The ‘punk rock principal’: a metaphor for rethinking educational leadership

ABSTRACT

This paper advances an alternative leadership metaphor of ‘punk rock leadership’. I work through the usefulness of a metaphor of punk rock leadership as a way of exploring one principal's vision of leadership and his efforts to work outside of system expectations in his quest to achieve the school's goals. In doing so, I contribute to our wider understanding of the methodological process, affordances, and challenges of using metaphors to theorise empirical data. Empirically, this paper contributes to critical research into principals’ practices in times of change, and to notions of power and leadership discourses in schools.     

Creating a web of support: an important leadership strategy for advancing campus diversity

Research demonstrates that leadership, particularly among presidents, is important for moving a diversity agenda forward and make appreciable progress on it. The research questions pursued here are: What is the role of the college president in advancing a diversity agenda? What strategies do presidents identify as important to facilitating a diversity agenda? There were three main findings: (1) strategies are deployed in a non-linear way best represented through a web metaphor, (2) six sets of actors that serve as key nodes on the web and specific strategies were crucial to enhancing and deepening the web-developing an internal network, hiring, mentoring, partnering with faculty on the curriculum, supporting student affairs staff, working directly with and learning from students, and establishing external networks; and, (3) strategies within the human resource frame are noted by presidents as particularly important to moving a diversity agenda forward.     

Sustaining data use professional learning communities in schools: The role of leadership practices

Sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on data use is a challenge for schools. Sustainability is achieved by making the PLC’s core components evident in schools’ organizational routines. Leadership can support sustainability according to literature, but it is unclear what leadership for sustainability looks like in practice. We therefore investigated what sustainable data use PLCs and leadership look like in three secondary schools, and explored how leadership influences sustainable data use PLCs. A mixed methods design (observations, social network questionnaire, school documents) was used to gain in-depth insight. The findings show that sustainability is difficult to achieve at both the ostensive and performative level. The schools differed in the form of sustainability they achieved. A broad set of leadership practices (e.g., organize meetings, participate actively in PLC, know content and procedure) were carried out in interplay by both formal and informal leaders.     

The challenge of perpetual motion: the willingness and desire of Irish primary school principals to juggle everything

This paper presents a synopsis of selected findings from a co-constructed professional Doctorate in leadership in education. In Ireland, as elsewhere, primary school principals meet the challenges of teaching, community leadership and on-site management in an era of continual change. Formalised leadership acculturation processes are as yet relatively unformed in Ireland and school leadership at local level is arguably an embryonic concept. In most cases therefore, Irish principals meet leadership challenges with limited or no formal preparation. Against this backdrop, a diverse group of 31 primary school principals generated data from the self-observed minutae of researcher-driven diaries and from a colourful spectrum of personal reflections in follow-up semi-structured qualitative interviews. Coding in NVivo and the querying of emergent themes through conceptual frameworks provided detailed evidence of a myriad of daily activities. This paper offers an exploration, in narrative form and with supporting evidence, of principals’ experiences of the perpetual motion of administration, dealing with the unexpected and interacting with staff. The daily practicalities of school governance and community leadership demanded a considerable investment of time and personal interest, to the point that boundaries between principals’ personal and professional lives blurred significantly. Evidence pointed once more to a generally held understanding that life’s journey as a school principal is demanding but worthwhile.     

The preparation of cognitively agile principals for turnaround schools: a leadership preparation programme study

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of two educational leadership university programmes to improve the cognitive agility of their graduates. The research looked to discover whether the aspiring principals exited the programmes with an increased ability to employ cognitive agility – the ability to use the multiple thinking skills of systems thinking, reflecting, and reframing – when engaged in their professional work and solving problems. Both Masters programmes were in School Leadership, offered through the same university department and following the same core curriculum leading to Level 1 educational leadership certification. The results indicate that of the two programmes studied, the Principal Rapid Orientation and Preparation in Educational Leadership (PROPEL) programme, designed to prepare leaders for turnaround schools, produced more cognitively agile graduates than the traditional Master’s programme. The mediating variables of participants’ years of experience and budget responsibility increased the level of cognitive agility of both programme’s graduates.     

案例教学:中小学校长培训课堂教学模式的优化

案例教学的着眼点在于学习者创造能力以及实际解决问题能力的发展,而不仅仅是获得那些固定的原理、规则.中小学校长培训推行案例教学不是单纯的教学方法变革,更是促进中小学校长教育观念的更新、实践反思能力的提高、教师培训观的转变以及培训与受训双方学习共同体的创设等多个层面创新.     

