Edith Cown University, Australia.

Abstract: Pressures for university accountability in the 1990s have, inter-nationally, challenged ‘classical’ notions of the idea of a University. However, communities, including businesses themselves, will expect universities to continue to develop their distinctive identities, through continuing to provide high quality research and teaching as they move into the next century. Moreover, universities have a special responsibility in developing professional and vocational, as well as educational excellence. The success of universities, in developing research which has value for the community and which serves the cause of social justice will continue to be crucial. Allied to this, and emerging from it, success in developing innovative modes of teaching and learning will make a vital contribution to establishing high quality lifelong learning for all.

Yet the Faculty must serve not only the changing research and professional learning needs of the community, but also meet the personal and professional needs of university teachers. Faculty leaders must have a concern for issues of human value, as well as for high quality research and teaching. It will be through its human resources, after all, that successful reform will be achieved. Therefore, "having a resilient human resource amidst tough worldwide competition" (Ow Yong Kean guan, 1995, p.48) should be the aim of all educational organisations, and of all nations.

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University of Central Lancashire, Great Britain.

Abstract: The paper reviews a postgraduate training programme in educational management for serving teachers in primary and secondary schools in the North West of England. Consideration of the practical aspects of an innovative project is followed by a critical assessment of the problems and issues pertinent to this kind of in-service activity. Questions are raised about the relationship between management training, skills acquisition and professional development. Effective management is equated with professional learning, while the demands of a rapidly changing school system are seen as requiring an open, critical approach. It is argued that over elaborate specification of management skills and competencies may not be beneficial and that flexible, holistic approaches with a focus on new horizons in education are to be preferred.

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University of Southern Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Abstract: This article describes the outcomes of a two-year leader development project, Project Queensland Leader Development. The authors were involved as facilitators, researchers and critical friends with a cohort of 120 school principals who were participating in a problem-based learning approach to leader development. The research findings suggest that problem-based learning allows for multiple learning realities and therefore is well suited to the uncertainty and ambiguity of the postmodern condition. Five discrete approaches to leader learning are discussed.

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University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Abstract: This article reports data from the science and engineering faculties of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in which it had been claimed that administration and teaching pressures were eroding the time and energy hitherto given to research. A quantitative and qualitative survey was conducted and showed, in brief, that teaching pressures and assessment tasks followed closely by departmental administration, were seen as making the greatest inroads into research time. An analysis of the findings produced a number of implications for university management.

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The Copperbelt University, Zambia.

Abstract: The financing of university education in two South African countries, Botswana and Swaziland is considered in this paper. Financial analysis is employed to examine the levels of efficiency and cost sharing in the universities in both countries. Comparisons are made on the basis of cost sharing and expenditure analysis. Suggestions are offered on how universities in Southern Africa can relive the enormous financial burden which is primarily borne by governments.

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Auburn University, USA.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the types of skills and experiences superintendents and other school administrators consider important for technology leadership positions in their schools. School administrators from five southestern states in the United States were surveyed to determine which skills and experiences they felt were essential for technology leaders. Results showed that school administrators believed experience with software and hardware evaluation procedures were most essential for technology leaders, with knowledge of the Internet, network management, and hardware repair close behind. This appeared to be especially true in rural and small schools since respondents from these locations tended to view technical skills as more desirable in technology leaders than respondents from urban and large schools. In contrast, the survey data indicated that school administrators find educational credentials and experience not related to instructional technology as less essential for technology leaders. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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Miles Franklin Primary School and the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Abstract: The Staff Morale Questionnaire – 72 (SMQ-72) was completed by 165 primary school teachers from 12 primary schools in a small provincial city in Australia. The questionnaire was subjected to a principle component factor analysis. It was found that six factors, Unity of Purpose, Sense of teamwork, Dedication, Inspirational Leadership, and Communication, made viable semantic sense. The number of items present in the SMQ-72 was reduced to 34. As a validation of the SMQ-72 had not been undertaken, the SMQ – Modified questionnaire appears to be a valid construct and is far more parsimonious.

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University of Alberta, Canada.

