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Article
Publication date: 26 July 2021

Meng Zhang, Allan David Walker and Haiyan Qian

This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the twenty-first century in China – the Master Teacher Studio (MTS).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper drew from policy documents, published Chinese literature relating to MTSs and personal fieldwork experience in Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang province.

Findings

The article first outlines the context framing the system change, including its policy background and evolution, and then the MTS's purpose, formative process and structure. It finally examines major teacher learning activities and the leadership roles of the MTS hosts (leaders).

Research limitations/implications

This study contributed to the knowledge base of system teacher leaders and how they lead cross-school leading.

Practical implications

The MTS initiative described in this article shows the power of central system leadership to spread and embed effective teacher learning practices at schools.

Originality/value

This article provides implications for understanding and practicing teacher system leadership to support teacher professional learning in different societies.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 35 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 January 2012

A. Ross Thomas

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key individuals, associations and significant events contributing to the establishment and first 50 years of successful publication of…

1371

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key individuals, associations and significant events contributing to the establishment and first 50 years of successful publication of the Journal of Educational Administration.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is historical in design. Information relevant to its 50 years of publication has been obtained from the JEA's 172 Editorials and from minutes of Editorial Advisory Board and Management Committee meetings, supplemented by personal editorial memoranda.

Findings

Recognised as one of the leading generalist international journals in its field, the Journal of Educational Administration has until recently been edited in Australia. The most eminent international scholars in the field have published in the JEA throughout its lifetime. Esteemed scholars have also occupied positions on its Editorial Board. The JEA has enjoyed close and supportive associations with several prominent professional organisations including UCEA and CCEA.

Research limitations/implications

This paper does not include detailed information about the content of the almost 1,000 articles published throughout its history. This is the subject of other specific research undertakings.

Originality/value

The JEA was the first generalist international journal in the field of educational administration. Its first volume appeared in 1963. It has reached the age of 50 years and hence this paper's report of such may provide a basis for similar studies of other journals as they achieve significant milestones.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 3 June 2021

Abstract

Details

Leading Education Systems
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-130-3

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Elson Szeto, Theodore Tai Hoi Lee and Philip Hallinger

The purpose of this paper is to provide a research synthesis of substantive findings drawn from studies of educational leadership and management in Hong Kong between 1995 and…

3121

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a research synthesis of substantive findings drawn from studies of educational leadership and management in Hong Kong between 1995 and 2014. The goal of the research synthesis was to identify and elaborate on key trends identified by scholars who studied educational leadership in Hong Kong over the past two decades. The synthesis drew upon on relevant articles published in eight “core international journals” specializing in educational leadership and management.

Design/methodology/approach

The study first identifies a clearly delimited body of relevant literature comprised of empirical, non-empirical and review/synthesis types of studies in a total of 161 published research articles from the eight journals. Information concerning the nature of the studies as well as substantive findings was extracted from each of the articles. The findings were then initially coded in preparation for data analysis. Synthesis of substantive findings was accomplished by cross-article comparative mapping aimed at identifying key themes in the literature. Findings within four of the most robust themes were then synthesized and reported.

Findings

The synthesis highlights the challenges faced in Hong Kong’s efforts to reshape its education in a multi-faceted quest for quality education in the twenty-first century. A variety of inter-related issues emerged as policymakers and education administrators sought to implement a full plate of imported globally recognized education reforms. Analysis of the research from this period yielded four robust themes: “leadership development,” “leadership for learning,” “organizational change,” “multi-level performance focus.” The findings also further highlight the impact of “education policy borrowing” on system-level efforts to revamp the structural conditions in which school leaders operate and reshape managerial, as well as teaching and learning processes in schools.

Research limitations/implications

Although the scope of the sources included in the review are highly representative of the “Hong Kong literature” of the past two decades, the authors note that it was not an “exhaustive” review of all potential sources.

Originality/value

Prior research by Hallinger and Bryant (2013b) had identified Hong Kong as having produced the largest volume of literature in educational leadership and management in Asia. This paper represents the first systematic review of research findings that emerged in the recent educational leadership literature produced in Hong Kong. Therefore, although the authors make no claims of generalizability to other parts of Asia or even to China as a whole, the paper offers insight into how global trends have reshaped the practice of educational leadership in one East Asian society.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 53 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2004

Paula Kwan and Allan Walker

The topic of organizational culture has attracted the attention of numerous researchers from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. A review of the literature shows that…

1140

Abstract

The topic of organizational culture has attracted the attention of numerous researchers from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. A review of the literature shows that the quantitative assessment of organizational culture has been dominated by studies adopting the competing values framework developed by Quinn and his colleagues. The use of this model embraces the notion that the 4 cultural types depicted by the framework can be used not only to represent the culture of an organization but also to serve as a basis upon which one organization can be differentiated from others. Various attempts have been reported to support the validity of the framework for describing the culture of an organization; however, the claim that one organization can be differentiated from another on the basis of the 4 cultural types is yet to be empirically supported. The study reported here set out to show that the competing values model can be used to differentiate organizations from one another. Based on a survey administered to all academic staff in 7 out of the 8 government‐funded higher education institutions in Hong Kong, the study successfully confirmed the validity of the competing values model as a tool in differentiating organizations.

