School principals' decisions are made within the complex organizations called schools. This study explored how systems thinking is reflected in principals' perceptions about their decision-making processes. Based on a qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups, principals' descriptions of their own effective decision-making reflected…

Educational reform implementation in today's fast changing world requires a critical transition from individual to school sense-making processes. Managing expectations from above (e.g. external demands) and below (e.g. internal school goals) while performing within multiple overlapping contexts, principals seem pulled in many different directions…

This qualitative study identified and analyzed the occurrences of the Garbage-Can decision making model in public schools. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with 34 teachers from elementary and middle schools in Israel. Data analysis showed three major decision areas in which the Garbage-Can model was employed, and the conditions…

Systems thinking (ST) is a holistic leadership approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. It focuses attention on how organization members act together in networks of interactions. This is done by researching organization members' mental models, which are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even mental pictures or…

Effective implementation of educational reforms requires collaboration between stakeholders. The current paper describes and analyzes the findings of a qualitative research, which examined the perceptions of the three hierarchic levels of stakeholders, assigned by the Israeli Ministry of Education in 2010 to introduce and implement a new policy…

This article addresses the impact of accelerated technological development on the world of work, the main characteristics of the new expected generation of workers (Generation Z), and the unique demands placed on educational systems. The educational systems must adapt to society's expectations in the 21st century to remain relevant in a world with…

Ethical considerations have been examined in American and European school management research, but indigenous and comparative aspects have largely been understudied. To better understand the ethical decision-making of indigenous school leaders, the present research aims to examine the ethical considerations of one such minority group -- Bedouin…

Embracing an ethos of sharing music and practices across cultural boundaries, the multicultural vision of music (teacher) education has paid scarce attention to the paradox of freedom that arises between such freedoms and the complex politics that frame and constrain teachers' choices and values. In this article, we explore these demands of…

This systematic review aims to investigate the relationship between school principals' leadership behaviours and teachers' job satisfaction. With this purpose, studies that focused on this relationship in the literature were examined. Twenty-seven studies found in different databases (i.e. ERIC, WOS, SCOPUS and ULAKBIM) were included in the…

We study the impact of financial incentives on higher education decisions and the choice of major. We rely on a reform whereby Israeli kibbutzim shifted from their traditional policy of equal sharing to productivity-based wages. We use for identification the staggered implementation of this reform in different kibbutzim. In this setting of very…

Objectives: To evaluate Israeli Arab social workers' custody recommendations, given the unique cultural context in which they operate. Methods: The current study used an experimental-design embedded within a survey. Data regarding custody recommendations were collected from 137 Israeli Arab social workers. Results: Israeli Arab social workers tend…

Sharing experiences among teachers is an important part of professional development. Coaching is defined as an ongoing process in which experts engage with practice, with the purpose of continuous improvement. This article will discuss the principles of peer coaching in teacher development, by examining a specific case of peer coaching between two…

In this research, we investigate the implementation of a non-mandatory learning-unit on renewable energy in elementary schools in Israel. The research focuses on the effect of teachers' attitudes toward energy conservation and the efficient use of energy, as well as on the effects of contextual factors on teaching the programme. Mixed methods were…

Applying Organizational Routines Theory, this study aims to better understand the relations between high school tracking routine and student choice. Looking for the internal structure of the routine we used multi-case study approaches in four large comprehensive and successful high schools. The findings show that while the routine's name includes…

The instructional lab setting has been found to be dominated by prescribed tasks and pre-prepared lab kits. This was explained by teachers' need to guide students to simultaneously progress through a lab curriculum, which prompts them to standardize the lab experience. Nevertheless, prominent professional associations have persistently called to…