Educational Leadership: International Perspectives and Global Innovations

Dear Colleagues,

International perspectives on educational leadership and management are critical for advancing our understanding of successful school leadership globally (Gurr, 2024; Miller, Hancell, and Jones, 2022). By understanding the unique contributions from different countries, cultures, and education systems, and the multi-faceted approaches to the management of education, we can draw innovative solutions to global education challenges (UNESCO’s Agenda 2030). Exploring international perspectives on social justice issues in education such as access, inclusion, social inequities, colonization, etc., will promote equitable and solution-driven ‘glocal’ policies and practices in education. Understanding community-based approaches and the influence of different philosophies and cultures of education will allow for the development of global solutions led by educational leaders and practitioners to improve education systems and respond effectively to the educational demands of a globalized world.

Transnational education, or the export of an educational system (e.g., national curricula, assessment approach, etc.) into another country, is a multitrillion dollar business reaching every country in the world across early years, primary, secondary, and adult and higher education. It is an economically strategic export for key countries, including the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, and China. Importing transnational education is globally recognized as an important contributor towards advancing social justice and educational and economic opportunity globally (IHEC, 2023), with ever-increasing opportunities and mechanisms for these endeavors, such as the facilitation of hybrid and distance learning and platforms for collaboration. It is also recognized as a significant act of colonization and capitalist imperialism (Phan, 2017), and international perspectives on transnational education are critical to advance and explore our understanding.

In addition to the important contributions of traditional theories of educational leadership and management (Bush, 2020), scholarship in international educational leadership can advance theoretical insights in novel applications such as complexity theory (Tian, 2023), critical global citizenship education theory (Schugurensky and Wolhuter, 2022), critical citizenship theory (Johnson and Morris, 2010), and other global leadership theories (Perkins, 2009), which can directly inform leadership approaches as well as school-level activities (e.g., curriculum selection, student empowerment, community engagement, etc.) globally.

The aim of this Special Issue is to advance our collective knowledge and understanding of educational leadership globally. Articles are invited that address themes such as, but not limited to:

• International, transnational, and global education;
• All phases of education, from early years to higher education and beyond;
• Traditional and non-traditional educational settings and approaches;
• Leadership and management of education;
• Colonial influences on international education and decolonization of education;
• Sustainable education, globalization in education, and education futures.

We welcome a diverse array of research approaches, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, intervention studies, experimental studies, quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as mixed-methods research, ethnographic research, close-to-practice research, and theoretical, conceptual, or critical thought pieces. All papers should place findings and conclusions within the local context and highlight the contributions of the piece to broader understanding, i.e., the broader methodological, theoretical, policy, and/or applied practice contributions for the field.

If you would like to contribute to this Special Issue, please submit an abstract of between 250 and 300 words.

Dr. Dawn Elizabeth England
Dr. Meng Tian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• educational leadership and management
• international education
• transnational education
• global education
• decolonization
• sustainable education