Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Political Science. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Ed.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 11, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. [120]-146).

This study is concerned with identifying the factors which produce job satisfaction and which are clearly associated with job characteristics as perceived by the nursing educators who serve in middle management positions. Following are purposes of this study: 1. To identify the actual and ideal job characteristics that are factors associated with job satisfaction, as perceived by nursing educators in middle management positions; 2. To determine the interrelationships among the job satisfaction factors that are identified with the actual and ideal job characteristics, as perceived by nursing educators in middle management positions. Responses to a three-part survey instrument, which contained sixteen independent variables, were received from 152 of a possible 292 middle manager nursing educators working in accredited baccalaureate schools of nursing.

Women in leadership has become an increasingly popular area of research within the field of Educational Leadership and Management. As women hold more leadership roles and responsibilities in education it is increasingly important this subject is researched to enrich our understanding and knowledge of an area in which there have been silences. This research is a case study of a woman school leader in Namibia. The purpose was to explore the language she used and the impact of the discourses emerging from the text. The discourses are explained, described and interpreted through a critical discourse analysis to examine the discursive space and its relationship to the organisation. A feminist post-structural framework provided the basis for the critical orientation of this research. The findings of this study indicate that the leader occupied a discursive space of multiple positions that perpetuated and reproduced the school’s organizational structure and culture. The significance of this study lies in the possibilities for future research. The use of a poststructural framework to critically analyze discourses, combined with the use of leadership and management theory provided a means by which to explore and understand the multiple positions a woman leader takes up. By analyzing the discursive space in a discourse researchers are able to explore new ways of examining women and leadership in education.

The in-service management training of school managers, especially heads of departments in these constantly changing times, is an issue which is long overdue in South Africa. Numerous initiatives, such as the Canada - South Africa Education Management Programme, the Whole School Improvement Workshop and the Workshop for School Management Teams are in-service management training programmes in the Mpumalanga Province which are aimed at the upgrading of management skills of school managers such as principals, deputy principals and heads of department. The aim of this study was therefore, to determine the impact of these programmes on the performance of heads of department. A literature study was conducted to give an overview of current in-service management training programmes in the Mpumalanga Province. An empirical study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with key-informants to establish the impact of current in-service management training programmes, such as the Canada - South Africa Education Management Programme, the Whole School Improvement Workshop and the Workshop for School Management Teams on the performance of school heads of department. Although these in-service management training programmes have some short-comings, it was found that they played a significant role in the upgrading of management skills of heads of department and thereby improving their performance. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Educational Management)

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of the gross under representation of females in educational administrative positions. Answers to the following questions were sought. (1) What are the reasons there are not more female administrators in education? (2) What are the reasons that more female educators do not aspire to become administrators? (3) What are effective means by which capable female educators can be encouraged to qualify themselves for positions in educational administration? Findings showed that the participants perceived that administrators are drawn from a predominantly male candidate pool and that women are not encouraged to compete for administrative jobs by their school district administrators. Most effective means for encouraging women to become administrators were encouragement by various people who have personal contact with the teacher, provision of role models, awareness of opportunities through on-the-job work, appointment of women to legitimate rather than token administrative positions, provision of financial encouragement, and administrative internship programs. Conclusions included (1) Women teachers do not perceive that women have chosen administration as a career field to the extent that men have. (2) Women teachers do not perceive women as lacking in ability to become administrators. (3) People who have personal contact with a woman teacher can greatly influence her. (4) Most of the reasons given why women are not and do not aspire to be administrators were not determined to be of great impact when considered individually in this study.

M.Ed.

