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This study was designed to investigate factors that influence the acquisition and development of interpersonal skills among high school principals. The study involved the identification of five principals with exemplary interpersonal skills. Two different groups were asked to identify principals with exemplary interpersonal skills. Those identified by both groups formed the list from which five principals were selected and asked to participate in the study. The study involved in-depth interviews with the five principals. During the interviews the principals were asked about their personal and professional backgrounds. Questions about their professional background included topics such as degrees and majors, positions held in education, and length of time in education and in those positions. Their personal background included questions about their activities in high school and college, family, personality, and characteristics. Individual case analysis' were done on each interview and a cross-case analysis was done on all five interviews. The results of the study suggest that the principals' interpersonal skills were not developed through formal programs but over time and through their life experiences. Some of the factors that seemed to influence the principals' interpersonal skills include: activities that exposed them to the public, strong families, the positive impact of others, and similar personality or character traits. The study also produced some recommendations for further study, implications for principal preparation programs and lessons for principals to learn. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study, a quasi experimental design, was to investigate the relationship between team leader behavior and team performance and satisfaction. This field research tested leader behavior dimensions from two theoretical models of team effectiveness: Hackman's (1992) "expert available coaching," and Cohen's (1994) "encouraging supervisory behaviors." The relationship between coaching behaviors and team performance, employee, and customer satisfaction was assessed. Manager behavior was assessed with the SMT Leader Survey (Burress, 1994), an instrument determined appropriate for team environments, that measures Communication, Administration, Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Thinking, and Flexibility. Employee satisfaction and performance information was archival data provided by the organization. The results demonstrated that leader behavior is a less important component of team effectiveness than initially expected. Even though direct customer interaction was 25% of these manager jobs and considered the organization's most important predictor of corporate profitability, no relationship between leader behavior and customer satisfaction was found. Among the key findings was, that while flexibility differentiated leader behavior more than any other scale, its relationship with both team performance and team satisfaction was negative. Interpersonal skills were positively associated with team performance, while leadership was positively associated with team performance and satisfaction. The SMT data were factor analyzed and formed into three factors. Two were historical leadership constructs: consideration (which correlated positively with employee satisfaction) and structure. A third factor, decisiveness, was negatively related to team performance. This research determined some essential skills for managing high performance teams and improving employee satisfaction. The results indicate that managers in a team environment may need to alter their roles if high performance and employee satisfaction are organizational objectives. Possibilities include building and developing the corporation's business, creating in depth relationships with customers, and establishing alliances and partnerships with other organizations. These roles will require new manager skills which have the potential to increase manager job satisfaction and augment manager value to the corporation.

The effectiveness of a social skills training workshop was assessed by comparing the rated competence of participants in an Interpersonal Skills Training Program (a 2-session, 12-hour workshop) to the rated competence of nonparticipants. This comparison was operationalized through a study design of the pre- and posttesting of 12 experimental and 22 control subjects. The assessment instruments used were Spitzberg's Conversational Skills Rating Scale (CSRS) and Curran's Simulated Social Interaction Test (SSIT). Two rating judges were utilized. Results, although modest, are in the expected direction. Measured competence on the CSRS failed to show significant improvement in the rated competence of the experimental group as compared to the rated competence of the control group. However, the SSIT did reveal significant improvement of the rated skill and anxiety of experimental subjects while the control group showed no significant improvement. In addition to assessing the effectiveness of the workshop, this study sought to find a positive correlation of the CSRS instrument to the SSIT instrument. As expected, the CSRS showed a positive correlation to the SSIT.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a three-day session using an integrated didactic and experiential approach for training in interpersonal skills for sheltered workshop supervisors.

