Editorial

Citation

Roberts, B. (2008), "Editorial", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 22 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2008.06022eaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Educational Management, Volume 22, Issue 5.

Welcome everyone to issue 5 of 2008 which is full of a variety of articles which I hope you will enjoy and find useful for your own research purposes. The journal is very busy at the present with a longer waiting list for articles to be reviewed and published than ever before. As a result I hope you will understand and be patient if you are awaiting news of your reviews or publication dates. To provide an example of the timescale, I am writing this in March 2008 for the issue, which will be published in Autumn 2008 and I already have enough papers for the rest of 2008 and the early issues in 2009. Any papers accepted now will not be seen in print for around a year. This may be similar to other publications as the lead time for any publication requires several months’ planning not just by me but by the publishers themselves, the hard part is getting past the editor and review process, but don’t be downhearted!

In this issue there are papers from authors in the USA, Cyprus, Israel and India. The first is a joint work from Michael Newby and Laura Marcoulides of Fullerton, California and is on student outcomes in university computer laboratory environments issues for educational management. The study looks at the relationship between student performance, student attributes and computer laboratory experiments. Data were collected from 234 students enrolled in courses that involved the use of a computer to solve problems and provided the laboratory experience by means of closed laboratory classes. The proposed model that student performance can be explained by perceptions of the computer laboratory environment and attitudes towards the computer was tested using equation modelling.

Dr Ori Eyal of the University of Jerusalem contributes a paper “Caught in the net-the-network-entrepreneurship connection in public schools”, in which he explores the association between the public schools’ networks and strategies of entrepreneurship. The public school entrepreneurship inventory and questionnaire on schools’ networks were administered to a stratified, random, sample of teachers and principles from 140 Israeli elementary schools. It was found that the network although associated with school entreneurship is limited to non-radical entrepeurship. Thus extensive connections in the school’s network may be considered an advantage for some entrepreneurial purposes and a burden for others. It may therefore be concluded that extensive connections create pressure to conform with network ties.

The third work is from Cyprus from George Pashiardis, “Toward a knowledge base for school climate in Cyprus’ schools”. The main purpose of this study was to explore and analyse 8th grade secondary school students’ perceptions about school climate in three areas, namely the physical environment of the school, the social environment and the learning environment. The main findings concerning the three areas of the school climate indicate that students are on the whole moderately satisfied with the schools climate. This is the first time that such a study has been undertaken in Cyprus’ centralised centralised system and provides a useful source of information for future planning in that or another similar country.

Fourthly Dr George Odhiambo of the University of Sydney contributes a paper on the elusive search for quality education. The paper examines the issues of quality assurance and quality in Kenyan schools and identifies reasons why the Kenyan government has difficulties in achieving its search for quality schools. The process for ensuring the accountability of teachers in Kenya is outlined. This focus of work is done under conditions of significant changes in government policy and educational restructuring. The paper provides an opportunity for reflection and builds a foundation on some of the key challenges that face teachers and education in Kenya. The paper suggests directions for leading Kenyan schools into a successful future.

An unusual source is the next piece as it is from Trinity College Dublin but from the school of nursing and midwifery. What is that to do with education management I asked myself when it first arrived? However I think you will find that Dr Redmond and his colleagues have given a very interesting paper on the contribution of Deming to the quality process in higher education, not from the perspective of a particular school but in a generic way as Deming’s 14 principles were meant to apply to any organisation. Here the authors take six of his principles and discuss the implications for the management of education. They consider that organisational management needs to embrace these particular principles if they are to be successful in pursuing their quality initiatives.

Finally, Associate Professor Ranjan of the Institute of Technology, Uttar Pradesh, India contributes on the impact of information technology in academia. The author writes that recent advances in technology have enhanced the productivity and efficiency in the academic world. The availability of powerful computers, advanced networks and communication infrastructures and sophisticated software applications, which give access to critical information necessary fore informed decision making are now mandatory in academia. The paper studies the provision of IT for the development of academic resources and examines the effect of information technology in academic institutions for information sharing.

Brian Roberts