Abstract The main purpose of the study was to clarify the importance and realization of the duties of a principal. An international viewpoint was sought for the management of Finnish schools through studying what kind of school management exists in Holland and Germany. The importance and realization concerning both actions and experiences expressed by principals about their own work were analysed using questionnaires. The image of the school management was collected by a thematic interview. The study was carried out in Finland, Germany and Holland. The postal questionnaires sent to the Lueneburg and Ludwiglust regions of Germany in 1997 were answered by 19 principals and 13 teachers; and the Friesland region of Holland were answered by 18 principals and 17 teachers. In Holland, three principals were interviewed and in Germany five principals and two chief education officers. In Finland, Northern Savo was selected as the research region. The questionnaires sent in 1998 were answered by 129 principals and 154 teachers. The measures and functioning opportunities of a German principal were similar to the management system existing in Finnish schools during the years 1970-1980. In Holland, indications were that independence and decision-making rights were much wider than in our schools. The principals in Northern Savo were of the opinion that it was important to aim for certain measures through administrative reforms: the development of teaching schemes, goal and results-oriented management, more co-operation with interested groups and the development of internal functions in the school. The largest differences between opinions of the principals were expressed concerning the traditional administrative functions of principals. The results indicated that the administrative culture and the management of the schools are changing. To one part of the principals was assimilated the role of a modern human-oriented director, whilst the other part was continuing to do their work through concentrated administrative work at the offices. According to the Northern Savo teachers, implementing the general functions of principals was carried out quite well. The teachers would like to have more support, opportunities and communication, but not so much control and advice. They also wanted to see the principal concentrating more on the pedagogical concept of the school, but they also did not expect to have as much guidance as their German colleagues did. The teachers considered the principal's role to be more administrative in implementing functions, and were of the opinion that principals were carrying out their functions more traditionally, compared with the opinion of the principals. In all the researched countries, monitoring of individual lessons was considered to be quite unnecessary. On one hand, the results express the variability of the principal?s work, and on the other hand they express the contradiction between the work day duties and expectations. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen päätehtävänä oli selvittää rehtorin tehtävien tärkeys ja toteutuminen. Suomalaisen koulun johtamiseen haettiin kansainvälistä näkökulmaa kartoittamalla, millaista on koulun johtaminen Hollannissa ja Saksassa. Erilaisista organisaatioteorioista ja -malleista valittiin systeemiteoreettinen näkökulma. Koulu ymmärrettiin asiantuntijaorganisaatioksi. Johtamista tarkasteltiin tehtävä- ja henkilöstöjohtamisen perusulottuvuuksien kautta. Koulun johtaminen määriteltiin rehtorin toimenpiteiksi, joiden avulla saavutetaan kouluorganisaatiolle asetetut ja sen itse asettamat tavoitteet. Tehtävien tärkeys ja toteutuminen sekä rehtoreiden kokemukset omasta työstään kartoitettiin kyselylomakkeen avulla. Koulun johtamisen kuvaa täydennettiin teemahaastattelun avulla. Tutkimus suoritettiin Suomessa, Saksassa ja Hollannissa. Saksan L?neburgin ja Ludwigslustin alueelle 1997 lähetettyyn kyselyyn vastasi 19 rehtoria ja 13 opettajaa sekä Hollannin Länsi-Frieslandin alueelta 18 rehtoria ja 17 opettajaa. Hollannissa haastateltiin kolmea rehtoria ja Saksassa viittä rehtoria ja kahta koulutoimenjohtajaa. Suomessa tutkimusalueena oli Pohjois-Savo. Vuonna 1998 suoritettuun kyselyyn vastasi 129 rehtoria ja 154 opettajaa. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella pohjoissavolaisia kouluja johdetaan edelleen asiantuntijaorganisaatiomaisesti. Koulun kehittyminen oppivaksi organisaatioksi edellyttäisi hallinnon ja opettamisen vuorovaikutusareenan laajentumista ja avautumista. Näin voitaisiin avoimesti käsitellä ja kehittää sekä opettamiseen että yhteisön hallinnointiin liittyviä asioita. Saksalaisen rehtorin tehtävät ja toimintamahdollisuudet muistuttivat suomalaisen koulun johtamisjärjestelmää 1970- ja 1980-luvuilla. Hollannissa koulujen itsenäisyys ja päätäntävalta todettiin olevan paljon suurempi kuin meillä. Pohjoissavolaiset rehtorit pitivät tärkeinä tehtäviä, joihin on hallinnollisilla uudistuksilla pyritty: opetussuunnitelman kehittämistä, tavoite- ja