Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemManagers perceptions of workplace learning( 1999)This thesis sets outs the post-industrial organisation as the learning context in which the manager manages. By highlighting the set of skills that is required of the post-industrial manager it then examines how the manager learns these in the course of daily work. This was achieved by conducting interviews with a limited range of managers who are employed by the same retailing company but work across two store locations. What is apparent is that the successful manager needs to be able to respond to the emotionality of the workplace by having well honed 'people' skills of which communicability is uppermost. It was found that the 'people' skills were not only the hardest to learn but also contributed to the definition of the successful manager. The thesis also establishes that managers learn to manage in and through the workplace experiences of managing thereby supporting the contention that learning is fundamentally a socialisation process which occurs within a specific context and, within that, the most meaningful individual learning is, indeed, experiential. Learning to manage is very much about dealing with 'people' issues and, in this respect, the experiences of trial and error, then reflection, are the manager's teacher.
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ItemAn exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan secondary school principals for leadership( 2000)This study is an exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan Senior Secondary Principals for leadership in school. The study utilised a qualitative methodology as the perspective of the principals was sought. The particular research instrument used were semi-structured interviews. These interviews were audio taped and fully transcribed. This raw data was complemented by a form which was used to establish background material on each principal. The themes that were identified, with the aid of a grid which displayed the data, raised a number of issues facing Samoan leaders. The literature review set the context for current Samoan education, by giving an historical view of the development of education since the arrival of Europeans in Samoa in the 1830s. This historical perspective revealed that many of the issues that affect Samoan Education today have had a long standing impact in Samoa. The context in which principals exercise their leadership is both complex and problematic. The analysis of results used the verbatim quotes of participants to highlight the issues. A key issue is the appropriateness of the transfer of models of leadership training from a Western perspective in Samoa. The conclusion reached in this study is that the range of issues that face a leader in a Samoan Secondary school, require an approach to preparation and training for leadership that is not currently occurring. Samoan principals in this study have not received a level of training for leadership that specifically addresses the concerns faced as leaders in their schools.
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ItemGuiding, guiding : constructing leadership for young women( 2001)Guiding Guiding, Constructing Leadership for Young Women by Felicity Wightwick seeks to answer the research question: To what extent are young women's perceptions of leadership experiences shaped by formal training?' The reactions of several young women from Guides Australia to their leadership experiences, in particular the Guides Australia/BHP Young Leader (Leading Edge) seminar held in July 1999, are explored. Although the number of participants is small and therefore the findings limited, some interesting and worthwhile themes emerged from the research. This includes a leadership model that provides a possible structure upon which training that seeks to further the concept of community capacity building could be based.
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ItemA regional and metropolitan comparative study of staff leadership development: implications for multiple leadership of projects( 1998)Leadership is a common term and is not bound to any one particular context or situation (Duke: 1998). Why is it then that something so common is so difficult to encapsulate and then translate to others? Leadership is almost a 'given'. We can identify leadership when we see 'it' in action and we can describe leadership as a composite of qualities and characteristics. However, describing and apportioning the precise qualities and characteristics of an effective leader - in the hope that the recipe for 'it' or effective leadership can be passed on - is difficult. What appears to be consistent in the literature about effective leadership is that it will involve, as Wright (1996) describes, "interaction, either direct or indirect, between people" (230). While the influence of formal position has been extensively researched and written about (Campbell-Evans & Begley: 1996, Drucker: 1996, Kets De Vries: 1995, Bolman & Deal: 1991), "the interaction of role and gender adds yet another dynamic" (Mertz & McNeely: 1998: 213). This study investigates staff leadership development, with a particular focus on women, at a school level, within the Victorian Government's drug reform strategy, Turning the Tide. The aim is to surface particular understandings and practices of what the women within the study believe to be important characteristics, qualities and practices of effective leadership. The major questions addressed by the study were: - How may leadership development for school personnel charged with the responsibility of project leadership be characterised and improved? - Are there any differences that relate to gender? - How are vocational development materials used in staff project leadership development? - How may knowledge be incorporated from people other than those in formal positions of power in schools?