Education Commons^™

Leadership As A Challenging Opportunity: Nepali Secondary Principals’ Contextual Understandings And Perception Of Their Roles, Shankar Dhakal, Andrew Jones, Geoffrey W. Lummis

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This qualitative case study explores the perceptions of three Nepali secondary principals regarding their leadership roles, behaviors, and experiences. By employing semi-structured interviews in both physical and virtual school contexts, it emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific contexts, critically evaluating global leadership trends, and adopting approaches that enhance student wellbeing. The study highlights the influence of sociocultural structures shaped by societal values and beliefs. Spiritual attributes like humility, compassion, and connectedness are identified as contextual knowledge for Nepali principals. The research identifies a gap in Nepali school leadership literature, providing practical insights for their future career pathways.

Leadership In Sustainability: Collective Wisdom, Conversations, Creativity, Contemplation And Courage, The Five Pillars Of A Master’S Teaching Unit, Mike Mouritz, Peter Newman, Renée Newman, Jayne Bryant, Aimee Smith, Elaine Olsen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper provides an overview of insights and lessons learned from nearly 20 years of running a Master’s unit called Leadership in Sustainability and how it has been used to foster change agents in small business enterprises, as well as other parts of our economy and community. The unit is based on five ‘C’ pillars, which are discussed in this paper to show how the teaching was able to assist potential leaders in their journey towards sustainability. Collective Wisdom is the theory of how leaders have used their imagination to solve collective ‘wicked problems’ and how sustainability requires such wisdom. …

Leadership Teams Supporting Teacher Wellbeing By Improving The Culture Of An Australian Secondary School, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Julia E. Morris, Catherine Ferguson, Susan Hill, Graeme Lock

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This research explored teachers’ experiences of school and their work-related wellbeing, from the perspective that work-related wellbeing is an organisational responsibility. A single case study was enacted in an urban Western Australian secondary school to explore the relationship between school organisational health and teacher wellbeing. A mixed method pre-test phase determined professional growth, professional interaction and role clarity were areas of organisational health that yielded divergent responses from staff. Subsequently, the school’s leadership team implemented interventions to improve these domains, and post-intervention data collection was conducted 18 months later to determine any changes. Qualitative data showed improvements in the professional …

Balancing School Improvement Strategies With Workload Pressures: A Participatory Action Research Case Study, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Cath Ferguson, Graeme Lock, Susan Hill, Annette Nykiel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This participatory action research case study describes how one secondary school aimed to improve staff culture. Although pre-test data showed the school as performing consistently well in terms of their organisational health, the school chose to implement a line management intervention over 12 months to target three low-rating factors: appraisal and recognition, professional growth, and supportive leadership. Quantitative evaluation showed that while the improvement strategy had no effect on the intended targets, there were unanticipated effects on other factors. Staff reported a mixture of positive and negative effects from the intervention; however, a core issue was its impact on teachers’ …

School Leadership And Whole- School Support Of Struggling Literacy Learners In Secondary Schools, Margaret K. Merga, Saiyidi Mat Roni, Anabela Malpique

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The needs of struggling literacy learners beyond the early years of schooling warrant greater attention. For struggling literacy learners to attain their academic, vocational, and social goals, schools should position literacy as a whole school priority and enhance opportunities for student literacy learning across all learning areas. However, it is not known if literacy is typically supported as a whole school commitment in contemporary secondary schools. This paper draws on survey data from the Australian nation-wide 2019 Supporting Struggling Secondary Literacy Learners (SSSLL) project. Findings suggest that many mainstream secondary school teachers do not perceive that there is a whole-school …

Collaboratively Designing A National, Mandated Teaching Performance Assessment In A Multi-University Consortium: Leadership, Dispositions And Tensions, Amanda Mcgraw, Ron “Kim” Keamy, Jeana A. Kriewaldt, Robyn Brandenburg, Rebecca Walker, Nadine Crane

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is a requirement for pre-service students in Initial Teacher Education programs in Australia to successfully complete a teaching performance assessment (TPA) before they graduate. This follows similar requirements in other international contexts, particularly the United States, where standard-based assessment is also a focus. As members of the design team of a TPA, which was affirmed by a nationally appointed Expert Advisory Group in Australia, we examine the social processes contributing to the development of a high-stakes assessment task. Significant challenges emerged through the nature of the task and the responsibility developers had for ensuring validity and fairness, but also …

The Role Of Leadership In Establishing A Positive Staff Culture In A Secondary School, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Graeme Lock, Catherine Ferguson, Susan Hill, Annette Nykiel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This Australian case study explored the implementation of strategies to support the development of a positive school culture among whole school staff. A participatory action research approach was used to involve leadership staff in the development of a mixed method assessment of the school organisation. Baseline data from the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (n = 28) and qualitative data from focus groups (n = 15) were collected and presented to the leadership team who identified four foci for the study: appraisal and recognition, participative decision-making, professional growth and supportive leadership. After a range of interventions, findings from both …

Investigating The Relationships Between Education And Culture For Female Students In Tertiary Settings In The Uae, Beverley Mcclusky

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research is about the higher education of Indigenous Emirati women and how they balance the intricate demands of higher education with the social customs of a traditional society and the expectations placed on women. The study sought to identify and comprehend the issues which have affected the educational changes that are taking place, including culture, gender, religion, the influence of Western education processes, and the desire of an Indigenous population to raise their educational practices to an internationally recognised benchmark.

