Search results

Aims to examine and present the beliefs of elementary and secondary school principals and teachers concerning their school’s climate. Investigates four parameters related to school climate, namely: communication, collaboration, organizational structure, and students. Both elementary and secondary principals and teachers indicated that the climate in their particular schools is satisfactory with an overall mean of 2.33 on a three‐point Likert‐type scale. The lowest mean was given to the parameter organizational structure (2.26), the second to the parameter students (2.29) and the third to the parameter collaboration (2.31). Therefore, one could conclude that the above areas are in most need of improvement. Based on gender, one general comment would be that men seemed to feel worse about their particular school’s climate than women. Further, more experienced teachers had slightly different views when compared with less experienced teachers in two parameters of the questionnaire (organizational structure and students).

The main purpose of this study was to explore and analyze secondary school students' (8th grade) perceptions about school climate in three areas, namely: the physical environment of the school, the social environment and the learning environment

A questionnaire, which was designed and pilot‐tested around the three climate areas was utilized for gathering the data. The questionnaire included 53 statements related to school climate (physical, social, learning environment) and the participants were asked to respond to each statement using a Likert type scale 1 to 5 (1 means “not at all” and 5 “to a great extent”).

The main findings concerning the three areas of school climate indicate that students are (generally) moderately satisfied with their school's climate. Specifically, the lowest mean was given to the area of social environment (3,12) on a five‐point Likert type scale, the second highest (3,23) to the physical environment and the highest score (3,26) to the learning environment. Meanwhile, students in their answers indicated that they are not satisfied with specific items in the three areas of school climate which should be taken into account in future reform programs of Cyprus.

This study was limited in the fact that the methodology used was only quantitative and therefore, triangulation of results through other methodologies was not possible.

The examination of different aspects of school climate could help educators in their efforts to assess the environment of their schools for the purpose of monitoring the development, the improvement and the maintenance of a healthy school climate for teachers and students.

It is the first time that a study in measuring the various aspects of school climate from the students' perspective has been done in Cyprus's centralised educational system. Therefore, these results provide an important source of information for educators and researchers who have the responsibility of creating educational policy and planning for the years to come for a better and a more modern educational system. The results could be used in a comparative format in order to compare school climate in other educational settings similar to the Cyprus one.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a piece of research concerning the practice of Cypriot school principals’ instructional role and its effect on teachers’ job satisfaction, and also to investigate whether higher levels of teachers’ job satisfaction can be predicted when school principals deal with and accomplish their instructional tasks.

Quantitative methods were used (two questionnaires) together with qualitative methods (observation, interviews, informal conversations, and collection of artifacts).

The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that higher levels of teachers’ job satisfaction are not predicted when principals deal with and accomplish their instructional tasks. This result is rather unexpected, considering the trends of modern bibliography regarding the value and effects on teachers of principal’s instructional and transformational leadership. The triangulation of the results helped the authors to re-examine the research question and creates a deeper understanding of the practice of principals’ instructional role and the sources of teachers’ job satisfaction.

The results are analyzed and discussed in order to reach conclusions about the evaluation, selection, and training of school principals. Through the description of the instructional practice of school principals, useful information concerning teachers’ job satisfaction are also provided. Finally, the conclusions of this research may prove useful for educational policy makers, since they can guide them on the successful implementation of changes. Changes are needed in the evaluation and promotion system of Cyprus and in the content of principals’ training programs. School principals must be taught different leadership styles (e.g. transformational and transactional leadership) and learn to modify their leadership behavior according to the situation and the professional maturity of their teachers. In this way, they will be able to increase the level of teachers’ satisfaction as to become more effective in their teaching.

At a time when instructional/transformational leadership is presented to be a panacea for many educational issues, including raising teachers’ job satisfaction, this research with its mixed methodology highlights the complexity and the various interpretations of these concepts and also provides explanations on why many principals do not act as instructional leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a piece of research concerning the time management of Cypriot primary school principals. Time management refers to the interrelation of five independent variables: the various tasks principals perform, their frequency, the degree of accomplishment of those tasks, the use of time management techniques and time management style (from monochronic to polychronic).

Quantitative methods were used (questionnaire) together with qualitative methods (observation, interviews, collection of artifacts), in order to obtain richer, deeper data and view multiple angles of the same phenomenon.

