Undertaken from a distributed leadership theory perspective, this qualitative study attempts to gain understanding regarding how heads of department develop educators within the organisational context of different schools and departments. A Based on existing literature, a detailed discussion is provided on what professional development is, the conditions needed for effective professional development, professional development strategies, distributed leadership theory and the functioning of heads of department and subject departments within the current policy framework for professional development in South African Schools. Two fee-paying and two non-fee-paying schools were selected and interviews were conducted with heads of department from single subject (unitary) and multi-subject (federal or confederate) departments in each school. The data was transcribed, coded, inductively analysed and related to the research question(s). A full description and analysis of the data is provided. The findings confirm that with change being demanded from above and from outside schools, it cannot be ignored that heads of department are a key link between principals and the teachers in their classrooms. This supports the view that heads of department have formal responsibilities and accountabilities and that they wield a horizontal and a vertical influence. Various recommendations are made to improve professional development practice by heads of department in particular and in the education system in general. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

Thesis advisor: Raquel Muñiz / Due to opportunity and achievement gaps in schools, leaders face the challenge of monitoring student expectations related to academic rigor and emotional health. As a result, social and emotional learning (SEL) has gained traction for students in the field of education. However, SEL competencies are rarely developed with the adults who work with these students. In this dissertation in practice, interviews, observations and questionnaires were used to collect data about the practices of school-based leaders in a qualitative case study at the elementary and middle school levels. Research revealed what leadership practices modeled SEL competencies, practices such as those involving time and resources, relationship building and sharing of expertise; and how they shaped the ways in which adults collaborate, including honest and authentic dialogue, adult learning, and the improvement of practices. This is important due to the many leadership practices employed in schools that influence adult behaviors. The findings suggest that socially and emotionally competent leadership considers both an awareness of self and other, as it cultivates individual capabilities, collaborative relationships, and a greater capacity in the schools in which it exists. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This study aimed to investigate and describe the School Management Team (SMT) members' understanding of their duties as stipulated in the Personnel Administration Measures (PAM, 1998). A qualitative research approach was used to investigate SMT members' understanding of their duties within school management teams. Principals of three purposively selected Secondary Schools, in the Sepitsi circuit of the Lebowakgomo District of the Limpopo Province of South Africa, acted as participants for this study, together with two purposively selected members of their school's SMT. Each participant was interviewed, using a semi-structured interview. The study was framed by a conceptual framework made up of concepts gleaned from distributed leadership theory, together with the core duties of SMT members as stipulated in the PAM (1998). The main findings of this study are that most principals still have a problem regarding the concept of working as a team and that although participants have access to the PAM document, many have not read it and therefore do not know what their roles on the SMT require. This causes conflict and disunity among SMT members, with a negative impact on leadership and management effectiveness. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

