Systems school leadership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how effective school principals use systems
thinking, aiming to present the systems school leadership (SSL) approach – an approach where
principals lead schools through the systems thinking concept and procedures.
Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 28 Israeli school principals, selected as
outstanding leaders by recommendations from their superintendents and according to their schools’
achievements. The study employed semi-structured interviews as well as focus groups. Generating
themes was an inductive process, grounded in the various perspectives articulated by participants.
Findings – Data analysis generated four main characteristics of SSL: leading wholes; adopting
a multidimensional view; influencing indirectly; and evaluating significance.
Research limitations/implications – Further research that will explore to what extent and how
often principals use systems thinking is required. In addition, replication in various educational
contexts is important in order to substantiate the validity of the SSL’s characteristics. Beyond
principals’ perceptions, more objective measures like direct observations are needed to evaluate actual
implementation of SSL in diverse school settings.
Practical implications – Identifying the SSL characteristics facilitates the development of practical
processes for nurturing SSL in various stages of school leaders’ educational career.
Originality/value – This paper provides a useful conceptual and empirical framework to evaluate
SSL as a managerial approach.