McGill University, Canada.

Abstract: The initial education policy framework of the African National Congress and subsequent white papers of the newly elected national government set the course for the transformation of the education system in South Africa from the former apartheid system based on racial segregation to a democratic system based on equal educational opportunity for all. One of the constant themes of national government policy was the delegation of significant authority to participatory governance structures at the school level, while maintaining a distinction between the mandate of these bodies and the management of the school by the principal and other members of the school management team. These policy orientations were subsequently enacted in national and provincial legislation under which schools have been operating for the past five years. The authors critically examine the national legislative framework in light of this policy orientation and suggest directions for empirical research on school governance and management.

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University of Benin, Nigeria.

Abstract: The University of Benin is one of the most popularly sought for by candidates. With few faculties and departments at its inception in 1972, there are today 11 faculties, 57departments and five Institutes. It is therefore appropriate to use the University of Benin to find out if the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examinations could predict undergraduates’ final year performance. Eight hundred and two students who graduated during the period 1995/96, 1996/1997 and 1997/98 academic sessions in the humanities, science, law and accountancy formed the sample of this study. Simple percentage and product moment correlation coefficients were the statistical tools adopted for the analysis of data.

The study prima facie revealed that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation examination was inversely related to undergraduates overall grading in the Nigerian University. The study also revealed among others that over 50% of the undergraduates passed in second-class lower division irrespective of students’ score, in the matriculation examination. Secondly, first class performance was not restricted to the category of highest matriculation score. Among the recommendations is that evaluation experts should device a more appropriate entrance examination into Nigerian Universities.

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Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa.

Abstract: South Africa has a shortage of principals with well-honed management skills. School principals are working under the most difficult conditions especially during the transformation process in education. They are often not well-prepared for tasks they must undertake and is neither given sufficient training to perform these tasks.

In order to improve the culture of teaching and learning in South African schools and making them more effective, it is essential that principals be given training and development in four key components, namely, the management of the curriculum, management of organisational structures, management of financial and material resources and the management of educators.

This article outlines the principal findings of research that there is an urgent need to train and develop principals in the management of educators. The quantitative research methodology used were of major importance in obtaining data that was grounded largely on the theoretical framework as well as in the personal experiences of educators and principals. The purpose of this research was to investigate key competencies that principals should have if they are to manage educators effectively. It is evident that principals require competencies such as the provisioning of personnel, maintaining good human relations and providing an intensive staff development so that they manage educators effectively, which, in return, will result in them managing an effective school.

* * *

Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa.

Abstract: The medium of instruction at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in Johannesburg, South Africa is either English or Afrikaans. An increasing number of students enrolling at the university are, however, second-language English / Afrikaans speakers. This study describes the general, conversational language proficiency of the first year students of 2001 at RAU, compares the language proficiency of students in various demographic groups and explores the relationships between language proficiency, scholastic achievement and first semester results. Students enrolling for their first year of study in 2001 for a degree in either commerce, arts or science form the study population. The study shows that a large percentage of students has average to poor vocabulary and comprehension scores (i.e. language proficiency scores), most notably the students enrolled for an Arts degree, younger students and second-language English / Afrikaans speakers and furthermore that there are interdependencies between language proficiency, scholastic achievement and measures of cognitive ability. Step-wise linear regression models show that scholastic achievement is a good predictor of first semester results in all three faculties. For arts students, language proficiency also contributes significantly towards the prediction of first semester results. Recommendations include the implementation of institutional strategies to improve language proficiency of students entering the university for the first time.

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B. R. Grobler, T. C. Bisschoff & K. C. Moloi

Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa.

Abstract: In this research project the literature on school effectiveness was briefly reviewed in order to determine what factors are involved in school effectiveness. The first part of the project attempted to determine the perceptions of educators about the key components of school effectiveness. To accomplish this, 105 items representative of school culture, school climate, vision, motivational strategies, curriculum, leadership and resources were formulated for inclusion in Section B of a structured questionnaire. Respondents were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the formulated items. The second part of the project (Section C of the questionnaire) asked the respondents to indicate how effective they perceived their school to be relative to other schools in the district. The data obtained from Section C of the questionnaire was analysed using the CHAID-TECHNIQUE (The Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Technique) to verify which of a number of the independent variables (Section A of the questionnaire) were the best predictors of school effectiveness in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

* * *

University at Buffalo, U.S.

