Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'School management and organization – Decision making – Citizen participation'

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 1998.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 110 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-98).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996.
Title from title page screen, viewed May 31, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Robert Arnold (chair), Paul Baker, Kenneth Strand, Norman Durflinger. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-74) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary goal of this study is to provide a functional description of the function and the role of management teams, in the promotion of a culture of learning, at High School level. Teachers, management teams, but also parents have an important role to play in creating a culture of learning. Thus, the parents can make a valuable contribution to the development of a learning culture and ultimately enhance lifelong learning and education. Presently, schools are in the process of developing a culture of learning, unfortunately the majority of schools are still attempting to recover from the negative effects of apartheid. In order to develop such a culture of learning, aspects such as discipline, commitment and self-discipline must be addressed. We have to strive towards educating learners to accept authority and discipline, as well as learners that will be committed and motivated. One has to remember that a culture of learning starts at home. Since culture is a dynamic entity, it has an influence on the culture of organisation and management. Through effective management, we have to create opportunities for every individual to develop his/her full potential. The management team thus plays a significant role in establishing and maintaining a learning culture. A school culture is determined by the value, attitude and behaviour of certain situations that lead to insufficient, unacceptable learning activities. Through projects, initiated by government, we will be able to create more awareness and participation in the development of a culture of learning. The role of parents is placed under the spotlight, because of different needs within a culture of learning. By placing parents under this spotlight, we can focus on the management team and also the governing body. This implies that there has to be a management and strategic plan in place. By having these factors in place, one can create and build a better and healthy relationship between the parents and the school. The approach followed in the study was firstly to contextualise the need for a learning culture against the background of changes in the South African education system in the last few decades. Thereafter, relevant concepts were identified and defined: the general concept of culture was was more closely explained and differentiated by investigating the relationship between concepts such as organisational culture, school culture, learning culture and teaching culture, as well as the connection between school based management and a learning culture. Two important steps follow: firstly, the study investigated the preconditions for the establishment of a learning culture, including the potential participation of stakeholders - especially with the aid of information obtained through personal inputs from role players in a specific school project of which the writer was part - and secondly, the study looks at conditions necessary, once it is established, to maintain and sustain a healthy learning culture, with special reference to the cardinal role of the management team. The study concludes with recommendations and suggestions for further research.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die studie was om 'n beskrywing te gee van die funksie en die rol wat bestuurspanne, in die bevordering van 'n leerkultuur op hoërskoolvlak, moontlik kan speel. Soos die onderwyser en die bestuurspan 'n belangrike rol het om te vervul in die vestiging van 'n leerkultuur, het die ouers ook 'n belangrike rol om te vertolk. Die ouer behoort dus 'n bydrae te kan lewer tot die ontwikkeling van 'n leerkultuur en uiteindelik ook tot lewenslange leer en opvoeding. Skole is tans besig om 'n leerkultuur daar te stel, maar die meerderheid van skole is nog besig om te herstel van die negatiewe gevolge van apartheid. As ons 'n leerkultuur wil vestig, moet daar dissipline, toewyding en self-dissipline wees. Ons moet streef na leerders wat gesag en dissipline sal aanvaar, asook leerders wat toegewyd sal wees met 'n positiewe ingesteldheid teenoor die opvoedingsstruktuur. Wat ons wel moet onthou, is dat leerkultuur by die huis begin. Met dié dat kultuur dinamies is, het dit ook 'n invloed op organisasie- en bestuurskulture. Met effektiewe bestuur moet ons elke individu die geleentheid gee om te ontwikkel tot sy volle potensiaal. Die bestuurspan speel dus 'n beduidende rol in die vestiging of handhawing van 'n leerkultuur. Skoolkultuur word bepaal deur die waarde, houding en gedrag van sekere situasies wat bydra tot 'n ontoereikende onderrigaktiwiteit. Deur die vestiging van projekte wat geïnisieër is deur die regering, salons baie meer betrokkenheid kry by die vestiging van 'n leerkultuur. Die rol van die ouers word onder die soeklig geplaas as gevolg van die verskillende behoeftes in 'n leerkultuur. Deur die ouers onder die soeklig te plaas, kom die bestuurspan en die beheerraad na vore. Dit impliseer dat daar 'n bestuursplan en 'n strategiese beplanning in plek moet wees. Deur dit alles daar te stel, kan ons 'n beter verhouding bou, tussen die ouer en sy skool, en daardeur die leerkultuur van die skool versterk en uitbou. Die benadering in die studie was om eers die behoefte vir 'n leerkultuur te kontekstualiseer teen die agtergrond van veranderinge in die Suid-Afrikaanse onderwysstelsel in die laaste paar dekades. Daarna is relevante begrippe geïdentifiseer en omskryf: die algemene begrip kultuur is nouer verduidelik en gedifferensieer deur die verwantskap te ondersoek met begrippe soos organisasiekultuur, skoolkultuur, leerkultuur en onderrrigkultuur, sowel as die verwantskap tussen skoolgebaseerde bestuur en leerkultuur. Twee belangrike stappe volg: eerstens is die voorvereistes vir die vestiging van 'n leerkultuur ondersoek, insluitend die potensiale deelneme van belanghebbendes - veral met behulp van inligting bekom deur persoonlike insette van rolspelers in 'n spesifieke skoolprojek waarby die skrywer betrokke was - en tweedens, word die voorwaardes vir volhoubaarheid, nadat dit wel gevestig is, van 'n gesonde leerkultuur bespreek, met spesiale verwysing na die kardinale rol van die bestuurspan. Die studie word saamgevat met aanbevelings en voorstelle vir verdere navorsing.

