Conference Agenda

Students can be conceptualized as primary actors and experts within schooling processes, as their learning and developmental trajectories constitute the fundamental rationale for school practices. Beyond participating in diverse lessons and interacting with various teachers, they navigate multiple environments within the school setting, including classrooms, corridors, shared spaces, and extracurricular contexts. This breadth of experience provides students with unique insights into the everyday functioning of schools. Thus, listening to students’ voices and exploring their agency as part of school leadership is essential for understanding how school success and successful school leadership are constituted within schools. Incorporating students into research on school leadership can enrich the research process (Cook-Sather, 2006) and generate valuable information for school improvement because student voice adds important nuances from their school experiences (Gillett-Swan & Baroutsis, 2024; Jackson, 2019). Yet students’ perspectives remain largely overlooked in educational leadership research. Although research increasingly acknowledges that leadership is a shared, collaborative process distributed across multiple roles within schools, most studies still focus primarily on principals and teachers, leaving students’ perspectives largely unexplored (Damiani, 2014; Jackson, 2019). In this paper, we address this gap by placing students’ voices and agency at the center of our research. The objectives of the paper are to 1) Explore how students conceptualize leadership and school success; (2) Identify cross-contextual commonalities and divergences in students’ accounts; (3) Advance a leadership perspective that integrates student voice and agency as constitutive—not peripheral—elements of success.

The paper presentation reports on a multi-national study conducted within the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). ISSPP is a 20-year running international research collaboration extending over 20 countries focused on the question of what it means to be a successful school in various school contexts. The current study specifically focused on students’ views on successful schools and school leadership, positioning them as active contributors rather than passive recipients of leadership. Theoretically, we draw on three theoretical strands. We use a relational, distributed view of leadership (Harris & Spillane, 2008), conceiving leadership as a collective accomplishment emerging through relationships, routines, tools, and contexts rather than as the remit of a single role. From this perspective, all actors in a school can lead. Secondly, we elaborate on the voice–agency nexus, which frames students not only as informants but as active co-creators and partners in school leadership processes (Bandura, 2006; Biesta & Tedder, 2007; Cook-Sather, 2020; Mitra, 2018). Third, we draw on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979; 1995), which places students at the center of analysis while recognizing that their experiences are shaped by multiple, interconnected layers of context—from everyday classroom interactions (microsystem) to broader cultural and policy environments (macrosystem), all evolving over time (chronosystem). This ecological lens helps interpret how students perceive leadership as embedded in multiple dimensions of school life. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979; 1995) and informed by concepts of student voice and agency, the study aims to answer two research questions: (1) How do students situated in diverse educational contexts describe the attributes of successful schools and their leadership?, (2) How may student voices contribute to successful school leadership practices?

Homeroom teachers hold a central leadership role in guiding classroom change (Oved & Raichel, 2025). As pedagogical and moral leaders, they shape students’ empowerment and success, influence academic trajectories, and cultivate classroom environments that promote agency, participation, and equitable opportunities (Author 1, 2025). Through their daily leadership practices, homeroom teachers enable students to develop personal and collective agency, fostering the skills and confidence needed to navigate social and academic challenges (e.g., Liew et al., 2010; Paes et al., 2022; Popper-Giveon & Shayshon, 2017). Despite this pivotal role, research on homeroom teachers as classroom leaders remains limited—particularly regarding their empowerment practices in contexts of structural and existential vulnerability.

Drawing on the framework of student empowerment, defined as “the process by which students gain the power needed to meet their individual needs (e.g., learning, social relationships, diploma) and work with others (e.g., students, teachers, administrators) to achieve collective goals (e.g., a safe and positive school environment)” (Kirk et al., 2017, p. 829), this study aims to (1) examine how a homeroom teacher conceptualizes empowerment as part of her leadership practices and (2) identify the types of empowerment and strategies she enacts to support students in marginalized and high-risk contexts, facing constant threats of home displacement or demolition. The study uses a case study of a homeroom teacher in Arab unrecognized villages (UVs) in the Negev of Israel—“Bedouin settlements that are deemed illegal and, as such, are constantly threatened by the state’s efforts to make them disappear” (Hall, 2014, p. 147). Most of the people in UVs live in tents and barracks built from cheap materials because the Israeli authorities refuse to grant them permission to construct permanent living quarters (Almi, 2011). A large number of homes that have been built without government permission are demolished every year by Israeli authorities (Al-Said et al., 2018).

