During the colonial and apartheid eras, higher education played an historically strategic role in shaping South African society. As higher education continues to play a significant role as an agent of the state in shaping the social transformation process toward a new democracy, the leadership of higher education in the form of university Vice-Chancellors, continue to play a critical role in this process. The new democratic government policy relating to education reform and institutional restructuring highlights the social accountability of institutions and emphasizes transformation. In political and social spheres, transformation has become a rhetorical term for all change and democracy. Transformation has emerged as the mantra of all change in preference to the term reform. Understanding the phenomena of transformation and the role of leadership in higher education is critical to understanding higher educations' future role in the national, social change process. This study applies phenomenological phenomenographic methodology and in-depth interviews to explore the conceptions of the Vice-Chancellors of Historically Black Universities in South Africa. The research focuses on the phenomena of transformation, leadership and social change. The assumption is that synergistically, Vice-Chancellors' tacit conceptions will frame an African notion of Transformative Leadership in higher education. The research findings are that although Vice-Chancellors shared an interesting and diverse range of conceptions of leadership and transformation, the conceptions were not sufficiently congruent to define a singular, homogeneous African mode of Transformative Leadership. A further finding was that although higher education is conceptually located within a process of social transformation, the research proceeded from a skewed assumption that the common mode of leadership of transformation would be transformational. Lastly, it emerged that conceptions of a single, explicit mode of African leadership was not possible, or desirable to define. The role of VC in HBU's is enormously complex and challenging and the new Ministry may need to re-conceptualize the role and function of the Vice-chancellor in Higher Education in South Africa.

This dissertation reports a study of the experience of disability of one student identified as having a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), his parents, teachers, and other educational personnel at the private, boarding school he attends. This qualitative, phenomenologically-based interview study examines the narratives of each of the participants to explore the construction of disability that each has developed and to present a picture of the multiplicity of perspectives that coexist and interact in this student's daily life. This study used in-depth phenomenological interviewing as its primary approach to qualitative research and supplemented that with more traditional, qualitative interviewing techniques. In-depth interviews were conducted with the study's primary participants: the student and his parents. Three 90-minute interviews were conducted with each of these participants, focusing on their stories of the student's disability. The audiotaped interviews, transcripts of those interviews, and my notes during the interview process became the raw data for this study. From these data, profiles and portraits of the central participant were developed by selecting data from the transcript of each participant's interview. Data was selected and coded according to its relevance to the construct of disability and portraits were crafted from the selected data. The completed portraits are presented in the participant's original words and are arranged, with my interpretive remarks, in chapters that reference the participants' relationships with the student participant. Two concepts, locus of disability and identifying features of disability were used to compare and contrast the stories of participants in this study. The findings of this study suggest that the construction of disability among a student, his parents, teachers, and other school personnel is multiple and heterogeneous in nature. The extent to which those constructions were idiosyncratic and dependent upon personal relationships with the student participant is a central finding of this study. Implications for educational administration are discussed.

Although there is compelling evidence in the literature to suggest that implementing democratic practices in schools teaches young learners the values of respect and responsibility, the majority of teachers continue to use authoritarian discipline approaches. In a society where significant value is placed on democratic principles, it is relevant and important to investigate democratic discipline approaches. The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive description of the current practices of democratic discipline and specifically to describe the reasons why schools adopt a democratic discipline approach, to describe the dynamics in successful implementation, and to examine the effects of student participation in democratic discipline on the actual behavior of students in the classroom setting. The research design for this study was exploratory case study that was intended to become interpretive case study given sufficient corroborating data. A multiple-case design was used to gather data from five sites. Four data collection methods were used: interviews (personal and focus groups), direct observation, document analysis, and a student attitude survey. A question-and-answer format was used to report the data within each case study and cross-case comparisons were made. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that implementing democratic discipline on a school-wide basis improved student behavior, encouraged young learners to become more autonomous, and prepared teachers and administrators to more effectively deal with discipline issues that, in turn, helped reduce their level of stress. The analysis of the quantitative data suggested that a considerable number of students felt they possessed a high level of respect and responsibility in the classroom and throughout the school as a result of their school's use of a democratic discipline approach. Results supported the implementation of democratic discipline as an effective approach to classroom management.