The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of local school board members in Maryland regarding community participation in educational decision-making. These opinions were analyzed in relationship to board members' preference for a trustee versus delegate role relationship to the community and other factors of the socio-political environment of the school board. A questionnaire was mailed to all public school board of education members in Maryland. A return rate of 83.7 percent was obtained. Data gathered was used to determine: 1) what community groups were most involved in educational decision-making, 2) what issues school boards sought community advisory group input on, and 3) what groups had the greatest influence on board decisions. School boards were also classified by their method of selection, extent of intraboard consensus, and the metropolitanism of the district. Chi-square and regression analysis was utilized to test the consistency of influence of these elements of the socio-political environment on opinions regarding community participation in decision-making. Respondents reported the greatest involvement in educational decisions by internal groups such as parent groups, teachers' unions, and advisory groups. Board members indicated greatest receptivity to input on decisions relating to school construction and closings, curriculum and instruction, and budget. An analysis of the relative influence various groups had on school board decisions revealed that the school administration had the greatest influence on board decisions in all decision areas studied. The analysis of the influence of the socio-political environmental variables revealed the following: 1) board members' preference for a trustee versus delegate role relationship to the community was not affected by method of selection to the board, and 2) metropolitanism of the district and intraboard consensus were not found to be consistent indicators of the socio-political environment of the school board as expressed through opinions regarding community participation.
Ed. D.

The purpose of the research was to investigate stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences of teachers’ participation in school management and decision-making. Teachers’ involvement is a contested issue in schools. The goal was to find out to what extent and in what way teachers participate in school issues, as well as gain insight and understanding on the effects of participation of teachers in schools and how principals enhance democratic practice for quality education. The research was a case study conducted within the interpretive qualitative paradigm. I used document analysis, semi-structured interviews and observation to collect data for validity purposes and to counter subjectivity. The findings revealed at least a significant progress in terms of the Education Act, no 16 of 2001 requirement, of teachers’ participation in management and decision-making in schools, which has been an issue in the past. The study revealed that decisions are taken after consultation through consensus. The study revealed that the participation approach promotes ownership and commitment of staff to higher performance and common goals. The findings emerged that participative management has advantages for achieving higher performance through collaboration, consultation, and broader participation. The foremost findings include school principals’ roles in enhancing a collegial management approach by delegating, sharing leadership and responsibilities, and establishing organisation structures and committees involving teachers. Meetings serve as a platform for communication and sharing of information with stakeholders. However, there were also signs of tensions amid school management teams (SMTs) and teachers on participation in school matters in all aspects. Furthermore, its time-consuming nature, authoritarianism and accountability emerged as major challenges affecting the implementation of the participative approach. In addition to that, the study revealed that lack of knowledge and skills, unwillingness to involve others and to participate affects the implementation of the theory. As a result, the study recommends to the policies makers and the Ministry of Education to organize training for all stakeholders on participative management to empower them. Moreover, the study recommends to regional managers, inspectors, and advisory teachers (AT) to provide information to institutions responsible for teacher training to accommodate the theory into their curriculum. School principals should undergo training programmes or in-service training for participative leadership purposes to enhance their leadership capacity and to carry out their responsibilities effectively.