tuloshakuisuutta, yhteistyön lisäämistä sidosryhmiin ja koulun sisäisen toiminnan kehittämistä. Suurimmat erot rehtoreiden näkemysten välillä ilmenivät perinteisissä rehtorin hallinnollisissa tehtävissä. Tulos viittaa siihen, että koulun hallintokulttuuri ja johtaminen on muuttumassa. Osa rehtoreista oli omaksunut modernin kehittämis- ja ihmissuhdejohtajan roolin osan hoitaessa tehtävänsä edelleen hallintokeskeisesti kansliastaan käsin. Rehtorit olivat onnistuneet keskeisissä tehtävissään pohjoissavolaisten opettajien arvion mukaan melko hyvin. Opettajat odottivat rehtorilta enemmän tukea, edellytysten luomista ja yhteydenpitoa kuin kontrollointia ja neuvomista. He toivoivat myös parempaa paneutumista koulun pedagogiseen toimintaan, vaikkakaan eivät kaivanneet samassa määrin opastusta kuin saksalaiset kollegansa. Rehtorit korostivat opettajia enemmän pedagogista rooliaan. Opettajat mielsivät rehtorin roolin toimeenpanoasioissa hallinnollisempana ja että rehtorit hoitivat tehtäviään perinteisemmin kuin rehtorit itse. Kaikissa tutkimuksen kohteena olleissa maissa koettiin yksittäisten tuntien seuranta jokseenkin turhaksi Tulokset ilmentävät osaltaan rehtorin työn moninaisuutta sekä arkipäivän työn ja odotusten välistä ristiriitaa. Koulun johtamistyölle tulisi luoda nykyistä paremmat edellytykset ja yhteiskunnan tuki. Rehtorit odottavat selkeämpiä tavoitteita, toimintaohjeita ja -valtuuksia.

The thesis describes the circumstances of founding, development and transformation of the Grammar school in Jilemnice from 1913 to 1948 in the context of the political, economic and social changes and, also, changes of the national education policy. The paper consists of two major parts: the first one describes the historical development of the grammar school as a type, and thus forms a theoretical basis for the second part focused on the history of the Grammar school in Jilemnice itself. The latter part puts forward a picture of a daily life of the institution that was established by Czech citizens to support the Czech language and the national identity in a predominantly German-speaking area. It also presents problems the school faced during the peace time as well as during the global war conflicts, including the temporary closure of the school from 1941 to 1945. The paper finishes in 1948 when the character of the Grammar school changed significantly due to Act no. 95/1948 Sb. The appendices provide personal history of selected professors and memories of several former students.

À travers l’analyse des dispositifs d’adaptation de l’offre de formation que mettent en œuvre des proviseurs des académies de Bordeaux et de Toulouse, cette thèse répond à la question de savoir dans quelle mesure les évolutions contemporaines des modalités étatiques d’intervention participent d’une stratégie globale résultant d’une nouvelle forme de gouvernementalité.Au terme d’une approche critique, cette thèse montre que les années 1980 sont effectivement une période charnière où, sous l’effet du processus de civilisation, l’appareil de gouvernement devient incapable d’assurer efficacement la médiation du rapport de gouvernement entre l’État central et la population. Inéluctable, l’ajustement prend alors la forme d’une mutation de la structure et de la dynamique de la chaîne de gouvernement, mais il emprunte également la voie d’une mutation des techniques et des logiques de gouvernement.La fin du XXe siècle marque ainsi le passage entre un État « intégratif » et un État « distributif », dont la spécificité réside dans sa capacité à gouverner à distance et de façon invisible ; principalement en contrôlant la capacité des dirigeants de proximité à rendre l’action publique possible tout en instaurant un ordonnancement d’ensemble qui empêche les acteurs non étatiques de gouverner localement. / By the analysis of the systems of adjustment to training offers implemented by headteachers in the Bordeaux and Toulouse education authority areas, this thesis answers the query concerning in what way contemporary evolution of state intervention changes contribute to a global strategy which results in a new form of governing. Pursuant to a critical approach, this thesis shows that the Eighties are indeed a pivotal period when, under the influence of the civilisation process, the government machine becomes unable to effectively ensure the mediation of the relation of government between the central State and the population. The adjustment inevitably takes the form of a structural transformation of the process of the chain of government, but it also results in a transformation of government techniques and logic. The end of the twentieth century thus marks the passage between an “integrative” State and a 'distributive” one whose uniqueness rests in its ability to govern from afar invisibly, mainly by controlling the ability of local leaders to make public policy possible while establishing overall task scheduling which prevents non-state actors from governing locally.

