Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 199. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178).

This narrative autoethnography tells the story of a small rural community over a ten year period through the ethnographic eye. It is told within the context of a primary rural school and the community that supports it. It reflects the aspirations, the pain and the dreams of the community. Within the telling of stories, lies the question of what a leader needs to ‘be’ for the people (the concept of educational leadership). This ‘being’ for the people should certainly be part of the body of thought on educational leadership. The literature review examines concepts of educational leadership pertaining to aspects or issues of change, community, teaching and learning and the inner life of the Principal. These issues are explored within the framework of the school and its community. Combining literary and ethnographic techniques allows the creation of a story that intends to devise a concept of educational leadership created by and authentic to the community to which the leadership belongs. This narrative autoethnography provides the vehicle for the researcher to explore Principal / Leadership. It connects modern day educational theory to an understanding of lived experiences – the stories lived by the people in the research. A multi-perspective approach is applied to provide analytical interpretation and reflection of the lived experience documented. The findings of this research study suggest that Principals need to reflect on the lived experiences of the communities they are within in order to understand the path of leadership. The research strongly recognizes that the formation of meaningful, ethical relationships is a vital foundation for authentic leading in an education world that is constantly changing.

This research investigates the relationship between principalship and policy in small New Zealand primary schools. A distinctive feature of small primary schools is that their principals typically have to teach as well as manage. Overseas research indicates that in times of educational reform, teaching principals face particular difficulty and may need special support. Following the watershed educational reforms of 1989 and a decade of ‘hands-off’ policy in education (1989-1999), central policy towards school support in New Zealand is now more ‘hands-on’. The impact of this policy change on small schools has not been researched hi New Zealand, where such schools make up over fifty percent of all primary schools. The aims of this study are to analyse the impact of current support policy in New Zealand on small primary school principalship, and to evaluate the extent to which policy adjustment might be needed in the future. Using multiple methods and a case study approach to gather data, the study focuses on small school principalship in one New Zealand region - the Central Districts region. It also considers the recent policy initiatives, their rationale and the extent to which they appear to be meeting the support needs reported by the principals whose work has been researched in the study. Broadly, the study has found that within small schools, the role-balance within a teaching principal’s work is a critical factor, as the ratio within the principal’s role-balance between the teaching role and the management role creates variation in work-demands, work-strategies and types of support needed. Teaching principals in New Zealand generally feel better supported now than they did in the 1990s and the study identifies factors associated with this change. However the analysis in this study suggests that the current policy aim to both rationalise and strengthen the small school network as a whole is rather problematic. Without better targeted support policy in this area, old style parochial and competitive attitudes between schools are unlikely to change in the future.

The main aim of this research was to investigate the conditions that influence and shape the occupational perceptions of principals; systematically observe primary school principals in the islands of Malta, and to contrast these findings with the perceptions of a group of deputy principals. To achieve this aim three studies were conducted. The first study employed a self-administered questionnaire survey method employed with all principals in primary schools (i. e. state, church and private). 'Discussions with parents', 'discussions with staff' and 'desk work' have been highlighted as the major job functions taking up most of the principals' time. Half of the respondents rated 'desk work' as their majorjob function. The Maltese principal tended to perceive his/her role as falling within the chief executive model. The principal's duties related largely to the division and allocation of work, the co-ordination and control of organisational activities, communication with parents and staff, maintaining discipline and order, and maintaining the level of resources and plant upkeep. This survey, however, shows that principals wanted to take on functions within the leading professional model. In the second study, an observational study was conducted with the aim of checking out some of the perceptions principals held towards their role and to add another dimension to the overall picture by identifying what principals actually did in their daily life at work. The study explored the work patterns of eight primary school principals in the state sector. The observational study attested to the multi-varied nature of the principal's role. The principal's day was generally hectic in pace, varied in its composition, discontinuous and superficial in any pursuit of tasks, with the unexpected always as one of the few certainties of thejob. The principal's energy was observed as being devoted to keeping the school ticking over in the short run with hardly any time being devoted to discuss matters of direct relevance to the teaching-learning process, such as classroom practice, curriculum review and update. The dominant model was that of the transactional leader who is fixing things, managing and coping in order to maintain the smooth operation of the organisation. As highlighted in the questionnaire survey principals devoted their time to administration, pastoral care and communication with parents. Little to no time was stated as being devoted to high value tasks such as strategic planning and curriculum review. The portrayal of Maltese primary school principals is that they are not so much reflective or transformational leaders, rather they are chronically busy, reactive as against proactive, and caught up in, and tied down by the unceasing demands of others for their attention. The present research seems to have identified the transactional nature of leadership as the main medium of interaction that the primary school principals opted for. Bearing in mind the present period of changes and development of school management practices in Malta, it was felt appropriate to seek feedback from deputy principals whose own role was undergoing change. A small group of twenty newly-appointed deputy principals were approached to view how they perceived the role of the principal. At the same time it sought to identify their perceptions of their own role, and get an indication of how they viewed tomorrow's principalship. This, it was felt, would provide data as to how Maltese administrators in general viewed their role. Deputy principals presented similar feedback to that presented by principals. The major difference being in the way deputy principals perceived tomorrow's principalship – one which went beyond the transactional model of principal as administrator to the transformational model of principal as leading professional. However, nothing conclusive can be drawn out. There is a strong indication that principals and deputy principals desire this move but some responses express a certain degree of inconsistency which shows that the implications behind the transformational model are not well and truly understood by the participants of this survey. The implications of the findings for today's and tomorrow's principalship were discussed.

