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Using an information-processing approach, the current innovative study examines a model for the prediction of organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs), linking school principals' cognitive complexity and OLMs through the mediating effect of an innovative climate. The model was examined for three levels of principals' cognitive complexity (high, intermediate, and low). Study participants were 131 principals and 1,279 teachers from 131 elementary schools in Israel. Results indicated that principals' cognitive complexity promotes organizational learning mechanisms through a climate for innovation. The model with a high level of cognitive complexity showed a better fit to the data than those with intermediate (average) and low levels of cognitive complexity.

Relying on the contingency theory, the present study examines the influence of school characteristics and principal-teacher gender (dis)similarity on the relationship between principals' systems thinking (PST) and teacher withdrawal behaviours of absenteeism and intent to leave. Data were collected from two sources: 111 school management team members and 109 teachers (220 participants in total) randomly chosen from elementary schools in Israel. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that principal-teacher dissimilarity and a bureaucratic school structure moderate the relationship between PST and teachers' withdrawal behaviours. These findings indicate that the organisational conditions under which principals practise systems thinking can affect teachers' withdrawal behaviours. Therefore, this study may advance theory and practise regarding the implications of PST on withdrawal behaviours, which are an important determinant of teachers' performance and a school's success.

The study examines factors that boost principals' sense of resilience in their first year, as well as those that undermine it. 61 interviews were conducted with 21 school principals from five different districts throughout their first year in the role. Analysis revealed five categories of resilience-undermining factors. (1) Work overload that creates a sense of stress; (2) Difficulties in dealing with key players; (3) Lack of administrative knowledge; (4) Acceptance or rejection by the staff; and (5) Coping with the COVID-19 crisis. The analysis also revealed five categories of resilience-boosting factors: (1) Growth resulting from biographical events; (2) Short-term successes; (3) Supportive environment; (4) Drawing strength from the student environment; and (5) Acceptance by the staff. This study proposes ways of coping with the challenges of principalship through the prism of the resilience determinants of principals when entering their role.

Success of curriculum reforms calls for both collaborative learning and unlearning processes. Focusing on the latter, school doubting process, an innovative term, is used in this paper as an active framework for organisational unlearning through which educators question their existing mind-sets and unfreeze old approaches to teaching and learning. This qualitative study explores how high school principals shape a school doubting process during the implementation of a national curriculum reform. The study analyses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 22 Israeli high school principals who have implemented a national curriculum reform from all school districts. The findings indicate two major themes and sub-themes: (1) Nurturing a collective unlearning culture: (a) restructuring school thinking; and (b) creating safe time and space for school doubting; (2) Building school capacity: (a) creating collective opportunities for knowledge and skill development; and (b) encouraging shared responsibility for innovation.

Purpose: The need to innovate and apply alternative forms of school organization is evident as the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a need to establish new conceptualizations of schools and education management. The paradigm shift in learning inexorably necessitates a corresponding paradigm shift in educational organization, administration and management in order to build organizational resilience and capital. This study proposed framework seeks to address this issue by proposing a transformation of educational organization and management, shifting away from the unilateral, hierarchical school models and towards a unique, smart collaborative school ecosystem in which residents, industries, schools, universities and research centers can create new digital knowledge and inventive products, services and solutions by enlarging their capitals. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing upon Bourdieu's theory of social capital, our theoretical contribution is to present the influence of three forms of capital (social, economic and cultural) in cultivating educational capacity and resilience in the school ecosystem, with a particular focus on the role of digital capital in reinforcing the school ecosystem capitals. The authors also argue that ecosystem leaders and principals as boundary spanners play an important role in promoting capital exchange and enlargement as they balance the permeability of organizational boundaries at times of crisis by maneuvering across fields. Findings: Achieving educational improvement and building organizational capacity and resilience through the enlargement of system (and subsystem) capitals requires that key actors develop synchronized interpretations of educational aims and functions in various contexts. The authors delineate the importance of developing a synchronization strategy in the proposed conceptualization of smart and resilient school ecosystems. Originality/value: By integrating research from both non-educational and educational literature, the proposed framework provides a new perspective for educational administration, organization and management, shifting away from the unilateral, hierarchical school models toward a unique, smart collaborative school ecosystem in which members can create new knowledge by enlarging their capitals. Practical lessons for leaders and policymakers from our conceptual framework are proposed.

