Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.School management and organisation

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Educational administration in Toronto : a description : in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1990) Huse, Christopher James
    This paper is an attempt to describe the administration of secondary education in Toronto. As New Zealand is making a dramatic change in the administration of its education system, it could be useful for New Zealand teachers and administrators, struggling to interpret, and reconcile, the intentions of the government, the demands of lobby groups and the instructions of boards of trustees, to take a brief look at another system. The major change in Tomorrow's Schools from the system that predated it, is the locus of control. The degree to which control, over a significant number of facets of the education delivered in the classrooms has shifted, is remarkable in itsetf, but the fact that the shift occurs in a single event, makes it more so. In the past, New Zealand has been cautious and conservative in its approach to educational change. It had not embraced the progressive decentralisation of many aspects of educational administration seen in Australia, Canada, United States and Britain over the last twenty years. Then in one act, New Zealand has created what could be described as one of the most decentralised systems of school management of all of these countries.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A college self review : a report on an Action Research Cycle conducted for the purpose of school improvement : presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Educational Administration, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Hughes, Gay
    A school self-review: (i) occupies a central role in the development of effective schools and (ii) it is what we do to make sure that all of us who care about schools and pupils know what we are trying to achieve, how we check whether we have met our aspirations and how we use this information for further development. This study is a school self-review which focuses on the requirements (including National Administration Guideline 1, (Ministry of Education, 2000) that relates specifically to learning) that were put in place by the Establishment Board of Trustees of a new school prior to the school opening at the beginning of the 1999 school year, i.e the school's Vision and Guiding Principles. The study uses an action-research cycle to review how well the school has met these standards after a period of two years and will continue to use further action-research cycles to continue the process of review and development. While this review has been initiated and lead by the Principal of the school, the school's staff has been, and continues to be actively involved in the data gathering process and it is envisaged that staff wil be further empowered to complete this first cycle of action-research using the results to drive subsequent action-research cycles. The completed review will be presented to the school's Board of Trustees to provide members with an opportunity to reflect on the development of the school since its opening and to assist with ongoing strategic planning. It is believed that by placing the staff of the school in the role of researchers, the process will lead to increased motivation, collegiality and ownership of the school's vsion and provide a method for ongoing institution-wide site-based school development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Investigating sustainability of school-wide positive behaviour for learning in New Zealand schools : a thesis completed in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Elder, Katie
    This research investigated sustainability of School-Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning (SWPB4L) in New Zealand schools. An existing sustainability survey was adapted to fit the New Zealand context and electronically distributed to primary, intermediate, and secondary schools who were implementing SWPB4L; completed surveys were received from 338 school staff who had encountered or been involved with SWPB4L within the schools. The quantitative data strand included respondent ratings of statements relating to key factors of sustainability which have been recognised within relevant literature; these included prioritisation, school leadership, external leadership, programme effectiveness, programme efficiency, collection and use of data, and capacity building for staff. Each statement was rated for importance, which provided an insight into which sustainability factors the respondents perceived as important in relation to maintaining SWPB4L, and truth, which provided an insight into how accurately these factors were being applied within New Zealand schools implementing the initiative. The qualitative data strand included short comment answers to two open ended questions relating to SWPB4L sustainability supports and sustainability barriers. Respondent comments allowed for a more in depth analysis of sustainability concepts and identification of unanticipated ideas relating to successful implementation of SWPB4L. Integration of the data strands allowed for meaningful discussion relating to sustainability of SWPB4L in New Zealand schools. The findings suggested that overall the sustainability factors widely considered in existing literature were all considered to be relevant to sustainability of SWPB4L. The respondents placed the highest relative importance on leadership within the school and capacity building for school staff. Further, staff commitment, communication, and consistency of implementation were also considered to be important for supporting ongoing implementation. The factors of school leadership, capacity building, and effectiveness were found to be sustainability strengths within the schools. Features of efficiency and external leadership were found to offer the greatest room for improvement. Conclusions from the current study have led to practical recommendations for understanding and increasing sustainability of SWPB4L in New Zealand schools.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Effectiveness in changing a primary school's culture : a case study : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Joyce, Andrea
