Non-government schools in Queensland must be accredited by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board established by the Queensland Government under the Education(Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 in order to operate the school.In 2005, there were 457 non-government schools registered in Queensland with the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005). The enrolment of 207,859 students constituted approximately 30 per cent of student enrolments in the State. Government funding to non-government schools is substantial (general recurrent funding of $303 million was provided by the Queensland government in 2002) (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005).The accreditation criteria set out in the Act are: the school’s administration and governance arrangements; the school’s financial viability; the school’s educational program and student welfare processes; the school’s resources; and the school’s improvement processes. The Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2001 provides further details on the requirements of the accreditation for all criteria, except for governance and administration criterion. This is the major gap addressed by this research.The methodology for doing so was:• a theoretical framework for effective corporate governance developed from the relevant literature• case studies of six non-government schools with a range of ownership/governance models to identify their current governance policies and practices and to compare them with the theoretical framework to assess their effectiveness• a suite of policies and procedures based on the theoretical framework and “standout” practice from the six case study schools that would provide an effective corporate governance practice for non-government schools.The potential clients of this research are:• The Office of Non-State Education• Independent Schools Queensland (“ISQ”)• Auspicing denomination or other ownership group of schools, their governing bodies and the auditors of non-government schools; including, but not only, the case study schools• Newly accredited schools wishing to start well. Of particular interest to the researcher is Warwick Christian College Limited, a newly accredited school of which the researcher is a Board member. The Board of the school has agreed to embark on a policy development process which is consistent with the findings of this research.A suite of recommended policies and procedures that non-government schools could adopt in order to comply with the administration and governance criteria of the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 was developed from the theoretical framework and the “standout” practices, policies and procedures from the case study schools.

The main purpose of the study was to ascertain the perceived attitude of system administrators, school board lay members and teachers in promotion positions to the degree of school autonomy to be developed as a means for controlling significant areas of governance in A.C.T. secondary schools. Sub-problems related to the main problem were: 1. What are the perceptions of the system administrators, school board lay members, and teachers in promotion positions regarding - (a) the preferred distribution of control to be exercised by each group? (b) the perceived attitude of each group of the two other groups perceptions of the preferred distribution of control? 2. What are the areas of governance in A.C.T. secondary schools, where opinions of the three groups indicate conditions of latent, perceived, and felt-manifest conflict existing between any two of the groups involved? 3. What areas of governance have the highest level of perceived concern as indicated for all respondents and each group separately? 4. Is there any relationship between the degree of perceived professional orientation of promotional teachers and, (a) the amount of school teaching staff control desired, (b) the level of concern, (d) the number of conflicts perceived? Data were collected with a two-part questionnaire. The first part was designed to study policy formulation and was administered to 237 potential respondents. The second part was modified from Corwin's (1970:370) professional orientation instrument and was administered to 175 potential respondents. Control graphs were used to present the distribution of control that was preferred by each group, for each of the twenty-four areas of governance. Balance of control graphs were used to present the relative location on the total control spectrum of firstly the three groups of desired distribution of control and secondly how each group perceived variations in the distribution of control between the three groups. Criteria was established to enable an analysis of conflict conditions in terms of latent, perceived and false-manifest conflict. The degree of concern, over disagreement in each area of governance, was ascertained by using a five point "Likert" scale. An analysis of the data indicated that all groups desired a shift in the balance of control from the previous administrative dominance-primacy position. However, there was a significant difference between the three groups perception of where the new balance should be established. In particular, teachers in promotion positions were loath to conceed very much control to the newly established school boards. The apparent extent and nature of the conflict varied among the groups. In terms of latent conflict, five cases were identified relating to teachers, four cases were identified relating to system administrators, and three cases were identified relating to school boards. In terms of perceived conflict, three cases were identified relating to teachers, two cases were identified relating to school boards, and no perceived conflicts were identified in the case of system administrators. In terms of felt conflict, thirteen cases were identified relating to school boards, nine cases were identified relating to system administrators, and seven cases were identified relating to teachers. In the terms of possible felt-manifest conflict, eight cases were identified relating to school boards, six cases were identified relating to system administrators and four cases were identified relating to teachers. The areas of governance concerned with staffing were prominent in many of the conflict situations identified. The areas of governance indicating the highest level of concern were directly related to the areas identified as having possible felt-manifest conflict. The principle area of concern was the appointment of promotion teachers to individual schools. The study did show a high correlation between a high level of professional orientation and a desire for increased school teaching staff dominance-primacy. This indicated some consultations were acceptable by professional orientated teachers although ultimate policy formulation should stay with the school teaching staff. The significance of this finding, while lending some support to the open professional model developed as an ideal in the study, seemed to be counteracted by the limited role perceived for school boards by teachers involved in the study. This result tended to imply that the shift in the balance of * control as far as teachers were concerned, should be towards a closed professional model rather than towards an open professional model argued for as the ideal model for teacher professional development.