Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemLeadership and management in three exemplar non-government Australian Christian schools( 2000)The aim of this study was to identify some of the keys to the success of three non-government Protestant Christian schools, two parent controlled and one church sponsored. An expert panel nominated successful schools. Those with the greatest number of nominations were invited to become case studies. Qualitative methods of in-depth interviewing and document study were employed in each of the three schools. Eleven interviews were conducted, three chairpersons, three principals, three deputies, one school general manager and one sponsoring church general manager. The two research questions focused on a description of the current leadership and management practices and an understanding of the outcomes of the leadership and management in the lives of the students. These questions were developed into a conceptual framework that underpinned the study, namely that the leadership and management styles create distinctive structures in effective schools that in turn lead to the key attributes of success in the three Christian schools. The most significant findings of the research were that a collaborative leadership style dominated the organisations and that the school boards were now concentrating on governance and the implementation of a modified CEO model for their principals. Distinctive enrolment policies were being carefully implemented by committed Christian teachers whose contribution was regarded as the single most important factor that has led to the success of the schools. The teachers' primary objective was to see the lives of the students transformed, which was the central feature of the schools' dynamic vision. It is hoped that this study will be of value to anyone who wishes to see Christian schooling in Australia continue to succeed.
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ItemVision and practice in Catholic schools( 2000)This research examined the way in which a group of principals, teachers and parents from three Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne perceive the translation of vision into practice in their schools. This paper provides an account of the background literature examined, the methodology used, the data collected and conclusions drawn.
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ItemHow Victorian primary school principals perceive their role( 2006)This study investigated the phenomenon of the principal role in Victorian primary schools. It sought to provide insights in relation to how principals view their role in a time of rapid change and increasing accountability. The research involved six selected principals in a broad qualitative study. Data were collected via individual interviews using semi-structured questions. Interviews commenced with an open broad question about the role of the principal. This was followed by semi structured questions based on a broad conceptual framework relating to the expected and actual role and the leadership and management dimensions of the role. The perceptions of the principals were used to describe their role and the extent to which they believed their view of the role matched with the expected role for Principal Class personnel (Department of Education and Training, 2001). When asked, principals made clear distinction between the management and leadership aspects of their role, though some saw areas of overlap. It was found that although principals generally saw a good match up of the actual and expected role some were frustrated and overwhelmed by the management and administrative workload, which they felt took time away from their preferred role of leadership. The principal's ability to balance the leadership and management aspects of their role in their school was also described. Finally, implications for practice and further research in the areas of professional training for principals and workload issues are described.
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ItemThrough a glass, darkly : a case study( 2000)This study describes, explores and explains a case which occurred in an Australian State primary school, when permission was withdrawn for a research project which sought to survey parents' perceptions of the school. This occurred three weeks after all questionnaires had been distributed, by hand through the school, to every family in the school. The research project was the work of the Deputy Principal, the author of this thesis, who is also known as the researcher and the participant observer. The case is then rewritten, scenarios are constructed and leadership behaviours are described within the Structural, Human Resource, Political and Symbolic frames set forth by Bolman and Deal. A fifth frame, an Ethical frame, as proposed by Starratt, is also applied to the case. These frames comprise most leadership theory and each provides the base for a scenario in which the researcher may more clearly pose a question, a curious phenomenon or a problematic issue. Through the creation of scenarios the researcher was able to understand complex interactions, tacit processes and often hidden beliefs and values within organisations. Each frame generates a different set of strategies. In this way knowledge is gained and potential futures are posited, leading to a sharpened awareness of the forces acting on leaders. The thesis is underpinned by the belief that a conscious and reflective review of, and inquiry into, one's actions as a leader through the creation of scenarios will assist the development of an ethical and pragmatic personal theory of organisation. It is an aim of this thesis to demonstrate that where a case is recreated within the five ideal frames possible futures are evoked, creating an environment for wise decision making and enhanced leadership behaviour.
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ItemMarket orientation case study( 2001)The importance of this research is reflected in the changing face of education. There is increasing pressure for accountability of schools in the private and public sector, for their programs, their financial viability and ultimately their capacity to survive in the marketplace. While the education industry is rapidly becoming a competitiveness business, the legitimacy of marketing as a means of recruitment, the marketing concept and embracing market orientation sits uneasily with many educational administrators. School X provides an illustrative case study of a well-established school in the international education sector. It has a strong business focus and is part of a global educational network. The management structure is similar to that in private sector industry. As a successful enterprise operational practices and marketing strategies are worthy of study. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies will be applied. The researcher will discover how School X has embraced the concept of market orientation and whether the organisations growth is related to its approach to the marketing concept.
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ItemHawthorn Leadership Assessment Centre : a case study of assessors' perceptions( 2001)The implementation of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Assessment Centre at Hawthorn Leadership Assessment Centre (HLAC) is a part of The University of Melbourne s post-graduate syllabus. At the completion of an assessment centre assessors were interviewed. Their perceptions indicate that H LAC is an effective professional development activity for participants and assessors alike. This finding emerged through the implementation of a semi structured interview schedule. The study also found that assessors believed a more culturally relevant model reflective of local practice be explored or incorporated into the franchised NASSP model.
