This book extends the knowledgebase in the field of educational administration and leadership beyond western contexts through the biographies of great leaders who lived in the past in Africa, Asia, and Islamic/Arab countries. The narratives of these leaders provide extensive knowledge about indigenous and traditional leadership constructs that are entwined within particular cultural, social, and organizational contexts in many oriental societies and countries. The term “the global south” is used in this book as a counter-concept to the term “western,” to emphasize the contradiction between Asian/African/Islamic philosophies of management and those in the West. This book also suggests key characteristics of educational leadership in traditional societies so as to help train educational leaders in their educational systems, based on local constructs and concepts of leadership reflected in the biographies of the great leaders. Through the biographies of these leaders, readers become familiar with the major elements of effective educational leadership in traditional societies, such as positive paternalism, compassion, self-constraint, the welfare of others, the development of moral character, and consensus.

Izhar Oplatka is a professor of Educational Administration and Leadership, whose research focuses on the lives and career of school teachers and educational leaders, comparative education, emotions in the workplace, educational reforms, organizational crisis, and the foundations of educational administration as a field of study. His most recent books (and edited books) include “Educational Leadership in Times of Crisis” (Palgrave-Macmillan), “Advanced Theories in Educational Leadership” (with K. Arar, 2022, Springer), “Handbook of Gender and Educational Leadership and Management” (with Showunmi,  Moorosi & Shakeshaft, 2022, Bloomsbury), and “Reforming Education in Developing Countries” (2019, Routledge).