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The growing concept of "customer-oriented approach", and market competitiveness led to the adoption of Total Quality Management and re-engineering in school management. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyse the level of implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in selected Kuwaiti female schools. This was with regard to the principals' roles, as assessed by principals, teachers, senior teachers and parents. This study aimed to: (a) identify principles of TQM in school leaders' practices; (b) recognise perspectives of teachers, senior teachers and parents of TQM in their working lives; and finally (c) examine if there is a mismatch between head teachers' attitudes and their perceptions of their actual roles in implementing Quality Management principles. To achieve these objectives, a combined research approach involving a triangulation of methods was adopted; data was gathered through semi-structured interviews that were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The findings from a multi-step interview process were used to build a conceptual framework for TQM principles, to show their presence and applicability in Kuwaiti female schools. Then the data was used to build a questionnaire administered to head teachers in order to gain their perceptions of TQM application, its desirable elements and possible implementation. Conclusions indicate that the overall concept of TQM in female middle schools in Kuwait, as perceived by subjects of the study, must be understood from a variety of perspectives and at multiple micro-and-macro levels. At the macro-level, TQM principles need to be considered, processed, and applied through the various systems and subsystems within a school district. At the micro-level, each individual who functions as a shareholder in the educational process (parents, teachers, principals, students) must practice these principles until they become intuitive. One common theme that was detected in this study is that the TQM principles are interrelated and integrative.

This study is based on the development of an information management (1M) framework within higher education (HE) institutions. Using the Grounded theory method (GTM) and complementing it with the object-orientationJO-O) concepts, the. study generates an 1M framework based on the perspectives of a range of people within a specific university. It also offers a contribution to GTM by incorporating 0-0 concepts to explain and support the method itself. The findings from the study are presented in the form of 'The Crystal Maze Inside-out'. This is a framework consisting of four phenomenological categories which are interrelated and interdependent. The four categories are academic-life, organisational-culture, workunit, and communication-metaphor. ('. The contributions I values of the study inelude the following: • The first implementation of Grounded Theory method using the Object-Orientation approach by which the conceptual abstract processes embedded in GTM are easy to use and to implement • The first theoretical 1M framework for higher education institutions to use that enables individual institutions to develop their own 1M based on their specific and unique characteristics The implications of the study are as follows: • The work provides basis for an HE institution: o to develop its unique 1M according to its own distinctive characteristics capability o to plan ,its organisational changes with respect to the dynamism and complexity of its internal environment and to the unpredictable changes taking place in the external world and o to expose its notable development through its intellectual capital in order to enable the external world to attach on-going importance to the institution; • The practice of the proposed framework will vary in different institutions. It will depend on how complex the social activities are within an institution and how competent the institution is in managing that complexity, particularly in dealing with the human abstract thinking processes involved in each of the activities

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This study examines the policy and practice of instructional supervision in primary education against a background of an educational change in Kenya. Primary education is an important sector of education in Kenya. This is because about 40% of children who start primary education each year terminate their education at that level. It is therefore important to ensure its objectives are achieved. Consequently the government frequently undertakes reforms aimed at improving access, participation, retention and completion rates. The latest ones are provision of free primary education and a revised curriculum. Despite these reforms this sector of education continues to experience problems in achievement of its goals. Instructional supervision has been identified as key in the improvement of teaching/learning and consequently achievement of educational objectives. The pre and post-independent education commissions in Kenya and other government reports have continued to identify supervision as an area that needs attention. Against this background, understanding what ought to be and what actually happens is important in order to identify areas that need attention for improvement of supervision and subsequently teaching and learning in primary schools in Kenya. This study therefore focused on: - the existing policies on supervision, and the policy expectations of the supervisors- the actual instructional supervisory functions supervisors perform - head teachers' and teachers' expectations of supervisors -supervisors', head teachers' and teachers' perceptions of the importance and frequency of performance of instructional supervisory functions, -and the challenges faced by supervisors and teachers in implementation of curriculum change. The study employed a survey design with a mixed method approach. Data were collected using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and document analysis. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if there were significant statistical differences in the respondents' perception of importance and frequency of supervisory functions while Post Hoc test (Tamhane coefficient test which is suitable for unequal sized groups) was used to establish where the differences among the groups were. Both tests were carried out at 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that despite the legal backing and many policy documents supporting instructional supervision, the actual practice differs from the policy expectations. Supervisors were aware that according to policy they were expected to perform evaluative and supportive/advisory functions, however their actual performance emphasises the evaluative/assessment functions of supervision. The head teachers’ and teachers' expectations on the other hand are in line with the policy expectations. For instance frequent supervisory visits, regular in-service training, opportunity for professional growth, induction on curriculum and other changes and evaluation without intimidation are some of the head teachers' and teachers' expectations. However, in their view, they differ with the actual practice of the supervisors with most of their expectations not being adequately met. On average all the respondents perceived the supervisory functions as important but supervisors rated evaluative functions as very important while head teachers and teachers rated the supportive/advisory functions as very important. On frequency of performance of supervisory functions, supervisors perceived almost all functions as frequently performed but head teachers and teachers perceived many functions as rarely performed. These findings have implications for policy and practice of instructional supervision in Kenya and other developing countries in similar contexts. There is need for revision of instructional supervisory policy with a view to separating the evaluative and the advisory functions with the evaluative functions being carried out by the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards (DQAS) and Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) to handle the supportive/advisory functions. In addition, training of supervisors for their role should be addressed.

