This thesis investigates the contribution and influence of Singapore secondary school principals to the process of improving student learning outcomes by examining the phenomena at three levels: • perspectives of school principals on how they think they have influenced student learning outcomes in their respective schools ; • what they actually have done, according to their own accounts, set up or implement measures in their schools in regard to improving student learning outcomes; and • how the stakeholders in their respective schools perceive what they have done or not done in regard to improving student learning outcomes. Using the interpretivist paradigm, multi-case study approach and modified analytic inductive analysis, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 66 participants comprising principals, vice-principals, HODs, teachers and students. The major outcome of the study is the model ‘Leadership Influence to Improving Student Outcomes’ (LIISO). LIISO provides insights on the complex practices involved when secondary school principals influence the process of improving student outcomes. There is no single influence that impacts the way case principals exercise their leadership practices; rather it is the cumulative effects of all the relevant influences that matter. Leadership practices both influence and are influenced by context (knowledge of context of the leaders and context of organization), perception of leaders on their influence, social relations between leaders and the stakeholders, personal dispositions of leaders and stakeholders ‘view. The model shows that leadership does not directly impact student learning outcomes; rather, it is mediated by the ways in which leadership is practiced in each context. Crucially, the degree of success of principals’ leadership practices is dependent on five dimensions - clarity, consistency, commitment, flexibility and scalability of the practices. In addition, the findings suggest that leadership practice is also influenced by the personal dispositions of the principals, and their perception of their leadership influence.

This research considers the problem of constructing high school timetables using a computer. In the majority of high schools, termly or yearly timetables are still being produced manually. Constructing a timetable is a hard and time consuming task which is carried out repeatedly thus a computer program for assisting with this problem would be of great value. This study is in three parts. First. an overall analysis of the problem is undertaken to provide background knowledge and to identify basic principles in the construction of a school timetable. The characteristics of timetabling problems are identified and the necessary data for the construction of a timetable is identified. The first part ends with the production of a heuristic model for generating an initial solution that satisfies all the hard constraints embodied in the curriculum requirements. The second stage of the research is devoted to designing a heuristic model for solving a timetable problem with hard and medium constraints. These include constraints like the various numbers of common periods, double periods and reducing the repeated allocation of a subject within any day. The approaches taken are based on two recently developed techniques, namely tabu search and simulated annealing. Both of these are used and comparisons of their efficiency are provided. The comparison is based on the percentage fulfilment of the hard and medium requirements. The third part is devoted to one of the most difficult areas in timetable construction, that is the softer requirements which are specific to particular schools and whose satisfaction is not seen as essential. This section describes the development of an expert system based on heuristic production rules to satisfy a range of soft requirements. The soft requirements are studied and recorded as rules and a heuristic solution is produced for each of the general requirements. Different levels of rule are developed, from which the best possible solution to a particular timetable problem is expertly produced. Finally, possible extensions of the proposed method and its application to other types of the timetabling problem are discussed.

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This study explores the perception of Arab secondary school principals and teachers in Haifa area in Israel regarding their perception of appropriate and actual school leadership and management. Israel consists of a complex mix of diverse cultures mainly Jewish and Arab cultures. In Israel Arab schools and their principals and teachers are exposed to the dominant Israeli culture, the Arab societal culture and Western cultures. The current trend in the Israeli educational system is towards decentralization and school based management. It is therefore important to examine whether and to what extent traditional Arab values are maintained in their schools and the extent to which the school culture and its leadership and management reflect combined diverse characteristics. A closed questionnaire and an open-ended question were developed especially for this study (please see Appendix No. I). The five-point response scale ranges from (strongly agree) to (strongly disagree). The closed end responses were analyzed for their frequency distribution by item and by attribute. Further, leadership and management items and attributes were analyzed for congruence with school and societal culture items and attributes. The open-ended response was coded and analyzed for congruence with collateral closed-end responses. Further, the open-ended provided insights into perception not revealed within the constraints of the closed-end item mechanisms. The findings of the present study reveal * modern 1 values underlying leadership processes as perceived by principles and teachers which run counter to the traditional cultural norms of the Arabic society as considered by Hofstede's (1991) cultural map.

Dutch Reformed secondary school leaders’ personal and professional values have rarely been studied. This study investigates their values in leading their schools, both espoused and lived out, comparing their own perspective and the perspectives of staff and pupils, in relation to their Christian faith. A three-stage backward design was adopted. Document analysis and exploratory interviews facilitated developing two corresponding questionnaire surveys, for headteachers and staff respectively, available in Dutch and English. Subsequently, two case studies were conducted with headteachers representing substantial variation within this relatively homogeneous group. Three in-depth interviews were conducted with the head, interspersed with focus groups interviews with team leaders, teachers and pupils. The respondents entertain mainstream ideas on school leadership. The questionnaire data suggest that heads as a group and teachers as a group agree to a large extent. However, this conceals underlying individual differences between the heads, as emerged from the case studies. The degree to which staff agree with their heads on his values varies. Furthermore, heads differ significantly in the extent to which they formulate a direct link between their values and their faith. In the questionnaires approximately 25% of the answers given by both groups on open questions on values contain explicitly Christian elements. Analysis of the interview data suggested four mediating variables on the perceptions followers have of their leaders’ values. These include whether the headteacher has a focussed set of values; the extent of integration of his worldview, values and actions; the nature of the content of his values; and the extent to which a head’s vision is clear, coherent and convincing. Some characteristics of a head’s ongoing professional development appear to moderate these four variables. An integrated conceptual framework of perceptions of a head’s values and actions, sources and contexts was developed beforehand and refined afterwards to include these newly-found variables.

