This study examines the development of leadership. The aim is to investigate the concept of a leader (the headteacher) developing leadership in a new and developing school. The study explores the notion of a vision for leadership, the structures which are evident each year and the development of leaders and leadership within the school. This case study research was undertaken in a single school at the end of its first seven years at the point when the first cohort of students went to university and the school converted to a new academy. The presence of two consecutive Ofsted judgements of outstanding leadership suggested leadership had developed well making this an appropriate environment in which to investigate leadership development. This post facto study adopts a qualitative approach gathering data from three sources: an extended series of interviews with the headteacher; semi-structured interviews with a sample of middle leaders who had had different experiences within the school and documentary evidence in the form of staffing structures from each of the previous school years. These three sources provided a means for the triangulation of evidence. A number of points emerge from the study: the variance in perspectives of the headteacher and middle leaders; the changes in structure and the growth of a hierarchy; the development of leadership factors such as communication and external pressures which impact on this. The research identifies a number of key elements: the concept of leadership which appears organic and changing and where different leadership experiences can coexist within a planned leadership model; the relationship between leadership vision, leadership structure and leadership development and the changes to the relationship over time; communicating theleadership vision through change from opening to establishment. The research challenges the belief that leadership is an entity or concept defined by a fixed set of skills and features. The research moves forward from models of distributed and hybrid leadership to demonstrate the complexity, fluidity and flexibility of leadership development. The process of and deployment of leadership affects and is affected by the context and must be able to respond to all contingencies. The quality of information is essential in making decisions regarding leadership. The qualilty of communication of that information enhances knowledge across the organisation and secures commitment and engagement of all middle leaders.

This study concerned the concept of teacher induction, understood globally as the process of initiating newly qualified teachers (NQTs) into their roles as effective teachers and members of a school organisation. Despite longstanding proposals advocating change for teacher induction in the Republic of Ireland, Ireland has no statutory provision for this and there remains a significant gap in the Irish literature about how induction is currently functioning. The research investigated primary level NQT induction using a qualitative multi-case study, interviewing principals and NQTs in eight schools. These interviews explored principals’ rationales for providing induction and what they made available for their NQTs. NQTs’ perceptions were then sought about the effectiveness of their induction. A conceptual framework for evaluating the components of an effective induction programme was adapted from the literature to enable focused critique of Ireland’s provision and guidance for future developments. Four typologies of school-based induction were chosen to categorise the data: laissez faire, collegial, competency based, and self-directing professional. In all but the last of these, a rhetoric–reality gap was found; resulting in unforeseen consequences such as conflicts of interest between principals and NQTs. Evolving from the critique and the typologies, a reconstructed framework of the components of effective induction was devised to align with perceived needs of principals and NQTs. This can aid policymakers and stakeholders in future planning for NQT induction in Ireland.

This research has developed an alternative conceptual framework for school leadership which is context sensitive, practice oriented and centred on leadership for learning. The framework is construed on a set of practices which are considered to be optimal for leadership in a school and is based on three conceptual domains: leadership for pedagogical purpose; leadership for engagement; and leadership for empowerment. The three domains link sets of day to day leadership practices which inform pedagogical purpose; engage a wide constituency of others to be part of leadership practice; empowers this constituency to lead. At the centre of the constituency are the staff and students in the school, parents, school governors and a wide range of community stakeholders. Developed through substantial debate of the context of secondary schools in England and a wide range of theories, models and perspectives of leadership, the framework was used to undertake an inquiry into headteacher perception of leadership practice in their schools, focusing on a sub-regional group of secondary headteachers in the South East of England. A sequential mixed methods procedure was used which allowed analysis and discussion of a combined and sequential data set. Exploratory factor analysis of questionnaire data, enriched by thematic analysis of interview data, enabled a framework for perceived leadership practice to be constructed and compared to the conceptual framework for leadership underpinning the research. The findings indicate that despite some aspects of excellent leadership practice there may be limited practice in important aspects of leadership in the schools particularly with regard to leadership for engagement and leadership for empowerment. Significant sources of leadership practice available in staff, students, parents, other schools, and governing bodies are likely to be under-developed and under-deployed in most schools. Excessive accountability, both explicit and implicit, in the standards based school improvement processes driven by central government and the fundamental lack of trust which this implies creates barriers to the development of effective leadership practice. The findings of this research suggest that headteachers appear trapped in their primacy and often feel unable to utilise the leadership resources available to them because of accountability in relation to their agency, the capacity of others to lead and the perceptions of others that leadership is in the sole provenance of the head. This thesis has shown that the headteacher’s primacy in school leadership is crucially important to establishing leadership in the school which fosters learning and engages and empowers others. It is headteachers who will nurture leadership practice which is purposefully concerned to maximise student learning, fully engaging of all potential leadership resources and empowering other leaders, staff, students, parents and school governors to be part of the leadership of the school.

