Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Catholic school management”

Catholic schools are important institutions in the United States educational system. They demand discipline, high academic standards, and religious moral values rooted in Catholic beliefs which are designed to have an impact throughout life (Ciriello, 1998). A critical component in determining school quality lies with the principals' leadership (Sergiovanni, 1997). Principals are critical to successful K-12 schools and must exercise considerable responsibility for establishing collegial learning cultures among the instructional team and stakeholders, including parents, community members, and students. The principal can no longer accomplish such a momentous task alone. Success of today's Catholic relies on the competent and committed performance of many people acting together with common goals. Catholic schools do not mirror those of twenty years ago (Cummings, 2003). Within the past five years, principals in Catholic schools have increasing job responsibilities and expectations. With the implementation of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Strategic Plan in 2003, Catholic school principals in the Archdiocese must fulfill their primary function as instructional leader, and the additional roles outlined by the plan. Declining enrollment, lack of funds, and a perceived lack of quality, has forced principals to market their school to increase enrollment and solicit substantial funds for the school to remain viable. New roles create a problem for principals lacking training or knowledge in specialized areas. Based on a review of available literature, including (a) distributive leadership, (b) collaborative leadership, (c) shared leadership, and (d) school boards, this study investigated principal perceptions of collaboration and implementation of consultative school boards. This study employed a mixed method research design including a survey, interviews, and a document review of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Strategic Plan to answer research questions. This study found a leader who needs collaborative leadership skills to lead a quality school involving all stakeholders to assist the school in remaining viable. Principals confirmed a need for greater participation by all stakeholders and assistance in forming consultative school boards. Information gathered contributes to the limited literature on Catholic school leadership, specifically a principals' role in implementing collaborative leadership in Catholic elementary schools through consultative school boards.

This thesis constitutes a study of a Catholic secondary school in the State of Victoria, Australia, in the year 2001. It addresses the issue of the nature and purpose of Catholic schools in situ, the focus of the research being an in-depth analytical description of the participant school. Consequently, the findings are of potential relevance to those interested in the issue of the nature and purpose of the Catholic school in situ from a general and holistic perspective. Specifically, given the concern of the research with the nature and purpose of a Catholic school in situ, two anticipated areas of focus for the study were identified. These were the defining features of the school, in relation to the concern of the study with the nature of the school, and the ends of the school, in relation to the concern of the study with the purpose of the school. The study was thus governed by 2 two-part general research questions. 1. What are the defining features of the school, and how are they maintained? 2. To what ends is the school oriented, and how is this orientation sustained? In the form of an ethnographic study, the research describes and interprets the participant school from the perspective of those who constitute the day-to-day community. The findings of the study are located within a contextual understanding involving historical and prescriptive perspectives for, and literature pertaining to, the contemporary Catholic school. Given the concern of the ethnography with the development, as opposed to the verification, of theory, data gathered from five major sources over the period of a school Section headings for the Introduction through to the References have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. Likewise, page numbers have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. year were focused and analysed, through the method of grounded theory, to arrive at the findings of the study. These five sources were participant-observation, in-depth interviews conducted with a number of the school personnel, observation of various school meetings, school documents, and a survey of the student body. The findings of the study, in their descriptive and analytical dimensions, are presented in four chapters. Specifically, these are presented in Chapters Five through to Eight, in relation to four main organising principles pertaining (a) to the description of the school, (b) to predominant perspectives on the school from within its day-to-day community, (c) to the prevailing characteristics upon which the perspectives of the day-today community turn, and (d) to the theoretical construct consequent upon the description, the predominant perspectives, and the prevailing characteristics. As with the descriptive aspect, to which the first two organising principles predominantly pertain, the interpretive dimension of the findings is largely undertaken in two chapters. The first of these chapters (i.e., Chapter Seven), pertaining to the delineation of the prevailing features evident within the perspectives of the day-to-day community, provides an interpretation of the descriptive findings in terms of an autocratic hegemony, a managerial administrative focus, and a bureaucratic organisational culture. Thus, this chapter signifies the primary analysis of the findings of the two previous chapters through completion of the descriptive dimension. The second of these chapters (i.e., Chapter Eight) places this preliminary analysis of the descriptive findings within a theoretical construct pertaining to concepts of disparity and congruity, opposition and compliance. The concepts of disparity and congruity relate to the school's adherence to ideological and primitive imperatives respectively. Those of opposition and compliance relate to the degrees of consonance, within the day-to-day community, in terms of assent to the prevailing order within the school. Consequently, it is to be observed that the elements of description and interpretation, essential to the in-depth analytical description demanded of the ethnographic methodological approach, decrease and increase, respectively, across these four chapters. Section headings for the Introduction through to the References have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. Likewise, page numbers have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. The study concluded that the nature and purpose of the school were consequent upon its prevailing autocratic hegemony, its pre-eminently managerial administrative focus, and its profoundly bureaucratic organisational culture. These interconnected elements of the school's practices, disparate from the ideological imperatives advocated for the Catholic school, were found to effect a latent opposition within the school community, principally in relation to the teaching personnel, masked by the overall compliance of the day-to-day community with the prevailing order.

