Dissertations / Theses: 'Educational leadership Australia'

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Thomas, Keith Trevor, and mikewood@deakin edu au. "Understanding educational process in leadership development." Deakin University. School of Social and Cultural Studies in Education, 2003. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20051110.134710.

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This thesis is a case study of educational process in the leadership development program of the Australian Defence Force Academy. The intention is to determine the relative emphasis in educational process on the conventional command and managerial compliance (Type A) style and the emergent contingent and creative (Type B) style of leadership. The Type A style is theorised as emphasizing hierarchy and control, whereas the emphasis in a Type B style is on adaptive and entrepreneurial behaviour. This study looks at the learning process in a cultural and structural context rather than focus on curriculum and instructional design. Research in this wider context is intended to enable development processes to successfully bridge a gap between theory and practice, implicit in studies that identify theories 'in-operation' as different from the theories 'espoused' (Argyris 1992, Savage 1996). In terms of espoused and in-use theory, the study seeks to produce a valid and reliable result to the question: what is the relative emphasis on the two leadership styles in the operation of the three educational mechanisms of curriculum, pedagogy (teaching practice) and assessment? The quantitative analysis of results (n = 114) draws attention to both leadership styles in terms of two and three-way relationships of style, cadet or work group and service type. The data shows that both Type A and Type B leadership styles are evident in the general conversation of the organisation. This trend is present as espoused theory in the curriculum of the Defence Academy. However, the data also confirm a clear and strong emphasis towards command and managerial compliance as theory-in-use, particularly by cadets. This emphasis is noticeably evident in the teaching and assessment practice of the Defence Academy. Other research outcomes include the observation that: Contextually, while studies show it is difficult to isolate skills from their cultural and biographical context (Watkins, 1991:15), this study suggests that it is equally difficult to isolate skills development from this context. There is a strong task or instrumental link identified by cadet responses in terms of content and development process at the Defence Academy, in contrast to the wider developmental emphasis in general literature and senior officer interviews. There is a lack of awareness of teaching strategies and development activity consistent with espoused Type B leadership theory and curriculum content. This gap is compounded by the use in the Defence Academy of personnel without teaching expertise or suitable developmental experience. The socialisation of cadets into the military workplace is the primary purpose of training. This purpose appears taken for granted by all concerned - staff, cadets and senior officers. Defence Academy development processes appear to be faced with a dilemma. Arguably, training and learning from experience are limited approaches to development. Training, which involves learning by replication, and learning from experience, which is largely imitative, are both of little use when people are faced with novel and ambiguous situations. This study suggests that in order to support the development of capabilities that go beyond training based competence a learning and development approach is needed. This more expansive approach requires educational planners to consider the cultural and social context that can inadvertently promote the status quo in practice over espoused outcomes.

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Gillan, Kevin P. "Teaching principals : Educational restructuring and transformational leadership." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1997. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/879.

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The restructuring of. the Education Department of Western Australia (EDWA) since 1987 has seen the devolution and decentralisation of administrative responsibilities from the central education authority to schools. The onset of an era of educational restructuring has significantly changed the work of primary school principals. They have become responsible for the transformation of schools from a bureaucratic form of organisation to ones that are characterised by school based decision-making and management. The new form of organisation is intended to sustain a process of continuous school improvement. As well as managing change there has also been an expectation for principals to provide educational leadership. School decision-making and management appears to have intensified the work of the principal. The schools of EDWA offer a special opportunity to study the way in which principals who have increased responsibility for managing change and establishing school based decision making and management have responded to the challenge of leadership. In the research literature theories of transformational leadership have been viewed by several researchers and perhaps education authorities as a desirable form of leadership. According to this view transformational leadership may enhance school based decision-making and management during a period of educational restructuring. This study considers the case of the teaching principal in EDWA primary schools. The focus of the research is to establish the extent to which principals who are successful in managing school improvement during a period of educational restructuring are using transformational leadership practices. Leithwood's (1994) synthesis of transformational leadership practices is used to conceptualise the way.in which principals attempt to do their work. The qualitative study used a sample of three teaching principals who were reported as being successful in managing change. The study focussed on whether teaching principals had been able to make use of opportunities to demonstrate any or all of the dimensions of transformational leadership. This research comprised a pilot study followed by the main study. The participants in both studies were selected using a purposive sampling technique to maximise variation. The pilot study involved three teaching principals from country and city schools. Three teaching principals and two teachers from each of their schools in both city and country areas participated in the main study. In each study data were collected using a semi - structured interview schedule. Principals and teachers in the main study were asked the same questions as a means of obtaining data triangulation. The findings of the study suggested that educational restructuring had compressed the amount of time in which teaching principals had to complete their educationalleadership1 administrative and teaching work. This resulted from an intensification of the principals' work. The findings indicated that many of the practices in Leithwood's (1994) synthesis of transformational leadership are being used and are relevant to the leadership of teaching principals during an era of restructuring. However, the study found some limitations of the model as it applied to the Western Australian context. These appeared in the dimension of developing a widely shared vision. It was found that in the Western Australian context the operationalisation of developing a widely shared vision in a school was obstructed due to a centralised. focus on objectives and outcomes.

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Boyd, Glenda. "Early childhood teachers' perceptions of their leadership roles." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1077.

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Early childhood education has long been regarded as having the lowest status in the education system. Recent government reforms in Australia based on financial rather than education concerns means early childhood education will continue to face declines in status, conditions and appropriate resources, unless educators exercise leadership skills in advocating for appropriate programs and curriculum for young children. A new model of Early Childhood Teacher Leadership was created to measure leadership skills, including leadership in advocating for young children, and tested in Phase One of the study. The model involved General Leadership (Classroom Leadership, Self-directed Leadership, Program Leadership and School Leadership), Communication (from me to principal/parents /teachers and from principal /parents /teachers to me), and Influences (my influence on the school, my influence on the principal). In Phase Two of the study, twenty early childhood teachers were interviewed for approximately one hour in regard to how they conceptualised their leadership roles, what factors enhanced or constrained their leadership, and what strategies they used to communicate their philosophy and pedagogy. Phase One involved collecting data from 270 Early Childhood Teachers in Western Australia at government schools, using self-reports on ideal and real aspects of leadership obtained through a questionnaire. A Rasch measurement model computer program was used to create an interval level Scale of Early Childhood Teacher Leadership from the original 142 items (71 real and 71 ideal). The final interval-level scale consisted of 92 items (38 real and 54 ideal) that had a reasonable fit to the model, where the thresholds were ordered and the proportion of observed variance considered true was 94 percent. The Rasch analysis supported the structure of the leadership model and indicated some improvements could be made. Written responses to open-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire provided insights into how the teachers conceptualised their leadership roles. These insights provided the framework for the formulation of the face-to-face follow-up, interviews that comprised Phase Two of the study. The findings indicate that, as expected, teachers found it easier to hold higher ideal self-views for most aspects of leadership than to hold high real self-views. Teachers recognised the importance of leadership skills but experienced difficulty in enacting them. The Early Childhood Teachers reported various factors that helped or hindered them in fulfilling their leadership roles. The four global factors that could either help or hinder Early Childhood Teachers were 1) intrapersonal and interpersonal skills; 2) professional confidence; 3) others' understanding of and respect for early childhood education; and 4) time. The Early Childhood Teachers suggested strategies that could help them develop stronger leadership skills. The four main strategies suggested by the teachers were 1) professional development addressing leadership and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills training; 2) inclusion of leadership skills training at pre-service levels of teacher education; 3) opportunities to collaborate with othe1 staff; and 4) public promotion of early childhood education. The findings have implications for Early Childhood Teachers, administrators, teacher educators and for future research.

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Zaidi, Atiya H. Education Faculty of Arts &amp Social Sciences UNSW. "Leadership behaviours of heads of schools and departments in Australian and Pakistani universities." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Education, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/23315.

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This study examines transformational and transactional leadership behaviours of heads of schools/departments, and the individual level cultural dimensions idiocentrism-allocentrism, as perceived by academic staff in Australian and Pakistani universities. The principal research aim was to investigate the relationships between academics??? attributions concerning leadership behaviours of heads of schools/departments and cultural norms in a collectivistic and an individualistic culture. Samples of academic staff were randomly selected from Australian and Pakistani universities. The Australian sample consisted of 117 academics, and the Pakistani sample comprised 120 academics. Analysis was carried out using exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and discriminant analysis. Within the context of the research, the results suggested that Australian and Pakistani university academics had similar attribution patterns for entities related to transformational, transactional, and passive leadership behaviours, and the cultural dimension allocentrism. The results also suggested that the academics of both samples did not differentiate between various transformational leadership behaviours, and perceived the transactional leadership behaviour contingent reward as part of the transformational leadership behaviour proactive leadership. Further, the academics of both samples perceived the transactional leadership behaviour passive management-by-exception and laissez-faire leadership as a single dimension, passive leadership. Analyses identified some critical relationships between perceived leadership behaviours of heads of schools/departments and idiocentrism-allocentrism variables for the two samples. The transformational leadership behaviour participative leadership was positively related to allocentrism and self-reliance for the Australian sample. The transactional leadership behaviour active management-by-exception was positively related to positive-competitiveness and negatively related to negative-competitiveness for the Pakistani sample. Passive leadership was negatively related to leadership outcomes for the Pakistani sample. Moreover, active management-by-exception and positive-competitiveness discriminated between the two samples. Leadership of schools/departments in universities has been found to be a multifaceted phenomenon. The research suggests that academics??? perceptions of leadership behaviours, cultural norms, and context have important implications for school/department leadership in universities.

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Pettit, Philip Anthony. "From data-informed to data-led?: School leadership within the context of external testing." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2009. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/5072fa500129086e08572c81ccacc91a9268e5a552303086ac01034c495ad040/2684723/65049_downloaded_stream_274.pdf.

