School principals as mediating agents in education reforms

School principals may be seen as mediating agents, standing at the school doorstep, between the extra-school and intra-school worlds. The principals’ mediating role becomes more crucial during a time of education reform, which involves external demands on the one hand, and teachers’ resistance to these demands on the other. This study explores how principals mediate between the demands of a national reform policy and teachers’ attitudes and needs. In this qualitative study, 59 school principals were interviewed. Findings from the data analysis indicated that principals used two complementary mediation strategies: (1) mobilising the teachers towards the reform and (2) mobilising the reform towards the teachers. The mediating strategies used by principals are discussed, suggesting practical implications and further research avenues.     

Differences of Mentoring Experiences across Grade Span among Principals,Mentors, and Mentees

The purpose of this mixed research study was to examine mentoring experiences specific to grade span through the perspective of principals, mentors, and mentees. An instrument containing items on demographics, administrative support, and mentoring program components was administered to first-year teachers (n?=?998), mentors (n?=?791), and principals (n?=?73). Mentors’ attitudes towards mentoring were statistically significantly more positive than were the mentees’ attitudes, although, on average, the attitudes for both groups were positive. A statistically significant difference in attitudes emerged as a function of grade span, with elementary school mentees reporting the highest levels of motivation to be mentored and the greatest desire to observe veteran teachers. Qualitative analyses revealed that mentoring includes specific format, better matches, increased time for mentoring, observation opportunities, and better training for mentors. Implications are discussed.     

Elementary Science Education in Classrooms and Outdoors: Stakeholder views,gender, ethnicity,and testing

In this article, we present a mixed-methods study of 2 schools’ elementary science programs including outdoor instruction specific to each school's culture. We explore fifth-grade students in measures of science knowledge, environmental attitudes, and outdoor comfort levels including gender and ethnic differences. We further examine students’ science and outdoor views and activity choices along with those of adults (teachers, parents, and principals). Significant differences were found between pre- and posttest measures along with gender and ethnic differences with respect to students’ science knowledge and environmental attitudes. Interview data exposed limitations of outdoor learning at both schools including standardized test pressures, teachers’ views of science instruction, and desultory connections of alternative learning settings to ‘school' science.     

Assessing instructional leadership from two mindsets in China: power distance as a moderator

The past decade has witnessed growing interest in the study of the perceptual differences between principals and teachers, and a number of inconsistent results have been documented. This study examined differences between principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of principal instructional leadership and tested the hypothesis that power distance (PD) moderates the differences between the two parties. Based on survey data collected from 132 Chinese principals and 1708 teachers, the results revealed no significant differences in the total and dimensional levels of instructional leadership; however, PD moderated the perceptual differences. Specifically, when the principals reported a low PD, their self-ratings of their instructional leadership were higher than the teachers’ ratings, and conversely, when the principals reported a high PD, their self-ratings were lower than the teachers’ evaluations. However, the result was contrary to the hypothesis when PD was reported by teachers. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Integration of Disabled Children into Regular Schools

Regular and resource teachers from New South Wales government and nongovernment schools were surveyed to elicit their attitudes towards the integration of individual disabled chldren, the support services currently provided and the skills considered essential for teachers of mainstreamed atypical students. Differences among sub‐groups of teachers and between teachers and principals who had completed the same questionnaire in a previous study were also examined. Results indicate that teachers’ attitudes to the integration of individual disabled children reflect lack of confidence both in their own instructional skills and in the quality of support personnel currently provided to them. They are positive about integrating only those children whose disabling characteristics are not likely to require extra instructional or management skills on the part of the teacher. However, teachers’ attitudes may be significantly modified by their pre‐service training and the nature of their subsequent professional experience. Examination of the skills needed by mainstreaming staff reveals that, while general competence is considered essential, neither regular nor resource teachers seem aware of the need for a structured approach to curriculum objectives. The finding that principals’ attitudes arc consistently more positive than those expressed by teachers suggests a somewhat unrealistic perception by the former of teachers’ current anxieties about integration. Implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

Leadership Stereotypes and Styles of Female Singaporean Principals

This paper investigates how a sample of female Singaporean secondary school principals perceived their leadership styles and compares their responses to a similar study carried out recently of female English head teachers. The education systems of England and Singapore are quite different. The English environment allows schools significant autonomy in personnel management and the majority of head teachers and senior managers are male. In contrast, the Singaporean educational environment is quite centralized, including the management of career paths, and the proportion of female senior managers is much higher. Interviews were conducted with 11 female Singaporean principals to identify their styles of management, leadership perspectives, and attitudes. The discussion first focuses on whether or not the styles of the principals in relation to ‘masculine’ or feminine’ stereotypes of leadership were similar to those of the English head teachers. Further comparison is made of the leadership attributes of the two sets of principals, including styles of management, decision‐making, working environment, need for vision, and values.     

