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Article
Publication date: 12 April 2022

Deniz Gülmez

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the structural characteristics of the school and teacher leadership culture on teacher leadership.

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the structural characteristics of the school and teacher leadership culture on teacher leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

The correlational research model used the research. The predictors of teacher leadership were identified using hierarchical regression analysis provided by 447 K-12 teachers.

Findings

The findings revealed that teacher leadership was found to be influenced by school structural factors and teacher leadership culture. While the complexity and formalization sub-dimensions of the structural characteristics are variables that explain teacher leadership, the centralization sub-dimension did not play a significant role. Professional cooperation and administrator support, both sub-dimensions of teacher leadership culture, were found to explain teacher leadership.

Originality/value

In the literature, teacher leadership have been studied enormously from past to present. It is seen that teacher leadership is affected by school culture and structure. From this point of view, this study focused on the context in which teacher leadership behaviors emerged.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2001

Yvonne Brunetto

Examines the impact of organisational culture on the responses of one group of professionals to change processes. Draws upon literature relating to policy implementation and…

2413

Abstract

Examines the impact of organisational culture on the responses of one group of professionals to change processes. Draws upon literature relating to policy implementation and organisational behaviour, in order to gain abetter understanding of the power and processes associated with the impact of culture on professional employees. The context of the study is an analysis of the responses of academics within Australian universities to changes resulting from the implementation of policies affecting teaching decision making and practices. Recent policy changes affecting the accessibility to resourcing and operations of academics’ three functions – teaching, research and community service – has provided the impetus for organisational change. To assure the quality of teaching to a growing and increasingly diverse student population, a quality initiative was implemented. This study examined the impact of organisational culture on academics’ responses to its implementation. The findings suggest that despite significant reform aimed at changing the work practices of all professional employees, senior academics undertaking management tasks still have some power to mediate the way organisational changes are implemented within the faculties. One contributory factor may be the existence of a well‐established organisational and professional culture.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 14 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2017

Andy Hargreaves and Michael T. O’Connor

This Commentary is a review and critique of arguments that oppose the desirability and impact of professional collaboration in education. The purpose of this paper is to analyze…

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Abstract

Purpose

This Commentary is a review and critique of arguments that oppose the desirability and impact of professional collaboration in education. The purpose of this paper is to analyze two recent high-profile reviews of professional development and collaboration. The analysis is informed by a historical typology of five phases of professional collaboration in theory and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The Commentary reviews and summarizes selected key texts that represent different phases in the development of advocacy for and research concerning the emergence of professional collaboration. It then critiques the methodology, findings, and recommendations of two key critiques of professional collaboration and development that have been widely disseminated for educators and policymakers.

Findings

Contrary to the views of its opponents, professional collaboration as a whole has a record of indirect, long term, yet clear and positive effects on teachers and students. Particular kinds of professional collaboration can vary a great deal in quality and impact, however. Short-term collaborative interventions, such as data teams, are often dependent for their success on the prior existence of deeper cultures and processes. These processes and cultures characterize high-performing systems globally. Advocacy for competitive alternatives is based on insufficient evidence.

Originality/value

Although advocacy for more competition in public school systems is common, high-profile critiques of professional collaboration are relatively new. This paper engages with these critiques from a broader historical perspective, and finds they have serious flaws of reasoning and methodology. Thus far, the critiques provide insufficient warrant for moves toward more competitive systems of schooling and teaching.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Toyin Ajibade Adisa, Chima Mordi and Ellis L.C. Osabutey

Whilst significant evidence of western work-life balance (WLB) challenges exists, studies that explore Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to explore…

4631

Abstract

Purpose

Whilst significant evidence of western work-life balance (WLB) challenges exists, studies that explore Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to explore how organisational culture in Nigerian medical organisations influences doctors’ WLB and examine the implications of supportive and unsupportive cultures on doctors’ WLB.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses qualitative data gleaned from semi-structured interviews of 60 medical doctors across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria in order to elicit WLB challenges within the context of organisational culture.

Findings

The findings show that organisational culture strongly influences employees’ abilities to use WLB policies. Unsupportive culture resulting from a lack of support from managers, supervisors, and colleagues together with long working hours influenced by shift work patterns, a required physical presence in the workplace, and organisational time expectations exacerbate the challenges that Nigerian medical doctors face in coping with work demands and non-work-related responsibilities. The findings emphasise how ICT and institutions also influence WLB.

