Transformational Leadership in Schools: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis (2000-2024)
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Abstract
While transformational leadership has been extensively studied in educational contexts, systematic bibliometric mapping of its knowledge evolution remains unexplored in school-setting research. This review, using VOSviewer bibliometric analysis methods combined with content analysis, used an analytical framework combining bibliometric clustering and qualitative content interpretation, which was conducted on 540 Web of Science articles from 2000 to 2024. The basic articles revealed by co-citation analysis constitute the core knowledge base; Co-word analysis shows that the research focuses on school organisational behaviour, school improvement, leadership quality and teacher psychology. Further, combined with the content analysis, it is found that significant research gaps remain on cross-cultural applicability and technology empowerment. The researchers integrate transformational leadership change in schools and propose a synergistic application of transformational leadership and technology support approaches to address diversity challenges in a globalised education system.
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