Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the student councils at two schools really have the power to influence, or if it is a matter of mock democracy. I wanted to determine how the student councils work in reality. I conducted my investigation through personal and qualitative interviews with the board of the student council, a social studies teacher and the principle/school management at both schools. After the interviews I compared an analysed my findings. The results show that the two schools work very differently when it comes to studentdemocracy, and even have very different levels of ambition when it comes to the degree of influence that the student council should have at their respective schools. Still, in reality the council at both schools function much the same. They are not fully functional and don’t manage to accomplish much, other than basic things like what the school should look like or which shirts the council should have. My opinion is that there seems be some extent of mock democracy at one of the schools, but that at the same timed there is the need to further examine and determine what studentdemocracy really means today, and should mean in the future, in the context of student councils. Otherwise the schools will never have a fully functional student council.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the student councils at two schools really have the power to influence, or if it is a matter of mock democracy. I wanted to determine how the student councils work in reality. I conducted my investigation through personal and qualitative interviews with the board of the student council, a social studies teacher and the principle/school management at both schools. After the interviews I compared an analysed my findings. The results show that the two schools work very differently when it comes to studentdemocracy, and even have very different levels of ambition when it comes to the degree of influence that the student council should have at their respective schools. Still, in reality the council at both schools function much the same. They are not fully functional and don’t manage to accomplish much, other than basic things like what the school should look like or which shirts the council should have. My opinion is that there seems be some extent of mock democracy at one of the schools, but that at the same timed there is the need to further examine and determine what studentdemocracy really means today, and should mean in the future, in the context of student councils. Otherwise the schools will never have a fully functional student council.

The problem of this study is the development of criteria for the evaluation of some of the guidance practices that are found in the student council and the home room organizations of a junior high school. The major consideration has been given to the development of the evaluative criteria, and not to the evaluation of the practices. The problem may be considered as three-fold in its scope. A solution has been attempted through the following steps: First, it will establish a method of evaluating the practices of the organizations mentioned. Second, it will analyze some of the common practices of these organizations through an application of the evaluative device to the practices. Third, it will record the findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Role theory is generally presented as a way of describing human interactions. Role dynamics describes the psychosocial phenomenon in terms of the various roles and role components being played and actively manipulated as a part of interpersonal interactions. The concept of role offers a general unit of interaction involving a complex of behaviour, expectation, and overt or covert consensual agreement. Therefore, roles can be thought of as expectations one has about social behaviour and as functions or positions. Groups are fundamental to human behaviour - without them individuals would have great difficulty surviving. People thrive on the interdependent relationships they find in groups. In some groups you participate as a leader, while in others you assume the role of follower. In many ways, the groups you have chosen to join reflect your interests and what motivates you. Group dynamics refers to the interactions within a group that characterize the group. The dynamics of the group can be fostered through good leadership as well, and the processes involved are most effective when they facilitate the group toward meeting its goal. The concept of leadership is a central building block of the conventional wisdom of organization and management. The definition of leadership leads to a variety of possibilities, which leads to the conclusion that the definition of leadership should depend on the purposes to be Served by the definition. One complex definition that has evolved, delineates effective leadership as the interaction among members of a group that initiates and maintains improved expectations and the competence of the group to solve problems or to attain goals. A general weakness of higher education has been its inability or unwillingness to make constructive and consistent use of student leadership as an advocate for the institution. From the perspective of student leadership, the fact that student advocacy is rarely utilized to its full potential represents a significant missed opportunity among our nation's universities. If the potential for leadership among these students were systematically cultivated, a new and powerful voice could be created that would go far in helping universities explain their missions and needs to lawmakers, the media and the voting public. Little research has been reported on student organizations. Literature involving student organizations dealt with the role organizations play in student involvement and student development. Reported research on the use of organization development in university student organizations described new practices, programmes and techniques for working with student organizations but did not reflect attempts to measure the effectiveness of interventions. This research provides readers with additional opportunities to explore the characteristics of effective groups and leaders and the leadership process. It is intended to move student leaders beyond the theory of leadership and closer to the world of practice and application. The major objectives of the study are: 0 How effectively and autonomously do student councils function as groups at tertiary institutions and how prepared are the members of the student councils to assume the leadership role? Are there statistical significant differences between biographical variables and the variables of group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership? Is there a relationship between group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership? The research study is divided into a theoretical and empirical framework. Various aspects of role theory, groups and leadership outline the theoretical basis. The empirical study is carried out by way of a questionnaire and the data is analysed according to specific statistical methods. The empirical study was conducted amongst members of student councils at different tertiary institutions in South Africa. The major findings of the study supported the set of research objectives and were the following: Group effectiveness It has been determined that most student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population are aware of their mission, are satisfied with achieving their goals, take possession, communicate openly and honest with members and have clear roles and norms. Autonomy Most of the student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population have satisfactory autonomy regarding work methods, work scheduling and work criteria. Leadership Student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population are prepared to assume their leadership roles. Differences between biographical variables and group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership Perceivable differences between gender and leadership in the student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population exist but are of no statistical significance. The relationship between the subvariables of group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership It has been determined that there is a relationship between the subvariables of group effectiveness and autonomy. No practical statistic significance relationships have been determined between leadership and autonomy for the study population. Further research on leadership as a process of group dynamics is recommended. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Role theory is generally presented as a way of describing human interactions. Role dynamics describes the psychosocial phenomenon in terms of the various roles and role components being played and actively manipulated as a part of interpersonal interactions. The concept of role offers a general unit of interaction involving a complex of behaviour, expectation, and overt or covert consensual agreement. Therefore, roles can be thought of as expectations one has about social behaviour and as functions or positions. Groups are fundamental to human behaviour - without them individuals would have great difficulty surviving. People thrive on the interdependent relationships they find in groups. In some groups you participate as a leader, while in others you assume the role of follower. In many ways, the groups you have chosen to join reflect your interests and what motivates you. Group dynamics refers to the interactions within a group that characterize the group. The dynamics of the group can be fostered through good leadership as well, and the processes involved are most effective when they facilitate the group toward meeting its goal. The concept of leadership is a central building block of the conventional wisdom of organization and management. The definition of leadership leads to a variety of possibilities, which leads to the conclusion that the definition of leadership should depend on the purposes to be Served by the definition. One complex definition that has evolved, delineates effective leadership as the interaction among members of a group that initiates and maintains improved expectations and the competence of the group to solve problems or to attain goals. A general weakness of higher education has been its inability or unwillingness to make constructive and consistent use of student leadership as an advocate for the institution. From the perspective of student leadership, the fact that student advocacy is rarely utilized to its full potential represents a significant missed opportunity among our nation's universities. If the potential for leadership among these students were systematically cultivated, a new and powerful voice could be created that would go far in helping universities explain their missions and needs to lawmakers, the media and the voting public. Little research has been reported on student organizations. Literature involving student organizations dealt with the role organizations play in student involvement and student development. Reported research on the use of organization development in university student organizations described new practices, programmes and techniques for working with student organizations but did not reflect attempts to measure the effectiveness of interventions. This research provides readers with additional opportunities to explore the characteristics of effective groups and leaders and the leadership process. It is intended to move student leaders beyond the theory of leadership and closer to the world of practice and application. The major objectives of the study are: 0 How effectively and autonomously do student councils function as groups at tertiary institutions and how prepared are the members of the student councils to assume the leadership role? Are there statistical significant differences between biographical variables and the variables of group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership? Is there a relationship between group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership? The research study is divided into a theoretical and empirical framework. Various aspects of role theory, groups and leadership outline the theoretical basis. The empirical study is carried out by way of a questionnaire and the data is analysed according to specific statistical methods. The empirical study was conducted amongst members of student councils at different tertiary institutions in South Africa. The major findings of the study supported the set of research objectives and were the following: Group effectiveness It has been determined that most student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population are aware of their mission, are satisfied with achieving their goals, take possession, communicate openly and honest with members and have clear roles and norms. Autonomy Most of the student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population have satisfactory autonomy regarding work methods, work scheduling and work criteria. Leadership Student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population are prepared to assume their leadership roles. Differences between biographical variables and group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership Perceivable differences between gender and leadership in the student councils at tertiary institutions in the study population exist but are of no statistical significance. The relationship between the subvariables of group effectiveness, autonomy and leadership It has been determined that there is a relationship between the subvariables of group effectiveness and autonomy. No practical statistic significance relationships have been determined between leadership and autonomy for the study population. Further research on leadership as a process of group dynamics is recommended. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

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Die vorliegende hermeneutisch angelegte Arbeit befasst sich mit der Schülermitverantwortung (SMV) als einem wesentlichen Bestandteil demokratischer Prinzipien und demokratischen Lernens. Das Lernen von Mitverantwortung ist Bildungsaufgabe der Schule; Schüler lernen dadurch, sich auch außerhalb der Schule am öffentlichen Leben zu beteiligen, ihre Rechte und Pflichten zu kennen und umzusetzen. Diesen Auftrag und gleichzeitigen Anspruch untersucht die Arbeit vor allem im Hinblick auf die baden-württembergische Sonderschule und den gültigen Bildungsplan der Schule für Geistigbehinderte. Zentrales Thema der Arbeit ist, Aspekte zur Umsetzung von Schülermitverantwortung herauszuarbeiten und dabei mögliche Maßnahmen als Vorgehensweisen darzustellen. Dabei werden zunächst historische, schulgesetzliche und gesellschaftliche mit bildungstheoretischen Grundlagen verknüpft. Für diese sind die weiterführenden pädagogischen und bildungsrelevanten Theorien und Positionen von v. Hentig und Klafki berücksichtigt. Wesentlich für die Umsetzung von Schülermitverantwortung sind einerseits die beteiligten Akteure und andererseits ist es die Entwicklung von Kriterien auf struktureller, interaktiver und individueller Ebene. In der Arbeit werden ferner Impulse zur Weiterentwicklung einer Schülervertretung diskutiert. Auf der Grundlage der Ergebnisse der vorhergehenden Kapitel wird darüber hinaus die eng gefasste Ausrichtung auf die Schule für Geistigbehinderte erweitert, indem die aktuell diskutierte Thematik Inklusion einbezogen wird. / This hermeneutical constructed dissertation deals with the student council as an essential part of democratic principles and democratic learning. Learning co-responsibility is a part of the school’s educational task; in this way, students learn to participate in public life beyond school. Through the student council, students become acquainted with their rights and duties and get the possibility to learn how to implement them. The dissertation examines this request especially in terms of special schools in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the valid curricula of schools for children with intellectual disability. The main topic of this dissertation is to work out aspects for the implementation of the student council and to illustrate possible methods. In doing so, historical and social fundamentals as well as fundamentals concerning the school law are getting linked with educational ones. For this purpose further pedagogical and educationally relevant theories and positions of v. Hentig and Klafki are considered. Essential for the implementation of student council are the involved protagonists on the one hand and the development of criteria on structural, interactive and individual levels on the other hand. Through the discussion of several aspects, this dissertation sets impulses for a further development of the student council. Based on the results of the previous chapter the narrow orientation on schools for children with intellectual disability is extended by including the currently debated topic of inclusion.