Abstract: Administrators from three levels of education in Malawi provided perceptions of the recent shift in control over educational decision making. Ministry headquarters, followed by heads of schools, were perceived to have major control over most decision categories before and also following the 1989-90 decentralisation reform, with regional education offices, academic departments and teachers perceived as having substantially less control. There had been some shift from headquarters to heads and to regional offices. In terms of preferences, respondents preferred the following order from greatest to east control: heads of schools, ministry headquarters, regional offices, teachers and academic departments.

ISEA Vol.26 No.1, 1998

School Context and Curriculum Change Management

Charles Stuart University, Australia.

Abstract: There is substantial evidence of the effects of the school context on the success of school improvement and schoolwide change efforts. This paper addresses the question of whether the same relationship exists between the school context and the individual classroom teacher’s management of curriculum change. The conceptual framework used draws on the notion of technical, political and cultural dynamics underpinning both organisational structures and change management practice. The result points to a disjunction between teachers’ perceptions of the school context and their management of the change. The argument is made that there is a case for re-focusing on Lortie’s sociological analysis of teachers’ work at the same time as being aware of the current research emphasis on the school as the unit of change.

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Victoria University, Australia.

Abstract: Compassion as an over-arching, underpinning leader value is thought to be connected to broadly-defined school success. Findings emerging from preliminary work on a questionnaire constructed from eleven compassion elements and Bolman and Deal’s leadership frames, as well as transcripts of in-depth interviews, suggest a way of finding out about this crucial value.

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Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Abstract: Trends indicate what is in flux and the direction of flux. By working with identified trends, school leaders will be more strategically placed to form visions of what they can or cannot hope to attain in pursuit of their stated school missions. Public policy initiatives may help more school leaders to ride these trends, but the decision to do so can be made only by those leaders themselves. This paper highlights future scenarios based on the trends identified by a series of future studies. These scenarios would help school leaders to appreciate better the probable futures of their students’ world where lifelong learning will become a dominant trend.

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University of Ottawa and Lanark County Board of education, Canada.

Abstract: This article comments on the usefulness of communication as a central theme in the training of educational administrators. The article concludes with a suggested alternative framework to be used by those responsible for preparing individual’s for administrative roles.

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New Zealand.

Abstract: One of the most widely advocated conditions for successful appraisal is the development and maintenance of a climate of trust where staff will collaborate for the common good. Another is the need to separate appraisal as a process of accountability and appraisal as a process of professional growth and development. In other words the formative and summative aspects of appraisal should be kept separate. This paper argues that this is problematic if not impossible. It also argues that establishing a climate of trust creates a new dimension for accountability for appraisers as receivers of trust, in that hose who give their trust can have expectations of honest dealings and full revelation on the part of those who carry out appraisal. If this does not happen, those appraised may well feel betrayed. Some suggestions are provided for ways to maintain trust and counter the threat of betrayal.

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University of Namibia.

Abstract: This paper gives a brief historical background of education in Namibia as well as the education reform and renewal process. Other issues of great significance in the reform process are: language policy, curriculum reform, teacher education, resources redistribution, discipline problems, quantitative results and qualitative achievements and challenges. It is argued that the process of reform and renewal requires a communication strategy with all the stakeholders and role players. In a country where communication channels were without exception top-down and fragmented, new attitudes and approaches had to be evolved in order to develop an interactive communication system.

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New Zealand.

Abstract: This paper shows how life-long learning came to be embedded as an influential metaphor in the policy discourse of education in New Zealand. It has come to mean self-directed educational development and to reflect collective and public commitment. It has been defined by historical, social and economic events, economic policies, political philosophies and the commitment of activists.

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University of Bristol, Great Britain.

Abstract: The devolution of funding, combined with decreasing levels of support that local education authorities are able to provide, have had a number of implications for resource management in small schools. School managers are freer to make resource decisions but have fewer choices, especially when budgets are related to numbers of pupils on roll. This article is based on some of the findings of research which focused on clusters established by 32 primary schools situated in rural areas of West Glamorgan, South Glamorgan, Gwent and the old Breconshire area of Powys. The principle aim of the study was to identify collaborative strategies which maximised the utilisation of resource.