Policy Enactment for Effective Leadership in English Language Program Management

Global-Contextual TESOL Leadership in Diverse and Multi-Dimensional Contexts: A Paradigmatic Shift

“…This leaves language program leaders in diverse contexts with limited resources and guidelines to inform their practices. Furthermore, this universalization of leadership practices in the field of TESOL is being challenged by scholars who argue for the need to reframe the role of TESOL leaders, and that is, leaders who are more able to take a more local-global approach possessing the ability to negotiate between leadership theories and models, and the multiple layers of the context where a leader functions (Raza, 2021). This approach sees leadership as a dynamic practice where leaders draw upon different resources, borrow leadership ideas from different cultures, mix theories and approaches, and reconstruct leadership practices that are situational, informed, and context-specific rather than universal, fixed, and structured (Raza, Manasreh, et al, 2021).…”

“…Due to the increase in migration, immigration requirements, and institutional protocols for admissions, interest in leadership practices in TESOL or English education has gained momentum over the last two decades. Realizing the interconnectedness between leadership and learning, researchers have started investigating the influence of leaders in English education in general (Christison & Murray, 2009;Coombe et al, 2008) as well as contexts (McGee et al, 2014;Raza, 2021;Raza, Manasreh, et al, 2021). For instance, as an earlier work in this area, an edited volume by Coombe et al (2008) provided insights into the theoretical underpinnings of leadership development, skills, and strategies required by effective TESOL leaders.…”

“…Since the effectiveness of leaders directly influences the performance of their programs in achieving the intended outcomes (McGee et al, 2014), it is necessary that leaders in language programs prepare themselves through continuous professional development for the expected and unexpected challenges and issues that are generally faced in these positions (Raza, 2021). One of the challenges for contemporary leadership is to formulate literacy policies that ensure equal representation for both international languages and vernaculars in curriculum, teaching practices, and assessment.…”

“…Since these program chairs/heads must align their departmental policies with the institutional vision, mission, and agendas, and function as a resource between students, teachers, and higher administration, these leaders' perspectives often dominate the ways teachers interpret curriculum, assessments and pedagogy. Consequently, language program leaders, directly or indirectly, influence the teaching and learning process (Raza, 2021). Although at the micro level teachers are the main actors to translate policies into desired actions, program leaders play a significant role in affecting teachers' perceptions and beliefs of the policies, as well as the alignments of teachers with the school leaders' vision, which could affect policy outcomes (Raza, Manasreh, et al, 2021).…”

“…Understanding such program level diversity and the global changes will allow leaders to unpack international, national, and institutional policies to develop well-informed localized policies and practices that align with the dominant ways of doing and acting and also reflect global developments, which may produce more effective results. For this purpose, we need to distance ourselves away from one-size-fits-all strategies for leadership training and practices (Bush, 2018;Stoten, 2015), give equal importance to language teachers (Raza & Coombe, 2020) as well as leaders for context-specific leadership preparation (Raza, 2021), and provide opportunities for leaders to rise out of their own communities and language settings with a global perspective instead of borrowing models from other contexts (Raza, Manasreh, et al, 2021). Stoten (2015) argued that the characteristics of effective leaders are rather context-specific.…”