Exploring cultural context and school leadership: conceptualizing an indigenous model of có uy school leadership in Vietnam

Abstract

The need for empirical research on leadership in educational organizations across more diverse national settings frames the purpose of the current study of principal leadership in Vietnam. To date, the international literature on school leadership in Vietnam is virtually a blank slate. This research aimed at describing how Vietnamese school principals enact their leadership roles and analysing how the observed patterns of leadership practice are shaped by the Vietnamese context. In this study, we frame the ‘context of school leadership’ in Vietnam in terms of Confucian sociocultural values of the Vietnamese society and the institutional-political structures within which education is delivered. The study employed phenomenological research methods in a multi-site case study design. Qualitative methods of interview, observation and document analysis were employed to generate a thick description of how principal leadership was enacted in three schools in Vietnam. The study found that in this context, effective school leadership integrated elements associated with strong autocratic and moral leadership. The paper proposes a model of có uy leadership which is understood to describe a leadership style that responds to the context of the education system in Vietnam.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These included Educational Administration Quarterly, Journal of Educational Administration, International Journal of Leadership in Education, School Leadership and Management, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Leadership and Policy in Schools.

2. Given the desire to maintain anonymity, we have not specified which of these participants was associated with which school.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thang Dinh Truong

Truong Thang Dihn is a lecturer and vice dean at the Quang Tri Teacher Training College, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, Vietnam. Email: [email protected]. He received his PhD from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Philip Hallinger

Philip Hallinger is Professor of Education Management at Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Rd, Bangkok Thailand. Email: [email protected]. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. He received his EdD in Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University (USA).