The influence of direct executive managers on lecturers’ perceptions on new organizational aims in times of academic drift

During educational change, managers can contribute positively to the professional’s sense of coping ability. The question remains as to whether the managers of lecturers can also influence the perception of lecturers on newly formulated organizational aims. Recently, the changes in many European institutes of higher professional education (HPE) have been considerable. The innovationsathand include the Dutch HPE institutes changing from teaching-only institutes toward hybrid organizations for teaching and research. The role of lecturers is central in implementing research into HPE, especially into the educational programmes. Hence, lecturers’ view on the new organizational aims are crucial. Based on a quantitative design, lecturers’ perceptions on the new organizational aims are measured. As part of a structural equation model, these perceptions are related to how lecturers perceive their direct executives’ leadership style, directly as well as mediated by executive-imputed organizational structures as collaboration systems and decision-making processes. The results show that the direct influence of executives based on their leadership style is limited, while initiating lecturers’ participation in decision-making processes is an important influence on lecturers’ perceptions on new organizational aims. More empirical insight into leadership factors and organizational structures can enlarge the improvement of goal achievement during organizational change.     

管理有效性的价值主体及其价值态度研究——以高职教师管理为例

管理有效性与价值主体及其价值态度是紧密相联的。高职教师管理的价值主体具有复杂性和多层次性的特点。不同需求的价值主体的价值态度对高职教师管理有着不同的影响,应从价值主体的角度合理正确地引导高职教师的管理,从而实现最大限度的高职教师的管理效益。     

综论孔子学院及其在中外教育交流史上的影响

孔子学院是以传授汉语和传播中国文化为宗旨的非营利性教育机构。它在国家对外汉语教学领导小组办公室的指导下,目前主要采取中外合作的方式,开展汉语教学和中外教育、文化等方面的交流。创办孔子学院是我国在新的历史条件下应对教育国际交流的举措,是中国教育走向世界的足音,使中外教育交流呈现出许多前所未有的新特点。     

Societal Culture and School Leadership Charting the Way Ahead

This paper discusses four issues emerging from the papers that make up the special edition. These are considered key issues as researchers further investigate the influence of societal culture on educational administration and leadership. The four selected issues target the definition of societal culture; possible relationships between organizational culture, personality and societal culture; the interface between school leadership, educational policy and societal culture; and some of the limitations of Hofstede's framework for guiding the study of cultural influence in educational administration. Each of the issues revolves around the concept of societal culture and its application as an explanatory and analytic device in the field of educational administration and leadership.     

Perceived leadership soft skills and trustworthiness of deans in three Malaysian public universities

Soft skills comprised both rational and emotional elements, becoming a new focus on leadership, as behavior displayed during interaction with other individuals will affect effective interaction outcomes. This study aimed to examine the leadership soft skills of deans in public universities of Malaysia. This survey designed research was performed to investigate the relationship between the eight components of leadership soft skills composed of collaboration/teamwork, communication skills, initiative, leadership ability, people development/coaching, personal effectiveness/personal mastery, planning and organizing and presentation skills with perceived trustworthiness. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the Crosbie’s model of leadership soft skills and Mayer, Davis and Schoorman’s model of organizational trust. A total of 376 support staff grade 17–36 was selected as respondents through stratified sampling technique. The method of analysis used are mean score, standard deviation, Pearson correlation and multiple regression Stepwise. Findings indicated that deans implemented moderately all the eight components of leadership soft skills. Perceived trustworthiness were significantly related with all the eight components of leadership soft skills at significance level of 0.01. The significant predictors for perceived trustworthiness were communication skills, planning and organizing and presentation skills. Finally, this study also provided recommendations and suggestions for future research.     

Middle leadership roles in universities: Holy Grail or poisoned chalice

Middle leadership roles in higher education have been identified as important for institutional effectiveness yet fraught with tensions, and those in middle leadership roles often feel unprepared and unsupported. This study of the responsibilities, skills and competencies, and support required for heads of school in a New Zealand university, drew on a survey and interviews with heads and focus groups or interviews with a range of stakeholders. The research found that while heads found satisfaction in their role, they also faced challenges associated with people management, workload and impact on their research careers. There was widespread agreement among stakeholders about the capabilities needed for the role and an awareness of the barriers to effectiveness. Suggestions for making the role more appealing include reducing workload, providing learning and development programs, clarifying the balance of professional and personal competencies required, and encouraging the distribution of leadership.     

