From hierarchical leadership to a mark of distributed leadership by whole school inquiry in partnership with Higher Education Institutions: comparing the Arab education in Israel with the education system in England

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a comparative analysis of two high schools, one in the Arab Education system in Israel and the other in the English Education system in Europe. The comparative analysis focuses on two principals’ perspectives of how they led their schools, in partnership with the authors from Higher Education Institutions, by implementing a distinctive mark of distributed leadership by an whole school inquiry led inter-cultural change. The change facilitated knowledge exchange, mobilisation, and dissemination activities that empowered staff and young people to become societal innovators for equity and renewal which raised student outcomes between – 17% and 27% The research reveals that shared aims, themes and methods through a distinctive mark of distributed leadership by whole school inquiry develops new inter-cultural understandings and builds respect, trust, and local research priorities and practices in communities of diverse race, ethnicity, cultural, religious, and citizen or refugee status. Members of diverse communities were able to hold each other to account, and became more autonomous in their plans for the future in a context of gaps in status in both contexts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Khalid Arar

Prof. Khalid Arar (Ph.D), President of Al-Qasemi Academic College, and Associate professor in educational leadership, higher education and policy analysis in education. He conducted studies in the Middle-East, Europe and in North America and in many other cross-national contexts. His research focuses broadly in equity and diversity in educational leadership and higher education. He serves as associate editor for the International Journal of Leadership (Routledge). He authored Arab women in management and leadership (2013, Palgrave); Higher Education among the Palestinian Minority in Israel (2016, Palgrave, with Kussai Haj-Yehia); his 2019 books include: Migrants, Refugees and Global Challenges in Higher Education(Peter Lang Publishing, with Kussai-Hej-Yehia; David Roose, & Yasar Kondakci) and Education, Immigration and Migration: Policy, Leadership and Praxis for a Changing World(Emerald Publishing, with Jeffrey Brooks  & Ira Bogotch).

Alison Taysum

Since 2005 Alison Taysum has been a Principal Investigator for funded and unfunded International research projects. She was commissioned to give key notes in Japan including the Ministry of Education, and lectured at Cambridge University, Oxford University, and the Indonesian Embassy in London. She leads large symposiums and individual presentations at international conferences Overseas and in Europe. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy she has delivered a 40-hour doctoral training programme in Kazakhstan and Master lectures in Russia. She is Director Treasurer for BELMAS, and leads two funded networks for doctoral and Masters' students. She has served as an Expert Assessor for the European Union, and reviews for; funding councils, International peer reviewed journals, book publishers, International Conferences, the BELMAS Doctoral Thesis Award Panel, the BELMAS Bursary Award Panel and sits on International Peer Reviewed Editorial Boards. She is both Director for the Distance Learning MSc in Educational Leadership and supervises PhD students to completion at the University of Leicester. She has held/holds external examiner positions Overseas, in Europe, and in the UK. She is a committed Christian and sings in the church choir.