Evolving Research Themes on Transformational Leadership in Basic Education (2000–2025)

Jinning Le, Aida Hanim A. Hamid, Azlin Norhaini Mansor

Abstract


Transformational leadership has become a crucial field among scholars. Nevertheless, systematic reviews of the current state of transformational leadership in basic education are lacking. To address this gap, this review utilized Scopus as a data source, and articles were searched from 2000 to 2025, obtaining 493 relevant articles. Through bibliometric analyses, this review revealed the prominent trends in transformational leadership in basic education
(RQ1). The descriptive analyses revealed a steady increase in the number of articles. Co-citation analyses identified the key co-cited authors and journals. Keywords with citation bursts and timeline figures demonstrate an expanding
range of research themes. Additionally, this review incorporates content analysis to further explore the evolution of transformational leadership in basic education by dividing the research period into three phases: 2000-2007, 2008-2018, and 2018-2025 (RQ2). The three stages of research development are theoretical construction, growth, and innovation. It was found that during 2000-2007, research on transformational leadership in basic education mainly focused on theoretical adaptation. From 2008 to 2018, the study focused on the mechanisms of transformational leadership in school organizations. The 2018-2025 phase extends its applicability to technological change and
multicultural environments and further develops an innovation paradigm. This review contributes to the effective implementation and optimization of transformational leadership strategies in basic education and holds significant
academic and practical value.


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References


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