This article aims to report on research that explored the role of perceptions of Directors of Religious Studies (DRSs) in Catholic secondary schools in the Hamilton Diocese, Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ). The DRS position was established to preserve the Catholic special character of these schools after integration with the state education system with…

Academic middle leaders play a critical role in facilitating the leadership of learning and teaching in universities. Previous research has reported the undervaluing and under-resourcing of these academic middle leadership roles. To promote a greater understanding of academic middle leaders, middle leading and middle leadership of learning and…

Taking into consideration the unique relational position of convenors (Chairs) in PhD oral examinations, this qualitative study explores insights from 55 convenors at a research-intensive university in New Zealand into the ways academic staff developers can better prepare doctoral supervisors and examiners for oral examinations. One striking…

Purpose: To explore the insights of adults and children at a New Zealand primary school adopting nonlinear pedagogical approaches to physical education (PE). Methods: This case study was conducted at a single primary school and utilized a qualitative methods design, including interviews or focus groups with the principal, five teachers, and four…

Novice principals' experiences and responses to challenges are important for understanding their sensemaking of their role, especially in view of the contextual complexity of leadership in small schools. Using interview data from 19 novice principals in small schools, we explore principals' sensemaking of their key challenges and responses.…

A full academic career encompasses both successes and failures. The purpose of this study was to delve into academic successes and failures, going beyond the conventional focus on objective measures, such as performance, rankings, and funding. Through semi-structured interviews with twelve senior academics from seven countries, we explored…

The oral examination, or the viva voce, is the culmination of the doctoral examination process in many traditions. In these traditions, the chair or convenor facilitates the viva. The idea of convenors is one that has not been discussed at length within the literature of higher education. In this paper, we explore the findings of a qualitative…

Effective school leadership is widely acknowledged as having a positive impact on student achievement. However, there appears to be no deliberate process to sustain New Zealand principals' effectiveness throughout their careers. This article discusses the views of current and former New Zealand secondary school principals about their complex role…

Workplace stress, burnout, and fatigue are commonplace amongst tertiary educators, and are compounded by the ongoing challenges of teaching and learning during a global pandemic. Amid efforts to identify and understand contributors to educator stress, student-teacher interactions have received relatively little attention. However, educators are…

Effective strategic planning is an integral part of a principal's role, but this is a skill for which many principals are largely unprepared. The Springboard Trust's Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme (SLPP) is a 10-month leadership development programme for principals in New Zealand. Participants must have 2 years of experience as a…

For much of the past half-century, scholars from various parts of the world have studied the early stages of school principals' careers. This article presents the results of a review of research on novice principals (NPs) regarding its current status, intellectual structure and conceptual structure. The review conducted bibliometric and content…

Academics in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), similar to their counterparts in other disciplines, receive little formal preparation when they take on academic leadership positions. Yet such career changes require different skill sets and expose academics to complex challenges of leadership. We (three academics) initiated this study to…

School principals were required to engage in crisis leadership throughout New Zealand's first COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown that began in March 2020. Eighteen school principals from a range of secondary schools were interviewed about their experiences and the findings of this study are discussed in relation to the leadership capability framework…