Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

AN INNOVATIVE E-COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE TO ENHANCE THE COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF UAE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Year 2024, Volume: 10 Issue: 28, 102 - 114, 03.05.2024
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11001326

Abstract

This article investigates the use of an e-community of practice as a means to develop collaborative leadership skills among school principals in the UAE. Collaborative leadership skills are crucial for effectively leading future schools, and an e-community of practice provides a platform for school leaders to collaboratively acquire and exchange the necessary skills, knowledge, and information. Despite the anticipated growth of e-communities of practice, little research has been conducted in the UAE on this topic. Thus, the aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of developing an e-community of practice specifically tailored to enhance the collaborative leadership skills of UAE school principals, enabling them to utilize such platforms successfully and effectively. The research employs a quantitative approach, collecting data through an online survey completed by 116 school principals. The findings reveal that school principals demonstrate a preference for collaborative teamwork using an e-community of practice to enhance their collaborative leadership skills. They exhibit readiness and qualification to utilize such platforms and hold positive views regarding their usefulness. However, they require support from stakeholders to facilitate the adoption and application of e-communities of practice within their educational organizations.

References

  • ADEC, 2018. Irtiqaa Inspection Reports [online]. Available at: https://www.ade`9k.budhabi. ae/en/Education/KeyInitiatives/Pages/Irtiqaa-Reports.aspx [Accessed 15 Oct 2018].
  • Ahlquist, J., 2014. Trending now: Digital leadership education using social media and the social change model. Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(2), pp.57-60.
  • Alnowais, S., 2016. Emirati public-school teachers ‘will quit over work appraisals [online]. The National. Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/uae/emirati-public-school-teachers-will-quit-over-work-appraisals-1.159452 [Accessed 27 Oct 2018].
  • Bafadal, I., Nurabadi, A., Sobri, A.Y. and Gunawan, I., 2019. The Competence of Beginner Principals as Instructional Leaders in Primary Schools. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 5(4), pp.625-639.
  • Bagwell, J.L., 2019. Exploring the Leadership Practices of Elementary School Principals through a Distributed Leadership Framework: A Case Study. Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development, 30, pp.83-103.
  • Barber, S., Whelan, F. and Clark, M., 2010. Capturing the leadership premium [online]. Mckinsey.com. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com [Accessed 24 Oct 2018].
  • Brindley, J., Blaschke, L.M. and Walti, C., 2009. Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10(3).
  • Cámara de la Fuente, L. and Comas-Quinn, A., 2016. Situated Learning in Open Communities. Open Book Publishers.
  • Carroll, A.B., 2004. Managing ethically with global stakeholders: A present and future challenge. Academy of Management Perspectives, 18(2), pp.114-120.
  • Chen, L., 2020. A historical review of professional learning communities in China (1949-2019): some implications for collaborative teacher professional development. Asia Pacific journal of education, 40(3), pp.373-385.
  • Chrislip, D.D., 2002. The collaborative leadership fieldbook (Vol. 255). John Wiley & Sons.
  • Day, C., Sammons, P., Hopkins, D., Harris, A., Leithwood, K., Gu, Q., Brown, E., Ahtaridou, E. and Kington, A., 2009. The impact of school leadership on pupil outcomes. National College for School Leadership.
  • DiPaola, M.F. and Walther-Thomas, C., 2003. Principals and Special Education: The Critical Role of School Leaders. Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education, University of Florida.
  • Duncan, H.E. and Stock, M.J., 2010. Mentoring and coaching rural school leaders: What do they need? Mentoring & tutoring: partnership in learning, 18(3), pp.293-311.
  • Edarabia, 2020. UAE school holidays, edarabia.com [online]. Available at: https://www.edarabia.com/school-holidays-uae [Accessed 18 May 2020].
  • Educational Research Service (Arlington, Va.), 2000. The principal, keystone of a high-achieving school: Attracting and keeping the leaders we need. Educational Research Service.
