International Online Journal of Educational Leadership

Artificial Intelligence in Educational Leadership

Donnie Adams — 2023-06-30

The rise of generative AI (GenAI) and artificial intelligence (AI) is wholly reshaping and redefining the nature of education delivery in schools (Fullan et al., 2023). The advancement of AI is set to directly impact the educational landscape at all levels, including school leaders. While increasing research has shown teachers and students making use of GenAI to a greater or lesser extent (e.g., Radianti et al., 2020), AI has been increasingly used to automate routine tasks in organizations (Raisch & Krakowski, 2021). Indeed, recent accelerations in machine learning approaches might result in AI might subsuming more complex managerial tasks (Balasubramanian et al., 2022; Parent-Rocheleau & Parker, 2022). Scholars are beginning to concur that AI will replace humans in several standardized managerial functions (Balasubramanian et al., 2022; Parent-Rocheleau & Parker, 2022; Raisch & Krakowski, 2021) such as the automation of tasks, data-analysis, communication with teachers, students, and parents.

This indicates that while GenAI and AI can assist school leaders in routine school management tasks, freeing them of the responsibility of administration and enabling them to focus on other more pertinent issues, it cannot replace human relationships and the feeling of empathy towards others (Harris & Jones, 2023). Common leadership conducts such as motivation, human skills and social intelligence that enables people to contribute to the collective goals of an organization have so far remained eluded by AI substitution scenarios (Antonakis & Day, 2018; Kniffin et al., 2020). Potentially, AI opens up new horizons for school leadership, but it also brings with it many ethical, moral, and practical challenges. The introduction of new technologies into schools might change the way leadership is enacted in schools, however, “true” leadership traits that caters to the needs of teachers and students should and will remain the province of humans (Quaquebeke & Gerpott, 2023).

This issue of IOJEL features a paper by Yih Wern See, Ishak Zahari, and Mohd Nazri Abdul Rahman focusing on preschool principals’ perspectives on the importance of transitioning children into preschool and challenges faced during this period. They found preschool principals were laying the foundation for learning, managing young children’s behaviors, and understanding routines in preschool. However, principals encountered challenges such as incompetency of young children, meeting parent’ expectations, separation anxiety, and unqualified preschool teachers. This research provides a new perspective for preschool principals in dealing with the situation of transition in the beginning of a new academic year.

Fazlina Mohd. Sani, Bambang Sumintono, and Zuraidah Abdullah present findings on professional learning community (PLC) practises by educational leaders and educators at MARA Higher Technical Colleges of TVET institutions in Malaysia. Through structured interviews, and open-ended survey techniques with educational leaders and educators from four TVET MARA Colleges, they found the six PLC domains represents the large power distance and collectivism of Asian society. The findings bridged the research gap in PLC implementation strategies in the context of TVET MARA.

Rosmalily Salleh researched teachers’ views on school-based professional development for promoting inclusive education in Malaysian primary schools. The study responded to the call of examining teachers’ views about their continuous professional development needs to improve their inclusive practice. The findings revealed besides school leadership and the understanding of inclusive education, the values and positive attitudes of teachers are important.

Kogulan Rajandran and Anusuiya Subramaniam investigated the impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work behaviour, while considering the role of psychological ownership as a moderator. They surveyed 300 faculty of business academics from five Malaysian research universities. Their findings show a non-significant relationship between inclusive leadership and innovative work behaviour. However, it was found that psychological ownership significantly moderated the positive relationship between inclusive leadership and innovative work behaviour. They concluded while the findings show an insignificant relationship between inclusive leadership and creative work practises, for universities and academics leaders looking to promote innovation and drive success in the quickly evolving higher education setting, this study bestows a valuable starting point.

Exploring Preschool Principals' Perceptions and Challenges in Transitioning Children into Preschool

Yih Wern See — 2023-06-30

Transition into preschool is a significant milestone in young children’s lives. Previous research on transition consisted primarily of parents’ and teachers’ perspectives which explored and explicated their expectations and concerns during the transition period. This research focused exclusively on preschool principals’ perspectives on the importance of transition and challenges faced during this period. This study adopted a qualitative approach by interviewing three private preschool principals. Findings included detailed descriptions which demonstrated the preschool principals’ perspectives on the importance of transition categorized into four themes which were laying the foundation for learning, managing young children’s behaviors, and understanding routines in preschool. Challenges faced by preschool principals in this study were incompetence of young children, meeting parent’ expectations, separation anxiety, and unqualified preschool teachers. It is hoped that the illustration of the findings contributes to a more holistic knowledge in transition into preschool by aiming to provide a practical solution for preschool principals to overcome these challenges in the future.

The Implementation of Professional Learning Community: A Study in Tvet Mara College in Malaysia

Fazlina Mohd. Sani — 2023-06-30

Collaborations among educators at TVET institutions must be promoted through a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to accelerate students' learning in skill competency to achieve better results. Thus, this study aimed to explore the domain of PLC practised by educational leaders and educators at MARA Higher Technical Colleges of TVET institutions in Malaysia. The information was gathered from educational leaders (ELs) and educators from four TVET MARA Colleges through a single case study using a qualitative approach with inductive reasoning, semi-structured interviews, and open-ended survey techniques. The data were organised using a thematic analysis technique through open coding and the 'axial coding' procedure. Furthermore, the ATLAS.ti 22 software was employed to classify these themes and establish relationships to find meanings that fit this study's purpose. The analysis revealed six PLC domains that closely represented the large power distance and collectivism of Asian society. Furthermore, this study found that trust and collaboration are essential factors in developing social and human capital among educators. In addition, recommendations for future research were provided.

Changing Emotions Before Changing Ways: Leadership and Guidance to Improve Teachers Inclusive Practice

Rosmalily Salleh — 2023-06-30

Like many countries across the world, Malaysia has affirmed its commitment to quality and transformative inclusive education. However, the complex journey to provide a quality inclusive education can lead to inconsistency in practice. To address these concerns and to better understand the challenge at hand, this study obtained teachers’ views on school-based professional development for promoting inclusive education in Malaysia’s primary schools. 76 teachers including administrators were sampled from five primary schools. 25 individual and eight focus group interviews were conducted. In addition, 10 classroom observations were carried out before the individual interviews. Data were analysed thematically using qualitative analysis software. To enhance teachers’ inclusive practice, it is found that besides school leadership and the understanding of inclusive education, the values and positive attitudes of teachers are important. Only through strategies and actions that can cause change to the emotions, and thus, attitudes and motivations of teachers, might there be a change in the way in which teachers will act.

How Inclusive Leadership Catalyze Innovative Work Behaviour: The Moderating Effect of Psychological Ownership

Kogulan Rajandran — 2023-06-30

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work behaviour, while considering the role of psychological ownership as a moderator. This research topic has received limited attention in the context of university academic research. To achieve this objective, a survey was conducted among 300 faculty of business academics from five Malaysian research universities, aiming to establish a relatively standardized setting. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26 and SmartPLS version 4 software. The study findings revealed a non-significant relationship between inclusive leadership and innovative work behaviour. However, it was found that psychological ownership significantly moderated the positive relationship between inclusive leadership and innovative work behaviour. These findings provide a significant contribution to the existing literature on inclusive leadership, innovative work behaviour, and psychological ownership among academics in universities.