Diversity in the principalship: The impact of the formative years

This paper presents the key findings of a recent study into the relationship between first time principals' formative years and their early experiences in the leadership role. The family, school and religion all had a significant influence in shaping basic values and beliefs, and the beliefs and values in turn exercised considerable influence on how new principals carried out their roles. It was evident that the socialization agencies of principals' respective families, workplaces and schools all played a noticeable role in the conception of their ‘self’ and their ‘leadership character’. The study also illustrates the impact of early experiences on the educators even before they took up positions of leadership, and throws light on their aspirations to become leaders and the strategies they employed to work their way up the career ladder. The paper explains how early life experiences, when combined with the historical, economic and cultural context in Singapore, affected the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of the novice principals. Finally, the paper examines some of the things that were perceived by the new principals as either supporting or hindering their practice, and at how they were affected. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The principalship,autonomy, and after

Contemporary discourses in educational administration have exponentially grown the number of adjectival leaderships, challenged traditional organisational structures, and offered autonomy as a solution to performance issues. In this theoretical paper, I ask what does the principalship look like after autonomy? Despite the range of objections that could be raised in relation to thinking with and through an organisational role, it is the contention of this paper that it is in the principalship that we find important resources for theorising educational administration, even if, at first sight, these resources appear to bear little connection to, or resonance with, contemporary discourses of ‘leadership’ in education. Working within a relational approach to educational administration that I am advancing, my argument is built around three key markers: the centrality of temporality, the (im)possibility of the local, and the imposition of ‘quality’.     

The principalship in developing countries: context,characteristics and reality

This article seeks to shed light on the contexts and characteristics of principalship in developing countries, as well as to examine similarities and differences between principals in developed and developing countries. Twenty‐seven papers constitute the data on which external influences on principalship, patterns of leadership styles and managerial aspects of the principal's role are analysed. Although there is no one portrait of school principalship in developing countries, some common features were revealed, such as limited autonomy, autocratic leadership style, summative evaluation, low degree of change initiation, and lack of instructional leadership functions. Theoretical implications and suggestions for educational policy and reforms are presented.     

The serendipity of principalship: meaning-making of a filipino secondary school principal

Meaning-making is vital in the realm of principalship. It serves as the fulcrum of one’s practice which eventually leads to seeing the light and appreciating the serendipity of principalship. While explicit knowledge abounds in the literature and is communicated in professional development programs, the role of the principals’ tacit knowledge derived from their experiences, day-to-day dealings with the school’s stakeholders, observations, insights, and reflections are vital inputs in understanding the dynamics of school principalship. This narrative inquiry is an attempt to capture the tacit knowledge of a Filipino secondary school principal whose experiences were limited by the absence of a formal academic preparation in school management but illumined by herleadership reflective space (LRS) which enabled her to surface the serendipitous language of principalship.     

A narrative inquiry into schooling in China: three images of the principalship

This narrative inquiry exploring contemporary Chinese schooling involved three researchers who worked collaboratively as a team. Each researcher resonated with a different image of the principalship embedded in the storied account proffered by Xu Xiaozhang 校长, leader of Hexie Elementary School in Tianjin, China. (1) Principal as the lead teacher; (2) principal as an agent of a harmonious learning community; and (3) principal as a teacher-maker were the images Principal Xu held and expressed. In the interpretive analysis, Xu Xiaozhang’s images of principal were nested one within the other in ways that brought Deweyan pragmatism and Confucian thought fruitfully together. The subtle nuances of the images provide an upclose view of schooling on one elementary campus in China that is of international interest and value.     

教学风格是优秀教师教学艺术的理想境界

教学风格是一顶标志着教师教学艺术高度成熟的桂冠。因为教学艺术集中体现在教师是否形成了独具个性的教学风格。没有独特个性、没有风格的教学，只是教科书的传声筒，终将为教学机器所取代。所以优秀教师们都以形成自己的教学艺术及其风格作为追求的目标。确实，每个教师都有可能形成自己的教学风格，关键是看你能否像这些优秀教师一样在充满挑战的教学艺术实践中自觉追求教学风格的形成与完善。 一、教学风格是优秀教师们追求的最高境界 　　歌德曾指出：“风格，这是艺术所能企及的最高境界，艺术是可以向人类最崇高的努力相抗衡的境界…     

Preparing for principalship from the crucible of experience: reflecting on theory,practice and research

This paper examines the theories of organisation that have informed our understanding of schools as complex social worlds and the practice of school leadership that seems to be required in such environments. This understanding has, in turn, determined the research approach we have adopted for investigating principals’ work and for ascertaining the utility of existing approaches to their initial preparation. The paper argues that the extent to which preparation processes align with principals’ professional needs will depend on the extent to which they are able to connect with the realities of workplaces found in schools as well as the environments in which they are located. For this purpose, it is desirable to pursue the kind of enquiry that is capable of revealing what schools leaders know and brings them to a new stage in their thinking about practice.     

Clark's invitation to the dance: An instructional Designer's response

He would like to thank his colleague, Walter Dick, for suggesting he examine this issue from the point of view of an instructional designer. He would also like to thank his medical consultants—Dr. Mark Shamis, Dr. William Kaufman, and Linda Reiser, RN.     