Originality/value

The paper addresses the underresearched SSA context of WLB and emphasises how human resource management policies and practices are influenced by the complex interaction of organisational, cultural, and institutional settings.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 46 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

R. Maslowski

The purpose is to provide a critical review of existing school culture inventories and to provide a bibliography of questionnaires that can be used for diagnosing school culture.

5724

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose is to provide a critical review of existing school culture inventories and to provide a bibliography of questionnaires that can be used for diagnosing school culture.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature search was conducted to identify school culture questionnaires in international research indexes and educational administration abstracts. Multi‐dimensional questionnaires were selected that were directed towards measuring organisational culture in schools and which were validated. Where insufficient data were available in the literature, authors were contacted for additional information and/or to check the descriptions of the instruments.

Findings

Questionnaires can be a valuable tool in diagnosing school cultures. A number of validated instruments are available for measuring cultural factors in both primary and secondary schools. School culture inventories are primarily concerned with the identification of particular cultural traits in schools.

Research limitations/implications

The validation of school culture questionnaires has been limited to the countries in which they were developed. A validation in other educational contexts and systems, therefore, is still necessary for a wider application of these inventories.

Practical implications

Researchers, consultants, school boards, principals and teachers who want to diagnose the culture of a school will find this article helpful in determining whether they are willing to use a questionnaire for that purpose, and (if applicable) which instrument suits their objectives best.

Originality/value

No similar overviews of school culture inventories are available yet.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Bruce Gurd and Tian Gao

The purpose of this paper is to build a new model of organisational change in Chinese hospitals drawing in all the key factors which explain the change process. At a time of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a new model of organisational change in Chinese hospitals drawing in all the key factors which explain the change process. At a time of significant change in Chinese hospitals, understanding change recipients’ responses is critical. For this study, a model of their responses to change has been constructed from previous models and compared with a case study of dramatic change in a Chinese hospital. A new model has been produced which may be generalizable to other Chinese hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach

Two existing models of organizational change were merged, and the new model was tested using data collected from a research site at a single Chinese hospital where the change program included the balanced scorecard performance management system, a new pay-related performance system and significant strategic change.

Findings

A final revised model was created which built in the external context, including the professional culture and national culture which have complex impacts on individuals during a change process, in both beneficial and harmful ways.

Research limitations/implications

Multi-informants for data collection and longitudinal design in future research would be required for the further understanding of the relationships between the variables of this study. A single case study is not sufficient; broader testing is required.

Practical implications

The factors that impact on the individuals during change should be understood better by Chinese hospital managers.

Originality/value

This is a new model which adds to the existing literature. Although it is built primarily around hospitals, it may have relevance to other contexts in China.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2022

Gabriel Dickey, R. Greg Bell and Sri Beldona

Understanding the factors that impact the audit quality of work performed by affiliated offshore entities has become imperative for US accounting firms. The purpose of this paper…

Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the factors that impact the audit quality of work performed by affiliated offshore entities has become imperative for US accounting firms. The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the role that cultural differences have on the trait professional skepticism mindset of future auditors in the USA and India.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the Hurtt (2010) Professional Skepticism Scale (HPSS) to evaluate the role that culture has on the trait professional skepticism mindset of a sample of future auditors in the USA and India.

Findings

The authors identify three distinct dimensions of trait professional skepticism embedded in the HPSS. The research finds no significant differences between USA and Indian auditing students on the evidential “trust but verify” dimension of trait professional skepticism; however, US students score higher on the behavioral “presumptive doubt” and self-reliance dimensions.

Practical implications

Given culture significantly influences trait professional skepticism, firms and regulators should be highly cognizant of the type of work that is being sent offshore. Firms using affiliated offshore entities should also ensure that robust integration practices are used to facilitate the level of professional skepticism necessary to perform a quality audit.

Originality/value

By identifying three separate dimensions in the HPSS, the research takes an important step in understanding the factors that impact the quality of audit procedures performed in a critical affiliated offshore entity for US-based accounting firms.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2020

Olga Khokhotva and Iciar Elexpuru Albizuri

The study aims at exploring the perspective of three English as a Foreign Language teachers after their year-long involvement in the Lesson Study project in the context of…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims at exploring the perspective of three English as a Foreign Language teachers after their year-long involvement in the Lesson Study project in the context of Kazakhstan in order to capture and list any perceived changes in teachers’ educational beliefs over the period of the Lesson Study intervention. The main argument of the study suggests that the school-based Lesson Study initiative is conducive to triggering changes in teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, might lead to positive changes in school culture in Kazakhstani schools. Shaped following Hill et al., (1982) in Swales, 1990 hour-glass model of a research project (Swales, 1990), the article reflects the third concluding part of the Ph.D. thesis focusing on the implementation of the Lesson Study methodology in Kazakhstan.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows the narrative inquiry methodology. The three narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) are utilized as the main method of data collection. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003), where emerging themes were identified employing data reduction and further sub-categorized through the conceptual and theoretical lenses of the study. The emerged categories reflecting the perceived shifts in teachers’ educational beliefs were dialectically linked to implications for school culture in Kazakhstani schools.