COVID-19 requires educational leaders to collectively make sense of their inclusive practices. This qualitative study explores how COVID-19 crisis shaped Israeli superintendents' and principals' role in fostering school sense-making processes during a reform based on Amendment No. 11 to the Special Education Law. Data were collected with 22 Jewish and Arab district and school leaders via Zoom interviews. Data analysis yielded three major themes: (1) Developing a shared vision and direction; (2) Building school capacity for inclusion: (a) nurturing a culture of collective responsibility (b) maintaining mental-resilience skills and well-being; and (3) Fostering school collaboration and trust with stakeholders.

Purpose: The role of leadership through senior management teams (SMT) has received increasing attention over the past several decades. Such leadership requires principals to play a key role in promoting SMT effectiveness. Therefore, according to the input-mediator-outcome model (Ilgen et al., 2005), this study's purpose is to investigate the mediating role of school SMT learning in the relationship between principal systems thinking (PST) and SMT effectiveness after accounting for students' socioeconomic backgrounds and SMT members' tenure. Design/methodology/approach: A three-source survey design with self-reported and non-self-reported data was used, from a sample of 282 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included principals and SMTs. Data were aggregated at the school level of analysis. Findings: The results from structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis indicated that SMT learning fully mediates the relationship between PST and SMT effectiveness, irrespective of the students' socioeconomic backgrounds. Originality/value: This study provides important insights into the role of SMT learning as a mediator in the relationship between PST and SMT effectiveness. In addition, the study responds to the call of previous studies to examine the effects of PST on characteristics and outcomes at the group level. Moreover, the proposed integrative model highlights the importance of SMT learning and suggests new ways to encourage it.

Purpose: It has been suggested that coherency between primary stakeholders involved in an educational reform is a key determinant of its success. The "Meaningful Learning Reform" is defined as an open reform, serving as a bottom-up solution to promote school autonomy. This reform allows school leaders to exercise considerable discretion regarding the broad policy's goals of reaching 21st century learning skills in public schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the variations in perceptions of policy makers and principals while implementing this generally outlined "Meaningful Learning Reform." Methodology: In this qualitative phenomenological study, interviews were conducted with principals (N = 30), that were involved in the implementation of the reform examined, and policy makers (N = 2) that served as national initiators of the reform. Findings: The data analysis of the stakeholders conveys the coherency of interpretations in three main themes: (a) misalignments in the nature of reform's meaning--including differences in the perceptions of the name given to the reform, the reform's purpose, and its foundation tenets; (b) contradictions regarding the authority leading the reform--various outlooks regarding the direction of the leading authority; and (c) difficulties in the process of implementation--including initiation and implementation phases of the reform. Originality/Value: The exploration of the variations of interpretations between policy makers and principals contributes to a deeper understanding of coherency in the educational context. The data provides new insights regarding the dynamics between top-down and bottom-up leadership while implementing a generally outlined pedagogical reform.

The phase of entering the role of assistant principals and the coping strategies assistant principals use upon entering their role have barely been studied. Most studies that dealt with assistant principals focused mainly on the role of the assistant principals and their readiness to advance to the position of school principal, while the study dealing with the transition from teaching to the position of assistant principal is extremely limited. The available studies indicate that it is a complicated transition having an emotional, social and professional effect, described in terms of "shock" and an "unpleasant surprise". This article presents the assistant principal role at school and the challenges at the induction to this role. It offers a model for mapping the factors that influence the process of entering the role. This model can enable the education system to trace beforehand assistant principals who experience difficulties in entering office, so as to provide them with support and proper preparatory training procedures.

