Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Nolan Estes. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-102).

This PhD study investigates distributed school leadership through small-scale empirical research using interpretative enquiry with aspects of a grounded approach, reaching a depth of understanding. More specifically, it explores the experiences and perceptions of early career primary headteachers as they take forward a distributed perspective on school leadership and management through three headteacher case studies. Each headteacher’s voice is heard through a sequence of in-depth, semistructured and narrative style interviews. The study extends beyond self-reporting as staff perceptions of school leadership and management are elicited through a 360° analysis, a semi-structured questionnaire incorporating a sociometric analysis of leadership relationships, used also to explore the extent to which leadership is distributed within each school. Definitions of leadership and of distributed leadership are contested. The problematic nature of each is discussed in relation to competing educational rhetoric, school leadership literature and policy discourses. Various complexities are found to exist in defining and identifying distributed leadership, acknowledged as multi-faceted, involving those in both formal and informal leadership positions, teaching and support staff. Distributed leadership is context specific, socially constructed, negotiated and hierarchical in nature. It is found to be ‘in the gift of the headteacher’ with each head showing a commitment to and central concern for developing effective processes for staff engagement in meaningful school improvement efforts. Regardless, a distributed perspective was not found to develop naturally nor easily. It was purposefully planned for and continuously supported. It involved the development of teacher professional identity. It required the balancing of multiple and competing accountabilities. Tension was found to relate to the headteachers’ intentions to engage staff, when they bordered on perceived ‘new managerialist’ strategies or manipulation. This study contributes to understandings of the problematic nature of a distributed perspective on leadership by surfacing a range of conceptual confusions. The main conclusion, that distributed leadership is still ‘in the gift of the headteacher’, contributes to a limited empirical knowledge base. How the headteachers made sense of a distributed perspective, along with their motivations to do so, adds to limited empirical data for which the role of headteachers is not well understood. There exists a dearth of studies into the experiences and perceptions of headteachers within a distributed perspective, even more so in terms of those within their early years of headship. The need for further empirical research is recommended to better conceptualise leadership generally and distributed leadership specifically, leading to a more sophisticated understanding of how agency and structure work in practice. Further studies could challenge five generally held assumptions identified within the distributed leadership paradigm: that every member of staff is able to lead; that every member of staff wishes to lead; that the leadership role of staff is legitimized simply by the headteacher’s endorsement; that a distributed perspective occurs naturally; and that a distributed perspective is unproblematic. This research is timely as the teacher role is nationally reviewed (Donaldson, 2010; McCormac, 2011) and the GTCS redevelops the suite of national professional standards, constituting workforce reform. The conclusion to this study argues for a re-examination of the teacher role to reach consensus in defining what is required of teachers at each level of the school hierarchy, recognising formal and informal leadership roles based on conceptual clarity and role definition. It calls for openness and transparency in relation to principles for practice. Key recommendations are offered for policy makers, school leaders at all levels, leadership development programmes, theoretical development and future research.

The Look East Policy (LEP), which was officially launched in February 1982, came about as a result of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamed's determination to encourage Malaysians to "learn from Japan". Despite the difficulties in transferring management ideas between countries, Mahathir was convinced that with the Look East Policy he could persuade management in Malaysia, and particularly in the manufacturing firms, to implement wholesale the Japanese model of management or Japanese management techniques. This is not only because he believed that Japanese management techniques were the prerequisites for Malaysia's drive for industrialisation, but also he believed that they were the solutions to the problems cojifronting the Malaysian workforce. However, the findings from this study seem to suggest that only certain elements of the Japanese management techniques have been implemented in or transferred to the manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Even then, our findings show that there are a number of problems being encountered, especially if these elements are not compatible with Malaysian cultural and religious beliefs. This could imply that certain elements of the Japanese management practices are culture-bound and therefore difficult to transfer to a different cultural environment. Our findings also seem to suggest that despite the strength of the state in Malaysia, it has not been very successful in promoting, through the Look East Policy, the Japanese style of management to manufacturing firms. Instead, it is suggested that the majority of the Malaysian workforce prefers the present management system that is pro-West, which suggests its profound influence in Malaysia. Hence, it can be argued that because of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious beliefs in Malaysia, and also because of the strong influence of the West, there is a limit to what the state can do or achieve. Based on our findings, it might be possible to suggest the following conclusions: (i) that the Look East Policy was never properly thought through in terms of the difficulty of transferring management techniques from one culture to another; (ii) a more limited objective with regard to learning from the Japanese might have been more successful. However, this would have demanded not only a long-term commitment but also greater involvement from Chinese community; and (iii) that the Look East Policy was always a political as well as an economic one. Perhaps its success should be judged not on a basis of whether it was adopted but on whether it achieved its political objectives.