Most of the families in the UVs are poor, and unemployment is high. The government denies them basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity (Marey-Sarwan et al., 2016). Similar to children worldwide who face the threat of displacement, children in UVs show high levels of stranger anxiety, stress, and mental health problems (Al-Said et al., 2018).

McQuillan (2005) discussed three kinds of student empowerment: (1) academic, which allows students to “develop the ability, confidence, and motivation to succeed academically” (p. 642); (2) political, “founded on having students enact power and influence, either formal or informal, within the school” (p. 642), and (3) social, such as dialogues between teachers and students in which everyone feels that they can speak and that all voices will be respected.

Within this framework, homeroom teachers in the Israeli context play a particularly significant role as classroom leaders, establishing relational norms, mediating power dynamics, and fostering students’ agency, participation, and sense of belonging (Author1, 2025). Their leadership is enacted through daily practices that translate abstract empowerment principles into tangible classroom experiences (e.g., Author 1, 2025; Kirk et al., 2017; Oved & Raichel, 2025; Sapir & Mizrahi-Shtelman, 2025). Moreover, homeroom teachers shape classroom climates that strongly influence students’ behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement (Authors, 2025a, b).

This study contributes to the limited knowledge on educators’ leadership practices that promote student empowerment in contexts of marginalization and vulnerability. The findings are expected to provide practical implications for teacher education and classroom leadership, highlighting the critical role of homeroom teachers in fostering students’ academic, social, and emotional development, while advancing social justice and equal opportunity.

Adolescence is a developmental stage marked by significant changes in an individual’s life, including social, physiological, emotional, and cognitive changes (Tomova et al., 2021). Research indicates that during this period, the prevalence of risk behaviors and aggressive attitudes increases, although it tends to decline in later stages of development (Blankenstein et al., 2018). However, not all adolescents develop violent tendencies or hold attitudes that support aggression (Blankenstein et al., 2018). Attitudes that support or encourage aggression are considered a key predictor of aggressive behavior (Huang et al., 2015), and adolescents who hold positive attitudes toward aggression are more likely to engage in aggressive acts such as hostility, assault, or bullying (Huang et al., 2015; López et al., 2021).

Numerous studies have examined factors that influence aggressive attitudes (e.g., Huang et al., 2015), including the classroom environment and overall school climate. A positive school climate is particularly important in preventing aggressive attitudes and behaviors, such as bullying and teasing (Montero-Montero et al., 2021). Other research has highlighted the role of homeroom teachers in shaping students’ attitudes toward risk behaviors through emotional support and encouragement of communication beyond the classroom (Author1, 2025).

School principals play a central role in promoting students’ success, learning, and academic achievement (Day et al., 2016), as well as in sustaining school improvement processes (Muijs & Harris, 2003). Principals also influence students’ values, attitudes, and behaviors (Berson & Oreg, 2016). However, further research is needed to examine how principals affect organizational and classroom-level processes that shape students’ attitudes, particularly those related to aggression. Specifically, few studies have focused on the impact of empowering leadership styles on students’ outcomes and attitudes (Author1, 2025).

Recently, research has emphasized promoting independent and self-managing employees (Biemann et al., 2015), rather than dependence that may result from other leadership styles, such as transformational leadership. Empowering leadership is one approach that enables participants to engage in decision-making processes, motivating them and enhancing their sense of autonomy (Gurr et al., 2007). Despite growing interest in empowering leadership and its effects on teacher outcomes, research examining its influence on student outcomes remains limited (e.g., Kasapoğlu Tankutay & Çolak, 2025), particularly with respect to attitudes toward aggression.

