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    Important factors in the effectiveness of principal appraisal in primary schools : a case study of principal appraisal in five New Zealand primary schools : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) McMillan-Rourke, Shirley
    This thesis was motivated by the researcher's need to prepare a Principal Appraisal programme for her own school. A paucity of local literature on the topic and anxiety amongst colleagues about the appraisal process, prompted this investigation. Changes in legislation led, in 1995, to principals in Grade 4 and Grade 5 schools being required to negotiate Individual Employment Contracts (IEC's) in which remuneration is linked to appraisal. This had the potential to create tension between the appraiser and appraisee. A case study of five G4 and G5 primary schools was conducted to ascertain how principals and their boards dealt with this issue, how they developed their appraisal programmes and what factors contributed to the successful implementation of the appraisal process. The review of literature compares changes to educational administration in England and New Zealand and the resulting moves toward corporate models of management in both countries. Issues that arose from English appraisal trials dating from the mid 1980's, mirrored concerns that were surfacing in New Zealand - concerns about accountability, credibility of and training for appraisers, linking salary to appraisal and evaluating the whole school through principal appraisal. Major findings in this research study confirm that principal appraisal programmes work best when the purpose for the appraisal is clear from the outset; when the appraiser and principal communicate frequently about school matters; when professional development needs of the principal are recognised and catered for; and when the appraisal is based on specific areas of the Performance Agreement rather than trying to cover too much. Other issues which arose from this study are concerned with self-appraisal; the nature of 'effectiveness' and the difficulty of proving the effectiveness of appraisal; the lack of professional educators in the process of principal appraisal; evaluating the whole school when appraising the principal; and the suitability of a lay person as a principal's 'line manager'. In the conclusion to this research the researcher has summarised elements of the five appraisal programmes that have made them successful. Recommendations are given which may assist schools to refine their principal appraisal programmes and suggestions are made for further research which could be undertaken in this topic.
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    The professional learning pathways of urban New Zealand primary principals : a case study into the beliefs, practices, and perceived impact of professional learning on primary principals : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education, Massey University, 2012
    (Massey University, 2012) Malcolm, Anne
    The research contributes to school leadership literature considering the role of formal and informal learning. In particular, the diverse modes of learning, varied pathways to principalship and the need for on-going learning, to include the ‘novice’ phase of being a principal. Urban New Zealand principals, through a purposive sample case study, identified why and how learning was meaningful to them. An email survey was triangulated with fifteen principals’ narratives and four individual interviews to determine the access to and value of principals’ professional learning. The findings support balanced modes of direct and indirect learning. An articulated principalship learning pathway is required using both explicit and tacit learning approaches. Principals determined that formal learning is paramount to their professionalism and their ability to be effective in the role. They equally valued peer networks as learning environments. Mentoring at all phases of principalship provided invaluable support. Despite the importance of developing and evaluating curriculum and student learning, principal leadership included growing future leaders, change management, day to day leadership, and management tasking. This created a work portfolio that could conceivably diminish a leader’s personal time for learning. Seemingly, this was inaccurate. Principals are self-motivated adult learners challenged to study in order to improve what happens in their schools, for students, teachers and, for some, the wider community. Data analysis revealed that principals exhibit an on-going moral commitment to learning, their staff, and students. There is no one course or method of learning that teaches all. Principals learned on the job, through reading, contact with other principals and through degree-type programmes. The First Time Principals’ Programme provided consistency but insufficient recognition of experience or link to qualification status. In New Zealand, principals with educational leadership qualifications are not fiscally recognised. The research contributes to the body of New Zealand leadership literature through the rich and real descriptions of principals’ experiences. The findings identify a range of suitable learning methodologies that could be developed for principals. The research opens opportunities for further New Zealand research that develops the principals’ voice.
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    Sharing leadership in schools : narratives of discourse and power : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Court, Marian
    This thesis explores the phenomenon of shared leadership as it emerged in three primary schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand, during the 1990s restructuring of educational administration. At this time, two 'mainstream' discourses of professional collaborative leadership and neo-liberal managerialism came into 'collision.' The principal's role was re-constituted from being a collaborative instructional leader, to being a chief executive, entrepreneurial manager. Separate contracts for principals and senior school managers detailed managerial tasks, performance standards and accountability lines that heightened the existing divisions between them and other teachers. The possibility of developing 'flattened,' more democratic forms of shared decision making- and leadership seemed increasingly remote. Yet it was in this context that a small number of co-principalships were initiated around the country. The study employs narrative, Foucauldian and feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis tools to examine how opportunities for change opened up within 'cracks' and contradictions in the 1990s discursive terrain of educational leadership. Moving between micro and macro analyses, the thesis demonstrates how individual and collective agency is enacted within and against dominant discourses, effecting transformations of practice. Three groups of women challenged and/or co-opted elements of managerial, professional and feminist discourses of organisation as they developed their co-principalships. These initiatives opened up for many people different ways of thinking about and practising school leadership: as one child said about her school, "Here there is no boss." Three case narratives provide insights into strategies for developing more fully democratic partnerships between principals and staff, principals and board members, professionals and parents. Open, honest communication and mutual forms of accountability that go beyond current requirements for contractual, task specific and linear forms of control, are particularly significant for a successful co-principalship. Governmental forms of power, material inequalities and socio-cultural hegemonies of gender, class and ethnicity, can constrain the democratic potential of shared leaderships however. Related factors that led to the disestablishment of two or the co-principalships included inequalities of knowledge and experience, difficulties over funding and staffing, and struggles between a governing body and their co-principals over the meanings and practices of governance and management. There are flaws in arguments that posit a generic model of 'strong' management that can be imposed across all schools, with assumed uniform results. This study shows how people's beliefs about and practices of school leadership are constituted in relation to their own backgrounds, interactions with other people in their local school community and wider socio-political, economic and discursive struggles over power.