Purpose: The study aimed to explore the authority and power of kindergarten superintendents in public education to elucidate their leadership dynamics. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Israeli kindergarten teachers about the authority and power of their superintendents. Thematic analysis was used to…

This study examined the effects of enabling and coercive bureaucracies of the government education authority (GEA), and perceived organizational support during the pandemic on teachers' intention to leave the profession in Israel. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 267 Israeli public school teachers (80% women). I used a…

Through the use of the Program for International Student Assessment's (PISA) Global Competence results, the Economic Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Democracy Index ratings, and centralization-decentralization spectrum rubrics, this dissertation shows the association between level of democracy and education system, and the association of these variables…

This paper uses a case study of an Israeli teacher leadership initiative to explore a mode of educational governance that employs 'bottom-up' logic and discourse. The authors analyse the origins of this initiative, and -- through a policy-making ethnography of the initiative's enactment at the district level -- show how it is sustained and…

Purpose: Reorganizing schools and managing through teams is seen as a way to achieve school goals, especially in educational contexts that are highly focused on measurable student achievements. This shift to shared leadership requires principals to play a key role in promoting school management team (SMT) outcomes. Accordingly, this study aims to…

This study investigated the coverage of desecularization in Israeli non-religious public education in national and local newspapers from 2016 to 2022. We conducted a content analysis and coded key elements for each article, such as the activists who carried out or opposed the desecularization activity and their narratives, arguments for and…

Based on a description of the national features of the Israeli society and educational system, this chapter will briefly describe various attempts conducted since the 1970s to decentralize the Israeli educational system and promote school autonomy. It will focus specifically, on the School-Based Management (SBM) policy, borrowed by educational…

In this paper, we reveal and describe the context in which education policy networks in Israel have expanded recently, given the evolving interdependent relationships among the actors involved. We draw upon resource dependence theory, which assumes that actors' power relations within a network depends on their own and others' perceptions of the…

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…

This cross-country analytical report addresses the European Training Foundation's (ETF) need to actively monitor vocational education and training (VET) reforms in its partner countries in terms of good multilevel governance. The period covered by the report is 2012-17. This report takes stock of trends and progress in vocational education…

This mixed methodology study explored the reasons that teachers in Israel are motivated to become school leaders, and the relative importance of the different discouraging factors that worked against such interest. A cross-national Israeli survey included 39 individual interviews, 2 focus groups of 25 teachers each, and a questionnaire completed…

Using a sample of 300 Arab teachers in Israel, we developed a model to analyze how school-based management directly and indirectly (through motivation) affects school effectiveness. The results show that there is a positive relationship between all dimensions of self-management (decision-making, resource and personnel management, availability of…

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…

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…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of parental involvement among 317 teachers in the Arab education system in Israel. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire measured teachers' attitudes regarding parents' involvement in the school relating to pedagogy, resources, and control. Findings: The findings show that…