What Might Educational Leadership Mean in the  
                            st
                           21  Century? 
                                
                     A phenomenomenographic study   
                            Anduena Ballo 
                                     Master’s Thesis in Education 
                                          Autumn Term 2020 
                                       Department of Education 
                                        University of Jyväskylä 
                                              
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                        ABSTRACT 
                                                                                                               st
                        Ballo, Anduena. 2020.  What Might Educational Leadership Mean in the 21  
                        Century? Master's Thesis in Educational Leadership. University of Jyväskylä. 
                        Department of Education.  
                         
                        Understanding  what  educational  leadership  means  remains  a  challenge  for 
                        researchers and practitioners despite an extant body of literature focused on 
                        this field. This study investigates conceptions of educational leadership among 
                        graduates  of  the  Master’s  Degree  Programme  in  Educational  Leadership 
                        (MPEL), University of Jyväskylä (JYU). The aim of this study is to qualitatively 
                        illuminate distinct ways the participants conceptualize educational leadership. 
                               This study interprets the conceptions of educational leadership based on 
                        a  framework developed to inform educational leadership scholarship theory 
                        and practice (Bush, 2011; English, 2003; Gronn, 1999; Gunter, 2001; Harris & 
                        Jones 2016; Heck & Hallinger 2005; Northouse, 2016). This qualitative empirical 
                        study  uses  phenomenography  for  the  methodological  framing  and  data 
                        analysis  of  eleven  semi-structured  interviews  of  graduates  from  MPEL 
                        Programme.  
                               The analysis illuminates five distinct categories of description that reflect 
                        the  participants’  conceptions  of  educational  leadership.  The  participants 
                        conceptualize  educational  leadership  as  (1)  supporting  students,  (2) 
                        coordinating  teachers,  (3)  guiding  a  group  of  people,  (4)  educating  young 
                        generations, and (5) influencing citizens. 
                               This study concludes that educational leadership entails a far broader 
                        context than school leadership, and not only limited to school settings. Anyone 
                        involved in educational leadership can be perceived as an educational leader. 
                        This  study  closes  with  a  discussion  on  the  importance  of  understanding 
                        conceptual-level  variation  of  educational  leadership,  which  has  clear 
                        implications in the scholarship focused in this field.  
                               
                               Keywords:       educational    leadership,   phenomenography,       participants’ 
                        conceptions, educational leader. 
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                          CONTENT 
                                                                                                                            
                          INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 6
                                                                                                                            
                          1    UNDERSTANDING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP.............. 8
                                                                                                                            
                               1.1     The historical context of educational leadership ................................... 8
                               1.1.1    The 1920-1930s: the period of educational administration for school 
                               organization ......................................................................................................... 8 
                               1.1.2     The  40s-50s:  the  period  of  “theory  movement”  in  educational 
                               administration ..................................................................................................... 9 
                               1.1.3     The 60s-70s: the period of educational management as a form of 
                               activity and action in school organization. ....................................................... 9 
                               1.1.4     The 80s-90s: the shift from educational management to educational 
                                                                                                                            
                               leadership .......................................................................................................... 11
                                                 st                                                                         
                               1.1.5     The 21  century: New approaches to educational leadership ........ 11
                                                                                                                            
                               1.2       Conceptualizing educational leadership .......................................... 12
                                                                                                                            
                               1.2.1     Educational leadership and leadership ............................................ 12
                                                                                                                            
                               1.2.2     Educational leadership and educational management ................... 15
                                                                                                                            
                               1.2.3     Educational administration................................................................ 17
                                                                                                                            
                               1.3       Framing educational leadership ....................................................... 18
                                                                                                                            
                               1.3.1     School leadership ................................................................................ 18
                                                                                                                            
                               1.3.2     Teachers’ leadership ........................................................................... 20
                                                                                                                            
                               1.3.3     Educational leadership beyond school leadership .......................... 21
                                                                                                                            
                               1.3.4     Some issues on the conceptualization of educational leadership ... 21
                          2    RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................... 23 
                                                                                                                            
                               2.1     The researcher ......................................................................................... 24
                                                                                                                            
                               2.2     Phenomenomenography ....................................................................... 24
                                                                                                                            
                               2.3     Theoretical foundations of phenomenography ................................... 25
                                                                                                                            
                          3    IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STUDY ...................................... 29
                                                                                                                            
                               3.1     Research background ............................................................................. 29
                               3.2     The rationale and significance of the study ......................................... 31
                                                                                                                            
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                           3.3    Research purpose, aim and goal ........................................................... 32
                                                                                                            
                           3.4    Research methodology ........................................................................... 33
                                                                                                            
                           3.5    Research participants ............................................................................. 34
                                                                                                            
                           3.6    Data collection process ........................................................................... 35
                                                                                                            
                           3.6.1  Individual interviews ............................................................................ 36
                                                                                                            
                           3.7    Data analysis ........................................................................................... 37
                                                                                                            
                           3.8    Trustworthiness of the study ................................................................ 40
                                                                                                            
                           3.9    Ethical considerations ............................................................................ 43
                                                                                                            
                       4   RESULTS ......................................................................................... 45
                                                                                                            
                           4.1    Description of the categories ................................................................. 46
                                                                                                            
                           4.2    Relationship between the categories..................................................... 54
                       5   DISCUSSION ................................................................................. 58 
                                                                                                            
                           5.1    Examination of results ........................................................................... 58
                                                                                                            
                           5.2    Recommendations .................................................................................. 62
                       6   LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ............................. 63 
                       REFERENCES ....................................................................................... 65
                                                                                                            
                                                                                                            
                       APPENDICES ....................................................................................... 78
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
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