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Australia in structures which allow community participation in the governance of schools. The introduction of a new Education Authority in the Australian Capital Territory, beginning in 1974, brought with it a substantial commitment to such structures as school boards, a relatively new phenomenon in Australian school systems. However, there has been substantial experience of lay or community participation in governing bodies of post-secondary institutions in Australia. This study examines both the general experience of lay participation in such governing bodies and the specific experience of lay members of the governing bodies of three institutions in the Australian Capital Territory, the Australian National University, the Canberra College of Advanced Education and the Canberra College of Technical and Further Education. The principal collection of data was from structured interviews with lay or community members of the councils of these three institutions, designed to produce a picture of their attitudes towards participation in governance. It was found that lay members are most commonly "middleaged, middle-class, males", although women are more frequently found in college councils. Lay members believe that they are chosen because of their successful backgrounds, their administrative skills, and their ability to reflect general community values. They do not believe they are constrained in their participation by specific community interests. They act as independent critical, individuals. Some areas of difficulty were identified, particularly the problem of finding sufficient time to learn thoroughly the nature of complex institutions, and to participate on an equal footing with staff members of councils. It is asserted that the assumptions underlying lay participation remain broadly unquestioned, even at a time of significant change in the wide process of planning and control of post-secondary education. The relevance of this to the innovations in the A.C.T. school system is suggested.

For many years the traditional point of view about principals was that they were the so-called teachers in a leadership role. They took the lead with the teaching of the curriculum and they had to be responsible for controlling the whole educational process. With the changes over the past few years, not only over the entire globe, but also specifically here in South Africa, the role of the principal has also changed. In terms of the new Schools Act and changing education legislation, the principal has many more responsibilities being a representative of the department at the school and a member of the school’s governing body. Human resource management is one of the most important aspects of school management. The purpose of this research is to determine which educational juridical determinants play a role in human resource management at schools. To succeed in the purpose of this research it is firstly determined which statutory common-law and judicial determinants are applicable and secondly the determinants’ implications for human resource management in education are emphasized. Subsequently a literature study was done about the work environment of the principal in the management of human resources at a school. The specific areas of human resource management at a school and the related role of the principal formed an essential pall of the research. After a questionnaire had been sent to a sample of principals and their responses had been statistically analysed, it was possible to deduce findings and compile recommendations. The general impression that came to the fore from the responses was that school principals experience a critical lack of competence as managers of human resources. This is possibly caused by a shortage of proper empowerment in the basic elements of human resource management as well as in the aspects of policy as determined by the Department of Education. The conclusion can justly be made that it will not only presently, but also in the future be absolutely necessary to pay formal attention to this important aspect. The training of teachers must without doubt include elements of human resource management as well as related educational legislation. When the preceding requirements are met and when the Department of Education continuously present empowerment workshops on this crucial subject, it will definitely lead to more effective and purposive management of schools. Furthermore it will also probably lessen the pressure on principals that will lead to a more stable management environment. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

The theme of this thesis is the involvement of employees from business/industry in the governance of state schools in England and Wales. Following a conceptual analysis and the identification of imprecision in the relevant legislation, the research was designed in two phases. The Phase 1 survey examined the extent of that involvement in 1994 and built up a profile of employee-governors, including their personal and company characteristics. A questionnaire was used to gather descriptive and enumerative data from the school governors employed by twelve national companies, with further qualitative data amassed through some open questions on the questionnaire a,!d from semi-structured interviews of company managers. From 1995 to 1997, Phase 2 assessed the purposes, functions and skills of governors from this sector, through a quasi-experimental design which gathered pre-test and post-test data from thirty-five co-opted business/industrial governors, their headteachers and their chairs of governors. A Likert-type scaling instrument and focus group discussions were used. The main findings from the 1994 survey were that there were few governors from business and industry and even fewer were in governance to represent that sector of the community; most were parent governors. These governors and their company managers felt, however, that there were appreciable benefits to be gained from company employees being school governors. Phase 2 showed that the sample of specifically co-opted business/industrial governors adopted the distinctive purposes of objectivity and non-executive judgement, and brought generic management skills to governance through their company experience at a strategic level. These skills were especially appreciated in inner city schools. The research was the first study of governors from across business and industry and advanced the first model of practice related to purpose for governors from this sector of the community. Aspects of this model have been used to inform the Labour Government's policy for recruiting business/industrial governors for inner city schools.