The third wave of school reform in Quebec that started in 2000, emphasized developing student leadership. For a school to become successful, it became mandatory for the administration to build leadership-capacity and developing teacher-leadership in curriculum and professional-development and school governance. Building leadership-capacity and sustaining school improvement are the focus of this thesis. It describes the basic actions that schools should take to build leadership-capacity and investigates the characteristics of a capacity-building head and the ultimate effect of building leadership-capacity on student development. It also suggests that leadership-capacity is context specific and differentiated among schools. Leadership-capacity is defined as ‘broad-based skilful participation in the work of leadership’ (Lambert 1998:5) and a way of understanding sustainable school improvement (Lambert 2006:239) given each school culture and context. Following a review of literature, five key-research questions were formulated, addressed through three interpretive case-studies carried out in three private secondary schools in Montreal, Quebec. The research tried to investigate the process of building leadership-capacity and how it sustains school improvement. The study predominantly used a flexible multiple case-study design, using qualitative methods of data collection. In each school, semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations and document checking were conducted, providing method and data triangulation. Given that this research involves multiple case-studies, data analysis was conducted in two stages: within-case and cross-case analysis (Yin 1994:112). Analysis revealed that building leadership-capacity usually starts by broadly and skilfully involving teachers in leadership activities. Sustainable improvement can be supported by transforming the school into a professional-learning-community where learning and improvement become a habit of mind, daily practiced by teachers and students. Knowing that the ultimate goal of school improvement is to enhance student learning and achievement, this can be achieved when schools develop students to become leaders of their own learning journey. Developing teacher-leadership in a school ultimately reflects on student leadership and learning. In addition to these internal leadership-capacity processes, each school has its unique contextual factors, consequently, capacity-building is “multifaceted” (Fullan 2006), based on developing strategies that are unique to each school given its context, internal leadership-capacity predispositions and culture that ensure sustainable improvement for each particular school. The suggested leadership-capacity model provides a visual display for building leadership-capacity based on the dynamic interaction between internal capacity, culture and external context.

The study investigated the challenges for Junior Secondary School headteachers (both male and female) in the Sunyani municipality of Ghana and their professional development needs. Ghana is a developing country in West Africa facing the challenge of improving educational provision at different levels. This was a qualitative study underpinned by interpretive philosophical thought. It employed a case study approach and collected data in two phases using semi-structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview. In the first phase, a questionnaire was distributed to all headteachers and Circuit Supervisors (school inspectors) in the municipality, while the second phase involved semi-structured interviews with a purposive maximum variation sample of headteachers and Circuit Supervisors who had already responded to the questionnaire. The study highlighted that the headteachers faced multiple challenges. These included teachers’ lack of commitment and uncooperative attitude; non-involvement of the headteachers in making decisions that affected their professional practice; the complexity and multiplicity of their roles and responsibilities; and insignificant responsibility allowances. The study identified the factors responsible for these problems. The study also identified ways of preparing aspiring headteachers for meeting the demands in the educational context. Specifically, it identified the skills and competences they required and the training opportunities for the provision of those competences as well as strategies for meaningful selection/ appointment of headteachers and their induction. The findings suggested that the in-service training /continuing professional development programmes organised in Sunyani municipality for practising headteachers were inappropriate for enhancing their professional growth and development. The study proposed ways/strategies for improving some aspects of the programmes for meaningful professional development of the headteachers. This research also unveiled additional in-service training/continuing professional development opportunities for the headteachers in that context, including regional-based courses and a cluster-based collaborative headship scheme.