The birth of democracy in 1994 in South Africa moved away from the authoritarian leadership style of the Apartheid era to a democratic style where accountability , democracy, transformational and distributed leadership style was encouraged at school. Leadership was not deemed to be the duty of the principal alone but leadership is shared among all the stakeholders at school. The above assertion prompted the researcher to engage in this study whose purpose was to investigate the extent of teacher participation in decision making in curriculum and management issues at schools. The study sought to assess:(i)To identify the categories of teachers who participated in decision making at school level (ii) To find out the areas in which teachers are involved in decision making at school (iii) To identify the strategies used by principals/ school management in involving the teachers in decision making (iv) To find out the views of principals and teachers regarding their involvement regarding their participation in decision making in curriculum and management issues. To achieve these objectives the researcher opted for the qualitative approach which is embedded in the interpretivist paradigm. The qualitative approach typically studies people by interacting and observing the participants in their natural setting and focusing on their meanings and interpretations. This methodology was relevant because it produced the desired results and gathered information directly from the respondents through interviews, observation, and document analysis. This methodology assisted the researcher to find out the extent of teacher participation in decision making. The data revealed that all teachers are expected to be involved in decision making but that depends on the nature of the issue. The study revealed that all teachers were involved in decisions concerning disciplinary, curriculum, sport as major school activities but some teachers were not involved in financial matters. The data also found out that male teachers feel that there is imbalance of contribution in staff meetings since female teachers are more than male teachers. Furthermore , the study showed that school principals used various strategies to involve teachers in decision making such as consultation on individual basis, group or at committee level. The study also revealed that the principals and teachers felt that when they work together as the school community all organizational goals and objectives will be achieved and owned by all teachers. Teachers also viewed non involvement as what resulted in the negative impact of the activities including high teacher absenteeism and demotivation.

M.Ed. (Educational Management)
Whether we are setting goals, achieving them or coping with the issues which arise in organizing and carrying out day-to-day activities, depends on our ability to make and implement decisions. The decision-making process in the school organization therefore depends solely upon the knowledge the principal has of this process. Knowledge of the decision-making process should enable the principal to sharpen and improve his decision-making skills. To accomplish both the making and implementing of decisions in the school organization consistently well, is no mean·tasks. In striving to determine the importance of decision-making in the school organization the main objective in. this study is to examine and describe, that the implementation of decision-making without wider involvement by the teachers could severely jeopardize the effectiveness of the decision making process. In addition to the above-mentioned objective, the question on how to make the decision-making process workable in order to eventually achieve the organizational objectives, is thoroughly investigated in chapter two. This stresses again the need to realize that the effectiveness of a principal in a school is directly related to the quality of the decisions being made. Thus a principal can be viewed as a specialist in the field of decision-making. Decision-making, then becomes synonymous with managing the school organization. As mentioned above the entire decision-making process, including the steps required to reach a sound decision and the factors influencing the decision-making process, all contribute to making wider involvement in the decision-making process worthwhile.