Systems thinking involves attempts to understand and improve complex systems, examines systems holistically, and focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate. This essay provides examples of how systems thinking can enable principals to demonstrate instructional leadership and nurture learning-focused schools in the current era of complexity, diversity, and accountability. These examples illustrate how systems thinking contributes to developing school curriculum, empowering professional learning communities, and fostering performance data interpretation. Overall, systems thinking offers a comprehensive way of both conceptualizing and practicing leadership for learning within the entire school setting, which leads directly to enhancing the quality of instruction and raising students' achievement.

This qualitative study explores school principals' perceptions and enactments of shared sense-making processes during a generally-outlined pedagogical reform, i.e. "a broad-policy reform allowing educators to exercise their discretion in meeting its pedagogical goals," aiming to inquire what makes such processes critical to schools' collective efficacy within reform implementation. Interviews with 25 high school principals implementing this reform in state and religious-state schools produced data, whose analysis yielded two major themes and sub-themes: (1) Communicating a shared vision: (a) a shared pedagogical vision; (b) a shared values-based vision; (c) a shared vision of pedagogical bluff; and (2) Strengthening school collective efficacy: (a) facilitating a collaborative instructional culture; (b) adjusting school reality toward instructional focus. A shared sense-making process offers a beneficial framework for principals and teachers collectively navigating complexity and uncertainty, while implementing ambiguous pedagogical policy demands within their unique contexts.

The current study aimed to examine the perceptions of principals on aspects of the ecological school culture that contribute to novice teachers' retention. Narratives of 16 Israeli middle-schools and high schools principals were analyzed based on the social-ecological model. This model considers the different environments related to the professional performance of novice teachers. The findings highlight several key factors that encourage retention such as processes of training, support and supervision, and socialization amongst teachers. Principals and decision-makers can implement the proposed model to increase novice teachers' retention in their schools.

Purpose: Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) is a promising construct for understanding how schools can foster student achievement. Although much of the early research on CTE took place in North America, researchers from other parts of the world are now delving into this topic. The current study explores whether these powerful collective beliefs function similarly across diverse cultural and linguistic groups: Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel, and teachers in Turkey and the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Participants included 4,216 teachers from Israel, Turkey and the USA, representing four cultures--Arab, Jewish, Turkish and American. We tested configural invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (AMOS) and alignment optimization (Mplus) to identify the groups in which specific parameters are noninvariant, and to compare the latent factor means. Findings: Configural invariance showed adequate fit of the model structure across the four groups. Based on invariance tests, using the alignment optimization method, CTE scales held different meanings for specific items across the four cultures, where the USA and Arab cultures were the sources of these differences. Furthermore, in comparing the two-dimensional CTE belief scale across the four groups, latent means revealed the highest mean ranking for the USA and the lowest for Turkey. Originality/value: This research makes a significant theoretical contribution by examining and comparing the concept of teachers' collective efficacy in multiple cultures. This comparison can also contribute to instructional teaching practices worldwide.

Purpose: Organizational learning (OL) has been conceptualized as a critical component in school change processes. Nevertheless, OL in the school context is still somewhat obscure and difficult to comprehend, thus it is rarely translated into operational structures and processes and later permanently sustained. The purpose of this study is to present the organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs) framework as an institutionalized arrangement for collecting, disseminating, analyzing, storing, retrieving and using information that is relevant to the performance of school systems. Design/methodology/approach: First, the authors examine the previous research on OLMs as a conceptual framework for OL in schools; then the authors present the various validated measures of OLMs in schools; and finally, the authors suggest implications for principals, as well as future explorations of the issue. Findings: While the literature on OL in schools acknowledges the mystification of the term and the difficulty in translating it into operative procedures in dynamic and complex contexts, OLMs, as an integration of structural and cultural frameworks, are conceptualized as scaffolding for the development of learning schools. Originality/value: The OLMs' (structural and cultural) framework of information processing may help schools develop and sustain learning communities aimed at fostering the continuous growth of students and faculty members alike.

