Educational Leaders’ Preparation for Digital and Change Management in Basic Education: A Qualitative Document Analysis of Policy Expectations and Preparation Pathway

Abstract

Background and Aim: Digital transformation has expanded expectations placed on educational leaders in basic education, particularly in relation to organizational change, innovation, equity, and governance. International policy and institutional frameworks increasingly position school leaders as key agents of digital transformation, yet less is known about how leadership preparation is framed in these documents and whether preparation pathways are articulated beyond aspirational expectations. This study examines how educational leaders’ preparation for digital and change management is conceptualized and articulated in publicly available online policy and institutional documents.
Materials and Methods: The study employed qualitative document analysis guided by Bowen’s framework. A corpus of fifteen agenda-setting documents published between approximately 2015 and 2024 was purposively selected from a broader universe of international policy and institutional texts based on relevance to educational leadership, digital transformation, and change management in basic education. The dataset included UNESCO policy reports and guidance documents, alongside leadership standards, digital competence frameworks, and policy-oriented reports from other reputable international organizations. Data was analyzed using iterative qualitative content analysis combining deductive and inductive coding, with SDGs 4, 9, 10, and 16 used as an analytic lens. Digital tools supported document organization and cross-document comparison

Results: Findings indicate that leadership preparation is predominantly framed in normative and competency-based terms, emphasizing leadership roles and expectations but offering limited articulation of explicit preparation pathways. While key competencies related to digital leadership and change management are highlighted, alignment with the SDGs is partial and uneven. Preparation discourses align more strongly with SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 9 (Innovation and Infrastructure) than with SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions), which remain largely implicit. Significant gaps persist in relation to digital ethics, equity-oriented leadership, AI governance, and systematic change management preparation.

Conclusion: The study identifies a persistent disconnect between policy expectations and preparation pathways for educational leaders in basic education. The findings underscore the need for explicit, coherent, and SDG-aligned leadership preparation frameworks that move beyond aspirational rhetoric toward systematic capacity-building for sustainable and equitable digital transformation.