Doctor Educationis / Theoretically, the role of higher education in national development has become clearer than before, while empirically the evidence is overwhelming. Elsewhere in the world, countries that have made tremendous strides in both social and economic development invested heavily and strategically in higher education. In Malawi, the role of higher education in national development has always been recognised by development policies since independence in 1964 However, with the exception of the first 15 years of independence, Malawi’s development path has registered abysmal results both on the social and the economic fronts despite undergoing significant socio-economic and political reforms. Malawi remains one of the most underdeveloped countries whether judged by Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) or the Human Poverty Index (HPI). One of the factors that is considered as having contributed to low levels of development is the performance of education systems (primary, secondary and higher education) (World Bank, 2009). It is against this background that this study sought to examine how Malawi’s higher education institutions (HEIs) have responded to their roles as prescribed by the national development policies with a focus on the period between 2000 and 2010. Four questions guided the study: i) what specific roles do national development policies define for HEIs to ensure that higher education contributes to national development? ii) To what extent are these roles performed by HEIs in Malawi? iii) What factors determine the performance of HEIs in their expected roles? iv) What pattern of response to their (HEIs’) expected roles can be identified? Theoretically and analytically, the study was informed by the two perspectives of the open systems theory, namely the resource-dependency approach and neo-institutional approach. These two approaches contend that actions by organisations are limited and influenced bym various pressures and demands emanating from their internal and external environments and that organisations often respond accordingly in order to survive. Methodologically, the study employed a mixed-method design (of qualitative and quantitative) with a dominant usage of qualitative methods. A multiple case study approach was used in which data were collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. For qualitative data, the analysis was done using a text method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to provide simple descriptive analysis through charts, tables and graphs. xx Overall, the study found that Malawi development policies expect HEIs to enhance access, equity, relevance, efficiency and quality of higher education as a way of ensuring that higher education contributes to the national development project. However, the study identified several patterns of response by HEIs (towards these expected roles) that tentatively explain the suboptimal contribution of higher education in national development. These patterns of response include: inclination towards responding to the politically sensitive crises in the higher education system (for public HEIs) and profit-compatible roles (for private HEI); use of sub-standard resources and methods antithetical to genuine teaching and learning; duplication by private HEIs of the “soft” roles being undertaken by public HEI; the abandonment of some of the HEIs’ original ideals and founding pledges, which are compatible with national development roles; and substitution of long-term coherent academic planning by short-term survival strategies. The study presents a number of implications, lessons and recommendations in the area of higher education and development. These include: the need for the government to recognise the importance and impact of intra-sectoral linkages in the entire education system on the performance of HEIs; the need to enforce the effective participation of private and public HEIs in national developmental project by establishing a proper regulatory framework; the need to enhance regional and internal collaboration among universities if they are to effectively respond to national roles; the need to reduce marginalisation of HEIs by maximising efforts that create linkages with the productive sector; the need to devise a robust public financing mechanism that broadly deals with issues of equity, relevance, quality and access of higher education; and the need to match education investment priorities and sequencing with development policies.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze and evaluate the employee training system in an auditing company operating on the Czech market. The thesis starts with a theoretical part, which provides basic definitions and description of educational strategies, the process of employee training as well as different training methods. The practical part contains the description of the company and the analysis of its education system and training methods. The main focus of this work lies on technical training, typical of this type of company, and on the area of soft skills education and revitalization of its concept. The analysis includes recommendations for adjustments and improvements of the educational process as a whole or of some of its parts.

In the last few decades, educational research has largely demonstrated the effects of the socio-economic background on academic performance. Traditionally, researchers have used the so-called contextualised value-added (CVA) concept, implemented via multilevel statistical models, to assess variation in learning outcomes arising from schools and pupils. Depending on the stakeholders they intend to inform, two basic types of CVA models can be defined: models for school accountability and models for school choice. School accountability models can be further distinguished according to the ‘recipient’ of the information: internal models provide information for school authorities to improve their own practices, while external models provide information for government officials to assess school performance for policy-making purposes. Despite the evidence in favour of the use of more complex models for school accountability, government practice in Chile has been restricted to the use of raw school averages in standardised tests as indicators of effectiveness, which have been used indiscriminately for the purposes of school accountability and school choice. Using data from the Chilean National Pupil Database (SIMCE 2004-2006), this thesis demonstrates how the traditional CVA (2-level) models fall short in addressing the complex phenomenon of academic performance, especially in the context of a developing and highly unequal country, such as Chile. The novelty of the CVA modelling in this thesis is that it extends and improves the traditional models insofar as they explicitly assess the variation between pupils, classrooms, primary schools, secondary schools and local authorities, as well as the correlation between Mathematics and Spanish Language at all levels. This is done by implementing two univariate 4-level CVA models for progress in Mathematics and Spanish fitted separately via maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and a bivariate 5-level cross-classified CVA model for progress in both subjects fitted via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation. External school accountability measures were derived from the extended univariate and multivariate models and compared to measures derived from a model akin to the traditional approach. A number of key differences were found, leading to the conclusion that further adjustments to the traditional CVA models are not negligible. The univariate 4-level CVA models provide more insight into school accountability than the traditional approach in a straightforward fashion, while the bivariate 5-level model encompasses a more reliable and ultimately comprehensive view on school performance. With regard to internal school accountability, further models were specified with the purpose of analysing pupils' heterogeneity to inform school improvement processes. The concept of "cultural capital" (Bourdieu, 1977) was chosen to shed light on the matter. Since cultural capital is essentially immeasurable, a latent variable was constructed from a group of manifest variables related to access and use of reading materials. From a substantive point of view, this thesis shows how access to all sorts of reading materials and reading habits can have not only a relevant impact on pupils' progress in Language, but also in Mathematics. Finally, this thesis concludes around three main ideas: firstly, school value-added models for school accountability, either external or internal, need to take into account the complexity of influences affecting pupils' academic progress as thoroughly as possible, in order to make a fair assessment of schools' performance and/or to inform school improvement policies. Secondly, school effectiveness is not a unidimensional process, which implies that school value-added models should ideally (when there are available data) reflect upon the multidimensionality of the phenomenon and take into consideration the relationship between different subjects, as well as non-academic outcomes. Thirdly, CVA models can also be used to inform internal school accountability by analysing the effects of meaningful modifiable factors and potentially serve as drivers of school improvement policies.

Since independence in 1962, the education system in Uganda has comprised four levels under the control of the Ministry of Education and Sports, namely, the pre-school, primary education, post-primary education and higher education. In 1986, the National Resistance Movement formed a series of commissions to investigate the functioning of the Ministry of Education and Sports. Subsequently, the Education Policy Review Commission was established and made the recommendation to universalise primary education. In 1996, the President announced free education for all with the main components including the provision of free education for a maximum of four children per family, and the removal of school fees in primary schools from grades one to seven. The main goal was to provide for the minimum necessary facilities and resources to enable all Ugandan children of school-going age to enter and remain in school until the primary cycle is completed. However, the implementation of Universal Primary Education in Uganda has been met with various challenges. The current planning and organising framework does not support its implementation with communication and coordination challenges cited as most problematic. This study focuses on proposing a planning and organising framework that will address the issues regarding policy implementation, coordination and communication. Specifically, the study will focus on: <ul> a) describing the internal and external environment within which Universal Primary Education in Uganda is implemented; b) exploring the planning and organising challenges hindering the implementation of Universal Primary Education in Uganda; and c) proposing a comprehensive planning and organising framework to support the implementation of Universal Primary Education in Uganda. </ul> The study employs a qualitative approach and data is collected through the use of an extensive literature review supported by qualitative interviewing of key role-players employed by the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda. International best practices are used to determine the planning and organising requirements for successful implementation. The study proposes the establishment of a Department of Primary Education responsible for ensuring the appropriate involvement of all role-players in the planning and organising functions. The establishment of such a department will ensure that monitoring and evaluation, accountability of finances and effective communication are achieved. By placing emphasis on the planning and organising requirements for implementation, the aim of providing free education to all Ugandan children might be achieved. Copyright / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

