The education system in the 21st century has focused on innovation as a tool that revamps the traditional educational system. The need for quality improvement in the curriculum and the desire to produce students with 21st-century competency skills have made innovation the core emphasis in the educational context. Hence, school cultures that support innovation should be developed and encouraged extensively. However, studies on innovation cultures within the educational context are still scarce. Researchers have also yet to concur on universally agreed features of innovation cultures within education settings. Thus, this systematic literature review has been carried out to identify the norms, beliefs, values, customs and behaviours shared in educational innovation cultures. From a total of 156 studies analysed, this article reviewed 28 most relevant studies within three categories, which were organizational cultures, sociocultural norms and national cultures. Seven studies discussed involved organizational cultures, while 20 studies focused on sociocultural norms. Only one study explored national cultures. The Competing Value Framework, six building blocks of ‘Innovation Quotient’, the theory of innovation culture, the innovation-oriented culture as well as employee skills and competence had been used to explain the innovation cultures within an organization. The themes that emerged in sociocultural norms were the individual personality, interaction, collaboration and teamwork, support as well as leadership of a teacher. Meanwhile, the national innovation cultures were described through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory.

This scoping review investigates the potential of bite-sized learning approach in music education. The review identified articles from Scopus and ERIC databases, revealing that bite-sized learning is widely discussed in the field of ICT, mathematics, and medicine. Bite-sized learning is pedagogical and pragmatic, providing easy access, convenience, and reducing cognitive load. The study suggests that music educators can incorporate bite-sized learning by refining music content into manageable small units, utilizing flexible platforms such as TikTok, and tailoring the approach according to learner interests. Bite-sized learning can improve the quality of learning by creating an enjoyable, useful, and understandable learning session, reducing time to mastery, and improving mental health. Moreover, bite-sized learning can align with the 21st century learning traits such as personalization. This review highlights the potential of bite-sized learning in music education and recommends further research to examine its effectiveness in various instruments and related subjects. The study concludes that bite-sized learning can be recognized as a pragmatic, flexible, brevity and personalized learning approach that aligns with the needs of modern learners for the 21st century.

This study aims to analyze the strategy of escalating the integration of spiritual values into the curriculum and its holistic implementation through the support of effective principal leadership. This study was conducted qualitatively in four madrasahs, where data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews, non-participant observation, and documentation. The collected data were discussed in FGDs with 144 participants online and offline to ensure their validity. The results of this study include: 1) convergence of opinions among all stakeholders agreed to include and combine four essential spiritual categories, namely tauhid (Oneness of God), akhlak (good morals), Worship, and Jihad (struggle), into the education curriculum, following common beliefs and the results of deliberation; 2) five strategies that are practically implemented into the following holistic and integrative activities, including; (1) establishing a curriculum integration escalation policy; (2) integrated into the implementation of all materials; (3) carried out jointly between schools and parents; (4) controlled administratively through a liaison book and daily pocket book (a'malul yaum); and (5) carried out in various real actions; 3) leaders have a clear vision and are the best role models. This research provides implications about the importance of visionary leaders in strengthening spiritual values in their curriculum in a planned, systematic, and total manner.

This systematic review explores the characteristics and theoretical foundations of innovative leadership in educational settings, aiming to identify how specific leadership behaviours and theories promote creativity, adaptability, and institutional innovation. The review process, conducted in March 2024, was structured in four (4) stages. Initially, a comprehensive keyword search was executed across selected databases, yielding 672 articles, supplemented by ten (10) additional articles identified through reference snowballing. After removing 65 duplicates, 617 records were screened based on their title and abstracts. Of these, 558 articles were excluded due to being review articles, meta-analyses, book chapters, conference proceedings, non-English publications, or unrelated to educational settings, leaving 59 articles for a deeper qualitative analysis. Further filtering excluded articles that did not align with the research questions, resulting in a final sample of 39 studies. The analysis highlights transformational, visionary, instructional, and team-oriented leadership as central to fostering innovation, with key characteristics such as clear vision, adaptability, risk-taking, and collaboration emerging as essential for practical, innovative leadership. This review underscores the importance of a multifaceted leadership approach that integrates diverse theoretical perspectives with practical attributes to drive educational transformation, with significant implications for the practice of educational leadership.

This study addresses the need for a standardized tool to assess innovation leadership in secondary education. Despite its importance, no established instrument exists for evaluating and developing innovation leadership among school administrators. The principal innovation leadership scale (PILS) was developed and validated to bridge this gap. The process involved a literature review, expert consultations, and an initial 58-item pool. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) refined the scale to 18 items across five dimensions, demonstrating strong model fit (comparative fit index (CFI)=0.957, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.080, incremental fit index (IFI)=0.958, normed fit index (NFI)=0.947, Tucker-Lewis’s index (TLI)=0.90). The fitted model indicated a satisfactory fit, confirming that the five latent constructs effectively measure the observed variables in the questionnaire. The PILS offers a standardized tool for assessing innovative leadership among school leaders, enabling targeted improvement strategies and informing professional development programs. This study significantly contributes to the discourse on innovation leadership in education by providing a valuable instrument for evaluating and enhancing school leadership practices.