The purpose of this research is to gain insight into how school principals make sense of and promote social justice in their schools in South Africa. Underpinned by the ontological view that knowledge of the world comes from many perspectives, and set within the interpretive, constructionist paradigms, this qualitative study explores seven principals’ attempts to promote social justice. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with principals and staff members from schools in both the public and independent sectors. The findings reveal the principals’ interpretation of social justice. They also identify those frameworks of leadership which when applied by principals,appear to support social justice better. The thesis argues that principals’ efforts to promote social justice are constrained by government policies and further compounded by the lack of capacity, in terms of individuals’ ability and understanding, at a National or Provincial level. It is also argued that the community within which the school is positioned significantly influences the principals’ attempts to promote social justice. It was also evident that the principals have interpreted and reinterpreted social and cultural justice in light of the context within which their school is positioned. The conclusion is that despite principals’ attempts to promote social justice, both the school context and external political and economic factors significantly constrain their success. Hence education in South Africa continues to struggle to deliver social justice to the majority of learners. This research contributes to the limited literature on leadership in So uth Africa and provides a voice for school leaders to identify the reality they face, rather than expressing the rhetoric of the government.

In order to provide effective and sustained support for university managers as they learn to manage, more needs to be found out about the critical factors which underpin this process. Presenting the findings from an initial exploratory study within one institution, this thesis examines the perceptions of university managers, both academic and professional support, of how they learn within their roles. Although the study draws initially on HE based research, findings from the wider fields of management learning, professional learning and sensemaking are also incorporated as a means of recognising and then analysing the divergent factors affecting how managers learn to manage. To examine their perceptions, a series of semistructured interviews is undertaken with a purposive sample of twenty-four university managers from a range of academic and professional support roles. These interviews are supplemented by a follow-up study with four of these managers, all relatively new into their current senior posts, an interview with a member of the Executive Team, an analysis of selected institutional strategic plans, and the completion of reflective journals by five of the original group of managers. The interview transcripts are initially deconstructed using Weick's (1995) seven characteristics of sense making, and then further analysed through the lens of the integrated conceptual framework, enabling a systematic examination of the data. The evidence collated suggests that these managers are 'learning to make sense of a number of different issues such as their changing identities, the complexity within their roles, the institutional context in which they work and the expectations on them from others. Furthermore, to understand how university managers learn involves a paradigm shift which acknowledges that this process is no longer a formal acquisition ion of skills or knowledge set within a structured classroom environment. Instead it is a complex, multi-faceted and amorphous process, grounded in workplace tasks and impacted upon by the words and actions of others. Responding to the changing context of both the institution and the HE sector, this process of learning is constantly evolving, and, due to the differing characteristics of each individual manager, the way they interpret and make sense of it varies. In essence, this study offers the opportunity to rethink the way university managers learn, and questions the efficacy of conventional management development programmes to effectively support this process.

