The changes within the South African education system have turned-around the view that regards principals as “sole” people responsible for leadership and management of schools. The task of the school principal has undergone a radical change. Over the years the notion has been replaced by the view that sees management and leadership as prerogative of many, including stakeholders within and outside education. The move has become world-wide phenomenon compelled by the dual imperatives changing societal values and the rate of change. This study is aimed at investigating the perceptions and experiences of School Management Teams (SMTs) on teamwork as an alternative to school management. The investigation was framed within the mixed-method approach, and sought to unpack the experience of SMT members with regard to teamwork. An interpretive paradigm made it possible for me to gain an in-depth understanding of SMT members’ experience of teamwork within their school contexts. I used interviews and questionnaires as research tools to gather data. This study has found that, although the concept of teamwork is well-received, there are still significant obstacles to the implementation of teamwork as an alternative form of school management / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

A study was undertaken to explore what constitutes instructional capacity in the teaching and learning of mathematics (TLM), with a focus on how schools (as institutions of teaching and learning) integrate resources for a particular configuration of capacity to promote high achievement levels of Grade 12 students in mathematics. Data were collected in ten public secondary schools, mostly in a disadvantaged context, in the Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study explores strategies for constructing, organising and replenishing instructional capacity in TLM. Five low- and five high-performing schools were selected, based on the pass rate in mathematics in high stakes examinations. The researcher observed lessons and interviewed ten Grade 12 mathematics teachers, ten principals, five curriculum advisors and a sample of forty Grade 12 mathematics students. The research revealed that the capacity to encourage the new curriculum reform practices in TLM within different schools is often inadequate, and largely fails to compensate for organisational effects and arrangements that shape the capacity to create quality instruction in mathematics. However, high-performing schools were somewhat ahead of low-performing schools in terms of encouraging reform-oriented teaching and learning in mathematics. Recommendations include: Principals should initiate the development and implementation of a school-based clinical supervision programme through collaborative decision-making to promote a sense of ownership by all mathematics teachers. Such a supervision programme would enhance commitment and ensure that all efforts are unified towards improving the quality of TLM. There is a need for the DoE in Limpopo Province to coordinate teacher professional development workshops, where effective practising mathematics teachers model how they teach mathematics in the classroom, while other teachers observe. Context-based strategies to enhance student outcomes in mathematics should be devised, such as modelling good practice by effective teachers in terms of: lesson preparation; subject knowledge; pedagogic approach; assessment and monitoring of classroom practice, including direct observation of teaching by HoDs and principals. It is proposed that attention to these issues, amongst others, would limit the impact of an unpromising context on student achievement levels in mathematics in high stakes examinations in the Vhembe District and elsewhere. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

