Evolution and future directions in school leadership development research: A global bibliometric perspective (2015-2025)
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R. A. Mustika Hariyanti 1 * , Agus Pahrudin 1 , Muhammad Akmansyah 1 , Ahmad Fauzan 1
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1 Department of Islamic Education Management, Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung, Bandar Lampung, INDONESIA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

School leadership is recognized globally as a strategic factor in enhancing educational quality. This study aims to map publication trends, citation patterns, scholarly collaboration, thematic developments, and future research directions in school leadership training from 2015 to 2025. Employing a bibliometric approach on 1,119 documents from the Scopus database, the data were analyzed using OpenRefine, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer. The findings reveal a marked increase in publications, peaking in 2024. The most prolific authors are Aas, M. and Schildkamp, K. while the most influential contributors include Daniëls, E. and Van Mieghem, A. Professional Development in Education and Educational Management Administration and Leadership are leading journals in this domain. The top affiliated institutions are the University of Twente, the University of California, and the University of Oslo. The United States has the highest number of corresponding authors, followed by Australia and the United Kingdom. Thematic analysis identified six principal clusters: instructional leadership, professional development, digital leadership, and social justice. Emerging research trends highlight a growing focus on sustainability, well-being, and digital transformation. These findings provide a comprehensive overview of the current scholarly landscape in school leadership training. This mapping is a foundation for shaping future research agendas, prioritizing responsive, human-centered, and contextually relevant leadership models, essential for policymakers and practitioners in formulating effective leadership development strategies amid global educational challenges.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Review Article

EUR J SUSTAIN DEV RES, Volume 9, Issue 4, 2025, Article No: em0326

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejosdr/16753

Publication date: 01 Oct 2025

Online publication date: 13 Aug 2025

Article Views: 90

Article Downloads: 53

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