The Critical Role of Middle Leaders in Schools:Cultivating a Culture of Trust and Supporting Educational Reform

This research delves into the often-underappreciated role of middle leaders in educational organizations,highlighting their significance as the linchpins between senior leadership and classroom teachers.Utilizing qualitative research methods,the study investigates the multifaceted responsibilities,challenges,and contributions of middle leaders in schools.Findings indicate that middle leaders foster a culture of trust within the institution by providing mentorship and guidance to new teachers.They undertake substantial tasks,such as team coordination,grade direction,and student supervision,in addition to their teaching duties.Despite their pivotal role,middle leaders often face mounting pressures and heavy workloads.This research underscores the need to recognize and support middle leaders in educational settings,acknowledging their vital role in fostering cohesion and facilitating the implementation of educational reforms.

Critical Perspectives on Changes in Educational Leadership Practice

This paper examines a group of Chinese educational leaders’leadership practice changes after undertaking a leadership development course offered by an Australian university in China.It presents their self-reported changes in leadership practice profiles and features selected vignettes.The study was primarily qualitative and interpretative,based on the interview responses of 20 participants.The findings showed that exposure to different perspectives appeared to expand participants’views and equip them with a wider range of leadership strategies.Despite some observable differences in practices reported by participants from the three sectors(school,educational system,and university),there seemed to be more similarities than variance.The respondents were cautious about radical changes in leadership practice,reiterating that local contexts and cultures must be considered when accommodating Western educational ideas.The study suggests that participants’self-reported changes in leadership practices resulted from mediation of contextual and cultural conditions rather than the direct transfer of Western ideas and practices into the Chinese context.

Design and Validation of Leadership Education Integrating Simulation and Project Based Learning

All engineering students need to develop their important skills of leadership in project management. Many students have never been leaders in their social and school lives. A leading role is unimaginable to them and hence they cannot imagine how to achieve it. The purpose of this paper is to report a result of a new leadership education program which links a variety of simulated experiences with real actions of students in project based learning （PBL） to develop their leadership ability. The first step is for graduate students to gain knowledge in the leadership arena. Then, they utilize simulation to experience leadership actions many times. Simulation provides a safe environment in which they can try out many different approaches in taking leadership in various situations. In the next step, students as a team utilize PBL, so that the above simulated experiences can help them to actually take leadership. Students can apply trained leadership to actual projects. It is highly effective to apply conscious leadership to a project aimed at a specific goal in limited circumstances. This education repeats both of the steps above, raising leadership abilities in an upward spiral. In terms of students＇ evaluation of leadership education in project management, 360-degree assessments were carried out by teachers, senior, and junior students before and after the course, and authors compare their assessments thoroughly. As a result, authors are assured that students not only gained knowledge but also raised leadership abilities in their actions after this education. Six months after the time of leadership education employing simulated experiences and PBL, follow-up interviews were conducted on its effects. Authors recognized the cyclic period that students apply simulated experiences to PBL and that they seek different approaches in simulation for solving problems found in reality. This research concludes that this cycle of simulator and PBL can produce effective leadership actions.

What Research Tells Us about How Trust Is Built in Kindergarten and Why It Is Important for Children’s Education

This paper mainly describes how to build a trust relationship in kindergarten and why trust is so important for children’s education.As the relationship between teachers and parents is becoming more and more tense,the relationship between teachers and teachers is becoming more and more independent(Tschannen-Moran,2014)[57].The trust relationship has a profound impact on children’s academic and social achievement(Bryk and Schneider,2002)[5].Therefore,the establishment of the trust relationship is of vital importance in kindergartens.The whole article can be divided into three parts:what,why and how.What is trust first,mentioned a few scholars understanding of trust and understanding?The second part is why trust is important in kindergartens and the factors influencing trust are mentioned.The third part is the focus of this paper,how to do to build trust in kindergarten.This paper mentions five solutions,including hiring good leaders;advance step by step according to the order of establishing trust relationship;building a culture of trust in schools;building trust between parents and teachers,teachers and students,and teachers and teachers;using the teaching method adopts the child-centered teaching mode.

An Analysis of the Development of Middle Leaders in Chinese Secondary Schools:The Role of the Principal

Numerous studies conducted on educational leadership have generally emphasized the role of principal,whereas,research on middle leadership remains limited[1].The purpose of this paper is to explore and investigate the development of middle leadership and seeks to fill in the gap by providing the analysis from a Chinese context.The author found that middle leaders are positioning at a challenging role,in which they are required to take charge of responsibilities of both a leader and a teacher,and in the meantime,they also need to negotiate between the senior leader,the colleagues.and subordinates.Furthermore,personal factors such as self-awareness and resilience are discovered to be pivotal for middle-leadership development.Apart from that,the principal plays a critical role in establishing collaborative school culture that facilitates the development of middle leaders based on the influences from the school’s history,culture,and policies.