    Change has been a constant feature of contemporary educational organisations since 1989 and the instituting of Tomorrow's Schools. However, knowing that change is required is one thing, achieving 'real change' is quite another. Contemporary educational writers and researchers strongly suggest that an organisation's culture, effectiveness, improvements and leadership are the major, interconnected, concepts that enable an organisation - whether it be educational or a corporate business - to initiate, manage, maintain and monitor real change. This research study, using ethnographic approaches of participant observation, interviews and document collection, attempted to view an educational organisation in the throes of re-establishing itself from an 'historical culture', to a more 'contemporary culture'. The research indicated, by comparing historical and present ways of doing things, that organisational concepts - culture, effectiveness, improvement and leadership - were interpreted in different ways to produce quite contrasting sets of beliefs and assumptions, norms and expectations. The research also highlighted the fact that leadership was at the 'heart' in influencing the way/s in which - both historically and in the present - culture, effectiveness and improvements were to be implemented and shaped. This research concluded that the concept of organisational culture (as an umbrella for defining how things are done, effectiveness, improvements and leadership) was useful in developing an understanding of what creates real change in an organisation. This research study, in adding to current debate and research, implies that, in identifying beliefs and assumptions, norms and expectations, an environment could be prudently positioned to design and change systems, rather than merely to identify systems that are possibly inadequate to meet contemporary educational (or other) challenges.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Governance and management under Tomorrow's schools : dualism or separatism? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Educational Administration, Department of Social and Policy Studies in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Taylor, Annette May
    The thesis aimed to determine the following: (i) How boards of trustees and principals in state secondary schools determine their respective roles and responsibilities of governance and management. (ii) Can the principal be seen as standing apart from the board of trustees of which they are a member? (iii) If conflicts between governance and management arise, how are these solved? The researcher was concerned to learn in educational readings that governance and management and the governance-management interface is a sorely neglected area of research, and that since the inception of Tomorrow's Schools there had been an exponential growth in the number of court proceedings involving conflicts of governance and management between principals and boards of trustees. The researcher wanted to determine the views of principals and board chairpersons on governance and management and undertake an in-depth study of a sample of secondary schools' governance-management interface. A considerable body of quantitative and qualitative research literature has examined the background to the educational reforms and the delivery and implementation of the 'self-management' model. Of particular relevance to this study is the fact that New Zealand followed the 'New-Right' philosophy that was sweeping other westernised countries and devolved the responsibility and accountability for the provision of education to local communities. Empowerment of local communities was seen to be an essential ingredient in ensuring that the 'self-management' model succeeded. Evidence in this study suggests that the roles of governance and management are not truly split as was envisaged by the initiators of the educational reforms. There appears to be a merging of the two roles and negotiation of the two roles is needed between the principal and the board of trustees. The governance-management interface that has been developed over the last decade has done so owing to each school's interpretation of Tomorrow's Schools guidelines and the relevant sections of the Education Act 1989. While the participants in this study indicate a satisfaction with their governance-management interface, there are dissatisfactions with the current model and these have been recorded. The majority of the participants in this study see the principal as an integral part of the board, despite the fact that he/she is both an employee of the board and an employer of staff. Conflict between the two roles had occurred and the schools were able to deal with these in-house or by providing professional development in the areas of concern. In the researcher's opinion, if schools wish to ensure that the governance and management of their school is run in such a way that the board governs and the principal manages, then aspects ofJohn Carver's (1997) Policy Governance model provides them with a vehicle to do so. This model sharpens the board's focus on governance and the ends they wish to achieve, and provides the principal with empowerment to develop and implement the means needed to achieve the prescribed ends. The current model of governance and management is working for the majority of schools. However, the "one glove fits all approach" is not appropriate for all schools. Evidence in this study shows that there does need to be a reappraisal of some issues that surround the 'self-management' model. Because schools exist to promote teaching and learning and the board of trustees and principals are charged with the responsibility for showing gains in student learning, ways must be found to further enhance the governance and management functions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Difficult dilemmas : how are they resolved by secondary school middle managers? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration and Leadership at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Atkin, Gerard Martin
    Resolving difficult dilemmas is an inescapable component of teaching. If teachers progress into positions of responsibility, middle management positions, the situations they are required to resolve become more complex, requiring a greater range of skills to effectively resolve. Little research has been undertaken to identify the factors influencing middle managers’ resolution of difficult dilemmas. Given that such situations occur frequently in teaching it is a gap in the knowledge base of the profession. This study began to fill that void by identifying the types of dilemmas arising most frequently in the work of secondary school middle managers and identifying the strategies employed when they resolve these dilemmas. Of particular interest was identifying the extent to which the example of the principal is an influencing factor as this is heavily intoned in much educational leadership literature. A qualitative study was dictated and an inductive approach utilising thematic analysis was employed to examine the personal accounts describing the resolution of dilemmas. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit narratives describing occasions in which middle managers or their colleagues had resolved difficult dilemmas. Narrative analysis revealed that the multifaceted and busy nature of middle managers’ positions, and the constraints and obstacles existent in schools, are not conducive to considered and reflective resolutions to the difficult problems and dilemmas encountered. Middle managers take seriously their role in resolving the problems and dilemmas arising in their work. However little guidance is available to help them, or in their preparation for promotion into such positions. It was expected the example of the principal would exert a strong influence. However, this was not supported by data. Greater preparation for all teachers to assist them in recognising the values conflicting in challenging dilemma situations is essential so they are better placed to comprehend their moral duty in resolving such situations and can propose appropriate resolutions. The principal can play a significant role in developing this capacity.