Basic School Leaders’ Continuous Professional Development for the 4IR - A Systematic Literature Review across Africa

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Continuous professional development (CPD) for basic school leaders is examined in the context of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to identify CPD approaches available across Africa. The study conducts a systematic literature review using the PRISMA protocol, drawing on 2,353 academic articles and applying inclusion of eleven studies on basic school leadership CPD. Findings emphasize CPD activities that strengthen leadership capabilities for management, teamwork, professionalism, effective interpersonal communication, and teaching and assessment, supported through multiple training and learning formats.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Continuous professional development and school leadership

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and educational change

Rationale for preparing school leaders

Basic School Leaders’ Continuous Professional Development for the 4IR: A Systematic Literature Review across Africa By Omotayo Adewale Awodiji􀀍 & Suraiya Rathankoomar Naicker􀁲 The role of continuous professional development (CPD) in advancing basic school leaders in the context of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) cannot be overemphasised in the actualisation of positive change in the school system. The 4IR transformed the nature of work across human endeavours, requiring school leaders to be trained and retrained. The study endeavoured to understand CPD approaches available in Africa for school leaders in 4IR. This study adopted a systematic review of the literature. Several bibliographic databases identified two thousand three hundred and fifty-three academic articles using the PRISMA protocol. Hence, the eleven studies on basic school leadership CPD in Africa were used. As a result of the review, CPD activities should focus on enhancing school leaders' abilities to manage, build teams, be professional, communicate effectively in interpersonal situations, and teach and assess. Furthermore, in-service training, cohort meetings, group learning/collegial learning, learning by exposure, formal leadership training for new principals, compulsory leadership courses through the leadership training centre, regular training, networking, and coaching, among others, could be used as CPD to prepare school leaders for the 4IR. Keywords: continuous professional development, collegial training, education leaders, in-service training, 4IR Introduction Leadership plays a vital role in the actualisation of positive change in every organisation including the school. The current global changes call for improved leadership capacity to lead a sustainable system (Fry & Egel, 2021; Schein, 2015; Leadership and leadership for sustainability, n.d.; Rogers, 2011) . The school like every other sector is faced with changes and globalisation (Wiseman, 2014) . As part of the basic education system, educational leaders are responsible for leading continuous improvement of national curriculum framework (Nuttall et al., 2020) . Therefore, educational leaders, involved in the routine administration of educational system need to take time to consider on their individual and professional development as leaders and administrators in the changing world (Cravens & Zhao, 2022; Norazana & Zabidi, 2021; Tran et al., 2020) . The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) brought about changes to career and institutional development. The rapid change of the 4IR transformed the nature of work across human endeavours. The presence of 4IR in 􀀍Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Education Leadership and Management, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. 􀁲Senior Lecturer, Department of Education Leadership and Management, Faculty of Education University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Africa and other continents ofthe world is regarded as the great world-shaking shift in this generation and provides opportunities for enhancing human life (Ramaphosa, 2020). It is inevitable that “disruptive technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data are changing the way we live, the way we work and do business, and the way we govern”(Ramaphosa, 2020). The 4IRis seen as an instrument of providing a solution to Africa’s challenge namely, access to quality and sustainable education (Kayembe & Nel, 2019; Ramaphosa, 2020; Xiaolan, 2020). Hence, basic school leaders must be abreast of this fact and harness possible approaches for placing the school at the centre, in the realisation of this goal. The 4IR movement led to a shift from a handicraft economy-based approach to a machine economy-based approach (Ndung'u & Signé, 2020) . Educational institutions are not left out of this rapid shift. Theories of professional development continue to evolve and remain focused on the tradition of integrating educators with the world o

FAQs

What is the focus of the study about basic school leaders in Africa?

The study investigates CPD approaches for basic school leaders in the context of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

How was the literature review conducted?

The review uses a systematic review method and applies the PRISMA protocol to identify academic articles, resulting in eleven studies used for analysis.

Which CPD activities are recommended for preparing leaders for the 4IR?

Recommended CPD includes in-service training, cohort meetings, group/collegial learning, learning by exposure, leadership training for new principals, compulsory courses via a leadership training centre, regular training, networking, and coaching.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa