Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2009.. / "Publication number: AAT 3385833."

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2006 / "Publication number AAT 3251798."

<p> The challenges facing leaders in the federal government are complex, significant, and diverse. These challenges have been exacerbated by a changing global landscape, financial economic meltdowns, budget deficits, terrorism, cybersecurity concerns, war, and an aging workforce (Koonce, 2010). Yet, from a leadership development perspective, until recently, very little had changed in the way leaders were prepared to handle those challenges. As part of a call to action, executive coaching is rapidly becoming a staple of senior leadership development. </p><p> Given the increased emphasis on executive coaching as a leadership development tool, the purpose of this study was to explore the linkage between executive coach education/training, a learning intervention with theoretical underpinnings in learning theory (experiential learning, transformative learning, reflective learning, and action learning) and participant leadership and executive coaching skills. A descriptive, single exploratory case study design was employed using both quantitative and quantitative techniques. The former included Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), and International Coach Federation (ICF) Competency Survey. Qualitative techniques included observation, document analysis, and focus group to explore the impact of the Defense Acquisition University Executive Coach training program on participants, specifically the impact on participant leadership and executive coaching skills. </p><p> The key findings build on existing research and show that 1) participation in executive coach training created a shift in participant focus from self to other, a critical component of both transformational and servant leadership; 2) a learning environment, combined with emphasis on ICF competencies, improved executive coaching skills; 3) the ICF competency related to ethical orientation and guidelines with respect to professionalism did not demonstrate evidence of change; 4) executive coach training predicated on ICF competencies enhanced active listening and powerful questioning, two critical components of executive coaching and action learning, and 5) coach training enhanced participants&rsquo; self-awareness and reflective learning, critical attributes for executive coaches. The study concludes with recommendations for research and practice.</p><p>

This dissertation includes (a) Chapter 1, background and purpose—the importance and significance of the study; (b) Chapter 2, a review of the literature; (c) Chapter 3, methodology (research design, data collection and modes of analysis); (d) Chapter 4, presentation of the data; and (e) Chapter 5, conclusions and recommendations. Appendices include participant information, forms, tables and a bibliography. Teacher educators in public colleges and universities perform important work in an environment largely legislated by forces external to education. In the current environment of educational reform, the work of the education professoriate is influenced by the expectations and attributes of legislative mandates for standardization in curricular content and delivery, higher admission standards for prospective teachers, competency testing for certification candidates, and ongoing professional development for all certified teachers. Concurrently, changes in Massachusetts regulations for the certification of educational personnel affect teacher education programs from design to outcome-based assessment. What aspects of the Education Reform Act most strongly influence the public secondary teacher educator? What are the responses of the secondary teacher education community to this attempt at systemic reform? How does implementation of the Education Reform Act affect the work of secondary teacher educators? How has the legislation affected secondary teacher education programs in the Commonwealth? Structured interviews with secondary teacher educators focused on participants' views of and responses to the Education Reform Act of 1993 provide data from the cohort of professionals most immediately engaged in the implementation of the tenets of the Massachusetts legislation. Current Massachusetts legislation updates and interim implementation reports provide a context for participant responses. Analysis and discussion of participant responses in light of the current literature on reform and change in teacher education form the basis for the analytical sections of the qualitative study. This study elicited participants' views of the Commonwealth's legislative initiatives affecting teacher preparation, certification, and the work of the secondary teacher educator in the context of educational reform. Themes of communication, collaboration, accountability and status and relationships which emerged from interview data are discussed within the context of implementing the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993.

This paper presents a model of capacity development for public organizations in post-conflict settings. The paper reveals the challenges faced by the author as a `change agent' who tried to understand and develop the basic capacity of the Literacy Department of the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. The author used an action-research approach and has actively followed events and actions to explore the `how can' of capacity development efforts. The review of organizational change literature provided background knowledge for the author's day-to-day work in a public organization and helped him to develop a Foundational Capacity Development Framework (FCDF). The FCDF offers four complementing components of infrastructure, technical competence, social and organizational participation, and strategic alignment . The framework also recognizes the importance of underlying components of capacity development which are based on the beliefs, values, behavior, ownership, sustainment and institutionalization. The four components in the framework are utilized in ways that address the underlying causes to change individual beliefs and values, creating ownership and empowerment for the sustainment and institutionalization of capacity development efforts in public organizations.

Parent involvement in political activities is a rare form of parent participation. Most parents who take an interest in schools become involved with their child's classroom, attend school functions and activities, assist with fundraisers, attend PTA meetings. As the process for funding public school education has become more difficult and as decisions about education become more political, some parents have reacted to that trend and have become involved in the politics themselves. Changes in laws and education funding formulas in Massachusetts over the last decade has caused parents to become more protective, more vigilant of the school budget process, and of the way politicians position themselves on school issues. This is the case study of six parents who have been involved in schools and community politics over a decade in Millville, a community in western Massachusetts. The population of Millville is mainly elderly and White, while the school population is more than seventy percent minority, the majority of whom are Puerto Ricans. This has caused a clash of culture, age, and priorities. The schools have become a political battleground, and with parents no strangers to those battles as they fight to protect the rights of children to an equitable education. The involvement of these parents has been directly influenced by the enactment of a tax limitation proposal known as Proposition 2 1/2. A document review reveals the nature of the political climate of the Commonwealth during the last decade as it influenced local and state decision making about public schools and the funding of them. This study explores for what reasons parents participate in parent involvement through governance activities; how the climate of the last decade has influenced the types of activities in which parents engage; why parents make governance activities their priority; how their earlier experiences in parent involvement were similar to or different from the types of activities they find themselves engaged in now; how their earlier impressions of their involvement different from the current climate for parental involvement; and what types of parent involvement, given the current political climate of the Commonwealth, are most important now.

Title of the diploma thesis Training of experts of the Labor Office of the Czech Republic in the capital city of Prague Author Bc. Markéta Fraibišová Abstract This diploma thesis deals with education of specialists of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic in the capital city of Prague. The Labour Office of the Czech Republic, as an administrative authority with nationwide competence, has its own educational system, which includes both regular and project staff. Employee education program is driven by direct leaders who identify learning needs, assign employees to training events and evaluate learning outcomes. The aim of this diploma thesis is to propose a modification of the educational system for specialists of the Czech Labour Office in the capital city of Prague. The theoretical part of the diploma thesis is focused on adult education, education management and training of public administration employees. The practical part of the diploma thesis is based on questionnaire survey, interview and internal documents analysis. Keywords The Labour Office of the Czech Republic, public administration, vocational education, adult education, employee training

Digitalization is more than ever the top topic in economics, science and societal developments. Infrastructures and competencies are at the forefront of many debates. The question of which industry is or will be affected by digitization next and to what extent is not only driving executives around. While information technology innovations were something for so-called ‘(hyper-)nerds’ until recently, it has become an everyday item. We seem to have embarked on permanent change. But where does the journey actually go? Are large amounts of data a threat or an opportunity? Can we even process them or do we need fundamentally changed tools and methods - such as Visual Analytics, Virtual Reconstruction, Virtual Engineering? The 22nd GeNeMe has taken up these issues and will present them in various discussions. [... from the introduction]