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Article
Publication date: 7 April 2021

Emanuel Tamir and Sherry Ganon-Shilon

The study explores characteristics of strong school cultures through principals' exploitation of additional resources within implementation of a national reform.

Abstract

Purpose

The study explores characteristics of strong school cultures through principals' exploitation of additional resources within implementation of a national reform.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive approach was utilized to analyze qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 35 Israeli high school principals who implemented a national reform in state and religious-state schools from all school districts.

Findings

The article presents four types of cracking cultures led by the principals: (1) a school values-based culture, such as respect; (2) a caring culture based on trust and a positive atmosphere; (3) a maintenance achievement-oriented culture; and (4) a creative culture that supports the teachers and takes risks in using resources beyond their intended purpose.

Originality/value

Exploring principals' exploitation of resources within a cracking culture may promote school improvement and innovation during national reform implementation.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 59 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2010

Andreas Kythreotis, Petros Pashiardis and Leonidas Kyriakides

This study aims to examine the validation of both the model of direct effects and the model of indirect effects of principals' leadership on student academic achievement.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the validation of both the model of direct effects and the model of indirect effects of principals' leadership on student academic achievement.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal study was conducted in which 22 schools, 55 classes and 1,224 Cypriot primary students participated. Specifically, achievements in Greek Language and Mathematics were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the same school year. Moreover, leadership style of school principals and teachers as well as school and classroom culture was measured.

Findings

The findings provide some empirical support for the model of direct effects of principals' leadership on student academic achievement. Moreover, student achievement gains were found to be related with five factors at the school level: the principals' human resource leadership style and four dimensions of organizational culture. At the classroom level, three dimensions of learning culture significantly influence student achievement in each subject. Finally, relationships between effectiveness factors operating at different levels were identified.

Originality/value

The article presents an original empirical study which examined the relationship among school leadership, school culture and student achievement in order to validate both the model of direct effects and the model of indirect effects of school principals on student achievement.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

Daniel Carpenter

The purpose of this paper is to explore shared workspace and professional learning community (PLC) interactions in schools. The collaborative culture and PLCs were parts of the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore shared workspace and professional learning community (PLC) interactions in schools. The collaborative culture and PLCs were parts of the school culture. The collaborative culture of each school was designed to ensure teachers share intellectual and physical contributions in learning to investigate the impact of teaching and learning on students. The workspace overlap for teachers was part of the culture of each school and a function of the PLC interactions. PLCs provided opportunities for collaboration and therefore opportunities to share intellectual and physical workspace.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory research approach was taken to this investigation, primarily because of the common experiences of educators in schools (Creswell, 2013). Collaborative process between educators in schools was qualitatively investigated as a function of PLC interactions. In all, three communities, five schools, and 70 educators were purposefully selected to participate. Data were collected, including semi-structured interviews, observations, artifacts, and researcher field notes.

Findings

The workspace interactions include shared leadership, decision making, teaching and learning practice, and accountability measures. Attributes and characteristics of effective collaboration and PLCs greatly affect the outcomes of PLCs. An emergent framework is provided that includes attributes of effective collaboration and the characteristics of effective PLCs that merge into intellectual and physical shared workspace.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the connections between PLCs, school culture, and professional educator collaboration. This paper proposes to provide a unique model called the shared workspace. The model combines the intellectual and physical aspects of group members to ensure the effectiveness of collaborative systems that promote quality practice in schools through functional PLCs as part of a positive school culture. This paper further offers extensions to the shared leadership concept (Carpenter, 2015) in how schools, administrators, and teachers should work together, thus more collaboratively through a continuous improvement process of the school as a workplace and a learning organization.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1998

Clive Dimmock and Allan Walker

Promotes and justifies a stronger comparative emphasis in the study of educational administration and management. Addresses questions such as, why adopt a comparative approach to…

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Abstract

Promotes and justifies a stronger comparative emphasis in the study of educational administration and management. Addresses questions such as, why adopt a comparative approach to educational administration? Why ground a comparative approach in culture? and, why focus on school organisation, leadership and management as the baseline unit for comparison? In systematically addressing these questions, the paper begins by acknowledging that comparative educational administration has, at best, a weak knowledge base. It goes on to clarify the potential importance of a comparative dimension to the field, and in particular, a comparative approach reflecting a cross‐cultural perspective. Finally, the paper briefly addresses a number of key issues which, it is argued, could inform initiatives to create a robust cross‐cultural approach to comparative educational administration

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1991

T.W. Maxwell and A. Ross Thomas

The concept of climate is a recurring theme of the three sectionsof this article. The inadequacy of climate as a metaphor is addressed inthe first section. Teachers do, however…

1457

Abstract

The concept of climate is a recurring theme of the three sections of this article. The inadequacy of climate as a metaphor is addressed in the first section. Teachers do, however, use the term “climate” in an explanatory and predictive way. When evaluators and researchers work with teachers they have a particular responsibility both in provision of data and in the use of concepts which frame the data. These and related issues form the second section. The third and major section portrays a model of culture which acknowledges overt and covert meanings as well as the interaction of the different levels of the model, namely beliefs, values, norms and standards, and finally behaviour. The discussion develops a linkage from the culture of the organisation to wider societal influences. School climate is placed as the most superficial level of the interactive model of school culture.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Jörg Markowitsch

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of “school quality management culture” in relation to the general notion of “school organizational culture” and to review…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of “school quality management culture” in relation to the general notion of “school organizational culture” and to review empirical studies that scrutinised the relation between organisational culture and quality management practices in education and business.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper builds on an extensive literature review that was conducted as part of a project, which intends to develop an instrument to diagnose schools’ quality management culture in initial vocational education.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that school quality (management) culture exists and differs from school (organisational) culture. A pluralist view of culture and a differentiation perspective are more appropriate to explain the complex relationship between culture and quality practices than unified or integrated approaches. However, they also pose a challenge to empirical studies because they call for longitudinal and multi-method research designs.

Research limitations/implications

The reciprocal relation between quality practices and school culture asks for a longitudinal and comparative research design. The findings also suggest using multi-perspective and multi-method approaches, and recommend cooperation between different but comparable fields such as education, health or social work.

Practical implications

This paper offers a literature base and a theoretical model to improve existing data collection tools to support quality management in vocational and other educational institutions.

Originality/value

Apart from the ideological question on whether “culture” is something an organisation is or an organisation has, the paper examines the question as to whether more “quality”-conducive cultures can be discerned from less conducive ones in schools. Furthermore, it deliberates on whether an organisation’s quality management culture is part of, or different from, an organisation’s overall culture and presents models to guide empirical analyses.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 August 2021

Muhammad Mujtaba Asad, Amjad Ali Rind and Amir A. Abdulmuhsin

This study aims to examine the relationship between the different aspects of transformational leadership behaviours of school principals on school culture in the context of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between the different aspects of transformational leadership behaviours of school principals on school culture in the context of Pakistan. The findings from this study can provide an opportunity to understand the relationship between transformational leadership and school culture factors and the way these factors influence the school culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The quantitative research approach has been adopted to assess teachers’ perceptions of transformational leadership behaviours at government secondary schools of District Khairpur, Pakistan. The targeted sample size of this study was 300 teachers from five government secondary schools of district Khairpur. Data has been collected by using two survey instruments to assess the degree of transformational leadership style adopted by school principals as perceived by teachers to measure the effectiveness of school culture, whereas descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson correlation coefficient) statistical tests have been used through SPSS 23.0 software.

Findings

The findings revealed that there is a moderate positive relationship between transformational leadership behaviours and school culture whilst the Pearson correlation coefficient was (r = 0.624), which indicates that it is statistically significant. The demographic data explored that serving teachers were trained and highly qualified in such schools.

Practical implications

The study contributes to explain the transformational leadership practices in the context of secondary schools of Pakistan for a better understanding of educational organization culture. This study also contributes to the field of educational leadership by highlighting the organization culture through the perceptions of teachers. The Education and Literacy Department, policymakers, educational leaders and schoolteachers may be benefited from the findings of the current study for a better understanding of school culture in secondary schools. This study has also laid the foundation for future research studies in leadership practices in Pakistan and internationally.

Originality/value

Finally, this study contributed to the leadership literature in the context of Pakistan because there are very few studies that have examined the impact of transformational leadership behaviours in education organizations. In addition, this study suggests that the school principals should revisit their school vision and involve teachers in vision formation.

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2015

Daniel Carpenter

– The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning communities observed and artifacts collected to explore school culture policies, procedures and leadership in the implementation of professional learning community practice.

Findings

This study concludes that school leaders must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to ensure a positive school culture and effective professional learning communities that impact school improvement. Leaders in schools must work directly with teachers to create policies and procedures that provide teachers the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative efforts.

Originality/value

This study builds on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. Much of the literature calls for specific case studies to identify issues in the implementation of effective practice. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline in school culture and professional learning community literature.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 June 2019

Aytac Tokel, Gokmen Dagli, Zehra Altinay and Fahriye Altinay

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the formation of a consensual culture of agile management used in schools where school administrators and teachers work.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the formation of a consensual culture of agile management used in schools where school administrators and teachers work.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on a qualitative research approach that highlights social phenomena and explores the environment in which they belong. In this context, five managers and seven teachers working in six vocational education institutions were asked semi-structured questions during face-to-face interviews.

Findings

The research revealed that technology has a great impact on foster learning management and the development of school culture based on consensus.

Research limitations/implications

The data of the research is limited to the participants who are Five managers and seven teachers working in six vocational education institutions within Nicosia context.

Practical implications

The school gained awareness on the uses of technology for learning and development.

Social implications

Merits of technology for consensus culture were examined in this paper.

Originality/value

The paper is original in that it gives insights for the education system on the technology and learning.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

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.

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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

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