How National Context Indirectly Influences Instructional Leadership Implementation: The Case of Israel

• In Event: Organizational Dimensions of Instructional Leadership Implementation

Abstract

This study investigated how the national context influenced the implementation of instructional leadership among Israeli principals. Data was collected through interviews and focus groups. Findings indicated three social forces - low power distance, clan culture, and an incomplete identification with the academic missions of schooling, which cohered into a set of social forces that limited Israeli principals' embrace of a conception of instructional leadership that had been 'imported' from the USA. These findings reinforced theoretical arguments that the national context affects principals' practices not only through institutional rules and regulations but also through shared values and beliefs and social norms. Therefore, the findings suggest that several versions of instructional leadership could be needed across different national contexts.

Authors

• Haim Shaked, Hemdat Hadarom College of Education

• Pascale Sarah Benoliel, Bar-Ilan University

• Philip Hallinger, Mahidol University