This research emerges from a deep personal interest in the leadership of Hong Kong international secondary schools. It seeks to understand the perspectives of school Principals. Some of the challenges they face are the same the world over; others are contextual and reflect a distinctive educational sector. What are the strategies that are used to meet these challenges and do they reflect expectations from the theoretical literature about school leadership? The dissertation adopts a qualitative, interpretivist epistemology and develops an "alongsider" research methodology which includes semi structured interviews with 22 participant Principals and their subsequent involvement in developing meaning from the interview data through two participants workshop conferences. This approach is intended to make the research authoritative, relevant and accessible to school leaders and policy makers to influence their practice. Two themes run through the research. The first theme reveals how Principals distribute their leadership in practice to build the capability of their schools. Many of their actions are seen as cultural as well as structural as they attempt to build a unifying vision and negotiate an appropriate pace of change in their complex cultural contexts. The research shows how the chosen theoretical lenses of distributed leadership; human, social and organisational capital investment; and leverage strategies can be used to represent the actions of participant Principals. The analysis concludes with the presentation of a generic model to describe how key processes are mutually supportive in a school's strategic journey towards building capability. The second theme focuses on the peculiar cultural context of the Hong Kong international secondary school sector. Five features of international schools are identified and evaluated leading to a conclusion that discusses how this particular context is distinctive. The tension between homogenising globalisation forces and the need to develop local strategies is discussed. Although cultural diversity is sometimes perceived as a challenge it is also identified as an opportunity for leaders to develop situational hybrid responses. A particular issue that emerges from the narratives is governance. The relationship between a Principal and the wider community through the mechanism of governance is a contextual challenge as it reflects two interfaces. The first is contextual, as often the Principal and the governing community in these schools emerge from different cultural backgrounds; the second reflects a generic challenge for all Principals to manage the internal professional world of their school within the wider political world. The research conclusions emerge from the discussions with participant Principals. They reflect a shared understanding as well as my own interpretation of the narrative themes. This wider ownership is used to generate reflection and debate within the educational sector with the aim of contributing to the development of school leadership practice.

This practitioner research sought to explore the way in which the senior management of a school for children with behaviour, social and emotional difficulties understood student belonging at school. Belonging is considered to be an important component in emotional well-being and protective of mental health. However, attempts to explore belonging at school have been frustrated by the use in the literature of a range of allied concepts, including relatedness, engagement and school connectedness, and research approaches which over-focus on self-evaluative methods and the correlation of data. A theory of change approach was initiated to explore the management team’s understanding of belonging and to support planning for interventions to develop student sense of belonging. Semi-structured interviews were completed with the school senior management team over 4 phases of research covering three years, and theories of change developed. However, the implementation of the theories in the school was unsuccessful, and the direction of the research had to be reviewed. The theory of change framework was, instead, used as an analytic tool along with thematic analysis of the data corpus. The management team’s understanding of belonging appeared to fall into two areas; belonging as experience, which focused on the subjective experience of belonging and belonging as transition which focused on the development and changes of the student and the community (the school) as belonging develops. It was also suggested that the management team considered that student sense of belonging at school could be developed through good relationships with staff and by making the school more accessible and attractive to students. Further conclusions were drawn about the way students are perceived by the school management team, and the failure to include the students in the research process. It is suggested that there are particularly challenges for educational psychologists carrying out research in schools where there are pre-existing relationships with staff.

The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of Saudi high school teachers and their students about cooperative learning. It also investigates teachers’ classroom practices based on the five cooperative learning (CL) principles (Johnson & Johnson, 2014). Most empirical studies in the field focus on assessment instead of examining attitudes and perceptions. The improvement of teachers and learners’ understanding of CL and its implementation is, however, unlikely to be achieved if researchers are only concerned with achievement. Moreover, only a few studies have been conducted in the Middle East and in traditional lecture-style contexts, such as Saudi Arabia, where CL is still considered a new teaching method. The current study was conducted in one state all-male high school in Saudi Arabia. The participants were eight teachers who received in-service teacher training on using CL based on Johnson and Johnson’s model and who have been using CL for more than one year, along with their 97 participant-students in Years 10, 11 and 12. The data comes from individual semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire and classroom observations. The findings indicate that all teachers and the majority of students in this investigation showed positive attitudes towards CL and prefer it to lecture-style lessons. The findings suggest that training in cooperative learning is important to help teachers change their practice and their perceptions of classroom roles, responsibility and authority. However, there are considerable initial challenges when teachers change from lecture-style to CL. Furthermore, there are some challenges and difficulties in implementing CL in the Saudi context, such as curricula and the assessment system. Nevertheless, CL training and implementation in the Saudi educational context could promote the development of new communities of practice. It could also create communities of learning among students, thus helping them with their academic and social learning and shaping their identities.