Findings

As data suggest, the respondents’ active engagement in the Lesson Study professional learning community and exercising leadership through implementing changes in their classroom practice has made a positive impact on teachers’ rethinking their teaching practice, attitudes to students and their learning, collegiality, and professional self-identification. We conclude that, if organized properly, Lesson Study has enormous potential to facilitate changes of teachers’ educational beliefs: from direct transmission beliefs toward constructivist beliefs, from restricted professionals’ beliefs toward reflective practitioner beliefs and attitudes, toward beliefs in the power of student’s voice, and collaboration. Those shifts are linked to establishing a more positive, child-friendly and rights-based school culture with teachers’ shared visions and capacity for innovation.

Research limitations/implications

We acknowledge that the abundance of the reported positive changes or perceived shifts in teachers’ thinking might not be the indicators of actual changes in their beliefs. We emphasize that the study was carried in a controlled context, i.e. the three ELF teachers were constantly supported, and the teacher talk was systematically guided by a trained facilitator. Warned by Giroux et al. (1999), we are aware of the major challenge of the fundamental assumption of critical pedagogy that teachers are willing and able to undertake “the practice of analyzing their practice” (p. 27) voluntarily. Thus, the question remains open: if the facilitator’s support is eliminated, will the results point to the occurrence of the disruption and disorientation as a necessary condition for the beliefs change?

Originality/value

Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson et al., 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of conceptual and theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature by connecting teachers’ educational beliefs, Lesson Study and school culture. The findings might be of value for the school leaders, educators, teacher trainers, and policymakers to advocate Lesson Study as a systematic approach to the whole-school improvement, as a tool to facilitate positive changes in school culture, as well as give impetus to studies employing the school culture perspective in developing Lesson Study impact evaluation tools.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1999

Sue Law

There is evidence of growing tensions in the increasingly privatised system of in‐service education and training (INSET) within England and Wales, especially between…

2924

Abstract

There is evidence of growing tensions in the increasingly privatised system of in‐service education and training (INSET) within England and Wales, especially between school‐managed institutional development, group development needs, and the need for individual professional development. These tensions highlight the need for an effective ‘professional development culture’ with the kind of leadership which supports both pupil and staff learning. INSET privatisation and increasing local accountability also raises questions about why and how some schools are better at creating appropriate development cultures. The article explores school leadership in the newly privatised and marketised professional development environment; it considers a model which helps to identify key elements in a “professional development culture” and helps schools review “where we’re at”; it examines the emerging role of the professional development co‐ordinator as a “delegated leader” and suggests a possible model for exploring the differing nature of the relationship between CPD leadership and staff commitment.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 November 2019

Justin Gagnon, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Cristina Longo, Peter Nugus and Gillian Bartlett

Healthcare innovation, exemplified by genomic medicine, requires increasingly sophisticated understanding of the interdisciplinary-organizational context in which new innovations…

Abstract

Purpose

Healthcare innovation, exemplified by genomic medicine, requires increasingly sophisticated understanding of the interdisciplinary-organizational context in which new innovations are implemented. Deliberative stakeholder consultations are public engagement tools that are gaining increasing traction in health care, as a means of maximizing the diversity of roles and interests vested in a particular policy or practice issue. They engage participants from different knowledge systems (“cultures”) in mutually respectful debate to enable group consensus on implementation strategies. Current deliberation analytic methods tend to overlook the cultural contexts of the deliberative process. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper proposes adding ethnographic participant observation to provide a more comprehensive account of the process that gives rise to deliberative outputs. To underpin this conceptual paper, the authors draw on the authors’ experience engaging healthcare professionals during implementation of genomics in the care for pediatric oncology patients with treatment-resistant glioblastoma at two tertiary care hospitals.

Findings

Ethnography enabled a deeper understanding of deliberative outcomes by combining rhetorical and non-rhetorical analysis to identify the implementation and coordination of care barriers across professional cultures.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the value of ethnographic methods in enabling a more comprehensive assessment of the quality of engagement across professional cultures in implementation studies.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 33 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 107000