Skip to content
Educational Management and Policy
e‑ISSN 3143-4541 Open Access · CC BY 4.0
Vol. 1 · Issue 1 · 2026 May 21, 2026 Articles

The role of school leadership in promoting optimal learning and school improvement: A study among teachers and leaders in a private school in Dubai

HM
Hanane Moustapha Corresponding British University in Dubai hanane.moustapha@gmail.com United Arab Emirates
SD
Solomon Arulraj David British University in Dubai United Arab Emirates
Pages27-42 PublishedMay 21, 2026 LicenseOpen Access
PDF
EMP
VOL 1 · ISS 1 · 2026 EMP Journal View issue

Abstract

Effective school leadership is essential for achieving academic success and continuous improvement. This study examined leadership practices and their relationship to teaching quality and student learning outcomes in a high-performing private American curriculum school in Dubai. Adopting a single case study design, data were gathered through open-ended questionnaires administered to the principal, school advisor, academic leaders, and selected teachers, complemented by analysis of two consecutive NEASC accreditation reports (2018 and 2022) and institutional records. The NEASC Learning Principles, organized across three dimensions of learning architecture, culture, and ecology, served as the analytical framework through which leadership practices were examined. The findings, reflecting teachers' and school leaders' perceptions rather than direct measurement of student outcomes, indicated that integrating instructional, transformational, and distributive leadership practices was associated with improved instructional quality, a collaborative professional culture, and enhanced student engagement. While NEASC reports provided valuable external perspectives, they were treated as institutional evaluation documents rather than independent research data. A noted contextual limitation was the virtual conduct of the 2022 NEASC evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted direct observation. The study offers practical implications for school leaders and policymakers in Dubai and comparable international contexts seeking to implement evidence-informed, multidimensional leadership strategies.

Keywords

#School improvement #optimal learning #school leadership

References

  1. Abuhassira, H. Y., Razak, A. Z. A., & Hoque, K. E. (2024). The impact of transformational leadership on classroom interaction in UAE secondary schools. Education and Information Technologies, 29(17), 22757-22778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12701-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12701-3
  2. Adams, C. M., Olsen, J. J., & Ware, J. K. (2017). The School Principal and Student Learning Capacity. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(4), 556-584. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x17696556 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X17696556
  3. Allix, N. M. (2000). Transformational leadership: Democratic or despotic? Educational Management & Administration, 28(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263211X000281002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0263211X000281002
  4. Al-Taneiji, S., & McLeod, L. (2008). Towards decentralized management in United Arab Emirate (UAE) schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(3), 275-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450802246384 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450802246384
  5. Bennett, N., Wise, C., Woods, P. A., & Harvey, J. A. (2003). Distributed leadership. National College for School Leadership. Retrieved from https://oro.open.ac.uk/8534/1/bennett-distributed-leadership-full.pdf
  6. Bolden, R. (2011). Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(3), 251–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x
  7. Bush, T. (2008). Leadership and management development in education. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446213605 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446213605
  8. Caldwell, B. J., & Spinks, J. M. (2005). Leading the self-managing school. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203982983 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203982983
  9. Chirichello, M. (1999, January). Building capacity for change: Transformational leadership for school principals [Conference presentation]. ICSEI Conference, San Antonio.
  10. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
  11. Ferrandino, V. L. (2001). Challenges for 21st-century elementary school principals. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(6), 440-442. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170108200606 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170108200606
  12. Gray, J., Jesson, D., Goldstein, H., Hedger, K., & Rasbash, J. (1995). A multi-level analysis of school improvement: Changes in schools’ performance over time. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 6(2), 97–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/0924345950060201 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0924345950060201
  13. Hallinger, P. (2003). Leading educational change: Reflections on the practice of instructional and transformational leadership. Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(3), 329–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764032000122005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764032000122005
  14. Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (1996). Reassessing the principal’s role in school effectiveness: A review of empirical research, 1980–1995. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X96032001002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X96032001002
  15. Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (2010). Collaborative leadership and school improvement: Understanding the impact on school capacity and student learning. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632431003663214 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632431003663214
  16. Hatcher, R. (2005). The distribution of leadership and power in schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(2), 253–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569042000294200 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569042000294200
  17. Ibrahim, A., & Al-Taneiji, S. (2012). Principal leadership style, school performance, and principal effectiveness in Dubai schools. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2012.86 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2012.86
  18. Kaplan, L. S., Owings, W. A., & Nunnery, J. (2005). Principal quality: A Virginia study connecting interstate school leaders’ licensure consortium standards with student achievement. NASSP Bulletin, 89(643), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650508964304 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650508964304
  19. Kentucky Department of Education. (2008). School level performance descriptors for Kentucky’s standards and indicators for school improvement.
  20. Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077
  21. Leithwood, K., Leonard, L., & Sharratt, L. (1998). Conditions fostering organizational learning in schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 34(2), 243-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X98034002005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X98034002005
  22. Litz, D., & Scott, S. (2017). Transformational leadership in the educational system of the United Arab Emirates. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(4), 566-587. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216636112 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216636112
  23. National Policy Board for Educational Administration. (2015). Professional standards for educational leaders 2015. https://doi.org/10.59656/el-sb4236.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.59656/EL-SB4236.001
  24. Nettles, S. M., & Herrington, C. (2007). Revisiting the importance of the direct effects of school leadership on student achievement: The implications for school improvement policy. Peabody Journal of Education, 82(4), 724–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/01619560701603239 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01619560701603239
  25. New England Association of Schools and Colleges. (2018). External review visit report.
  26. New England Association of Schools and Colleges. (2022). Virtual external review visit report.
  27. Shakir, M. (2002). The selection of case studies: Strategies and their applications to IS implementation case studies. Proceedings of the Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia (IRIS).

License

CCBY 4.0
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

This work is openly licensed — share and adapt freely with attribution to the authors and the journal. View license terms ↗

Copyright (c) 2026 Hanane Moustapha, David Solomon

§ 06 — Related

Similar articles in this journal

Related peer-reviewed studies published in this journal.
View all issues

Teacher leadership and communities of practice: Female teachers’ experiences in Pakistan

Marie Clarke, Deirdre Raftery, Magdelina Kitanova, Ruth Ferris, Ellen Regan, Thanh Nguyen Thao Tran, Angeliki Lima, Catherine Nowlan-Roebuck

This small-scale qualitative study examines the lived experiences and enactment of female teacher leadership in communities of practice in four schools in Pakistan. The…

#Teacher leadership #communities of practice #Global South #women teachers
p. 4-26
10.70116/31434541158