Pocahontas High School, the smallest of four Tazewell County high schools, is presently located in the historic town of Pocahontas, Virginia. From the school's establishment in 1908 until 1955, the high school was located at the top of Water Street within the town limits. In 1955, students were moved to a new building at its present site just inside the town's corporate limits. The school today serves the communities of Abbs Valley, Boissevain, and the Town of Pocahontas, Virginia. This study included an examination of the role of the school in the mining community, and the relationship between the coal company and the school. Thus, the researcher reviewed literature-surrounding life in mining industrial towns to determine whether Pocahontas conformed to the conventional interpretations of such mining-industrial communities. The researcher also considered the life of the school and community following the cessation of mining operations in Pocahontas. An examination of the reasons for the school having remained open despite declining enrollment and the importance of the school to its communities was examined through the eyes of local community leaders, residents, and graduates of Pocahontas High School. This study employed conventional historical research methods in order to document the history of Pocahontas High School. The data collected from documents and interviews were handled qualitatively, with some data appearing in the form of numbers and graphs. Data gathered for this study were derived from both primary and secondary sources. This study used written, pictorial, and oral sources. Oral materials included oral history interviews with local historians, public officials and individuals involved with Pocahontas High School during the period of study. Triangulation verification techniques were used to accurately describe the impact of coal mining and the closing of the mine on the development, growth, and decline of the school and community. / Ed. D.

Paper One: Developing positive relationships between schools and families has become an increasing priority within education in order to best support children and young people’s learning and development. Despite an increasing focus on seeking the parental ‘voice’, the views and experiences of school staff, parents and children appear to have limited prominence within the literature. This paper presents a piece of illuminative Community Psychology research that explored home-school relationships from the perspectives of school staff, parents and children from four Primary schools in a local community. A mixed-methods approach to data collection involved twenty-eight staff and sixty-four parent questionnaires, a focus group with eight children, and semi-structured research interviews with six staff and five parents. The importance of effective communication to encourage home and school to ‘work together’ is highlighted along with the need to provide support tailored to local needs focused around developing parental knowledge and skills to support children’s learning. The findings offer valuable insights into the views and experiences of parents, school staff and children around the current communication and engagement practices of schools in a local community. There are also implications for educational practice, including within Educational Psychology, in developing more effective home-school relationships in the future. Paper Two: With an increasing focus on supporting parental involvement within education, the development of effective ‘partnerships’ between schools and families is widening. Despite the wealth of information and advice around engaging parents in education (DfE, 2011), there appears limited training and ongoing support for school staff on how to foster and maintain these positive interactions and how to tackle ‘real life’ issues faced within home-school relationships. This research explored the role of a Community Educational Psychologist working with school staff to develop and maintain positive home-school relationships. Through support and facilitation from a Trainee Community Educational Psychologist, a series of education and supervision sessions were developed with a group of school staff to increase knowledge and confidence around the applications of psychology within education and the influential factors in home-school interactions. A model of reflection was introduced through the supervision sessions to assist the creation of a sustainable support network for staff within school concerning their work with families. The findings highlighted a ‘need to’ and ‘desire for’ developing school staff knowledge and confidence and the significant impacts of the education/supervision sessions in achieving this. Factors enabling and preventing progress through these sessions were noted along with the value of ‘sharing’ within supervision. The necessity of continued practice in order to embed supervision into teaching practice was acknowledged, and the positive impact of a Community Educational Psychologist facilitating these groups was found. Implications for educational practice, including within Educational Psychology, in supporting school staff with home-school relationships are discussed.

The overarching theme of this thesis is the establishment of a moral community in schools. Several areas of interest were identified as this theme developed. These included moral community building, school leadership, and the professional development needs of teachers. Each area is examined through documented research work, published articles and conference presentations. All areas are intertwined within the concept of moral community and the need for school leaders to engage community members in the establishment of a moral community. Three conceptual theories underpin the work of this thesis and form a significant part of the overarching theme. These are the interrelated theories of transformative learning, transformational leadership, and moral community. / Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This ethnomethodological study focuses on the worldviews of Lutheran school principals and pastors. Essentially, these leaders in a Lutheran school provide direction and vision for the school learning community. The degree to which their worldviews coalesce will naturally result in positive or negative influences on the whole school community. These leaders within the Lutheran school can be seen as a hub for all kinds of learning experiences and interaction in the context of vital Christian communities in mission outreach and quality education. Any dissonance of worldview has potential for impact on school processes and relationships. The Lutheran Church has defined the role of the pastor in the school and the difference from his role in a congregation (Lutheran Church of Australia, 2002). Lutheran principals have a delegated authority from their school councils to be responsible for the complete oversight of the school’s direction, the observance of policies, and the assignment of tasks and duties of staff. The blurring of responsibility occurs over the pastor’s rightful responsibility in regards to a word and sacrament ministry. In a Lutheran school where the Gospel is to inform all learning, such tension can cloud school dynamics and transformation. The Lutheran church policy, Relative responsibilities of pastor and principal within the Lutheran school, identifies three critical areas of required mutual respect for the Principal and School Pastor: theological, professional and personal (Lutheran Church of Australia, 2001, p. 3). Thus, the ‘worldview’ dimensions considered in this research centre around the theological, the educational and the interpersonal domains. The school transformation themes of lifelong learning, postmodernism and curriculum, school organization and change, and school community relationships are used to challenge worldview dimensions of Principals and School Pastors through a series of online ‘stories’, or scenarios, backed by personal interviews and a document study. The identification of school leadership tension points brings about recommendations for action.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes special report study entitled: Planning and design of pedestrian walkway environment. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.