The purpose of this study was to identify the ways government schools in the Kimberley Education District of Western Australia attempted to engender success for their students. Schools in these communities are considered to be in poverty, they are largely populated by indigenous Australians, and situated in geographically isolated locations. It was important to establish the levels of student academic achievement and identify best school and classroom practices that centred on developing students' progress and achievement at school. The study was guided by the general research question: What are the effective ways school communities in the Kimberley work to improve student outcomes? Generating descriptions of best practices that make a geographical isolated school successful for students marginalised in the schooling process, and upon what criteria the success should be measured, were central to this research endeavour. It was critical to distinguish those dimensions of schooling in isolated areas that were malleable in improving the life chances of students. The study relied on an interpretive research methodology using both qualitative data and quantitative approaches to data collection, such as inquiry through conversations, informal and structured interviews, participant and non-participant observations, and the examination of material such as documents and students' work samples, complemented by a confirmatory survey and case studies. Participants in the study included school administration teams, teachers, students and their parents. The study was iterative and followed three distinct phases of development. In the first phase a general picture was gained about the ways in which schools in the Kimberley worked by observing four schools. / The second phase involved developing and administering a study-specific questionnaire to personnel in 14 different schools in the District. This part of the study sought to confirm the interpretive aspects of phase one. In the third phase of the study, a more detailed picture of schools was drawn through a case study approach in five selected schools. Of particular importance in the case study schools was the tracking of a purposive sample of 150 students to assess their reading and writing (including spelling) progress. The results of the student assessments were analysed in terms of the progress students made and interpreted according to the amount of time students attended school. Making judgments about the success of Kimberley schools was an evaluation process in terms of how students performed. The students' performance was linked to the best practices in schools and classrooms that best supported students' learning to ascertain areas where schools could improve their operations. The study has identified challenges associated with school-home relationships, the ways schools and classrooms operate, the ways school plan and implement curriculum, how teachers develop their pedagogies, and the ways students are assessed. In response to teachers who do not fully understand these challenges, many Aboriginal children will choose to continue avoiding school or actively resist engaging in the learning process. / Importantly, at the school level it was found that teachers were best supported in their work when school leaders worked to make everyone's day-to-day classroom work easier, engendered a congenial workplace environment which alleviated some of the personal stresses teachers experienced, ensured school plans went into operation in all classrooms across the school, and created a close link between the school, parents, and the community. At the classroom level in the Kimberley context, calm, stable, and orderly classroom environments are essential to establish. Consistent pedagogy is required across all classrooms within a school but a variety of activities within classrooms is important to accommodate Aboriginal styles of learning. Monitoring the continuity in students' progress as they moved from one year level to the next is imperative. The study showed that there are ways that schools can work for the betterment of students' progress at school but these ways are not universally adopted or implemented. Teachers in the Kimberley schools can learn to understand how to create a good school, how schools can be described as effective and improving, and how they can be termed schools that meet equality and quality ideals. The recommendations made from the study are intended to enable administration teams, teachers, and policy decision makers to make more informed decisions about schooling for geographically isolated students in government schools in the Kimberley region.

Enrolment trends in non-Catholic, non-Government schools since 1962 show various interesting features. Overall the percentage of students enrolled in such schools today is about the same as it was in 1962, but this percentage has fluctuated in the intervening period. It contrasts notably with the trend in Catholic schools which is one of a sustained decline. Further analysis reveals that the number of boarders in non- Catholic, non-Government schools as a percentage of total enrolments in such schools has declined markedly, and during this decade has declined in absolute terms. This fall appears to relate to declining rural incomes and to rural-urban migration. The drop occurs despite the fact that increases in boarding fees are less than increases in tuition fees, the former relating closely to trends in the consumer price index, the latter to movements in the gross national product per capita. The masculinity level for All Schools and for non-Catholic, non-Government schools is about 1O5 in each case. However, in All Schools there has been a notable decline to reach this point, whereas in non-Catholic, non-Government schools there has been a steady increase in masculinity over the last fifteen years to arrive at the same point. Since 1962 Undenominational Schools have increased their enrolments at a considerably faster rate than have other religions. Presbyterian schools have lost ground, reflecting, perhaps, their interest in non metropolitan boarding schools, a sector which has been adversely affected in recent years, and also, perhaps, reflecting some inertia resulting from the impending union into the Uniting Church. In non-Catholic, non-Government schools a ratio of about 2:1 between secondary and primary enrolments seems common. Enrolments within these two sections seem to be affected by somewhat different factors, but a balance has been maintained at this level. Trends noted are not the result of particular variables but of a large number of interrelated factors. Relationships can be noted but not causality. Many interesting paths appear, often paths which cannot be followed in this field study. Nevertheless, there are various questions which beg further research. For example, why it is that New South Wales (including the Australian Capital Territory) with the highest per capita income of any state has the lowest percentage of school students attending non-Catholic, non-Government schools?