The agency or personal involvement of the principal within a school is perceived as being of vital importance to the success of innovations. Leadership is necessary, not only to manage the escalating changes in academia, but more importantly to inspire, protect and encourage educators. One of the current trends in education is the move towards self-management which is a decentralization of power control from the state to the school. Selfmanagement implies choice and this enables the principal to validate the opinions and ideas of everyone who is involved in the process of school governance. The success or failure of an innovation usually depends on the support of the stakeholders. Change can be stressful, and unless the principal is part of the process, the implementation may not be successful. The context of this study is an independent primary school which has recently undergone many changes, most of which appear to have been initiated and managed by the principal. Independent schools have more autonomy than public schools as they are usually self-funded. The principal is accountable not only to the Board of Governors, but also to the parent body which generally has high expectations of the school. This study investigates the impact of the principal’s agency on the development of a multi-media centre at the school. The extent of his involvement within the school and his leadership style was first established and then the implementation of a new innovation, that of the media centre, was explored. Case study methodology based on semi-structured interviews with selected participants from within the school was employed. These participants represented different perspectives on the principal’s leadership and management of the media centre. In addition, documents and photographs were analysed for triangulation purposes. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

This study explores how women in management are perceived especially in a Kwa-Dukuza Lower Tugela primary school (with the pseudonym, Mbonisweni). Mhonisweni is situated 5 kilometers away from my school. I was motivated to conduct this study by the negative perceptions of women in management positions that I detected in my own school (with the pseudonym, Vela). Vela is a new primary school, which was established as a result of overcrowding at Siyathuthuka senior primary school, which was at first a combined primary school. I was interested to see if a similar situation pertained at Mbonisweni and to find out what might he the reasons for any negative perception of women managers. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with eight educators from Mbonisweni Primary, including the principal of the school, 4 management team members and the 4 educators (two females and two males). The study found that evidence of some negativity towards the school principal and in some cases such negativity was based on gender stereotyped attitudes. The situation was not, however, simple. Prior to conducting the research I had anticipated that there might be strong support from female HODs and educators for the female principal (manager) but this was not uniformly the case nor was it the case that all males in the study were opposed to the female manager. The situation was more complex. Three quarters of the males interviewed supported the female management although their support did not mean that male teachers were in necessarily in favour of gender equity more broadly nor did it preclude some men from expressing view that could be seen as sexist. While three quarters of the females interviewed also supported the female management it was clear that no encompassing bond of sisterhood exited by which women automatically supported the females in the school's management team. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Η παρούσα εργασία διερευνά τις επιμορφωτικές ανάγκες των διευθυντών Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης των σχολικών μονάδων της περιοχής Πατρών, όπως τις αντιλαμβάνονται και τις περιγράφουν οι ίδιοι. Η εργασία ξεκίνησε από το Φεβρουάριο του 2010 και ολοκληρώθηκε τον Ιούλιο του ίδιου έτους. Στην έρευνα πήραν μέρος 13 διευθυντές σχολικών μονάδων της Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης της περιοχής της Πάτρας. Για τη θεωρητική προσέγγιση του θέματος της έρευνας, χρησιμοποιήθηκε η θεωρία των κοινωνικών συστημάτων και ως ερευνητικό εργαλείο η ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη, την οποία ακολούθησε ποιοτική ανάλυση περιεχομένου. Μετά τον προσδιορισμό και την καταγραφή των προβλημάτων που αντιμετωπίζουν οι διευθυντές στο καθημερινό τους έργο, την καταγραφή των τρόπων αντιμετώπισής τους και των παραγόντων που επηρεάζουν την επίλυσή τους, προσπάθησα να προσδιορίσω τις προσωπικές τους ανάγκες για επιμόρφωση. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας, διαπιστώθηκε ότι οι συμμετέχοντες διευθυντές σχολικών μονάδων αντιμετωπίζουν πολλά προβλήματα στην καθημερινότητά τους, τα οποία επιλύουν κυρίως με την εμπειρία ή την άτυπη εκπαίδευση. Επιπλέον, παρά τα αυξημένα τυπικά προσόντα που διαθέτουν, εξέφρασαν μεγάλη ανάγκη επιμόρφωσης για τις εξής, κυρίως, θεματικές περιοχές, τις οποίες θεωρούν σύγχρονες, ενδιαφέρουσες και κρίσιμες ως προς την επίλυση των προβλημάτων τους και την καλύτερη άσκηση των καθημερινών καθηκόντων τους: Η διαχείριση συγκρούσεων, η παρακίνηση-παρώθηση των εκπαιδευτικών, η ηγεσία στη σχολική μονάδα και ο συνδυασμός της με την επαγγελματική εξέλιξη του διευθυντή και των εκπαιδευτικών, η εισαγωγή και εφαρμογή καινοτομιών και καινοτόμων προγραμμάτων, η εκπαιδευτική νομοθεσία, ο προγραμματισμός της σχολικής χρονιάς, η αξιολόγηση της προόδου της σχολικής μονάδας. Οι περισσότεροι διευθυντές προτιμούν η επιμόρφωση να ξεκινά πριν από την ανάληψη των καθηκόντων τους και να συνεχίζεται περιοδικά με απαλλαγή από τα καθήκοντά τους, ενώ επιθυμούν η επιμόρφωση να γίνεται σε ομάδες, με βιωματικές μεθόδους, από επιμορφωτές που εκτός από πιστοποιημένες επιστημονικές γνώσεις διαθέτουν και πείρα στην άσκηση του καθημερινού διοικητικού έργου. / This study investigates the educational needs of Primary School Principals in the city of Patras, as they are perceived and defined by the Principals themselves. The study was carried out from February to July 2010 and it involved a total of 13 Primary School Principals of the city of Patras. In order to investigate the above-mentioned subject, we applied the theory of social systems. As a research tool, I used the semi-structured interview. Qualitative content analysis has been used to analyse the data. After defining and recording the daily problems that Principals face in their work, the recording of the methods used to solve these problems and the detection of factors which affect the way these difficulties are dealt with, I tried to determine the Principals’ personal educational requirements. According to the results arising from the research, the Principles faced many problems which were solved using mainly their experience or informal education. In addition, despite the higher qualifications they have acquired, they indicated that it was essential that they attained further training and education in the following thematic areas which they considered modern, interesting and critical where decisions concerning problem solving and the efficient handling of their everyday tasks are concerned: management of conflicts, incentive-promotion of staff, leadership within the school and its connection to the professional advancement of the Principle and the staff, the introduction and application of ground-breaking methods and innovative projects, Educational Law, planning of the school year and the evaluation of the progress of the school. Most of the Principals prefer that their training and education should start before they begin their work as headmasters and that it should continue in a periodical way. Also they believe that while they are being trained, they should be relieved of their duties at the schools. They expect that their training will be based on empirical methods and that the personnel whose task will be to provide further education should have scientific knowledge on the subjects to be dealt with and be experienced in the practice of management.