This study details the background to the establishment of Parish School Boards in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, and reports and analyses the perceptions of all ACT Catholic, systemic, primary school Principals who operated with a Parish School Board in 1993. The movement towards Parish School Boards finds its genesis in the Second Vatican Council where the Church was invited to collaborate in decision-making based on the belief that all the faithful have gifts, knowledge and a share of the wisdom to bring to the building of the Church. The nature and structure of Catholic education was seen as a suitable vehicle for encouraging communities to engage in shared decision-making and in participatory democracy under the Church model of subsidiarity, collegiality and collaboration. The introduction of Parish School Boards into the Archdiocese can be seen as the implementation of a radical change to the educational mission of the Church and the educational leadership of the faith community. Reflecting 'new management theory' in both the secular and Church worlds, a key stakeholder is the school Principal whose role and relationships change as he or she learns to work within a team, sharing leadership. This study examines the responses of nineteen Principals who were interviewed by the researcher in order to determine how they work with a Parish School Board and what effects the board has on their work. Research studies in the area of School-Based Management and Shared Decision-Making have informed the review, and the Principals' responses from this study have been analysed in the light of secular and Church literature on leadership, devolution and change. The respondents of this study, the school Principals, report the benefits of collegiality and collaboration but their unresolved tensions relate to work overload, lack of clarity of the roles and responsibilities of the various local level decision-making groups, increased administrative complexity, community demand for ever widening consultation and the challenge of consensus decision-making. All Principals report an urgent need for professional development for themselves and for the system to provide a more explicit focus on parish and community formation with the commitment of the necessary resources to sustain this radical change.

Time-based reform proposals are founded on the assumption that more time in school will produce great learning outcomes. Research shows that when schools adopt time-based reform initiatives, there are certain considerations that they should make and methods they should follow to ensure the change produces the outcomes intended. This was not the case in a local Archdiocese where a calendar extension was adopted by several elementary schools.

This qualitative case study focused on the adoption of a calendar extension at one Catholic elementary school. The researcher gathered data from the pastor, principal, teachers, parents, and students to determine how these stakeholders envisioned the outcomes of this change, how they perceived the time was being used for curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular purposes, and the challenges and opportunities that they felt existed after three years of implementation. Data collected over a four-month period included classroom observations, stakeholder interviews, focus group meetings, and document analysis.

An inductive analysis of the data collected was used to determine emergent themes and domains within the school. The seven themes that emerged include: decision making, planning and implementation, advantages, financial motivations, the culture of teaching, leadership, challenges and complications of the extended calendar.

