An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers,and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262 special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

The uses and abuses of power: teaching school leadership through children's literature

There are relatively few studies of how representations of teachers, schools and educational administrators in popular films and television might be, and are, used in leadership preparation. This paper seeks to add to this small body of work; it reports on an exploratory study of the representation of headteachers in contemporary children's fiction. Thirty-one texts are analysed to ascertain key themes and the major characterisations. The paper draws on children's literature scholars to argue that both the historical school story and its contemporary counterpart focus heavily on the power of the head to control the micro-world of the school. Because these fictional accounts deal with issues of power and justice more openly than many mainstream educational administration texts, this makes them particularly useful in the preparation of potential school leaders.     

Barriers to career progress for women in education: the perceptions of female headteachers

The number of women who achieve senior posts in educational management is disproportionate to the number of women employed. This is particularly true for women in secondary education, where only about 20 per cent of headships are held by women. All the female headteachers of one English shire county were interviewed about their own experiences and views on barriers to women's progress. The interview schedule was based on the author's classification of the theories of Shakeshaft and Schmuck. The data are analysed under the headings of: overt and covert discrimination; constraints experienced within the work situation; and constraints experienced through roles outside the work situation and early career influences. The headteachers had experienced both overt discrimination and more subtle sexism and tended to meet both with pragmatism, rather than confrontation. They had avoided gender‐stereotyped roles within the work situation, and were generally free of the major responsibility for domestic affairs. As children, they had been aware of high educational expectations held of them by their parents. Supportive partnerships and minimal career breaks had been important in their progress.     

Talking about gendered headship: how do women and men working in schools conceive and articulate notions of gender?

In this paper I explore how a woman secondary school headteacher and her colleagues talk about her gendered headship. To facilitate and contextualise the semi-structured interviews, participants were asked to categorise a range of attributes and qualities that have been seen as 'masculine' or 'feminine'. They attempted to plot their perceptions of her gendered headship on a continuum from 'extremely masculine' to 'extremely feminine' in relation to her appearance and interactions in various contexts. Their talk, as they explained and illustrated their thinking, reveals that even from a dualist starting point many have an understanding of the fluid nature of complex, subjective, gendered identities. The rejection of binary notions of gender by some participants disrupts the perpetuation of gender as a dualist concept. In particular, the headteacher forces open a space in which to consider the complexity of her own gendered headship.     

Special school headship in times of change: impossible challenges or golden opportunities?

This article is based on empirical research undertaken by John Baker, headteacher of the largest day special school for pupils with a range of learning difficulties in Essex, as part of his EdD studies at the Institute of Education, University of London. Its focus is on the perceived challenges and opportunities which headteachers of special schools for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) are facing and on the strategies they are using to manage these challenges and opportunities. A group of nine head teachers from one local authority in the southern half of England formed the sample for this study. The methodology employed postal/email questionnaires with follow‐up semi‐structured interviews with a subgroup of four headteachers. The main challenges identified by the special school headteachers were constant change, relentless school improvement, funding concerns, bureaucracy and maintaining a balance between work and private life. Perceived opportunities included partnership links with other schools and outreach services to mainstream schools; other initiatives such as specialist school status and Building Schools for the Future were also identified. John Baker suggests strategies to help headteachers meet these challenges and ensure that opportunities become realities.     

Portraits of resilience: headteachers in two different cultures

This article provides two ‘portraits’ of headteachers in primary schools in England and Hong Kong, derived from semi-structured interviews with these individuals. Contrary to some claims that such a small sample is worthless, this article argues that what is most meaningful is sometimes derived from the singular and unique; that generalisations in education are as likely to be useful if they are ‘fuzzy’ generalisations as if they are from scientific or statistical generalisations; and that the individual case can strip away the clutter of large contexts and allow recognition of a common shared humanity. What these portraits also show is that responses to larger contexts are heavily dependent on personality and local context, and that if policy implementation and professional development are to have impact, then an attention to the personal and the local are going to be critical factors in any success in these areas.     

英国国家校长专业培训计划（NPQH）评介

英国国家校长专业培训计划(National Professional Qualification for Headship,简称NPQH)是英国校长培训体系中专门为有志于从事校长工作的教育工作者提供的培训计划,它是英国校长上岗的必备条件。对NPQH的培训流程、培训内容和培训特点的了解研究,对我国中小学校长培训工作改进有一定的参考借鉴意义。     

中小学班主任对“问题学生”教育转化策略

中小学中的＂问题学生＂的形成有社会、家庭、学校和学生自身的四方面的原因。作为直接教育和管理学生的班主任,对＂问题学生＂的教育转化工作是需要有＂熬粥＂的心态,需要极大的耐心和爱心,当好孩子的心灵导师,创新转化手段,引导孩子到自己内心去寻找强大的力量,从而开辟新的天地。     

The role of the teaching headteacher: A question of support?

This article reports findings from a study of 100 headteachers of very small Scottish primary schools. The main aim of the research was to follow up a sample of those schools that had participated in a larger study of all small schools in Scotland in 1996 to explore the role of the teaching headteacher. Evidence for this follow up study was collected from a postal survey and from interviews in nine case study schools. The research found that although the dual role of the teaching headteacher remained largely unchanged, pressures have increased while the available support is still perceived to be inadequate.     

中小学班主任专业化培训应重视家校关系

基于中小学生健康成长的客观需要、家长参与学校教育发展的必然趋势以及中小学班主任承担教育工作的内在需求等因素,我们应重视家校关系在中小学班主任培训中的地位。利用教师教育这一平台,加强中小学班主任与家长的协作意识,提高其利用家庭教育资源和处理家校关系的实际工作能力,为实现中小学校教育在家校合作的框架内优化教育效能,从而创设良好的师资基础。