Purpose; This study explores a conceptual framework that addresses a school principal's self-regulated learning (SPSRL) as well as possible avenues for future conceptualization of, and research into this issue. Design/methodology/approach: The conceptual framework of SPSRL is based on an extensive literature review of the research on student's and teacher's self-regulated learning models. Findings: A novel conceptual and practical SPSRL framework for planning, performing, monitoring and self-reflection is elaborated. Research limitations/implications: This novel SPSRL conceptual framework provides school principals with a means to shape and develop processes, strategies and structures to monitor and evaluate their learning, enabling them to react effectively in uncertain and dynamic environments. This framework may open the way to future research into possible contributions of the SPSRL construct with other variables related to principal effectiveness. The suggested framework should be examined empirically in various sociocultural contexts, possibly substantiating its conceptual validity. Originality/value: The SPSRL conceptual framework can improve school learning, which might connect the individual (the school principal) and organizational (teachers) learning levels.

Through a sense-making lens, this qualitative study explores high school principals' considerations while they perceive and enact additional resources within a national reform implementation. Principals' allocation of resources, especially as part of a national reform, is a complex matter for schools' effectiveness in an era of accountability. This study investigates data from interviews with 22 Israeli high school principals implementing the national reform in secular and religious state schools from all school districts. Data analysis has yielded three themes: (a) promoting students' learning achievements towards matriculation exams; (b) deepening student-teacher relations; and (c) developing a new pedagogy. Exploring the allocation of resources to suit principals' particular needs through a sense-making prism may contribute to the scholarship and to the practice of school leadership while promoting change within a national reform implementation.

Principals' implementation of national reforms in the educational arena resembles a wild ride on a roller coaster as they face with contradicting demands, ongoing confusion and ambiguity. As critical change agents, principals interpret and translate reform demands into local practices through a process of sense-making. This current qualitative research explored 60 high school principals' sense-making processing of their leadership within a national reform through their use of metaphors. Data analysis yielded four themes: (a) reframing the principal's role and pedagogical autonomy; (b) reframing the principal's work; (c) reframing the school culture; and (d) reframing the principal's relationships with teachers. This study expands the currently limited knowledge about principals' experience with and responses to reforms, and suggests implications and further research on metaphors principals use within reform implementation.

Systems thinking (ST) is a holistic leadership approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. It focuses attention on how organization members act together in networks of interactions. This is done by researching organization members' mental models, which are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even mental pictures or images that influence how one understands the world and thus takes action in order to achieve desired results. The purpose of this study was to explore the ST of school management teams (SMTs) through mental models. The main research question leading this inquiry was: How does ST reflect and express the mental models of SMTs? Qualitative data were collected via structured open questions. Hundred and fifty-four SMT members who worked at different school levels participated in this study. Data analysis was conducted by generating themes through an inductive process of condensing, coding, categorizing, and theorizing. The data analysis yielded five major themes: (a) the nature of teamwork; (b) shaping schools' goals and policies; (c) systemic gathering of information; (d) shaping the pedagogical work; and (e) decision-making and problem-solving as one organic puzzle. These themes were found to be closely interrelated in the context of schoolwork. This study highlights the importance of understanding more fully the role of SMTs' ST in schools. The study proposes that SMT members focus on ST characteristics that can enhance overall effectiveness. This can help SMTs achieve better cooperation with their counterparts as a leverage for school effectiveness.

Researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners have underscored the need for schools to become professional learning communities (PLC) as leverage for school change in dynamic environments. Professional learning community is defined by the networks of learning processes among its community members, where teachers continuously deliberate with one another on how to solve problems that relate to teaching and learning. The purpose of the current study was to explore the facilitators and impediments of PLC in a special education school for pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Semi-structured interviews (84) and observations (18) were conducted over a period of two years. Data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously as an ongoing process throughout both years of inquiry. Generating themes was an inductive process, grounded in the various perspectives articulated by participants. Participants indicated that organizational resources (allocating time and place for collaborative learning), a learning culture, and an administrative support were major factors that inhibited PLC. There is a need to broaden the research on PLC to various self-contained special education schools, as well as inclusive schools.

