School Principals’ Self‐Efficacy and its Measurement in a Context of Restructuring

The self‐efficacy of the principal to cope with change can be an important mediator in accomplishing change and in reducing the stress levels of the principal. Moreover, the concept of self‐efficacy of school principals assumes added importance in a context of restructuring and school‐based management, with greater decision‐making responsibilities passing to the school community. A measurement scale is presented that is specific to the self‐efficacy of principals when coping with change in the context of restructuring. The psychometric properties of the scale are outlined, and its usefulness demonstrated with a series of regression equations between attributes of restructuring and principals’ self‐efficacy.     

Societal Culture and School Leadership Charting the Way Ahead

This paper discusses four issues emerging from the papers that make up the special edition. These are considered key issues as researchers further investigate the influence of societal culture on educational administration and leadership. The four selected issues target the definition of societal culture; possible relationships between organizational culture, personality and societal culture; the interface between school leadership, educational policy and societal culture; and some of the limitations of Hofstede's framework for guiding the study of cultural influence in educational administration. Each of the issues revolves around the concept of societal culture and its application as an explanatory and analytic device in the field of educational administration and leadership.     

Insights into Educational Administration: The Need for a Cross-Cultural Comparative Perspective

This article summarizes the case for adopting a cross-cultural comparative approach to the study of educational administration and leadership. In the first section, we state the main arguments for strengthening a societal cultural approach to educational administration and leadership. The second and third sections outline why culture is a useful concept for analysis and comparison in educational administration, and briefly review the concept of culture itself. The fourth section outlines an influential approach for investigating the influence of culture, that of Hofstede, and suggests that his framework provides a worthwhile starting point for educational researchers. The final section notes a number of important issues which researchers need to consider when exploring the influence of societal culture on educational administration. In summary, we suggest that a cross-cultural comparative approach to educational administration and leadership can expose the value of theory and practice from different cultural perspectives which may then, in turn, inform and influence existing dominant paradigms.     

Central Government and Higher Education Planning 1965–1986

The development of a planning body for public sector higher education in England has created the potentiality for an integrated planning approach to university and non-university higher education. Following a difficult birth, the National Advisory Body has worked with the University Grants Committee on a range of transbinary issues. The contrasting relationships between the Department of Education and Science and the two planning bodies is discussed and the need for further developments of the planning machinery debated. The arrangements for Wales and Scotland are also discussed .     

School Effectiveness and School Improvement in Context: The Case of South Africa

This article explores the issue of whether lists of characteristics constituting the effective school are universally valid. It argues that the effectiveness or otherwise of schools must be understood contextually as there are significant differences between both the material and ideological contexts of schooling. The article uses the example of South Africa to demonstrate the difficulties in judging schools in one context using criteria developed in another. Three examples of schools that can be considered effective in the context of the new South Africa are described and discussed and the article concludes by arguing that education for peace and democracy is an essential feature of school effectiveness in South Africa.