Cross‐national Comparisons in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP): The USA, Norway and China

Abstract

This article provides a cross‐national perspective on successful school principalship in three countries derived from an analysis of case studies in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The ISSPP aims to investigate the characteristics, processes and effects of successful school leadership across eight countries (i.e. Australia, Canada, England, the United States, China, Denmark, Sweden and Norway). Examples from the USA, Norway and China (Shanghai) were selected to illustrate cross‐national differences related to the societal purposes of education, the structure and funding of different national educational systems and the influence of particular governmental educational policies (i.e. accountability‐oriented policies) on the leadership practices of individual school principals. Variations in selection criteria and research procedures were also noted. Recommendations for further research using a cultural framework include analysing multiethnic schools to identify culturally specific leadership practices as well as developing further ISSPP case studies in non‐Western contexts.

Keywords:

• Successful principals
• Multi‐site case study methods
• Cross‐national comparisons

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Professor Chris Day for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. The principal is assigned the formal responsibility for the school's operation. However, the case studies demonstrated that it was a collective effort by the leadership team in practice.