Details

Organizational Analysis, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1551-7470

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1986

ALLAN WALKER and JOSEPH MURPHY

The Disadvantaged Schools Program (D.S.P.) has been an important and integral part of education for many students in Australia for over a decade. The original goals and philosophy…

Abstract

The Disadvantaged Schools Program (D.S.P.) has been an important and integral part of education for many students in Australia for over a decade. The original goals and philosophy of the program still hold true today. However, we suggest that perhaps it is time to build on the foundation which has been developed by adding a much stronger academic strand as part of the overall D.S.P. mission. Recent school effectiveness findings offer a powerful and compatible opportunity for the D.S.P. to provide a more complete education for their students. The adoption of the school effectiveness characteristics by D.S.P. schools would not interfere with, but rather would enhance an already valuable program. The eight most important school effectiveness variables are reviewed in this article. We then argue that by combining the current focus of the D.S.P. with the focus of effective schools research, the overall quality of education received by students in Program schools can be enhanced. We argue that critical elements of the effective schools movement, such as emphasis on academic success and cognitive skills, can help create D.S.P. projects that produce a wider array of important student outcomes. By making effective school variables an important aspect of the D.S.P., we believe that both equity and quality will be emphasized to a greater extent than they are currently.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Book part
Publication date: 8 April 2015

Malcolm Rutherford

This paper is an initial attempt to discuss the American institutionalist movement as it changed and developed after 1945. Institutionalism in the inter-war period was a…

Abstract

This paper is an initial attempt to discuss the American institutionalist movement as it changed and developed after 1945. Institutionalism in the inter-war period was a relatively coherent movement held together by a set of general methodological, theoretical, and ideological commitments (Rutherford, 2011). Although institutionalism always had its critics, it came under increased attack in the 1940s, and faced challenges from Keynesian economics, a revived neoclassicism, econometrics, and from new methodological approaches derived from various versions of positivism. The institutionalist response to these criticisms, and particularly the criticism that institutionalism “lacked theory,” is to be found in a variety of attempts to redefine institutionalism in new theoretical or methodological terms. Perhaps the most important of these is to be found in Clarence Ayres’ The Theory of Economic Progress (1944), although there were many others. These developments were accompanied by a significant amount of debate, disagreement, and uncertainty over future directions. Some of this is reflected in the early history of The Association for Evolutionary Economics.

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Philip Hallinger, Allan Walker and Gian Tu Trung

The purpose of this paper is to review both international and domestic (i.e. Vietnamese language) journal articles and graduate theses and dissertations on educational leadership…

1048

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review both international and domestic (i.e. Vietnamese language) journal articles and graduate theses and dissertations on educational leadership in Vietnam. The review addresses two specific goals: first, to describe and critically assess the nature of the formal knowledge base on principal leadership in Vietnam, second, to synthesize findings from the existing literature on principal leadership in Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employed a method for conducting systematic reviews of research. The authors conducted a detailed, exhaustive search for international and “local” papers from Vietnam, yielding 120 research sources. Information from these papers was extracted and evaluated prior to analysis. Data analysis included both quantitative description of the “review database” as well as critical synthesis of substantive findings.

Findings

The review supports and extends an earlier review which found that the practice of educational leadership in Vietnam remains largely “invisible” to the international community of scholars. The review also yielded a highly critical assessment of research perspectives and methods used in the “local” Vietnamese studies which comprised the bulk of the authors’ database. Synthesis of substantive findings highlighted the manner by which organizational, political, and socio-cultural forces in the Vietnamese context shapes the practice of school leadership.

Research limitations/implications

First, qualitative studies are recommended that seek to describe, in-depth, the enactment of leadership in the Vietnamese context. Second, broad-scale surveys of characteristics, attitudes, and beliefs of school leaders across Vietnam are warranted. Third, the authors encourage graduate students and scholars studying school leadership in Vietnam to undertake a new generation of theory-informed studies that connect with the global literature.

Practical implications

Due to the relatively weak nature of the existing knowledge base, the authors were unable to identify specific implications for leadership practice. However, practical implications are identified for developing the research capacity needed to improve research quality in Vietnam’s universities.

Originality/value

This review is the first systematic review of educational leadership and management conducted of the Vietnamese literature. Moreover, the authors suggest that the review is original in its comprehensive coverage of both the local and international literature on educational leadership in Vietnam.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 53 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Allan Walker and John Walker

Argues that school leaders face tensions which result from simultaneous and contradictory influences towards sameness and difference. The tensions which influence leaders can be…

1479

Abstract

Argues that school leaders face tensions which result from simultaneous and contradictory influences towards sameness and difference. The tensions which influence leaders can be seen in varying forms at the global, macro‐political, policy and school levels. Established ways of working (sameness) continue to dominate school operation and leadership practices. Recommends that government and school leaders deal with these tensions by challenging the sameness underpinning school operation, through valuing and learning from difference within the school community. Suggests challenging sameness in schools can be grounded in valuing and learning from the differences comprising the school community.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

11 – 20 of 668