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis builds on and contributes to work on the strategic role of educational leaders, and particularly public primary school principals. Although some in the field (Bell, 2002; Forde, Hobby, & Lees, 2000; Kelly, 2005) have questioned the utility of strategy as a concept, particularly with its ties to economics, marketing and capitalist ventures, there has not been an explicit research focus of what strategy means in educational leadership. As such, this thesis provides additional insight by taking stock, assessing and integrating the existing body of literature on strategic leadership and management in schools and by going beyond what is already known and setting forth new frameworks, perspectives and researchable questions. The analytical focus on the strategic role, and not merely strategic management or strategic leadership enables another contribution. Multiple modes of inquiry were used in constructing the arguments of this work. Through a theoretical and methodological analysis of the discourse on the strategic role in 18 prominent educational leadership journals over a 27 year period (1980-2007), a model for the strategic role was developed. This model was tested on a sample of public primary school principals in the Hunter / Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The results of this questionnaire based study prompted further inquiry as to what the ‘strategic role’ means to practitioners. A framework was developed from the transcribed texts of interviews with principals. Many similarities existed in this framework and the literature derived model, however the framework developed from practitioner responses gave greater attention to the social forces that act upon the strategic role, supporting the criticism directed at the utility of the narrow view of strategy as planning to the educational context. Theoretically informed by the work of Michel Foucault, a proposed alternate lens for the analysis of the strategic role of school leaders is presented, showing that as a result of increased participation in school governance and accountability regimes, principal actions are constantly under surveillance. While not being the first to bring Foucault into the educational leadership discourse, the proposal of the strategic role within a social space is something that has been missing from the discussion on the strategic role within the field. The Foucauldian frame sheds need insight into the strategic role of the public primary school principal and highlights the significance of the role within the field of educational leadership. Overall, this thesis is intended to provide a new platform for theory and research on the strategic role of school leaders. As with Anderson and Grinberg (1998), this thesis argues for Foucault’s concept of disciplinary practices as a metaphor for the field of educational leadership. It is argued that by positioning the strategic role within the broader social space, further inquiry can help provide a fundamental understanding of how and why educational institutions behave the way they do.

Non-government schools in Queensland must be accredited by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board established by the Queensland Government under the Education(Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 in order to operate the school.In 2005, there were 457 non-government schools registered in Queensland with the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005). The enrolment of 207,859 students constituted approximately 30 per cent of student enrolments in the State. Government funding to non-government schools is substantial (general recurrent funding of $303 million was provided by the Queensland government in 2002) (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005).The accreditation criteria set out in the Act are: the school’s administration and governance arrangements; the school’s financial viability; the school’s educational program and student welfare processes; the school’s resources; and the school’s improvement processes. The Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2001 provides further details on the requirements of the accreditation for all criteria, except for governance and administration criterion. This is the major gap addressed by this research.The methodology for doing so was:• a theoretical framework for effective corporate governance developed from the relevant literature• case studies of six non-government schools with a range of ownership/governance models to identify their current governance policies and practices and to compare them with the theoretical framework to assess their effectiveness• a suite of policies and procedures based on the theoretical framework and “standout” practice from the six case study schools that would provide an effective corporate governance practice for non-government schools.The potential clients of this research are:• The Office of Non-State Education• Independent Schools Queensland (“ISQ”)• Auspicing denomination or other ownership group of schools, their governing bodies and the auditors of non-government schools; including, but not only, the case study schools• Newly accredited schools wishing to start well. Of particular interest to the researcher is Warwick Christian College Limited, a newly accredited school of which the researcher is a Board member. The Board of the school has agreed to embark on a policy development process which is consistent with the findings of this research.A suite of recommended policies and procedures that non-government schools could adopt in order to comply with the administration and governance criteria of the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 was developed from the theoretical framework and the “standout” practices, policies and procedures from the case study schools.