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Schools now have access to an enormous range of data that can be used to improve student achievement. These data can include classroom-based assessment information together with individually tailored results from literacy and numeracy testing programs and from other sources. Also, there is an expectation at system and national policy levels that data on student achievement are collected for the purposes of program accountability and for improving student learning. However, there is evidence that schools are not effectively utilising such data for this purpose. This research explored how the experience of external literacy and numeracy testing and data utilisation affects attitudes to the tests, teaching practice and school leadership. This is a new area for research in Australia, given the relatively recent government emphasis on accountability, transparency and public reporting of student achievement. The research investigated the nature of and relationship between the themes of student achievement, the nature of educational change and school improvement and the consequent impact on the perceptions, by teachers and principals, of the efficacy of external testing within the wider context of educational accountability. With the research grounded in a Constructivist epistemology using a Pragmatist theoretical perspective, the emphasis was on understanding the nature of the research problem and on finding a way forward for planned action. Symbolic Interactionism was employed as the interpretivist lens through which to view how the actions of teachers and school principals reflect their understandings of, and their approaches to, the applicability of external testing programs to student learning, teaching practices and leadership within the school. The methodology for the research was based on case study using 'mixed methods' to collect and analyse data.;Following the initial phase of meetings with school principals, three further research phases utilising survey, semi-structured interviews and focus group instruments employed a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods designed, firstly, to generate themes for questionnaire design and implementation, then to obtain rich information from one-on-one interviews of selected participants from a range of schools. The final phase of the research considered the perceptions of key system leaders about the results of the school-based research for their support of teachers and principals in the use of literacy and numeracy testing data to enhance student achievement. The research findings produced four themes for analysis to explain the factors affecting how literacy and numeracy testing data are being used and led in schools. These themes are: 'Attitudes towards External Testing', 'Leadership in Using Testing Data', 'Effective Data Analysis', and the 'Impact on Teaching Practices'. The study found that differences in perceptions of the value of data from external testing exist within and between schools. Accountability for testing results was viewed according to their perceived purpose, and the role of leadership in data analysis was seen as critical, but often missing. Further, differences were found in the way that leadership in data analysis and use is perceived within the school, particularly in relation to staff involvement in data analysis and whole-school planning using testing results. Finally, linking external testing data with classroom-based assessment was seen to have value, but was not necessarily operationalised in any systematic way across the school system. The lack of explicit leadership within the school was found to inhibit the potential effectiveness of data analysis and use.;The associated low levels of access and engagement of teachers in this process further affected the ability and willingness of teachers to incorporate the testing feedback information into classroom teaching practices. The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of the perceived value of such data in informing decisions about student outcomes, and the central role of evidence-based leadership at the school level in utilising such evidence of learning. The concept of 'Professional Purpose' was developed from the research findings as a possible framework to explain the relationship between the value one places on external testing and the link between data analysis and use in an operational sense. This involves the interplay among three elements related to the use of external testing: its moral purpose, practical purpose and public purpose. Within the context of increasing policy interest in measuring and reporting student achievement in Australia, the central role of data leadership at the government, system and school level has been placed in sharper focus. The findings from this research advocate the crucial role of leadership in the analysis, use and reporting of data from national tests of literacy and numeracy as an element within the wider context of evidencebased leadership. For schools and systems to be 'data-informed' is not sufficient; to be 'data-led' suggests the need for an understanding of the 'professional purpose' of such data and its relationship with other performance information to effect improvements in student achievement.

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Elliott, C. S. "Leadership and Change in Schools : the Case of District High Schools in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1990. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1676.

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The focus of the research was on the manifestation of leadership that emerged in one district high school in Western Australia undergoing both imposed and self-determined change. Given the phenomena, which were deemed to involve complex human behaviour, a decision was made to locate the research within the naturalistic paradigm. The research was established in the “bounded case study” mode in which the school was regarded as an instant draw from a class within which issues would be discovered the described and studies in order to achieve understanding. A second district high school was used as a reference point from which developments in the case study school might be judged. A bounded case study of a second district high school as its school development plan was ratified by the district superintendent, was conducted. The school development plan was considered to be the product of the changes this school had undergone. A three phase research design was adopted in order to formulate research questions and procedures, undertake trialing and collect data. Data was collected by formal and informal interviews, direct observations and weekly three day visits to the case study school and periodic visits to the reference school. The Principal of the later school was used as an “external auditor” for the data analysis and interpretations. Data were analysed using a data content analysis system based upon a single frame of reference - interventions - and a preliminary categorization taxonomy developed as an initial conceptual framework. Data were ‘mapped” using two techniques based on chronologies of action and events (interventions) and leadership approach. Analysis of data indicated that the cultural difference between the secondary, upper primary and junior primary sections of district high schools should be taken into account when change is implemented in those schools. A clear and unambiguous definition of the tasks, functions and powers of district superintendents and principals of self-determining schools within the reform Ministry of Education should be developed so that conflicting understandings by Ministry of Education staff no longer exist. To develop a non-adversary relationship with principals, district superintendents should move from the use of legitimate and coercive power bases and use export and referent power. A system of professional support for principals, independent of the Ministry of Education hierarchy, should be implemented at Education District level. A principal need not exhibit all of the levels of leadership in the proportions suggested by Sergiovanni (1984) to aspire to be the principal of an excellent school, so long as the aggregate of the leadership behaviour in the school includes leadership in all levels, in the proportions suggested. In situations where individuals are permitted by peers to exercise leadership roles, their behaviour will not be consistent with that suggested by Sergiovanni (1984), as constituting excellent leadership. Effective leadership is fluid. As subordinates expectations vary, as they become more familiar with the task, an effective leader will monitor the situation and make fine adjustments to exert the necessary coordinations, control and motivation of staff. Individuals in leadership positions will vary their behaviour in response to situations where there is actual conflict or the potential for conflict. Individuals in leadership positions will vary their behaviour to accommodate changes in their perception of the flexibility of the task. The potential for conflict exists when the cultural situation changes. This conflict will, most often, be between “tribal” groups created on the bases of social, shared and vested interests. In cases where the tasks traditionally performed at executive or managerial levels, such as by deputy principals, the individuals at that level will be subject to diminished legitimate power and become without roles.

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Wang, Ting, and n/a. "Understanding Chinese educational leaders' conceptions of learning and leadership in an international education context." University of Canberra. Education and Community Studies, 2004. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20050630.090724.

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This thesis presents an interpretative study of an Australian offshore education program in educational leadership conducted at Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China from 2002 to 2003. It is a study of the influence of international education on the conceptions of the participants in a particular context, where Chinese culture and Western cultures came into contact. The study is significant because it investigated a relatively new aspect of international education, offshore education, this time from the perspective of the participants. It explored the conceptions of learning and leadership brought by a group of Chinese educational leaders to the course and investigated the perceived influence of the course upon their conceptions and self-reported leadership practice. It employed a culturally sensitive approach which recognizes that a complex interaction between Chinese and Western cultures is occurring in the participants of this study. This interpretative study was inspired by the phenomenographic approach. Phenomenography is an approach to research that has been used to help understand the key aspects of the variations in the experiences of groups of people (Marton & Booth, 1997). The study examined the experiences and understandings about learning and leadership of Chinese leaders in an offshore program, a Master of Educational Leadership. The program was delivered in a flexible mode in three intensive teaching brackets of six subjects. The study employed a semi-structured and in-depth interview technique. Twenty participants were interviewed twice over a 12-month period. The study sought a better understanding of their conceptions by making a comparison between their perceptions prior to and after undertaking the course. Participants were from schools, universities and educational departments. Potential differences across the three sectors were also considered in the analysis. The findings showed that most participants developed more complex understandings of learning and leadership throughout the course. Comparison of conceptions prior to and after the course indicated an expanded range of conceptions. There was reportedly a movement towards more complex and diversified perspectives. Prior to the course, participants reported comparatively traditional conceptions of learning and leadership in quite a limited range. Learning experience and exposure to Western educational ideas and practices seems to have led participants to reflect on their inherited assumptions and to expand their conceptions. They generally increased their awareness of key aspects of variations in learning and leadership. This study identified a general shift from content/utilitarian-oriented learning conceptions to meaning/developmental-oriented conceptions after undertaking the course. There was also a shift from task/directiveorientated conceptions about leadership to motivation/collaborative-oriented leadership conceptions. Many participants reported that they expanded their leadership practice after the course. The findings also revealed some differences regarding conceptual and practice changes across the three sectors. The study contributes to understanding of learning and leadership in an international education context. The learning and leadership conceptions and self-reported practices are context and culture dependent. The study illustrates the tensions between different cultural forces in the process of teaching and learning. The methodology which explores the subjective understandings of participants renders more complex understandings of intercultural processes than cross-cultural comparisons which have been predominant in the educational leadership field in the past. The results highlight the need for appreciation of local contexts in designing international programs. The discussion questions the universal applicability and transferability of Western ideas, and also highlights the importance of critical reflection and adaptation on the part of educational practitioners from non-Western cultures. It highlights the potential for growth of change in both providers and recipients of international education as a result of very different cultures and traditions coming into contact. Intercultural dialogue and integration of educational ideas and practices are likely to come about when East meets West in an open and reflective dialogue.

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Hurley, C. E., and n/a. "A study of aspects of educational leadership in a religious teaching order." University of Canberra. Education, 1985. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060731.162220.

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The quality and nature of leadership among the superiors of religious teaching orders has not been the subject of much research. This field study examines the criteria by which the Provincial Superior of the Marist Brothers in the Sydney Province of Australia decides on the appointment of his principals. In order to establish an evaluation of these criteria, the concept of leadership in general and educational leadership are first examined as described in literature. From the literature a model is chosen against which the leadership of the founder is examined since the spirit of the founder, in this case, Marcellin Champagnat, still pervades the present day members of the order he established. The beginnings of the work of the Brothers in Australia were also important as the pioneers brought with them the spirit of the founder and were responsible for a quality of leadership in difficult circumstances, a quality which has become a feature of the work of the Brothers. It is evident that the present provincial superior is imbued with the spirit of the founder and that he has succeeded in interpreting the criteria laid down in foundation in terms which are relevant to education today. Certain constraints and factors, special to a religious teaching order bring about features of leadership which are not found in lay schools.

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Chalmers, Ronald F. "An evaluation of the deputy principals' leadership development program." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1992. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1133.

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The Deputy Principals' Leadership Development Program (DPLDP) was researched and developed by the Calgary Board of Education from 1983 to 1987. It was conducted for the first time in Western Australia when deputy principals from schools in the Narrogin Education District participated in the program during the period 1989-91. This study is an evaluation of the DPLDP. It was designed to determine whether there is justification for the continued use of the program as a means of enhancing the instructional leadership capacities of deputy principals in the Narrogin Education District. This research is located within the naturalistic paradigm. It can best be described as a qualitative case study based mainly upon ethnographic methods of data collection. The organisation and analysis of the data, however, was structured largely by utilising Stufflebeam's CIPP (context, input, process, product) framework of program evaluation and a typology of instructional leadership developed from a review of the literature. This typology presents instructional leadership as a process based on three components: vision, information and action. The data for this evaluation was collected during a twenty two month period between April 1989 and November 1990. A variety of data gathering techniques was used. In depth, semi-structured interviews and participant observations generated most of the data. Document analysis and unstructured, informal interactions provided supplementary material. Data validation formed an integral component of the research design. A thorough and wide-ranging validation process involving the participants was utilized to check the accuracy and relevance of the research findings. The major conclusions of the study, that emerged within the CIPP framework of program evaluation and the typology of instructional leadership, were: 1. Participation in the DPLDP leads deputy principals to examine their role in schools, and builds a commitment to their role as instructional leaders. 2. The DPLDP has the potential, more than other available programs examined, to meet the professional development needs of deputy principals in key areas associated with instructional leadership. 3. Collegial support is the single most important element of the DPLDP for the development of deputy principals as instructional leaders. 4. The DPLDP can be implemented successfully in the Narrogin Education without significant modifications. Based on these results, and other subsidiary findings of the study, it was concluded that, on balance, there is justification for the continuation of the DPLDP in the Narrogin Education District.

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Hughes, Eleanor Maree. "Entry planning : a key aspect in preparing for school leadership in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2014. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/928.

