Effective educational leadership practices: School leadership in Bahrain

Abstract

Improving leadership practices outcomes for students have gained attention over recent years. To broaden understanding of effective leadership practice, this study investigated how school leaders improved students’ academic achievement in Bahrain. This qualitative study used interviews and document analysis to examine the practices of ten women leading schools that gained the top student achievement scores in the most recent review by the Bahrain Education & Training Quality Authority (BQA(. Findings revealed these school leaders improved students’ academic achievement through promoting collaboration, creating trust and respect through relationships, focusing on the leadership of learning and teaching, and providing contextualized opportunities for professional learning for leaders and teachers. The signifcance of gender and culture in leadership and the importance of a moral imperative for leadership were discussed alongside implications for policy and practice.