The research was aimed at providing insights into the distinctiveness of this group of women from their social and …

Building Leadership Capacity In Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers, Glenda Campbell-Evans, Elizabeth Stamopoulos, Carmel Maloney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Building leadership capacity within the early childhood profession has emerged as a key concern as the sector responds to national reforms. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion around the changes needed in tertiary training to build early childhood leadership capacity in school settings. Eight experienced early childhood teachers enrolled in a post graduate leadership unit participated in this small scale, exploratory study. Data were drawn from the participants’ research plans, reflective journals and a post unit survey. The findings indicated that the participants found it difficult to perceive themselves as leading families and community. Two …

Entry Planning : A Key Aspect In Preparing For School Leadership In Western Australia, Eleanor Maree Hughes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

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 …

Redefining Education: Sustaining 1 To 1 Computing Strategies In Western Australian Schools, Christopher P. Newhouse, Jeniffer M. Lane, Martin G. Cooper, Peter Twining

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In 1993 the first WA private school adopted a 1 to 1 computing strategy and then ten years later the first government school did so. With the advent of the Digital Education Revolution initiative many schools in WA commenced 1 to 1 strategies and it has almost become an expectation in secondary schools. Our snapshots studies involved two new government schools and along established elite private school that had a similar vision for learning with digital technologies. The two government schools had 1 to 1 strategies, but had found that their chosen tablet PC was not robust enough, and had …

Building Leadership Capacity In Undergraduate Students: Final Report For Altc Teaching Fellowship, Lynne Cohen

Research outputs 2013

This Fellowship addressed the significant issue of leadership. Its primary focus was researching and developing leadership skills in undergraduate students. The Fellowship was designed to develop and trial a leadership program specifically to enhance the competencies and skills of undergraduate students beyond their discipline knowledge. A group of universities across Australia agreed to participate in a pilot program to respond to the following identified issues.

• The area of leadership development in undergraduates has been under-researched and under-debated in recent work about graduate attributes, generic skills, and work integrated learning.

• There has been considerable focus on leadership development for …

Learning To Lead: A Social Justice Perspective On Understanding Elementary Teacher Leadership In Papua New Guinea, Joanne Brownlee, Laura Scholes, Ann Farrell, Julie Davis, Donna Cook

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Leadership in elementary education is currently recognized as a political imperative in Papua New Guinea (PNG), as the nation develops strategies towards equitable access to schooling. One recent initiative aimed at building educational leadership was an intensive Australian Leadership Award Fellowship (ALAF) program funded by AusAID, involving a group of 10 teacher trainers from PNG. As part their involvement participants completed self-authored journal entries at the beginning and end of the leadership program. Participants were also involved in focus groups after completion of the initiative. Referring to the experiences of these teacher trainers, this paper draws on Nancy Fraser’s (2005, …

Critically Reflective Leadership, Christine L. Cunningham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Critical Reflective Practice (CRP) has a proven reputation as a method for teacher-researchers in K-12 classrooms, but there have been few published examples of this method being used to document school leaders’ work-based practice. This article outlines adaptations made by the author from an original CRP method to a Critically Reflective Leadership (CRL) method that she developed to document her own lived experiences as a principal and then director of an American International School in South America. The method described in this paper may be useful for school leaders who wish to become practitioner-researchers in their own work places. The …

Implementation Of Initiatives To Reform The Quality Of Education In Rural Ghanaian Junior High Schools, Agatha Inkoom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite Ghana's record investment in education, in 2008, only 40% of students passed the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the end of junior high school and gained admission into senior high school. Urban schools continue to outperform rural schools and the gap between Ghana‟s best and worst performing schools continues to widen. This study investigated the effectiveness of education policy implementation and how this has impacted on education reform in one rural district of Ghana‟s Upper West Region. The research investigated the status of education in Junior High Schools, the impact of Reform 2007 and the factors that influenced …

Applying Standards For Leaders To The Selection Of Secondary School Principals, Helen Wildy, Coral Pepper, Luo Guanzhong

Research outputs 2011

The purpose of this paper is to report innovative research aimed at ascertaining whether standards for school leaders could be applied to the process of selecting senior secondary school principlas for appointment. Specifically, psychometrically robust measurees of performance are sought that would sufficiently differentiate performance to support judgement about whether or not to appoint candidates in the public educational authority of Western Australia

Teaching Principals : Educational Restructuring And Transformational Leadership, Kevin P. Gillan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

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 …

Inspirational Women At Edith Cowan University: Women In Leadership Project, Linley Lord (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

This booklet profiles 10 exceptional University women who have excelled in their chosen careers. In their stories, these women outline their career history - their reasons for their choice of career and how they got to where they are today. They discuss the difficulties that they encountered along the way (such as sexism, racism, negative attitudes, lack of confidence) and how they dealt with these. They talk about the influence of role models on their careers and their own personal qualities which have contributed to their success. Some words of advice to career-minded women complete their stories.

These stories are …

The Professional Development Needs Of Newly Appointed Principals: Leadership For School Development, Michael J. Harvey

Research outputs pre 2011

...The professional development needs of newly appointed principals was identified as an important area for policy development and one which would benefit from research. The appointment of a cohort of new principals is a significant moment in the life of an education system. During a period of system-level change this transition is not without risks, both to the careers of promising educators and to the organisational health of the education system. Understanding of the learning experiences of newly appointed principals would provide critical information for the planning and deli very of professional development for both present and future incumbents of …