Involvement of heads of departments in strategic planning in schools in the Pinetown District

ABSTRACT

Strategic planning is crucial in facilitating sustainable development of schools. It enables schools to survive and cope with changes and challenges from government policies and market forces. There is broad agreement that all stakeholders need to be part of school strategic planning. In response to the lack of evidence suggesting stakeholders’ involvement – specifically that of Heads of Department (HOD) – in strategic planning in schools, and its value in ensuring that all stakeholders execute their duties, HODs’ experiences regarding their involvement in strategic planning were explored. Qualitative research was undertaken and semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data. The study reveals that the HODs were involved in some form of planning but there is no evidence suggesting their participation in substantive issues on strategic planning. Further, the study reveals that transparency-driven leadership and collaboration are key factors to ensure HODs’ participation in strategic planning. The findings suggest that the involvement of HODs is crucial towards improving teaching and learning.     

Strategic management in South African education: The leadership dimension

Abstract

Since the introduction of the South African Schools Act, 1996 and the shift to school self-management, strategic management has become an important issue in South African schools. This shift requires a proactive leadership approach by the school principal. The focus in this article is on the leadership dimension of strategic management by the school principal. After elucidating the relationship between strategic management, strategy implementation and leadership, a model of long-term leadership is presented and then applied to the strategic leadership role of the school principal. Acceptable theory in relevant management literature formed the basis of the exposition of the relationship between strategic management, strategy implementation and leadership, while the model of long-term leadership, which was developed from existing leadership models and literature, formed the basis of the discussion of the principal's strategic leadership function. From this emanated new insight into the strategic leadership role of the school principal. This formed the basis of a discussion on the impediments facing the principal in the fulfilment of the function of strategic leader.     

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.     

敢于担当的干部队伍建设路径探析

建设敢于担当的干部队伍是新常态下干部工作的重点和努力方向。本文从敢于担当的要义解读入手,对领导干部与敢于担当之间存在内在逻辑关系进行了深入分析,指出实现领导干部敢于担当是干部队伍建设的内在要求。在此基础上,笔者从理论视角对敢于担当的干部队伍建设路径提出了对策和建议,一方面需要领导干部加强自身建设,另一方面也需要党的干部工作为其提供坚强的组织保障。     

Reframing the university as an emergent organisation: implications for strategic management and leadership in higher education

For the most part, the organisational forms that are currently being adopted by higher education institutions are grounded in the traditional corporate models of organisation that take a rational approach to organisational change management. Underlying this account is an assumption of organisational autonomy and the capacity of designated leaders to direct such change processes. However, a case is now being made for the consideration of alternative organisational theories or models that offer a different perception on the sources and patterns of organisational change in higher education. These theories perceive organisations more as emergent entities in which change is continuous, often unpredictable and arising mainly from local interactions. The paper surveys the implications that acceptance of the alternative paradigm might have for strategising and change leadership in higher education institutions. It suggests that the accommodation of these alterative paradigms of institutional development in higher education may itself be an emergent process.     

Redefining leadership in schools: the Cheshire Cat as unconventional metaphor

ABSTRACT

Moving away from the study of the principal as the central leader figure in schools, this article argues for an alternative narrative for school leadership. It draws on empirical data from a doctoral study to propose a new way of thinking about the school leader through the unusual metaphor of the Cheshire Cat.

Examining the stories of 11 school leaders from one independent PK-12 Western Australian school, including middle leaders who are often absent in school leadership literature, this article provides insights into school leaders’ perceptions of themselves as leaders, and their private processes of decision making. These leader stories challenge the notion of school leadership as an archetypal story of a central figure, showing that it can instead be quiet, subtle, fluid, and even deliberately invisible.

The visible-invisible Cheshire Cat school leader enacts collective vision, action, and transformation by acting as a deliberate and skilled collaborator in a complex, networked web. This reimagined school leader is one who makes careful decisions about how to best serve their communities, how to foster trust, and how to distribute power and agency, including when to appear and disappear, when to step forward and step back, when to direct and when to empower.     

Exclusion and the strategic leadership role of SENCos in England: planning for Covid-19 and future crises

A small-scale study investigated the role of SENCos in England immediately prior to, during and following the first closure of schools nationally in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A mixed-methods research strategy comprising semi-structured interviews and a national online survey generated data related to SENCos' involvement in strategic planning for crisis conditions, focusing specifically on students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and concerns about exclusionary practices. Findings suggest that pandemic conditions have exacerbated familiar issues related to the SENCo role and SEND provision in English schools, such as engagement in reactive firefighting, onerous workloads, uneven SENCo involvement in strategic planning, and schools' failure to prioritise students with SEND. Minimal evidence of ‘advocacy leadership’ or of SENCos challenging exclusionary practices was found. As in earlier research, evidence was also found for disparities between anecdotal and published data relating to illegal exclusion.     

Middle leaders and middle leadership in schools: exploring the knowledge base (2003–2017)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to explore the development of the knowledge base on middle leadership in schools. Since the seminal reviews conducted by Bennett a contemporary scan only of the scholarly literature on middle leaders/leadership in schools has not been undertaken. Consequently, this article looks at outputs relating to this topic by examining research papers indexed in the Web of Science and in SCOPUS between 2003 and 2017. The prime purpose of this review is to offer some reflections on the development of the empirical base on middle leadership in schools since 2003 and to highlight some of the implications for future research. The article concludes that middle leadership in schools remains an ongoing focus of research inquiry in a growing number of countries but suggests that the knowledge base would benefit from more sophisticated empirical studies and greater theoretical analysis.     

