Science mapping the knowledge base on educational leadership and management in the Arab region: A bibliometric review
Abstract
This bibliometric review examined the emerging knowledge base on educational leadership and management (EDLM) in the Arab region. The review analyzed 718 Scopus-indexed journal articles to reveal the research landscape, author productivity and impact, thematic trends, and co-authorship patterns in Arab EDLM scholarship. The review found that the Arab EDLM literature began to grow significantly after 2010. Nonetheless, knowledge production is not evenly distributed, with some nations (e.g. the UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia) publishing a substantial number of studies, and others relatively few (e.g. Algeria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan). Leadership emerged as the most extensively studied theme, including studies of teacher, transformational, instructional, distributed, and social justice leadership. However, conceptual papers that analyze how EDLM is framed and understood in the Arab region are scarce. Co-authorship network mapping found that regional and international collaboration has played an important role in shaping research capacity and output. This finding highlights the potential of research collaboration as a regional strategy for strengthening the Arab EDLM knowledge base. The results reinforce calls to increase conceptual contributions, especially those that explore how the cultural features of Arab and Islamic societies shape conceptualizations of leadership roles, responsibilities, and stakeholder relationships. Strategies should also be enacted by regional organizations and scholars that address the capacity-building needs of scholars in Arab societies that have yet to make significant contributions to EDLM discourse. Higher education institutions are encouraged to create mechanisms that facilitate, reward, and sustain research collaboration.
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Biographies
Waheed Hammad is an associate professor of Educational Administration and Leadership in the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) and Damietta University (Egypt). He received his PhD from the University of East Anglia, UK. He is a member of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) and the Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES). His research interests include educational administration and leadership, instructional supervision, leadership preparation, and teachers and principals’ professional development. His international publication outlets include Educational Administration Quarterly; Educational Management, Administration & Leadership; School Leadership & Management; International Journal of Leadership in Education; International Journal of Educational Management; and Compare.
Yara Yasser Hilal is a lecturer (assistant professor) at the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, where she also serves as the coordinator for the Master of Educational Leadership program. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Leicester, UK, and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from McGill University, Canada. She has led and contributed to several funded research projects focused on principal and teacher agency, professional learning, and knowledge production in educational leadership within the Arab world. Her research interests include, educational leadership and management, continuous professional learning for teachers and principals, and critical and cultural approaches to leadership. Her work has been published internationally in journals such as Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, International Journal of Leadership in Education, Educational Action Research, International Journal of Educational Research, and Teaching and Teacher Education.
Philip Hallinger is the Global Talent Professor of Management in the College of Management, Mahidol University (Thailand), and Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Management, University of Johannesburg (South Africa). He is a former Chief Co-editor of the Journal of Educational Administration (2010–2017), and recipient of the Roald F. Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award from UCEA, and the Excellence in Research Award from Division A of AERA (2014). His research interests include instructional leadership, sustainable leadership, leadership effects, and international educational leadership.
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