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ItemAssessing the measurement invariance of a school climate scale across the countries : implications for the construct( 2008)School climate is now considered such an important influence on student outcomes that large scale international comparative studies such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have included measures of school climate in their contextual questionnaires (Mullis et al., 2005). However, while there appears to be agreement that school climate is important, there are problems with much of the research into school climate which call into question the validity of many of the findings (Anderson, 1982). As most of the problems encountered are to do with conceptualisation and the use of perceptual data, this has implications for the use of school climate measures in cross-national studies like TIMSS. In particular, these problems increase the likelihood that measures of school climate will not display measurement invariance. Measurement invariance requires that groups have a similar conceptualisation of a construct (Byrne & Stewart, 2006). Lack of measurement invariance is likely to affect the interpretation of group differences on measures of that construct (Borsboom, 2006; Byrne & Stewart, 2006). The purpose of this study was to investigate the measurement invariance of the Principals' Perceptions of School Climate (PPSC) scale which was introduced into TIMSS in 2003 (Martin, Mullis, & Chrostowski, 2004). Both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) methods were used to assess the measurement equivalence of the PPSC across eight countries. These tests of measurement invariance found that not only was measurement invariance lacking but that the unidimensional model did not fit within the individual countries. This finding is discussed in terms of the implications for users of the PPSC and for the construct of school climate in general.
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ItemFacilitating school improvement through strategic and effective decision making: a case study of a Victorian rural secondary college( 2006)Having taught in three different secondary colleges, in terms of size and location and the way in which each school operates, I developed an interest in decision making processes used in schools. I believe that certain decision making processes are more effective than others in terms of facilitating school improvement. I have observed certain decision making processes that were ineffective and caused disharmony among staff, particularly with members of staff who were left out of the decision making process. Hence, I chose this study to highlight effective decision making processes and also to encapsulate the impact of effective decision making. Due to the broad nature of the topic of decision making and the volume of information on this subject, this study concentrates on two main theories. The first theory looks at methods of school management that increases the effectiveness of the school by drawing on the experience of the teaching staff and involving them in the decision making process within the school. By this method the principal might use a `collaborative' approach. This theory encapsulates the idea that more staff contributing towards making a decision is `better' than the individual making a decision, based on the view that this approach shows greater resourcefulness. The second theory comes from the notion that the school community is `better off' allowing the principal and the administrators who have experience and expertise in making decisions on particular matters using the individual decision making model. The underlying assumption for this theory is that the teaching staff will have more time in their classrooms, rather than spending time in making decisions that have little to do with the classroom teacher. This will then allow teaching staff to get on with the job of classroom teaching.
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ItemEquity funding: how is it used?( 2006)Using a case study approach this research investigates some of the different aspects of disadvantage within the school system. It looks at the ways in which equity funding is used in a variety of schools. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the stages, or processes, that schools go through before the equity dollar is spent. It investigates the decision making process, and the kinds of information or projections taken into account. It also looks at the issue of what it is that schools define as issues of equity, and the programs that they put in place to deal with those issues. This thesis focuses on the equity component of the Victorian Education Department's Student Resource Package. Beginning with an explanation of the current funding model used in Victoria, it goes on to explore the implications of this funding model on students in six metropolitan government schools. These schools differ in terms of the amount of equity funding they receive, their student intake and the strategies that they use to try to make education more equitable. Each school is examined through three key areas. The first key area is the decision making process within the school. This is found, across all six schools, to be robust and systematic. The second area is the programs that the school believes address equity issues. There was found to be a great variance in the type of programs run in schools, and the amount of programs run within schools. Essentially the schools that are eligible for the most equity funding are running the highest concentration of equity programs. The third key area for this thesis was that of staffing in schools, with the neediest schools pointing out difficulties in building talented staff teams. The key finding of this thesis is that more equity money needs to be made available to the most disadvantaged schools.
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ItemThe role of the assistant principal( 2002)Leadership in schools is a topic that has received much interest from researchers over a long period of time. Studies both overseas and within Australia have provided excellent material about many aspects to do with leadership within schools. In the school situation, leadership does not merely pertain to the role of the principal and there are many other roles within schools that require some or all of the aspects of leadership. These may include roles such as: principals; Assistant Principals; level coordinators; faculty heads; junior, middle and senior school heads; subject area coordinators; and a host of other roles where people are responsible for the direction and supervision of others. Traditionally, leadership is seen as being vested mainly in the principal but I would like to investigate another area where individuals have the opportunity to display leadership within schools; the position of Assistant Principal. What does this role entail? How much authority does an Assistant Principal hold? Is the role a 'proving ground' for a principalship? How do others perceive the role of an Assistant Principal? What factors impact on the satisfaction an Assistant Principal gets from their role? How does the relationship between assistants and principals work and how does this impact on job satisfaction for assistants? This study hopes to investigate the above questions in an attempt to understand this leadership position within the school setting and to compare the available research with the findings from the study conducted. It is intended that a qualitative approach will be used to collect the data required for this thesis.