Headteachers play a pivotal role in the education of young people through the leadership they offer to their school. At the same time, headteachers running public schools are an important link in an education administration chain, of Ministry of Education, local district office network and the school. This study sought to explore the opinions of headteachers in Saudi secondary boys' schools on headteacher competencies and their experience of headship. The objective was to identify the most useful competencies to help inform the professional training of headteachers in Saudi boys' secondary schools. It was further hoped that a competencies-based approach might help inform headteacher appointments and performance evaluation. A review of the literature on educational administration, school management and headteacher competencies helped inform both the context of the present study and the fieldwork instrumentation. The principal data collection instrument was a headteacher questionnaire administered to a representative sample of Saudi boys' secondary school headteachers (n=160), supported by semi-structured interview schedules for headteachers (n=10) and school management supervisors (n=10). Human Resources Management competencies, including promoting staff teamwork, were among the most important ones (field mean 4.43). Competencies in 7 of the other 8 fields attracted field means ranging between 4.22 and 4.43, suggesting that they were almost as highly rated. The somewhat lower field mean on the Use of Time items (3.71) was interpreted as indicating that headteachers appreciated the need to prioritise their work. On their exercise of headship, respondents considered that they would be more effective if they had greater powers over decisions concerning their schools. Their personal qualities, including planning and communication skills contributed to the success of their schools. Despite satisfaction with their schools, headteachers found headship less satisfying as the years went by because of their limited powers. As many respondents disagreed as agreed with the suggestion that their school had excellent buildings. The interview evidence, especially that from the school management supervisors, confirmed the less than satisfactory accommodation for some boys' secondary schools, some problems with specialist teacher shortages, and with the slow response from the local district office on matters that headteachers had to refer. Recommendations for the Saudi Ministry of Education concerning boys' secondary schools, and headteacher appointments, training and evaluation are made, including the need to increase headteacher powers. A number of suggestions are made for further research into headteacher training and the benefits of a more decentralised approach. In light of the study, a detailed model for improving Saudi boys' secondary school management is proposed.

This study sought to explore the current school climate in secondary schools for boys in Saudi Arabia. Its main focus was on factors relating to school climate, such as: interrelationships, school organisation and decision-making, school buildings and facilities, and school security. Questionnaire data were collect from a sample of teachers (n=400) and students (n= 1,860). Supporting data were collected from interviews with 20 headteachers and 35 teacher-supervisors. Teachers, students, headteachers and teacher-supervisors were found to be largely satisfied with the interrelationships in schools, although most agreed that these were rather formal, particularly those between students and teachers. Both headteachers and teacher-supervisors considered that the teacher-student relationship began and ended with the delivery of the syllabus. Teacher-student relationships were conditioned by an information transmission process, which gave students little or no opportunity to contribute. School operations were largely governed by regulations, handed down from the top, and which were seen as inviolable. A formal school administration style was dominant in secondary schools. Many factors associated with this style loomed large in the interviews with headteachers and teacher-supervisors. Such a traditional approach to administration, it is argued, hindered the creation of an effective school climate. Heavy teaching loads adversely affected teacher effectiveness and morale. The majority of teachers expressed dissatisfaction with their workload. In-service training was considered limited. However, neither teachers, headteachers, nor teacher-supervisors complained about their salaries. It was found that the physical conditions under which teachers taught limited their teaching strategies. Quite apart from class-sizes, facilities, such as reprographics and audio-visual aids, were either not available or insufficient. Headteachers and teacher-supervisors broadly agreed that newly built schools were well equipped, although this was not the case in the older ones. Standards of maintenance of buildings and equipment (especially air-conditioning) and cleaning were poor. Students complained about the quality of the school cafes, as well as toilets. There were few concerns about security and safety in school, although there was some carelessness on the part of students, and school property sometimes subject to vandalism. Chapters One to Three establish the context. Chapter One introduces the study. Chapter Two considers the Saudi Education System and secondary schools in particular. Chapter Three reviews literature on school climate. Chapter Four considers the research design, including theoretical and practical factors influencing the construction of the fieldwork. It also reports on instrumentation and sampling, and the conduct of the fieldwork and data analysis. Chapter Five presents the student and teacher questionnaire findings, Chapter Six the interview findings. Chapter Seven offers an interpretation of the findings, relating these to the research questions. A series of recommendations, addressed to the Saudi Ministry of Education among other parties, are presented in Chapter Eight, together with ideas for further related research.