谈教育局长的领导力及其提升策略

教育局长是我国区域教育行政管理的基本领导群体,其领导行为直接影响着区域教育发展的内涵与进程。按照权变领导理论框架,教育局长的领导力与教育局长的工作情境直接相关。由于教育局长的工作情境具体由教育局、政府和学校系统三个开放的工作系统构成,因此,教育局长的领导力呈现出三维结构,即行政领导力、政治领导力和教育领导力。相应地,教育局长要提升领导力,应该从三个维度入手:领导领导者,有效提升教育局长的政治领导力;认识教育组织特征,有效提升教育局长的教育领导力;发展组织文化,提升教育局长领导的有效性。     

Testing a theory of organizational culture,climate and youth outcomes in child welfare systems: A United States national study

Theories of organizational culture and climate (OCC) applied to child welfare systems hypothesize that strategic dimensions of organizational culture influence organizational climate and that OCC explains system variance in youth outcomes. This study provides the first structural test of the direct and indirect effects of culture and climate on youth outcomes in a national sample of child welfare systems and isolates specific culture and climate dimensions most associated with youth outcomes. The study applies multilevel path analysis (ML-PA) to a U.S. nationwide sample of 2,380 youth in 73 child welfare systems participating in the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. Youths were selected in a national, two-stage, stratified random sample design. Youths’ psychosocial functioning was assessed by caregivers’ responses to the Child Behavior Checklist at intake and at 18-month follow-up. OCC was assessed by front-line caseworkers’ (N = 1,740) aggregated responses to the Organizational Social Context measure. Comparison of the a priori and subsequent trimmed models confirmed a reduced model that excluded rigid organizational culture and explained 70% of the system variance in youth outcomes. Controlling for youth- and system-level covariates, systems with more proficient and less resistant organizational cultures exhibited more functional, more engaged, and less stressful climates. Systems with more proficient cultures and more engaged, more functional, and more stressful climates exhibited superior youth outcomes. Findings suggest child welfare administrators can support service effectiveness with interventions that improve specific dimensions of culture and climate.     

Profiles of Organizational Culture and Effective Schools∗

This study intends to investigate how school organizational culture is related to important organizational characteristics and observe how the profiles of strong culture‐effective schools are different from those of weak culture‐ineffective schools in terms of organizational variables (such as principal's leadership, organizational structure, and teachers’ social interactions), teachers’ job attitudes, and school effectiveness criteria. It is a cross‐sectional survey research involving 54 randomly sampled Hong Kong secondary schools and 588 teachers. The unit of analysis is the school.

Organizational ideology index was found to be substantially correlated with schools’ perceived organizational effectiveness. Among the 10 measures of these organizational variables, teachers’ esprit and principal's charismatic leadership can contribute substantially to the prediction of school's strength of organizational culture. The organizational profile of perceived strong culture‐effective schools is contrastingly different from that of perceived weak culture‐ineffective schools. The findings suggest that difference in organizational culture can be reflected at least in three overt levels: 1. organizational level in terms of principal's leadership behaviors, organizational formalization and participation, and teachers’ social norms; 2. teachers’ attitudinal level in terms of organizational commitment, social job satisfaction, intrinsic job satisfaction, and influence job satisfaction; and 3. school effectiveness level in terms of perceived overall organizational effectiveness and academic achievements in public examinations.

The findings reinforce the importance of organizational culture to the ongoing effort and discussion of school improvement and school effectiveness.

     

论加强高职校园文化内涵建设的必要原则

文章从我国高职校园文化内涵建设的背景和现状,高职院校的人才培养目标和模式,高职院校教育教学实际,以及对形成高职院校鲜明文化特色,培育文化竞争力具有的重要作用等四个方面阐释了加强校园文化内涵建设的必要性,并提出了加强校园文化内涵建设过程中应把握好的若干原则。     

Noise and Stress in Primary and Secondary School Children: Noise Reduction and Increased Concentration Ability Through a Short but Regular Exercise and Relaxation Program

To assist in decisions about appropriateness of data aggregation, this paper describes and demonstrates analytic techniques developed and used in organizational psychology along with contemporary multilevel analysis. Using these analytic techniques, the relations of educational outcomes (student self-reported academic performance, sense of belonging, and educational aspirations) to the school environment (possible indicators of school quality) were examined. Survey data were obtained from students (N = 11,573 or 82% of the eligible students completed the surveys) who attended 31 middle school students. Results showed that at least some indicators might be represented as school-level phenomena, although the amount of variance explained by school membership was quite small. Results implied that the appropriate level of analysis is concept- and variable-dependent. For example, students' sense of belonging may likely develop by how respect and instruction are revealed to students, such as in classrooms. Future studies of educational effectiveness might consider other groupings of students and emerging theoretical frameworks of organizational effectiveness to determine what constitutes educational quality/effectiveness and their measures at specific organizational levels.     

School leadership during violent conflict: rethinking education for peace in Nepal and beyond

This paper outlines the impact and professional tensions created by the decade-long armed conflict (1996–2006) on school leadership in Nepal. Drawing on qualitative interviews and discussions with school heads and teachers (n?=?92), the study reveals that the onerous pressure of pupils’ safety during crisis ultimately fell upon teachers and school leaders who faced direct violence on school grounds and communities they lived in. It was found that school heads were traumatised by consistent pressures, as manifested in the form of financial extortion, physical threats and abductions by the Maoists while the security forces frequently harassed them as Maoist sympathisers or confederates. Maintaining relational equilibrium with warring parties in order to ensure their personal and school survival was a traumatic experience. Despite the enormity of effects on education during conflict, the post-conflict educational debates largely undermine the voice of those who were at the frontlines during crisis. These findings provide useful insights into the ‘experiential dimension’ of civil conflict at schools in conflict zones and implications for educational programming.     