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Through my work in various contexts, as a senior leader, a curriculum improvement officer, a deputy principal, a project manager for professional learning and now as principal, I recognised from experience and dabbling in research that there were gaps in professional learning offered to aspirant and beginning secondary school principals in the public system. Undertaking research in this field would either confirm or refute my theory that support for secondary principals through professional learning in the Western Australian Department of Education was limited. The premise that quality leadership enhances quality teaching was a driver in establishing my goal, which is to inform and influence the system to better support secondary principals in public schools in Western Australia. Therefore, this is a unique study of beginning principal preparation in the public secondary education sector in Western Australia. The specific purpose of the study was to investigate the level of preparation undertaken by new and experienced principals for their role and to explore to what extent entry planning could assist in the preparation for principalship. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken and to date the majority of the literature investigates the challenges facing beginning principals and how well prepared they felt they were to meet those challenges. Clarke, Wildy and Styles (2011) argue that:in educational settings where generations of school principals have taken up their appointments without any prior preparation, who have learned to do the job while on the job, and whose professional development has been driven mainly by their own initiative, it is unlikely that incumbents have an understanding of what might have been different for them in their work had they experienced a formal preparation program prior to appointment. (p. 174) The study sought to ask questions of practitioners that would either validate the global research or support the view of Clarke, Wildy and Styles. The findings were consistent between the literature and the case studies. The participating principals articulated the components of effective principal preparation programs and they have a keen desire to see these implemented in support of public education in Western Australia. The study found that professional learning and preparation for secondary principals in the public sector is adhoc, and often developed, or not, at the personal level. There were three main findings: effective principal preparation can reduce the perceived complexity of the role and therefore minimize the expectations experienced by the beginning school principal; formal implementation of informal learning opportunities such as mentoring, coaching and networking can reduce the drift from the profession; and that entry planning has a significant effect in assisting in preparation for the principalship. Principals from a range experience, from 18 months to 20 years, agree that a systemic, coordinated approach would more adequately prepare secondary principals for the complexity of expectations from local, state and national perspectives, and encourage aspirant school leaders to move into the principalship during a time when a predicted shortage in the teaching profession is making the role even more complex.

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Stamopoulos, Elizabeth. "The Professional Background And Perceptions Of Principals On Their Leadership Role In Preprimary." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1995. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1459.

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The incorporation of pre-primary centres into Western Australian government primary schools has shifted the responsibility for administrative, managerial and educational leadership from the kindergarten director to the primary school principal. Several pre-primary teachers and specialists in Early Childhood Education have expressed concern that principals lack theoretical and practical background in early childhood, have not been provided with professional development assistance, are providing inadequate educational leadership to pre-primary teachers, and yet a responsible for appraisal of pre-primary teachers. Similar concerns have been expressed in the United States, and resulted in the swing towards early academics and acknowledgment of the significant differences between early childhood education and primary education. However, no study of these leadership issues has so far been conducted in Western Australia.

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Fittock, Simon. "The socialisation of early career principals in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2309.

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This research aimed to investigate and understand the socialisation of early career principals in Western Australian public schools. It is widely acknowledged that school principals are critical in the successful education of students and delivering on this is seen to be the core purpose of the role. It is evident that the development of effective principals has great value. As a result, the socialisation of principals during the formative early career stage, whereby they learn the necessary knowledge, skills and understandings of the role, is important in the educational experiences of students. Due to the impact principals have on student learning, research into the socialisation of early career principals holds significance. The Department of Education (DoE) is the largest employer of school principals in Western Australia. DoE see effective leadership as a key priority and is committed to the development of effective principals through the provision of professional learning. In the past, research (including Clarke et al., 2011; Gurr et al., 2014; Wildy & Clarke, 2008a, 2008b) has reported that Western Australian early career principals have faced many complex challenges during their socialisation. Much of this research was conducted over 10 years ago and it is problematic that the topic of principal socialisation in Western Australia has received little attention since. My research sought to address this problem by providing a current insight and investigate the extent of which the findings from previous studies are still relevant. Furthermore, this research provided an opportunity to investigate whether DoE’s professional learning provision had addressed the challenges faced by early career principals as suggested by previous studies. The participant cohort for this research was comprised of seven early career principals of Western Australian public schools. The participants were located in multiple regions across the state of both metropolitan and rural areas. This research used a qualitative methodology because it aimed to develop an understanding of the meanings that the participants attached to their experiences. To gain this understanding, individual semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method. Findings from the data suggest that during the initial stages of their career, the participants felt unprepared, unqualified and isolated. Unpreparedness came from a lack of understanding of what the principalship would entail and inexperience in school management tasks. The feeling of being unqualified emerged from an increase of focus in the area of school management in comparison to other roles the participants had held prior to becoming a principal. Feelings of isolation were evident as a result of being an outsider to the school community and, for the rural participants, the geographical location. The significance of this study can be seen in the alignment between its findings and with those of previous studies. The findings also have provided a current insight into the challenges faced by early career principals and the type of support they perceive to be most beneficial. This information could be seen to be valuable to DoE and their ongoing provision of professional learning to early career principals.

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Sharafizad, Fleur Yardena. "The careers of female academics in Australia: Inhibitors, bottlenecks, drivers and family outcomes." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2358.

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The continuing under-representation of female academics in senior classifications at Australian universities is widely acknowledged and documented. It has been proposed that universities fail to take advantage of the leadership skills of female academics, thereby inhibiting their organisation’s competitiveness (Airini et al., 2011). Statistics from the Australian Department of Education and Training (2018) indicate over half of full-time and fractional full-time academics are women, yet female academics constitute only a third of positions above that of Senior Lecturer across Australian universities. Substantial research has been conducted to explore the reasons behind the enduring gender inequity in academia, with a focus on the lack of women at senior classifications and in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) faculties. Statistics indicate significant reductions in the number of female academics between midlevel classifications; this area of research is less well developed. Specifically, the decrease in the number of female academics commences between the mid-levels of academic careers (from Levels B to C, as well as C to D) and accelerates from that point forward. Mid-level promotions have been identified as key promotion levels and indicators of future career progression (Yap & Konrad, 2009). There is a crucial need to understand the reasons for the inability of women to traverse this key point in their academic careers. This study proposes that for the gender distribution across senior classifications in academia to improve, these bottlenecks identified at the levels of Lecturer (Level B) and Senior Lecturer (Level C) should be analysed and addressed. The pipeline theory proposes that the increasing number of women entering the workforce will gradually result in an equal representation of women in leadership. However, the current gender distribution in Australian academia challenges this theory because there are presently more than enough women in academia qualified to be appointed to leadership roles, yet gender inequity remains. Persistent and continuing inequity requires a similarly determined response and it has been proposed that different and novel approaches are needed to return gender to the agenda (Kamberidou, 2010). Much of the gender equity research in academia has focused on the under-representation of female academics in senior classifications, but it has been argued that there is a lack of research exploring drivers of the careers of female academics (Nguyen, 2013). While the identification of career inhibitors remains vital, it can be argued that simultaneously identifying those factors that have assisted female academics in their career progression can provide policymakers and universities with valuable data to guide and assist gender equity efforts further. Researchers suggest that when exploring the career outcomes of female academics, it is also imperative to simultaneously explore family outcomes (Mason et al., 2013). International research suggests that female academics make more career sacrifices for their families as well as more family sacrifices for their careers, highlighting the challenges with which female academics continue to be faced. Data regarding this important measure of gender equity are absent for the Australian academic environment. This study’s aim was therefore to explore the inhibitors, with a focus on the identified bottlenecks, as well as the drivers and family outcomes of a career for female academics at an Australian university. To gain multiple perspectives, data for this research was drawn from chancellery members, Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Charter Committee members, human resource professionals, and male and female academics at a public university in Australia. Owing to the exploratory nature of this research and the need for thick and rich data, a two-phased, multi-method qualitative approach was adopted, consisting of nine semi-structured interviews with senior stakeholders at the case study institution (CSI) in Study 1, and 47 “draw, write, reflect” (DWR) sessions with male and female academics in Study 2. DWR is a method specifically designed for this study, adapted from arts-based methods intended for research involving children. The aim of this study was to obtain data that may not lend itself to verbal expression, and the arts offer researchers an opportunity to retrieve experiences that may otherwise be challenging to obtain (Eisner, 2006). For this study, DWR involved asking respondents to draw their careers and associated experiences on an A4 sheet of paper, specifically including any inhibitors and drivers. Because of the novelty of the method adopted, this study includes a review of DWR with the academics who participated in the study, as well as the researcher, to assess the method’s validity, reliability and effectiveness in obtaining data. The study explored the careers of female academics through the lenses of role congruity theory (RCT), self-efficacy theory and attribution theory. For the purposes of this thesis, the roles referred to will be gender roles, which propose that female academics are likely to act in accordance, rather than deviate from, their prescribed female gender role. Gender incongruity is likely to be perceived negatively by others and may be punished through performance devaluation or harassment (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Confidence has been identified as a high-status characteristic for men (Moss-Racusin et al., 2010), while women are expected to be shy and humble (Prentice & Carranza, 2002). Framed by selfefficacy theory, women’s lack of expressed or perceived confidence may contribute to their lack of progression to senior academic classifications. Lastly, attribution theory, in combination with RCT, proposes that female academics are likely to attribute their lack of career progression to themselves while attributing positive career outcomes to external factors, such as luck. Thematic analysis of the data highlighted that female academics have significantly different career experiences from their male colleagues. While some of this study’s findings substantiate contemporary knowledge, others, owing to the inclusion of multiple perspectives, offer unique insights into the career experiences of female academics in Australia. Perspectives and narratives obtained from senior stakeholders were utilised to provide an organisational perspective of gender inequity, while the narratives of male academics served to compare their career experiences with those provided by female academics. The data identified several inhibitors of the career progression of female academics. Gender roles continue to influence career and family decisions and can result in female academics having to choose between a career or a family. Some women in the sample had reconsidered their career aspirations as a result of caring responsibilities, while others had postponed or decided not to have children in order to pursue their careers. The female gender role and the ideal academic role create incongruity in the lives of female academics, who often must shift between these two competing roles. Female academics did not report structural inhibitors of their career progression, and several female academics, who did not have caring responsibilities, had progressed their careers on a par with male academics. RCT posits that men and women are more likely to act in accordance with the male breadwinner model, which prioritises the male career. The female academics in the sample appeared to have accepted this situation and, rather than viewing the structure as inhibiting, viewed their inability to meet this standard, as a result of outside responsibilities, as the problem. A significant finding of this study related to the identification of a distinct “holding pattern” amongst female academics at academic Level B. Seven of the eight female academics at this level indicated that they would not be pursuing a promotion in the near future, suggesting that they will be employed at this level for an extended period. Inhibitors specific to the career progression of female academics, particularly at Levels B and C, were, amongst others, identified as a lack of confidence, academic housework, careful crafting of a work/life balance, fear of work/life conflict, career interruptions and caring responsibilities. As a result of the multi-level approach of this study, several drivers of the career progression of female academics at CSI were unearthed. While no societal drivers were identified, the organisational drivers included leadership, the Athena SWAN Charter, the organisational culture, and promotion and recruitment practices. Female academics reported that individual factors such as individual characteristics, family support, informal mentoring and a love of the job had driven their career progression. In terms of family outcomes, this study found that female academics in the sample were more likely to be divorced, less likely to have children, more likely to struggle with maintaining a work/life balance and more likely to experience tension with their partner regarding working hours than were their male colleagues. This finding indicates that career outcomes are only one aspect of gender equity. A focus on the number of female academics at senior classifications does not convey the full picture of female academics’ career narratives. Academic careers can come at a personal cost to female academics, and, despite the flexibility of academic work, it remains difficult to combine a successful career with caring responsibilities. This research makes several contributions. Firstly, the introduction, employment and review of a novel data collection method—draw, write, reflect—extends contemporary methodology knowledge and provides a clear procedure for researchers interested in employing this method in their research. Secondly, the identification and exploration of the previously unexplored bottlenecks in the academic pipeline revealed that a significant number of female academics remain in stasis at Level B, a situation identified in this research as forming a holding pattern. A possible explanation for this finding, when viewed through the lens of RCT, may be that Level B is congruent with the female gender, but to advance would create incongruity and is therefore less likely to occur. The identification of specific inhibitors contributing to this bottleneck were identified and presented. A third contribution of this study lies in the presentation of drivers of the career progression of female academics that have resulted in an improved gender distribution at CSI. The findings regarding positive strategies for career progression were related to mentoring and changes to recruitment and selection practices and can be utilised as a template for other universities working towards gender equity. Lastly, knowledge about the family outcomes of an academic career for female academics in Australia has thus far been absent in the literature. This study argues that this aspect is an important measure of gender inequity, and it has therefore been included in this research. The findings indicate that female academics have significantly different family outcomes from their male colleagues, with more female academics reporting being divorced and childless. The data obtained in this study can contribute to current knowledge about the careers of female academics and pragmatically to improving career opportunities for female academics in Australia, as well as internationally.