The effect that teacher interpersonal behaviour has on motivating students to want tolearn and on nurturing student self-efficacy in the science classroom cannot beunderestimated. Teacher interpersonal behaviour can be perceived to be the catalystthat determines the level of student self-efficacy in classroom activities. An analysisof effective classroom teaching has been assessed in recent times in relation toteacher interpersonal behaviour. However, the effect that teacher interpersonalbehaviour has on student motivation has not been studied.The aim of this study was to identify the interpersonal skills of teachers that areperceived to encourage a motivating classroom environment. It also describedstudents' perceptions of teacher interpersonal behaviour and classroom environment,and assessed the significant impact teacher interpersonal behaviour had on studentself-efficacy and student attitude towards science. Student data were collected from313 year 8, 9 and 10 science students in 12 classrooms in a girls' secondary school inBrisbane, Australia. They were studying a general science course that coveredaspects of biology, chemistry and physics. Qualitative and quantitative data werecollected. The study confirmed the validity and reliability of the Questionnaire onTeacher Interaction (QTI) and the Students' Motivation, Attitude and Self-Efficacy inScience (SMASES) questionnaire. Thus, the study identified perceptions of teacherinterpersonal behaviour and classroom environment, and investigated associationsbetween the results obtained from the analysis and the other instruments that wereadministered in the study. The study identified that there was a significantrelationship between teacher interpersonal behaviour and its effect on studentmotivation, self-efficacy and attitude towards science.

Outdoor and experimental education as a means to supplement or complement traditional learning has existed throughout most of the twentieth century. However, there is limited published research concerning Extended Stay Outdoor Education School Programs (ESOESP) and the processes that exist within these programs that lead to a particular outcome. This is a case study approach which seeks to uncover and examine the perceptions of stakeholders within an ESOESP, in order to understand and highlight the process leading to an outcome. A grounded theory and hermeneutic/dialectic approach was used to collect and analyse the data. Interviews, surveys, observations, and participation complemented the process of data collection. The analysis of the data, employing a grounded theory approach, resulted in five categories that are essential components to the process leading to an outcome at a particular ESOESP. The five categories are: Student role; Teacher role; School climate; Interpersonal/Personal skill development; and, Learning process. Based on these five categories and their related sub-categories, a process model was developed. The relationship of the categories to the experiential learning process. The results of this study provide a starting point for further research in this area. / Master of Education (Hons)

Grade 7-learners are continuously exposed to challenges that influence their developmental tasks and general social adaptation. Mastering these challenges sculpt the learners and will influence the ways in which learners develop to adults. Through developing and improving the emotional intelligence skills of learners, learners can be enabled to maintain a successful subsistence. Learners with adequate emotional intelligence will demonstrate effective functioning in many areas of life. The aim of this investigation was to determine what emotional intelligence is and how it relates to wellbeing in the early development of adolescents, the state of a certain Grade 7-learner group's emotional intelligence and the relation in terms of race and gender. In the study, 50 learners from the Grade 7-classes of four schools were selected randomly based on availability. The schools involved were Swartruggens Combined School, Swartruggens Primary, Koster Combined School and Koster Primary. The BarOn EQ-i:YV was conducted on the learners. The quantitative data was processed by the Northwest University's Statistical Consultation Services. Results indicate that, amongst other things, the girls in the study posses more adequate emotional intelligence and skills than the boys in the study. Black boys show the least adequate emotional intelligence and skills. Thus, race and gender play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence of the group of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

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Grade 7-learners are continuously exposed to challenges that influence their developmental tasks and general social adaptation. Mastering these challenges sculpt the learners and will influence the ways in which learners develop to adults. Through developing and improving the emotional intelligence skills of learners, learners can be enabled to maintain a successful subsistence. Learners with adequate emotional intelligence will demonstrate effective functioning in many areas of life. The aim of this investigation was to determine what emotional intelligence is and how it relates to wellbeing in the early development of adolescents, the state of a certain Grade 7-learner group's emotional intelligence and the relation in terms of race and gender. In the study, 50 learners from the Grade 7-classes of four schools were selected randomly based on availability. The schools involved were Swartruggens Combined School, Swartruggens Primary, Koster Combined School and Koster Primary. The BarOn EQ-i:YV was conducted on the learners. The quantitative data was processed by the Northwest University's Statistical Consultation Services. Results indicate that, amongst other things, the girls in the study posses more adequate emotional intelligence and skills than the boys in the study. Black boys show the least adequate emotional intelligence and skills. Thus, race and gender play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence of the group of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.