Recommendations include the need for school leaders to familiarize themselves with change management techniques including setting a shared vision, establishing a collaborative implementation plan, and developing a system of assessment prior to embarking on school reform.

For the past thirty years, leadership theories have focused on the importance of the individual within the school organisation. The shared assumptions and beliefs of the individuals working in the same organisation shape the school’s organisational culture, and organisational culture is a salient factor which should be considered when understanding educational leadership. The focus of my study is to explore the relationship between organisational culture and leadership. In the same context, new approaches to the study of leadership have explored the issue of gender in leadership. Female leadership studies - the second focus of this study - seek not only to restore the place of the individual but also argue a place for women in educational leadership. Based in the interpretive paradigm, this is a case study of a Catholic all-girl secondary school called the Loreto Convent School of Pretoria. Historically, the Loreto schools have aimed at promoting and empowering girls’ education and female leadership. It was therefore an appropriate site in which to explore organisational culture and its relationship with leadership, particularly female leadership. I purposefully chose three of the school’s female leaders - the school’s principal, the High school Head of Department and the High school head girl - focusing on their perceptions and experiences of their leadership and the school’s culture. My research findings show that an understanding of the relationship between organisational culture and leadership cannot be complete without acknowledging the importance of the leader as an individual, with his/her personal background and values, taking into account gender as well as the multiple roles that the individual has in society. Furthermore, the ‘humane’ characteristic of educational leadership leads to an understanding that the leader is often confronted with conflicting situations where he/she is caught between personal/organisational values and the need to achieve the task. Finally, my findings show that contemporary leaders are now called upon to work and participate in the promotion of social justice in order to fight against society’s socio-economic inequality and improve the quality of education and life.

The question of gender in leadership continues to be a contentious and poorly understood phenomenon. There seems general agreement that women do lead differently from men, and this study begins from that premise, focusing on a case in which leadership has traditionally been the domain of females. The case was chosen for its uniqueness, the assumption being that in these circumstances leadership may have developed particular characteristics. Following a qualitative approach (drawing on phenomenology), the study seeks to investigate how women leaders experience their roles as leaders. In-depth interviews made it possible for me to capture the perceptions and experiences of the three women leaders I interviewed. The study reveals that women are more inclined to use interactive styles of leadership. Women use leadership that is more participative, negotiative, cooperative, shared and collaborative. These characteristics are in line with the features of transformational leadership which differs from the more traditional transactional leadership that is more controlled and directive. The study has also shown that leadership develops from within the person of the leader as the leader is the one who spearheads the organization through vision, ideas, beliefs andassumptions. The findings of this study suggest thus that unless women are given chances to prove how they can lead, this new approach of leadership within them and that is required by modern organizations would be lost and leadership would remain relatively unchanged and undesirable. In the context of Namibia, this study should be of potential significance because of the rapid change that is taking place in the inclusion of women in leadership and management positions in education.

One of my concerns has been how children behave in a crowded classroom with few available opportunities to interact and rehearse the lesson with their peers and teacher. This research paper allows me to explore how teacher`s directives/ manners  (verbal & non-verbal communication) during the English lesson,  impact and fix children`s behaviours temporarily.  I have conducted this emprirical case study in a religious catholic, monolingual, Spanish school conformed only by girls aged 7-9, who are in the third level of its primary level.  As my interest was to analyze the talk of my purpose sampling (teacher-student) and the interactive behaviour in the natural occurring situation in this social setting, the method I chose was the analysis of social interaction, on Conversation Analysis. This allows me to unfold the talk-in-interaction and concentrate on micro-analytic situations using the standard convention to transcribe my selected analysis. Therefore, the contribution of this paper is to explore and demonstrate how disciplinary acts were deilvered by the teacher affecting the child`s subjectivity and performance in a crowded classroom.

