Deciphering Chinese School Leadership

With existing educational leadership models and theories being predominantly western influenced, this book aims to provide more insight into school leadership in China. It pioneers building research- and practice-informed knowledge and unravels the complexities that characterize the scholarship, context and practices of school leadership. School leadership in China is presented through four sub-purposes: investigating how Chinese school leadership is conceptualized in the international and Chinese literature; exploring the shifting context within which Chinese school leaders enact their leadership, and examining key policies that have shaped the practice of leader development; extending the understandings about the complexities of work lives of Chinese school leaders; and further locating indigenous understandings of Chinese school leadership in the political and socio-cultural context of contemporary China, and the theoretical and conceptual context of international school leadership. This text will be particularly useful to international education researchers with focus on educational leadership, comparative education, education policy and education in China.

This open access book outlines key terms of China’s school leadership in Chinese political and legal, financial, administrative, and cultural contexts. It reveals and interprets the real meaning of these practical terms based on existing laws, government documents, school policy texts as well as the latest empirical findings from school leaders and teachers’ surveys and interviews in China. Providing a holistic picture of China’s school leadership through the unique meanings of these terms, the book offers researchers and graduate students insights into school leadership practice and its context in China. Thus, it would likely intensify readers’ knowledge base to analyse and interpret the phenomenon and research data regarding China’s school leadership.

This open access book outlines key terms of China's school leadership in Chinese political and legal, financial, administrative, and cultural contexts. It reveals and interprets the real meaning of these practical terms based on existing laws, government documents, school policy texts as well as the latest empirical findings from school leaders and teachers' surveys and interviews in China. Providing a holistic picture of China's school leadership through the unique meanings of these terms, the book offers researchers and graduate students insights into school leadership practice and its context in China. Thus, it would likely intensify readers' knowledge base to analyse and interpret the phenomenon and research data regarding China's school leadership.; Outlines key terms reflecting the characteristics and uniqueness of China's school leadership Provides readers with a holistic picture of China's school leadership by understanding the real meaning of the terms Offers insights into school leadership context of China to researchers and graduate students in this field Enriches the knowledge base to analyse and interpret the phenomenon or research data regarding China's school leadership Open Access This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

This text calls for a broader approach to comparative educational administration: one which uses culture as the principle means of analysis. The articles collected by Allan Walker and Clive Dimmock detail the educational practices and outcomes of other systems while taking into account the mediating influence of culture. In this way, these essays stress the specific aspects of the cultures studied, and map out common ground for the study of administrators' values, beliefs, and actions.

This collection of papers by a group of Chinese educational administrators came about through a graduate study program that facilitated comparisons of educational practices from other cultures against the backdrop of globalization. Collaborative international programs allow contrast and comparisons of practices, policies and educational principles but are not without barriers faced by candidates which can include but are not limited to culture shock and communication and language adjustments. Comparisons of international educational institutions are telling when examined through transfer credit policies, degree recognition, institutional accreditation and the value of academic credits in a globalized educational marketplace. China and Chinese educators recognize that movement and take it most seriously as demonstrated by the group of educational ambassadors who have contributed a variety of perspectives and interests to this volume. They are a new wave of thinkers whose studies embrace their native culture and open minds to alternative ways of understanding and acting on rapidly changing educational circumstances for learners, teachers and administrators.

Lingdao, the Chinese word for leadership, is rarely used to denote acts of social persuasion that occur outside of contexts of formal rank or status. However, the ubiquity of informal leadership in China raises a number of practical and theoretical questions. Based on an analysis of selected Chinese cinematic works depicting settings of educational practice and policy, the book explores how "Western" understandings of leadership emerge from these texts to form discursive media for social change. It also offers a new understanding of lingdao and leadership; how they represent a natural human desire, regardless of formal rank or position, to mobilize collective will, change minds, and achieve social change. The book will be of interest to professional scholars and graduate students of Chinese culture, educational leadership, mass media, and popular culture.

This book casts a refreshingly new light on current literature on school leadership, which has predominantly been viewed through Western lenses. Accordingly, key concepts and theories on leadership and school leadership have primarily been generated from thinking and research in the Western sphere. This is problematic, considering the fact that the leadership concept or construct, and its practices, are significantly influenced and shaped by contexts, and even situations. However, there are various contextual conditions and forces that can separately or collectively affect how school leadership is understood and practiced, including social, cultural, historical, geographical, economic and political conditions. In response, the book seeks to provide readers a better awareness of how the leadership construct or phenomenon is shaped by the varying contexts constantly affecting school leadership, while specifically focusing on the Asia Pacific region. In turn, it highlights various Asia Pacific contexts that shape school leadership, so as to ‘speak back’ to existing theories on school leadership.