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    The principal as a person : a study of values in secondary school leadership : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2005) Notman, Geoffrey Ross
    This research explored the personal dimensions of school principalship. The study described the personal values systems of two secondary principals and suggested how such valuation processes might influence their leadership behaviours. The research was prompted by a lack of detail in the literature about why principals act the way they do and how their core personal and professional values might impact on decision-making and on school directions. A qualitative case study approach was used to examine the personal and professional lives of an urban and a rural secondary school principal in the South Island of New Zealand over a period of 35 months. Methods of data collection included researcher participant observation and a series of in-depth interviews with the two principals and with significant others. A grounded theory approach to analysis was used that involved a systematic development of categories of meaning drawn from the data. An interpretive paradigm was selected as the research framework. Together with the perspective of symbolic interactionism, an interpretive model of inquiry lent itself well to a focus on principal thought and action, especially in regard to the concept of values-based leadership. The findings of the research study suggested the centrality of the two principals' core personal values as a motivating force behind their leadership behaviours. The concepts of values origins, values alignment and the management of contested values were identified as influential features of the values enactment of principalship. The research suggests that reflection-on-self and interrogation of core personal values may be important for understanding the principalship in the areas of emotional and spiritual intelligences, resiliency and personal well-being. The implications of these findings for educational leadership theory and for principal self-development are discussed. As a consequence, the thesis proposes a values-based model of principal self-development that draws on adult learning principles. The model also includes a framework for critical self-reflection that is built around a process of self-examination, the use of human agency and scholarly literature.
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    School improvement : the route taken by an urban primary school in the Republic of Maldives : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Didi, Ahmed Ali
    The primary and secondary schools in the Maldives serve over one third of the total population. Having achieved universalization of primary education, one of the challenges of the education system now is to improve the quality of primary education. Studies done in the past, to explore quality in primary education, have been quantitative in nature, telling only part of the story when it comes to describing improvement efforts. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore in detail how a primary school in an urban setting of the Maldives deals with school improvement efforts. A qualitative case study, informed by the interpretivist research paradigm, was used to explore this issue. One of the primary schools in Male' was purposefully selected for this study and 48 participants took part, of whom thirteen were students. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observations, document reviews and administering of questionnaires. The findings of this study suggest that there were three major dimensions or three interrelated, key concepts that together undergirded the improvement efforts in the school. They are change, leadership and culture. In action-oriented terms, these dimensions or concepts translated into managing change, attending to specific leader actions and influencing the school's culture, respectively, reflecting six themes of school improvement. They are: a focus on change, a focus on students, a teaching learning focus, investing in staff, strong leadership by the head and school culture. In addition to these, it was noted that these themes emerged as having significance to the school's improvement efforts against the backdrop of many stakeholder influences and contextual factors. In essence, the findings of this study portray the micro-level realities of the working of a school that is consciously and continuously striving for improving educational practice. In conclusion to the study, research implications and areas for further research have been identified that would inform educational policy and practice in the Republic of Maldives.