This thesis examines how mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ negotiate with educational professionals as advocates for their children. Previous scholarship has not adequately addressed the role that parents, particularly mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ play in the education of their children. Through analyzing the ways in which these educational practices shape people’s experiences and identities, we can gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which labeling processes are experienced, managed, constructed, negotiated and/or resisted. This subject was explored through in-depth interviews with six mothers, using interviewing practices informed by standpoint methodology. My analysis follows two major themes. The first theme deals with the contradictory nature of psychoeducational assessments in the classrooms of the educational system. I demonstrate how psychoeducational assessments act as a set of rules, regulations and rights. I demonstrate how the mothers in my study used these as tools for empowerment and resistance to educational structures and discourses of normalcy. I also demonstrate the limitations of these texts to secure the educational interest and rights of children labeled ‘learning disabled’. The second theme deals with transformation processes. I ask, how do mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ change as a result of negotiating their child or children’s ‘learning disability’. I demonstrate how being a parent of a child labeled ‘learning disabled’ is outside the sphere of ‘regular’ parenting and the sphere of the formal educational system and the economic, social and health-related consequences of such negotiations. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This thesis outlines a study into institutional change analysing how certain senior individuals, called opinion leaders, were able to achieve change within the strongly institutionalized environment of medical education. It is situated in the complex and contested context of the English National Health Service, which for more than 60 years has seen numerous managerial, organizational, political and professional changes, which have impacted upon the roles and relationships of medical professionals, managers and government. Adopting a retrospective case study approach, the research centres on the specific case of the Enhancing Engagement in Medical Leadership (EEML) project, which had national-level sponsorship and status, directly involving a multitude of senior NHS bodies, representatives and individuals, to embed leadership and management training into medical curricula. Medical curricula are a mediated result of cultural, social, political and economic forces (Kuper and D’Eon, 2011) rooted in the construction of professional identity and transformation from lay person to professional. Prior to this project, there had been limited attempts to engage the medical profession in leadership and management conspicuously through the curriculum, because of the difficulty of including new content into already crowded specialty curricula, given the constraints of time and resources for medical training. Using conceptual insights into agency in institutional theory, such as institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006) and institutional entrepreneurship (DiMaggio, 1988); practice theory (Feldman and Orlikowski, 2011; Nicolini, 2012); social position (Battilana, 2011) and capital (Lockett et al., 2014; Bourdieu, 1986), this study explores how project members enacted change within medical education. It analyses the processes involved in their actions and practices and establishes how this case furthers understanding of strongly institutionalized environments. Interviews were conducted with members of the EEML project team and steering group, many of whom had positions of influence and status in other relevant organizations in this field. In addition, a review of documentary data encompassing published and non-published project materials was undertaken. An open coding and thematic analysis approach was taken to gain deeper insight into the interview data, whilst the documentary evidence was used to confirm and support the interview analysis. This case study research reveals that contextual and environmental conditions, as well as exogenous shocks and endogenous motivation led to this change initiative occurring. Routine and recognised ‘practices’ resulted in significant change through embedding the Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF) into contested medical curricula space. Opinion leaders were able, with other project members, to adopt an approach to change, understanding the prevailing conditions, identifying the project’s purpose and committing to an emerging form of practice known as ‘mirroring’. Moreover, this study explores how opinion leaders achieved change through making use of theirs’ and others’ capital resources to form a cross-field collective capital, known as system capital. Using this, they adopted a disposition in their practice beyond professions known as system centrism.

Česká republika má míru nezaměstnanosti jednu z nejvyšších v Evropě. Naopak Velká Británie má míru nezaměstnanosti jednu z nejnižších. Jedním z nejlepších způsobů, jak nezaměstnanost snížit, je poskytovat kvalitní a tolik potřebné vzdělání. I když tuto skutečnost mnozí přehlížejí, právě porovnání těchto dvou zemí dokazuje, že tomu tak opravdu je. První a druhá kapitola obsahuje informace o vzdělanostních systémech v obou zemích. Obě kapitoly pak přibližují fakt, jak jsou vzdělání a zaměstnanost propojené obory. Další kapitoly přináší především porovnání obou zemí podle zvolených ukazatelů, které jsou čím dál tím více důležité. Pochopitelně nechybí ani nové trendy ve vzdělávání, které lze v současné době využít. V sedmé kapitole jsou uvedena rizika ale i příležitosti, které by měly vést ke zlepšení situace. Lze zde nalézt ale i doporučení, která by bylo dobré v České republice realizovat.