published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

It aimed to unveil the practical knowledge shared by Chinese school principals in leading schools. This purpose derived from the specific context of Chinese school education and the international knowledge base of principalship. On the one hand, great importance has been attached to school principals with the implementation of educational reforms in China. The increasingly complex educational context calls for more comprehensive investigation into leadership practices of Chinese principals. On the other hand, few serious studies have delved into principal leadership practices in Chinese schools, compared with the substantial research conducted in Western societies. Thus, there is a need to conduct empirical research to explore the indigenous wisdom of Chinese school principals. / The general purpose consisted of three sub-purposes. First, it aimed to identify the core leadership practices of Chinese principals; second, to investigate how these practices are enacted; and, third, to discover the contextual factors that influence these practices. Accordingly, the study was guided by three broad research questions: (1) What are the core leadership practices of Chinese school principals? (2) How do Chinese principals enact the core leadership practices in schools? (3) Do certain contextual factors relate to these core leadership practices and their enactment? / The study adopted a mixed methods research approach, sequentially integrating a quantitative survey with qualitative interviews. The survey involved 572 practitioners working at secondary schools located in four cities in Mainland China. Valid data were analysed through statistical methods in SPSS 15.0 and LISREL 8.7. The interviews included six secondary school principals and fifteen other school members selected from the relevant focus groups. The qualitative data were analysed through three steps of coding (i.e. open coding, axial coding, and selective coding) in NVivo 8.7. Finally, findings from both methods were compared and combined. The integrated findings suggested that: Chinese school principals adopt six core leadership practices to perform their functions. These are: (1) setting direction (2) shaping school climate and core ideas. (3) developing people (4) managirig instruction and curriculum (5) managing administrative affairs (6) developing external relationships and resources These six interrelated core leadership practices could be grouped into three classifications in accordance with their essential functions. The relationships between the different classifications indicate the theoretical pattern of how the core leadership practices work in schools. Based on this understanding, three specific patterns characterise the enactment of these core leadership practices. (1) Chinese principals put emphasis on both student academic performance and holistic development. (2) Chinese principals adopt a differential pattern ofparticipative decision-making. (3) Chinese principals apply the core leadership practices in a hybrid way that integrates visionary, democratic, exemplary, human-oriented and authoritarian leadership behaviours. Three-levels of contextual factors relate to the core leadership practices of Chinese principals. These factors involve: (1) personal conditions: professional knowledge, perceptions, pursuits and experience and personal capability, values, ethics and personality; (2) internal school conditions: climate, resources and performance, functional units, other school members' conditions and views, and school type, size and location; (3) external context: district authority, administration system, central government's policies, academic pressure, social expectations, local environment, educational conceptions, and mainstream leadership style. Two integrative models are developed through pulling all the research variables together. These models demonstrate the interaction between the core leadership practices and the contextual factors. / These findings suggest the theoretical and practical implications of the study. / This study investigated the core leadership practices of Chinese school principals, how these practices are applied in schools and the contextual factors that relate to these core practices. / Hu, Rongkun. / Advisers: Allan Walker; Nai-kwai Leslie Lo. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 302-334). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 also in Chinese.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

With specific reference to junior secondary schools in Shanghai, China, this qualitative empirical study examines the dynamics and complexities of leadership in school and, in particular, citizenship education exercised by principals and school party secretaries (SPSs), who are de facto equally-ranked school leaders. Specifically, it examines, from a macro- and micro-political theoretical perspective, the interactions between these two types of school leaders, and how they respond to the demands of various school stakeholders, including macro-political actors (e.g., the state) and micro-political actors (e.g., other school leaders, teachers, students and parents), at the school level. Data were gathered from document analysis, non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 44 school leaders from 24 schools and two educational officials in Shanghai, conducted in 2011. This study has four major findings. First, in addition to the leadership responsibilities inherent to their particular portfolios, the interviewed principals and SPSs were also politically and administratively responsible for leading the school and citizenship education, and struggled to balance these (at times conflicting) responsibilities. Second, there were four major school leadership/citizenship education scenarios in which principals and SPSs were torn between faithfully executing state policy demands, adapting those demands to suit the specific needs and conditions of their school, pursuing their professional autonomy, and addressing the interests of different micro-political actors. Third, principals and SPSs enjoyed a complicated working relationship at the micro-political (school) level in which they collaborated to fulfill their responsibilities and respond to school macro- and micro-political actors, while simultaneously competing for power over school leadership and citizenship education. Fourth, principals’ and SPSs’ leadership in school and citizenship education was shaped by inter-related factors, including diverse influences in a multi-leveled world, the integration of politics and education, the demands of macro- and micro-political actors, and personal factors. To interpret these findings, this study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding leadership in school and citizenship education in China as a political exercise in which school leaders actively use their influence and resources to lead and administer school and citizenship education, resist other school leaders’ (at times contradictory) administrative and political responsibilities, and interact with and mediate between the interests of various actors at the macro- and micro-political levels in response to political, economic and social needs. This theoretical framework is useful for understanding the complexity of school and citizenship education leadership, the micro-political relationship between Chinese principals and SPSs, and their dynamic and complex interactions with macro- and micro-political actors as they fulfill their intertwined political and administrative responsibilities in school leadership and citizenship education. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education