The challenges and successful strategies of secondary school administrators /

This study presents information gathered during personal interviews in the area of challenges that administrators have faced in their careers, and the strategies they have found to be successful in meeting those challenges. This research is a qualitative study, using an inductive approach. Five participants were chosen, based on convenience sampling, with semi-structured interviews that were audio recorded. The theoretical research found that school violence and stafS'school morale were key challenges facing administrators, with a variety of approaches suggested to foster success in meeting those challenges. Some of these approaches included knowledge, team work, an ethic of care, and having a school vision. From the interviews it became clear that the challenges administrators faced included those posed by students, including disciplinary issues, those posed by adults and those posed by government changes in education. In regards to strategies for success, the interviews revealed three key concepts that were emphasized as vital. These were the assets of craft knowledge (experience), collegiality, and the use of other professional resources and educators.

An exploration of female administrators' perceptions of their role: do the differences make a difference?

Recent Ontario legislation by the Ministry of Education has targeted a goal of 50 percent as the minimum objective for representation by women in positions of responsibility by the year 2000. As a result,those few women currently in the field of Educational Administration have become a focus for researchers. The intent of this research is to contribute to the current knowledge and understanding of women principals in the leadership role. In-depth interviews with four experienced female principals were conducted centering on their perceptions and experiences on a wide range of issues that included: gender characteristics and impact on role, perceived differences as a result of gender characteristics, decision making, curriculum leadership, communication, the perception of others, and the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in the role. Narrative profiles were constructed for each participant and analyzed. A description for each woman emerged by an analysis of common patterns and themes in the participants' narratives. Results revealed that the participants were able to identify and to describe particular gender traits that they perceived had impact on their role. Moreover the participants regarded their gender characteristics as facilitating and enhancing the performance of their role. Common patterns for all the participants emerged from the data that conveyed a strong feminine imagery of mother and espoused the idea of school as home, and staff and students as family. Leadership ii styles demonstrated an emphasis on collaborative decision making, open communication, and apparent difficulty and ambiguity arising from the role of Curriculum leader. The results of this study also indicate that personal metaphors ascribed and embedded in the narratives are significant in conceptualizing and interpreting the administrative role.

Career paths of educational administrators

Ten superintendents~ 5 male and 5 female~ were randomly selected from a possible 33 males and 9 females in the Niagara and Hamilton regions. The participants were interviewed through a guided interview process coupled with an accounting of their educational and career histories. They were asked to discuss significant aspects of their careers such as the support they had received from families, from mentors and from involvement in networks. The data collected were then analyzed for similarities and differences both within and between the two gender cohorts. Upon analysis, it was found that the female and male administrators possessed differences in their personal backgrounds as well as their career and educational histories. Differences were also found in the perceived role of mentors, and networks. The ways in which the female administrators experienced their careers were found to be quite different from the ways in which the male administrators experienced their careers.

Two School Administrators’ Perspectives on How Intercultural Education is Promoted in Their Elementary Schools

This study examined the perspectives of 2 elementary school administrators (1 principal of a faith based school, and 1 vice-principal of a public school) towards intercultural education and how it was implemented in their schools. A generic qualitative research methodology guided this study. Face-to-face interviews that used a guide with open-ended questions were used to collect data. Participants were administrators in their respective schools, had been involved in intercultural activities at their school, and were professional acquaintances of the researcher. The interviews were digitally recorded and the interview transcripts were reviewed by participants to ensure accuracy. The administrators’ understanding of intercultural education tended to be limited to learning and celebration of various cultures. The intercultural education strategies used in the respective schools focussed on developing a knowledge base and provided limited intercultural interaction. The public school had greater resources available than the private faith-based school. However, the resources were not always used to facilitate intercultural education. Teachers and administrators were provided with very few professional development opportunities focussed on intercultural education.

An impact evaluation of the Ontario ban on smoking in schools and on school property : does the ban on smoking influence high school students' intentions to smoke cigarettes?

