Female school leaders’ perceptions and experiences of decentralisation and distributed leadership in the Tatweer system in Saudi Arabia

Alyami, R. and Floyd, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2008-7831 (2019) Female school leaders’ perceptions and experiences of decentralisation and distributed leadership in the Tatweer system in Saudi Arabia. Education Sciences, 9 (1). 25. ISSN 2227-7102 doi: 10.3390/educsci9010025

Abstract/Summary

While school reform has been the subject of much research globally, few studies have examined “on the ground” educational reform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), especially in relation to the “Tatweer” System, an initiative which purports to transform education and lead educational change within the country. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap and reports on a study which examined female leaders’ perceptions and experiences of the system. A qualitative case study of three Tatweer schools was conducted, with data being drawn from one-on-one interviews(n = 16), focus group interviews (n = 4) and documentary analysis. Our findings suggest that the Tatweer system is what can be termed “semi-decentralised”, which appears to be linked to issues of accountability, trust, and perceived staff competence. However, at the local level, major breakthroughs seem to have taken place in relation to distributing leadership responsibilities and decision-making processes within these female-led schools.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/81876
Identification Number/DOI	10.3390/educsci9010025
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Institute of Education > Improving Equity and Inclusion through Education
Publisher	MDPI
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