Developing an Ecumenical Collaborative Educational Leadership Model for Theological Higher Education in Indonesia: A Systematic Literature Review
Keywords:
educational leadership, theological higher education, servant leadership, ecumenical education, collaborative governance, Christian higher educationAbstract
Leadership in theological higher education involves educational quality, academic governance, faculty development, student formation, institutional collaboration, and theological identity. Although Christian leadership, servant leadership, educational leadership, ecumenical theological education, and shared governance have generated substantial scholarship, these conversations are often developed separately. This study conducts a systematic literature review for conceptual model development to synthesize these perspectives and formulate the Ecumenical Collaborative Educational Leadership Model (ECELM). The review uses explicit review questions, predefined eligibility criteria, a reconstructed search strategy, structured data extraction, and thematic synthesis. PRISMA 2020 is used as a reporting guideline rather than as the review method itself. The synthesis identifies five complementary dimensions: Christ-Centered Leadership, Servant Orientation, Ecumenical Dialogue, Collaborative Governance, and Transformative Educational Mission. Indonesian evidence is especially important: recent studies have examined academic leadership in Indonesian theological institutions and servant leadership in Indonesian Christian higher education, including research involving 26 Christian higher education institutions and validation of a servant-leadership scale. The resulting ECELM is proposed as a contextual framework for theological seminaries and theology-focused Christian higher education institutions in Indonesia. The five dimensions are not presented as empirically established causal stages. Rather, they represent analytically distinct but potentially complementary dimensions. Faculty development, student leadership formation, curriculum development, and quality assurance are treated as implementation domains or potential educational implications, not as additional dimensions of the model. Empirical research is required to test the relationships and effectiveness of ECELM.
Downloads
References
Booth, A., Sutton, A., & Papaioannou, D. (2016). Systematic approaches to a successful literature review (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Dami, Z. A., Imron, A., Burhanuddin, B., & Supriyanto, A. (2024). Predicting the outcomes of servant leadership in Indonesian Christian higher education: Direct and indirect effects. International Journal of Christianity & Education, 28(1), 35–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/20569971231175133
Dami, Z. A., Pardede, R. J., Ingunau, T. M. E., Isu, R. J., Sekoni, R. P., & Lopo, F. L. (2025). Development and validation of a servant leadership scale in Indonesian Christian higher education: Pretest and post-test. Christian Higher Education, 24(1), 54–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2024.2390866
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
Jatmiko, B., & Kawengian, S. E. (2023). Challenges and required competencies toward effective academic leadership in Indonesian theological institutions. Jurnal Teologi Berita Hidup, 5(2), 568–585. https://doi.org/10.38189/jtbh.v5i2.235
Kinnunen, P., Ripatti-Torniainen, L., Mickwitz, Å., & Haarala-Muhonen, A. (2024). Bringing clarity to the leadership of teaching and learning in higher education: A systematic review. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 16(1), 265–280. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-06-2022-0200
Lowe, M. E. (2011). Breaking the stained glass ceiling: Women’s collaborative leadership style as a model for theological education. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 20(3), 309–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10656219.2011.624398
Matthias, L. R. (2019). Faculty development: A review of the (relatively recent) literature and implications for Christian higher education. Christian Higher Education, 18(4), 260–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2018.1517618
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., ... Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Raza, K., Roach, P., Hardcastle, L., Hayden, A., Gereluk, D., & Bharwani, A. (2025). A systematic review of the conceptualization, interpretation, and implementation of shared governance in post-secondary contexts. Studies in Higher Education, 50(8), 1591–1609. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2388274
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Tausen, B. M., Erickson, T. M., Nienhuis, D. R., & Jalalian-Chursky, K. (2026). Classrooms that cultivate character? Charting an institution-wide approach to Christian virtue formation. Christian Higher Education, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2026.2686121
Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-8-45
World Council of Churches. (2012). Asian Forum on Theological Education (AFTE) guidelines. https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/asian-forum-on-theological-education-afte-guidelines
Xiao, Y., & Watson, M. (2019). Guidance on conducting a systematic literature review. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 39(1), 93–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17723971
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Samuel Simanjuntak, Park Mi Kyong
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