The Ontario Tobacco Control Act of 1994 imposed a total ban on smoking in schools, and on school property for every school in the province. The imposition of this policy created problems for school administrators. For instance, students who were smoking on walkways and properties adjacent to school boundaries, clashed with neighbouring property owners who were angry about the resulting damage and disruption. The enforcement of this policy consumes valuable resources at each school; therefore, knowledge about the impact of the policy is important. If effective, this policy has the potential to improve the health of students over their lifetime, by preventing or delaying smoking behaviour. Alternatively, an ineffective policy will continue to create administrative problems for the school and serve no legitimate purpose. Therefore, knowledge about the impact of the smoking ban policy on students' smoking intentions assists policy makers and school administrators in their understanding of the policy's impact within the schools. This research provided an impact evaluation of the ban on smoking in schools and on school property in Ontario. A total of 2069 students, from five high schools, in the Niagara Region, provided complete responses to a survey, designed to test whether smoking intentions were affected by the imposition of the policy. The study used Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), specifically, the perceived behavioural control measure, to gain some understanding of students' perceptions of control over smoking imposed by the ban. The findings indicate the policy has the potential to influence students' overall smoking intentions. The ban on smoking policy was found to be a significant predictor of the smoking intentions of high school students. As well, attitude, social norms, and perceptions of control were significant predictors of smoking intentions. Exploratory findings also indicated differences between the control beliefs of students from different high schools, indicating potential differences in the enforcement of the smoking ban between schools. The findings also support the utility of the theory of planned behaviour as a methodology for evaluating the influence of punitive policies. This research study should be continued by utilizing the full theory of planned behaviour, including two phases of data collection and the measurement of actual smoking behaviour.

A district school board's induction program for new administrators: a study of the effectiveness of the mentoring component

Please consult the paper edition of this thesis to read. It is available on the 5th Floor of the Library at Call Number: Z 9999 E38 K535 2008

Female administrators and the mentors who give them full support /

A looming attrition rate, a steady increase in the number of women in administration, and a lack of Canadian research all provided the rationale for this study. The problem in this study was to investigate the needs and challenges of new female administrators and to examine the role that mentors play in addressing these issues. This study also explored the perceived benefits of having a mentor. This study examined the inductive year of 33 female administrators from 3 Ontario school boards. It was a qualitative and quantitative design, using questionnaire and interview data. It was found that the majority felt that they struggled with biases and expectations that were gender specific. The challenges that were perceived to be most prevalent were categorized into 4 thematic areas: Maintaining Balance, Feeling Pressured, The Perceptions of Others, and Being Challenged by Others. Regarding the benefits of mentoring, the participants perceived mentoring to be most beneficial in terms of professional growth, followed by learning how to run a school, and then career advancement. The significance of this study was threefold: it had theoretical implications as well as implications for practice and future research. Suggestions included: facilitating longitudinal relationships, having the board become more actively involved in facilitating the relationship, and implementing an internship program. This study attempted to extend the current literature by theorizing that a mentorship is cyclical in nature. Future research could include program design and implementation, as well as providing consistent and accessible mentoring opportunities for all.

The status of drama in education in an Ontario school board

Drama in education has been describea- as a valuable pedagogical medium and methodology, enriching child development in the cognitive, skill, affective, and aesthetic domains, and spanning all areas of curriculum ~ oontent. However, despite its considerable versatility and cost-effectiveness, drama appears to maintain low status within the education system of ontario. This thesis investigated teacher perceptions of both the value and status of drama in education in one ontario school board. Data were gathered in the form of an attitude questionnaire, which was devised for the purpose of this research and administered to a stratified cluster sample of 126 teachers employed in the board's elementary schools. These data were then used to examine teacher perceptions based on their knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviour in the classroom. Teacher characteristics of gender, teaching assignment, years experience, and courses taken in drama were also analyzed as potential determinants of teacher attitudes towards drama in education. Results of the study confirmed apparent discrepancy between teacher perceptions of the value of drama and its current educational status. It was indicated that what teachers value most about drama is its capacity to enhance creativity, social skills, empathy, personal growth, and problem-solving ability among students. Teachers attribute its low status both to school and board priorities of time and resources, and to deficiencies in their knowledge and confidence in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of drama in the classroom. Teacher subgroup analysis revealed no significant differences in attitudes towards the status of drama in education; it did, however, suggest that both teachers who have studied drama and teachers with between ten and twenty years experience are most likely to value drama more highly than their colleagues. Recommendations proposed by the study include the provision of increased - time and resource allotment for drama within the elementary curriculum as well as increased teacher training at both faculty of education and board inservice levels.

