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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1364188

A comparative evaluation of the leadership development needs of basic school leaders in the 4.0 era

Provisionally accepted
Omotayo A. AWODIJI Omotayo A. AWODIJI 1,2*Suraya R. NAICKER Suraya R. NAICKER 2
  • 1 University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 2 Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    School leadership development (SLP) in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4.0) is a crucial aspect of preparing basic school leaders to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid technological advancements and changes in the modern world. The 4.0 is characterised by the fusion of digital, physical, and biological technologies, which profoundly impact various aspects of society, including education. Thus, this study examined basic school leaders' development needs in 4.0 in Nigeria and South Africa. A comparative research approach of survey design was adopted with the aid of a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (mean score) and an independent t-test were used to analyse the collected data. Results indicated that basic school leaders in South Africa fared better than their counterparts from Nigeria regarding their 4.0 knowledge. However, no significant difference was found in 4.0 leadership skills. Leaders from both nations indicated the need for development programmes in technological applications to enhance competency to perform their administrative tasks. In theory, the study addresses African schools' 4.0 leadership needs. To lead education into the future, each nation must also understand the specific 4.0 leadership skills its school leaders will need. In light of the study's findings, policymakers should consider what gaps need to be filled to equip their basic school leaders with Education 4.0 skills.

    Keywords: school leadership development, fourth industrial revolution, 4.0, Technology, agility, Soft skills

    Received: 17 Jan 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 AWODIJI and NAICKER. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Omotayo A. AWODIJI, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.