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Bambach, Matthew. "Maximising Board governance effectiveness in small and medium-sized Australian independent schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2310.

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My experience of working with boards of independent schools has led me to conclude that boards often struggle to know how they might make their governance more effective. Very little has been written and few empirical studies have investigated governance of independent school boards in Australia, despite the considerable responsibility and power entrusted to them. This study asks how well such boards are governing and what they could do to engender fully effective governance. Currently, there are no standards or instruments for assessing the effectiveness of board governance. This study identified seven governance effectiveness factors (GEFs) from the literature on governance in schools and other non-profit organisations. These factors were used as assessment instruments in seven case studies of school boards in small to medium-sized independent schools. The research was predominantly qualitative and involved four research methods: a survey, semi-structured interviews, a review of board documents and observation of board meetings. The data were explored by assessing the GEFs within each case and across cases. The findings showed that five boards demonstrated poor governance effectiveness, one was very poor and only one was effective. Three unexpected themes emerged from the data, showing how boards can move towards governance by delegating operational management of the school to the principal. These involve boards understanding, first, the nature of governance and developing the intention to govern effectively, second, when and how to make the difficult transition from operational management to governance, and third, how to adapt their approach to governance as they gain experience with it. A model of this transition process and a framework to guide managers and researchers through key decisions were developed. These fill a critical gap in the literature on board management in independent school governance.

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Bartel, Kenneth Cyril, and res cand@acu edu au. "Leadership in a Lutheran School: an Exploration of principal and school pastor worldviews and their potential impact on the transformation of the school learning community." Australian Catholic University. School of Educational Leadership, 2004. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp43.29082005.

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This ethnomethodological study focuses on the worldviews of Lutheran school principals and pastors. Essentially, these leaders in a Lutheran school provide direction and vision for the school learning community. The degree to which their worldviews coalesce will naturally result in positive or negative influences on the whole school community. These leaders within the Lutheran school can be seen as a hub for all kinds of learning experiences and interaction in the context of vital Christian communities in mission outreach and quality education. Any dissonance of worldview has potential for impact on school processes and relationships. The Lutheran Church has defined the role of the pastor in the school and the difference from his role in a congregation (Lutheran Church of Australia, 2002). Lutheran principals have a delegated authority from their school councils to be responsible for the complete oversight of the school’s direction, the observance of policies, and the assignment of tasks and duties of staff. The blurring of responsibility occurs over the pastor’s rightful responsibility in regards to a word and sacrament ministry. In a Lutheran school where the Gospel is to inform all learning, such tension can cloud school dynamics and transformation. The Lutheran church policy, Relative responsibilities of pastor and principal within the Lutheran school, identifies three critical areas of required mutual respect for the Principal and School Pastor: theological, professional and personal (Lutheran Church of Australia, 2001, p. 3). Thus, the ‘worldview’ dimensions considered in this research centre around the theological, the educational and the interpersonal domains. The school transformation themes of lifelong learning, postmodernism and curriculum, school organization and change, and school community relationships are used to challenge worldview dimensions of Principals and School Pastors through a series of online ‘stories’, or scenarios, backed by personal interviews and a document study. The identification of school leadership tension points brings about recommendations for action.

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Coulson, Shirley Ann. "Practitioner experience of a developing professional learning community." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2008. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/661b94771513c0ece27a051316742e2ccc4d7c574d92610e0485947e16dcb91e/2671332/64833_downloaded_stream_58.pdf.

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Australian policy contexts are promoting school transformation through teacher learning and the development of schools as professional learning communities. However, Australian practitioners have very limited contextualised research to guide their efforts in response to these policies. The researcher's involvement in a school revitalisation process provided the impetus for this research study that investigates the practitioner experience of a developing professional learning community at RI College (pseudonym for a large independent girls' school in Brisbane). This study endeavours to gain a more informed and sophisticated understanding of developing a professional learning community with the intention of 'living' this vision of RI College as a professional learning community. Praxis-oriented research questions focus on the practitioner conceptualisation of their school as a developing professional community and their experience of supporting/hindering strategies and structures. The study gives voice to this practitioner experience through the emerging participatory/co-operative research paradigm, an epistemology of participative inquiry, a research methodology of co-operative inquiry and mixed methods data collection strategies. Incorporating ten practitioner inquiries over two years, recursive cycles of action/reflection engaged practitioners as co-researchers in the collaborative reflective processes of a professional learning community while generating knowledge about the conceptualisation and supporting/hindering influences on its development. The outcomes of these first-person and second-person inquiries, together with a researcher devised online survey of teachers, were both informative and transformative in nature and led to the development of the researcher's theoretical perspectives in response to the study's research questions.;As outcomes of co-operative inquiry, these theoretical perspectives inform the researcher's future actions and offer insights into existing propositional knowledge in the field. Engagement in this practitioner inquiry research has had significant transformative outcomes for the co-researchers and has demonstrated the power of collaborative inquiry in promoting collective and individual professional learning and personal growth.

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Hutchinson, Jacquie. "The effect of equal employment opportunity policies on the promotion of women to the position of school principal in the Western Australian government school system (1985-1991)." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1992. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1136.

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The purpose of this study was to analyse and explain the effect of the introduction of equal employment opportunity policy on the Ministry of Education with reference to the promotion of women teachers to the position of principal during the period 1985 to 1991. This research represents a case study of the Western Australian government primary and secondary school system conducted through a review of relevant government and Ministry of Education policies, analysis of employment statistics and interviews with key policy actors. Four questions which directed the research sought a conceptual framework through which to analyse and explain events, policies and outcomes. The study claims that while there existed an expectation amongst women teachers that equal employment opportunity would increase the number of women principals by removing both the direct and indirect barriers that prevented their promotion, there is no evidence that this was ever the intention of either the Ministry of Education or the Western Australian State Labor government. The evidence from this study suggests that equal employment opportunity policies have continued the subordination of women in the State government school system by the subsuming of their interests by more powerful forces of an economic, administrative and political kind both internal and external to the State government school system. Whilst in the past the barriers to promotion for women were formal, direct and visible, the application of equal employment opportunity has created a cloak of invisibility to the forces that operate against the promotion of women within the State government school system. The implications of this study are firstly that unless there is some external intervention the numbers of women principals will continue to decline. Secondly until women teachers achieve political power, the likelihood of changing the current culture of the Western Australian government school system to ensure that women are promoted to the position of principal, is remote .

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Southwell, Deborah Margaret. "Leadership in Australian higher education: lessons from female educational leaders." Thesis, Curtin University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2551.

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There is an increasing number of women leaders in higher education. However, a far higher proportion of males than females still fill senior management roles in Australian higher education. Several recent studies have set out to examine and analyse the leadership styles of women leaders in higher education in order to better understand and inform models for women who aspire to positions of leadership in higher education.Most educational leaders are not prepared for their roles and learn through trial and error in, and by surviving, their leadership and management experiences. The term leadership, itself, is used in a variety of ways and means different things to different people. A variety of different theoretical frameworks for conceptualizing and understanding leadership has arisen from these different conceptions and understandings.This study explores the autobiographical perspectives and responses of five respected female figures in educational leadership (i.e. leadership in teaching and learning) in Australian higher education. The identification of significant factors impacting on the educational leadership of these figures will provide insight into the nature of leadership in relation to teaching and learning in Australian higher education.

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Edwards, Samantha Jade. "The perceived ‘classroom readiness’ and support of Western Australian primary graduate teachers." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2314.

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Graduate teachers are expected to be ‘classroom ready’ upon graduation, yet research suggests they are not. The difficulties faced by graduate teachers in their first years of teaching often result in low self-efficacy and attrition, which in turn can affect the achievement of their students. Since its establishment in 2010, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) have implemented a competency framework for both teachers and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers, aimed at improving not only all teacher quality in Australia, but the quality of ITE, graduating teachers and the support structures provided to them. This research project investigated how six primary graduate Department of Education of Western Australia (DoEWA) teachers perceived their ‘classroom readiness’, in light of these reforms. A qualitative methodology based in phenomenology was employed, as the study sought to describe the experiences of these graduate teachers with regard to the formal and informal support offered to them, including mechanisms such as the Graduate Teacher Modules and In-Class Coaching. Interviews were undertaken with the six teachers upon commencement of their second year of teaching. The findings revealed that graduate teachers did not perceive themselves to be ‘classroom ready’ upon ITE completion, however they did not expect to be, nor did it make them wish to quit the profession. Further, the Graduate Teacher Modules were perceived as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to graduate teacher professional learning, as opposed to targeting specific needs relating to the graduate teachers and their varied professional contexts. While the In-Class Coaching Program provided a small element of support to participants, overall it increased their workload and stress. This finding indicates the need for a review into the delivery of the In-Class Coaching Program. Ultimately, unofficial mentoring from colleagues was identified as offering the greatest form of support for the participants, suggesting the need to re-think the way schools and DoEWA offer support to graduate teachers.

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Pollard, Susan J. "An investigation of the Catholic Leadership Education Programme in South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1991. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09EDM/09edmp772.pdf.

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Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1992.
Analyses the Catholic Leadership Education Programme in the archdiocese of Adelaide in terms of the work of Paulo Freire and Carl Jung. Spine title: The Catholic Leadership Education Programme. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-260).

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White, Nereda Dawn, and res cand@acu edu au. "Indigenous Women’s Career Development: voices that challenge educational leadership." Australian Catholic University. School of Educational Leadership, 2007. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp132.17052007.

