<p> The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore how African American Online doctor of management students perceived engaging support to maintain motivation throughout the dissertation writing process. The study involved collecting and analyzing data from 10 African American online doctoral students who matriculated into an online doctor of management program or had completed the dissertation writing process. Participants shared perspectives on support through narrative storytelling and answered open-ended questions that described individual perceptions of engaging support to maintain motivation during the dissertation writing process. The general research question was as follows: How do African American online doctoral of management students engage support to maintain motivation during the dissertation witting process? Four themes emerged from the findings. The four themes were faith based support, collaborative coaches versus autonomous coaches, traditional faculty support versus nontraditional support, and chair lack of encouragement versus encouragement. The major implication was support to maintain motivation in an online learning environment must include communications and socialization on an ongoing basis during the dissertation writing process. Doctor of management organizational doctoral program leaders may use this study to examine doctoral student support issues, chairs&rsquo; encouragement strategies, and the need for dissertation coaching. The conceptual framework for this qualitative narrative inquiry was Bandura&rsquo;s (1997) self-efficacy theory, Atkinson&rsquo;s (1957) expectancy value theory, and Vygotsky&rsquo;s (1978) social constructivist theory.</p><p>

The thesis discusses the specifics of the management of alternative schools in Czech Republic. The aim is to compare selected type of alternative schools in the Czech Republic, focusing on management, analysis of differences in management from the management of public schools. The theoretical part deals with the definition and the development of alternative schools, the features and functions of alternative schools. The practical part analyzes the document and standardized interviews with selected schools. The result is a comparison of selected types of alternative schools in the Czech Republic, with focus on the management, and analysis of the differences from management of public schools. KEYWORDS Alternative education, alternative schools, the specifics of management, functions of alternative schools.

M.Comm. / Recent studies into the strategic management field indicate that there is a lack of knowledge on strategy implementation. The lack of comprehensive implementation frameworks is particularly raised by a number of scholars. Strategy implementation is one aspect of strategic management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) of the Mpumalanga Department of Education. The research problem in this report refers to the achievement of the quality objectives of the IQMS. This report aims to explore whether the IQMS objectives are met. It also investigates the effective implementation of the IQMS. This study aims to identify gaps, if any, in the implementation process of the IQMS. Definitions of strategic management and the strategic management process are explored in this report. Strategy implementation levers as described by the McKinsey 7-S Framework are discussed. The role of Total Quality Management and the Balanced Scorecard in successful strategy implementation is shortly mentioned. This study reflects on the perceptions of a sample of the “implementers” of the IQMS. Data is collected by means of a questionnaire that is structured around the implementation levers. It highlights positive/negative aspects/perceptions of the system and the current implementation thereof. The sample consists of a mixture of principals, educators and administrative staff from the various schools in the Nkangala district as well as officials in the provincial office. With respect to the strategy for implementation, respondents seem uncertain. The study indicates that there is uncertainty regarding the organisational structures and its effectiveness in achieving the IQMS goal of support and development of educators. There is also uncertainty regarding the systems available for strategy implementation. It appears that there is uncertainty regarding systems and how it manages to identify specific needs of educators regarding support and development. Educators appear to be uncertain regarding the shared values in the organisation and this can indicate a problem regarding effective communication of the common values and objectives of the IQMS. A shortage of qualified officials and the large learner-to-educator ratios in schools are identified as staff issues in this study. Training and feedback regarding the implementation of IQMS is also a problem. There is uncertainty amongst principals and heads of departments with respect to skills. The respondents indicate an uncertain perception as to whether the IQMS is able to identify specific needs regarding support and development, which is one of the objectives of the IQMS. Recommendations include a review of the actual IQMS and widespread participation is encouraged. Regular communication about and training on how to implement the actual IQMS is necessary. Regular feedback on the implementation process is needed.

D.Ed. / The research study focused on how teachers respond to policy demands given the challenges of rural education and dominating policy discourses and how their professional learning is shaped by these conditions and limitations. In particular I wanted to learn and document what and how teachers learn as they engage in Integrated Quality Management Systems. This study was conducted because there is an outcry of poor examinations results in some rural schools, which could be linked to poor implementation of policies. To respond to this outcry the Teacher Learning Framework which could be used by teachers was developed. The investigation into teacher learning processes when they engage in policy implementation was designed as an interpretive ethnographic study and was conducted in a disadvantaged rural primary school in Ladysmith, in KwaZulu Natal, in South Africa. The study involved five teachers and it was undertaken as an action research study in two cycles. The purpose of cycle one was to verify how teachers presented lessons in terms of policy requirements and guidelines, and authenticate how they learn in the process about their teaching, learners, themselves, and policy requirements. Lessons conducted by teachers were observed and the reflections were also made by two teachers. This was done also as a strategy to gather data. In cycle one, data revealed that teachers were not in a position to implement what they planned to implement. Teachers gave themselves time to plan for cycle two in order to improve on the shortcomings in cycle one. Teachers appeared to have prepared their lessons well, involving learners. Some teachers indicated clear lessons steps which were followed in the classroom. Even before they went to teach in class, they discussed their lessons plans which contributed to the improvement in cycle two. As a process of data gathering, five teachers were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed. As a second level of data analysis which was towards developing the Teacher Professional Learning Framework, all the data types were visited with the aim of extracting and discovering codes and categories across data types. These codes and categories were used in a more thorough grounded analysis to formulate a Teacher Professional Learning Framework.

