This study examines primary school teachers’ perspectives on teacher leadership and the role of administrative support in Türkiye and Palestine. It focuses on teachers’ expectations of school principals in fostering their leadership capacities and the extent to which these expectations are fulfilled. The study was conducted during the 2022–2023 academic year with 24 teachers working in public and private primary schools in İzmir, Türkiye, and Gaza, Palestine. Adopting a qualitative research design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis with MAXQDA 2020.
Findings indicate both similarities and differences in teachers’ perceptions, shaped by socio-cultural, organizational, and political contexts. While teachers in both countries emphasize the importance of
supportive, participatory, and empowering leadership, the degree of administrative support varies. The study underscores the critical role of school principals in enabling teacher leadership and highlights the need for context-sensitive policies to promote sustainable school improvement

This hermeneutic phenomenological research examines the institutional obstacles to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study sought to chart the interrelationship of the issues and present a re-conceptualized model of growth. Data were gathered using in-depth interviews with sixteen EFL teachers, two focus group discussion and hermeneutic analysis of eight official CPD portfolios. The triangulated results indicate a vicious cycle of professional stagnation, which is caused by underlying socio-economic precarity, extreme resource loss, in-service training irrelevance, demoralizing classroom conditions, and resultant loss of teacher motivation re-coded as critical consciousness. Importantly, the analysis of the documents revealed the presence of the so-called Performative CPD, where poorly-rated portfolios (average: 2.60/5.00) are artefacts of a system based on compliance, which structurally silences the experience of the teachers. The research concludes that training interventions, which are isolated, do not work. It advocates an ecological approach to professional development, suggesting gradual, system-wide changes, which simultaneously focus on economic welfare, convert bureaucratic tools to dialogic ones, supply the necessary resources, and redesign support as job-inquired inquiry.

Purpose: Since ancient times, the concept of courage has been regarded as a virtue contributing to the advancement of humanity. In schools that enable the progress of society, encouraging teachers holds significant importance. This qualitative study aimed to determine topics of teacher encouragement, its effects, and the strategies used by school administrators. Method: A qualitative research was employed, and data was collected through interviews. The participants consist of 12 teachers and 6 school administrators working in qualified high schools in the western of Turkiye. Findings: In the study, teachers are encouraged by school administrators in areas such as projects, trips, professional developments, trainings, materials, resources, cooperation etc. It is evident that school administrators play a crucial role in encouraging teachers by maintaining open lines of communication. School administrators encouraging teachers has positive effects on both individuals and the organization; therefore, school administrators use various strategies as psychological and support strategies. This study, which touches on the importance of encouraging teachers to work more efficiently, provides clues to school administrators and ministries of education. Implications for Research and Practice: School administrators can be provided with teacher encouragement trainings, and teachers can be encouraged to simplify the permission process for trips, projects, and activities, and to provide more financial support for projects.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the knowledge of cognition dimension and metacognitive skills emerge and develop during mathematical problem-solving processes within the framework of the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach. The study was designed as an action research conducted with primary school students. The participants consisted of eight fourth-grade students attending a public primary school in the city center of Aydın, Türkiye, who exhibited deficiencies in metacognitive indicators and had no diagnosis of learning disabilities reported by the Guidance and Research Center (RAM). Data were collected through mathematical problems, rubrics, and researcher diaries. The problems were designed in accordance with the principles of the RME approach, and a think-aloud protocol was employed during the problem-solving process. The six-week implementation consisted of four action cycles and incorporated thinking cards, peer thinking cards, and self-assessment cards, as well as strategies such as modeling, metacognitive prompting, think-aloud, paired problem solving, and identifying known information. The findings revealed improvements in students’ knowledge of cognition skills. Problem awareness emerged as the first indicator during the process, followed by students’ ability to relate problem situations to their prior knowledge. In the later stages, students were able to connect new problems with previously encountered ones and explain their solution strategies more consciously. Furthermore, real-life problem contexts, classroom discussions, peer interaction, and metacognitive prompts were found to make students’ thinking processes more visible and to support the development of their metacognitive awareness. Consequently, the action plans implemented within the RME approach made significant contributions to the development of students’ knowledge of cognition and metacognitive skills.

Purpose: This scoping review examines how recent scholarship conceptualizes leadership and management in relation to organizational effectiveness.
Method: The review synthesizes 25 peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2021 and 2025 across public sector organizations, private firms, healthcare systems, militaries, and project-based environments. Searches were conducted in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Emerald Insight, and MDPI. The review followed the scoping review framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and reported findings in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines (Tricco et al., 2018).
Findings: Most studies positioned leadership as the primary antecedent to effectiveness outcomes, with management appearing as a mediated system, a relational mechanism, or a contextual substitute depending on organizational conditions. A smaller group of studies showed that strong administrative capacity and managerial quality can drive performance independently of leadership influence. The review also identifies a recurring measurement overlap between leadership and management that may overstate leadership’s contribution to effectiveness.
Implications for Research and Practice: Leadership and management are neither interchangeable nor independent; their relative influence depends on organizational structure, resources, and institutional context. Organizations may benefit from investing in both leadership development and management systems rather than treating one as a byproduct of the other.

This qualitative study explores why certain leaders remained in their roles during the COVID-19

crisis and how organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), perceived organizational support

(POS), and personal faith contributed to their staying power. Six leaders from diverse U.S.

sectors described rapid change, isolation, blurred home and work boundaries, and emotional

strain. Thematic analysis revealed four core influences on persistence: faith as a source of moral

grounding and stability; altruistic concern for others; the disciplined maintenance of standards

despite uneven support; and integrity-based decision making within an individualistic culture.

Participants continued to enact behaviors associated with OCB, including reliability, compassion,

constructive engagement, and responsible organizational involvement. Faith practices helped

reframe adversity, supported coping, and reinforced identity alignment. The findings suggest that

leader persistence relies more on spiritual grounding, moral meaning, and relational commitment

than on external incentives. Organizations are encouraged to acknowledge moral labor,

strengthen community, and cultivate supportive environments that protect leader well-being.

When making improvements in education, developing solutions to educational problems, and designing more equal and fair learning environments, it is important to understand the phenomenon of globalization, the policies implemented in relation to it, and their effects. This review study discusses the effects of neoliberal education policies on curricula, standardized tests, and the teaching profession at the global level, while drawing on selected national examples to illustrate how this transformation is reflected in different educational contexts. The review method was used, and the relevant literature was examined in line with the purpose of the study. Ideas and claims were brought together and discussed in light of the reviewed studies. In this context, the study first presents a general overview of global education and then discusses global motifs in curricula. The following section addresses what standardized tests actually measure and how these tests can be viewed from a different perspective. Finally, in light of these discussions, the transformation of the teaching profession is examined and presented from a critical perspective. This study aims to offer policymakers, practitioners and researchers a perspective for achieving a more inclusive educational environment.