Sherry Ganon-Shilon, Orit Avidov-Ungar E19 Theme and SubThemes Example Statements Intellectual stimulation Encouraging teachers’ creativity "Teachers constantly hear me say, use AI to be more creative. A homeroom teacher shared she created an app in Claude with her class, where anyone who earns 10 points for bringing all the required materials receives a trophy” (SP2). Encouraging teachers’ critical thinking " I truly believe that an AIED policy is beneficial for reflecting on our pedagogical practice” (SP2). Individualized consideration "For me this is a double spreading. I am always there for teachers and students” (SP9). Findings show that school principals were identified as early adopters demonstrating that diffusion in schools is a process to be achieved through the collective will of diverse stakeholders (Kim et al., 2022; Rogers, 2003). Specifically, technology leadership practices emerged as a dominant leadership style suggesting that the initial stage of an AIED policy adoption requires principals to establish structural and organizational readiness before deeper cultural transformation can occur. Alongside technology leadership, school principals’ transformational leadership practices emphasized that emotional and cognitive influence are central for sustaining motivation once technological capacity is in place. Therefore, school principals’ dual role represented a synergistic interplay between technology leadership (capacity, structure, and partnership) and transformational leadership (vision, inspiration, and individual support) practices. School principals’ experience shaped the spreading of the adoption of an AIED policy. Five school principals (SP1, SP5, SP9, SP12, SP13) were dominant in their statements exemplifying technology and transformational leadership practices. The research by Alzouebi et al. (2025) exploring the role of school principals in promoting a culture of innovation correlates with our study’s findings indicating that experience contributes positively to fostering innovation. Nevertheless, our study calls for an interplay between experience, gender, and transformational leadership practices. In this regard, three female school principals’ (SP1, SP5, SP13) statements exemplified that the creation of innovative culture was enhanced by transformational leadership and femininity, aligning with the work by Kawatra and Krishnan (2024). Specifically, in our study, female school principals prioritized inspirational motivation. Similarly, four female school principals’ (SP1, SP5, SP12, SP13) statements demonstrated that building professional capacity and creating a supportive organization for learning were facilitated by technology leadership and femininity. Addressing both transformational and technology leadership practices, these female school principals strengthened the integrated perspective in terms of experience, gender, and leadership practices. Implications This study suggests implications for theory, policy, practice, and research. Theoretically, school principals’ role as boundary spanners communicating leadership practices to bridge top-down policy adoption with bottom-up stakeholder engagement extends Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory (2003). Policy frameworks should pair clear national guidelines with structured autonomy, enabling school principals to adopt an AIED policy in congruence with internal needs. Practically, professional
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