Critical reflections on international collaborative research

The excitement and challenge of undertaking research is an integral part of an academic staff member’s role. There are a multitude of reasons which encourage academics to undertake collaborative research. These range from the enthusiasm that arises from particular discipline interests, through to the pressure from tertiary contexts to be actively engaged in research and to produce research outputs. This paper uses the experiences of an international academic research team to explore the nature of the collaborative academic research process, including the perils and pitfalls, as well as the joys and enthusiasms. The three researchers are convinced that there are many positives to be gained from international collaboration. By critically reflecting on the dynamics of the research process employed by the tri-national team, (as against the research project itself), and identifying ‘lessons learned’ by the researchers themselves, suggestions for productive and enjoyable research relationships are offered.

Learning from the story of a great leader

This paper reports on research findings from a larger study which seeks to understand leadership from the experiences of well-known and well-recognised Australian leaders across a spectrum of endeavours such as the arts, business, science, the law and politics. To date there appears to be limited empirical research that has investigated the insights of Australian leaders regarding their leadership experiences, beliefs and practices. In this paper, the leadership story of a well-respected medical scientist is discussed revealing the contextual factors that influenced her thinking about leadership as well as the key values she embodies as a leader. The paper commences by briefly considering some of the salient leadership literature in the field. In particular, two prominent theoretical frameworks provided by Leavy (2003)and Kouzes and Posner (2002) are explored. While Leavy’s framework construes leadership as consisting of three “C’s” – context , conviction and credibility, Kouzes and Posner (2002)refer to five practices of exemplary leadership. The paper provides a snapshot of the life forces and context that played an important role in shaping the leader’s views and practices. An analytical discussion of these practices is considered in the light of the earlier frameworks identified. Some implications of the findings from this non-education context for those in schools are briefly noted.

Voices of lay principals: Promoting a Catholic character and culture in schools in an era of change

This paper reports a qualitative study of the practice of leadership in Catholic schools to ascertain the perceptions of lay principals, who as positional leaders play a critical role in embracing and creatively rebuilding the Catholic vision of life within the reality that the Catholic school principalship is now a ministry of the laity. The methodology included semi-structured interviews, field notes, reflexive journals, direct observation, and document nalysis. The study examined both individual human behaviour and the structure of the social order in Catholic schools. The findings point towards successful leadership in Catholic schools being highly influenced by the cultural and spiritual capital that a principal brings to a school signifying a fundamental importance of appointing principals who are not only professionally competent but spiritually as well. In an era of unprecedented social, educational and ecclesial change, and with an ever widening role description, lay principals are challenged to redefine and re-articulate their Catholic character and identity, and will need to look for new ways to make this explicit. Embracing a new leadership paradigm of shared leadership, the preparation and on-going formation of lay principals were identified as critical for the continuance of the Catholic school’s distinctive mission in the future.