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This research focuses on deepening our understanding about Indigenous women’s participation in contemporary Australian society by exploring their experiences in employment, careers, education and leadership. Since the purpose of this study is to explore how university education Indigenous women understand and make sense of it of their career journeys, the epistemological framework of the research is constructionism using an interpretivist approach. The particular interprevetivist perspective used is symbolic interactionism, but the research has also been guided philosophically by the Indigenous worldview and emerging Indigenous research methodologies which assert the right of Indigenous people to research in their own way. The methodology adopted is a case study approach in keeping with the aim of the study. Data was collected by in-depth interviews to build the women’s stories, focus groups, and researcher’s journal. Throughout the study, there was a strong emphasis on observing ethical guidelines for research on and with Indigenous people. The research design aimed to honour cultural dimensions such as Indigenous knowledge, ways of knowing and culturally appropriate data gathering techniques. The study found that Indigenous women are deeply committed to their personal and professional growth. However there are enormous barriers, both personal and institutional, to their success. Vestiges of colonialism such as racism, sexism, socio-economic and educational disadvantage remain entrenched in contemporary Australian society. Despite these obstacles, Indigenous women through their strength, resilience and determination, strive to make better lives for themselves, their families and communities. Their stories are significant in that they offer important insights into how Indigenous women can be supported on their career journeys.

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Karpinskaia, Antonina. "A leadership program for female students in an Australian co-educational public school: Participants' perspectives on leadership." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107920/1/Antonina_Karpinskaia_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis is a case study of the phenomenon of a girls' leadership program delivered in an Australian public co-educational high school. The study was informed by feminist poststructuralism, Michel Foucault's theory of power and Judith Butler's theory of performativity. Drawing on these theories, the discourses of gender and leadership are examined and it is argued that, while initially the girls experienced gendered powerlessness, they experienced a fluid, agentive standpoint where their voices gained some recognition after they undertook the leadership program.

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English, Rebecca M. "Internationalising Australian secondary education." Thesis, Griffith University, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61416/1/Internationalising_Australian_Secondary_Education.pdf.

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This thesis presents the findings of a case study of international students who enrol in Australian secondary schools. Specifically, it focuses on the ways that staff in three schools and two international colleges position Eastern Asian international students through discourses of cultural difference. It draws together the Discourse Historical Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis with the work of Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu. The study finds that groups of students are positioned positively or negatively depending on their relationship to the dominant discourses of the Australian school. Australian students, while rarely mentioned, were positioned positively. By contrast, the Eastern Asian international students were positioned negatively in relation to the privileged discourses of Australian schooling. These discourses reflected the cultural capital that was valued in the schools. In particular, the cultural capital of active and willing engagement in competitive sports and being rough, rugged and an ‘ocker’ were privileged at the schools. International students from Papua New Guinea, and a few Eastern Asian students who behaved as ockers, were positioned positively because they realised cultural capital that was valued at the schools. By contrast, the students who were unable to be positioned through these discourses, because they did not realise cultural capital that was valued, were not viewed favourably. As a result, the data showed that there was a hierarchy of positions at the schools that were constructed in staff accounts. The analysis of data suggests that only some students are positioned favourably in Australian schools. The students who were already able to construct privileged Australian school discourses were positioned positively. The data suggest that the majority of the Eastern Asian students were represented through negative discourses because they did not realise cultural capital that was valued at the schools. Findings of this study may assist schools to identify international students who may experience their Australian school education negatively. The findings may also contribute to assisting staff to better engage with international students.

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Grunes, Paul. "An examination of the relationship between emotional intelligence, leadership style and perceived leadership outcomes in Australian educational institutions." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2011. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/42319/1/Paul_Grunes_Thesis.pdf.

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In the field of leadership studies transformational leadership theory (e.g., Bass, 1985; Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1995) has received much attention from researchers in recent years (Hughes, Ginnet, & Curphy, 2009; Hunt, 1999). Many previous studies have found that transformational leadership is related to positive outcomes such as the satisfaction, motivation and performance of followers in organisations (Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996), including in educational institutions (Chin, 2007; Leithwoood & Jantzi, 2005). Hence, it is important to explore constructs that may predict leadership style in order to identify potential transformational leaders in leadership assessment and selection procedures. Several researchers have proposed that emotional intelligence (EI) is one construct that may account for hitherto unexplained variance in transformational leadership (Mayer, 2001; Watkin, 2000). Different models of EI exist (e.g., Goleman, 1995, 2001; Bar-On, 1997; Mayer & Salovey, 1997) but momentum is growing for the Mayer and Salovey (1997) model to be considered the most useful (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005; Daus & Ashkanasy, 2005). Studies in non-educational settings claim to have found that EI is a useful predictor of leadership style and leader effectiveness (Harms & Crede, 2010; Mills, 2009) but there is a paucity of studies which have examined the Mayer and Salovey (1997) model of EI in educational settings. Furthermore, other predictor variables have rarely been controlled in previous studies and only self-ratings of leadership behaviours, rather than multiple ratings, have usually been obtained. Therefore, more research is required in educational settings to answer the question: to what extent is the Mayer and Salovey (1997) model of EI a useful predictor of leadership style and leadership outcomes? This project, set in Australian educational institutions, was designed to move research in the field forward by: using valid and reliable instruments, controlling for other predictors, obtaining an adequately sized sample of real leaders as participants and obtaining multiple ratings of leadership behaviours. Other variables commonly used to predict leadership behaviours (personality factors and general mental ability) were assessed and controlled in the project. Additionally, integrity was included as another potential predictor of leadership behaviours as it has previously been found to be related to transformational leadership (Parry & Proctor-Thomson, 2002). Multiple ratings of leadership behaviours were obtained from each leader and their supervisors, peers and followers. The following valid and reliable psychological tests were used to operationalise the variables of interest: leadership styles and perceived leadership outcomes (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Avolio et al., 1995), EI (Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002), personality factors (The Big Five Inventory, John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991), general mental ability (Wonderlic Personnel Test-Quicktest, Wonderlic, 2003) and integrity (Integrity Express, Vangent, 2002). A Pilot Study (N = 25 leaders and 75 raters) made a preliminary examination of the relationship between the variables included in the project. Total EI, the experiential area, and the managing emotions and perceiving emotions branches of EI, were found to be related to transformational leadership which indicated that further research was warranted. In the Main Study, 144 leaders and 432 raters were recruited as participants to assess the discriminant validity of the instruments and examine the usefulness of EI as a predictor of leadership style and perceived leadership outcomes. Scores for each leadership scale across the four rating levels (leaders, supervisors, peers and followers) were aggregated with the exception of the management-by-exception active scale of transactional leadership which had an inadequate level of interrater agreement. In the descriptive and measurement component of the Main Study, the instruments were found to demonstrate adequate discriminant validity. The impact of role and gender on leadership style and EI were also examined, and females were found to be more transformational as leaders than males. Females also engaged in more contingent reward (transactional leadership) behaviours than males, whilst males engaged in more passive/avoidant leadership behaviours than females. In the inferential component of the Main Study, multiple regression procedures were used to examine the usefulness of EI as a predictor of leadership style and perceived leadership outcomes. None of the EI branches were found to be related to transformational leadership or the perceived leadership outcomes variables included in the study. Openness, emotional stability (the inverse of neuroticism) and general mental ability (inversely) each predicted a small amount of variance in transformational leadership. Passive/avoidant leadership was inversely predicted by the understanding emotions branch of EI. Overall, EI was not found to be a useful predictor of leadership style and leadership outcomes in the Main Study of this project. Implications for researchers and human resource practitioners are discussed.

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Whitley, Peter J. "The leadership of entrepreneurialism in technical and further education colleges." Thesis, Curtin University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1435.

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The provision of vocational education and training is largely provided by the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges and institutes, which have been established throughout Australia. All of these colleges and institutes are the responsibility of the respective State governments and are generally considered by those governments as strategic instruments of government particularly in regard to the preparation of people for employment and addressing deficiencies within the workforce. As more emphasis has been placed upon government entities to be more entrepreneurial and corporate in their outlook, pressures for reform of the TAFE sector have also increased. These pressures have included changes to funding arrangements, increased compliance regimes and a freeing of the training delivery to encourage the establishment of private providers. This thesis explores how Chief Executive Officers and Middle Level Managers within the TAFE environment are responding to those challenges. Forty-seven senior TAFE managers are interviewed to ascertain their perspectives on the community and government expectations of TAFE and how they believe TAFE is reacting to these challenges. Resulting from the research has been the emergence of entrepreneurship in TAFE. The notion of entrepreneurship in TAFE seems to capture a sense of change, a sense of emerging vibrance, and is often used to describe innovation and risk taking within the TAFE environment. The word entrepreneurial, entrepreneurialism, entrepreneurship and other derivations of the word are loosely employed by TAFE personnel to describe particular phenomenon within TAFE. Within this thesis the treatment of entrepreneurship as a definitive concept is recognised as problematic and it is therefore treated in a way that aligns to the TAFE environment and not necessarily as defined by traditional entrepreneurial theory.The resulting research has found that TAFE leaders are working in an environment that has a multiplicity of expectations and demands that challenge the leadership of TAFE. The research finds that many of the TAFE leaders strive to act entrepreneurially whilst attempting to manage an environment that is constrained by its policy frameworks, industrial relations requirements, funding arrangements and national and state compliance frameworks. The research questions whether governments should provide TAFE with greater capacity to act entrepreneurially; governments might, as a result be rewarded through greater achievements from the TAFE sector. While the research points to a number of highly successful leaders and leadership practices in TAFE it has also found that many leaders seem to rely upon intuitiveness and past experience to lead within their environments. Finally the research posits a framework for leadership within TAFE where the leadership styles of emotional intelligence, path-goal and leader-member exchange (LMX) are merged and integrated to provide a comprehensive quality leadership framework that will achieve positive outcomes: A framework that seeks to provide a practical guide to future leadership training and development in TAFE. In addition to the leadership framework the research has identified a number of intrinsic transformational drivers and extrinsic transformational drivers, which contribute to the success of leadership in TAFE and similarly a number of impediments, which restrict TAFE leaders.

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Clarke, Jennifer E. "Sustainable pedagogical leadership in early childhood education and care: Implementing the 2012 Australian national quality standard." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/114123/1/Jennifer_Clarke_Thesis.pdf.

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This historical case study combined two quality areas in early childhood education and care (ECEC), sustainability and pedagogical leadership, introducing the new term Sustainable Pedagogical Leadership in ECEC (SPLE). SPLE includes principles embedded in sustainability and Education for Sustainability (EfS) combined with contemporary approaches to pedagogical leadership unique to ECEC settings. This represents an innovation in the way that pedagogical leadership can be framed in ECEC. Key characteristics of SPLE identified were providing clear vision, mentoring, professional learning, critical reflection and distributed leadership opportunities. SPLE led to an exceptional organisational culture. Enculturated practices were observed in EfS as a result.

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Brewer, Margo Lee. "Embedding interprofessional education in an Australian university: an exploration of key leadership practices." Thesis, Curtin University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/54104.

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Little has been published on successful leadership practices in interprofessional education despite these practices being the focus of contemporary leadership theories. This thesis aims to advance our understanding of leadership in the higher education context. The research explores the impact of several leadership practices in facilitating the embedding of interprofessional education into health sciences curricula in an Australian university. A model of leadership in interprofessional education has been developed from the findings.

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Whitley, Peter J. "The leadership of entrepreneurialism in technical and further education colleges." Curtin University of Technology, Graduate School of Business, 2004. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=16514.