This study aims to explore the frequency and extent of principals' use of systems thinking activities in Israel; to examine whether principals' gender and seniority predict their systems thinking activities; and to determine how systems thinking activities are related to school outcomes. Results indicated that principals' seniority predicted their extent of systems thinking, but no differences were found within principals' gender. Positive correlations between principals' systems thinking and middle-leaders' job satisfaction and organizational commitment were found. Implications for theory, practice, as well as future research, are discussed.

Purpose: This conceptual paper explores a novel model explaining teachers' perceptions of their effective leader through the lens of implicit leadership theory (ILT), using the concepts of school principals' sense-making and cognitive complexity (CC). Design/methodology/approach: The sense-making framework and CC theory were used to explain ILT, which focuses on individuals' perceptions of leaders' prototypical and anti-prototypical attributes. Findings: The theoretical model suggests that school principals as sense-makers with high levels of CC will be perceived by teachers as effective in terms of leadership prototypes, whereas teachers' perceptions of principals with low levels of CC will be related to leadership anti-prototypes. Research limitations/implications: This paper suggests a model for a multidimensional understanding of the relationship between principals' sense-making and CC and their influence on teachers' perceptions of an effective leader. Originality/value: Opening avenues for future research into employee perceptions of different leadership characteristics, this model emphasizes the cognitive aspects of school principals within implicit leadership theories. This theoretical model should be further examined empirically, and other types of CC, such as social and behavioral aspects, or affective complexity and self-complexity, should be considered.

This qualitative study explores how 60 Israeli high school principals vary in their perceptions and enactments of shared sense-making processes while engaging in strategic activities to gain teachers' support during a national reform implementation. Data analysis has yielded three major themes: (a) a common language; (b) a collaborative learning process; and (c) a shared working culture. Leveraging a shared sense-making process can serve as a beneficial framework through which principals and faculty members collectively navigate complexity and uncertainty while implementing policy within their unique contexts. Theoretical and practical implications for faculty members and principals are suggested.

Purpose: Relying on information processing and attribution theories, which relate to the formation of leadership perceptions and attributes, the current study seeks to examine the relationship between demographic variables and principals' systems thinking (PST) in an integrated model. The present study purpose was threefold: first, the study seeks to examine whether attributions middle leaders make about PST may show substantial and systematic variance in a management team. Second, the study seeks to investigate the influence of principal-middle leaders' relational demography variables (gender, education and tenure) (dis)similarity on middle leaders' PST attribute. Finally, the study seeks to explore the moderating role of duration of principal- principal-middle leader acquaintance in the relationship of demographic (dis)similarity to PST. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 305 dyads (middle leaders and their principals) from 101 schools. MANOVA analysis and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis. Findings: Findings showed that it is both appropriate and important to examine group-level effects when studying PST effects. Also, PST levels were higher in gender-similar relationships than in gender-dissimilar ones. Finally, duration of acquaintance was found to moderate the relationship between principal-middle leaders' gender (dis)similarity and PST appraisal. Originality/value: Focusing on principal-middle leader relationships, which are explicitly relational, with a consideration for level relationships may potentially highlight the need to consider multiple levels of analysis in order to understand how PST attribution occurs. This focus can help us to capture the core of PST social dynamics among the dyad, as well as highlighting the distinction, if any, between in-groups and out-groups. Acknowledging that school faculty are motivated by their interpersonal relationships with their principals and how such relationships are contingent upon demography (dis)similarity and the duration of acquaintance between dyads may help to broaden the understanding regarding potential antecedents of middle leaders' PST attribution and its implication for school organizations.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming increasingly important participants in educational programmes and implementing education policy. This study explores governmental policymakers' perceptions and reactions to NGO involvement in the implementation of education policy. We applied a qualitative research method, conducting in-depth interviews with ten senior policymakers in Israel's Ministry of Education. We utilised an inductive process of condensing, encoding, categorising, and theorising to analyze the data. Our findings yielded three major themes: (a) intersectoral partnership policies in education and mechanisms for their implementation, (b) budgeting and engagement policies that reexamine mutual responsibility models in education, and (c) the benefits of the intersectoral partnership in advancing education goals. This study expands the knowledge of policymakers' attempts to lead change, from methods and strategies of centralised and bureaucratic governance through community networks that constitute an intermediate path to realising social and educational goals in the age of privatisation and commercialisation in education.