The case study method: exploring the link between teaching and research

Within the ongoing debate on the roles and tensions between teaching and research in higher education, this paper explores the extent to which the pedagogical case study method can contribute to bridge the gap between teaching and research. Based on an initial survey on 1,057 university academics, the results reveal the existence of five major groups of academics with varying degrees of link between the two topics and demonstrate the variations in the contributions that pedagogical case studies contribute to classroom teaching and to scholarly research for each subgroup. The implications for higher education at both the institutional level and the personal academic level are then explored.     

The coordination role in research education: emerging understandings and dilemmas for leadership

Changes in expectations of research education worldwide have seen the rise of new demands beyond supervision and have highlighted the need for academic leadership in research education at a local level. Based on an interview study of those who have taken up local leadership roles in four Australian universities, this paper maps and analyses different dimensions of the emerging leadership role of research education coordination. It argues that while there is increasing clarity of what is required, there are considerable tensions in the nature of the coordination role and how coordination is to be executed. In particular, what leadership roles are appropriate and how can they be positioned effectively within universities? The paper draws on the Integrated Competing Values Framework to focus on the activities of coordination and on ideas of distributed leadership to discuss the leadership that characterises coordination. It is argued that without acknowledgement of the influences that coordinators need to exert and the positioning and support needed to achieve this, the contemporary agenda for research education will not be realised.     

The return of the native: the blurred boundaries of insider/outsider research in an English secondary school

This paper outlines the methodological issues I faced during my research as a ‘returning native’ in an English secondary school. The empirical research took the form of a three‐year case study and used some ethnographic methods, as it comprised interviews carried out over a period of three academic years in the school in which I was once employed as a teacher. I was also given the opportunity to work in the school as a consultant in the lead‐up to and during its Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OfSTED) inspection. This enabled me to conduct interviews, observe, interact in informal conversations and participate in the inspection week. In this paper I explore the unique role of the insider‐researcher, or returning native. Not only was this a school in which I had previously worked, but actually participating in the inspection added new layers of complex loyalty.     

The wicked problem of embedding academic literacies: exploring rhizomatic ways of working through an adaptive leadership approach

Embedding academic literacies in higher education courses has been a major focus of the work of learning advisers. A number of studies present the results of embedding in specific courses without discussing the processes of negotiation or the different people involved. This paper is about embedding academic literacies in the Business faculty as part of an English language proficiency model at an Australian university. After initial slow progress, a team of learning advisers began to evaluate the process by reflecting on practice. This reflection focused on the space between the top-down process as planned and what actually happened in the complex academic environment. There were tensions between the proposed plan and the expectations and understandings of the disciplinary academics. These were used as a starting point to explore the issues in more detail. This paper argues that the task of embedding academic literacies bears all the hallmarks of a ‘wicked problem’ which eludes a linear formulation and is open to multiple framings. The botanical metaphor of the rhizome from the philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari and an adaptive leadership approach offer ways of responding to this problem. This paper reinterprets the team’s experiences using these theories and suggests alternative work practices. By moving away from the concept of a model, more opportunities to bring about attitudinal and curriculum change can be created to make academic literacies explicit for students.     

案例教学在经管类研究生实验课中的应用研究——以石油大学ERP实验课程为例

在经管类研究生培养过程中,如何增加学生参与企业实践的经验和如何加强学生对企业运营活动的理解,一直存在着应用困境。案例教学法通过引入特定场景和数据,可以让学生身临其境地学习,弥补了一些经管类课程尤其是实验课程中,学生参与性不足的问题,对于提高他们的认知能力和实践能力具有积极作用。本文基于长期的教学实践,探讨如何将案例教学法引入到ERP实验教学过程中,分析ERP实验的案例教学目标和方式,并结合具体的ERP软件开展教学内容设计,提出ERP实验的教学案例选择标准。     

馆员学习共同体:图书馆整体提升的一种新范式

馆员学习共同体是提升图书馆整体实力,促进图书馆员学术发展的一种新范式。学习共同体不仅能提高馆员工作积极性和科研能力,而且能提升组织凝聚力,提高图书馆的核心竞争力。馆员学习共同体的构建有一个复杂的过程,成员的筛选和组织是共同体形成的基础,主持人的选拔和培养及共同体的运行评价是保障其质量的关键,支持系统是共同体正常运作的动力来源。     

The potential for developing educational farms: a SWOT analysis from a case study

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Educational farms (EFs) serve a number of social and economic functions and are part of the debate about new learning environments, multifunctional agriculture and firm diversification. Through the analysis of a case study, this paper aims to identify strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of EFs and key factors for setting a development strategy.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A direct survey to EFs in Molise region (IT) was implemented during April-May 2017 and results were assessed following a SWOT approach.