This thesis deals with the managerial competencies of school teachers and headmasters. It also focuses on finding the common features of such competencies as are shared by the two aforementioned professions and company managers. Its main aim is to find out whether a successful teacher would be equally successful in the position of a headmaster, or whether a company manager can be a successful headmaster without having worked as a teacher. The theoretical part deals with the definition of "management" and managerial functions, the definition of school management, and "classroom management". The personalities of a manager, their qualities, knowledge, skills, the term "leadership" as well as "competencies" are also clarified here. At the end of this part there is an analysis of managerial competencies in the position of a company manager, headmaster, and teacher as well. The practical part analyses the subjective perception of the job duties, required qualities, skills and competencies in teachers, headmasters and managers. The thesis contains a comparative research. Dialogue was used to map such activities as form the daily job duties of the two professions and such competencies as help the respondents to be successful at work. The generalised answers can be found in the tables. They are compared...

The experience of socialisation for those new to headship can be challenging and often traumatic (Crow, 2007). Research into the socialisation of new headteachers is not extensive and has primarily been concerned with identifying and ordering stages in the socialisation process, for example, phases of headship. Such an approach neither allows for an analysis of the complexity of socialising influences nor does it enable the generation of explanatory theories. The purpose of the current research was to provide an understanding of the socialisation of new headteachers from an analysis of significant socialising experiences. The aims of the research were to: 1.analyse the socialisation of new primary headteachers from a role boundary perspective. 2.test the suitability of the role boundary concept as a rigorous, theoretical and methodological tool that can be applied to researching the field of headteacher socialisation. The research analysed critical incident vignettes from the experiences of seven newly appointed primary school headteachers up to their first three years in post. Data was collected using two research methods; semi-structured interviews and a written log. Twenty two critical incident vignettes were analysed using an interpretive methodology underpinned by an analytical framework based upon the concept of role boundary. The role boundary is described as being the point of delineation between a set of behaviours that are considered to be legitimate in role and those behaviours that are considered illegitimate in role. The role boundary concept allows for an analysis of the socialising experiences of new headteachers as they and the organisation engage in a recurrent, reciprocal and relational socialising process that seeks to establish those behaviours that are, and those that are not, legitimately enclosed by their role boundaries. The research found that socialisation is the process by which the new headteacher and the organisation seek to establish and position their respective role boundaries. Headteachers experience socialisation as a series of emotionally challenging interactions where the central purpose is to establish who has the legitimate authority to take decisions and to take actions in the following three main areas; task role allocation, resource allocation and the creation and application of organisational procedure. These interactions are immediate, are intense and have the potential to lead to conflict where individuals contest the limits of their respective role boundaries. The research finds the concept of role boundary as a theoretical and methodological tool to be of heuristic and analytical value in understanding and explaining headteacher socialisation and presents a role boundary socialisation theory to explain the dynamics of the socialisation process.

This study reports research about innovation and change in the professional practice of the staff at the Library and Information Service (LIS) staff at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, in Western Australia. The historical context of the study is Australian higher education and university libraries in the early 1990s. It reports, examines and analyzes key events and activities of the LIS staff strategic planning process both as an educational innovation and a driver of change in professional practice. The investigation of educational innovation and change is the object of the study, specifically the application of strategic planning.Literature from the 30-year history of writing and research about educational innovation and change is reviewed in terms of its relevance to the study. In addition, selected literature about organizational theory and strategic planning in libraries is presented. From this literature emerged the particular innovation and change framework, which guide the research.A justification for the selection of the particular research approach is explained and data collection, organization and analysis are described. The study uses official LIS corporate records as its primary source of data, supplemented by published materials to assist in the explanation of the particular circumstances of the LIS case.The results of the data analysis are presented in terms of the key events and activities of the LIS case. From this analysis conclusions are drawn in relation to the research questions which underpin the study and in terms of the component parts of the innovation and change framework. In particular, conclusions relate to the key organizational factors shaping the response to innovation; the characteristics of the context of change; key organizational processes helping to ensure successful adoption; the articulation of a shared vision and ++ / processes to ensure a shared vision. In relation to the innovation and change framework the change process is viewed as adoption dominated; as a move towards a learning organization; through the characteristics of the context of change and through other factors influencing change.Flowing from the research findings, recommendations are made for professional practice and further research.As a case study that reports, examines and analyses the complex dimensions of organizational change, the study is rich in detail and provides a real-life example of organizational and educational change.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Saint Mary's University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Supervisor: Kevin Kelloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-75).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2002. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2956. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-105).