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The provision of vocational education and training is largely provided by the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges and institutes, which have been established throughout Australia. All of these colleges and institutes are the responsibility of the respective State governments and are generally considered by those governments as strategic instruments of government particularly in regard to the preparation of people for employment and addressing deficiencies within the workforce. As more emphasis has been placed upon government entities to be more entrepreneurial and corporate in their outlook, pressures for reform of the TAFE sector have also increased. These pressures have included changes to funding arrangements, increased compliance regimes and a freeing of the training delivery to encourage the establishment of private providers. This thesis explores how Chief Executive Officers and Middle Level Managers within the TAFE environment are responding to those challenges. Forty-seven senior TAFE managers are interviewed to ascertain their perspectives on the community and government expectations of TAFE and how they believe TAFE is reacting to these challenges. Resulting from the research has been the emergence of entrepreneurship in TAFE. The notion of entrepreneurship in TAFE seems to capture a sense of change, a sense of emerging vibrance, and is often used to describe innovation and risk taking within the TAFE environment. The word entrepreneurial, entrepreneurialism, entrepreneurship and other derivations of the word are loosely employed by TAFE personnel to describe particular phenomenon within TAFE. Within this thesis the treatment of entrepreneurship as a definitive concept is recognised as problematic and it is therefore treated in a way that aligns to the TAFE environment and not necessarily as defined by traditional entrepreneurial theory.
The resulting research has found that TAFE leaders are working in an environment that has a multiplicity of expectations and demands that challenge the leadership of TAFE. The research finds that many of the TAFE leaders strive to act entrepreneurially whilst attempting to manage an environment that is constrained by its policy frameworks, industrial relations requirements, funding arrangements and national and state compliance frameworks. The research questions whether governments should provide TAFE with greater capacity to act entrepreneurially; governments might, as a result be rewarded through greater achievements from the TAFE sector. While the research points to a number of highly successful leaders and leadership practices in TAFE it has also found that many leaders seem to rely upon intuitiveness and past experience to lead within their environments. Finally the research posits a framework for leadership within TAFE where the leadership styles of emotional intelligence, path-goal and leader-member exchange (LMX) are merged and integrated to provide a comprehensive quality leadership framework that will achieve positive outcomes: A framework that seeks to provide a practical guide to future leadership training and development in TAFE. In addition to the leadership framework the research has identified a number of intrinsic transformational drivers and extrinsic transformational drivers, which contribute to the success of leadership in TAFE and similarly a number of impediments, which restrict TAFE leaders.

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Mann, Kathleen A., and n/a. "Outdoor leadership preparation in Australia in 2002: a cross-sectional analysis and recommendations." University of Canberra. Education & Community Studies, 2004. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20061114.111147.

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This research explores the notion of outdoor leadership preparation in the context of the emerging outdoor profession in Australia. It explores the nature of outdoor leadership from a number of viewpoints and its relationship to the broader context. The research examines relevant literature through issue-based themes relating to an emerging paradigm, leadership, preparation, recognition and professionalisation. These themes are problematised in the context of the emerging outdoor profession. Issues of appropriate preparation pathways and the models of learning characteristic of each pathway are discussed throughout this research. The results of a mapping exercise covering outdoor leadership preparation courses offered throughout Australia in 2002 are used in conjunction with the contextual aspects to generate grounded mini-theories relating to the topic. This study uses a cross-sectional analysis of this data and by using descriptive statistics highlights the dominance of the learning pathways that offer a competencybased framework for learning leadership skills. The results are discussed in relation to both the current context and the literature. The argument that develops throughout the research is for a reconceptualisation of the learning pathways for outdoor leadership preparation in Australia, in light of the emerging professionalisation of the outdoor industry. Recommendations for changes to the currently accepted entry pathways into the emerging profession are discussed, as are the areas for further research.

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Gaujers, Regina D. "The impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on female leadership in physical education in Western Australian government secondary schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1996. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/944.

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This study investigated the impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on the promotional aspirations of female physical education teachers in government secondary schools in Western Australia. It explored the ways in which meanings and expectations in the school environment are constructed in relation to wider societal values and ideologies, and how they are negotiated in social settings that are characterised by both constraints and opportunities for action. Despite the equitable proportion of females and males teaching the subject, and the absence of Education Department policy constraints on female promotion since 1972, females remain significantly underrepresented at Head of Department level. In 1995, women held only two (2.7%) of the 73 substantive appointments. The critical paradigm adopted for the study and the research methodology was qualitative. The research design comprised five interrelated and sequential phases. During phase 1, preliminary data was gathered on the perceived essential skills and qualities required by Heads of Department in physical education. Phase 2 involved in-depth interviews in order to document government school female teachers' own accounts of their lives, career aspirations and the expectations of significant others in the context of the school and wider social world; and the accounts of female teachers' significant others with regard to their perceptions and expectations concerning female leadership. During Phase 3, interviews were conducted with female Heads of Department in nongovernment schools to ascertain system differences which may have led to the greater number of these women in the leadership role. Follow-up interviews with the government school female teachers were conducted during phase 4 of the study, and served to clarify and validate findings. Female physical education teachers considering applying for promotion also emerged as a sample group during the course of the study, and these women participated in a group discussion forum. The sample comprised government school female and male physical education teachers and Heads of Department of physical education and nongovernment school female Heads of Department of physical education. The study aimed to build on the findings of my previous, exploratory research regarding factors contributing to the underrepresentation of females at Head of Department level in physical education (Bloat, 1992); to sensitise the participants to the nature, construction and impact of expectations regarding female leadership; and to develop recommendations to redress the imbalance of female Heads of Department in physical education in government schools. The findings of the study confirmed that the expectations of significant others in the school setting have a powerful impact on the promotional aspirations of female physical educators. Expectations regarding the appropriateness of female leadership in physical education were constructed on the basis of individuals' interactions with the social system, characterised by a male paradigm, male dominance and male power. These expectations were communicated to female teachers by means of chauvinism; exclusion; the lower status accorded women in Physical Education Departments; the lack of both encouragement towards promotion, and female role models to demonstrate the opportunities for women; and the fact that the leadership role is more difficult for females. They impacted on the carter development of female physical educators by constraining the women's promotional aspirations. Finally, recommendations based on the findings are made primarily to the Education Department, but also to teacher education institutions and female physical educators. The suggested measures to address the problem focus on the need to move beyond mere policy change. The recognition and valuing of feminine leadership; the establishment of targets for increasing female representation; the identification and sponsorship of potential female candidates; and the introduction of a five year contract for Heads of Department are among the essential strategies needed to stimulate and nurture the promotional aspirations of female physical educators.

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Jefferson, Sarah. "Finding marigolds: A study into the shared characteristics of positive veteran Western Australian teachers and the role of social support in sustaining their commitment to teaching." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2379.

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Australian teachers will be expected to remain in the profession for longer as the retirement age is extended. However, teacher career trajectory studies indicate increasing disenchantment and high attrition rates among many older (veteran) teachers. There is limited research into veteran teachers who remain enthusiastic and committed (positive veteran teachers) and little research into the role of social support inside and outside school in enabling positive veteran teachers to maintain their commitment to teaching. This study aimed to identify the shared characteristics of positive veteran teachers in Western Australia (WA). These were experimentation and challenge acceptance, and leadership and comfort in the role, as drawn from the relevant teacher career trajectory literature. The study then examined the role of social support in sustaining positive veteran teachers’ commitment to teaching. A mixed-methods design was used to empirically identify positive veteran WA teachers within a larger veteran teaching cohort of 145 teachers completing the survey. From this cohort, I interviewed five positive veteran teachers about the role of social support inside and outside school and its contribution to their commitment to teaching. The study found positive veteran teachers continually engage in self-renewal through updating their teaching resources and pedagogy, as well as taking on lattice-based leadership roles to maintain vocational vitality throughout their careers. Participants deliberately sought egalitarian, positive and professional working relationships with colleagues where practical support was highly valued. Passive support from school leadership, through autonomy and appropriate intervention, was also important. In addition, the study found positive veteran teachers enjoyed social support outside school, with participants reporting their partners, families, friends and physical recreation networks play a central role in maintaining their ongoing commitment to teaching. The implications of this study are important as veteran teachers represent a substantial proportion of the WA teaching population. The findings may encourage curriculum organisations and executive school leadership to retain and capitalise on the skills of their positive veteran teachers. With the appropriate autonomy and support, positive veteran teachers may be better utilised as valuable advocates and leaders in their school communities. They may help to support less experienced or disengaged colleagues.

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Moody, Craig William, and res cand@acu edu au. "An Exploration of the Role of School Principals in Faith Formation Leadership Within the Educational Mission of Two Australian Anglican Schools." Australian Catholic University. School of Education, 2009. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp234.01072010.

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This study offers a response to the question facing the Australian Anglican Church about how the mission of Anglican schools is aligned with the mission of the whole Church. The study explores two Anglican school principals’ faith formation leadership, as they engage in this mission. Fundamental to understanding the context of this study is awareness of Anglicanism’s broad variety of expression balanced with unity through Scripture, Reason and Tradition. In spite of differences, the Anglican Church seeks the ‘Via Media’, the middle way, held together in a dynamic tension of debate. Anglican school principals lead faith formation in this context of diversity, which leads to the purpose of this study: to explore two Australian Anglican school principals’ perceptions of their role and capability as school leaders of faith formation within the Anglican Church’s mission. The three questions guiding this study relate to the ways in which the principals understand their role, their capability for the role, and the ways in which the Anglican Church has equipped them to be faith formation leaders in their schools. Various Anglican sources note that these questions have been on the Anglican Church’s agenda for several decades. A recent report on the governance relationship between an Australian Anglican Diocese and its schools noted lack of Anglican identity and role definition of schools’ mission in the Church as significant issues (Nicholson, 2007), and this appears to be the case in faith formation leadership also. Underpinning this study are assumptions that the nurturing of the Christian faith in the Anglican tradition is a core task of Anglican schools as agents of Anglican mission, and that the principal of an Anglican school plays a key role in leading faith formation by authentic personal Christian witness. In this study, Anglican school faith formation leadership has been explored in cultural and symbolic dimensions of leadership. Catholic and Lutheran schools’ faith formation leadership practices are reviewed to inform the study. This exploratory, qualitative study has an orientation of social constructionism, seeking two purposively sampled Australian Anglican school principals‟ perceptions from an open research stance. A theoretical framework of symbolic interactionsism has valued the participants’ context. A phenomenological research methodology has used data gathering methods of interview, survey questionnaire, observation and documentary analysis. The study indicates that areas for further study include the shared faith formation leadership roles of principals and school chaplains; the fostering of a culture of research about Anglican school faith leadership; the provision of professional mentoring for principals; the relationship of principals to the Anglican Church; and provision by the Anglican Church of guiding statements and training to equip principals for their faith leadership roles.

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Moody, Craig William. "An exploration of the role of school principals in faith formation leadership within the educational mission of two Australian Anglican schools." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2009. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/2568a52bf93b72dc8f2e7f3ac75df4a840e1285d11263a13600e47975c2a25e2/1752427/65005_downloaded_stream_230.pdf.

