Prior to 1997, an integrated legislative and policy approach to meeting the educational and care needs of children and young people, in the English context, had been absent. Separatist rather than integrated models of service delivery prevailed. In the early years specifically, research findings have supported the growing recognition internationally about the importance of good quality Early Childhood Education and Care, both economically and for later life achievements. In England, the former Labour Government (1997-2010) began to address the issues through a raft of policy initiatives, including the Childcare Act 2006 which removed the distinction between education and care in the early years. This Act introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Early Years Professional, a new inter-disciplinary professional status and role imposed at graduate level, rather than grown organically. This unprecedented step also took government involvement in the professions to a new dimension as it involved itself explicitly in orchestrating a new graduate level profession. The range of training routes to achieve Early Years Professional Status and the backgrounds of those being researched are complex and evolving. Therefore, the overarching aim of this research was to explore the development of professional identity through a critique of the concept, implementation and impact of Early Years Professional Status as a new professional role and status. Mixed methods were used to support a pragmatic, flexible approach to gathering the collective and individual perceptions of those who undertook the pilot in 2006 and those who commenced one of the four pathways to Early Years Professional Status in 2007. Questionnaires, interviews and a focus group were undertaken to gather insights at the start of the process, after the award of the status and a year later. The same methods were employed in two phases with stakeholders to add a further dimension to the research. The mixed methods research design was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory of Human Development, the model being envisaged with the Early Years Professional in the centre, rather than a child. This framework provided positive model for exploring a complex process. The development on Early Years Professional Status has not been linear and there have been several challenges. These include the starting point of a mixed economy of early years provision marked by variation in quality, poor qualification levels, low pay and low status, the initial confusing statement of broad based equivalency to teaching, political change and world recession. These last factors have supported greater understanding of the under theorised Chaotic System that Bronfenbrenner discussed in his final work. The research findings suggest that the development has been overwhelmingly welcomed, despite the lack of a clearly defined professional remit or being afforded the privileges ascribed to other professions. A new flexible professional space in the early years sector and children’s services is emerging at the intersection of health, social care and education. It is occupied by those who are developing a new holistic professional identity and others, who already had an established professional identity as a teacher, for whom completing Early Years Professional Status has been additional training, moving them towards being experts in their field. The training process and standards were affirmed and a community of practice is emerging, who would like to see a Continual Professional Development framework, a code of practice and an induction year for newly qualified Early Years Professionals. The roles of the Early Years Professional and the Early Years Teacher emerged as being complementary but essentially different. Evidenced also suggests that the Early Years Professional is a reflective professional, an advocate for all children and is leading and supporting quality outcomes. They are becoming a catalyst for change. However, the government has failed to recognise let alone celebrate the positive developments resulting from the workforce reform agenda and parents/carers and other professionals lack knowledge about the role, though those with Early Years Professional Status have not recognised their own role as wider change agents. The title Early Years Professional has not been widely welcomed, it is not being actively used and when it is, the acronym EYP prevails. Given this situation it could be opportune to rename the Early Years Professionals as Early Years Pedagogues, to reflect and celebrate a new flexible professional space at the intersection of health, education and social care that is occupied by an holistic leadership professional and an advocate for young children.

The purpose of this study was to identify the standards and criteria of graduate programs and credential requirements for special education administrators; ascertain practicing administrators' representative functions and performance requirements; and determine if interrelationships exist among these variables. Data were ordered in a format that should contribute to planning at the national, state and university levels. Data were gathered from universities, state education agencies and special education administrators. Universities, states and practicing administrators agreed that coursework/competency requirements emphasizing training and experience in both general and special education is appropriate. Fifty-six percent of the universities reported offering the necessary coursework in both areas, but only thirty-eight percent of the states had such requirements. In general, universities had more specific requirements than states. However, the coursework emphases and state requirements were found to be inconsistent with administrators' perceptions of knowledge and skills important to their jobs. Currently, forty states require certification for special education administrators: 13 as Directors of Special Education, 7 as Special Education Supervisors, 8 as General Administrators with Special Education Endorsement, 12 as General Administrators. Additionally, four states offer but do not require administrative credentials and two states require teaching credentials only. It was concluded that graduate programs often do not prepare special education administrators for the roles they actually perform. University and state requirements should parallel one another and both should reflect basic skills and competencies required on the job. Graduate program requirements need to place more emphasis in the areas of law and legal issues, public relations, fiscal procedures, personnel management, supervision and evaluation--both as basic administrative competencies and skills and as they relate to special education in particular. Appropriate internship experiences should be required by states as well as universities to provide expertise in such areas as report writing and public relations.

<p>The Namibian education system was affected by a number of changes and challenges. These changes and challenges emanated from new political, financial and socio-economic trends in Namibia and the global village. Due to their strategic positions as educational leaders-cum-managers, principals were expected to lead and manage schools to overcome the challenges and meet increasing expectations of varied stakeholders. However, many secondary school principals especially those in rural areas could not cope with the changes and challenges. Rural secondary school principals did not have what it takes to manage and lead their schools effectively and efficiently. This study investigated the professional development of Namibian secondary school principles with special focus on rural secondary school principals in the Omusati Region, a region in north central of Namibia.</p>

Education remains one of the most gender imbalanced fields, with disproportionately fewer women in higher levels of leadership. Women who reach leadership positions in education experience many triumphs and tribulations during their tenures as principals, assistant superintendents, and superintendents. The experiences of these women in their various administrative levels of leadership can provide important insight into the reasons for their success as women superintendents in Texas. This research has probed the career trajectory of nine women who have successfully attained and retained superintendencies in Texas to determine what career decisions have helped them and the challenges these women have faced in their positions. A qualitative research method, open-ended interviews, yielded several findings of what women considered important in proceeding from teaching through the various levels and ending in becoming superintendents. According to nine successful women superintendents in Texas, there are specific characteristics one can bring to the table that would really make a difference: Communication, collaboration, compassion, preparedness, hard work, and passion. All nine participants overcame challenges when climbing to the higher levels of leadership in education. These women have achieved success in the superintendency, and several factors appear to have played into the success of these women who have achieved in education’s top position.

No description available.

This study had three main purposes. The first was to determine the perceptions of public school administrators toward desirability and toward feasibility of accountability items. The second was to determine the perceptions of public school teachers toward desirability and toward feasibility of accountability items. The third was to compare the perceptions of administrators with those of teachers and to indicate areas where they seemed to be in agreement or disagreement.

The purposes of this study were to explore the leadership styles and personality types of Texas elementary administrators. The Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description-Self (LEAD-Self) assessed the leadership style and adaptability of the administrators. The four identified styles were Telling/Directing, Selling/Coaching, Participating/Supporting, and Delegating. The MBTI measured 16 combinations of 4 personality types which included Extrovert or Introvert, Sensing or Intuition, Thinking or Feeling, and Judging or Perceiving. The sample was 200 Texas elementary administrators: 100 with early childhood certification and 100 without early childhood certification. A chi-square test of independence was utilized. Findings included: (a) A majority of Texas elementary administrators in both groups had a Selling/Coaching or Participating/Supporting leadership style; (b) Leadership adaptability scores of both groups were equivalent; (c) Most Texas elementary administrators had Introvert/Sensing/Thinking/Judging and Extrovert/Sensing/Thinking/Judging personality types; (d) Administrators with early childhood certification had a higher percentage of Intuitive personality types, while administrators without early childhood certification had a predominance of Sensing types; (e) A large percentage of administrators which had Participating/Supporting leadership styles had Feeling personality types; (f) No significant relationship between leadership styles and personality types was found in either group; and (g) No significant relationship between leadership adaptability and personality types was found in either group. Recommendations included: (a) further study to investigate the role of gender in leadership style and personality type; (b) further study to determine if elementary administrators have higher adaptability scores than secondary administrators; (c) further study to determine if elementary administrators have different leadership styles than secondary administrators; (d) further study to determine if elementary administrators have different personality types than secondary administrators; (e) further study to determine if leadership adaptability scores accurately portray an administrator's effectiveness; and (f) provide opportunities for future and practicing administrators to assess their leadership style, leadership adaptability, and personality type.