Developments of Professional Learning Communities and Challenges for Principals in Chinese Urban Middle Schools

Professional learning communities(PLCs)have seen a rapid spread all around the world over the past 30 years.Since then it has been proved that they can improve teaching quality and thereby the achievement of students,and so PLCs have attracted increasing attention especially from education systems.In China,PLCs have been developed vigorously within schools since the implementation of the‘New Curriculum Reform’in 2000.However,the west has paid scant attention to and were not familiar with them since most research in this field in China was published in Chinese.Furthermore,PLCs are influenced by contextual and cultural factors,and therefore PLCs in Chinese education systems are different from those in Anglo-American settings due to long-standing cultural differences,which require consideration.Therefore,this research will investigate the PLCs in China that may be of interest.Many recent studies have shown that,although PLCs have made significant progress in Chinese urban middle schools through the enthusiastic efforts of educators and scholars,there are still several barriers.The primary purpose of this research is to review the development of PLCs and additionally to analyse the challenges faced by the principals.

A Programmatic Document for Strengthening Legal Education and Legal Theory Research in the New Era: Interpretation of the Opinions on Strengthening Legal Education and Legal Theory Research in the New Era

The release of the Opinions on Strengthening Legal Education and Legal Theory Research in the New Era(hereinafter referred to as the“Opinions”)is a milestone in the history of legal education since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.Standing at a new historical starting point for exercising law-based governance on all fronts and advancing the rule of law in China,this document outlines new development goals for legal education and legal theory research in the new era from both short-term and long-term perspectives.It adheres to the guidance of XI Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,and puts forward the principles of upholding and strengthening the overall leadership under the Communist Party of China,adhering to the scientific guidance of XI Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law,accomplishing the core task of economic development and serving the overall interests of the country,fostering virtue through education and cultivating talent with both moral quality and legal literacy,following the objective law,and integrating the underlying tenets of Marxism with China’s realities and the fine traditional Chinese culture,thus establishing the principles for the new development of legal education and legal theory research in the new era.It proposes to strengthen top-level design and strategic arrangements,promote the reform and improvement of the law school system,accelerate the improvement of the legal education system,and innovatively develop the legal theory research system.Therefore,a new development landscape for legal education and legal theory research in the new era has been established.The Opinions clearly stipulates the leadership system,management system,and coordination mechanism for legal education and legal theory research,and creates a new development system for legal education and legal theory research in the new era.

Professional Learning Communities in Private Schools in Bahrain and Oman:Reflection on Two Cases

Highlights•This study explores features of professional learning community(PLC)models in the educational contexts in Bahrain and Oman.•Findings based on the case studies of PLCs in two private schools in Bahrain and Oman,and theoretical input from international PLC literature has implications for policy and practice.•Study recommends promoting PLC approaches in the Bahraini and Omani educational systems in pre-and in-service teacher training programs,adapting best international PLC practices to the specific educational contexts of Bahrain and Oman,preparing school principals to lead PLC in their schools,providing human and financial support to these communities,and making school cultures more collaborative.•This study highlights the importance of the PLC approach,expands the existing conceptual/analytical framework,demonstrates how this approach is being used in two schools,and encourages other practitioners and researchers to embrace PLC.

Organizational Change in Schools

Purpose:This review aims to discuss the meaning of organizational change,change dynamics,and the current state of debates on organizational change in schools.The core purpose of this review is not only to restate the literature on organizational change in schools but also to challenge the current theoretical understanding of change in schools by rising the new perspectives on change in schools.Design/Approach/Methods:As part of this effort,we discuss the dominant perspectives of change,forces of change,and illustrate the interventions adopted by different school systems to deal with the need of change.Findings:The literature on change in schools suggests that,parallel to the change intervention in other organizational settings,largely fail.Falling short of intended goals in change interventions is not a simple methodological problem but rather an ontological issue of how we perceive change and organization.Parallel to the arguments in the literature,continuous change has been indicated as an alternative perspective to planned change.Finally,leadership has been indicated as a key driver of organizational change.Originality/Value:The review discusses applicability of continuous change and elaborate on alternative leadership approaches to guide continuous change in schools.