Learning environment and education leadership: A comparative study that includes British Columbia, Canada and Saudi Arabia

This research sheds light on the similarities as well as the differences between the administrative as well as leadership styles in British Columbia (B.C.) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A). This study was conducted with a total of eight participants (four from British Columbia and four from Saudi Arabia respectively). A narrative inquiry approach was utilized in this research, through which the participants’ lived experiences and their impact on the learning environment were examined. Through the stories shared by the participating school leaders from both jurisdictions in the conversational interviews, a candid and clear picture of educational leadership in relation to their lived experience was provided. It was through careful analysis of the administrators’ narrative account with respect to their experiences that the researcher recognized the narrative trends in which the administrators’ build their stories. This approach revealed the cultural landscapes within the educational leadership in relation to their lived experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and British Columbia respectively. This study found that BC school leaders viewed their job as having to do with every aspect of the school administration and leadership with a ‘wide spectrum’ of tasks, while the principals in Saudi Arabia saw their major responsibility as ‘general supervision’. It was also revealed through this research that in spite of their cultural differences, school leaders in these two countries viewed unnecessary bureaucratic hierarchies as a common barrier toward the smooth running of schools within the two cultures. Generally, it was found that irrespective of the well-established cultural and geographical differences between Saudi Arabia and British Columbia, educational leaders in these two countries do share some similarities in their leadership approach and styles.