This thesis aimed to study the perspectives of religious education coordinators’ in secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne regarding their management of a particular curriculum change in religious education. The change in question involved a “top down” (Morris, 1995) change to a “text-based curriculum” (Pell, 2001) directed by the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is responsible for religious education in Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese. Situated within a qualitative paradigm this research utilised grounded theory as a means to identify and analyse the theory generated from interviews with religious education coordinators who were responsible for managing the change. The emergent categories were used to generate new theory in relation to how religious education coordinators managed the curriculum change. Key theories generated from this study included factors that impeded the change such as an inability to understand the theoretical position underpinning the curriculum innovation, and inadequate qualifications to teach religious education. It also generated theory about factors that assisted the management of this change such as time to reflect on practice, and support from school leadership teams. The theory generated was analysed against the existing knowledge about curriculum change in education, textbook use and leadership in religious education. A distinguishing aspect of this research is that it linked the general literature on educational change as it applies to curriculum change, with curriculum change in religious education.The study also proposed some recommendations for future directions and practices concerning the management of curriculum change in religious education in Catholic schools.

Thesis (EdD) -- Australian Catholic University, 2004.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. Bibliography: p. 204-228. Also available in an electronic format via the internet.

碩士
國立高雄師範大學
教育學系
105
The research aims to construct effective tactics that can be practically applied to St. Paul’s High School, a private Catholic school in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in both operation and management. The study begins with the management dilemmas of private Catholic secondary schools and, hopefully, may find resolutions and modules suited to solving those dilemmas. In addition to improving its feasibility, the study puts forward the possible key points for the practical implementation of a development strategy to improve the effective operation of private Catholic secondary schools with the aim of improving their efficiency and thus their success rates. In order to achieve the above objectives, this research is mainly based on the Delphi technique and questionnaire surveys. First of all, we discuss the development and difficulties of private Catholic secondary schools in Taiwan from a historical perspective. Second, we explore the ideals of running such a school, school philosophy and mission, and use a business model to clarify the root causes of any problematic issues with the aim of resolving them. Afterwards, through comparison and discussion of the four kinds of modern management theories, in regard to the current difficulties faced by private Catholic secondary schools, we use the school marketing theory as the selected method of problem solving. We use it as the theoretical basis for effective management and development, so as to analyze and collect the relevant empirical research of the school’s marketing strategy. To prepare a preliminary draft of a Delphi technique questionnaire on effective school management and development strategies for private Catholic secondary schools, 10 professionals were selected to confirm the content validity, and then compiles the first round questionnaire on ’The Study of Effective School Management Development Strategy for the Private Catholic Secondary School’ using the Delphi technique. The Delphi questionnaire method utilized here is made up of an advisory specialist group, including 10 professors from teachers’ development institutions and Catholic high school principals. Through three rounds of sharing and discussion, we reach a consensus on the relevancy and efficiency of the school management tactics. Through the above research process, an ’Effective Management Development Strategy of the Private Catholic Secondary School’ is constructed. This includes 2 dimensions, which are Internal Marketing and External Marketing. Internal Marketing includes 5 phases: Cohesion Communication Strategy, Care Incentive Strategy, Education and Training Strategy, Participation Authorization Strategy and Quality Environmental Strategy. External Marketing is comprised of 4 phases: Teacher and Student Product Strategy, Image Promotion Strategy, Cost Value Strategy and Access Planning Strategy. There are 9 phases covered in total. There are 44 items included in the effective strategy overall. Moreover, the research produces an additional 12 details to achieve the goal of effective school management. 4 details are used to develop the school distinctiveness. Ultimately, the study puts forward some suggestions to the authorities concerned which include the board of directors of Catholic high schools in Taiwan and principals and teachers, offering them in accordance to the current educational environment as a reference.