Higher Education in the UK appears to be in a state of flux with ever changing policy for the recruitment and funding of home and EU students. As the market becomes more competitive the recruitment of international students studying specialist Master’s programmes is expanding, introducing greater variability into the educational supply chain. This study has investigated the factors affecting academic success, and reviewed recruitment from a supply chain perspective. The study has then focused on the importance of having the required underpinning knowledge to study on specialist Master’s programmes in achieving academic success. A quantitative methods approach has been adopted, aligned with a realist ontology and positivist epistemology to carry out the investigation. The current criteria used for entry to the programmes at Northumbria were compared with similar HEIs. Expert opinion was used to determine the underpinning knowledge students were expected to have when enrolling on to specialist Master’s programmes and this was verified on newly enrolled post graduate students through the survey method using a test. The results were then used to identify variations in underpinning knowledge in the educational supply chain and investigate the use of a model to predict academic success. The criteria for entry to specialist Master’s programmes was identified as having varying levels of both English and academic qualifications. The level of underpinning knowledge known by graduating Northumbria undergraduate and enrolling international postgraduate students was found to be similar and can be linked to academic success. This study has contributed to knowledge by confirming that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between underpinning knowledge and academic success. A contribution to practice has been made by using supply chain theory to identify the variation in student underpinning knowledge entering the educational supply chain and providing a test that can be used to predict academic success.

The current study investigated e-Learning acceptance, adoption and implementation in the Egyptian higher education. The study also explored the attitudes and perceptions towards the acceptance and readiness for e-Learning from a variety of perspectives. The degree of meeting local needs and the main factors of improvement that e-Learning could provide to the Egyptian higher education sector are also investigated. The study achieved its aim through answering the following research questions: 1. What are the various stakeholder perspectives regarding e-Learning adoption in Egypt? 2. What are the opportunities for improving Higher Education in Egypt through the adoption of e-Learning programmes? A pragmatic research approach using mixed methods with a range of stakeholders was employed. The investigations included higher education students, employers, academics and government representatives from both public and private sectors. Investigations were conducted in two cities; Cairo and Alexandria. A total of 398 higher education students were surveyed through structured questionnaires. Two separate questionnaire forms were designed to investigate on-campus higher education students, as well as e-Learning higher education students. Quantitative data was analysed through a range of statistical techniques: patterns of frequencies were used to allow the comparison between students groups, median calculations to determine the range of opinions towards e-Learning adoption criteria, besides correlation and regression analysis to determine the strength and shape of relations between the main variables the study intended to investigate. Twenty four semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders that include academics, employers and higher education government representatives. Interviews were interpretively analysed through the deriving of common themes from each group of stakeholders highlighting the differences and similarities found between investigated groups. The contribution to knowledge presented in this research work emerged from the development of a conceptual framework that bridges the gap between societal acceptance and the adoption of e-Learning in Egyptian universities. Although the investigation has one country in focus, but still the analytical methodological framework could be generalised. The research identified the following: - main factors that affect e-Learning adoption; - potential obstacles faced by online degree holders in Egypt; - the role of organisational culture in e-Learning adoption, as determined by the perspective of academics, employers, government authorities and students at public, private and e-Learning universities.

