Kürşat Arslan

This study aimed to test a multilevel moderated mediation model of distributed leadership's associations with teacher enthusiasm, with teacher growth mindset as the mediator and supportive school culture as the moderator. We employed data from 1056 Turkish teachers working in 96 basic and upper secondary schools and performed multilevel structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation. Our findings revealed direct associations of distributed leadership with teacher enthusiasm and indirect associations via teacher growth mindset. Additionally, supportive school culture significantly moderated distributed leadership's direct relationship with teacher growth mindset and its indirect relationship with teacher enthusiasm through teacher growth mindset. This study adds nuanced evidence to the global school leadership literature by elucidating the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which distributed leadership influences teacher enthusiasm. We provide implications for policy and practice.

This study examines the administrative experiences of academic middle leaders in the Turkish higher education system, focusing on the structural and relational dynamics that shape these experiences. Adopting a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with 13 academic middle managers at a public university. The data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings reveal that academic middle leadership is experienced through five interrelated dimensions, navigating “a life between academic and leadership roles”, enacting “the organizational interface role”, confronting “authority–responsibility imbalance and invisible workload”, engaging in “emotional labor and relational management”, and constructing “personal meaning-making and resilience strategies”. In the Turkish context, academic middle leadership emerges as a multilayered role largely learned through practice, shaped by structural constraints, heavy workload, and limited systematic preparation. By illuminating the lived experience of the organizational interface role, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of middle-level leadership in higher education and underscores the need for structured professional development to support its professionalization.

This study tested a cross-level moderated mediation model examining the empirical relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and changed teacher practice (CTP) in culturally diverse schools with significant immigrant populations in Türkiye. We propose teacher resilience (TR) as a mediator and social justice leadership (SJL) as a moderator. Data from 1408 teachers across 119 schools in Türkiye were analysed using multilevel structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation. Results revealed that TL had a significant direct and indirect relationship with CTP via TR. In addition, we found that SJL significantly moderated the indirect linkage of TL with CTP through TR. We provide implications for policy and practice.

Amid global power dynamics, higher education has emerged as a strategic domain of soft power and educational diplomacy. This mixed methods study examines the soft-power-related resources, institutional conditions, and agency-oriented dispositions associated with Turkish higher education institutions (HEIs), drawing on survey data from 407 international students and qualitative insights from 11 students and 8 institutional staff. The findings indicate generally favorable perceptions of attraction and future engagement shaped by factors including scholarships, institutional affiliation, and length of stay. However, challenges such as language barriers, bureaucratic hurdles, and limited social integration constrain satisfaction and institutional trust. By foregrounding international students’ voices, the study advances scholarship on higher education policy by conceptualizing international students as situated actors whose experiences and future-oriented practices illuminate micro-level processes of soft power production and prospective transmission, rather than as passive recipients of state strategy. It concludes that the soft power potential of Turkish HEIs depends on their capacity to convert attraction into sustained relational engagement through reforms in admissions, student services, and institutional coordination. The study offers practical policy recommendations for states and policymakers seeking to leverage higher education as a sustainable tool of soft power.

This study developed and tested a mediated‐effects model to examine how learning‐centred leadership influences teacher innovative practices through teacher knowledge sharing within Türkiye's centralised education system. Using survey data from 405 primary and secondary school teachers across Türkiye, we performed structural equation modelling to analyse the empirical links among study variables. The findings indicated that learning‐centred leadership has a significant direct impact on teacher innovative practices and an indirect effect through teacher knowledge sharing. Grounded in social exchange theory, our study suggested that principals who execute learning‐centred leadership practices foster teacher knowledge sharing, which, in turn, enhances teachers' implementation of innovative practices. We provided implications for policymakers and practitioners in Türkiye and similar educational contexts who aim to improve teacher innovative practices.

Purpose: This study explores the relationships between principal trust in teachers, principal well-being, resilience, and leadership for learning. Specifically, we develop and test a theoretical model where principal trust in teachers is treated as the independent variable, leadership for learning as the dependent variable, and principal well-being and resilience as mediators. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 337 principals working in Turkish schools. The theoretical model was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings: The results demonstrate a significant direct relationship between principal trust in teachers and leadership for learning, as well as an indirect relationship mediated by principal well-being and resilience. These findings underscore the pivotal role of principals’ personal resources in translating principal trust in teachers into implementing leadership for learning practices. Originality/value: This study shifts the focus of trust, well-being, and resilience research from teachers to principals, offering rare empirical evidence on how these variables influence principal leadership. Uniquely positioning leadership for learning as an outcome variable, this study highlights the role of relational and personal resources in shaping leadership for learning practices.

This study examines a moderated mediation model investigating the effects of leadership for learning on teacher professional learning, with teacher epistemic curiosity as a mediator and psychological safety as a moderator. Employing data from 1034 teachers working in 94 schools across Türkiye, we conducted multilevel structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation to analyse the empirical associations among the variables. The findings demonstrated the direct and indirect effects of leadership for learning on teacher professional learning via teacher epistemic curiosity. We also found that psychological safety was a significant moderator, amplifying the effects of leadership for learning on teacher epistemic curiosity and professional learning. This study provides nuanced evidence to the global school leadership literature by suggesting that the impact of leadership for learning on teacher epistemic curiosity and professional learning depends on the extent to which teachers feel psychologically safe in their schools. We provide implications for policy and practice.

Purpose: This study tested a multilevel moderated mediation model of transformational leadership effects on teacher innovative practices, with growth mindset as the mediator and long-term orientation as the moderator.Design/methodology/approach: Data from 947 teachers across 89 basic and upper secondary schools in Türkiye were analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling with Bayesian estimation.Findings: Results validated our theoretical model, suggesting that transformational leadership directly and indirectly influenced teacher innovative practices through growth mindset. In addition, long-term orientation significantly moderated the indirect relationship between transformational leadership and teacher innovative practices via growth mindset.Originality/value: This study advances global school leadership research by highlighting the underexplored mediating role of teacher growth mindset and the moderating role of long-term orientation on the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher innovative practices.

This study investigates the tensions that arise in classroom observations in Türkiye's centralised education system and examines the leadership strategies employed by principals to navigate these tensions. Through in‐depth interviews, this case study explores the experiences of 10 school principals and 10 teachers from different public schools. The findings reveal six primary tensions: the invasion of teacher autonomy, observation anxiety, disruption of classroom dynamics, lack of transparency and clear communication, perceived unfair observations, and lack of observation training. The findings also highlight specific leadership strategies that principals use to navigate these tensions, such as conducting pre‐observation meetings to set expectations, providing constructive feedback after observations, leveraging observations for professional learning, cultivating trust in teacher–principal relationships, and ensuring consistent and fair observations. We offer implications for policy and practice.