The Real World Management Preoccupations of Primary School Heads

The role of the primary school headteacher has undergone significant changes since the Education Reform Act (1988). The purpose of this article is to explore the real time issues arising from the change of role of primary heads and also seeks to contribute to a greater understanding of the real world preoccupations of primary heads. The article is based on the results of a 2-year qualitative study of 12 primary headteachers and explores key issues for primary heads. The following key issues were identified by the heads: an increase in management; the role of the deputy head; relationships with school governors; parental involvement and the role of the headteacher as social worker; role overload and stress; professional support and the role of the advisers.     

The Role of Senior Public Relations Administrators in Institutional Decision Making: Are They at the Table?

ABSTRACT

The literature in higher education public relations affirms that senior public relations administrators should be involved in institutional decision making at colleges and universities. However, public relations professionals are often stereotyped more as information processors and manipulators than as key members of an institution's senior management team. This study examines the role of senior public relations administrators in institutional decision making at the 14 universities in Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (SSHE). Based on the findings of this study, it may be concluded that SSHE senior public relations administrators are often not included in efforts to resolve important issues and influence institutional decisions.     

Factors influencing a secondary school physical education teacher’s role as a pastoral head of year

ABSTRACT

Utilising the occupational socialisation theoretical framework, this United Kingdom based case study explored how a secondary school physical education teacher fulfilled the head of year role and what childhood, university and on-the-job experiences influenced execution of this role. Data were collected from interviews, lesson observations and a self-reflective journal. Inductive data analysis and constant comparison identified that the participant attempted to be an ‘administrative finisher’ and ‘empower’ staff, parents and pupils. These aims were influenced by the de-prioritisation of physical education, a desire to retain control of administrative situations, and the influence of past and present teachers. To overcome the issues that the dual roles of head of year and subject teacher present, it is recommended that a ‘timetabled’ period at the beginning and/or end of the day be utilised for important head of year tasks, and greater formal responsibility is given to the assistant head of year. The findings of this study suggest further research possibilities. Firstly, there is a need to examine the influence of teaching other subjects whilst undertaking the head of year role. Secondly, investigating the impact of childhood and university socialisation upon teachers’ fulfilment of other pastoral and/or leadership roles such as head of department, deputy head or head teacher appears warranted.     

The role of institutional research in college management

Abstract

Institutional research is well established in postsecondary institutions in the USA as an effective tool for provision of accurate, reliable data to support management decision making. Institutional research offices are much less prevalent in such institutions in the UK however, particularly in colleges. The purpose of this paper is to outline the principal roles and functions of an institutional research office, briefly discuss relevant staffing issues (including important qualifications), and suggest some practical considerations regarding the role of institutional research in college management.     

Workload and compensation among criminal justice faculty members: A national survey

This article reports the results of a nationwide survey of ASC and ACJS members conducted in spring 1991. The respondents first were asked to describe their current academic position, their department, and the nature of their teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities in the course of a typical academic year. Respondents then were asked about various salary and compensation issues. ANOVA was used to explore the impact of various structural and demographic factors (e.g., type of appointment, academic rank, gender, region, department, and university size) on salary levels.     

Campus climate: The role of teacher support and cultural issues

ABSTRACT

The literature on campus climate has mainly focused on diversity and demographic variables within single or multiple university campuses from one country. There is a need to investigate campus climate further with regard to cultural issues and the role of teachers. This study thus proposed to examine perceived teacher support as a mediator of the relation between institutional and psychosocial variables of the campus climate of two universities from two culturally distinct countries. To achieve this goal, 980 Brazilian and Portuguese university students answered the Institutional and Psychosocial Campus Climate Inventory. Findings showed significant differences in how students from two different countries described their campus climate and how both Brazilian and Portuguese students described their institutional climate more accurately than their psychosocial climate. Moreover, results from a mediation analysis revealed that perceived teacher support mediated the relationship between students’ perceptions of the institutional readiness of their university and their sense of well-being, as well as newcomer adjustment. A moderation analysis showed that the country of origin moderated the relationship between students’ perceived teacher support and newcomer adjustment. Implications for developing a positive campus climate are discussed.     

Research and the Development of Educational Assessment

This paper discusses significant examples of the impact of research studies on practice and policy in educational assessment. The discussion focuses on selected issues in three main areas, concerned respectively with formative assessment, with high-stakes summative tests, and with assessment in large-scale surveys. It is concluded that the effects of research have been uneven and weak, in part because of lack of co-ordination of studies and of any one strong institutional centre. However, researchers are also faced with the difficult task of changing the understanding of assessment issues, both amongst the general public and amongst policy makers.     