The results of cluster analysis indicated three different time management profiles/types of principals: The Centralized Monochrons, the Procrastinative Managers and the Decentralized Polychrons. One basic conclusion is that the principals who adopt the practices of the Decentralized Polychrons manage better their time.

The three time management profiles of principals are described, analysed, and discussed in order to reach conclusions about the selection, training, and placement of school principals. Through the description of the everyday practice of Cypriot principals useful information concerning school leadership and management are also provided. Finally, the conclusions of this research may prove useful for principals, because they are provided with the opportunity to rethink and evaluate their own time management and effectiveness of their daily practices.

The creation and description of the three time management profiles is the main contribution of this piece of research, since there are not any time management types-profiles registered in the bibliography, which were produced with the use of scientific instruments and procedures.

The study investigated the correlation between school communication and teachers' perceptions of the school's innovative climate in the Israeli education system during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Furthermore, this study examined the role of affective commitment and the role of sector (Arab or Jewish) in these correlations.

First, Arab and Jewish teachers studying toward their MA degree were randomly selected from 2 higher education institutes in Israel, and then other teachers were selected using the snowball method through teacher groups on the Facebook social network and WhatsApp groups (N = 383).

The findings revealed major differences between Arab and Jewish teachers. Among Arab teachers, the correlation between school communications and an innovative climate was found to be mediated through affective commitment, whereas among Jewish teachers, a direct correlation was found between the first two variables. The correlation between school communications and affective commitment was found to be stronger among Arab teachers than among Jewish teachers.

The study results confirmed that school communication and affective commitment hold a significant predictive value in school innovation and highlight the importance of affective commitment in supporting innovation. The study adds to the body of research directed at identifying antecedents to innovative climate as well as studies examining the effects of school communications on affective commitment and innovative climate in a multicultural society, both in regular and emergency situations. The findings can also provide valuable insights for culturally sensitive and relevant education policy design and management in the post-COVID-19 period.

The purpose of this paper is to examine principal mentoring, a process that is significant in principal identification, socialization, development, and retention.

The study was framed within the social constructivism paradigm and thematically examined individual perspectives to develop the thematic constructs relevant to the participants’ experiences of and perceptions about principal mentoring.

Thematic analysis of the interview data from 16 principals from the state of Georgia, USA, revealed five major themes related to leaders’ experiences of and perceptions about principal mentoring: mentoring as recruitment; mentoring as socialization; mentoring as support; mentoring as professional development; and mentoring as reciprocal learning.

These findings were limited to the sample of principals used for this analysis. Researchers are encouraged to examine principal mentoring in other contexts.

The results of this inquiry suggest the need for formal and informal mentoring opportunities for new and experienced principals and call for further research on comparing mentoring practices between the large and small schools systems.

The paper identifies mentoring as an important path to principal effectiveness and contributes to the corpus of literature on educational mentoring by examining the perceptions and experiences of new and experienced principals about the mentoring they received and provided.

This paper considers the issues facing an institution as it confronts the transition from college to university. Utilizing insights from the UK experience of polytechnics moving to university status the authors seek similarity and a direction of action for a Cypriot Higher Education College. Based on interviews and focus groups a proposed model for managing change in educational institutions undergoing this transition is offered.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived efficacy of a US-based national principal mentor training program.

A sample of 370 protégés who received services from principal mentors in a national mentor internship program were invited to complete an electronic survey. Responses were obtained from 54 protégés.

The 54 respondents rated the mentor program highly, indicating that mentors were well prepared, good listeners, and instrumental in strengthening their instructional leadership.

This study provides preliminary information on the perceived efficacy of the program. To more fully understand the needs of new principals and the value of varying mentor approaches, follow-up interviews, a research design that provides for data to be disaggregated by specific mentor trainers and dates/locations of training sessions, and comparative data from protégés supported by mentors prepared by other programs are needed.

Protégés reported high job satisfaction and recommended the program to others.

New principals reported that the principal mentoring was critical to their adjustment and success during their first year. This is the only known principal mentor program requiring a nine-month internship. The outcomes revealed the value of evaluating perceptions of protégés for continuous quality improvement.