How Ontario elementary school principals negotiate their varied work roles

This qualitative study>addresses the question of how Ontario elementary school principals negotiate their varied work roles, through interviews with and observations of 6 principals. Using inductive data analysis, principals' negotiations were divided into 5 categories: negotiating priorities, negotiating the process, negotiating constraints, negotiating the roles of others, and negotiating the self. These principals worked within these categories simultaneously, emphasizing some more than others, dependent on the circumstances. For these principals, the time they spent with people in the school and the resulting relationships that enabled them to build were a first priority, and a large part of how each principal chose to negotiate the demands of their role arose from their personality and their personal values.

Enhancing personal effectiveness : the impacts of Costa Rica Outward Bound on students in an independent school in southwestern Ontario

This project examines students in a private school in southwestern Ontario on a 17 -day Costa Rica Outward Bound Rainforest multielement course. The study attempted to discover whether voluntary teenage participants could increase their self-perceptions of life effectiveness by participating in a 17-day expedition. A total of9 students participated in the study. The experimental design that was implemented was a mixed methods design. Participants filled in a Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ) at four predesignated times during the study. These time intervals occurred (a) before the trip commenced, (b) the first day of the trip, ( c) the last day of the trip, and (d) 1 month after the trip ended. Fieldnotes and recordings from informal group debriefing sessions were also used to gather information. Data collected in this study were analyzed in a variety of ways by the researcher. Analyses that were run on the data included the Friedman test for covariance, means, medians, and the Wilcoxon Pairs Test. The questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively, and the fieldnotes were analyzed qualitatively. Nonparametric statistical analysis was implemented as a result of the small group size of participants. Both sets of data were grouped and discussed according to similarities and differences. The data indicate that voluntary teenage participants experience significant changes over time in the areas of time management, social competency, emotional control, active initiative, and self-confidence. The types of outcomes from this study illustrate that Outward Bound-type opportunities should be offered to teenagers in Ontario schools as a means to bring about self-development.

Elementary School Principals as Leaders of Inclusion for Students With Exceptionalities

Inclusion promotes equality, provides opportunities, breaks down barriers, and ensures accessibility for all members of a community. Consequently, elementary-school administrators should become inclusion leaders who introduce and maintain inclusive learning environments. This qualitative study profiled and discussed practices and beliefs of 4 elementary school principals in southern Ontario who are recognized leaders of inclusion for students with exceptionalities. The researcher used multiple instruments for triangulation, thematic qualitative data analysis (constant comparative method) of interview responses and reflective field notes, and data from the Principal and Inclusion Survey to interpret qualitative findings. Findings revealed distinct leadership profiles reflective of empathy and compassion among participants who all regard accommodation of students with exceptionalities as a moral obligation and view inclusion as a socially just pedagogical framework. The researcher recommends that senior school board administrators screen and secure principals who value inclusion to create and maintain school cultures that ensure students’ access to inclusive education.

An after-school literacy program : investigating the experiences of students with literacy difficulties, their volunteer tutors, and the tutors' transition into the teaching profession

