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Using survey results compiled from an extensive study into the ethical decision making of school principals this article analyses the nature and consistency of principals' ethical decision‐making processes. Based on the findings, the article argues that even though principals on the whole have well‐meaning intentions, by and large, they do not display consistent conceptual knowledge of major ethical theories; they exhibit certain contradictions in their ethical reasoning and they suffer regular conflicts with their own personal and professional values. The article concludes by offering some suggestions for future professional development strategies that may serve to better educate principals on the concepts and processes required for consistent, confident and well‐reasoned ethical decision making.

This paper examines the impact and effects of site‐based management on schools using a framework developed by Canadian researchers, Sackney and Dibski. It draws on research literature from the UK, New Zealand and Australia and includes results from three studies in which the author has been engaged. The Sackney and Dibski framework is used to lay seven “charges” against site‐based management – that site‐based management leads to greater decision‐making flexibility, changes the work role and increases the workload of principals, improves student learning outcomes, increases innovation, increases competition, results in reduced funding and affects the standing of the public education system. The analysis of the literature selected suggests that site‐based management is guilty of some and not of others.

This article seeks to report on a research inquiry that explored the educational praxis of ethical school leaders in Chile. Behaving ethically is an imperative for school leaders. Being an ethical educational leader is something different. It is not only about behaving according to standards, but also rather involves an ethical way of being that engages the leader holistically in their attempt to do the right thing for students.

A multiple case study design was employed to gain insight into the feelings, beliefs and thoughts of ethical school leaders in Chile regarding their educational experiences. To this end, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight identified ethical school leaders. The data focused on the commonalities and uniqueness within and across participants.

Six main themes that reflect the experience of being ethical as a school leader in Chile were identified and included: holding personal and professional ethics as inseparable; “consistently” inspiring practice; valuing others; sustaining a humane view of education; being sensitive to the complex local context; and leading as serving.

Ethical leaders in education have been shown to influence educational contexts from a moral imperative that is grounded in a critical and humanistic concern that deeply affirms “others” as a common good. Becoming and being an ethical leader is indeed an experiential journey that integrates the leader's personal and professional way of being. The findings provide key elements of ethical leadership within a Chilean school context that can influence current and future school leaders' practices and professional development.

This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE) applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metal forming, non‐metal forming, powder metallurgy and composite material processing are briefly discussed. The range of applications of finite elements on these subjects is extremely wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore the aim of the paper is to give FE researchers/users only an encyclopaedic view of the different possibilities that exist today in the various fields mentioned above. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on finite element applications in material processing for 1994‐1996, where 1,370 references are listed. This bibliography is an updating of the paper written by Brannberg and Mackerle which has been published in Engineering Computations, Vol. 11 No. 5, 1994, pp. 413‐55.

The paper seeks to apply the theory of the democratic deficit to school‐based management with an emphasis on Australia. This theory was developed to examine managerial restructuring of the Australian Public Service in the 1990s. Given similarities between the use of managerial practices in the public service and government schools, the authors draw on recent literature about school‐based management in Australia and apply the democratic deficit theory to it.

This paper is conceptual in focus. The authors analyse literature in terms of the three components of the democratic deficit – i.e. the weakening of accountability, the denial of the roles and values of public employees, and the emergence of a “hollow state” – and in relation to the application of this theory to the Australian Public Service.

A trend towards the three components of the democratic deficit is evident in Australia although, to date, its emergence has not been as extensive as in the UK. The authors argue that the democratic principles on which public schooling in Australia was founded are being eroded by managerial and market practices.

These findings provide policy makers and practitioners with another way of examining managerial and market understandings of school‐based management and its impact on teachers and on students. It offers suggestions to reorient practices away from those that are exclusively managerial‐based towards those that are public‐sector based.

The value of this paper is that it applies the theory of the democratic deficit to current understandings of school‐based management.

The purpose of this paper is to compare teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly‐ and privately‐funded schools in the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.

A percentage of all middle managers in publicly and privately funded schools (72 per cent and 43 per cent respectively) distributed self‐report questionnaires to their teachers measuring teachers' attitudes, sense of identification and perception of the school climate. The sample consisted of 705 teachers in publicly funded schools and 25 teachers in privately funded schools. Data were analysed through multilevel analysis accounting for the dependency of teachers working within the same teaching unit.

The analyses show that teachers in publicly funded schools report a less curriculum‐oriented attitude, a lower sense of identification, and perceive a less supportive school climate than teachers in privately funded schools. Funding did not have an effect on the extent to which teachers have a student‐oriented attitude. In addition, the analyses show significant effects of teacher characteristics, the disciplinary sector, and affiliation characteristics on teachers' organisational behaviour.

The paper clearly indicates differences in teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly and privately funded schools. Contrary to common beliefs, the institutional context hardly influences the extent to which teachers have a student‐oriented attitude.

The paper contributes to insights in behavioural aspects of the fading boundary between the public and private sector.