Purpose: This study explored a theoretical model proposing direct and mediated effects for principals' characteristics--principals' information-processing mechanisms (PIPMs) and instructional leadership (IL)--with organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs), for schools' OLMs with teachers' characteristics--teachers' affective commitment (TAC), collective teacher efficacy (CTE), and teachers' job satisfaction (TJS)--and finally, for teachers' characteristics with students' achievements on national math and science tests. Design: Data were collected from a multisource survey of a random sample of 130 elementary school principals representing Israel's full socioeconomic range, 1,700 teachers from those schools, as well as data on those schools retrieved from the Ministry of Education data set. Data were aggregated at the school level for structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Findings: Analysis from SEM confirmed that IL emerges as a prominent mediator between PIPMs and OLMs. OLMs emerged as a prominent mediator between IL and the three teachers' characteristics. TAC and CTE were significantly directly related to students' math and science achievements. Finally, OLMs promoted students' math and science achievements only through CTE. Implications: The relationships found for both principal characteristics (PIPMs and IL) with OLMs in schools highlight principals' potentially important role in promoting collective learning within schools through utilization of OLMs, which can predict critical teacher characteristics (TAC, CTE, TJS), which in turn can predict school effectiveness measures (i.e., students' achievements).

Introduction: In the context of global challenges facing educational institutions, this study explores the dynamics between transformational leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and organizational resilience in school systems. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of collective teacher efficacy in the relationship between middle leaders’ transformational leadership and organizational resilience. Methods: The study involved data collection from 103 middle-leaders and 506 randomly selected secondary school teachers across Israel. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, focusing on the mediating role of collective teacher efficacy in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational resilience. Results: The analysis revealed that collective teacher efficacy fully mediates the relationship between middle-leaders’ transformational leadership and organizational resilience. Middle-leaders’ transformational leadership positively impacts collective teacher efficacy, which in turn enhances organizational resilience. The study’s findings suggest that educational institutions can significantly increase their organizational resilience by fostering transformational leadership and strengthening collective teacher efficacy. Discussion: The implications of these findings are both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, the study expands the understanding of the interplay between leadership styles and organizational resilience in educational settings. Practically, it provides insights for educational policymakers and practitioners aiming to enhance the resilience of schools by promoting transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive complexity (CC)--the ability to differentiate and integrate in a dynamic environment--has been shown to be essential to understanding complex and uncertain environments. However, educational leaders' CC has not been examined. In the current exploratory research, we examine the effect of school middle leaders' CC in relation to their Big 5 personality traits (neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness to experience, extroversion, and agreeableness) on their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as well as the moderator effect of CC between the Big 5 personality traits and OCB. Participants in this study were 325 educational management and leadership MA students from five higher education institutions acting as middle leaders in their schools. Results showed that a high level of differentiating CC was linked to a high level of openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness, and OCB. Further, high levels of integrative CC were linked to conscientiousness, openness to experience, and OCB. Low integrative CC was linked to a high level of neuroticism. Regarding the moderation effect, only integration ability serves as a moderator between conscientiousness, openness to experience, and OCB. By integrating research from both educational and noneducational literature, this exploratory study contributes to our understanding of school leaders' CC, suggesting future research avenues and implications.