本研究旨在探討幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能之關係。首先瞭解幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能之內涵及現況；其次分析不同背景變項在幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能之差異情形；接著探討幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能之相關，以及瞭解幼托園所主管教學領導行為對教師教學效能各層面之預測力。 本研究方法除了以文獻探討，分析教學領導行為與教師教學效能之理論與相關研究外，並兼採問卷調查法及訪談調查法。問卷調查之對象以基隆市、臺中縣、臺中市、彰化縣、南投縣，已立案之公、私立幼稚園及托兒所教師為母群體，採兩階段抽樣法進行取樣，共發出720份問卷，總計回收有效問卷493份（有效回收率68.47%）。使用之研究工具為自編之「幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能關係調查問卷」，問卷回收後，採描述性統計、信度分析、t考驗、單因子變異數分析、皮爾森積差相關、典型相關、逐步多元迴歸及薛費法多重比較，進行資料分析。在訪談調查部分，乃針對十位幼托園所主管及教師，進行電話訪談。本研究所獲致之主要結論如下： 壹、幼托園所主管教學領導行為方面 一、幼托園所主管教學領導行為表現積極，其中以「發展支持的工作環境」表現最好。 二、「園所主管年資」在幼托園所主管教學領導行為達顯著影響；而「園所所處地區」、「園所性質」、「園所規模」及「園所主管最高學歷」在幼托園所主管教學領導行為未達顯著影響。 貳、教師教學效能方面 一、幼托園所教師教學效能表現良好，其中以「教學互動」表現最好。 二、「園所性質」、「園所主管年資」、「教師年齡」、「教師任教年資」及「兼任行政職務」在幼托園所教師教學效能達顯著影響；而「園所所處地區」、「園所規模」、「園所主管最高學歷」及「教師最高學歷」在幼托園所教師教學效能未達顯著影響。 參、幼托園所主管教學領導行為與教師教學效能兩者之關係方面 一、「幼托園所主管教學領導行為」與「教師教學效能」呈現正相關。 二、「幼托園所主管教學領導行為」對「教師教學效能」具有預測力。 最後研究者根據研究結果，分別對幼兒教育行政機關、幼托園所主管培育機構、幼教師資培育機構、幼托園所主管、幼托園所教師以及後續相關研究提出相關建議，以期對未來幼教的發展有所助益。 / The main purpose of this study was to: (1) Investigate current situation of directors’ instructional leadership behaviors and teachers’ teaching effectiveness. (2) Explore the different influence effect of different variables on these two areas. (3) Analyze the relationships between directors’ instructional leadership behaviors and teachers’ teaching effectiveness. (4) Explore the predictive power of directors’ instructional leadership behaviors on the part of teachers’ teaching effectiveness. To accomplish these purposes, literature review was adopted in addition to questionnaire and interview (telephone survey). In questionnaire aspect, the teacher subjects were included public and private kindergartens and nursery schools in Taiwan, specifically Keelung City, Taichung County, Taichung City, Changhua County, Nantou County by means of stratified two-stage simple sampling. “The Kindergarten and Nursery Directors’ Instructional Leadership Behavior and Teachers’ Teaching Effectiveness Questionnaire” was designed to collect the data. 720 questionnaires were delivered, and 493 were retrieved with an effective return rate of 68.47%. The questionnaire data analysis included description statistics, reliability analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson-moment correlation analysis, canonical correlation, multiple stepwise regression analysis, and Scheffé’s posteriori comparison through the use of SPSS 10.07 for Windows. Ten directors and teachers from the sample of questionnaire interviews were selected for the telephone interviews. The major results were summarized as follows: A. In the aspect of director’s instruction leadership: a. Instruction leadership behavior of director is above average. For directors, the best dimension is to “develop a supporting environment”. b. Directors’ service years have a significant effect on director’s instruction leadership. Kindergarten location, kindergarten category of public or private, school size, and highest educational degree of the director do not have a significant effect on director’s instruction leadership. B. In the aspect of teachers’ teaching effectiveness: a. Teachers’ teaching effectiveness is above average. For teacher, the best dimension is to “instructional interaction”. b. Kindergarten category of public or private, directors’ years of service, teachers’ age, teachers’ years of service, part-time administrative position have significant influences on teachers’ teaching effectiveness. Kindergarten location, school size, highest educational degree of the director and highest educational degree of the teacher do not have significant effect on teachers’ teaching effectiveness. C. In the aspect of relationships between directors’ instructional leadership behaviors and teachers’ teaching effectiveness: a. There was a positive correlation between directors’ instruction leadership and teachers’ teaching effectiveness. b. Directors’ instruction leadership was predictive of teachers’ teaching effectiveness. In the last part, based on the findings, the researcher proposes some suggestions for the education authorities, the director training institutions, the teacher training institutions, the preschool directors and teachers, and the future researchers, hoping to benefit the development of preschool education in the future.