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This study offers a response to the question facing the Australian Anglican Church about how the mission of Anglican schools is aligned with the mission of the whole Church. The study explores two Anglican school principals' faith formation leadership, as they engage in this mission. Fundamental to understanding the context of this study is awareness of Anglicanism's broad variety of expression balanced with unity through Scripture, Reason and Tradition. In spite of differences, the Anglican Church seeks the 'Via Media', the middle way, held together in a dynamic tension of debate. Anglican school principals lead faith formation in this context of diversity, which leads to the purpose of this study: to explore two Australian Anglican school principals' perceptions of their role and capability as school leaders of faith formation within the Anglican Church's mission. The three questions guiding this study relate to the ways in which the principals understand their role, their capability for the role, and the ways in which the Anglican Church has equipped them to be faith formation leaders in their schools. Various Anglican sources note that these questions have been on the Anglican Church's agenda for several decades. A recent report on the governance relationship between an Australian Anglican Diocese and its schools noted lack of Anglican identity and role definition of schools' mission in the Church as significant issues (Nicholson, 2007), and this appears to be the case in faith formation leadership also. Underpinning this study are assumptions that the nurturing of the Christian faith in the Anglican tradition is a core task of Anglican schools as agents of Anglican mission, and that the principal of an Anglican school plays a key role in leading faith formation by authentic personal Christian witness. In this study, Anglican school faith formation leadership has been explored in cultural and symbolic dimensions of leadership.;Catholic and Lutheran schools' faith formation leadership practices are reviewed to inform the study. This exploratory, qualitative study has an orientation of social constructionism, seeking two purposively sampled Australian Anglican school principals? perceptions from an open research stance. A theoretical framework of symbolic interactionsism has valued the participants' context. A phenomenological research methodology has used data gathering methods of interview, survey questionnaire, observation and documentary analysis. The study indicates that areas for further study include the shared faith formation leadership roles of principals and school chaplains; the fostering of a culture of research about Anglican school faith leadership; the provision of professional mentoring for principals; the relationship of principals to the Anglican Church; and provision by the Anglican Church of guiding statements and training to equip principals for their faith leadership roles.

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Cannon, Helen Mary, and res cand@acu edu au. "Redesigning the Principalship in Catholic Schools." Australian Catholic University. School of Educational Leadership, 2005. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp76.09042006.

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The purpose of this research was to determine how the role of the principal in the Catholic school could be redesigned so that more quality applicants are prepared to seek principalship and principals already in the role could be retained. The catalyst for this study derived from the shortage of suitable applicants for the position of principal, a problem that exists not only in Australia, but also in many Western countries. An exploratory mixed method design was chosen for the study with the data gathering divided into two phases. The first phase was the qualitative phase during which the data were gathered using focus group interviews and analysed using QSR N6. The second phase was the quantitative phase, where the data were collected using a survey constructed from the data gathered and analysed in the first phase. This research project asked the question, how can the principalship be redesigned to attract more quality applicants to the role and retain incumbents already in the role? The research revealed that, to answer the question a fundamental rethinking of the principalship is necessary and that such momentous change requires nothing less than a paradigm shift. The new paradigm would be based on sharing leadership rather than on an hierarchical approach. It would have structures that are flexible and customised to the local needs of the school and school community. Learning would be central and a work/life balance would be essential, for all principals. The new paradigm would also offer enough flexibility to encourage women to both take up, and remain in, principalship. The findings from this research led to the development of nine propositions, which, it is suggested, should inform and influence the new paradigm of principalship. Together with the recommendations, they provide a scaffold and a guide to action for redesigning the principalship.

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Berber, Mujgan G. "The role of the principal in establishing and further developing an independent Christian or Islamic school in Australia." View thesis, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/46255.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Education, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

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Burch, John S. "An elder training program for Australian Presbyterian churches." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1996. http://www.tren.com.

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Browning, Paul D. "Why trust the Head? : key strategies for transformational school leaders for building a purposeful relationship of trust." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61709/1/Paul_Browning_Thesis.pdf.

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Trust is widely recognised as one of the key qualities that a successful leader needs to bring about change within their organization. Browning’s study aimed to identify practices which a school leader can effectively use to inspire, build, and maintain trust between themselves, their staff and Chair of governing body. The study was undertaken in two phases. Phase One was the identification of four highly trusted transformational leaders from the Australian independent schooling sector. Phase Two was a multicase study of the four school leaders. The findings provide practical advice for school leaders wishing to have a positive impact on the outcomes of the students in their school.

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Lalor, Jennifer Ann. "“Helping girls and young women grow into confident, self-respecting, responsible community members” : a case study of Girl Guides Australia." Thesis, Curtin University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2633.

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The public perception of Girl Guides is often one of a staid and conservative organisation of ‘good’ girls, who perform community service and tie knots, and adult members who are straight-laced and slightly boring, but willing helpers. This study examined whether these perceptions are justified or whether the programs of Girl Guides Australia follow the principles of non-formal education, as claimed by the organisation, and provide its members with opportunities that are useful in today’s world. Specifically, this research explored the perceptions of: the Australian Guide Program by youth members (N=437) and their parents (N=434); the Australian Adult Leadership Program for Leaders of those youth members (N=438); and the Australian Trainers’ Training Program for Trainers of those Leaders (N=67).Quantitative data were collected from four groups – youth members, their parents, Leaders and Trainers – through the use of questionnaires which were structured to gather similar information for each program using age-appropriate language. Three adult-member focus-group discussions were also held to provide background information regarding the motivation of participants holding a leadership position in Guides. Using the statistical package PASW Statistics (also known as SPSS), data for each group were analysed separately, and comparisons were made of the perceptions of different youth member age groups. Differences between the four participant groups were also examined where appropriate. The qualitative focusgroup data were analysed manually.Results showed that all groups identified the use of non-formal education principles, such as learning by doing, mentoring, shared decision-making, having well-trained leaders, being voluntary in nature, providing a personal challenge and practical skill based learning, being self-paced, involving age-appropriate non-competitive activities, facilitating teamwork and providing leadership skill development. The groups also recognised the educational nature of the programs and reported a wide range of practical and personal skills that had been learned. Youth members and parents reported that participation in the program had helped Guides to become more self-confident, self-respecting and responsible. All groups perceived that participation in the programs had helped with school / study, socially and in the workforce. Parents appreciated the non-competitive, safe and girl-only environment where their daughters could have fun. Data showed that Leaders delivered the youth program in a developmentally-appropriate way in which increasing autonomy was given to Guides as they got older. Trainers and Leaders agreed that participation in their respective programs had extended their skills and prepared them for their roles in Guiding. The focus groups identified the intangible ‘Guiding Spirit’ as binding everyone together and helping to reinforce the willingness to volunteer time and effort for the benefit of all Guide members.In summary, the study has shown that the programs provided by Girl Guides Australia were considered to follow the principles of non-formal education for the benefit of youth and adult members in terms of practical skill development, leadership opportunities, fun, friendship and personal development. Participation in the programs provided by Girl Guides Australia satisfies the organisation’s mission of: ... helping girls and [young] women grow into confident, self-respecting, responsible community members.

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Hughes, Bridget Y. "Collective impact: Closing the gap in educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2022. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/230011/1/Bridget_Hughes_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis examined the educational outcomes for Indigenous children enrolled in Queensland state (public) primary schools from the perspective of the collective and social impact of programs and services. The study used quantifiable data to show that the gap is not closing, regardless of an improvement in attendance, along with literacy and numeracy achievement levels, in certain regions of Queensland.

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Taylor, Christopher George. "The Good Bloke in Contemporary Australian Workplaces: Origins, Qualities and Impacts of a National Cultural Archetype in Small For-Profit Businesses." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1566171729886909.

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Boyce, G. R. "Training and educating the strategic corporal." Quantico, VA : Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA490789.

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Hughes, Mary. "Pedagogical leadership: a case study of the educational leader in an early childhood setting in Australia." Thesis, 2019. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/40540/.

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Over the last decade, the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector in Australia has undergone major reform with both federal and state governments introducing learning frameworks to address the quality of early education and care. The National Quality Framework (NQF) (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2018a) was established to raise quality and ensure that every Australian child receives the best possible start in life. As part of these reforms, the National Quality Standard (NQS) (ACECQA, 2018a) stipulates a requirement for the appointment of an Educational Leader in all prior to school settings: someone who will support, guide, and build the capacity of educators. The role of Educational Leader in ECEC is relatively new and there is a limited amount of research in this area. The aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of, and insight into, the day-to-day pedagogical leadership enactment and decision-making of Educational Leaders, with a view to broadening current definitions and understandings of the role. A constructionist approach that ascribes to an interpretivist theoretical perspective underlies the qualitative single-case study design adopted in this study. The research was conducted within the context of one early childhood education setting in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It involved participants with different roles in the setting, aimed at exploring how pedagogical leadership is understood and enacted. A qualitative single-case study design was selected to generate thick descriptions of how the Educational Leader gives direction, professional insight and informed expertise to educators in an ECEC setting, with major attention given to the uniqueness and complexity of the single case. Multiple methods of data collection were used over a six-month period: semi-structured interviews, shadowing, and the analysis of documents, artefacts and social media posts. Shadowing is not a commonly used method in early childhood research but was used in this study because of the richness of descriptive data that it offered and because of its suitability to the setting. The study sought to address two research questions: ‘How does the Educational Leader provide pedagogical leadership to early childhood educators in a particular early childhood setting?’ and ‘What are the influences that determine how the Educational Leader provides pedagogical guidance to educators in a particular early childhood setting’? Analysis of the data identified two main findings that addressed these questions. The first highlights the main features of the day-to-day functions of the Educational Leader at the setting. The second highlights some factors that influence the work of the Educational Leader. At times, these factors encourage success in their work and at other times they constrain success. The findings from this study provide a better understanding of the Educational Leader role in early childhood education and have the potential to inform policy. Of scholarly significance is the contribution of the shadowing method in research methodology, which is particularly useful in small-scale studies such as this one. Furthermore, the study contributes knowledge to the ECEC sector by providing insight into factors that influence how leadership practice is shaped and how the role of the Educational Leader is enacted in an ECEC setting.

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Rice, Ann Maree, University of Western Sydney, College of Law and Business, and School of Management. "Technical and further education (TAFE) managers : balancing managerial and and professional outcomes in their role as educational leaders." 2005. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/30159.

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The research in this portfolio is situated in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in New South Wales. It examines the impact that changes to improve the competitiveness of the vocational education and training sector have had on the role of managers in TAFE. These managers are suffering a number of tensions associated with balancing the pedagogic, professional and managerial aspects of their role. While recommendations were made about how to improve the managers’ role, a concern remains that performance indicators in TAFE which emphasise quantitative measures of efficiency, marginalise educational quality. Many staff now view the managers’ role as unattractive, raising questions about who will step up to sustain valued leadership in TAFE. A major implication of the research is that close attention must be paid, at all levels of the TAFE hierarchy, to succession planning.
Doctor of Education (D.Ed.)

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Rice, Ann, University of Western Sydney, College of Law and Business, and School of Management. "Technical and further education (TAFE) managers : balancing managerial and and professional outcomes in their role as educational leaders." 2005. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/30275.

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The research in this portfolio is situated in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in New South Wales. It examines the impact that changes to improve the competitiveness of the vocational education and training sector have had on the role of managers in TAFE. These managers are suffering a number of tensions associated with balancing the pedagogic, professional and managerial aspects of their role. While recommendations were made about how to improve the managers’ role, a concern remains that performance indicators in TAFE which emphasise quantitative measures of efficiency, marginalise educational quality. Many staff now view the managers’ role as unattractive, raising questions about who will step up to sustain valued leadership in TAFE. A major implication of the research is that close attention must be paid, at all levels of the TAFE hierarchy, to succession planning.
Doctor of Education (D.Ed.)