Abstract: Following a change of government in 1994, Ethiopia has been undertaking major reforms in its educational system. In this light, this paper makes a thorough assessment of the training and placement of school principals, one of the major reform packages introduced since 1994. As per the new reform, colleagues assign principals on the basis of election every other year, replacing the practice in which the assignment of principals was largely conducted on the basis of the applicants’ degree or diploma in educational administration. Whereas elected principals might get short term, on-the-job training, their training has always been incompatible to the ever-increasing responsibility delegated to them, not to speak of the time-borne activities and cyclical reforms that seek the principals’ attention. In addition, the position for school principals has no incentive structure. Moreover, the fact that the election and re-election have been placed into the hands of colleagues has eroded system continuity, disempowering principals from assuming their job with sustained effort and vision.

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University of Benin, Nigeria.

Abstract: This paper examines the implementation of migrant education within the context of the nomadic educational programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The role of education in the overall development of Nigeria is also examined in terms of the influence of the political elite in policy formulation and implementation. Six participating states that are most affected by ecological problems and are benefiting from the migrant education programme were surveyed to find out from the stakeholders the level of success. Results indicated a wide gap between policy formulation and implementation, especially in the areas of curriculum, instructional facilities, staff welfare and the general well-being of the people. The widespread complaints showed that the expected benefits are far from being realised and there is therefore the need for government to get all stakeholders involved through some form of capacity building.

ISEA Vol.30 No.2 2002

The Making of Secondary School Principals: Some Perspectives from the Island of Malta

Christopher Bezzina

Office of Professional Practice, Department of Education Studies,

Faculty of Education, University of Malta, Malta.

Abstract: The key purpose of this paper is to present the findings of the Maltese study which is part of a collective study involving four island states: Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malta. The study adopts a biographical/ portrait-based approach to understanding the principalship and thus provides us with new insights into the growing literature in the field. It is aimed at contributing to our understanding of how principals are made and make themselves. The paper explores the views and perspectives which a small group of eight principals bring to their life and work. The paper briefly explores the career paths of the principals interviewed and focus on the first two stages of their personal and professional lives – formation and accession. The study shows that family, family experiences and the community have an important part to play in influencing the lives of prospective leaders. The study also highlights the link between vicarious learning, continuous professional development and personal reflection.

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Abstract: A recent interview study with 26 Heads of Department (HoD) at four NSW Secondary schools (two Government and two non-Government) sought to throw some light on an under-researched, yet vital position in education, that of the ‘middle manager’.

The study investigated reasons for seeking the position of HoD, and preparation for assuming the role. The HoDs were also asked about their most and least valued aspects of the role, and the elements of their work, both actual and preferred. Origins of and influences on personal leadership style, level of involvement in whole school decision making and professional development needs of the HoDs were also explored.

A key finding of the study was that the realities of the position did not match initial expectations, and that those interviewed desired to redesign the role.

This paper examines key issues in relation to the work of the secondary Head of Department.

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University of Victoria, Canada.

Note: This brief paper is a follow-up to "Who guards the guardians? The British Columbia College of Teachers and Trinity Western University" (International Studies in Educational Administration, Volume 28, No. 2, 2000), and deals with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada on the case.

Abstract: The British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) is an organisation which has the authority to certify teachers and approve teacher education programs in the Province of British Columbia. Trinity Western University (TWU), a private Christian institution, applied to have its teacher education program approved, but the request was denied by the BCCT on the grounds that the Community Standards required of students at TWU include among other things an agreement to refrain from homosexual behaviour (Davies, 1997, p. 4). The emphasis of the legal arguments advanced by the BCCT to support its position shifted with the decisions of successive courts: from the initial charge that graduates of the program might be prejudiced against homosexuals, it changed to the discriminatory enrolment practices of TWU, and thence to the constitutional issues of the separation of church and state (Glegg, 2000, p. 28).

