School leadership in the United Arab Emirates: A narrative review of research

Abstract

This paper reviews research on school leadership in the United Arab Emirates by addressing the question: How does existing scholarship conceptualize and reflect values-based approaches to school leadership? To answer this question, we conducted a narrative review of 35 studies. The review process was guided by the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to support a transparent and systematic selection of studies based on predefined criteria. Four key themes emerged from the analysis: leadership selection, induction, and development, which examines how school leaders are identified, inducted, and professionally developed; leadership styles, which explores dominant leadership approaches and their influence on educational outcomes; leadership responses to reform and emergencies, which investigates how leaders navigate policy change and crisis contexts; and self-management and emotional intelligence, which highlights personal and relational attributes central to effective leadership, including resilience and well-being. The review enhances understanding of school leadership in the United Arab Emirates by identifying key trends, challenges, and gaps in the literature, and by advancing a values-based leadership framework that reframes leadership practice as a morally grounded and relational endeavor.