The current study investigates the perspectives and experiences of teachers regarding their school principal’s digital leadership roles and technology capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted using a case study-based qualitative approach, and with a study group consisting of 89 teachers holding a Master’s degree. Maximum diversity sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods, was preferred in the determination of the study group, and the data obtained from the research were analyzed through content analysis. The five main themes determined based on the perceptions and experiences of the participants are listed as: “Digital technology usage, support for the digital transformation, support for technology-based professional development, support for digital learning culture, and digital leadership skills”. The results of the research revealed that the level of use of digital technologies by school principals during the COVID-19 pandemic was perceived as adequate by teachers. In addition, it was determined that school principals support digital transformation and technology-based professional development in schools. Furthermore, within the scope of the research, it was determined that school principals contribute to the construction of a digital learning culture in schools. The results of the study revealed that school principals’ digital leadership skills were clustered under three categories: technology use, managerial skills, and individual skills. As a result, in order to realize digital transformation within the context of K-12 education, school principals must first demonstrate their digital leadership and actively support the establishment of a digital learning culture in their schools.

It is well acknowledged that the roles of both school administrators and teachers have changed due to the global education crisis caused by COVID-19. During this challenging and critical period, it is essential to investigate how those working in the education sector who undertake strategic tasks for sustainable education are affected by the new conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates the interrelationships between COVID-19 quality of life, loneliness, happiness, and Internet addiction. The research was designed according to the relational survey model, was conducted with 432 school administrators and teachers working in K-12 schools. The research data was collected through online questionnaires, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test and analyze proposed hypotheses. The study’s results revealed a positive relationship between the COVID-19 related quality of life and loneliness, and that loneliness significantly positively predicts Internet addiction. In this context, due to the impact of COVID-19 on the life quality, the participants’ loneliness levels significantly increased, and this increase in loneliness caused them to become addicted to using the Internet. Interestingly, it was also determined that a positive relationship exists between loneliness and happiness and that as the loneliness of individuals increased, their level of happiness also increased. In many studies conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a negative relationship was revealed between loneliness and happiness. In the current study conducted during the pandemic, the relationship between the two variables was positive. SEM results revealed that COVID-19 directly affects the quality of life, Internet addiction, loneliness, and happiness of school administrators and teachers. Furthermore, it was determined that Internet addiction indirectly affects the relationship between loneliness and happiness.

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has resulted in inevitable radical changes across almost all areas of daily life, with the pandemic having revealed perhaps the greatest crisis humanity has faced in modern history. This study aims to provide thematic and methodological recommendations for future sustainable research programs through a bibliometric analysis of publications focused on management, leadership, and administration related to COVID-19. The data for the study were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) bibliographic database and then analyzed according to thematic content analysis and bibliometric methodology. The study’s units of analysis include countries, journals, keywords, research models, sample/study group, and time to publication. VOSviewer software and visualization maps were used to report the findings obtained from the analyzed data. When the study’s results are evaluated regarding the number of related publications and total citations, it can be revealed that Anglo-American-, Chinese-, and European-centered dominance continues in COVID-19-related studies. The vast majority of publications on this subject area are concentrated in the field of health. In addition, the study’s findings revealed that the examined articles were generally published in journals considered as prestigious, have high impact factors, are published in the English language, and with articles published in a short time after a much-reduced editorial/review and publishing process. Unlike previous bibliometric reviews, this research comprehensively analyzed the management-, leadership-, and administration-oriented publications related to COVID-19 with a holistic approach, providing essential findings and recommendations for future sustainable thematic research opportunities.

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Academic self-efficacy, academic amotivation, attitude toward the teaching profession, and classroom management anxiety are four of the most significant factors for both teacher training and performance because these psychological and behavioral constructs are first developed during the initial training, and reflect on the actual teaching quality of teachers. Therefore, investigation into their development and relationships, particularly with regard to prospective teachers, is significant both for the theory and practice of teaching. Hence, the current study aims to explore the casual relationships between these variables with a sample of prospective mathematics teachers, using the structural equation modelling (SEM). The participants were selected using simple random sampling method from prospective mathematics teachers studying at educational faculties of seven universities in different regions of Turkey. The data were collected using the academic amotivation scale, academic self-efficacy scale, attitude toward the teaching profession scale, classroom management anxiety scale, and a personal information form developed by the researchers. Data obtained from 581 participants were analyzed using path analysis. The findings showed that prospective mathematics teachers had a positive attitude toward the profession, and were eager to teach. Their academic self-efficacy predicted their attitude toward the teaching profession. Similarly, prospective mathematics teachers’ attitude toward the teaching profession correlated negatively with their academic amotivation. In other words, as prospective mathematics teachers’ attitude scores toward the profession increased, their academic amotivation scores decreased. However, prospective mathematics teachers had a high level of classroom management anxiety. Interestingly, prospective mathematics teachers with a positive attitude toward the profession experienced higher levels of classroom management anxiety. The findings mostly supported previous results in the literature. Implications were suggested both for teacher training and practice of quality teaching. MSC: 97B50

Distributed leadership (DL) has currently generated significant interest among researchers considering that schools have become too complex to be led by a single leader, and school leadership activity is already distributed in nature. Numerous studies have contributed to this knowledge base through empirical and conceptual investigations. Our study aims to demonstrate the bibliometric performance, intellectual architecture, and strategic themes of this field, with a particular focus on DL in schools. Our dataset includes 221 articles published between 2002 and 2021 on the Web of Science (WoS) database. Science mapping analysis was conducted using SciMAT to map the conceptual structure and thematic evolution of the research field, and applied for three consecutive periods so as to be able to compare/contrast the changing thematic trends. Bibliometric performance analysis was also employed in order to determine the distribution of related publications by years, the number of accumulated publications, the average number of citations per article, and the most productive/cited authors and journals. The results indicated that research on DL in schools has grown substantially over the past decade, and that the thematic structure has fundamentally evolved from school improvement/effectiveness and commitment to teachers and instructional leadership, innovation, and capacity-building in schools.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the ground-breaking innovations of the 21st century that has accelerated the digitalization of societies. ChatGPT is a newer form of AI-based large language model that can generate complex texts that are almost indistinguishable from human-generated text. It has already garnered substantial interest from people due to its potential utility in a variety of contexts. The current study was conducted to evaluate the utility of ChatGPT in generating accurate, clear, concise, and unbiased information that could support a scientific research process. To achieve this purpose, we initiated queries on both versions of ChatGPT regarding digital school leadership and teachers’ technology integration, two significant topics currently discussed in educational literature, under four categories: (1) the definition of digital leadership, (2) the digital leadership skills of school principals, (3) the factors affecting teachers’ technology integration, and (4) the impact of digital leadership on teachers’ technology integration. Next, we performed a comparative analysis of the responses generated by ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4. The results showed that both versions were capable of providing satisfactory information compatible with the relevant literature. However, ChatGPT-4 provided more comprehensive and categorical information as compared to ChatGPT-3.5, which produced responses that were more superficial and short-cut. Although the results are promising in aiding the research process with AI-based technologies, we should also caution that, in their current form, these tools are still in their infancy, and there is a long way to go before they become fully capable of supporting scientific work. Meanwhile, it is significant that researchers continue to develop the relevant knowledge base to support the responsible, safe, and ethical integration of these technologies into the process of scientific knowledge creation, as Pandora’s box has already been opened, releasing newer opportunities and risks to be tackled.