styles (Daniëls et al, 2019;Fisher, 2021;Tan, 2018) and preferences for student's entrepreneurial learning (Hardie et al, 2022b) within the current context for entrepreneurship (Ramsgaard et al, 2021). An analogy for growing local understanding of effectively implementing entrepreneurship education through research is presented in Figure 2.…”