Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis

Curricula and the use of ICT in education. Two worlds apart?

by Jo Tondeur

Jo Tondeur, Johan van Braak, & Martin Valcke (2006). British Journal of Educational Technology, 38,962-975.

In many countries, information and communication technology (ICT) has a clear impact on the development of educational... more In many countries, information and communication technology (ICT) has a clear impact on the development of educational curricula. In Flanders, the education government has identified and defined a framework of ICT competencies for expected outcomes, related to knowledge, skills and attitudes that pupils are expected to achieve at the end of primary school. However, it has never been examined whether teachers are using ICT in accordance with the competencies proposed by the Flemish government.

In order to answer this question, a survey was conducted among 570 respondents in a stratified sample of 53 primary schools. Results show that teachers mainly focus on the development of technical ICT skills, whereas the ICT curriculum centres on the integrated use of ICT within the learning and teaching process. This indicates the existence of a gap between the proposed and the implemented curriculum for ICT. The paper concludes with the potential value of a school-based ICT curriculum that ‘translates’ the national ICT-related curriculum into an ICT plan as part of the overall school policy.

So Noxious a Premonition

by Mohamed Eno

Excerpted from my forthcoming volume Guilt of Otherness: A Brief Personal Memoir in Poetry

Strong and weak leadership exist everywhere, in every profession, and academia is not an exception. This verse is... more Strong and weak leadership exist everywhere, in every profession, and academia is not an exception. This verse is dedicated to all men and women academics who at some point in their professional life felt oppressed, frustrated or marginalized for one reason or another by the powers that be in their respective institutions.

Decision making strategies when state funding is reduced: A case study of five community college districts in Texas

by Michael Modica

The Incompetent

by Mohamed Eno

the poem is part of my forthcoming petry book: Guilt of Otherness

It is under review with a literary critic. It is under review with a literary critic.

ICT policy planning in a context of curriculum reform: Disentanglement of ICT policy domains and artifacts

by Ruben Vanderlinde

co-authered with Johan van Braak and Sara Dexter, published in Computers & Education

Researchers and policy makers around the world are increasingly acknowledging the importance of developing a... more Researchers and policy makers around the world are increasingly acknowledging the importance of developing a school-based ICT policy plan to facilitate the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. Despite this interest, not much is known about how schools can develop their local ICT policy capacity and how to establish an ICT policy plan. In order to fill the gap in research on ICT policy planning, a multiple case study analysis with a mixed-method design was carried out with three Flemish primary schools. Primary schools in Flanders are encouraged by the government to develop local ICT policy planning in a context of ICT curriculum reform. Data from multiple sources (e.g. interviews with school leaders and ICT coordinators, focus group interviews with teachers, school policy document analysis, and a teacher questionnaire) were gathered and analyzed. The results indicate that ICT policy planning in schools should be considered as a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in school culture. ICT policy consists of different policy domains: vision development, financial policy, infrastructural policy, continuing professional development policy, and curriculum policy. Each policy domain can be described in terms of policy artifacts (tools, routines, and structures), and differences exist between schools concerning the involvement of teachers in the policy planning process and in the distribution of management tasks. As such, the study illustrates a distributed leadership perspective on ICT school policy planning. The results are of particular importance for school leaders, ICT coordinators and professional development trainers, and illustrates that ICT school policy is as much about developing shared meanings among stakeholders for ICT, and coordinating their relations and interactions in keeping with the school’s culture as it is about content related decisions.

From ICT coordination to ICT integration: A longitudinal case study

by Jo Tondeur

Jo Tondeur, Martin Cooper & Paul Newhouse [ECU, Perth]. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (2010)

This paper utilises a school-improvement perspective to examine the role of a curriculum coordinator in the... more This paper utilises a school-improvement perspective to examine the role of a curriculum coordinator in the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into primary schools. The nature and impact of this role is examined in seven primary schools in Australia. These seven schools were drawn from a large-scale longitudinal intervention that provided additional ICT related resources and personnel to the schools. An instrument, referred to as the Learning Outcomes and Pedagogy Attributes (LOPA) measure, was developed and charted for the seven schools over the five-year data collection period. The changes in LOPA score over time were then analysed in terms of the conditions at the school with regard to curriculum ICT coordination. The study concludes that the coordinator role, and school leadership in general, play critical but varying roles in the complex process of ICT integration into schools. Success appeared to be associated with the support provided for the role, the extent to which the role was connected to school leadership, personal leadership characteristics of those in the role, and the strategies employed within the role.

Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology in education: A synthesis of qualitative evidence

by Jo Tondeur

Authors: Jo Tondeur, Johan van Braak, Guoyuan Sang, Joke Voogt, Petra Fisser, Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich; In: Computers & Education (In Press)

This study reviewed qualitative studies that focused on strategies to prepare pre-service teachers to integrate... more This study reviewed qualitative studies that focused on strategies to prepare pre-service teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. A meta-ethnography approach was utilized to locate, critically appraise, and synthesize the results of these studies. Based on an extensive search in theWeb of Science, 19 articles were included in this synthesis. The results were divided into two parts: (1) key themes explicitly related to the preparation of pre-service teachers (e.g., using teacher educators as role models, learning technology by design, scaffolding authentic technology experiences), and (2) conditions necessary at the institutional level (e.g., technology planning and leadership, co-operation within and between institutions, training staff). To present how these key themes related to each other, an overarching model was developed. By interpreting the results of the review, recommendations were discussed for pre-service teacher technology training and future research.

What is the leadership role in social responsibility, educational research and reporting for an educational leader in a local academic setting?

by Elizabeth Johnson

Fears for the Future in Early Childhood Education

by Sarah Farquhar

The early childhood education sector is not doing well according to ChildForum’s latest survey. The survey... more
The early childhood education sector is not doing well according to ChildForum’s latest survey. The survey asked people involved with early childhood education services if things were currently going well or badly for their service and whether they thought the situation would improve or worsen in the next 12 months.


The survey shows that more needs to be done to help the sector create stability for its services and its workforce in order to concentrate on making sure children’s needs are met.

Rigid Response in an Age of Accountability: The Potential of Leadership and Trust

by Alan Daly

Published in Educational Administration Quarterly

Purpose
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act laudably brings social justice and equity issues to the forefront;... more Purpose
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act laudably brings social justice and equity issues to the forefront; however, NCLB’s threat and sanction driven methods are increasing stress levels and potentially causing a rigid response especially in the growing population of schools labeled ‘Program Improvement’ (PI). Threat-rigid responses tend to limit options and information flow, constrain decision-making, and increase stress. To mitigate the organizational effects of perceived threat, I hypothesize that trust and leadership dimensions that support empowerment and involvement will be predictive of an educational organization’s ability to minimize a threat-rigid response and flexibly negotiate new demands.
Research Methods
Using original instruments to measure threat-rigidity, trust, and leadership, teachers and site administrators were surveyed in four districts representing eight schools in PI and six schools in Non-PI, testing the hypothesis that the multi-faceted construct of trust and leadership has a predictive relationship with threat-rigid response. Focus group data from teachers and interviews with principals from two schools in PI was also collected.
Findings
Findings of multiple linear regression models, focus groups, and interviews indicate that the presence of trust and leadership approaches that are participative and inclusive predicted lower levels of threat-rigid response by teachers and administrators in PI schools.
Implications for Research and Practice
Results suggest that when predictive factors such as trust, empowerment, and involvement are present; teachers and administrators perceive a less rigid response in schools under sanction from Program Improvement. This suggests the expanding role of trust as a resource for schools and districts negotiating accountability demands. Policy makers may well consider initiatives that move beyond compliance to building organizational capacity.

Key Words
Threat-Rigidity, Trust, Leadership, Accountability, Shared Leadership

A bridge between worlds: Understanding social network structure to understand change strategy

by Alan Daly

Published in Journal of Educational Change

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy... more A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of the central office as a support to the work of reform and offer strategies for building relations between district offices and sites in order to implement and sustain change efforts. What is frequently overlooked in these studies is that organizational change efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying social networks may provide insight into structures that support or constrain efforts at change. This exploratory case study uses social network analysis and interviews to examine the communication and knowledge network structures of central office and site leaders in an ‘in need of improvement’ district facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Findings indicate sparse ties among and between school site and central office administrators, as well as a centralized network structure that may constrain the exchange of complex information and ultimately inhibit efforts at change.

Reform at the Edge of Chaos: Connecting Complexity, Social Networks, and Policy Implementation

by Alan Daly

Under Review: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

Drawing on complexity theory, this paper argues that common rational assumptions undergirding current reform policies... more Drawing on complexity theory, this paper argues that common rational assumptions undergirding current reform policies (such as linearity and uniformity) limit our understanding of how policy is enacted through complex social interactions. In a three-year exploratory study, we examined the implementation of a reform policy targeted at improving a consistently underperforming school district under progressive sanction. We utilized longitudinal social network modeling to illustrate how districts can be conceptualized as complex adaptive systems. Results identify a distinct complex pattern of social interactions underlying the process of policy implementation. District and site leaders tended to form relationships based on reciprocity, local neighborhoods, similarity, popularity, and administrative experience. Implications for policy and directions for future research are discussed.

