Relational vs. Cultural Leadership
What Is Needed to Successfully Lead in an IB Authorized School in Japan?
Abstract
This ethnographic study investigates the leadership dynamics involved in implementing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) in a Japanese Article 1 school. Drawing on structured field interactions with members of the leadership team, the research explores how relational and cultural leadership capacities intersect to influence school reform. Findings reveal that relational leadership is essential for cultivating trust and voluntary engagement, while cultural leadership is necessary for aligning global pedagogical frameworks with local traditions. The study contributes to a growing body of literature that positions leadership as a culturally contingent and relationally embedded practice in international schooling contexts.
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Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the Global Publication House will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.