Children's Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions Towards Peers with Disabilities

This study used the theory of reasoned action to investigate determinants of primary school children's attitudes and behavioural intentions towards peers with physical disabilities. The influence of children's own attitudes toward working with peers with physical disabilities in regular classes and subjective norms provided by their teachers, principals, and parents were used to predict behavioural intentions to befriend and interact with classmates with physical disabilities. The participants were 143 fourth and fifth grade primary school students, their mothers, teachers, and school principals. The students completed an attitude questionnaire and a behavioural intention scale. Their parents, teachers, and principals completed a similar disability attitude questionnaire. The results supported the predictions made by the theory of reasoned action. Children's own attitudes towards the inclusion of peers with disabilities was the strongest predictor of behavioural intentions to interact with a classmate with a physical disability. The attitudes of teachers, principals, and parents were also significant predictors of intentions. However, only the attitudes of parents and school principals accounted for any more variance than children's attitudes alone. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of developing whole class interventions to promote the social integration of children with physical disabilities.     

Leading Differentiated Learning for the Gifted

This study examined similarities and differences in the perceptions of principals and teachers about the use of differentiated strategies for gifted learners and studied principals’ perceptions about schoolwide differentiation. Comparisons of these perceptions have been undoc-umented to date. Participants included 867 teachers and 120 principals from government schools in Sydney, Australia. A mixed methods approach was used, including online questionnaires and case studies of principals. Results revealed significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers about differentiated practices. The case studies demonstrate that exemplary principals continually enhance their understanding of differentiated learning and build their teachers’ collective capacity for educating gifted learners. The findings indicate the need for stronger pedagogical congruence between principals and teachers in educating the gifted, ongoing professional education of principals and teachers in gifted education, and effective leadership actions for schoolwide differentiated learning.     

The First Half Century of the AERA

Abstract

The central hypothesis of this study was that conflicting values are related to a lack of acceptance of the school’s curriculum on the part of the faculty. The data were collected through the employment of three instruments (Differential Values Inventory by Prince, an adaptation of the Kreitlow Scale by Kreitlow and Dreier, and a Teacher Attitude Scale.) School faculties which expressed the greater differences in educational values also expressed the greatest amount of disapproval of the school’s curriculum. However, individual teachers with extreme values indicated more favorable attitudes toward the curriculum than teachers with more neutral values. Values held by principals were related to teachers approval of the curriculum.     

From heaven to reality through crisis: novice teachers as migrants

This study focuses on the process of novice teachers’ adjustment to the teaching profession and to school culture in Israel. Forty-six beginning teachers who participated in a support program for novice teachers were interviewed extensively during their first and toward the end of their second year of teaching. The findings indicate how the transition and adaptation that novice teachers need to make in their new schools has much in common with that of immigrants in a new country. The experiences of immigrants provide a lens through which to investigate the stages that novice teachers go through. Similarities and differences between the two groups are examined, pointing to the implications of this analogy to novice teacher induction, teacher training, and attitudes of school principals.     

Führen verschiedene Inspektionskonzepte zu unterschiedlicher Akzeptanz und Verwendung der Ergebnisse durch Schulleitungen und Lehrkräfte?

In the past decade, variant inspection procedures have been implemented in the German federal states, setting different priorities in terms of objectives. For example, while Bremen focused only on school improvement, Berlin and Brandenburg focused equally on school improvement and control. Considering the differences in the inspection procedures, we investigate whether the variant designs lead to differing attitudes among school principals and teachers (N = 1589) towards the inspection procedure as well as to different school improvement activities. The results show more positive attitudes towards the inspection in Bremen. In all three federal states, cooperation and participation of students and parents increased after inspection. In Berlin and Brandenburg, schools’ self-evaluations increased. In the same two federal states, school documents and curricula were updated before the inspection, while in Bremen this occurred after the inspection. Teachers’ attitudes towards the inspection are slightly more critical in comparison with school principals.     

