“Above must be above, and below must be below”: enactment of relational school leadership in Vietnam

Over the past 20 years, relational theories of leadership have gained increased traction in the global discourse in educational leadership. This is observable in the increased frequency with which scholars have begun to construct leadership within the sociocultural and institutional systems of different societies. This study addressed the question, “How is effective school leadership constructed in the multi-faceted education context of modern day Vietnam?” We employed a multi-site case study research design to collect qualitative data from several stakeholder groups in three Vietnamese schools. Analysis centered on describing and synthesizing how principal leadership was constructed in these settings. This study “contextualized school leadership” by describing how leadership themes of managing relationships, preserving harmony, and teacher empowerment were shaped by institutional, political and socio-cultural forces in Vietnamese society. The findings support the importance of contextualizing leadership in order to understand differences in how “effective school leadership” is constructed and understood across different societies.