This research responds to a pervasive call for our educational institutions to provide students with literacy skills, and teachers with the instructional supports necessary to facilitate this skill acquisition. Questions were posed to gain information concerning the efficacy ofteaching literacy strategies to students with learning difficulties, the impact of this training on their volunteer tutors, and the influence of this experience on these tutors' ensuing instructional practice as teacher candidates in a preservice education program. Study #1 compared a nontreatment group of students with literacy difficulties who participated in the program and found that program participants were superior at reading letter patterns and at comprehending the elements of story grammar. Concurrently, the second study explored the experiences of 19 volunteer tutors and uncovered that they acquired instructional skills as they established a knowledge base in teaching reading and writing, and they affirmed personal goals to become future teachers. Study #3 tracked 6 volunteer tutors into their pre-service year and identified their constructions, and beliefs about literacy instruction. These teacher candidates discussed how they had intended to teach reading and writing strategies based on their position that effective teaching ofthese skills in the primary grades is integral to academic success. The teacher candidates emphasized the need to build rapport with students, and the need to exercise flexibility in lesson plan delivery while including activities to meet emotional and developmental requirements of students. The teacher candidates entered their pre-service education with an initial cognition set based on the limited teaching context of tutoring. This foundational ii perception represented their prior knowledge of literacy instruction, a perception that appeared untenable once they were immersed in a regular instructional setting. This disparity provoked some of the teacher candidates to denounce their teacher mentors for not consistently employing literacy strategies and individualized instruction. This critical perspective could have been a demonstration of cognitive dissonance. In the end, when the teacher candidates began to look toward the future and how they would manage the demands of an inclusive classroom, they recognized the differences in the contexts. With an appreciation for the need for balance between prior and present knowledge, the teacher candidates remained committed to implementing their tutoring strategies in future teaching positions. This document highlights the need for teacher candidates with instructional experience prior to teacher education, to engage in cognitive negotiations to assimilate newly acquired pedagogies into existing pedagogies.

The Respect Circle: Ten Teachers, One Classroom Management Model

In this qualitative investigation, the researcher examined the experiences of 10 teachers as they implemented a classroom management model called the Respect Circle. Through interviews and journal entries, the writer sought to understand how the participating teachers developed their classroom management practice, using the Respect Circle as a reference point. Data collection occurred over a 10-week period from October to December. The findings of this study demonstrate the multifaceted and complex nature of classroom management. Participants identified relationships with their students as the premier factor in establishing classroom management. Additionally, pro action, professional reflection, adaptability, and consistency figured prominently in the classroom management approaches taken by the participating teachers. Utilizing the experiences and suggestions of the participants as a springboard, the Respect Circle model was revised. The findings underline areas of concern regarding classroom management and suggest that teachers want a respectful, structured yet flexible model upon which to base their classroom management. Suggestions for teachers, new and experienced; school administrators; and developers of classroom management courses are provided.

Children's Bullying Experiences and Self-Worth Perceptions in a Private School

This study explored children's bullying experiences (as bully, victim, and bystander) and their self-worth perceptions in a private school in Ontario, Canada. Forty students from 12 different countries participated in a mixed methodology (both quantitative and qualitative) research design using a self-report questionnaire. Students reported involvement in bullying as a bully, victim, and bystander. The overall results reveal a pattern across the three roles where the degree of bullying observed as a bystander is the highest (57%) followed by the experiences as a victim (29%) and that performed as bully (21%). The bystanders reported direct bullying being witnessed, bullies reported indirect bullying interventions as being used, and victims of bullying reported indirect bullying being the most common type of bullying they experienced. Decreased feeling of self-worth is reported in the qualitative research data in regards to bullying. Boarding students reported issues regarding personal safety, need for social relationships, self-worth, and unacceptability of bullying. Implications for practice for the private school are discussed, focusing on the outcome of this study.

Moral reasoning and ethics in educational leadership /

School leaders face difficult decisions regarding discipline matters. Often, such decisions play an important role in determining the moral tone of the school and the health of the school community. Many stakeholders are affected by the outcome of such decisions. Codes of conduct, board and school policies, and discipline meetings are often shrouded under secrecy, making the discipline process mysterious. .; In this study I examined the process of moral reasoning. I sought to determine the extent to which school leaders were aware that they were involved in a process of moral reasoning, and ftirthermore, what kind of moral reasoning they practiced. As well, I investigated the ethical grounds and foundations underlying moral reasoning. Thus, in this study I probed the awareness of the process of moral reasoning and sought to find the ethical grounding of decision making. This qualitative study featured short field research. The process involved individual interviews with three different participants: school leaders of a public. Catholic, and an independent school. It found that each school leader practiced moral reasoning to varying degrees through the discipline process. It also explored the possible democratization of moral reasoning by linking to concepts such as fairness, due process, public accountability, and greater participation in the administering of discipline. This study has implications for practice, theory, and future research. The examination of school leaders as the primary focus for discipline matters opens the door to future research that could explore differences between the school systems and possibly other parties affected by moral reasoning in discipline cases.