Background : Education delivers a fundamental base for all further human, social and economic development. It inspires creativity and fosters innovation. Education is generally considered as the tool for economic growth and social development of a nation. Education or school outcomes are strongly associated with the quality and/or relevance of leadership style used by principals. The quality of education is positively correlated to quality educational leadership. As a result, in educational organisations, leadership behaviour plays a significant role in success in schools. Methods: To understand the research issues and to investigate the feeling of the public secondary schools principals and teachers in the study, this research applied a qualitative research approach. Specifically qualitative instrumental case study design was used. In this research 34 participants were selected, 24 teaches and 10 principals from the 65 public secondary schools. Semi-structured individual in-depth interviews used to collect data from participants. Data analysis was done concurrently with the data collection process. As the interviews conducted in Amharic language, the interviews translated to English language after the audio recorded data transcription. In this research ATLAS.ti 8 qualitative data analysis software used to facilitate the organisation of collected data. Results: The public secondary school management system has unique structures in schools namely, teachers’ one- to-five grouping, development group/change army and school command post committees together with different departmental structures. Even though the school has four principals (one head principal and three vice-principals), all of them seemed to focus on coordinating and developing an ‘educational army’ in the school. The principals are evaluated by the officials based on the effectiveness of the school in developing the ‘educational army’, such as monitoring one-to-five teams. They also work hard at changing teachers’ attitude toward to the ruling political party. The school principal has no mandate to make any decisions alone as it can be negated by the command post. Conclusions: the public secondary school management structure is consisted of principals and department heads. However, the process of managing and leading the school is executed by hidden politically organized body like school command post, one to five structures and ruling party members in the school. Keywords: school management and leadership, command post, education development army, one-five group, principal, teacher DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-13-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

This editorial introduces the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches’ Issue 2 of Volume 13 and provides an overview of its main themes.

This chapter introduces the concept of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, More recently, a further feature of ATLAS.ti has been developed, which means that data such as open-ended and survey items, literature reviews, audio recordings, pictures, and web pages can be included in qualitative projects because these can now also be analyzed. Accordingly, mixed analysis can be enhanced through the use of ATLAS.ti tapping into aspects of data analysis such as visualization, contextualization, and serendipity. Short memos can be written and added to the literature review in ATLAS.ti to help the researcher keep track of the development of this review. The chapter contributes to mixed methods research by outlining the possibilities of using ATLAS.ti in conducting a literature review, including method, theory, prior research, the social significance of the problem, philosophical underpinnings of the inquiry, implications for policy, and applications to practice.

Little research has been undertaken on conducting literature reviews, such as systematic reviews, using qualitative software such as ATLAS.ti. Conversely, much research has been undertaken on how to conduct systematic reviews in terms of the practical steps required (Grant & Booth, 2009). This editorial introduces the use of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti, to conducting scoping reviews as one of the many approaches to systematic reviews. Although not many scholars have reported on the possibilities of using such software for analyzing theoretical work, a few scholars such as Paulus et al. (2014), Munirah Mohamad (2017), Smit (2005, 2018), and Wright (2014) have written about using ATLAS.ti for the literature review. The review of literature is arguably the most utilized form of qualitative research, and the value of qualitative data analysis (QDA) (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2012) as tools for this task has been acknowledged within the methodological literature and has been promoted by program developers. Generally speaking, literature reviews tend to be conducted manually, and some researchers have found, for example, bibliographic management tools, such as Endnote, Mendeley, Zotero, and RefWorks, quite useful in supporting the crafting of a literature review. More specifically, bibliographic management tools differ from qualitative data analysis software in literature work. While bibliographic management tools assist in keeping track of and categorizing the sources used, qualitative data analysis software assists in the coding and theming of the sources, which can be extrapolated as data to be used in the writing of the reviews. Thus, there is a need to address how qualitative data analysis software can be effectively leveraged to assist researcher in undertaking different reviews.

This editorial introduces the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches’ Issue 3 of Volume 13 and provides an overview of its main themes.

Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to investigate nature of school leadership and the influence of politics in the public schools leadership process. Design/methods/approach - Qualitative case study research design was used. In this research 24 teaches and 10 principals public secondary schools were purposefully selected. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data from participants. Data analysis was done concurrently with the data collection process. Cods, categories and themes were extracted from the data and analysed. Findings - Teachers’ one- to-five group, education development/change army and school command post committees together were the core structure in school management and leadership activities. Principals were focus on coordinating and developing an ‘educational army’ in the school. The school principal has no mandate to make any decisions alone as it can be negated by the command post. Originality/value- This research is one of the first empirical studies on the issue of political interference of the government in the school leadership. The study also the first to submitted for publication in international referred journals. The study findings are valuable for the theoretical development of school leadership and lessons will take for similar context. Keywords - school leadership, command post, education development army, one-five group, principal, teacher, stet politics. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-25-03 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 3) of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches and provide an overview of its main themes.

Background: Quality early childhood programmes have proven to be highly cost-effective in reversing the detrimental consequences of poverty on children's development. However, these programmes can only influence developmental outcomes of poor children if their needs are considered. Aim: The purpose of this article was to inquire into the experiences of two early childhood development (ECD) practitioners working and living in impoverished and marginalised predominantly white communities where the involvement of volunteers from charity organisations was prominent. The researchers argued that the practitioners' experiences regarding their work should inform the kind of complementary volunteer aid and support sought for. Setting: The research sites were two informal predominantly white settlements where unemployed residents lived in makeshift housing. Methods: A narrative inquiry, nested in the social constructivist paradigm, was employed to explore the experiences of two practitioners. Data were collected from narrative interviews, observations, documents, photographs and artefacts. Results: Both participants knew well that the needs of the children in their care differed significantly from those of their more affluent peers and believed that training would equip them better for their task. Although both centres (and communities) benefitted from volunteer support, this well-intended aid was often misguided as the volunteers were not qualified educators and did not understand the context. Conclusion: The volunteers did not empower the practitioners to use their insight and experience to deliver a quality programme fit for context. Instead, they left the practitioners with a sense of disempowerment by dictating the programmes and practices to be followed in the respective ECD centres, even though they were not qualified to do so.

This instrumental case study investigates reasons behind female school principals resigning from their posts as school principals in Gauteng Province in South Africa. The qualitative study focused on the experiences of two purposefully chosen former school principals who resigned from their leadership positions before retirement. Data were collected through in-depth face-to-face individual interviews which were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researchers. Direct quotations were used to present the data, and these were thematically analysed using content analysis. The study established that female school principals in the study resigned from their positions because of individual, social and work-related barriers. Insidious, subtle, discriminatory gender-related practices and barriers that worked against the leadership of women were established. Key among these were jealousy, backbiting, rejection of female authority, lack of support from colleagues, lack of role models, isolation, discrimination and loneliness. These barriers were the same as those that contributed to the underrepresentation of females from positions of leadership as reviewed in the literature review. The study recommends a change of attitudes regarding leadership perception by individuals, society and organisations. While the findings of this study are useful in providing insights as is the case in most qualitative studies; the sample is rather small for generalisability. Hence it is recommended that future researchers could conduct large-scale research on this aspect.

Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and more attention can be paid to these leadership practices in educational leadership. Most educational leadership studies focus on distributed, instructional, teacher, and transformational leadership using mostly quantitative research. The aim is to explore and describe relational and responsible leadership in the context of educational leadership. Qualitative research methodology such as narrative inquiry is not often used for inquiries into educational leadership studies. Moreover, the scholarship on narrative inquiry as a relational methodology for relational and responsible educational leadership is scant, and there is a need to broaden the discussion to include appropriate the concepts of relational leadership and responsible leadership for educational leadership in a context of relational narrative inquiry. Relational and responsible leadership theories can be appropriated through a relational research methodology using narrative inquiry. These scholarly lenses may add value to school leadership research and to school leaders who wish to transform and change leadership practices, specifically in diverse school communities with challenging and problematic educational landscapes.

The International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches (IJMRA) invites reviews of media that are appropriate for academic and scholarly purposes, for various disciplines. A media review should not exceed 1,000 to 1,200 words, and ought to include introductory comments, information about the reviewer and relevant experience of the media, a succinct summary of the media content, and a discussion of why the media is important for theoretical and empirical purposes. The significance and the shortcomings of the media also should be examined.

Educational leadership is conceptualised through a relational framework and empirically understood through qualitative relational methodologies such as relational ethics, ethics of care and narrative inquiry. Empirical data from narrative interviews revealed that in many cases where the school principals honed values such as care and relational attributes in their daily leadership practices, learners were more likely to respond to such relational and caring practices, which they witnessed and experienced. It appears that relational methodologies can elicit relational leadership styles, which set caring and supportive examples for both teachers and learners, adding much worth to a favourable educational landscape.