Browsing by Author "Hawk, Kay"
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- ItemSchool decline : predictors, process and intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2008) Hawk, KayThe ramifications of school decline are profoundly serious for the students, staff and community of a school. School decline is the steady downwards spiral that some schools experience when a complex set of influences interact with negative and unresolved outcomes. This study explored the largely unresearched area of school decline and developed a set of potential predictors of decline that could assist in understanding, preventing or dealing effectively with school decline in the future. Grounded theory, selected as a methodology appropriate for exploratory research, was used to guide the process of data collection and theory development. Three schools, labeled by agencies and the media as being in serious decline or “failing”, were selected for the study. Adults who were in significant roles in the schools during the decline periods were interviewed about their experiences. As part of the data analysis and interpretation a set of propositions was drafted and was sent to these interviewees and to fourteen educational advisors who work with schools at risk and in decline. The advisors’ feedback on the propositions, analysis of school related documents, Education Review Office reports and Ministry of Education file documents provided rich additional data. The factors associated with the lead up to school decline, and the process of decline, are multilayered, contextual and complex. Each study school’s experience of decline involved a unique combination and order of occurrence of common factors and influences. Many of the issues that predispose schools towards decline are associated with, and are exacerbated by, unethical or unprofessional attitudes or behaviour by individuals, and unprofessional practices within the schools and between neighbouring schools. Once decline begins it escalates and is difficult to stop. This thesis contributes towards the development of a theory of school decline by identifying potential predictors of school decline and by describing how decline begins and escalates. It also identifies factors that are associated with interventions being insufficient or ineffective. The theory of school decline provides insights for school leaders and educational agencies that may assist in the prediction and prevention of school decline in the future.
- ItemWomen as governors : powerful leadership with a difference : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration, Massey University(Massey University, 1997) Hawk, KayThis research project involved the Board of Trustee chairwomen of six Auckland secondary, co-educational state schools working together over an eighteen month period using an action research methodology. The group met monthly to discuss issues of importance to individuals or the whole group. A high level of trust developed early and the discussions became the focus for the sharing of ideas, strategies and resources as well as an opportunity for shared problem solving and support The researcher, as a chairwoman, was a fully participating member of the group. The research was guided by a set of research questions. Data collection strategies included group discussions, interviews with each of the chairwomen and with their Principals and observations of Board of Trustee meetings. Data from these sources were brought back to the group who shared in the interpretation of it. There is no research information on how chairpeople of school Boards of Trustees enact their positions and very little information on voluntary leadership. The voluntary and elected nature of this leadership is an important influence on the motives of the women and on their determination to lead from within and with the group. The similarities in the motives and chosen styles of enacting the chairwoman's position were many and they corresponded closely to those described in the literature on women's leadership. On the other hand, there were also important differences which the current literature did not seem to explain. It appeared, therefore, to be too simplistic to explain the similarities by taking an essentialist view that could not explain the differences. This thesis looks to a feminist post-structuralist analysis to help understand both the similarities and the differences. Being a woman was an influential factor in leadership style but not because of gender as such. It was important because of the many subject positions taken up and held concurrently by the women and the ways they had learned to reconcile the conflicting demands of those positions. Some of these positions, such as 'woman', 'mother', 'wife', 'neighbour' and 'community volunteer' are very much products of the discursive ways in which gender relations in our New Zealand society have been constructed. The influence of some, such as 'responsible person', 'victim' and 'nurse' were particular to the unique experience of the person when growing up in their childhood family and within their marriage. The inpact of others, such as 'career woman', 'leader', 'educator', 'change agent' and 'trustee' were a result of choices made by the women about how they wanted to construct their lives. The order in which they were taken up and the interrelationships between these various subject positions forced the women to make decisions and choices about how they would work within and between them. Throughout their lives the six chairwomen had each occupied very similar subject positions and recounted very similar learnings resulting from the experiences. This similarity of experiences accounts, to a large extent for the similarity in motivation and in preferred ways of operating within the chairperson position. The differing orders in which the various subject positions were taken up appears to explain many of the differences in their confidence levels and operating styles.