Drawing on empowering leadership theory (Arnold et al., 2000) and the central role of the homeroom teacher in the Israeli educational system, the main claim of this study is that principals’ empowering leadership influences homeroom teachers’ self-efficacy, which subsequently shapes classroom climates that emphasize values of fairness and support (i.e., staff support for students and students’ willingness to seek help from staff when treated with respect). Moreover, teachers’ self-efficacy and climate values will positively impact students’ perceptions of school safety, which in turn are expected to be negatively associated with aggressive attitudes. The study further examines the indirect effect of principals’ empowering leadership on students’ aggressive attitudes through homeroom teachers’ self-efficacy and students’ perceptions of school safety.

The current study examines the role of homeroom teachers as key influencers within the school organization. In Israel, as in China, homeroom teachers play a particularly central role during adolescence by shaping students’ attitudes and behaviors (Oved & Raichel, 2025).

Theoretically, this examination may help identify potential antecedent variables—at both the school and classroom levels—that contribute to the negative influence on students’ aggressive attitudes and that can be addressed through the leadership interventions of school principals and homeroom teachers. Moreover, this study addresses a phenomenon that has not yet been thoroughly investigated—the relationships between empowering leadership and students’ aggressive attitudes—thus contributing to the understanding of adolescence and expanding knowledge on empowering leadership in education.

School violence is defined broadly as the threat or use of force to cause harm or intimidation to another person (Elliott et al., 1998, p. 13). It takes place inside or outside of the school during school-related activities, as well as in online and other digital environments. This may involve insulting, threatening, ignoring, isolating, rejecting, name-calling, humiliating, ridiculing, rumormongering, lying, or punishing another person (Berlanda et al., 2019). Research indicates that principals' influence on student performance and the reduction of school violence is largely indirect. It occurs through promoting innovative teaching methods and technology, motivating students, and shaping teachers' perceptions of the principal's leadership style (Berger, Chionh, and Miko, 2022; Pollock, Nielsen and Wang, 2023). Accordingly, the present study focuses on participative decision-making (PDM) and teachers’ behaviours as antecedents for reducing violence in the Israeli Arab educational system.

Arab society in Israel consists of sub-communities distinguished according to their religious affiliation (e.g., Muslims, Christian, Druze, Bedouin). A report from the Ministry of Education (2020) revealed that 11% of Arab high school students fear going to school or being harmed, while 28% of Arab boys admitted to carrying a weapon on school grounds. Additionally, a high percentage of this population is characterized by low socio-economic status (SES) and suffer from low family income (OECD, 2017). The Arab society in Israel is characterised by a high degree of collectivism with high power distance (Abo-Asbah, 2014). Generally, leadership is characterized by hierarchy and strict authority (Massry-Herzallah and Arar, 2019). However, recent crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war, have compelled the Israeli education system to adopt technological advancements, including distance learning tools like Zoom and Google Meet, as well as artificial intelligence and connectivity technologies. This shift has reshaped teachers' perspectives, leading to expectations for greater involvement in decision-making, increased responsibility, and more influence within schools (Authors, 2024).

Drawing upon Role Theory, the current study proposes to examine the direct and indirect relationship (through organizational commitment (OC)) between PDM and school violence in the Arab educational system in Israel. The purpose of this research is to examine the mediating role of OC in the relationship between PDM and school violence while controlling for students’ socio-economic status (SES), teachers’ profiles, and school characteristics. By highlighting the relationship between PDM practices, OC, and reduced violence, this research can inform financial and policy decisions, leading to more targeted investments in professional development, support systems, and school management strategies. This approach helps ensure that funding is directed towards initiatives that promote a positive and secure educational environment, ultimately enhancing overall educational outcomes and maximizing the return on investment in education.

This study is important because the consequences of school violence are both serious and dangerous and can lead to diminished academic performance and a wide range of mental health problems (e.g., depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness) (Bravo-Snzana et al., 2021). Therefore, it is essential to thoroughly examine school violence due to its significant repercussions. Investigating PDM and teachers’ behaviors is crucial for reducing violence in the Israeli Arab educational system, especially when considering the impact of school socioeconomic status (SES). This study answers previous calls emphasizing the need to examine these relationships within the students from disadvantaged backgrounds that perform at lower levels academically and behavioural, compared with those from more affluent backgrounds (Even & BenDavid-Hadar, 2021). This study seeks to develop effective strategies to promote a safe and conducive learning environment with a particular focus on disadvantage students' population.