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This thesis analyses the impact of a headmaster upon a non-government school during the first years of his leadership. Theories of organizational change and leadership behaviour provide the theoretical framework for this investigation. The changes that were sought at Marist College, Pearce, have their origin in 1983 with the appointment of the fourth headmaster of that College. Prior to this time Marist College had developed a reputation for conservatism and strong leadership. The College had grown since its foundation into a comparatively large institution, both in terms of physical size, personnel and student enrolment. The new headmaster saw the need to review the goals of the College with the aim to better the pastoral care of the large student body. The result of this evaluation was the identification of a series of changes that would open the College to new approaches involving structural changes, devolution of authority and personalization of the College. The study identifies and documents the ideals hoped to be achieved by the headmaster. What were seen as ideals were not in ail cases practical. The difficulties and problems faced by him in the implementation of these changes are also examined. Headmasters' terms of office are limited resulting in new headmasters being appointed regularly. Each brings to that office his own style and ideals. The difficulties faced in the types of change analysed in this study may be common to organizations experiencing a change in leadership style.

This study researched three major areas of the school Principalship within the Australian Capital Territory government school system. The three major areas of research concern related to school Principalship were: 1. Changes in the role and responsibilities of the Principal 2. Skills Principals require to perform effectively within the role and responsibility. 3. How the education department may best facilitate and support effective performance of its Principals. An outline of the history of administrative and organisational restructuring within the A.C.T. government education system during the past two decades has been presented to provide the context of the study. A review of the literature also contributed to the contextual understanding of the study by examining specific issues and understandings within the literature. The specific issues and understandings related to: context and the role of the Principal concept of the role of the Principal instructional leadership and the role of the Principal administrative and organisational devolution and the role of the Principal The research methodology used to examine the issues central to this study is qualitative or descriptive in nature, reflecting a phenomenological perspective. The data was collected through personal interviews conducted with senior administrators of the A.C.T. government school system and written questionnaires completed by Principals of the A.C.T. government school system. The data comprises the perceptions, ideas and beliefs of the two defined groups targeted in the study. The analysis of responses presented the major findings regarding the perceptions, ideas and beliefs of the Principals and senior administrators of the A.C.T. government school system relating to the key research areas of this study. The major findings show that the role of the school Principal has changed, with Principals requiring a broader array of skills to effectively meet the challenges of the new role. The major findings discuss how the education department may best facilitate and support effective performance in the Principalship. The conclusions of the study discuss how changes to the role of the Principal have increased the Principal's workload, with Principals now required to utilise a broader scope of often new skills to effectively perform their changed role and responsibilities. The Principal respondents and senior administrator respondents suggest best ways that the education department may facilitate and support effective performance of the Principalship. It was also suggested that the amount of professional development and training was inadequate to facilitate the performance of effective Principalship. Respondents indicated that incentives such as sabbatical leave for Principals be facilitated by the education department to ensure Principals' professional renewal. Finally, the implications of the conclusions of the study address the ways in which the education department may best assist Principals to acquire the necessary new skills to effectively perform their changed role. The implications of the conclusions of the study also address the ways in which the education department may best facilitate and support Principals' professional renewal. The implications of the conclusions of the study state that the responsibility for Principals' professional development and renewal should be a shared responsibility between the school Principal and the education department.