Thesis (MTech (Education)-- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / The school principal as educational leader is the key person in the implementation of curriculum change in schools and plays a vital role in motivating staff members in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the school principal in regard to motivating educators during the implementation of new curricula. The principal's role as motivator is investigated in Chapter 2 on the basis of a number of motivation theories and techniques. Chapter 3 investigates the management function of the principal in regard to curriculum change. A questionnaire was devised on the grounds of the literature study and an empirical study (Chapter 4) was done with a group of primary school teachers and school principals employed by the Western Cape Education Department. From the literature review and empirical studies the following roles of the principal to motivate staff members, emerged: • Improvement of group morale • Empowerment of staff members • Delegating of tasks • Creating a positive school climate. The following tasks of the school principal are important during the implementation of curriculum change: • Creating a climate for change • Effective communication • The development of human potential. Curriculum change has a negative impact on the motivation and perception of teaching for many teachers. The findings of this study show that educators argue that the school principal should be the motivator of staff in this regard.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to contribute with knowledge about how elementary school principals interpret of the School Act chapter 2, section 36§, which states that students in primary school, primary special school, special school, Sami school, upper secondary school and upper secondary special school must have access to school libraries. It explores the school principals perceptions of how the school library contribute to the education structure of their school in general and how their interpretation of the law impacts how the library operation is designed. This study is based on semi-structured interviews with five primary school principals and two school librarians, four observations of school libraries and one survey. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Anthony Gidden's structuring theory, which is used to explain how the principals' interpretation space regarding the School Act 2, chapter 36§ affects their school library operation. The results show that the phrasing of the Education Act in Chapter 2, Section 36§ is interpreted differently by the primary school principals participating in this study. The different ways in which the law is interpretated also reflects in the design of the physical premises which were observed in the study. The results of this study show that primary school principals' interpretations of the School Act and their perceptions of the school library influence how school library operations are designed.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The National Department of Basic Education is aware that it is not succeeding in providing quality education for all school children. At present the performance of grade 3 and grade 6 learners, in both international and local assessment, is a matter for great concern. The results suggest that most learners lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. Learners’ performance in the National Senior Certificate Examinations is also far from what it should be. The way in which schools are managed largely determines the quality of education learners receive. As the managers of schools, therefore, principals are held responsible for the poor performance of learners during these annual systemic evaluations. The study aimed to investigate whether the school principals are aware of their powers and whether they perceive themselves as able to use their power to influence school practices positively and thus promote quality education. The study indicates that principals rely on a combination of positional and personal power sources to promote quality education. The study also indicates that principals are aware of their power but have a limited understanding of the concept of power. They also seem to lack the knowledge and understanding to exercise these powers effectively. Although they seem able to exercise considerable power in different situations, principals are reluctant to use their power. It seems that various external and internal factors influence their ability to use their power effectively. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming