Massey Documents by Type

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Subject: search.filters.subject.390403 Educational administration, management and leadership

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    Democracy, freedom, and school : realigning power in Aotearoa New Zealand's secondary schools : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023-10-30) Smith, Kylie
    This comprehensive study explores positive impacts of democratic systems enacted within secondary schools on students. Responses to democratic practices within schools (including collective decision-making, deliberative discussion, diverse ways of being, and freedom of movement and expression) are examined and analysed. Additionally, the hidden curriculum created by structures and processes inherent in democratic participation is critically reflected on, including consideration of how democratic processes relate to individual and collective well-being within the school environment. The study adopts a qualitative grounded theory research methodology to comprehend the outcomes of learning within democratic settings. Participants, including alumni and staff from two different democratic school environments, share their perspectives through semi-structured one-on-one interviews and question-and-answer emails. Data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently, and the data analysed using constant comparative analysis. Democratic building blocks, based on a foundation of respect for the student as a whole human, emerged from the data. Organising school structures around democratic ideals, reflective of indigenous models of democracy, and aligned with Lundy’s model of space, voice, influence, and audience aimed at implementing Article 12 of the UNCRC, is seen to cultivate a learning environment where diversity is embraced and respected. Effective communication skills are honed through authentic and meaningful deliberative dialogue, enabling students to value diverse perspectives. Alumni valued the challenge of navigating agency in a safe supportive learning environment and felt empowered to contribute and participate towards a strong collective school community. Implications from the research underscore the potential of democratic systems to create more equitable educational environments, enhancing well-being by aligning the hidden curriculum with critical and culturally sustainable pedagogies. The study highlights the importance of continual dialogue and reflection and advocates for active integration of democratic principles within schools to facilitate challenges to oppressive structures. It further stresses the need for adults to approach schooling from an epistemology of trust in and support for the student, enabling genuine equitable dialogue and fostering a sense of dignity, significance, and belonging among students. Ultimately, the research offers tangible examples of schools where student-defined well-being is prioritized and provides a forward-thinking approach based on democratic principles to empower students.
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    An exploration of governance and management in high performing private training establishments in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies (Management) at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Seno, Leah Ingrid
    It has been recognised that governance and management have a far-reaching impact in different spheres of society. Failures in governance and their damaging consequences as well as current challenges on the global scene have led to an increasing focus on governance and management, including in higher education. This is true in New Zealand where the government’s Tertiary Education Strategy demonstrates a commitment to improving strategic capacity and leadership at both governance and management levels in tertiary education organisations (Edwards, 2003). The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of what constitutes good governance and management practice in New Zealand private tertiary education. Underpinned by a pragmatist epistemology which emphasises the utility of research to solve practical real-world problems, the study offers insights and implications for practice that will contribute to lifting the quality and credibility of the sector. Practice theory which suggests that practices are the basic units of analysis to understand organisational phenomena (Nicolini, 2012) serves as the theoretical framework supporting the study. An empirical enquiry approach which focuses on the everyday activity of organising (Feldman & Orlikowski, 2011) is utilised to investigate practice. The findings of this research are informed by a case study of a high performing private training establishment (PTE), qualitative interviews with New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Evaluators as expert informants experienced in assessing the performance of tertiary education providers, and analysis of relevant documents. The analysis of findings follows the conceptualisation of practice-as-entity, i.e. practice is comprised of three elements – competence, materiality and meaning (Shove et al., 2012). Four key themes emerged from the findings, representing the key features of high performing PTEs: being driven by a purpose beyond profit, strong leadership, being reflective, and valuing staff. Sub-themes embody the governance and management practices associated with these key features: having a student-centric mission, vision, values; strong community engagement; active and knowledgeable governance; competent academic leadership; self-assessment; robust data management leading to continuous improvements; and motivating staff. Based on these findings, the study proffers a number of insights, practical implications, and recommendations relevant to practitioners in the sector. The recommendations are presented as an integrated leverage system that creates an advantage for a PTE and useful for attaining superior performance. The system depicts how a PTE’s leadership operates around organisational purpose (the fulcrum) by applying its energies through three leadership handles to provide the organisational output. This creates leverage similar to how a mechanical lever on a fulcrum works. The leadership handles are ‘stakeholder plus’ governance structure, distributed academic leadership and quality management, and participative people management.
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    Learning to lead student achievement : a mixed methods study on the leadership practices of New Zealand primary school principals : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Rowe, Kathryn Joy
    The study’s purpose was to contribute to the understanding of professional learning needs of primary school principals and to provide more information about effective leadership practices which raise student achievement in the context of New Zealand’s self-managing school system. This study employed a mixed methods research design to explore how a group of New Zealand primary principals used their direct and indirect influence to impact student achievement. The principals participated in a pedagogically-based leadership programme over 18 months as first-time principals in 2007. The study was situated within a pedagogical leadership discourse to explore how the principals developed their leadership practices over the decade to 2017. The research took place in two phases. In Phase One, a questionnaire was used to explore how 67 principals had developed their leadership practices during the decade 2007-2017. In Phase Two, 12 volunteer principals participated in interviews and contributed documents for analysis to investigate the influence of principals’ leadership practices on student achievement in New Zealand primary schools. Findings appeared to show that an influence of New Zealand’s self-managing schooling system was to increase principals’ work intensity and reduce principals’ focus on teaching and learning within their schools and the time for reflective practice. This work intensity was particularly noticeable for principals of small schools. Principals’ decision making was strongly linked to their theories of action. Theories of action based on pedagogical leadership better influenced student achievement. However, the findings suggested that principals also required time to influence practices within their schools. Extended time enabled principals to align pedagogical theories of action with learning and teaching activities, integrate new learning, develop relationships, promote dialogue about teaching and learning within the community of practice and embed self-improving processes for reflection and development of teaching practices. Principals’ participation in teachers’ professional development enabled principals to better act as a resource for teachers, engage more effectively in dialogue about teaching and learning, integrate new learning into school-wide practices, and enhance processes which facilitated learning within the community of practice. Establishment of structures which developed a safe and orderly environment and attended to the physical and psychological needs of students, appeared important prior to establishing structures which more directly emphasized classroom teaching and learning. Findings showed that New Zealand primary school principals’ professional learning is heuristic in response to contextual needs. Despite an emphasis on pedagogical leadership within New Zealand education policy and within the principal preparation programme attended by the principals in the study, not all the principals emphasized pedagogical leadership in their practice. Principals developed most of their pedagogical knowledge during their time as teachers. Principals, who continued to develop their pedagogical content knowledge by participating in teachers’ professional development, led high achieving schools. The New Zealand education system, while providing autonomy for principals, relies on a high level of unfunded, informal support from vicarious experts such as experienced principals, school community members or other personal contacts to apprentice the principal in a proportion of the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to fulfil the principal’s role. Local funding of principals’ professional learning leads to inequities of access to professional learning for principals of small and geographically isolated schools. The implications of the study are collaboration is required between practitioners, researchers and policy makers to advance solutions for problems of educational practice and that reduce contextual influences to principals’ workloads and better enable principals to focus on teaching and learning within their schools.
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    Barriers and enablers for school leaders implementing PB4L Tier 2 with fidelity in New Zealand secondary schools : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, Educational Administration and Leadership Subject at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Andrews, Stephanie Tania
    This thesis explores the barriers and enablers to implementing Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) Tier 2 with fidelity in New Zealand secondary schools. PB4L was introduced to New Zealand schools in 2010. It provides a framework that schools use to guide the implementation of evidence-based practice with the goal of reducing problem behaviour and providing a positive school culture. With a focus on evidence-based practice, fidelity of implementation is a core principle of PB4L. PB4L consists of three tiers that provide a continuum of behaviour supports for students. Tier 2 of the continuum targets approximately 15% of students within a school and offers small group response before students develop habitual patterns of behaviour. This mixed method, sequential explanatory design was conducted in two phases. In Phase I a quantitative survey was administered to principals and Tier 2 team leaders in New Zealand secondary schools. This was used to identify the extent to which schools were implementing Tier 2 interventions within their school, and to the identify barriers and enablers schools were experiencing in implementing PB4L Tier 2. In Phase II qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with PB4L Tier 2 team leaders who had a wide range of experiences in the implementation of PB4L Tier 2, adding depth of explanation to the quantitative data. A number of barriers and enablers were identified, often the barrier or enabler was a different side of the same coin. Key enablers that emerged from this mixed methods research included the facilitation of shared learning between secondary schools, schools establishing strong external relationships with outside agencies, and proactive school leadership. Significant barriers included the time investment required to achieve ‘fidelity’ in interventions, efficient access to data, the complexity of the secondary environment and the limited range of easily resourced evidence-based interventions for use in a secondary school context.