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Wray, Debra E., University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, and School of Education. "HSC Aboriginal studies : strengths, limitations, and impact upon Aboriginal students' self-concepts and educational outcomes." 2006. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/15151.

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Two primary, interdependent goals of the NSW Higher School Certificate Aboriginal Studies course are enhancing Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcome. It was considered that these would lead to increased Indigenous student participation and retention to Year 12. Yet recently there has been a decline in enrolments. Despite the introduction of Aboriginal Studies over a decade ago, no rigorous research has been undertaken to determine the impact of the course or the extent to which the aims of the course have been achieved. Research in Aboriginal Education has identified that Indigenous students are still not achieving at the same level as their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, the majority of studies to date have been theoretical and descriptive in nature. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to address some of the above issues by elucidating the (a) factors that influence Indigenous students’ decisions to participate in the HSC Aboriginal Studies course; (b) impact of the course on Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcomes; and (c) strengths and limitations of the course. The research was undertaken in three NSW Department of Education and Training secondary schools, located in rural, north coast, and south coast areas. Results indicated that Indigenous students choose Aboriginal Studies based on their need to understand more about their own culture. There were also clear educational benefits in that Aboriginal Studies was considered to be a motivational factor that encouraged attendance at school and enhanced their academic self concept. Both staff and students suggested that the academic rigour of the Aboriginal Studies course contributed to declining enrolments. Overall the findings suggest that whilst the current course has some limitations, there are also many strengths; this implies there is a need to continue to refine the course to meet the needs of Indigenous students.
Master of Education (Hons)

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Collier, John, University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, and School of Education. "The development of culture, ethos and leadership structures in secondary schools." 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/22480.

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This Doctoral thesis has arisen from a developing interest in the synergy between leadership, culture and ethos in schools, and particularly how this is manifested in the generation of quality curriculum, effective school organization and excellent outcomes for students. It particularly explores how the leadership of the Principal can empower others to effect change. Early interest in the empowering role of leadership arose through experience at Head of Department level, extended by system contribution beyond the school. The conception of the interface between leadership, culture and ethos was cemented by appointment as Foundation Principal of a new Government high school. A passionate commitment to exploring the unique opportunities, and to attempting to resolve the very specific problems of a new school led to collaboration with other Foundation Principals. Subsequently, I undertook a review of the literature and research into the specific issues inherent in the establishment of a school. Data was collected in situ through visits to new schools, across four States in eastern Australia. This research led to positions of system leadership in new schooling, and to advocacy for a “new deal” for establishing schools. The research led to a growing portfolio of articles, two of which have been published in refereed journals. The desired outcome of the research and published papers was to document some initiatives which could be undertaken by leadership teams in schools as they sought to establish effective culture and ethos in the early years of their schools. My experience in schools identified the position of Head of Department as a critical, gatekeeping position for the cultivation or resistance of desired change in schools. Accordingly, I was part of a research study which employed a Grounded Theory methodology (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) and gathered data through telephone interviews. The research found Heads of Department typically distracted, by the sheer weight of tasks endemic to their role, from the major focus on curriculum and quality teaching and learning. Three refereed journal articles to which I contributed, one as lead author, sought to reconceptualise the role. Educational systems have shown considerable interest in this research. A focus on Heads of Department led fairly naturally to an attempt to identifying other agencies within a school which could lead to cultural change. Specifically, further research sought to identify initiatives available to the leadership team as it sought to enhance curriculum provision and student outcomes. This represented an attempt to apply the very considerable literature to develop some cutting edge initiatives, and led to further journal contributions, one of which was refereed. Other schools have shown considerable interest in these initiatives. A change of situation from the Government to the Independent schooling system provided a new practical and research challenge: how to undertake Christian education which was authentic, in the sense that it was truly educative and not indoctrinative, and was effective in transmitting Christian values. The literature in the field was not encouraging in terms of the efficacy of schools’ Christian education programs in effecting values change, or of the ethical integrity of their pedagogy. The apparent deficits in models of Christian education presented in schools, as revealed in the literature, gave rise to a number of research studies in my own school, which, as an outcome, has sought to reconceptualise the school’s approach to Christian education. This attempted reconceptualisation has been documented in a number of journal articles and publications, two co-authored and refereed, in an attempt to provide some exemplars which may be influential in other schools. The overall thesis of this dissertation is that when the Principal seeks to empower and mobilize other members of the school leadership team, including key teachers and parents, effective change can occur in the school’s culture and ethos. These changes in turn can feature a range of initiatives which substantially improve learning outcomes for students.
Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

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Comodromos, George. "How academics respond, adapt and cope with the transformational changes in the Australian Higher Education Sector." Thesis, 2016. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/33621/.

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The objective of this thesis is to investigate the work life factors of Australian academics and see which of these lead to the adoption of transformational change. The context of the thesis is the Higher Education Sector and the research examines the metamorphic changes in this sector that have been mostly driven by neo-liberal and deregulation policies by successive governments over the past three decades. The thesis adopts and develops the constructivist grounded theory method. The primary data source was developed from face-to-face interviews with 33 (male and female) academics from Monash and Melbourne universities, conducted over a period of five months. These two universities were chosen from the Group of Eight (Go8) elite universities in Australia because they are highly resourced, quality branded and populated with high academic performance students. They represent Australian academics working at their peak performance and their personnel are considered the most highly regarded in the sector. Constructivist grounded theory, as presented by Charmaz (2010), was chosen as a methodology for this thesis because the ontological perspective that reality is created within a social construct and the epistemological perspective that the researcher and participants are both actively involved in the construction of the grounded theory, best suits the mindset of the researcher and the research question. The findings of the research resonate with the literature of institutional change, particularly that of Thelen and Mahoney (2010), and the typology of academics that was created from the research findings further contributes to knowledge in the area of change management theory. The intention of this thesis is to provide a platform to launch further research into the area of organisational change management, particularly in the Higher Education Sector.

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Lam, Thi Loan. "Negotiating the labyrinth: female executives in higher education leadership in Vietnam and Australia." Thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1397795.

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Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Women are under-represented in leadership roles in higher education, especially at senior levels, although they represent the majority of those who study and complete higher education degrees across the world (Berman & West, 2008; Black, 2015; Eagly & Carly, 2007; UNESCO, 2014, p. 6). Despite the fact that the number of females in executive leadership positions has increased over the last decade, there are still fewer women than men in these roles. In contrast to their male counterparts, women who have been successful in securing senior leadership roles in tertiary education continue to face a number of barriers to maintaining their employment status (D. R. Davis & Cecilia, 2015). Given these discrepancies, I investigated the strategies used by women who have successfully negotiated the “labyrinth”, a metaphor which implies the complicated set of obstacles that women face. What confronts women seeking career equity is not just a single “glass ceiling” that they need to break through once, but a maze-like journey through a series of different barriers which are often more obscure than obvious. In light of the inequities confronting women, and the labyrinthine nature of their career journeys, my aim was to determine the extent to which women’s acquisition of leadership skills is an essential factor in overcoming the confronting challenges and covert barriers which impede their success. This research focused on the extent to which participants’ leadership styles and competencies have empowered them, allowing them to acquire executive leadership positions in tertiary education which would otherwise have been reserved for men. This research also explored the extent to which leadership strategies need to be continuously developed by successful women to maintain their current career trajectories, in spite of the many barriers they face. I used complementary Mixed-Methods, online and paper survey questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face interviews, which I conducted in the higher education sector in Vietnam and Australia. My respondents included 380 current executive female leaders who took the online survey, and included 24 current women senior-executives who agreed to participate in a follow-up interview. My analysis of the findings reveals that leadership strategies, opportunities and leadership training are the three most significant areas enabling or preventing women from attaining executive positions.

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Carroll, Jillian. "Intellectual collegiality and leadership in the neoliberal reflexive university." Thesis, 2016. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/32885/.

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Since the introduction of neoliberal governance to higher education in Australia, following the 1988 Dawkins Reforms, the traditional concept of collegiality has been reconfigured. The implementation of new public management (NPM) governance and control techniques have resulted in power now being consolidated in the executive of higher education institutions. In their role as producers for the knowledge economy, universities are now subject to both global and domestic market forces and the directives of external governmentality. This means Vice-Chancellors, academic managers and research and teaching academics are continuously acting reflexively to accommodate and satisfy external requirements. For example, the implementation of neoliberal core policies such as ‘student choice’ in 2012, or demand led provision of university student places, has resulted in long term planning becoming more difficult for both Vice-Chancellors and academic managers. They are now consumed with the need to continuously adjust their plans to respond to the latest market crisis or governmental policy initiative issued to optimize market efficiency or assure quality standards. Given that governance in higher education has shifted from a social liberal framework to a neoliberal framework in Australia since 1988, this thesis employs a Foucauldian analytical framework to analyse how eleven academics, seven of whom are academic managers, located in two departments in a humanities faculty in a well-established university, perceive the managerial discourse. It secondly, seeks to explore the strategies they adopt to respond to this discourse while protecting their disciplinary and values based sub-culture. This process involves holding open ended interviews with these participants in order to identify and analyse their lived experience of the nature of the managerial discourse and its impact on their academic values and practice. The study finds the academic participants interviewed perceive they have limited and declining capacity to influence the managerial discourse. This is due not only to the consolidation of power in the executive but the imposition of an audit culture over the previous collegial culture. Centralized integrated management systems, designed and controlled by the executive in order to assure corporate performance and quality requirements are satisfied, are deployed throughout the organisation. However, despite the academic participants interviewed in this study perceiving that they have little or no power to influence the corporate managerial discourse, these academics emerge as much more than managed academics. Their far more complex identity is a result of their capacity to work as a community of scholars at the departmental level to shape a culture of intellectual sharing and leadership in their respective departments. This strategy continuously reminds them that they are first and foremost intellectuals.

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Kairys, Moira Rose. "Identifying Skills Required for Senior Managers in Vocational Education Training - An Australian Perspective." Thesis, 2016. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/32640/.

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Senior managers in Australian vocational education training (VET) are an integral part of the success of sector that contributes to Australia's economic growth and business productivity with the delivery of training to almost four million students annually. Senior managers are often promoted from teacher to manager on the basis of practical vocational and teaching experience, rather than their management and leadership skills and are often inadequately trained or prepared for the role of leadership. Therefore, it is important to examine whether senior managers are equipped with the required leadership skills for effective leadership in VET. This thesis utilises a new online survey of 100 senior managers employed in VET in Australia in order to identify the leadership skills required for senior managers by testing the Leadership Skills Strataplex Model (LSSM). The model highlights the importance of four broad leadership skills of cognitive, interpersonal, business and strategic skills. The study also explores the interaction of the skills required for current role, promotion and training provider type. The study conducts an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to identify broad and specific skills that are perceived as important. The new evidence indicates that (a) the strataplex model is not supported by the data (b) cognitive skills are perceived to be utilised the most, followed by strategic, interpersonal and business skills (c) business skills, problem solving/managing teams skills and strategic skills are identified as the most important skills required for senior managers and (d) skill importance does not seem to depend on training provider type. Australian vocational education is increasingly complex and competitive and training providers need to recognise that the sector requires higher levels of leadership skills. Although cognitive skill requirements are high, senior managers also need higher levels of business, problem solving/managing teams and strategic skills.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Educational leadership Australia'

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