School Leadership: A Narrative Review of Literature

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of empirical studies on school leadership across the globe and then specifically for public high schools in Vietnam. There are very few studies done on the leadership of school leaders in Vietnamese public schools and how leadership can affect the school’s overall performance. Hence this review aims to address this gap and provide a review of leadership practices, the effect of school leadership which might enhance the leadership at public high schools in Vietnam Methodology: Narrative systematic review was conducted by identifying the papers published in educational journals were analyzed using different databases and based on the main findings of those papers, the review of the literature was written. Findings: The review suggested that there are differences in the leadership styles practiced in Vietnam as compared to the rest of the world. The leaders in Vietnamese schools do not have full autonomy to make the decisions and MOET (Ministry of Education and Training) plays a significant role in making decisions. Value added: This review of literature has aimed to fill the gap regarding the educational leadership system in the Vietnamese high school context whereas very limited studies have focused on this and how leadership can impact school performance in general. Recommendations: This review can prove to be an effective document for government authorities in Vietnam and other worldwide schools where the leaders might not be given the full autonomy to make the decisions and hence might have an effect on teachers and students’ satisfaction levels in the schools. Hence, it is important to provide some autonomy to leaders at least at micro-level.