Mrs Joanna Holmes

Research Interests

My research interests focus on the study of leadership and in particular the development of leadership. This includes development of leadership capabilities in both formal and informal aspects.  I am interested in the importance in organisational culture and its relationship to staff development.

My main current research activities are focused on exploring leadership identity formation and emotional competencies in the educational leader.

I am a member of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) where I am also member of their Research Interest Group in Leadership Preparation and Development.

I have supervised a number of students in their Masters Dissertation or Final Year project in topics related to leadership or leading change as follows:

2023

MSc Dissertation: The Effect of Authentic, Distributed and Transformational Leadership on students’ performance at school level.

2022

MEd Dissertation: Assessing the effectiveness of collaborative pedagogies in the mainstream classroom for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

MEd Worked Based Project: Developing a reading culture across a Primary School and applying for the Reading Schools Award as awarded by the Book Trust Scotland.

MEd Worked Based Project: Raising Attainment and Achievement through a consistent Play/PEBL approach.

MEd Worked Based Project: Learning for Sustainability

MEd Worked Based Project: Empowering learners through Pupil Voice

2021

MEd Dissertation: A Literature-based Study on Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership

MEd Dissertation: Exploring the Empowerment Agenda within a Scottish School

MSc Dissertation: The Developmental “Heroic journey” of the Tutors of the Management Development Programme

2020

MEd Dissertation:  Exploring Middle Leaders Understanding & Perceptions of Collegiality in Secondary Education

MEd Dissertation: Is young children's curiosity suitably challenged in an Inquiry-Based Learning Environment?

MEd Dissertation: Social Justice in Education: An exploratory review of the concepts of Social Justice and Social Justice Leadership, with a Scottish perspective

MEd Dissertation: How does national policy conceptualise the enactment of teachers as leaders though a leadership for all agenda?

MEd Worked Based Project: Leading curriculum change

MEd Worked Based Project: Establishing mechanisms and structures for formally recording and acting upon pupil voice for school improvement.

MEd Worked Based Project: School Improvement Through Pupil Voice.

MEd Worked Based Project: Leading and managing the expansion of increased hours of high quality, Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) across a local authority.

2019

MSc Dissertation: The role of parental involvement to enhance students’ attendance and achievement in primary schools

MSc Dissertation: Challenges Facing Arab Female Leaders in Education across Arab Countries

MEd Dissertation: A study into the understanding and development of Teacher Leadership in Scottish Schools.

MEd Dissertation: An Investigation into the Pupil Equity Fund leadership roles within Primary Schools

MEd Worked Based Project: Can Personal Support improve pupil wellbeing?  How can we measure the Wider Achievements of learners to close the achievement gap?

MEd Worked Based Project: Teacher Professionalism: Engaging Teachers in Meaningful Professional Learning

MEd Worked Based Project:  Introducing professional enquiry to all staff through professional reading.  

MEd Worked Based Project: How effective is Philosophy for Children in helping to develop the critical thinking skills of upper primary pupils in my school?’

MEd Worked Based Project: Implementing the Transformation of the Management Structure of a College

MEd Worked Based Project: How can positive parental engagement be enhanced in high attaining

primary schools?

MEd Worked Based Project: Parental Engagement in Numeracy and Digital Technologies

MEd Worked Based Project: Involving and engaging parents and families in their children’s learning

2018

MEd Dissertation: Parental Engagement – why should we ask for the parents’ views?

MEd Dissertation: A research project investigating the development of an additional support needs resource within a mainstream secondary school

MSc Dissertation: Middle Leadership in Primary Schools: Succession of Strategic Leaders or Operational Managers at a Standstill

MSc Dissertation: Emotional Intelligence in Transformational Leadership

MEd Worked Based Project: Improving data from Tracking in order to  plan effective and timeous interventions for pupils

MEd Worked Based Project: Improving pastoral tracking in to improve pastoral interventions.

MEd Worked Based Project: How can tracking within the Broad General Education be more reflective of pupils’ individual progress, and how can this be consistently used across the department

MEd Worked Based Project: What constitutes a positive post school destination for young people with complex additional support needs and what programme of activity requires to be in place to support this?

MEd Worked Based Project: Leading to close the attainment gap.

2017

MEd Dissertation: The Effect of Pupil Voice on the Perception of Pupil Agency

MEd Dissertation: An exploration of humility in Scottish public middle leaders.

MEd Worked Based Project: Building capacity of the staff to support participation in Wider Achievement

MEd Worked Based Project: Exploring the important role parents can play in supporting the development of their child’s learning by working in partnership with the school.

MEd Worked Based Project: Working in collaboration with stakeholders to meet the needs of young people, whilst seeking to raise the attainment levels

MEd Worked Based Project: Review of the House System to enhance and complement current policy and status as a Scottish Attainment Challenge School.

2016

MSc Dissertation: Learner Engagement:  How a Further Education College Engages with Learners

Professional Activities

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Projects

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