In light of the growing complexity of schoolwork, researchers and practitioners have highlighted the critical importance of transforming schools into learning organizations (Mulford & Silins, 2011). In such organizations, teachers continuously deliberate with one another as to how to solve problems that relate to teaching and learning (Fullan, 2016; Stoll, McMahon, & Thomas, 2006). Research exploring organizational learning (OL) in the typical education system highlights the importance of learning from previous success in the organization. Learning from success aims to reveal the hidden knowledge that contributed to those earlier successful practices, and to "capture" the specific actions that were taken along the path to success (Schechter, 2010). With an attempt to investigate learning from success in the field of special education, earlier research indicated that school leaders have been challenged to establish learning communities as a means for meeting the intent as well as the spirit of federal laws concerning the education of students with disabilities (DiPaola & Walther-Thomas, 2003). The study explored the factors that promote or hinder collective learning from successes when working with students who have severe intellectual disabilities. While insufficient theoretical and empirical research has been conducted on learning from success in such schools, the purpose of the current research is to address the gap in the literature. With an attempt to implement learning from success in special education schools, implications for generating collective learning and limitations of this research will be discussed, followed by suggestions for future research avenues.

Systems thinking can be explained as the ability to see the whole beyond its parts and to see the parts in the context of the whole. As a holistic management approach, systems thinking enables managers to cope with increasing complexity and change. Given the inherent complexity of school organizations within dynamic educational environments, systems thinking can significantly benefit the realm of school leadership. Despite its potential contribution, the available knowledge on systems thinking in school leadership is meagre. This article seeks to identify possible avenues for research regarding systems thinking in school leadership, suggesting aspects of this leadership approach that are worthy of further academic exploration.

Keeping experienced and competent teachers in schools is becoming an important challenge for school leadership. Hence, this research tested an innovative model which explored the direct and indirect relationship between principals' instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, a shared vision, and a teacher's intent to leave their profession. Data were collected from a survey of 1700 teachers from 130 Jewish and Arab elementary schools randomly selected from the database of the Israeli education system. To test the proposed multilevel model, we conducted multilevel structural equation modeling. The analysis confirmed that collective teacher efficacy and shared vision emerge as prominent mediators between principals' instructional leadership and a teacher's intent to leave. Regarding the differences between the two sectors (Arab and Jewish) that exist in the Israeli education system, collective teacher efficacy, as well as shared vision, played a mediating role between instructional leadership and a teacher's intent to leave in the Jewish elementary schools, while in the Arab elementary schools, only collective teacher efficacy played a mediating role between instructional leadership and a teacher's intent to leave. This study adds to the body of research directed at identifying administrative support and work-related factors that may decrease a teacher's intent to leave and are amenable to leadership intervention.

Purpose: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been involved in academic programs in many Western countries, actively participating and reshaping policy implementation. This tremendous growth in external voluntary and philanthropic organizations in schools is associated with a global trend toward decentralization, commodification, privatization, neoliberalism and governmental budget cuts. NGOs have become very popular partners in attempts to meet education goals set by the government and are increasingly involved both in policy formation and implementation. And arise questions regarding the special challenges facing school principals. This study explored the perceptions of school principals regarding the NGO involvement in designing and implementing education policy in Israel. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied a qualitative research method, conducting in-depth interviews with primary school principals of schools with low socioeconomic student populations, where NGOs operate at the national level to promote educational achievement programs. This research approach acknowledges the existence of structured, fluid, subjective, flexible and dynamic realities that are attributed different meanings and interpretations and are shaped within political, cultural and social contexts. Thus, this study aims to reflect the perceptions of school principals regarding the involvement of NGOs in design and implementation of education policies. The authors utilized an inductive process of condensing, encoding, categorizing, and theorizing to analyze the data. Findings: Data analysis revealed the following three major themes evident in the perceptions of school principals: intersectoral partnership policies in education; a policy of re-examining mutual responsibility for education; and the benefit of NGO engagement in education. Inter-sectoral partnership policy is the emergence of alternative models, defined as different political and institutional ways of organizing collective action is an effective way to organize and benefit, and is a way of introducing new ideas, actors and resources into public education systems. However, this new model is a complex, ongoing and dynamic process with school principals at the helm of these new relationships. Research limitations/implications: This study includes new information on how school principals see NGOs involvement in planning and implementation of education policy. However, it was conducted with various limitations. First, participants and their input all relate specifically to education in Israel. Any generalizations that may be drawn from them to shed light on similar processes around the world would require the study also be conducted in diverse sociocultural contexts. Second, interviews with principals were held through the 2016-2017 school year. A longitudinal study would be required to examine whether and how principals feel after years of working with NGOs on various projects. Finally, this study only focused on the opinions of principals, representing only one involved party. This cannot be a comprehensive perspective on the partnership and collaboration between formal education systems and NGOs. Thus, further research is necessary to examine the perceptions of NGOs managers, policymakers, supervisors, teachers, pupils and parents. Based on the authors' study's findings, they recommend investigating whether, how, and under what conditions principals can nurture partnerships with NGOs as a platform for initiative, particularly the vigorous leadership needed to carry out the policy. Practical implications: The establishment and support of intersectoral partnerships between the Education Ministry and NGOs is a complex, ongoing and dynamic process with school principals at the helm of these new relationships. Principals have been given more independence, autonomy and clout as they maintain the external networks now contributing to improved outcomes and addressing unique community needs. Consequently, the more external factors become involved in education, the more principals are required to manage and implement the partnership. As such, policymakers (main office and district supervisors), implementers (NGO managers, school principals, teachers) and recipients (parents and teachers) must stay attentive to each other, adjust expectations as to the limits of responsibility, and primary to recognize the needs to keep making improvements to the partnership that are based on reciprocal assessment. More, all involved parties must continue to be active in developing, deepening and maintaining the employed mechanisms, normalizing them to become the standard in intersectoral partnerships in education. Originality/value: This study provides theoretical contributions and practical implications of NGO involvement in designing and implementing education policies from the perspective and function of school principals in this era of ever-changing economic and social reality. Establishment and support of intersectoral partnerships between the Education Ministry and NGOs is a complex ongoing and dynamic process with school principals at the helm of these new relationships. The principals have been given more independence autonomy and clout as they maintain the external networks now contributing to improved outcomes and addressing unique community needs and more principals are required to manage and implement the partnership.

This study focuses on the perceptions of NGO senior executives regarding their involvement in the design and implementation of education policy in Israel. We applied a qualitative research method, conducting in-depth interviews with NGO senior executives who provided rich and comprehensive descriptions of their perceptions. Data analysis revealed the following themes: (1) policy of cross-sector partnership in education; (2) mutual responsibility for education; and (3) the benefit of NGO involvement in education. This study provides theoretical contributions and practical implications of NGO involvement in shaping and implementing education policies.

The transition from teaching to assistant principalship is a turning point in a teacher's professional career. This transition not only reflects a change in one's hierarchical standing at the school but also constitutes a stage that affects one's administrative identity and aspirations to further advance in the management arena. Despite the importance of the assistant principal's position in the school, there is a lack of worldwide research on the transition process from teaching to assistant principalship and the emotional aspects of this process. This study's objective is to examine the emotional challenges faced by teachers as they enter the position of assistant principal. It is based on a qualitative study in which 23 assistant principals were accompanied during various stages of their entering office. Thirty-seven semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted (some of which were repeated interviews, conducted a year after the initial interview). In addition, four focus group interviews were conducted with newly appointed assistant principals. The research findings indicate an unexpected emotional ordeal on entering the role of assistant principal, often including stress, fear, crying, insomnia, fatigue, regrets, and guilt feelings. The conclusions and recommendations provided by this study may enable educational systems and colleges of education to recognize the emotional challenges that new assistant principals may face, thus addressing their needs by offering them mentorship, training, and support programs fit to deal with this unique position in school organization.