Syftet med vår uppsats är att söka svar på hur några skolledare och huvudmän arbetar med skolförbättring. Våra frågeställningar är; På vilka sätt ser huvudmän, skolledare och forskning på skolförbättring?På vilka sätt tar skolledare och huvudmän tillvara specialpedagogens kompetens gällande skolutveckling? Vår uppsats vilar på systemteori. I systemteori ligger fokus på helheten där det är delarna eller nivåerna i systemen som påverkar varandra ömsesidigt. Detta ömsesidiga beroendet är mycket viktiga aspekter där människor i ett socialt system tillsammans skapar helheten. I systemteorin finns en hierarkisk uppbyggnad där den högre nivån alltid är överordnad de lägre nivåerna. För att ett system ska fungera är det viktigt att det är tydligt och att gränserna mellan de olika nivåerna upprätthålls. Vi har valt att använda oss av kvalitativ metod då vi är ute efter att undersöka skolledares och huvudmäns uppfattningar om skolförbättring. Bryman (2015) menar att den kvalitativa intervjun passar när undersökningen riktas mot informantens uppfattning, vilket är syftet med vår uppsats. Som metodansats har vi valt att använda oss av hemneutik. Resultaten presenterar vi i teman som utgår från våra frågeställningar. Vi presenterar huvudmännen och rektorers resultat var för sig för att senare kunna jämföra dessa två kategorier. Det resultat vi funnit i vår uppsats är bekymmersamt utifrån vår yrkesroll. Om målet med skolförbättring är att förändra undervisningen anser vi att det hade varit gynnsamt om specialpedagogen i hög grad varit delaktig i det arbetet. I vår uppsats finner vi att huvudmän och rektorer strävar efter ett distribuerat ledarskap i skolförbättring och ofta är det förstelärare som blir delaktiga i detta ledarskap. / The purpose of our master thesis is to seek answers to how some school leaders and municipality work with school improvement. Our framing of question is: •In what way do principals, school leaders and research perceive at school improvement?•In what way do school leaders and municipality utilize the special educator’s competence regarding school improvement?Our thesis rests on systems theory. In systems theory, the focus is in the entirety where it is the parts or levels in the system that mutually affect each other. This mutual dependence is very important aspects where people in a social system together create the entirety. In system theory there is a hierarchical structure where the higher level always is superior to the lower levels. For a system to work, it is important that it´s clear and that the boundaries between the different levels are maintained. The parts also interact mutually. We have chosen to use qualitative data as we want to investigate school leaders and principal’s perceptions of school improvement. Bryman (2015) believes that the qualitative interview fits when the survey is aimed at the informant´s view, which is the purpose of our essay. As a method approach, we have chosen to use hermeneutics. We present the results in themes based om our issues. We present the school leaders and the municipality’s results separately for later comparison of these two categories. The result we found is our thesis is worrying based on our professional role. If the goal of school improvement is to change teaching, we think it would have been beneficial if the special educator had been more involved in that work because the special education has a formal competence to lead school improvement. In our thesis we find that municipality’s and school leaders strive for distributed leadership in school improvement and it is often the Swedish first teacher who participates in this leadership.

Thesis advisor: Patrick McQuillan / Urban school districts' educational leaders face what seem to be an endless number of challenges, such as closing the achievement gap, enhancing student performance, building teacher capacity, creating leadership opportunities, and adapting to a student population that is changing rapidly and increasingly made up of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds who are limited English speakers and/or English language learners. Through the lens of complexity theory, this three-year instrumental case study examined the leadership practices of two Lynch Leadership Academy Principal Fellows in relation to their leadership growth project that they determined would benefit from improvement and, as a result, would be implemented in their urban schools. Using principal and teachers’ interviews and observation fieldnotes of the professional learning communities meetings at the schools, this study chronicled the actions and behaviors of the principals and teachers through their interdependent and mutual relationships as they developed a theory of action and conducted their Leadership Growth Project, taking into account the concepts of complexity theory and the influence on the school community. The findings demonstrate that principals, through their leadership and relationships with their teachers and their engagement in professional learning community activities, complicated and disrupted the complacency, compliance, and comfort of the teachers. The formation of a theory of action, however, which was a way for the teachers and the principals to satisfy the needs of their urban school community in response to the challenges they faced, was sparked by such disruptions. Additionally, teachers had to reconsider how they interacted with their students as a result of their capacity for self-organization at the edge of chaos. A conclusion of this research is that in order to achieve successful professional learning outcomes and emergence through adapted change that incorporate the principal's leadership, teachers must be willing to communicate practice-related issues and to offer and accept constructive criticism in an environment of disequilibrium. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

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Teacher leaders are people who lead by example and, in this school, most are not afraid to speak up even if it is not politically correct. Teacher leaders are selfless people who are looking out for what is best for all, especially the students. They are risk takers. With the introduction of technology and accountability measures, education appears to have changed more in the first seventeen years of the 21st century then in the entire prior 100 years of our nation. The knowledge and skills required by school administrators has greatly expanded. To that end, it seems most appropriate that schools are lead not only by a principal, but also by the teachers. The collective knowledge of a group of professionals is stronger than the knowledge of one individual person. Teacher leadership appears as a natural concept to utilize in order to achieve successful school reform and to increase the use of technology as an instructional tool. This study focuses on the specific actions of building principals in public secondary schools which will cultivate and nurture the leadership potential in teachers. A qualitative study, this research involved a multi-case study approach and focused on three public secondary schools spanning two Pennsylvania counties. Ninety-four surveys were conducted of professional employees. Of those, three building principals and seven of their teachers were selected to be observed and interviewed. While teacher leadership requires active steps be taken by both teachers and principals, this research centered on what the principal needs to do in order to nurture teachers to be leaders within their schools. A culture of trust and collaboration is essential, as is a shared vision of where the school is headed. / Educational Administration