  • Fullan, M., 2000. The role of the principal in school reform. Occasional Paper Series, 2000(6), p.2.
  • Garfield, S., 2019. What are the most important elements of a community? [online]. Medium. Available at: https://stangarfield.medium.com/what-are-the-most-important-elements-of-a-community-48890bce033c [Accessed 18 Dec 2022].
  • Gruenewald, D., 2005. Sustaining and improving learning communities. Journal of College Student Development, 46(3), pp.331-332.
  • Harris, A., 2010. Leading system transformation. School Leadership and Management, 30(3), pp.197-207.
  • Ibrahim, A.S., 2012. Induction and mentoring of novice teachers: a scheme for the United Arab Emirates. Teacher Development, 16(2), pp.235-253.
  • Lave, J., Wenger, E. and Wenger, E., 1991. Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation (Vol. 521423740). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Li, L., Qin, L., Xu, Z., Yin, Y., Wang, X., Kong, B., Bai, J., Lu, Y., Fang, Z., Song, Q. and Cao, K., 2020. Artificial intelligence distinguishes COVID-19 from community acquired pneumonia on chest CT. Radiology, p.200905.
  • Macpherson, R., Kachelhoffer, P. and El Nemr, M., 2007. The radical modernization of school and education system leadership in the United Arab Emirates: Towards indigenized and educative leadership. International Studies in Educational Administration, 35(1), pp.60-77.
  • Mundfrom, D.J., Shaw, D.G. and Ke, T.L., 2005. Minimum sample size recommendations for conducting factor analyses. International Journal of Testing, 5(2), pp.159-168.
  • Pedersen, K.W., 2017. Supporting collaborative and continuing professional development in education for sustainability through a communities of practice approach. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 18(5).
  • Serhan, D., 2007. School principals' attitudes towards the use of technology: United Arab Emirates technology workshop. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 6(2).
  • Smith, S.U., Hayes, S. and Shea, P., 2017. A Critical Review of the Use of Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) Theoretical Framework in Online and Blended Learning Research, 2000-2014. Online learning, 21(1), pp.209-237.
  • Spillane, J.P. and Diamond, J.B. (eds.), 2007. Distributed leadership in practice. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
  • Stefanski, A., Valli, L. and Jacobson, R., 2016. Beyond Involvement and Engagement: The Role of the Family in School-Community Partnerships. School Community Journal, 26(2), pp.135-160.
  • Venkatraman, S, 2018. Communities of practice approach for knowledge management systems. Systems, 6(4), p.36.
  • Verburg, R.M. and Andriessen, J.E., 2006. The assessment of communities of practice. Knowledge and process Management, 13(1), pp.13-25.
  • Vuuren, N., 2016. A comparative study of new senior school leader perceptions of development programs in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
  • Wenger, E., 2011. Communities of practice: A brief introduction. University of Oregon.
  • Wenger, E., McDermott, R.A. and Snyder, W., 2002. Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business Press.
  • Wenger-Trayner. E. and Wenger-Trayner B., 2015. Communities of Practice, a brief introduction [online]. Available at: http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice [Accessed 1 Dec 2022].
  • Youngs, P. and King, M.B., 2002. Principal leadership for professional development to build school capacity. Educational Administration Quarterly, 38(5), pp.643-670.
  • Zahran, R., Pettaway, L.D. and Waller, S., 2016. Educational Leadership: Challenges in United Arab Emirates. Educational Leadership, 5(1).
There are 38 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Educational Sociology
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Saeed Helal Abdulla Alshamsi

Hamdy Abdelaziz

Early Pub Date April 20, 2024
Publication Date May 3, 2024
Submission Date January 3, 2024
Acceptance Date February 29, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024Volume: 10 Issue: 28

Cite

EndNote Alshamsi SHA, Abdelaziz H (May 1, 2024) AN INNOVATIVE E-COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE TO ENHANCE THE COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF UAE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS. IJASOS- International E-journal of Advances in Social Sciences 10 28 102–114.

Contact: ijasosjournal@hotmail.com

17922

The IJASOS Journal's site and its metadata are licensed under CC BY

Published and Sponsored by OCERINT International © 2015- 2024