This field study examines the acceptance of role behaviours by teacher librarians in A.C.T. government schools and what influences that acceptance. Acceptance of behaviours is measured by an instrument compiled and developed through factor analysis for this field study. The influences examined are a series of environmental (context) and personal (presage) variables. Data are gathered through survey and questionnaire. Hypotheses are tested initially with product moment correlations, and examined in more detail with partial correlations designed to control the influence of extraneous variables. The attitudes of teacher librarians to classroom teaching practices are also related to both acceptance of role behaviours and the presage and context variables. Results indicate that context variables are least important in influencing acceptance of role behaviours, while the education and library training of the teacher librarian are the most important of the presage variables examined. Teacher librarians are found to be particularly reluctant to accept leadership behaviours.

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This study examines teachers' perceptions of the work of School Counsellors within government schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Data were drawn from questionnaires returned by a representative sample of 279 teachers and principals, from 16 primary and 8 high schools. The purpose of the study was to: (i) partially replicate a study by Leach (1989) of Western Australian teachers' perceptions; and (ii) investigate whether or not teachers could be considered to be supportive of a general trend towards a broadening role for school psychologists which is evident in the literature. This trend suggests that practitioners of applied psychology in schools may prefer an expanded role which encompasses indirect service delivery in addition to the more traditional, child centred role. Respondents were asked to indicate their perceptions of the frequency of 65 tasks performed by School Counsellors, the competence with which those tasks were performed and the usefulness of those tasks. Also examined were perceptions of the process and quality of service delivery, and of actual and preferred qualifications and experience of School Counsellors. These results were compared with those of Leach (1989). Respondents were invited to prioritise service delivery in light of their professional needs. A factor analysis of respondents' perceptions of School Counsellors was undertaken. The results were similar to Leach's (1989) findings and indicated a general endorsement of the current work of School Counsellors, with traditional, direct service delivery tasks generally perceived as being performed more frequently and with more competence than the more innovative, indirect types of service delivery. There was a strong indication that respondents would like more of both types of service delivery, particularly indirect services, made possible through increased resourcing. Increases in respondents' classification level positively correlated with increased perceptions of task frequency and competence with which tasks were performed. A positive correlation was also found between the frequency of professional contact that respondents perceived they had with School Counsellors and their perceptions of the process and quality of service delivered by these practitioners. In relation to the process and quality of service delivery, few teachers perceived that School Counsellors communicated clearly about the services they offer, procedures used or results gained. This concern with communication was reinforced through examination of the factors underlying teachers' perceptions of both the frequency and usefulness of tasks. This study suggests that ACT teachers and principals are, to some extent, already experiencing and valuing some aspects of the trend in service delivery reflected in the literature. Discussion highlights the important role communication plays in indirect service delivery, and links it with the findings of this study, particularly as it relates to teachers' and administrators' apparent lack of knowledge of the qualifications and experience of School Counsellors.

Using 'policy studies' research the case study looks at how an organization of teaching brothers, the members of the Sydney Province of the Marist Brothers, reacted to influences which bore upon its organizational structure, its morale and its educational activities, particularly in schools. After establishing the relevance of policy research to educational administration and to this type of case study in particular the discussion by using various types of models moves to an analysis of the specific case study. This has to do with how a reduction in the number of teaching brothers in schools and also changing attitudes about its part in education was managed by the Sydney Province and how, why and what type of policy emerged in response to these factors. Generally this field study concerns itself in judging the adequacy of policy studies research in applications to educational administration.

The current study examined the conceptions of learning held by upper primary children in government schools in Brunei. Previous studies have shown that the conceptions of learning held by students influence the ways in which they approach learning tasks and, in turn, impact on their learning outcomes. However, the majority of these studies were carried out with university and secondary school students, with little research involving primary school children. A phenomenographic research approach was used to describe the qualitatively different ways in which a group of sixteen upper primary children experienced learning in two government schools in Brunei. Data were gathered using scenariobased semi]structured interviews. Iterative cycles of analysis revealed three categories of description depicting three qualitatively different ways in which the children experienced the phenomenon. The three categories of description were: learning as acquiring information (Category 1), learning as remembering information (Category 2) and learning as doing hands]on activities (Category 3). These categories indicate a variation in the ways in which upper primary children experience learning in government schools in Brunei. The conceptions of learning held by the children provide a platform from which educators and policy]makers can consider possibilities for meaningful learning in government schools in Brunei.