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AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore how effective school principals use systems thinking, aiming to present the systems school leadership (SSL) approach -an approach where principals lead schools through the systems thinking concept and procedures. Design/methodology/approach -Participants were 28 Israeli school principals, selected as outstanding leaders by recommendations from their superintendents and according to their schools' achievements. The study employed semi-structured interviews as well as focus groups. Generating themes was an inductive process, grounded in the various perspectives articulated by participants. Findings -Data analysis generated four main characteristics of SSL: leading wholes; adopting a multidimensional view; influencing indirectly; and evaluating significance. Research limitations/implications -Further research that will explore to what extent and how often principals use systems thinking is required. In addition, replication in various educational contexts is important in order to substantiate the validity of the SSL's characteristics. Beyond principals' perceptions, more objective measures like direct observations are needed to evaluate actual implementation of SSL in diverse school settings. Practical implications -Identifying the SSL characteristics facilitates the development of practical processes for nurturing SSL in various stages of school leaders' educational career. Originality/value -This paper provides a useful conceptual and empirical framework to evaluate SSL as a managerial approach.
Systems thinking is a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. This study explores systems thinking among school middle leaders – teachers who have management responsibility for a team of teachers or for an aspect of the school’s work. Interviews were held with 93 school coordinators, among them year heads, heads of departments, evaluation coordinators, instruction coordinators, and information and communications technology coordinators. Data analysis revealed that systems thinking among school middle leaders consists of four characteristics: (1) seeing wholes; (2) using a multidimensional view; (3) influencing indirectly; and (4) assessing significance. The findings of this study expand the existing knowledge on systems thinking in school leadership, discussing practical implications as well as further research avenues.
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