校长服务型领导如何降低教师情绪衰竭——心理安全感和不确定性规避的作用

提出并检验了一个有调节的中介模型,探讨校长的服务型领导对教师情绪衰竭的影响,以及心理安全感的中介作用和不确定性规避的调节作用。采用服务型领导、心理安全感、不确定性规避和情绪衰竭量表对427名中小学教师进行调查。结果表明:服务型领导对情绪衰竭具有显著的负向影响;心理安全感在服务型领导力和情绪衰竭之间起部分中介作用;不确定性规避调节了服务型领导对心理安全感的影响。结果启示我们要在校长领导提升中推广服务型领导方式,降低教师的工作倦怠;校长应该创造和谐融洽的工作环境,提升教师的心理安全感;校长要重视教师的个体差异,权变性地使用服务型领导。     

The Relative Effectiveness of Varied Visual Illustrations in Complementing Programed Instruction

In order to discover whether teacher aides can be used effectively to help develop reading readiness in kindergarten children, three groups of three classes each were compared: (1) Group A, no teacher aide, (2) Group B, one teacher aide, (3) Group C, five teacher aides. Under the direction of the teachers, aides worked with children in activities designed to increase reading readiness. There were no initial differences between groups (Metropolitan Readiness Test, Form R), but there were significant differences at the end of one semester in favor of the groups with aides.     

The discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices: a study of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong

This study examines the discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices in Hong Kong kindergartens and the factors that influence this discrepancy. Three kindergartens, considered by the Hong Kong Education Bureau to be of varying quality, were chosen from different areas of Hong Kong. Questionnaires about teaching beliefs were administered to 35 teachers from these kindergartens. These quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data gathered during individual interviews with five of the teachers and the three principals. In addition, a focus group of five early childhood education specialists commented on the videotaped observations of the classroom practices of the five interviewed teachers. The findings showed that all of the teachers endorsed the advocated teaching beliefs, but there was a discrepancy between their beliefs and practices. The most significant factors contributing to the discrepancy were teachers’ professional education and their attitudes towards personal teaching introspection. Teachers were also under pressure from parents’ curriculum requests, demands on the children’s academic abilities and expectations for a strong link to Primary One. Enhanced early childhood education training that helps teachers to be introspective about their own teaching practices and beliefs is recommended. Government support is also required to teach parents what constitutes a high-quality learning environment for young children.     

A comparison between primary school principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of students’ online risk behaviours: the role of perceived self-efficacy

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to investigate and compare school principals’ and teachers’ perceptions regarding online risk behaviours in school-aged children, examining simultaneously the predictive role of their perceived self-efficacy in their perceptions under study. The participants were 237 principals and 295 teachers, mainly from Central Macedonia and Attica, who completed a self-reported online questionnaire. According to the findings, participants declared awareness of students’ online risk behaviours. However, compared to teachers, principals to a greater extent felt confident to manage this issue and support school community involvement in the prevention of/intervention in it. Furthermore, principals’ self-efficacy in promoting students’ learning/ethical behaviours in school and teachers’ self-efficacy in managing students’ behavioural problems inside a classroom predicted positively their perceptions under study. The findings indicate the necessity of applying differentiated related training programmes for principals and teachers, highlighting simultaneously the importance of their perceived self-efficacy in how they approach the issue studied.     

Predicting teacher emotional labour based on multi-frame leadership orientations: a case from Turkey

Human behaviours in organisations are closely associated with leadership styles. The main purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between teachers’ perception about multi-frame leadership orientations of principals and teachers’ emotional labour. The study is based on Bolman and Deal’s Four Frames Model, and, therefore, the Leadership Orientation Scale and Emotional Labour Scale are used. The participants of this research are 570 teachers. The teachers’ perceptions showed that school principals tend to mostly use political and structural frames. In addition, teachers consider themselves as having a high level of genuine emotions. It was also found that school principals’ leadership orientations are significant predictors of emotional labour.     

Professional standards for teachers—what are they good for?

This article reports on a study of teacher and principal attitudes to newly mandated teacher standards in Australia. The qualitative study of 36 teachers and principals was conducted over 12 months as the new educators in five schools completed a mandatory teacher probation process framed by the teacher standards. The study found positive attitudes to teacher standards from both teachers and principals. Contextual reasons, including teacher ownership over the standards and their implementation, are discussed as possible reasons for the positive manner in which the participants in the study received these new standards for teachers.