Business statistics at the top 50 US business programmes

We surveyed fifty leading undergraduate business schools concerning their statistics requirements. We report on many aspects including credit‐hours required, topics covered, computer integration, faculty background, teaching pedagogy, textbooks, and recent and proposed changes.     

Women at the top: Female full professors in higher education in Israel

The perceptions and attitudes of women who have reached the top of the academic hierarchy (female full professors) are examined in reference to the effects of gender on their scientific work and career. The analyses refer to a number of issues such as encapsulation and isolation, opportunities and achievement. In general, female full professors do not feel that they have been discriminated against in the course of their careers. They are nevertheless aware of the different career patterns of the sexes in academia, with women having to work harder and longer than men to establish their suitability and competence as academic scientists. They do not however attribute these differences to sex-based stereotypes and discrimination, but rather to objective conditions and women's own decisions.This study was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation received through the Israel Foundations Trustees.     

Separated at birth: the shared lineage of research on conceptual change and persuasion

Among the aims of education is the endeavor to bring students closer to an understanding of the world-at-large. Although pedagogical methods vary, educators would certainly agree that changing students’ knowledge and beliefs is among the end-goals of successful education (Murphy, 1998, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Maryland, College of Education, College Park, MD). In the educational research literature, this “coming to know” has been referred to as conceptual change, and more recently there has been a resurgence of interest in “coming to believe” most often referred to as persuasion. Given that many researchers have defined belief as a form of knowledge, the delineating features of these two constructs are somewhat opaque. This present work closely examines these two constructs by identifying theoretical forbears of conceptual change and persuasion theory in the domains of philosophy and psychology with the intent of tracing their influence on educational research and practice.     

Tevatron上顶夸克极化效应的研究

在顶色辅助的人工色模型框架下，在Tevatron上研究了顶夸克一反顶夸克对的产生过程中顶夸克的极化效应，在计算过程中，我们运用了CTEQ3部分子分布函数和螺旋度投影算符的方法．研究结果表明，考虑极化后，在绝大部分参数空间内，截面修正小于15％，考虑到理论上的不确定性，该修正在实验上不可探测．因此，在Tevatron上通过顶夸克一反顶夸克对的产生来寻求顶色辅助的人工色模型的线索是不可能的．     

LHC上顶夸克极化效应的研究

在顶色辅助的人工色模型框架下,在LHC上研究了应对的产生过程中顶夸克的极化效应,在计算过程中,运用了CTEQ5部分子分布函数和螺旋度投影算符的方法,结果表明：考虑极化后,在绝大部分参数空间内,截面修正大于15％,该修正在实验上完全可以探测,因此,在LHC上,人们有希望通过应的产生过程发现TC2模型存在的迹象。     

No shared vision for achieving Education for All: Turkey at risk

Turkey is still far from realizing any of the six EFA goals. Since the Dakar Conference there have been many policy initiatives aiming at improving the quality of Turkish education. The impact and effectiveness of those policy initiatives are yet to be evaluated. The deficit of high quality analytical and empirical research constitutes a major weakness. So does the level of attention on monitoring and evaluation from policymakers. The recent introduction of strategic planning and performance-based budgeting could promote more emphasis on evaluation and monitoring in the coming years. In addition, a transparent, overarching education policy could foster policy dialogue among stakeholders. Overall, this article draws attention to the following critical factors for the EFA success in Turkey: political and economic support for education reform; the need to adopt strategy-oriented sector policies; increased capacity and emphasis on evaluation and accountability of educational policy-making; the need for a new national impetus to improve quality in education.

Let the context become your ally: school principalship in two cases from low performing schools in Cyprus

Context has a considerable effect on the role and responsibilities of school principals. The aim of this paper is to provide a holistic perspective of the effects of school principals’ involvement in two low performing schools with different contexts. A qualitative research approach was employed, with individual and focus groups interviews under a multi-actor perspective. Our results suggest that school leaders differ in the way they relate to the inner and outer environment of the school. We suggest that they have to acquire new skills that address entrepreneurial as well as pedagogical tasks, thus exercising edupreneurial leadership.     

Gender ratios at top PhD programs in economics

Analyzing university faculty and graduate students data for ten of the top U.S. economics departments between 1987 and 2007, we find persistent differences in the gender compositions of both faculty and graduate students across departments. There is a positive correlation between the share of female faculty and the share of women in the PhD class graduating six years later. Using instrumental variable analysis, we find robust evidence that this relation is causal. These results contribute to our understanding of the persistent under-representation of women in economics, as well as for the persistent segregation of women in the labor force.     

Staying at the top: playing position and performance affect career length in professional sport

In an effort to understand the process of skill acquisition and decline, researchers have largely neglected a critical aspect of this development – maximizing time at the highest levels of achievement. This study examined length of career for professional athletes in basketball, football, ice hockey, and baseball and considers whether career length differed by position and player performance (standardized career performance). Results revealed career length differences among positions in baseball and football but not basketball and ice hockey. In all sports, longer careers were associated with superior performance, reinforcing the notion that performance is a critical indicator of career length and suggesting positional demands influence career length. Results highlight the need for further work on this important stage of development.