Collaborating with colleagues for the sake of academic and professional development in higher education

Abstract

This research examines how faculty members in higher education collaborate with colleagues, their collaborative professional work, the nature of these collaborations, and the benefits they get from it. Research findings show that collaborations are perceived as one of the important components of academic and professional development. The findings indicate issues about the characteristics and nature of collaborations as well as about colleagues with whom faculty members prefer to collaborate, the ways in which they collaborate, the advantages of collaborations, and the important role that academic leaders and institutions play in encouraging collaborations.     

Research News

In secondary schools, subjects dominate teaching and also the organizational structures. Typically, subject department heads perform a middle-management role in secondary schools and often this role is taken-for-granted and unquestioned. In this article, we examine the impact on secondary school culture and the resulting changes to practice when the department middle-management structure and roles are open to revision. We investigate the experiences of two schools that are part of a longitudinal study on reculturing and restructuring in all secondary schools in one school district in Ontario, Canada. Our research indicates that structural change initiated by school level participants is a prerequisite to real change and that structural changes preceded cultural changes. However, it is the process of creating the new structures that is the key consideration as mandating an alternative might not be facilitative of cultural change. The primary research question guiding this article is: what impact does involvement in restructuring a middle-management organizational model have on the culture of a school and the change process experienced by staff members?     

From Pilot Project to Strategic Development: Scaling up staff support in the use of ICT for teaching and learning

The UHI Millennium Institute (UHI) comprises an academic partnership of 13 further education colleges and research institutes in northern Scotland. In order to sustain accessible learning provision at Higher Education level across the Highlands and Islands, the UHI academic partners have to develop ways of collaboratively developing and facilitating courses using electronic communication. A key factor for the successful develop ment of new ways of working and teaching is the implementation of effective staff support. Current research often focuses on issues surrounding staff development programmes on a small scale and neglects problems associated with scaling up these programmes. This study aims to address these issues by examining the creation of a peer support scheme, its evaluation and subsequent expansion. It will be of interest to staff developers and managers wishing to implement strategic institutional policy.     

Revisiting perceived service quality in higher education: uncovering service quality dimensions for postgraduate students

ABSTRACT

Perceived service quality in higher education and its antecedents have been one of the significant issues worldwide. Despite being studied over decades, service quality (SQ) remains a crucial area of research due to its dynamic and contextual nature, among other reasons. The main research objective is to uncover the dimensions constituting SQ from the perspectives of postgraduate students and university staff to provide a better understanding of key elements of the SQ. The current research incorporated relevant theories and concepts from both marketing and higher education literature and employed in-depth interviews with students and staff for data collection. Interviewees’ insights were analyzed using content analysis. A conceptual model is developed to explain the suggested relationship among study variables. Based on qualitative data analysis, four dimensions of SQ emerged, namely academic services, academic facilities, administrative services, and students’ service role. Additionally, performance and employee orientation are found to affect SQ. Research findings can guide education managers and academicians to consider students’ service role as an integral dimension of SQ and find new ways to improve it.     

List of Reviewers 2006

ASCTRACT

This study aims to analyze the potential and constraints of group-based extension approaches as an institutional innovation in the Vietnamese agricultural extension system. Our analysis therefore unfolds around the challenges of how to foster this kind of approach within the hierarchical extension policy setting and how to effectively shape and enable learning groups. The analysis draws on qualitative data from case studies of five newly established extension groups in Son La province, collected between 2007 and 2008. Content analysis was applied as the main analytical tool. The basic principles of group-based learning approaches are still underdeveloped, mainly due to a non-supportive institutional environment and a command-and-follow mentality. Extension groups suffer from an insufficient distinction between social processes and technical procedures. Finding an appropriate balance between enhancing leadership and supporting collective responsibility is identified as key to sustain groups. The research identified room for adjustments in group-organizational issues since the external institutional environment is hard to change. The particular value of this paper lies in addressing how to organize group-extension approaches in the context of reformed extension systems in a transitional socialist setting.     

Curriculum Balance,Curriculum Review and Curriculum‐led Staffing: A Response

There are an increasing number of research studies concerned with the realm of middle management in schools. However, few of these studies have adequately defined what might be considered middle management in schools, or have clarified which posts constitute those of middle managers. In addition, these studies have rarely considered the way in which different departmental cultures and structures affect leadership style and departmental performance. This article acknowledges the importance of the role of the head of department in secondary schools in school wide change and outlines some of tensions and dilemmas facing those who manage from the middle. It considers the leadership tensions facing heads of department in secondary schools and points towards the variety of departmental contexts, structures and cultures in which heads of department, or subject leaders operate. The article offers an analysis of the dynamic between leadership and culture within the departmental context. It concludes by suggesting that heads of department have a major contribution to play in managing cultural change at both the department and whole school level.     