This study was an inquiry into professional school community. PSC is a term that was created to describe a potentially significant paradigm shift for teachers and principals and the relationships they create in their working climate. It is not a simple innovational change brought on by specific actions or interventions, nor is it a formal element of any known common reform package linked to sweeping changes in public education. It is what some would refer to as a transformational practice (Henderson & Hawthorn, 1995, 2000; Henderson & Kesson, 1999) that offers a restructured anatomy in public schooling, specifically proposing an enhancement of interdependent and collaborative relationships between and among school personnel in any given school community. This ethnographic inquiry explored the relationships that formed between a group of teachers and a principal and the individual and group conceptualizations of community that evolved between these participants over time. This study revealed that the conceptualizations of community existing among and between teachers and a principal, and the changes that can occur over time, are both social and collaboratively created. This study offered more coherent understandings about the roles these conceptualizations play in creating a school community cemented on the ideals of collaboration and collective action. This inquiry employed both Westheimer's (1998) features of community and a voice analysis provided by Bailey (1993) as a means or orienting the research analysis contained within this study. It examined carefully the dynamic relationships created among people in a school and the means by which these people began to define, in an interdependent and collaborative manner, in the midst of tension and conflict, a school's mission, it's curriculum focus, and a series of common understandings about the teaching practices that would be employed at the school. Many of Westheimer's features were clearly supported in this research. However, this researcher, as a means of understanding the participants' beliefs regarding how community is created, identified an additional feature. The notion of voice was particularly important to this research, as it was demonstrated how people's voices influence the two principal conceptualizations of community that were ultimately created by the participants in this study.

The Chinese government made a strategic resolution in 1995 to accelerate scientific and technological progress to spur the country's economic and social development. This resolution has been reinforced ever since. Its impact on the mission of Chinese universities is broad and wide-ranging. It raises major issues related to the balance between the two primary functions of faculty: research and teaching. It aggravates the tension already stimulated by conflicting values regarding how faculty spend their time and which activities they engage in should be rewarded. The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the extent to which the Chinese academic community really values research and teaching. Related to this goal, the major purposes are to identify the general trend of the research agenda in relation to the teaching agenda in Chinese universities; and to examine the relative importance of research and undergraduate teaching as perceived by the faculty, academic unit heads, deans, and central administrators in Beijing University. The study consists of two parts. First, a historical study reviewed government documents, policies, statistic reports, and institutional records. Second, a survey was conducted in Beijing University on the perceived relative importance of research and undergraduate teaching. The survey results were analyzed and compared to the results of the national study of research universities in the United States conducted by Syracuse University. The historical research method provided a general portrait of the research agenda in relation to the teaching agenda in Chinese higher education institutions. The study found that teaching is declining to a subordinate position to research. The survey results reveal that the academics at Beijing University think that there should be an appropriate balance between research and undergraduate teaching, but in reality, such an ideal balance does not exist in their university. Instead, there is a clear tendency in the university culture that emphasizes research over teaching. In comparison with the Syracuse study results, this research-oriented trend in Beijing University has not developed as far as the American research universities, but the study clearly indicated that the university is moving further in this direction.

This case study illustrates how agency bureaucrats within the Connecticut State Department of Education played a prominent role in crafting a comprehensive education policy agenda, launched by the Education Enhancement Act of 1986. This was an example of bureaucratically-driven state education reform in which leadership, a clearly articulated policy agenda, and a policy making model embedded in the notion of ideas and persuasion were instrumental in establishing, implementing, and sustaining that policy agenda over time. It is out of this case study that a theory of bureaucratic entrepreneurship emerges—that is, when non-elected public managers and professional staff devise successful strategies to persuade legislators and other constituency groups to accept their policy agenda, develop and sustain policy innovations over time, and devise policy instruments that rely on inducements and capacity-building to leverage changes in educational practice at the local school district level. This case study examines bureaucratic entrepreneurship within two contexts. First, a comparison of two state-level education reform attempts is made: the first a successful bureaucratically-driven policy initiative culminating in the Education Enhancement Act (EEA) of 1986 and the second being a largely unsuccessful reform effort launched by the business community in the early 1990s through the Commission on Educational Excellence in Connecticut (CEEC). Second, the development and evolution of Connecticut’s teacher standards initiatives, an outgrowth of the EEA of 1986, is examined to illustrate the prominent features of bureaucratic entrepreneurship, including the exercise of leadership, opportunistic behavior in the face of rapidly changing environmental circumstances, and engagement in “creative subversion” and risk-taking in order to pursue innovative research and development. This study concludes that (1) successful bureaucratically-driven education reform requires strong leadership and technical capacity, (2) bureaucratic entrepreneurship is critical to sustaining policy innovation over time, (3) bureaucratic entrepreneurs can be “grown” by creating a climate within an organization conducive to innovation, learning and group problem-solving and fostering conditions for “team entrepreneurship,” that is, when a collection of individuals combine their efforts to produce innovations, and (4) there is a strong role to be played by state departments of education in shaping educational public policy.