"根据地干部教育史"研究旨趣

“干部教育”是我国从根据地时期开始的特殊历史条件的产物。根据地“干部”及“干部教育”的概念,一向以党务干部、政府干部和军队干部为主要对象。干部教育以政治、军事为主,兼顾文化教育与业务教育。这种教育传统对现行的干部教育产生了重要影响。     

Leading positive change in higher education through appreciative inquiry: a phenomenological exploration of the strategic planning process

This study explored the application and impact of using appreciative inquiry in the strategic planning process at a Canadian institution. Appreciative inquiry is a strength-based organisational development model that can be used to guide an institution’s dialogues and actions towards positive change. Applying the appreciative inquiry process in strategic planning challenges the deficit and negative connotations that may be associated with this process. Through phenomenological interviews with seven stakeholders involved in this process, their transformative experiences and the generative impact of the process were explored. Implications for higher education practitioners were also provided.     

Performance of student software development teams: the influence of personality and identifying as team members

One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been to study two components of the aggregate personalities of the team members: conscientiousness and agreeableness. A second line of research, known as self-categorisation theory, argues that identifying as team members and the team's performance norms should substantially influence the team's performance. This paper explores the influence of both these perspectives in university software engineering project teams. Eighty students worked to complete a piece of software in small project teams during 2007 or 2008. To reduce limitations in statistical analysis, Monte Carlo simulation techniques were employed to extrapolate from the results of the original sample to a larger simulated sample (2043 cases, within 319 teams). The results emphasise the importance of taking into account personality (particularly conscientiousness), and both team identification and the team's norm of performance, in order to cultivate higher levels of performance in student software engineering project teams.     

Teacher evaluation policy as perceived by school principals: the case of Flanders (Belgium)

In Flanders (Belgium), a new teacher evaluation policy was issued which placed a lot of autonomy with school principals to develop and implement a new teacher evaluation system. In this study, we explore how Flemish principals perceive the new teacher evaluation policy and what influences their perception. Results demonstrate that principals perceive the policy as clear, but they are rather negative about the need, practicality, and complexity of the summative teacher evaluation. This perception is influenced by policy, context, and individual factors as is demonstrated in our qualitative analyses.     

中国民族教育发展战略模式选择研究

通过民族教育发展的需求与供给、质量与数量、普及与提高、公平与效益等重大关系问题的研究,对民族教育发展进程中的各种因素进行分析、权衡和取舍、提出指导今后中国民族教育发展的模式和原则,以保证各级各类民族教育协调发展,充分利用有限的资源,最大限度地发挥民族教育的内部和外部效益。     

论职业学校“双师型”教师队伍建设

职业学校要培养适应21世纪需要的应用型劳动者,要求教师既要有扎实的理论知识,更要有熟练的专业操作技能,这就需要培养一支＂双师型＂教师队伍。文章从职业学校＂双师型＂教师队伍建设的必要性、现状及建设思路三个方面进行了探讨。     

试论政府的民办教育战略

民办教育与政府战略关系密切 ,应将民办教育纳入行政改革理论的视野 ,以其发展现状作为战略思考的现实基础 ,在对其公益性和私益性考量之后 ,以重塑政府的战略要求来重塑教育。     

美国大学发展史上巨人校长的领导过程与特征研究

19世纪中后期美国高等教育出现了一次重大转型,推动这一过程的是一批巨人般的大学校长。他们的领导过程包含了理念和愿景的建构,引领大学实现与外部环境相适应,建设性运用权力,努力获取资源等。由此,他们的领导实践形成了与其他时期校长领导不同的特征。     

高校学院发展战略实施研究

战略实施需要战略规划编制、战略实施中的战略宣传、领导力、制度、资源和环境等多种因素的匹配和支持。促进学院战略实施可采取如下措施：加强战略领导,推进战略管理;分解目标、任务,进行责任分担;优化资源配置,保证战略重点;完善制度设计,加强战略评估等。     

试论高职院校中督导工作在专职辅导员队伍建设中的作用

本研究是以高职院校专职辅导员队伍建设中相关问题为研究对象,从辅导员队伍建设、辅导员学生管理工作、辅导员培养等方面对高职院校督导工作进行全方位的指导、检查、评价。     

Promoting the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in South Africa

The British Index for Inclusion was selected to be used in three primary schools in the Western Cape Province in South Africa in order to develop a South African model to assist in the development of inclusive schools. The Index for Inclusion process entails progression through a series of five developmental phases and this paper, written by Petra Engelbrecht, professor in educational psychology and special education and senior research director at Stellenbosch University, Marietjie Oswald, lecturer in special education at Stellenbosch University, and Chris Forlin, associate professor in special education at the Hong Kong Institute of Special Education, is a reflection of the first two phases. Qualitative data were generated from the consultative process followed in the schools during the first phase and both qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires regarding the perceptions of all school community members on the inclusive practices or lack thereof in their schools during the second phase. The authors drew out the following five themes from the three sets of data: an inclusive school philosophy; democratic leadership, structures, processes and values; collaboration; addressing learner diversity; and resources. Petra Engelbrecht, Marietjie Oswald and Chris Forlin, all of whom were working on a UNESCO-funded project to trial the use of the Index for Inclusion in South Africa, suggest that these themes provided invaluable insights into both the common and unique complexities, the problems and the assets of the different school communities. The themes are discussed in detail in this article, raising fascinating issues for the development of inclusion in different contexts around the world, and will be used to inform the three remaining phases of the Index for Inclusion process.     

浅论华北抗日根据地的干部教育和群众教育

抗日战争时期,日本帝国主义大肆进行文化思想的侵略,贯彻奴化教育.为了 粉碎日本的阴谋,华北抗日根据地展开了教育战线的对敌斗争和建设.教育在开辟、扩大、巩固和发展根据地中发挥了重要作用,取得了显著成绩和宝贵经验.