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Department of Adult Education, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

Abstract: The need to ensure that middle and higher level manpower are available to run social economic and administration programmes led the colonial administration to commence post-secondary education and its sustenance in post-independent Nigeria. This paper traces the genesis of post-secondary education in Nigeria from the colonial era to the present administration. It discovers that the number of post-secondary institutions has grown tremendously. It shows that there are at present twenty-four federal universities, twelve state universities and three private universities; seventeen federal polytechnics, twenty-one state polytechnics and one private polytechnic, while there are thirty federal colleges of education and twenty-five states colleges of education. It posits that the factors that have influenced these expansions include manpower requirement, politics and social demand for post-secondary education.

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The University of the West Indies, Barbados.

Abstract: Higher education and administration are terms which have been defined and interpreted in several different ways by academics, practitioners and the wider public. This lack of shared understanding may be attributed to the changes which these concepts have undergone over time and in different geographical locations. Not surprisingly therefore there is little agreement among educators themselves about what constitutes higher education and there is divergence of views among educational administrators also about the nature and scope of educational administration. In spite of these differences, it should not be difficult to arrive at consensus by both groups that there is value in strengthening regional tertiary education and that educational administration, however defined, has a critical role in this endeavour.

In considering the role of higher education administration in strengthening the regional higher education system, this paper will look briefly at what constitutes higher education; discuss the nature of administration generally and educational administration in particular; highlight some of the challenges which face higher education administration in the Caribbean, and point to a few ways in which collaborative approaches including the formation of the Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators may improve the quality of educational administration and ultimately the delivery of higher education.

* * *

Kam-cheung Wong, Qiufang Wen and Ference Marton

The University of Hong Kong, University of Nanjing, China, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract: Many Asian students, and among them Chinese students, perform outstandingly in academic learning in universities in North America, United Kingdom and Australia, and in international educational assessment competitions such as the IEA (Law, 1996). These phenomena, known as the paradox of the Chinese learner (Watkins & Biggs, 1996; 2001a) have puzzled many educationalists since Asian students have been stereotyped as rote-learners. Researchers have undertaken many empirical cross-cultural studies to resolve this paradox with some success. However many of these studies treated Chinese learners from different places as a homogeneous group, which is, of course, an inaccurate assumption.

The present study aims to understand further the paradox of the Chinese learner and to address this inaccurate assumption. It adopts a comparative approach to study Chinese students in Hong Kong and Nanjing, their differences in their beliefs and conceptions of learning, and how these differences are affected by the students’ experiences of university education. The research consists of two concurrent and related components. The first is to conduct cross-sectional questionnaire surveys on attitudes towards conceptions of learning of first year university students of the two cities. Follow-up surveys were conducted two years later to observe whether the students shifted their views on conceptions of learning. The second component is to conduct interviews among a small group of the same first year university students of the two cities, employing the phenomenographic method (Marton, 1994) to identify qualitative differences among students in beliefs and conceptions of learning on views of knowledge.

Leadership & Management Research Unit, Faculty of Education,
Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

[This paper was presented at the "Education: The Global Challenge" international conference, TSPA, CCEAM; ACEA; NZEAS; PNGCEA - Hobart, Australia, September, 2000.]

Abstract: School-based management generally has become the agreed upon model for the operation of schools in many countries around the world. This paper reports research on principals working within such a regime. It was carried out across two years for primary schools in Queensland, one of the states of Australia. Identified as significant among a broad set of findings in response to school-based management were that: (a) the roles and responsibilities of principals change, bringing major challenges for them as both leaders and managers of their schools; (b) the skills and capacities of principals within such operational models change, whereby principals are required to demonstrate an enhanced set of abilities compared with that evident under more traditional modes of operation; (c) the roles of teachers also change with implications for the development of teachers-as-leaders notions among staff as multiple leadership roles emerge within schools; (d) various complex challenges for principals emerge, among which include tensions between increased devolution and greater accountability and a reluctance among some teachers to embrace devolution and take on greater levels of responsibility and accountability. The findings point to a number of implications for policy, practice and theory.

* * *

Canterbury Christ Church University College, Kent, U.K.