本研究旨在探討國民中學校長教學領導、教師領導與家庭教養文化對學生表現之影響。首先，要了解國民中學校長教學領導與教師領導之現況；其次，探討不同家庭背景學生對家庭教養文化知覺的差異情形；再者，分析校長教學領導、教師領導、家庭教養文化與學生學業成就之間的相關情形；最後，利用結構方程式以校長教學領導與家庭教養文化為外衍變項；學校文化、學生參與和認同與學生學業成就為內衍變項，探討各變項之間的直間接效果，並找出對學生表現預測力最強的因素。 本研究以九十五學年度台南市立國民中學之教師與學生為研究對象，並以研究者譯自國外重要問卷編制而成之「學校情形與領導調查問卷」和「學生參與和家庭環境調查問卷」為研究工具，有效樣本為858份，包括教師236位與學生622位。根據受試者之填答結果再分別以平均數、標準差、單因子變異數分析、皮爾遜積差相關以及結構方程模式（SEM）等統計方法，進行資料處理分析。 本研究獲致之結論如下： 一、 國民中學教師對校長教學領導之知覺為中度表現。 二、 國民中學教師對教師領導之知覺為中度表現。 三、 不同家庭背景之國民中學學生對於家庭教養文化的知覺有顯著差異。 四、 國中校長教學領導與學生學業成就有正相關。 五、 國中教師領導與學生學業成就有正相關。 六、 家庭教養文化與學生學業成就有正相關。 七、 本研究所假設的結構模型在LISREL整體適配度考驗下，為一可接受模型，並可顯示出各變項之間的直間接效果。尤其，家庭教養文化對於學生表現有高度的預測力；而校長教學領導與教師領導必須透過學校文化才能對學生表現造成顯著影響。 最後，根據研究結果提出具體建議，以作為教育行政主管機關、國民中學校長、教師、家長以及未來相關研究之參考。 / The Study of the Effects of Junior High School Principal Instructional Leadership, Teacher Leadership, and Family Educational Culture on Student Performances The goal of the study is to explore the relationship among junior high school principal instructional leadership, teacher leadership, family educational culture and student performances. First of all, to understand the common situation of principal instructional leadership and teacher leadership in Tainan municipal junior high school. And then, to explore the differences between students’ perceptions toward family educational cultures and students’ family backgrounds, including brother and sisters’ number in family, family organization type, parents’ education degree, and parents’ occupation. Next, to analyze the correlation between principal instructional leadership ＆student achievement, teacher leadership＆student achievement, and family educational culture＆student achievement. Finally, to use the Structural equation modeling to exam the feasibility of the hypothetical model, and through the path analysis to find out the direct and indirect effects between each variable. There were 858 valid cases, including 236 teachers and 622 students. The returned data were analyzed by statistical methods such as “ Mean”, “Standard Deviation”, “One-Way ANOVA”, “Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation”, and“ Structural Equation Modeling”. The major results were summarized as follows: 1. The entire performance of principal instructional leadership in Tainan municipal junior high school is at middle degree. 2. The entire performance of teacher leadership in Tainan municipal junior high school is at middle degree, too. 3. There are obvious differences between students’ perceptions toward family educational cultures and students’ family backgrounds. 4. There is a positive correlation between principal instructional leadership and student achievement. 5. There is a positive correlation between teacher leadership and student achievement. 6. There is a positive correlation between family educational culture and student achievement. 7. Through the LISREL test, improving the hypothetical model in our research could be acceptable, and it could show the direct and indirect effects between variables. We also find out that family educational culture is the most powerful predicator to student performances in the study. At last, to bring up some concrete suggestions according to the study outcomes as references for governmental institution for education, junior high school principals, junior high school teachers and parents, and correlated study in the future.

