Educational Leadership Training, the Construction of Learning Communities. A Systematic Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Though not innovative, the subject is significant for the training of education professionals and in general to improve the quality of the present day school system.
The concepts expressed and the data extracted from the analysis of the literature are of a more generic nature and therefore transferable to other contexts.
The ideas employed and the considerations on the topic prove to be of great interest and offer practical applications (e.g. lines 81- 84), but could be better defined and potentially integrated with further references to the literature.
For example, it would be advisable to examine more in depth the concept of educational leadership in the introduction (line 28), also from a hystorical point of view, and illustrate the relationship between distributive perspectives of leadership and cooperative learning, and between educational leadership, professional communities of practice and the development of the school (and students’ learning) as reported in the text on several occasions.
Referring to the multidimensional nature of leadership (lines 86-88) also proves interesting and this aspect should be developed more deeply.
From a methodological point of view, it would be beneficial to clarify the choices made when analyzing the literature (e.g. criteria and process of analysis and description). In paragraphs 3 and 4, for instance, certain key-words and literal quotations could be reported.
It might be useful to restructure the introductory section, in order to simplify the understanding of the topics and research stages involved.
The broad introduction could be divided into a first section which includes a general illustration of the matter and an identification of the specific issue (lines 155-158), followed by a second part defining the objectives set by the authors (lines 37- 38; 46-47).
Formal corrections:
- please integrate and clarify all references to pages in brackets (Lines: 128; 139;…)
- check spelling in the text (e.g. line 30 missing final “s” in “generate”)
Author Response
Suggestion | Attended? | Main changes in lines |
The concept of educational leadership in the introduction (line 28), also from a historical point of view | The concept of educational leadership was extended, relation it with an historical view in its relationship with educational administration and management | 27- 44 |
The relationship between distributive perspectives of leadership and cooperative learning, and between educational leadership, professional communities of practice | It was stated the instructional leadership has effects on distributive practices at the communities of practice, specially on professional ones. | 113-122, 144-149, 184-185, 210-212, 301-311. |
Introduction could be divided into a first section which includes a general illustration of the matter and an identification of the specific issue (lines 155-158), followed by a second part defining the objectives set by the authors (lines 37- 38; 46-47). | It was edited according to the suggestion | 5-22 |
Please integrate and clarify all references to pages in brackets (Lines: 128; 139;…) | It was edited according to the suggestion and all references have been clarified | |
check spelling in the text (e.g. line 30 missing final “s” in “generate”). | It was edited according to the suggestion |
Reviewer 2 Report
It is necessary that in section 2.1. Procedure, include in greater detail the final selection of the 21 articles. The search strategy should appear in WOS and SCOPUS, step by step, in order to find it.
Author Response
Suggestion | Attended? | Main changes in lines |
Section 2.1. Procedure, include in greater detail the final selection of the 21 articles | In the section "2.1 procedure" the steps followed in the search for manuscripts are detailed step by step. The sample selection process is also detailed. In addition to this point, the selection criteria are specified in Table 1. Indicating the process for obtaining the 21 selected articles. | 243-254 Table 1 |
The search strategy should appear in WOS and SCOPUS, step by step, in order to find it. | Our search has been based on Web of science, as we consider it to be the main database of the social sciences area (JCR). In other studies we will also consider SCOPUS. |
Reviewer 3 Report
The standard of English made it impossible to detect the argument made in this article.I am therefore sorry I cannot give a detailed review. From what I could discern there appeared to be no alignment between the title, the abstract and the content. It is evident a systematic literature review took place. However the search terms did not appear to link with the tenor of the article. They were:“Educational cooperation”, “cooperative education”, “team teaching”, “secondary schools” “teacher leadership" Those chosen 'related to leadership and pedagogical coordination, participant, professors or headteachers' (Table p.5) in an article titled Educational leadership training. Was it about evaluation of training programmes for leaders and teachers or about pedagogical leadership to support professional learning communities? There are possibly interesting findings here that need to be expressed in quality English and in a coherent manner
Author Response
Suggestion | Attended? | Main changes in lines |
The standard of English made it impossible to detect the argument made in this article | We made a greater edition all long the writing | All the writing |
They were: “Educational cooperation”, “cooperative education”, “team teaching”, “secondary schools” “teacher leadership" Those chosen 'related to leadership and pedagogical coordination, participant, professors or headteachers' (Table p.5) in an article titled Educational leadership training. | We linked the concepts of instructional leadership with others, the writing was mainly focused on finding instructional leadership research that exposed effects on distributive practices (cooperative, team teaching, teacher leadership) and we conclude this notion of educational leadership could contribute in training for teachers and principals to erase barriers and transforming schools in professional learning communities; therefore we developed a systematic review to sustenance our hypothesis | 113-122, 133-136, 144-149, 184-185, 210-212, 310-311, 335-342 |
There are possibly interesting findings here that need to be expressed in quality English and in a coherent manner | Yes, we edited the writing to improve the drafting | All the writing |
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
De acuerdo con la justificación, es suficiente.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your contributions to improve the manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
I appreciate considerable work has been undertaken to improve the English. Unfortunately it is still difficult to understand. There are glimpses of the argument but there is not a consistent standard of English to grasp the overall focus. From what I could gather there are three threads:
Instructional leadership can foster professional learning communities
Teacher training should include collaborative teaching/leading
Collaboration would improve the educational system
However none are fully developed.
This was a succinct paragraph that could have been the focus of the article
Most of the articles found in this review asserted on the need for the establishment of a culture of teacher collaboration and the predominance of distributed systems of leadership based on instructional aims. They showed that teacher-principal collaboration could contribute to develop a professional learning community.
In addition there needed to be:
A definition of instructional leadership,professional learning communities, team teaching, teacher leadership
References for the claim that teacher education is technically based
Synthesis and integration of the literature review findings
Author Response
Thank you again for your contributions to improve the manuscript.
We have listened to all your recommendations and we have also made an English proofreading.
We have also added the definitions of educational leadership, professional learning communities, team teaching and teacher leadership.
In addition, more references have been added to support these definitions and bring greater scientific rigour to the manuscript.
Again, thank you very much for your contributions and we hope that we have met your requests.