Leading Under Sanction: Principals’ Perceptions of Threat-Rigidity, Efficacy, and Leadership in Underperforming Schools

by Alan Daly

Published in Leadership and Policy in Schools

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed to ensure that 100% of students would be proficient by 2014. Progress toward... more No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed to ensure that 100% of students would be proficient by 2014. Progress toward that goal is measured annually and results suggest while some schools improve, increasing numbers are identified as in need of improvement (INI) and are subject to sanctions. We examined perceived levels of threat-rigidity, efficacy, and leadership in 549 California principals whose schools were in INI or not. Results suggest that principals in INI schools identified more threat rigid response and perceived less self-efficacy than in non-INI setting. Results did not indicate differences between principals in perceived transformational and transactional leadership.

Structure, culture and power in educational change

by Nathan Hutchings

(2006)

Why is educational change an unfinished project, in a state of continued failed recursion, leaving those involved in a... more Why is educational change an unfinished project, in a state of continued failed recursion, leaving those involved in a state of exasperated confusion? Many policy makers have been highly critical of prior educational change, “schools, they argue, have changed for the worse.” (Cuban, 1988, p.71). To find an answer, or at the very least describe why educational change has failed, the analysis of educational change needs to encompass the concepts of school culture, school structure and how power manifests, transforms and guides change within schools. The examination of cultural and structural elements within schools informs the analysis of how, and who does the work within schools. However, describing work that occurs within schools, and the structure within which work occurs, only partially explains educational change. A detailed analysis of educational change also requires more than descriptions of how things are done within schools. A full analysis of educational change requires an investigation of power. The inclusion of an analysis of power within educational change is vital because power legitimates and drives change. An analysis of power informs us why educational change occurs not just what is to change and who is to change it. But, before commencing a detailed analysis of educational change it is necessary to discuss the problematic nature of educational change.

The Geography of Reflective Leadership: The inner life of democratic learning communities

by Philip Woods

Co-authored with Glenys Woods. Published in Philosophy of Management, 9 (2): 81-97, 2010. Awarded best paper at Philosophy of Management Conference, University of Oxford, 11th-14th July 2008.
A copy can be found at: https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/dspace/handle/2299/5651

This paper is underpinned by an epistemological question: What are the types and ways of knowing that can be entailed... more This paper is underpinned by an epistemological question: What are the types and ways of knowing that can be entailed in reflective leadership in its fullest sense? The question
is explored through a mapping exercise which outlines a geography of reflective leadership in terms of three variables: type of knowledge, problem focus, and mode of learning (incorporating the notion of embodied learning). Particular attention is given to recognising within the terrain of reflective leadership the epistemic credentials of spiritual learning and experiential awareness of spirituality.
This paper was given the award of best paper at the Philosophy of Management Conference, University of Oxford, 11th-14th July 2008.

Managers of choice: Race, gender, and the political ideology of the “new” urban school leadership

by Janelle Scott

Changing Leadership in Contexts of Diversity: visibility, invisibility and democratic ideals

by Audrey Osler

published in Policy Futures in Education 2006 4 (2)

This article considers the degree to which recent changes in school leadership discourse, to incorporate diversity,... more This article considers the degree to which recent changes in school leadership discourse, to incorporate diversity, reflect a changing professional culture among school leadership trainers and researchers in England. It examines the extent to which equalities legislation has had an impact on school leadership agendas and considers what can be learned from school leaders, including those from visible minorities, to inform policy in this field. The national culture is shaped by patterns of forgetting, so that diversity is represented as something new, and potentially disintegrative. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century leaders of colour, who were once highly visible, are made invisible through the processes of history. Parallels are drawn with today’s school leaders and current educational leadership research agendas. Research commissioned by the National College for School Leadership adopts a cross-cultural paradigm. Cross-cultural approaches which do not engage fully with the legal imperative to promote race equality and which overlook deep-seated patterns of inequality are unlikely to meet the needs of a multicultural democracy. Many school leaders are concerned with racial justice and recognise their responsibility as citizens to address racism and inequality. Racism is an anti-democratic force, serving to undermine the full and equal participation of citizens. Anti-racism is thus an essential element of democratic practice within a multicultural nation state. The article concludes by arguing that school leadership researchers, trainers and head teachers need to adopt new patterns of remembering which build on the experience and wisdom of head teachers from all sectors of society who are engaged in the practical citizenship task of creating equitable schools and building an effective multicultural democracy.

Neo liberal hegemony and the Education Policy of Bangladesh

by Asad-Uz-Zaman Asad

New Capabilities for Cyber Charter School Leadership: An Emerging Imperative for Integrating Educational Technology and Educational Leadership Knowledge

by Eugene Kowch

This paper was published in a TechTrends Special Edition in August, 2009