The purposes of this study are to first investigate various leadership and management styles of Catholic secondary school principals and their impact on school discipline and secondly to determine whether there is a correlation between leadership and management styles of secondary school principals and discipline in the school. The rationale behind the research topic is that the researcher has realised that many black public schools in South Africa are dysfunctional and cannot deliver quality learning and teaching. The reason for this sorry state of affairs is historical and well known. Most of these schools, to make the transition from dysfunctional to effectiveness, do not require courses in the market. What they require, and it is sorely missing, is strong and effective leadership. The role of a principal in a school is crucial. The success of the process of restoring the culture of teaching and learning rests to a large extent on the principal. This is mainly because he/she is the one who has to lead the entire school community in implementing whatever plans and programmes are to be put in place. Teaching is like riding a wild horse. Even though you're in the saddle it sometimes feels as if you're only barely in control and, if you stop paying attention for just one second, you will end up in the mud. One of the greatest challenges that teachers face when starting out in their careers is learning how to deal with unruly and badly behaved learners so that the rest of the class can get on with the lesson. Teachers often say that they are not paid to discipline learners they are paid to teach them. However, without discipline there can be little learning. Without discipline education is not possible. Discipline is the very foundation on which education should seek to build. Many of our secondary schools are still in crisis today because discipline is undermined. In Chapter one the problem to be researched, the statement of the problem and the purpose of study, general assumptions of study and definitions of terms were introduced. Chapter two examined the literature available. That was done to expand upon the context and the background of this study and to further define the problem and provide an empirical basis for the development of the hypothesis. Chapter two also examined the Leadership Traits theory, the Situational Contingency theory, the Pathgoal theory, Collaborative, Democratic or Participative leadership styles, Autocratic leadership style, Laissez Faire leadership style and leadership according to Gospel values. The Democratic and Situational contingency leadership styles were singled out as the styles of leadership applied most often in a number of organisations. Leadership according to Gospel values will be the most suitable, especially for principals in Catholic schools. It is very much intertwined with the democratic leadership style. There was strong evidence from the literature studied that these styles, if properly applied, can go a long way in helping the principals of schools to live up to the challenges they are facing in education. It is these leadership styles coupled with an understanding of transformation issues in education such as: new principles and values of education systems in South Africa; teaching and learning as the main aims of the education and management, self-reliant schools (self-managed), governance, building schools as learning organisations, and certain skills that could enable principals to be effective leaders in their schools. In order for principals to provide proper and effective leadership, they should be competent in the following aspects: • Stakeholders' involvement in the management of schools • the use of different leadership styles as propounded by the Situational Contingency Theory • team work, and • effective and efficient communication with stakeholders. Chapter three examined the overview of Catholic Education in South Africa, The distinctive Religious character of the Catholic school, Characteristics of a Catholic school, school discipline and how poor school discipline can be prevented and a model for effective discipline in a school. It also focused briefly on the impact of the South African Schools Act No 84 of 1996 and the Bill of Rights as enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa on school discipline. In Chapter four the research methodology was examined. This included the structuring of the questionnaire to try to get factual information, opinions and attitudes about the problem. The questionnaire focused on the following: • stakeholders' involvement in management tasks • the leadership and management styles of principals • how the principal is perceived by stakeholders • communication with stakeholders • teamwork • parental involvement and • how discipline in the school is perceived by stakeholders. The questionnaire was then administered to all educators, members of the school governing bodies, members of the Representative Council of Learners and principals of all Secondary Catholic schools in Limpopo. Chapter five deals with data analysis, interpretation, findings and recommendations. In conclusion, of all the leadership styles discussed, the Situational Contingency, and emerging participatory democracy and leadership according to Gospel values appear to be the most appropriate styles of leadership in South African Education today. The three leadership styles are like rosebuds in that they bring forth positive results but also have associated thorns and dangers. If we can locate the thorns, then we can learn how to hold the flower without injury. Different leaders and managers adopt different styles of leading and managing their organisation (school). As a result there is no single perfect leadership or management style. It is, however, important that leaders must be able to weigh and consider ensuing or confronting situations and circumstances and to adapt accordingly. Good educational establishments require disciplined environments. Teachers, parents and students need clear strategies and guidelines that encourage learning. They need to ensure that learning is well structured and orderly. Good relationships need to be maintained in learning institutions to improve motivation and raise the quality of education for all.
Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