Abstract: A study visit to North Carolina by a party of teachers from England is analysed to explore questions about the nature of the learning which takes place on study visits, and about the transferability of the practices observed. Conceptual issues regarding comparison between different national education systems are explored. The article considers the relative significance of cultural factors and government policies to the creation of conditions in which practices seen in one system can be adapted for use in another.

* * *

Massey University, New Zealand, Leeds Metropolitan University, England.

Introduction: Recent years have seen a burgeoning of official interest in the work of the secondary school head of department or 'subject leader' on the basis that the 'effectiveness' of secondary school workgroups varies within and across schools (e.g. Sammons, Thomas and Mortimore, 1997; Harris, 1998; Busher and Harris, 1999; Brown and Rutherford, 1998, Brown, Rutherford and Boyle, 2000). This is most pronounced in Britain where professional standards for 'subject leaders' have been defined centrally and used as the basis both of professional development programmes and performance management schemes. Departmental effectiveness research is a fairly recent offshoot of the more established school effectiveness tradition but is based on identical theoretical and empirical approaches. On the basis of selected schooling outcomes (most frequently, value-added examination results) individual departments are deemed to be more or less effective compared with others in the same school, subject area or socio-economic circumstances.

* * *

FCCEAM, FNZEAS, formerly Senior Policy Analyst in the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand, past-National Secretary, NZEAS.

Abstract: Two major principles underpinned the post-1989 New Zealand school sector education reforms - self management at school level within national guidelines, and maximum parental choice of school. Both principles have proved problematic and ambiguous.

This paper describes the enrolment scheme provisions, concerning choice of school, of the initial Education legislation of the Centre Left government in office since the election of 1999. Study of the four enrolment scheme frameworks since 1989, with which the writer has been closely involved, allows explication of the contention over a decade of the competing paradigms of 'an Education market' and 'a network of schools'.

Education reform is discussed within a broader context of First, Second and Third Ways of economic development. The First Way has been described as 'the Washington Consensus', the Second as the command economies of the former Communist bloc, and the Third Way as a social democratic alternative.

The Education market model, central to a Second Way in New Zealand Education introduced from 1989, proved neither equitable nor efficient for the provision of access to state schools for the 96% of New Zealand's school population attending such schools. In 1998 and 2000 there have been significant changes towards the network of schools model.

The paper concludes with a challenge to educationists - scholars, researchers and school leaders - to work for a Third Way of sustainable equitable and democratic development, recognising that powerful forces are resistant to such change.

* * *

Centre for International Education, University of Sussex Institute of Education, U.K.

Summary: This paper critically examines womanise’ participation in higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically it considers two dimensions of womanise’ participation, namely, the fields of study in which females are enrolled in and the staff composition of higher education institutions. We argue from an equity perspective that while the participation rate of women in higher education has incurred, this has been in particular field of study (mainly humanities and social sciences). We further argue that there are still few women at senior levels in higher education institutions given overall increase in gross participation rates. This suggests a need for more proactive and positive strategies to effect greater equity in higher education.

* * *

Educational Administration and Psychological Services Department,

Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, U.S.A.

Abstract: In this article, I address the "paradigm wars" (Gage, 1989; Anderson & Herr, 1999) as they are manifested in educational administration through consideration of text and discourse in that field. The paradigm wars in educational administration represent a deep-seated division in the field between, for example, those who might be termed positivists and those who might be termed post-positivists; though each of these terms is contested. Basically, though later I will show the division to be more deep-seated, the differences are said to be epistemological (Willower & Forsyth, 1999).

I will demonstrate that what differences exist are not just epistemological, but ontological as well. In fact, examining educational administration text samples from a linguistic anthropological perspective (Duranti, 1997), I will propose that the differences exhibited are cultural differences. Based on this line of argument, I will consider whether these differences may be overcome, and, if so, how that might happen.

This article begins with a brief discussion of the paradigm wars, including its genesis. Examples from the scholarship in educational administration will be discussed and analyzed, employing a relatively simple discourse analysis and an anthropological or ethnographic lens. Finally, application of Kegan’s (1994) levels of consciousness framework will be applied to the paradigm wars in an effort to transcend them. Implications for educational administrator preparation will be discussed.