A Case Study on Leadership in a Transnational Landscape of Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the nature of leadership that emerged within a higher education-based community of practice engaged in the process of developing an interprofessional teaching and learning initiative between nursing and medical students. The setting of this initiative was located in one country in the Arabian Gulf Region in the Middle East. This study was situated in a unique setting as it involved a group of North American-based faculty and academic support staff members piloting an experiential teaching and learning experience within a transnational higher education context. This study was set within a wider landscape where several North American-based universities had established transnational branch campuses in this particular country in the Arabian Gulf Region. As such, it was the first identified study of its kind that had been conducted within this situated context. This study had an emphasis on investigating leadership representation within an interprofessional community of practice and the impact this had on the sustainability of the community throughout their first collective iteration of engagement and potentially beyond. Qualitative data sources collected for this study included individual interviews, meeting observations, and field note documentation captured from community participants throughout the research period. Data analysis followed a social anthropological approach that is aligned with the exploration and investigation of group processes and dynamics within an authentic working environment. This single case study offered a conceptual rationale that situated the research context within a review of literature relating to leadership in the areas of transnational higher education, the scholarship of teaching and learning, communities of practice and situated learning. Further positioning of this research offered a review of literature on community of practice systems conveners and distributed leadership. These were two forms of organizational leadership in alignment with operational aspects of communities of practice in the situated context of this study.