On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey

Abstract

Academic Development is a diverse and complex profession that is becoming an increasingly important aspect of higher education, albeit that in general terms it is not necessarily highly enough valued at institutional and departmental levels. To raise the profile of the profession it may be tempting to provide a narrow definition of the nature of Academic Development and the appropriate credentials of the ‘Developers’. Such a move could stifle the creativity and the diversity of skills that exist within the profession and that render it problematic to define. However, to place value on our chosen field it is important for Developers to work towards a shared conception of Academic Development as a unique profession. The intention of this paper is to contribute to the dialogue and discussion of this issue through critical reflection on my personal journey into this profession. While some of the issues raised by Andresen (1996) relating to the nature of Academic Development, pathways to credibility within the profession and issues relating to accredited programmes for Academic Developers are addressed, it is important to state that this paper is limited to reflections on my own journey, which I consider to be neither unique nor ordinary, into the profession.     

Transformations in higher education in agricultural and food sciences in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Current changes in agricultural and food science higher education in Central and Eastern Europe are interesting for the analysis of the repercussions of post communist economic and social transition, particularly in the adaptation and restructuring of scientific and technical education.

Using an institutional approach and referring to their experiences of these educational systems, the authors provide a Western view of current transformations and areas of development of higher education in agricultural and food sciences in the countries concerned. The emergence of a new social demand and of new systems of access to employment implies re-evaluation and adaptation of former training models. The authors suggest that the current reflection on the question should focus on three key issues:

• -redefinition of the role and function of managers in the agricultural and food economic sector;

• -replacement of a production-oriented approach by a more comprehensive approach to the problem of rural development;

• -recognition of the educational value of biological sciences as both models and tools for the acquisition of knowledge and the management of complex systems.

     

The writing center and international students in a Japanese university: a language management perspective

ABSTRACT

One of the institutional challenges of taking in large numbers of international graduate students is supporting their academic literacy skills. To accommodate a large population of international students, Japanese universities offer various services to support their academic studies and life-related issues, such as hiring international student advisors, offering Japanese language courses, and implementing peer-support programs. As a type of academic support for writing for international students, writing centers have caught the attention of universities in the last decade. To examine the institutional role of the writing center at a Japanese university, this study employs a language management lens to compare the beliefs and interests among administrators, tutors, and international students in improving international students’ Japanese writing. Interviews with the three groups of participants displayed incongruences between the administrators’ interests aligned with institutional goals, the educational philosophy of the writing center, and international students’ language learning needs. The findings point to the tutors' crucial role as language specialists who inform organized language management, and the necessity for collaboration between academic support units and faculty members in providing sufficient academic socialization environments for international students.     

Permanent uncertainty as normality? Finnish-Russian double degrees in the post-Crimea world

ABSTRACT

EU-Russia higher education cooperation has continued despite global tensions including Crimea incorporation. One example of this cooperation is the development of Finnish-Russian double degree programmes.

This paper focuses on institutional environments where double degrees develop and asks how and why they produce uncertainty from inside Finnish and Russian universities in the period of this unfavourable political situation. The matryoshka model is applied to understand the institutional environment of a university and the institutions around it. The institutional nature of a double degree is determined by comparative analysis of how internal university stakeholders in Finland and Russia perceive a programme’s benchmarks.

The study is based on the analysis of interviews conducted in partner universities. This paper discusses how perceptions of double degrees influence uncertainty in programme provision within and between institutional environments in Finnish and Russian universities. In addition, the level of institutionalisation of the double degrees may be evaluated.     

Telecommunications: Engineering education through telecommunications: Policy recommendations for the states

Abstract

This article examines copyright issues related to online course development and delivery. An overview and brief history of copyright law is presented, with attention to the ways in which various technologies have shaped modern interpretations of copyright law. Examples of recent lawsuits and several case studies provide a context for examination of fair use issues and liability for online copyright infringement. Finally, some helpful questions are presented on topics such as process issues, institutional policies, software and licensing, copyright issues, and other alternatives. These questions should provide a basis to help online course providers think through issues related to copyright, the Internet, and distance education.     

The Authored Voice: Emerging approaches to exegesis design in creative practice PhDs

Abstract

In 2004, Robert Nelson noted in creative, practice-led research degrees that the exegesis had been reconceptualised as a cultural contribution to scholarship. He suggested that the challenge this posed was the need for writing to interface effectively with the nature and calibre of the creative work. A decade on from his observation, this article employs a case study to discuss emerging approaches to the exegesis in the work of graphic design doctoral candidates at AUT University in New Zealand. Accepting the multi-perspectival and multi-voiced nature of the practice-led exegesis writer, it discusses approaches to both structure and presentation. In so doing, it also considers specific issues, including negotiated relationships between the role and the nature of the designer’s voice, systems of narration, and issues impacting upon both digital and print formats.