This article explores the impact of continuous professional development (CPD) on teaching quality. The article provides a comprehensive overview of CPD, focusing on pedagogical skills, classroom problem-solving abilities, and the mediating role of leadership within educational institutions. This study used PRISMA approach by analyzing 2,432 English-language publications from 2023 to 2024 taken from the Scopus, Web of Sciences (WoS), and ERIC databases. The data were collected, reviewed, and underwent a peer-review process before a systematic literature review. This article synthesizes findings from final articles (n=24) into five main themes: student perceptions and teaching quality, professional development (PD) and teacher learning, role of leadership in teacher development, assessment and evaluation in teaching, and collaboration and community in teaching. The review reveals that CPD significantly enhances teaching quality by improving pedagogical skills and problem-solving capabilities in the classroom. Furthermore, leadership within educational institutions plays a crucial role in facilitating the positive effects of CPD on teaching quality. By fostering an environment that supports PD, collaborative learning, and reflective practice, educational leaders can amplify the benefits of CPD. This study contributes to the understanding of how CPD and effective leadership together can elevate teaching standards and outcomes, offering valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and academic leaders aiming to enhance educational quality through PD.

The unprecedented disruption in education due to the COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers worldwide to adapt to online teaching and the immediate implementation of home-based learning (HBL). However, little is known regarding teacher readiness for HBL. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop an instrument to measure teachers’ readiness for online teaching, which can provide feedback to guide policymakers and school leaders in planning strategic interventions and support for implementing HBL. This study aimed to refine and validate the HBL Teacher Readiness Scale and to ascertain the view of secondary school teachers on aspects of their readiness to implement HBL. A total of 931 from a population of 3826 secondary school teachers were selected using random sampling, from the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The validity and reliability of the HBL Teacher Readiness instrument were tested using exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. As a result of the analysis, the scale remained at 26 items across four factors, namely efficacy in technology, attitude, perceived behaviour control, and subjective norms. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the entire scale was 0.94. Demographic analysis revealed that, overall, the in-service teachers’ level of readiness was at a high level across all dimensions, although the highest was in attitude and the lowest was in subjective norms. Based on this initial sample, the HBL Teacher Readiness Scale was shown to be a suitable instrument to measure teacher readiness for change in the context of the implementation of HBL, although further testing should be conducted on more diverse groups.

This research examined leadership practices in the unique context of primary schools with smaller levels of enrolment, specifically small schools in Malaysia. These are schools with an enrolment of up to 150 students that are primarily located in rural areas. This study explored the challenges encountered by experienced head teachers of such schools and, more importantly, identified the strategies head teachers employed to overcome these challenges. This was achieved through a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with experienced head teachers from five small schools. The findings demonstrate that all five schools faced similar challenges: financial constraints, a dilapidated infrastructure, lack of human resources, and competence-related issues among teachers. All respondents overcame these challenges with creativity and passion. They found alternative methods with which to generate school funds, adopted the role of learner leaders by developing their information and communication technology skills, and served as role models for instructional leadership. The findings will enable policymakers and school leaders, particularly those involved in small schools, to provide quality education for every child. Nevertheless, further studies involving a greater number of respondents are needed to understand the complex challenges involved in managing small schools and the optimal ways of overcoming these.

This systematic literature review studies student entrepreneurial competence and its impact on sustainable development in the context of higher education in China. The objectives of this study are to identify the key factors affecting student entrepreneurial competence, recent research trends, and the role of student entrepreneurial competence in sustainable development. Using the PRISMA model, relevant literature from 2016 to 2025 was screened from databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect, and a total of 11 empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals were analyzed. The results show that entrepreneurial competitions, entrepreneurship education, experiential learning, interdisciplinarity, entrepreneurship policies, teachers, entrepreneurial curricula, the entrepreneurial environment, and morals all influence student entrepreneurial competence. In addition, this study reveals the role of student entrepreneurial competence in promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically in promoting innovation, creating employment opportunities, and enhancing college students’ sense of social responsibility. This study systematically identifies the core factors that affect student entrepreneurial competence in Chinese universities and provides practical suggestions for optimizing entrepreneurial education policies, improving student entrepreneurial competence, and promoting sustainable entrepreneurship. This study provides a theoretical basis for policymakers and university administrators and proposes strategies for optimizing entrepreneurial education that can be used as a reference, providing the Chinese experience for other emerging Asian economies to learn from, thereby expanding the global academic discussion on sustainable entrepreneurial education.

HRMARS is well established journal publisher based in Pakistan. It is publishing prominent journals in social sciences since 2011.

This systematic literature review examines the association between distributive leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction in public schools, focusing on the mechanisms underlying this association in a broad context. A total of 12 high-quality studies published between 2020 and 2024 were included. A comprehensive search strategy, with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, and detailed data integration were employed to ensure accuracy and reliability of the results. The concept and characteristics of distributive leadership were used to structure and organize the findings. The analysis revealed distributive leadership as an effective leadership style that exhibits a strong positive relation with teachers’ job satisfaction. This review not only enriches the theory of educational leadership but also provides practical guidance for school leaders and policymakers to improve the quality of education. Overall, the review highlights the importance of distributive leadership practices in improving teachers’ satisfaction and enhancing education quality.