The purpose of this research was to determine what secondary school principals across the United States know about public school law as it relates to student rights and teacher rights and liabilities. The research further attempted to determine how often principals are legally threatened and sued, to what degree they are adjusting their behaviors in response, and how they both obtain and disseminate legal information. Simple statistics, analysis of variance, and correlations were used to determine how variables were related and, specifically, how each may influence legal knowledge. Using the National Association of Secondary School Principals' database, 493 principals representing all but two states responded to the 57-question, Principals' Education Law Survey. It was determined that law knowledge was less than the 70% proficiency target with an aggregate score of 58.71% correct, and subtest scores of 65.27% on the student rights section and 56.60% correct on the teacher rights and liabilities section. There were significant effects of gender, school type, school size, school population, time spent preparing for legal challenges, public versus private, educational level, law training, sources of legal knowledge, and law training rank on legal knowledge. Principals disseminate information, regularly provide legal advice to their staff, and feel there is a need for more training in the areas of special education, limited English proficiency education, and student due process and discipline. Eighty-five percent of participants would change their behaviors if they knew more about public school law. These results suggest that principals know more about public school law than teachers, but knowledge is still inadequate. As a result, principals are changing behaviors based on missing information and misinformation. However, highly rated training and job embedded practice positively impacts legal knowledge. In response, principals must assume the role of school law leader with systematic support from state departments of education, schools of education, and professional organizations. A fundamental pre-service training program, combined with regular on-going training and easy to use resources can help the school leader share legal knowledge with school staff, thereby building organizational law literacy in order to support preventive law practice within the schoolhouse.

This dissertation examines the attitudes and career plans of college-age Latino/a students in order to determine the best next steps for educator preparation programs as they seek to recruit, prepare, support, and retain teachers of color, specifically Latino/a teachers, for the K-12 public school system. A review of the literature regarding the recruitment of teachers of color informed this research. The components of recruitment programs were examined in terms of how they addressed the individual and the career of teaching. The effectiveness of these recruitment models is not completely clear, and many have not been proven to have long term success. However, there are a few promising models worthy of serious study. This research utilized data obtained from interviewing college-age Latino/a students who were making decisions about career choices. Data from student participants validated much of what is thought to be known about the challenges of teacher recruitment. For example, there is a continued perception that teacher salaries are relatively low and are not competitive with many other professions, the status and prestige of the teaching profession is low, and the often inadequate working conditions for teachers can dissuade students of color from pursuing careers as teachers. Also, minority student access to higher education continues to remain a problem. Access issues need to be addressed during the formative (K-12) years in order to fill the pipeline more fully. The findings also suggest that problems associated with recruitment models are systemic in nature. Challenges range from long-term commitment toward valuing diversity and program development to sustainability of programs via regular and reliable funding sources. Conclusions include specific recommendations that provide hope for future success. In order to help diversify the teaching force, educator preparation programs should consider the following recommendations: market the field of education; develop active recruitment processes; diversify college faculty and staff; develop sound mentoring and support systems on campuses; provide assistance with financial support; and increase collaboration with K-12 partners and policymakers. Each of these recommendations should be institutionalized in order to be fully utilized and effective.

The main focus in this study is on teacher empowerment. This case study, involving interviews with twelve middle school teachers in a New England middle school, looks at teacher empowerment at two levels: micro and macro. At the micro level, teacher empowerment is conceptualized as investing in teachers the right to exercise professional judgment about the content of the curriculum and means of instruction, i.e. the right to make decisions on classroom-related issues on a daily basis. At the macro level, teacher empowerment is conceptualized as investing in teachers the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies. This study is an attempt to explore how the philosophy and approach a school adopts impacts teacher empowerment. The study seeks to provide administrators and educators some insights into the extent to which teachers in a school that has adopted a progressive educational philosophy and approach feel empowered.

The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine how presidential leadership teams function in three all-women's liberal arts colleges dealing with a financial crisis situation. Higher education faces numerous challenges and there is pressure to have strong administrators with skills and strategies and administrative practices to battle these complex realities. Strong presidential leadership is critical to help solve the economic problems facing many colleges and universities, and a team leadership approach is a particular style of leadership that can be used to counteract these problems. A multiple case study design, which included cross analysis of information gathered through open-ended interviews, observations, and written documents, was conducted. Microscopic analysis, open and axial coding, and a coding scheme were used to help identify and clarify themes. The findings are consistent with the research literature on team leadership in higher education. As "real" teams, each College President utilized all three functions (i.e., utilitarian, expressive, cognitive) concurrently, which influenced the effectiveness of the teams and their ability to make valid and rationale decisions during their financial crisis situation. The level of effectiveness, however, varied along a continuum ranging from effective to ineffective within each functional area. Other factors that contributed to the effectiveness of the team leadership style were the team member's and president's perspectives of their roles individually and collectively. In addition, the women's college context, the institutional size and non-hierarchical environment, and the President's relationship with the faculty all were considered influential in the effectiveness of the team's functions. These findings emphasize the benefits of implementing a team leadership approach. This leadership style facilitates sharing information and working collaboratively; a supportive community; viewing problems from multiple perspectives; and, encourages strong faculty involvement in the decision-making process. Decisions made by a team can be more effective than a decision made by one person.