While the internationalisation of higher education (IHE) is often treated as a single global phenomenon by those who evaluate its effectiveness, internationalisation means different things in different contexts. Due to the limited number of Chinese-context-based studies and literature of IHE, this research aims to set up an empirical and contextual study of Chinese IHE considering the following points of concern: how the meaning, interpretation and evaluation of IHE are constructed in practice in a Chinese university; how these three points of concern shape IHE in specific local contexts; and whether we can understand this process through using evaluation tools developed in ‘western’ contexts of IHE. This makes it possible to understand the specific qualities of internationalisation from a Chinese perspective, which are not well represented in the English-language or Chinese language academic literature, as well as to understand its similarities (institutional functions) with western models. This research found multiple perceptions of the meaning of IHE in the Chinese context – learning for self-improvement, nationalism, platform perceptions and other marginal perceptions – which differentiate Chinese models of IHE from those in the West. Moreover, the dominant motivation for internationalisation in the Chinese university is academic development, which is different from the Western universities’ more economic rationales. These differences can be attributed to the history of the II modernisation of higher education in China, the impact of nationalist revolution on higher education and dual-managerial systems in higher education institutions (HEIs) which involve the Communist Party Committee and the university president. Finally, based on the findings of this research, the thesis also identifies national and international barriers which prevent the case university from being internationalised and introduces context-sensitive, institutional-level recommendations for the case university in China.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a contested academic discipline and professional space, in which mid‐career entry is not uncommon, and where study and professional membership are often key to career advancement. Subsequently, engagement with study while working full‐time occurs frequently, commonly at postgraduate level. However, understanding of the student‐practitioner experience is limited due to recognised gaps around research of part‐time, taught postgraduate and mature student experience. This is an odd omission given that it represents a potential growth area following recent funding changes. This study explores these experiences in the context of constellations and landscapes of practice, focussing on issues of social identity theory and academic literacies within them. Utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore reflective accounts of the lived experiences of five practitioner‐students in one Higher Education (H.E.) Institution, the study used an innovative focus group approach, combined with semi‐structured interviews. Analysis was conducted through the development of case vignettes alongside thematic analysis supported through NVivo. For all participants studying occurred during career transition, with studying for additional qualifications intended to validate this transfer. However, in the wider personal context of career and family, study had significant impacts, with complex negotiations involved around obligations to family and employers. Participants legitimised their membership of HRM communities though their wider practice experience. Practice experience was also used to delineate between other members of both their academic and practice communities, with individuals who demonstrated experience given preference. Participants’ experience of education was characterised by comparisons between academic and practice communities, and negotiation of the boundaries between them was constant. Strength of practitioner identity affected alignment and approaches to studying. Engagement with discourse was also heavily influenced by dominant practitioner discourse patterns. This study offers insight into particular experiences of H.E. which may align to other niche student cohorts, and contributes to closing the gap around knowledge of part‐time, postgraduate and mature student experiences. It further adds to knowledge of communities of practice, constellations and landscapes and maps an example. It provides insight into how such students negotiate academic discourse engagement, and the impact balancing study with employment has on approaches to learning. Lastly, it applies this understanding to the support of practitioner‐students learning across academic‐practice boundaries, making recommendations to those facilitating these experiences.

The education of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners within Higher Education (HE) is controversial, and has attracted criticism from various quarters, yet little is known about the impact of such courses upon CAM practitioners or upon the CAM profession. A programme of online MSc courses for CAM practitioners delivered by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) offered an opportunity to explore this topic further. A case study approach using focus group and semi-structured interviews with teaching staff and graduates from the courses facilitated the generation of rich, thick data describing how CAM practitioners’ professional lives were influenced by their studies, their experience of the course and achievement of a master’s degree. Three key aspects of professional lives were selected as analytic categories, namely: professional identity, practice, and the wider CAM community of practice. This research contributes to an understanding of the impact of the dominant critical discourse relating to the use of CAM therapies and the provision of HE courses in CAM, in addition to providing valuable insights into qualified CAM practitioners’ negotiation of their professional identity in the contested CAM landscape. All participants had been affected by criticisms of CAM, leading in several cases to a devaluation and stigmatisation of their professional identity. Yet graduate participants perceived the influence of their studies and achievement of a recognised academic qualification as immensely beneficial leading to both personal and professional validation. The overall finding from this research is that study and subsequent qualification at MSc level in international online cohorts may be seen to have had a profound influence upon the CAM professionals participating in this study. There is evidence of an impact on MSc graduate participants’ frames of reference, identity, professional identity, practice, and participation in their community of practice; in addition to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in critical thinking and research. For the graduate participants in this research the experience of their MSc studies has been a transformative one. The concept of transformative learning (TL) was developed by Jack Mezirow in 1978 and has been further expanded upon by Knud Illeris. Mezirow defines TL as learning which transforms the meaning perspectives or frames of reference by which we understand the world, while Illeris proposes that TL also has an impact on identity. A contribution to the pedagogy of TL may be found in the formulation and utilisation of the analytic categories of professional identity, practice, and community of practice, which offer a new approach for researching TL in professional and/or vocational groups. This study also demonstrates that e-learning programmes can offer opportunities for transformative learning and adds to the call for an appreciation of the potential of e-learning to deliver profound and meaningful learning experiences.