Non-government schools in Queensland must be accredited by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board established by the Queensland Government under the Education(Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 in order to operate the school.In 2005, there were 457 non-government schools registered in Queensland with the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005). The enrolment of 207,859 students constituted approximately 30 per cent of student enrolments in the State. Government funding to non-government schools is substantial (general recurrent funding of $303 million was provided by the Queensland government in 2002) (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board 2005).The accreditation criteria set out in the Act are: the school’s administration and governance arrangements; the school’s financial viability; the school’s educational program and student welfare processes; the school’s resources; and the school’s improvement processes. The Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2001 provides further details on the requirements of the accreditation for all criteria, except for governance and administration criterion. This is the major gap addressed by this research.The methodology for doing so was:• a theoretical framework for effective corporate governance developed from the relevant literature• case studies of six non-government schools with a range of ownership/governance models to identify their current governance policies and practices and to compare them with the theoretical framework to assess their effectiveness• a suite of policies and procedures based on the theoretical framework and “standout” practice from the six case study schools that would provide an effective corporate governance practice for non-government schools.The potential clients of this research are:• The Office of Non-State Education• Independent Schools Queensland (“ISQ”)• Auspicing denomination or other ownership group of schools, their governing bodies and the auditors of non-government schools; including, but not only, the case study schools• Newly accredited schools wishing to start well. Of particular interest to the researcher is Warwick Christian College Limited, a newly accredited school of which the researcher is a Board member. The Board of the school has agreed to embark on a policy development process which is consistent with the findings of this research.A suite of recommended policies and procedures that non-government schools could adopt in order to comply with the administration and governance criteria of the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001 was developed from the theoretical framework and the “standout” practices, policies and procedures from the case study schools.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis builds on and contributes to work on the strategic role of educational leaders, and particularly public primary school principals. Although some in the field (Bell, 2002; Forde, Hobby, & Lees, 2000; Kelly, 2005) have questioned the utility of strategy as a concept, particularly with its ties to economics, marketing and capitalist ventures, there has not been an explicit research focus of what strategy means in educational leadership. As such, this thesis provides additional insight by taking stock, assessing and integrating the existing body of literature on strategic leadership and management in schools and by going beyond what is already known and setting forth new frameworks, perspectives and researchable questions. The analytical focus on the strategic role, and not merely strategic management or strategic leadership enables another contribution. Multiple modes of inquiry were used in constructing the arguments of this work. Through a theoretical and methodological analysis of the discourse on the strategic role in 18 prominent educational leadership journals over a 27 year period (1980-2007), a model for the strategic role was developed. This model was tested on a sample of public primary school principals in the Hunter / Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The results of this questionnaire based study prompted further inquiry as to what the ‘strategic role’ means to practitioners. A framework was developed from the transcribed texts of interviews with principals. Many similarities existed in this framework and the literature derived model, however the framework developed from practitioner responses gave greater attention to the social forces that act upon the strategic role, supporting the criticism directed at the utility of the narrow view of strategy as planning to the educational context. Theoretically informed by the work of Michel Foucault, a proposed alternate lens for the analysis of the strategic role of school leaders is presented, showing that as a result of increased participation in school governance and accountability regimes, principal actions are constantly under surveillance. While not being the first to bring Foucault into the educational leadership discourse, the proposal of the strategic role within a social space is something that has been missing from the discussion on the strategic role within the field. The Foucauldian frame sheds need insight into the strategic role of the public primary school principal and highlights the significance of the role within the field of educational leadership. Overall, this thesis is intended to provide a new platform for theory and research on the strategic role of school leaders. As with Anderson and Grinberg (1998), this thesis argues for Foucault’s concept of disciplinary practices as a metaphor for the field of educational leadership. It is argued that by positioning the strategic role within the broader social space, further inquiry can help provide a fundamental understanding of how and why educational institutions behave the way they do.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study was initiated while the researcher was still an educator at' a secondary school in Cape' Town, South Africa. This was the period of the mid-1990s soon after the first democratically elected government assumed power in -South Africa: During this period of transition, large-scale reforms were expected on', the, education- front. Educational management and specifically school management were an integral part of these reforms. In terms of school management the idea of parents taking. on a greater .role was receiving wide support. School governing bodies (SGBs) comprising various constituencies and with greater powers were supposed to be the instrument spearheading change III school management. . This study traverses three levels of policy development: national, provincial and local (that is, school). It seeks to understand how school governance policy is developed and implemented using the principle of contestation to guide the analysis. The following questions guided the research: What were the contestations which led to the development of school governance policy at national level. How was provincial school governance policy developed from national policy and what were the areas of contention between the two. What were the contestations resulting from implementation of school governance policy at the school level. At all three levels the discussion of the contestations was limited to the powers and functions of SGBs. By shedding more light on the above questions, it was hoped that the nature of policy contestation would become clearer. This in turn could enhance the study of policy analysis and development.