M.Ed. / High demands in education are set by a complicated and rapidly developing society. Due to better techniques and changing circumstances the task of the principal as well as his management team has become more complex. The management team no longer needs to be reactive to changing circumstances. A pro-active approach such as strategic management can be followed. Strategic management demands that the school management team develop a strategic plan. The mission must be formulated in conjunction with all interested parties. Once the main aim has been compiled, an analysis of the internal environment of the school should take place in order to determine strong and weak points. It now becomes the urgent task of the management team to pay attention to the following aspects, namely: structure, culture, climate, resources, manpower and marketing in order to determine the prevailing situation in the school. Analysis of the external environment should guide the management team to pinpoint the opportunities and threats present in the school environment. A clear mission and an awareness of the school's strong and weak points, as well as the opportunities and threats should lead to the development of aims and objectives. This in turn leads to establishing a common ground for meaningful functioning within the school. It becomes the task of the management team to consider alternative strategies for the execution of the school's aims/objectives. After careful consideration of alternative strategies a choice has to be made as to which strategy should be followed. This strategic plan must be changed into a practical plan. It is essential that the objectives of the strategies are carefully formulated. This in turn leads to the implementation of short term functional activities. A policy framework is developed wherein decisions must be taken and this becomes a barometer as to how all the set aims/objectives are to be achieved. The institutionalization of the policy demands a thorough reflection of organisation structure, leadership, culture and the various means of recognition. Strategy and structure should complement each other. Several structures and their suitability should be considered for strategy implementation. Successful strategy implementation demands strong leadership characterized by personal example. Strategic management is a participative management process. The value of visible management can never be overemphasized. Successful implementation demands that there be clarity of present and envisaged school culture. School culture and the chosen strategy must complement each other. Recognition is an important part of strategical implementation and will motivate staff, which will lead to success. The last part of the strategic management model is the evaluation of performance and the control of work activities. Control follows planning. It ensures that the school achieves what it set out to accomplish. Just as planning involves the setting of objectives along with the strategies and programs necessary to accomplish them, the control process compares performance with desired results and provides the feedback necessary for management to evaluate the results and take corrective action, as needed. This process consists of a four-step feedback model, but is not always easily distinguished. The identification of key success factor areas and strategical control points help to facilitate control. One should also consider.

M.Ed. / This treatise, which deals with "Effective Teamwork" as an educational imperative for school principals, will hopefully serve as an information source for the school principal. From this study it has become clear that the school principal of today has a comprehensive and complex role to play, a role characterised to a great extent by the responsibility to ensure educational excellence in his/her school. Achieving this objective is not an easy task, since education today is constantly subject to change which may include internal and external factors and may also vary in complexity and intensity. In this continual quest for excellence in education, the school principal must have the skills to: identify the changes; and effectively handle the changes. However, the task of identifying and handling changes and continually achieving educational excellence is too comprehensive for the school principal to carry out alone, and all the role players in his school will have to be involved. In this study the spotlight falls on the teachers as a functional team assisting the principal in his task of delivering excellent service in his/her school. From the above the problem addressed in this study flows, namely: How can the school principal (as team leader) go about guiding and training his teachers to function as an effective team so as to ensure educational excellence within rapidly changing conditions. In an attempt to resolve this problem, research has been undertaken into: the essential aspects of an effective team, i.e. to determine the nature, functions and characteristics of an effective team; and essential team leadership, i.e. to determine the nature, functions, skills and characteristics of an effective team leader.

This research study was carried out in order to gain an understanding of the experiences of women primary school heads, their perceptions of their roles as leaders, the challenges they face and how they dealt with them. The study focused on the lived experiences of five women in Zimbabwe's primary schools. Literature relating to the issues and experiences of women in educational leadership within school contexts and the conceptual framework is examined. The importance of leadership has been emphasised in the literature of school effectiveness. Leadership theories tended to emphasise measurability and effectiveness of leadership, oversimplifying the complexity of leadership phenomenon. These features reflect research approach adopted by researchers from a positivist orientation. This study is an in-depth qualitative study conducted along the lines suggested by a phenomenological-interpretivist design with emphasis on rich contextual detail, close attention to individual's lived experience and the bracketing of pre-conceived notions of the phenomenon. Views and experiences based on the participants' perspectives are described through in-depth interviews which were dialogical in nature. Through this approach, I managed to grasp the essences of the lived experiences of women The research highlights the women's perceptions of themselves as educational leaders. What emerges is the variety of approaches to handling challenges. My findings show a rich and diverse culture of creativity in the way participants adopted a problem-solving strategy, which is not reflected in the mainstream leadership. Though educational leadership emerges as a complex phenomenon, with alternative approaches to educational research, there is high potential for increased understanding of woman's leadership, its importance and implications for school. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in