A Case Study of Servant Leadership in the NHL

An examination of the organizational culture of the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL provides exemplars for all learning institutions. A culture connected directly to a servant-leader philosophy was identified through a cumulative qualitative case study of key personnel within the organization. Data included transcribed interviews, archival research, and personal observations over a 7 year period (Jan. 2009 – Feb. 2016) plus thematic analysis. Particular attention was focused on elite athletes Henrik and Daniel Sedin. In the context of a highly competitive major hockey league, the culture of the Vancouver Canucks emphasizes consistent commitment to service within and outside the formal organization. This identified culture provides examples of valuable approaches for leadership in educational and sport environments.     

走向合作:现代学校组织的发展趋势

竞争与合作是组织发展的价值导向和运行机制,但过度竞争的学校组织在一定程度上导致了学校教育目标的偏离,组织结构的异化,组织文化的缺失和学校竞争的失范等负面效应。应正确认识竞争与合作的内涵和相应的运行机制,摒弃过度竞争意识,构建基于合作的学校组织发展框架,对学校组织运行和发展的合作创新机制进行组织再造,制定基于合作的教育政策,建立学校间的战略伙伴关系,形成共享的学校组织文化,建立扁平化学校组织结构,优化学校领导的角色与行为,以实现人与人、人与学校、学校与学校、学校与社会的协同发展。     

The relative impact of school‐wide positive behavior support on teachers’ perceptions of student behavior across schools,teachers, and students

School‐wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is a systemic approach for implementing a proactive schoolwide discipline and for improving students’ academic and behavioral outcomes by targeting the school’s organizational and social culture. With a multilevel approach, the present study evaluates the relative effectiveness of SWPBS on teachers’ perceptions of the student behavior (N = 3,295) across schools, teachers, and children using a multilevel approach. We assessed teacher perception of student problem behavior five times during a 3‐year implementation of SWPBS in 23 Dutch schools. Multilevel analyses not only revealed a small increase in perceived prosocial behavior and a small decrease in problems with peers, but also different effects across children, teachers, and schools. Effects were stronger for girls and for students with higher severity of perceived problems at baseline. At teachers’ level, higher mean baseline severity of perceived problems was associated with the reduced impact of SWPBS on perceived emotional problems and problems with peers. At the school level, effects were stronger for regular schools as compared with special needs schools.     

Decentralized Decision Making and Organizational Effectiveness in Colleges for Vocational Education: A Structural Equation Model for School Organization

The present study deals with the effect of decentralization on organizational effectiveness in Dutch colleges for middle vocational education (or MBO in Dutch). Following recent developments in educational administration, four domains of organizational effectiveness are distinguished: adaptation; goal attainment; integration; and teachers commitment (Quinn & Rorhbaugh, 1983: Competing Values Approach). Decentralization is defined as the relative amount of influence on decision making processes at the operational level compared with strategic level. In accordance with Hanson's Interacting Spheres Model (1991) three domains of decision making are distinguished: an educational domain; an administrative domain; and a contested zone. These concepts were measured with a questionnaire which was administered to middle managers, i.e., heads of departments, course co‐ordinators, etc., within each college for vocational education in the Netherlands. From the total population, 299 middle managers (62%) of 87 schools (87%) completed the questionnaire. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (LISREL 8). The results show a moderate positive effect of decentralization on organizational effectiveness.     

Organizational and Intercultural Communication: An Annotated Bibliography

Professional technical communication often takes place within a larger organizational structure, a structure defined and constrained by both external (national or disciplinary) and internal (organizational) cultures. Thus, theories that help technical communicators analyze and understand organizations can be of especial importance. This bibliography overviews theories of organization from the viewpoint of culture, using five themes of organizational research as a framework. Based on this framework, each section introduces specific theories of international, intercultural, or organizational communication, building upon them through a series of related articles, and showing how they can be applied in the field of technical communication.     

Cultivating an Environment That Contributes to Teaching and Learning in Schools: High School Principals’ Actions

Improving principal leadership is a vital component to the success of educational reform initiatives that seek to improve whole-school performance, as principal leadership often exercises positive but indirect effects on student learning. Because of the importance of principals within the field of school improvement, this article focuses on investigating the actions taken by principals working to cultivate an environment that contributes to effective teaching and learning. Utilizing data from 183 high school principals in Taiwan, this article finds that principals contribute to the healthy environment through personal, organizational, professional, and communal approaches. This article proposes that a respectful and caring learning community is the ideal environment for teaching and learning. This article also provides suggestions for principal leadership development that will help facilitate such an environment.     

中外学校组织文化研究之比较

组织文化作为一种文化管理模式,它能协调人际关系,增强组织凝聚力,培养团队精神,引导成员走向共同目标,在管理中具有重要意义。国外学校组织文化理论更多地是从组织理论中汲取营养而发展起来的,研究旨趣在于探寻组织文化与管理绩效的关系,重视组织文化的管理功效;而国内学校组织文化研究则是从文化角度切入,主要强调文化的教育功能。