The aim of this study was to explore and understand the kind of partnership that exists at secondary school level between government, Catholic Church, school administration and parents. And the way these parties perceive and assume their respective duties and responsibilities, and the relationships with one another in the new school decentralised dispensation. By 2000, Rwanda restructured the education system by initiating school decentralisation reforms and devolving more powers and responsibilities to districts, schools and community. The literature on education decentralization, state and non-government provider partnerships in education theories is reviewed to identify the main issues to investigate. This study relies on taped in-depth interviews with school committees‘ members, education officers as well as documents analysis. All this enabled the researcher to answer four research sub-questions: (1) how do school committees perceive and exercise their powers and responsibilities in contributing to school development?; (2) how do school committees and the school administration work together in contributing to school development?; (3) how do Catholic Church authorities contribute to the managerial and/or professional issues and school needs? and; (4) how do the government and the Catholic Church collaborate for school development? The study discovered that, despite the reluctance of school committees to be involved in school financial management, they were eager to be involved in schools governance and school development. They undertook activities aimed at raising school funds, volunteering in school activities requesting their expertise, contributing to some school decision making and attending successfully school meetings. Moreover, results have shown that the school committees and the school community (school principals, teachers and staff) manage to work together to face the challenges of lack of capacity. Even though the Catholic Church financial support to schools has been reduced, the Catholic Church contributes via its teaching to the mobilization of the community for school development, for charitable actions, and collecting funds from aid agencies. The study recommends that the government and Catholic Church continue to collaborate to build the governance capacity of the school committees, that school principals and teachers manage to create a welcoming school environment, that the department establish a system vi support that provides information about schools‘ academic and financial performance relative to other schools, closing the gap in the existing regulations and guidelines on the respective power and responsibilities pertaining to each of stakeholders in partnership for school development. The study recommends further studies on the implementation of school decentralization in remote rural schools; the impact of the socio-economic status of school committee members on their commitment to their children‘s school development; the factors underlying teacher‘s attitude towards their involvement in financial and administrative decision making; and a comparative research of similar non catholic and Catholic schools and how they implement differently school decentralization.

碩士
輔仁大學
教育領導與發展研究所
92
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between human resources management and effectiveness of Catholic high schools in Taiwan. Through investigating the differences between human resources management and environmental characteristics of several Catholic high schools, the present study tries to explore whether the effectiveness of the schools could be predicted by human resources management practices. The present study adopts questionnaire surveys method. The population of the study includes teachers and administrative staff from 20 schools, involving 540 participants which were randomly selected by the stratified sampling method. The total usable number of questionnaires returned is 384 with a rate of 71%, and the analyzable data reaches 67%. Data was analyzed by using the method of descriptive and inferential statistics, including mean and standard deviation, T-test, Person’s product-moment correlation, one-way ANOVA, and step-wise multiple regression. This study obtains several findings. First, human resources management theory is applicable to Catholic high schools in Taiwan. Second, in the practices of human resources management, Catholic high schools did the best in “recruiting and hiring”. However, they should put more efforts into “compensation systems”. In the effectiveness of the schools, “curriculum and instruction arrangement” gained the highest score among the scales, while the scores on “student behavior and learning” are the lowest. Third, there are significant differences between human resources management and effectiveness among school sizes. Fourth, human resources management is positively significant correlated with school effectiveness. That is, a variety of dimensions of human resources management could effectively predict school effectiveness. Finally, the study provides several suggestions. Catholic high schools in Taiwan need to enhance and provide more training and development opportunities for their faculty and staff. In addition, the schools should review their compensation systems to recruit as well as retain the best workers. To sum up, for Catholic high schools in Taiwan, it is necessary to establish appropriate human resources management systems so they can provide students a better quality of education.