Findings: Strong motivation and connection with agritourism activities are strengths of EFs in the region; small size, unskilled staff, lack of structured educational pathways, and limited profitability are the main weaknesses. Farms opportunities come from a territory rich in rural landscapes, environmental resources, and typical food products, and from a growing demand for educational tourism. Obstacles are in the institutional sphere and due to the absence of regional networks. Based on SWOT findings, key factors for EFs development are discussed.

Practical implications: EFs development requires innovative educational and managerial tools, a more concerted and proactive role for multiple stakeholders, and the implementation of a network approach. Study findings solicit actions from public institutions and advisory services to improve farmers’ skills.

Theoretical implications: The paper contributes to the theoretical debate about the need for a multidisciplinary approach in dealing with the analysis of EFs.

Originality/Value: The analysis underlines the importance of internal and external drivers in stimulating farms and institutions to support diversification strategies, rural development and transformation processes in inner areas.     

课堂教学视频的力量——网络时代教师群体学习的新渠道

网络技术与数字视频技术的成熟使得课堂教学视频研究焕发出新的生命活力,从而成为教师群体学习的新渠道。本文选择国内外八个运用教学视频为主要分析对象的研究项目,采用内容分析法,从群体学习的研究方法、研究目的、支持材料、技术支持、沟通与共享、组织与经费投入、后续发展等七个角度,归纳网络时代基于课堂教学视频分析与共享的教师群体学习新渠道的主要特点,并对适合我国中小学教师的群体创新学习与持续性专业发展提出了建议。     

The writing on the wall: enacting place pedagogies in order to reimagine schooling for Black male youth

This ethnographic case study examines how Black educators at an urban middle school enacted critical place pedagogies in order to create a sense of community – that is, a sense of belonging to the place of school – and mutual nurturing between people and space in an attempt to transform how their Black males experienced school. Educators at Starks Middle School did this in order to subvert the failure narrative that describes negative schooling experiences and the ultimate failure of Black boys across this nation. Place pedagogies of Starks Middle School – the signs, symbols, text, pictures, and affirmations used to educate, encourage, and inspire students – were enacted in order to reimagine school space for their Black male students.     

School self-evaluation for development: The case for and reflections on a training programme

Abstract

This paper explores the case for schools conducting their own self-evaluation to serve the dual purpose of professional development within schools and accountability demands from external sources. The paper is in three parts. The first outlines the argument and benefits for schools conducting their own case study evaluation of their curriculum policies and practices, indicating how this approach is both similar to and different from external case study of schools. The second describes a training programme designed and implemented by the author to support schools in conducting evaluations that are valid, credible and useful. The third presents the participants' and author's reflections on the training and its outcomes and, through an example from one of the schools involved, illustrates what school self-evaluation looks like grounded in the actual experience of undertaking the process. From the evidence presented, the paper concludes that educational professionals, with appropriate support and training, are more than equal to the task of conducting credible and valid case study school self-evaluations.     

Researching the Transition to High School for Adolescents with a Disability: Qualitative Action-Project Method as an Exemplar Approach

ABSTRACT

The transition from elementary to middle or high school is an important experience common to most adolescents in North America. However, very little research has been conducted to understand the experiences of students with a disability status and the stakeholders involved in the transition. Clearly, there is a need to generate information that views the transition as a process between students and stakeholders that takes place over time. This investigation illustrates the utility of the action-project method for studying the transition to middle or high school. Three cases involving Canadian adolescents with different disabilities (learning, sensory/motor and emotional/behavioural) and their parents, as key stakeholders, are presented.     

The resilience of the MBA in emerging economies: student motivations for wanting an MBA in China and the United Arab Emirates

In recent years, domestic demand for MBAs has fallen in most major Western markets but has increased or remained stable in emerging economies such as China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are the two countries globally that host the largest numbers of international branch campuses. Thus, this research aimed to discover why students in China and the UAE still want an MBA. A survey questionnaire was completed by a total of 354 MBA students, at two universities in China and two universities in the UAE. Some of the results were surprising and unexpected. For example, recognition, prestige and networking – all key features in Chinese and Emirati societies – were found not to be key motivators for wanting an MBA. Instead, the desire to acquire knowledge and skills was the strongest motivator among respondents, accounting for 32.4 per cent of variance. This was followed by reasons associated with intrinsic benefits. The findings have implications for institutional strategy, curriculum design, program delivery and the marketing of programs.