The purpose of the present study is three-fold in its nature: (1). To determine, by means of interviews and questionnaires, the attitudes of school administrators toward the various aspects of the instrumental music program; (2). To interpret these attitudes in the light of modern music education; (3). To make recommendations for the improvement of the instrumental music program with respect to the findings of the study.

The focus of this research study is upon the possible benefits research can offer special needs education (SNE) teachers. The project has been based upon a ‘study of a study’ with a piece of small-scale personal research - an observational study of the play of children with severe learning difficulties — being used as the starting point for examining the opportunities for learning about professional practice research can present teachers working in SNE. This project has linked two professional interests: a desire to systematically investigate a teaching and learning issue whilst reflecting upon the process of conducting that investigation. This reflection upon the process of conducting research was both personal and also involved asking other researchers — teacher researchers and professional researchers who support teacher researchers — about their experiences of conducting research. The project has involved using a reflective diary on personal research as well as semi-structured interviews with teacher researchers and professional researchers as a means of collecting data about the possible benefits of teacher research. The analysis of this data then led to the generation of a series of hypotheses and recommendations about possible future SNE teachers’ research. It is hoped this small-scale research project will be of interest to other teachers who are either engaged in or considering becoming involved in research, as well as the school managers, professional researchers and policy makers who support these teacher researchers in different aspects of their professional learning and development

This thesis reports on research into a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme in Senegal: Strengthening Mathematics, Science, and Technologies in Education Project (Projet de Renforcement de l'Enseignement des Mathématiques, des Sciences et de la Technologie, or PREMST). The literature review reveals very few examples of CPD changing teaching practices of teachers especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. However in this case, large-scale official project evaluations claim that some positive changes seem to have occurred, but give few details about the nature of the changes or how they have been brought about. This research seeks to understand the complexities of pedagogical change that teachers have gone through as a result of their participation in the CPD programmes through a more detailed investigation. The research examines the cases of five teachers in three schools that stakeholders claim to have gone through positive changes in the last three years. The research methods include focus-group discussions, lesson observation, and interviews before and after lessons. Lesson observation was aided by video and audio recording engaging with particular actions in the lesson observed. This process allowed me to understand how teachers reflected upon their own teaching and pupils' learning. The research finds that PREMST helped teachers envision how teaching should be conducted, by providing a structured approach to conduct a lesson. A visible change has been brought about in the classroom because the way training is conducted is well-integrated in the learning mechanism of teachers. However, the change in teaching practice has not necessarily brought a positive change in the learning of pupils. Apparent emphasis on group work has changed the modality of lessons, but it has not changed how teachers think about teaching. Given the difficulties involved in pedagogical change, emphasising specific skills may have been the necessary and practical first step, but changing these teaching practices is not enough. The research found that teachers still paid little attention to the learning of individual pupils. Teachers have changed their practices in terms of teaching methods used in the classroom, but the change in pedagogy has remained minimal because they have not understood the underlying premise of the new pedagogy. Unless they realise that their present manner of teaching does not enable the learning of pupils in a sufficient manner, their change is likely to remain at the level of teaching methods, not the pedagogy which incorporates the theories of learning and assumptions behind the practices. A key outcome of the research was to identify the next step for PREMST, namely to redirect the focus of teachers from the teaching procedures to the learning of pupils, by asking them to pay attention to what pupils say or write during the lesson. The thesis concludes by describing how this is being achieved through a shift in focus on classroom practice, through a training model based on lesson study.