Although, the concept of instructional leadership is a not a new idea, it has become an increasingly popular term in education in recent years. Instructional leadership provides the foundation for teaching and learning within a school. Such federal educational initiatives as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have sought to improve student achievement have also changed the landscape of school leadership. As accountability and high-stakes testing measures continue to rise, the need to closely explore and understand the ideology of instructional leadership has become more prevalent. Qualified school leaders with a keen focus on instruction must be well-prepared to lead schools and meet the needs of 21st century students. Specifically, the role of assistant principal is called upon to expand in instructional leadership to help meet ever evolving school challenges. From a historical perspective, within the literature, little attention has been given to the development, selection, training, and support of assistant principals. This has led to the increasing marginalization of this group of school leaders. The purpose of this study is to explore the shared perceptions that secondary assistant principals hold toward their development as instructional leaders given the support from their principals’ leadership actions and transformational practices. Thirty-four secondary middle and high school assistant principals’ perspectives were explored using Q methodology. Participants performed a Q sort of thirty-eight statements to examine their subjective viewpoints toward their own development as instructional leaders. Four perspectives emerged from the study, Relational & Support, Coaching & Collective Collaboration, Data-Driven & Feedback, and Professional Development & Strategic Planning. Each perspective leads to a deeper understanding aligned with the development of the assistant principal as instructional leader.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers perceive the instructional support provided by district and school level administrators in implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The independent variables were staff development, small group development, direct individual assistance, technology, teacher age, and teacher years of experience. The dependent variable was teacher perception of the efficacy of the instructional support received. The phenomenological approach was specifically chosen for this study to give a voice to teachers who, for the majority, are often left unheard in the policy making process. By focusing on the similarities of the participants’ experiences, the stories collected in this study will help school and district level leadership in identifying how they can best support teachers in implementing the Common Core standards. The study took place in a metropolitan school district bolstering nearly 99,000 students. Schools were selected to participate using maximum variation sampling. This type of sampling ensures that findings reflect differences in perspective, which is ideal in qualitative study (Creswell, 2007). Schools were selected according to the following descriptors: Title I status, ethnicity of student population, English proficiency of student population, disabilities of student population, grade level of student population, and College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) Score of the school. The participants represented elementary, middle, and high school settings. The data collected during this study were analyzed using the phenomenology research procedures of Moustakas (1994). The research resulted in a collection of significant statements that were clustered to define themes. The 11 themes were extracted from 28 teacher surveys, 5 teacher interviews, and 3 school-level administrator interviews. The findings of the study revealed that school level instructional support was perceived more favorable than district level instructional support in all areas: staff development, group development, and direct individual assistance. Small group development at both the district and school level was engaging, allowing teachers to discuss, plan, and create during the time spent together. Approximately half of the participants in the study indicated that they never received direct individual assistance from administrators neither at the district nor school level. Participants expressed positive perception regarding the technological training they received and the impact it had not only on their instruction, but their administrative skill as well.

From this investigation it can justly be asked what a leader is and why not all people are leaders. It is clearly evident that some people possess more innate leadership potential than others. It has subsequently been proved that leadership and leadership training is of great value to mankind. In this regard one can refer to Plato, Erasmus and Cawood who, despite living in different eras, all recognized the same crisis in leadership. Each concluded that the leadership crisis of his time could be bridged only by training. Great responsibility, therefore, lies upon the school as primary training centre, and especially the principal. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Teacher Education)

This Thesis draws on mixed methods survey research conducted to examine how public secondary school principals can be empowered to perform instructional leadership roles in the Amhara region, Ethiopia. This approach allows for the concurrent analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The study relies on related literature review along with primary data collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The units of analysis were 358 teachers and 76 principals for quantitative data as well as 6 head principals and 12 owners of core processes for teachers, principal, and supervisors development (OCPTPSD) for qualitative data. These subjects were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria to make them eligible subjects. Therefore, 378 eligible teachers 92 principals who matched the selection criteria were identified by the researcher. Teachers and principals were selected using random and convenience sampling methods respectively for quantitative