ISEA Vol.33 No.1, 2005

Accountability versus School Development: Self-Evaluation in an International School in Hong Kong

Catherine K.L. Leung
Hong Kong

Abstract: To explore what kinds of conditions will facilitate, or hinder the implementation of School Self-Evaluation for the dual-purposes of accountability and school development, a case study was conducted in an international school in Hong Kong. The case school is found to be highly successful in employing SSE for both ends. Five conditions are found to be essential. They are (1) a comprehensive SSE system which is an on-going cycle of planning, trying, and evaluating; (2) an appropriate set of implementation strategies - 'sow the seeds first', 'let them talk', and 'pressure and support'- which are coherently used by all people involved in the programmes; (3) a dynamic pattern of shared values which is open to constant revisions and changes; (4) a combination of leadership by the School Management Team, distributed leadership, and leadership by critical learning; and most importantly, (5) a genuine belief in the talents of every single individual at the school.

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Maltese Beginning Teachers Speak Out: Perceptions about their Preparation and Professional Growth

Christopher Bezzina, Ritianne Stanyer and Nataline Rose Bezzina
University of Malta

Abstract: Most educational reforms, especially over the last two decades, have been moving away from a top-down model of policy making and practices to one which involves a greater level of participation from the grass roots (e.g. Johnson, 1997; Whitty et al., 1987). Malta is no exception. Major initiatives have been undertaken with the intention of being and becoming more inclusive (Girodmaina, ed., 2000; Ministry of Education, 2001). The educational climate within the Faculty of Education too has witnessed a shift from individualism to social relationships (Bezzina & Camilleri, 1998) The B.Ed. (Hons.) / P.G.C.E. teacher education programmes are based on the following main features: 'participation, consultation, support, collaboration, reflection, motivation, openness and empowerment'. Various initiatives have been undertaken (e.g. Faculty of Education, 1997) which have helped to nurture a culture of discursive practice which up to now has been lacking (Bezzina, 1995; Fenech, 1992).

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Educational Leadership in Pluralistic Settings: The Imagination of the Other and the Administration of Experience

Martin Barlosky
University of Ottawa

Abstract: How we imagine those who appear other than ourselves, and how we feel we should shape the future they share with us, make explicit how we typically if tacitly understand and administer human experience. The presence of those who are noticeably other than ourselves brings to the surface apprehensions, predispositions and desires normally hidden in the "everydayness" of life. We see this particularly in the practices designed first to understand and then to socialize those whose difference from ourselves is discomforting. The greater the perceived difference of others from established patterns of conduct and comportment the more extensive and, hence, the more potentially visible and telling will be the measures taken to know and to administer them.

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The Geography of Identity: The Case of Canada's Chinatowns (1858-2002)

Sandra Parris
University of Ottawa

Abstract: This essay looks at how abstract notions of difference and patterns of identity both emerge from and are grounded in concrete events, experiences and practices (e.g., the development of institutions and patterns of affiliation, policies governing immigration and assimilation, and the selection, arrangement, and administration of physical space). Included in the essay is a brief account of the history of the Chinese in Canada and the creation of Canadian Chinatowns. This brief historical account underscores (a) how particular immigrant groups were marginalized and often excluded from the formal establishment of Canada as a nation and (b) how practices associated with nation building and civic participation are reflected in current conceptions of national identity and approved institutional practices. In order to connect past events, experiences and practices with the present experiences of immigrant populations, I use the 2001 Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) (Statistics Canada, 2002) which was jointly created by Statistics Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. I use EDS data to raise questions about the ways in which the current generation of Canadians of Chinese descent self-identify and form personal and community affiliations, and to challenge the value of employing a reductive, dualist logic to understand these social processes. It is suggested that a dualistic discourse be replaced by acceptance of a more complex and nuanced presentation of the self as politically, personally, and geographically situated and continuously negotiated (Gilroy, 1990).

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Different Values, Different Ways - Principal Problem Solving and Education Reform

Louise Y.S. Law
St. Stephen's College, Hong Kong
Allan Walker
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Abstract: The Hong Kong education environment is laden with reforms that penetrate almost every facet of education. Much of the job of managing these reforms falls on the shoulders of school principals, some of whom are more successful than others, each type displaying similar patterns in terms of value orientations, perceptions and management of school problems and their outcomes, while dissimilarities appeared across principal types. Principal types were labelled pacifists, progressive mentors, philosopher mentors, pragmatists and eclectics. In general, while the progressive mentors and the philosopher mentors were found to be better geared to reforms, others, particularly the pacifists, seemed to be more change adverse. The kinds of values the principals held appeared to be a critical factor for effective reform management.

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Enhancing the Effectiveness of Senior Management Teams in Schools

Neil Cranston
School of Education, University of Queensland, Australia
Lisa Ehrich
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Abstract: Teams and teamwork are of increasing importance in schools. This is certainly the case for bodies such as senior management teams (SMTs) which typically hold strategic leadership and decisionmaking roles in schools. Reported in this paper is a process that can be used by SMTs (and other teams) to critically reflect on their dynamics and current practices and lead to the identification of strategies to develop a more desired situation. The process discussed here uses the ideas of micropolitical theory to facilitate critical reflection on the dynamics of senior management teams and involves: (i) completion of a specially designed questionnaire (TEAM© Development Questionnaire) for how the team operates at present (the REAL) and how team members would like it to operate (the IDEAL); (ii) generation and discussion of REAL and IDEAL team profiles and their correlations and otherwise; and (iii) action planning by the SMT to identify strengths as well as identifying areas for future development.