Browsing by Author "Zamani, Zahra"

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    The effect of servant leadership on students’ engagement in social studies class: analyzing perception of middle school students in Dubai
    (The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2018) Zamani, Zahra
    One of the most important goals of education for students is to learn. By engaging students in the classroom they can reach this essential aim. By adopting appropriate leadership styles, teachers can increase students’ learning, for example adopting a servant leadership style helps teachers to coach students to enrich their learning experiences. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which servant teaching influences students’ engagement in Dubai’s middle schools. Based on a positivist approach, quantitative data was collected from a sample of 383 students from four middle schools in Dubai using SES-4DS and modified version of the seven-factor servant leadership scale Questionnaire. Linear Regression was used for analyzing the results. The finding shows that the use servant leadership style by social studies teachers influence learners engagement on three different aspects: cognitive, behavioral and agency. Findings of this research can be used by teachers to apply servant leadership in their classroom. Application of this leadership style in classroom helps students to engage more and therefore learn better.
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    Exploring culturally responsive leadership practices in international private schools in Dubai
    (The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2019-03) Zamani, Zahra
    The cultural diversity in the city of Dubai is high. Accordingly, it is important for its schools’ leaders to lead their schools by using a leadership style, which is appropriate for this context. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways and also the extent to which culturally responsive leadership is being practiced by heads of departments in the international private, middle and high schools in Dubai, UAE. The Challenges that heads of department face while leading based on culturally responsive practices are also determined. The relationships between head teachers’ culturally responsive practices and their related knowledge and training and their life experiences are examined. This study is underpinned by a culturally responsive leadership theory and uses a mixed method approach to generate data to achieve the research aim. Data was gathered from 14 heads of departments by conducting semi-structured interviews and 278 heads of department by doing a survey. Some elements of culturally responsive leadership were being practiced at a high level by the heads of departments. Some of these elements were practiced in an almost similar ways in different schools like being available for students, teachers and parents. While, some of the others like having caring behavior were practiced in more varied ways by different heads of departments. Information provided in this study can be used for planning to make a balance for equally practicing all elements of culturally responsive leadership at a high level.