data as well as 6 head principals and 12 OCPTPD were selected through available sampling techniques for the qualitative informants. Detailed reviewing of related literature to give profound insights about the research problems and objectives, a structured questionnaire made up of categorical and scaled questions and the semi-structured interviews widely used supplement and extend our knowledge about individual thoughts, feelings and behaviours, meanings, and interpretations obtained from quantitative data were included as tools of data collection. While quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), Version 20, qualitative data were analysed using verbatim transcripts. The results gained from quantitative and qualitative data were integrated and interpreted using nested or concurrent transformative procedures. This study identified that principals credited much of their empowerment to access for resources and support from supervisors, they also attributed much of their perceptions to themselves. Empowerment is a very significant tool in promoting principals’ performance thereby improving overall school performance. Measures of structural empowerment; psychological empowerment; and leadership behaviour have significant relationships with effective instructional leadership role performance of principals. Inadequate top management support, lack of awareness, absence of clear regulations on ways and tools of empowerment and insufficient funds, undue interference of top leaders, intimidation of principals and promoting unnecessary reshuffle of school principals were identified as major challenges of empowering PSSP in the ARSE. From the dimensions of structural empowerment (access to support and opportunity for resources); psychological empowerment (meaning); and leadership behaviour (delegation of authority, skill development, and coaching for innovative performance) were found to be significant predictors of empowerment. It was also identified that principals experience more empowered when they have more sociopolitical support from top management, subordinates, peers, superiors and even customers. The researcher recommended that principals required professional freedom to effectively perform instructional leadership roles. If this is not to be happened, the principal feels unhappy and returns to his or her old ways of working. Therefore, policy makers are required to formulate and implement empowerment process model for principals of public secondary schools so that this study challenges all leaders to rethink on how they can empower school principals to effectively perform instructional leadership roles in the region. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The introduction of outcomes-based education in South African schools has changed the roles of all role players. For outcomes-based education to be successfully implemented everyone should fully understand these new roles. Since the principal should ensure that there is effective teaching and learning at school, this study explored his/her role in the implementation of outcomes-based education. This study includes a literature review of instructional leadership and outcomes-based education in South African schools. A qualitative investigation of the role of the school principal in the implementation of outcomes-based education in KwaMashu schools was conducted. Data were analysed, discussed and synthesised. It was found, inter alia that principals and educators do not fully understand the instructional role of the principal in the implementation of outcomes-based education. Lack of training appeared to be the major reason that exacerbates the problem. Based on findings, recommendations for improving the role of the principal were proposed. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

This study has investigated `How does the effective execution of the management tasks assist the District Foundation Phase First Education Specialist to promote quality teaching and learning in Gauteng schools?' This study has considered the concepts `leadership' and `management'. Importantly, it has provided for discussion on the four vital management tasks, for effective management, towards the promotion of quality teaching and learning in Gauteng schools. Quantitative research methodology was employed. The findings suggest that the District Foundation Phase First Education Specialist does perform the four management tasks and does employ strategies for the promotion of quality teaching and learning, but that these need to be improved on, sharpened and enhanced, for effective management, and for the promotion of quality teaching and learning in schools. This study has also revealed that development and professional support of the District Foundation Phase First Education Specialist is called for too. Through use of a basic management model, in this study, suggestions and requirements are presented, and recommendations are made, for the effective execution of the management tasks towards the promotion of quality teaching and learning. Provision is therefore made for an illustration and description of the model, the suggestions and requirements envisaged, critical challenges and recommendations, as well as a motivation for the model. The study has recommended the piloting and implementation of this management model, with District First Education Specialists, in the Gauteng Department of Education. It has further recommended, that with the phasing-in of the Revised National Curriculum Statement, that this management model be trailed. Suggestions have been provided for in this regard. Review of this management model has been accommodated too. Its wider value and meaning for the Gauteng Department of Education, in the contexts of policy revision and educational transformation, has been briefly explored too. The management model suggested clearly seeks to champion effective management practice, and it also seeks to bring about improvements in existing management practice, for the promotion of quality teaching and learning in Gauteng schools. The recommendation made is aimed at contributing towards the promotion of quality teaching and learning in Gauteng schools. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Education Management)