Linking emotional intelligence to professional leadership performance standards

ABSTRACT

This study traced Abu Dhabi public school leaders’ emotional intelligence within the context of professional standards. The study aimed at exploring the emotional intelligence exhibited by school leaders within the anticipated professional standards featured in the areas of leading the community, leading the people, and leading the organization. This exploratory case study uncovered emotional intelligence attributes and capabilities that school leaders demonstrate within their praxis. The study employed qualitative research tools for data collection to pinpoint emotional intelligence attributes, and skills in alignment with the professional standards set by the Abu Dhabi Education and Knowledge Department (ADEK). Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 participants reflecting categories of school leaders that represented various school types. Study findings addressed direct and indirect mediators of emotional intelligence that could impact the improvement of school leaders’ overall performance in addition to validating school leaders’ emotional intelligence attributes relating to performing professional standards that galvanize school changes. Further, this paper addressed challenges school leaders face in terms of their roles and responsibilities and provided recommendations for developing emotional intelligence that contextualize professional performance standards. The authors also suggest a tangible path for further studies and leadership action research to enhance school leaders’ capacity building.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rida Blaik Hourani

Dr. Rida Blaik Hourani earned her Ph.D. in Policy and Management from The University of Melbourne. Dr Blaik Hourani has worked at many higher education institutions in the Middle East and Australia. She has extensive experience in school praxis and development. In addition to her administrative positions, she lectures courses within the realm of education leadership, school management, school evaluation, curriculum and instruction, peace studies, school reforms, capacity building, cultural studies and sociology of education. Dr. Blaik Hourani has numerous publications; her research focus is in policy and leadership, school reforms and innovation, sociology of education and social justice.

David R. Litz

Dr. David Litz is presently working as a teacher with School District No. 52 in British Columbia, Canada. He was previously an Assistant Professor and Division Head of the Assessment and School Evaluation Division at Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE) where he taught courses on educational practice, teaching and learning, educational effectiveness and improvement, and school leadership and management. He has also previously taught in South Korea and Ontario, Canada. He holds an EdD from the University of Calgary and has several publications; his research interests include comparative education, educational administration and leadership, social justice, as well as educational policy.

Scott Parkman

Dr. Scott Parkman is currently working as the Director of Assessment and Accreditation at New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU). Prior to joining NMHU, he was a lecturer at Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE) from 2007‒2020 where he taught courses in Applied Linguistics, Technology Education, Mathematics, and Measurement and Assessment in addition to serving as the coordinator of ECAE’s online curriculum management system. He has also previously taught in South Korea. He is an educational technology enthusiast and enjoys teaching in technology-rich learning environments. His research interests focus on pre-service teacher education, educational technology, and educational policy.