D.Ed. / Educator teams in secondary schools of the Kathorus area, lack the formal decisionmaking authority to implement the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) successfully. These teams lack the formalised horizontal structure that could empower them to decentralise decision-making authority among educator teams at all levels of the school and provide a lateral communication system in which members of teams communicate directly with one another in an organisation. The educator teams have not received effective training on the implementation of the IQMS from the Department of Education (DoE) and the DoE has not provided these teams with regular training programmes in their schools on implementing the IQMS successfully. Consequently, educator teams have been frustrated and have shown feelings of hopelessness, despair, and apathy, and a lack of commitment to their profession. The general aim of the study was to determine how educator teams can be empowered to implement the IQMS in secondary schools successfully. In order to investigate the empowerment of educator teams for implementing the IQMS successfully in these schools, the specific objectives were to: • explore the meaning of empowerment and determine the implications of empowerment for implementing the IQMS. • determine the perceptions of educators and school management teams (SMTs) on empowering educator teams to successfully implement the IQMS in secondary schools. The study introduced the problem of this inquiry and presented the background of the research problem, which was associated with the failure to successfully implement the IQMS in schools and the lack of authority of educator teams to implement the IQMS effectively. The problem statement, research questions and specific sub-research questions, the aims and objectives of the study and the research methodology, ethical considerations and the significance of the study were discussed.

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the 00front part of this document) / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

In order for the democratic government in South Africa to eradicate segregatio. It was necessary to introduce new policies with school teachers being expected to be agents of change. Teachers have a big role to play in the transformation of the country. This research investigated Integrated Quality management Systems (IQMS) for improving performance of selected schools in the King Williams Town Education District. Three schools were selected in the King Williams Town District . The aim of this research was to examine the implementation of IQMS in the selected schools. The introduction of IQMS by the Department of Education in 2003, did not help the schools in the King Williams Town district improve their performance. IQMS is a government policy. The intention of public policy is to solve a problem. The findings of this study indicates that in the selected schools the problem of poor performance was not solved by the introduction of IQMS. Scholars have written extensively on performance appraisal. Different writers agree that the main purpose of appraisal is to improve performance. The Constitution (1996) and policies provide a strong foundation for the effective implementation of IQMS and public administration provides a good support for the effective implementation of IQMS. Additionally, legislation and subsequent policies give guidelines of how to implement the system successfully. In this study, questionnaires were given to 15 educators to investigate how schools understand and implement the IQMS. Qualitative analysis was undertaken to interpret the responses from the educators. Themes were formulated based on the responses received. Findings were generalised from the responses received. The research discovered that educators do implement IQMS, but they do not see it as a mechanism of improving performance. Teachers demonstrated an inadequate understanding of IQMS.

The aim of this master thesis is to create a course of study "Management in education" for pedagogical managers. The course of study will be recommended to FM VŠE v Praze and it will follow the standards of MŠMT ČR. The output will be a booklet for potential applicants.

M.Ed. / Appraisal seems to be a relevant instrument to facilitate the professional growth of educators and school improvement. However, if the process of appraisal is to be part of the development of educators and of schools, it needs to be part of the pattern of school life and linked to the school’s developmental activities. It needs to be context-based within the legal framework provided by the Department of Education (DoE). Appraisal should be a natural progression from the staff development and school development planning. Staff and professional strategies should enable schools and educators to gain skills and understanding, necessary to participate in appraisal. Appraisal should be set in the context of the objectives of the schools which will generally be expressed in a school development plan. The school’s objectives in a particular year, should be linked with appraisal, so that for example, professional development targets arising from appraisal, may be related to agreed targets and tasks in the development plan. This will help to speed up the process of facilitation of the professional growth of educators. A school which is self-developing and self-evaluating, is likely to be one in which all educators exchange ideas, share concerns, contribute to discussion, take part in the process of decision-making and have individual areas of strength and weaknesses identified and supported (Jones, 1993:10). In basic terms, the facilitation of appraisal will assist with the setting of whole school targets and identification of professional needs. / Dr. P.J. du Plessis

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