成許善真.
電腦打印本(影印本)
Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學敎育學部.
Dian nao da yin ben (ying yin ben)
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95).
Cheng Xu Shanzhen.
Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue jiao yu xue bu.
謝言
附圖目次
附表目次
附錄目次
撮要
Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論
Chapter 第一節 --- 研究背景及問題陳述 --- p.1 -3
Chapter 第二節 --- 研究目的 --- p.4
Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻評述
Chapter 第一節
Chapter 甲. --- 校政決策參與的定義 --- p.5-6
Chapter 乙. --- 校政決策參與的學說 --- p.7-16
Chapter 丙. --- 影響教師在校政決策參與的因素 --- p.17 -18
Chapter 丁. --- 校政決策參與的量´度´ؤؤ程度和範圍 --- p.19 -27
Chapter 第二節
Chapter 甲. --- 組織投入的定義 --- p.28
Chapter 乙. --- 組織投入的學說 --- p.29
Chapter 丙. --- 影饗組織投入的因素 --- p.30 -32
Chapter 丁. --- 組織投入的量度 --- p.33 -34
Chapter 第三節 --- 綜合理論 --- p.35 -39
Chapter 第四節 --- 理論假設 --- p.40
Chapter 第五節 --- 研究模式的限制 --- p.40
Chapter 第三章 --- 研究方法
Chapter 第一節 --- 假設與變項 --- p.41 -42
Chapter 第二節 --- 抽樣 --- p.43
Chapter 第三節 --- 研究工具 --- p.43
Chapter 第四節 --- 硏究步驟 --- p.45
Chapter 第五節 --- 統計分析 --- p.46
Chapter 第四章 --- 硏究結果與討論
Chapter A. --- 描述部份
Chapter 第一節 --- 學校的背景 --- p.47 -48
Chapter 第二節 --- 教師的背景 --- p.49 -51
Chapter 第三節 --- 教師校政決策的參與現況 --- p.52 -53
Chapter 第四節 --- 教師校政決策的參與理想 --- p.54
Chapter 第五節 --- 教師校政決策的參與現況和參與理想比較 --- p.55 -57
Chapter 第六節 --- 教師校政決策的參與差距 --- p.58 -60
Chapter B. --- 假設驗証部份
Chapter 第一節 --- 校政決策範疇的因子分析 --- p.61 -64
Chapter 第二節 --- 假設驗証一
Chapter 甲. --- 教師校政決策的參與現況和學校特徵之關係 --- p.65 -67
Chapter 乙. --- 教師校政決策的參與理想和個人特徴之關係 --- p.68 -71
Chapter 第三節 --- 假設驗証二
Chapter 甲. --- 教師組織投入和學校特徵之關係 --- p.72 -73
Chapter 乙. --- 教師組織投人和教師個人特徵之關係 --- p.74 -76
Chapter 丙. --- 教師組織投入和教師校政決策參與差距之關係 --- p.77 -78
Chapter 丁. --- 教師組織投入和學校特徵、教師個人特徵及教師 校政決策參與差距之關係 --- p.79
Chapter 第五章 --- 結論及建議
Chapter 第一節 --- 結論 --- p.80-81
Chapter 第二節 --- 建議 --- p.82 -83
註釋 --- p.84 -86
英文參考書目 --- p.87-94
中文參考書目 --- p.109 -95
附錄 --- p.119

In a democratic South Africa, a variety of factors are necessary to ensure effective school governance and management. One of these factors is shared decision-making (SDM). SDM is a process of making decisions in a collaborative manner at the school level. Those responsible for implementing a decision must be actively and legitimately involved in making the decision. In South African schools today, SDM is no longer an option. The new framework of SDM is embedded in the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996). According to the Act, parents, learners and teachers should be given the opportunity of participating in decisions on educational matters. In this study, the researcher set out to investigate and explore effective decision-making of secondary school principals in the Thabo Mofutsanayana Education District (THMOED) of the Free State Province. In an endeavour to realize that end, an open-ended questionnaire, individual and focus group interviews were used to collect data. The main aim was to find out how teachers, learners, parents and principals experienced decision-making in their schools. The main findings of this research were that, decisions-making practices in the secondary schools in the THMOED still adhered to pre-democratic formal lines of authority. In other words, the locus of control and decision-making powers resided mainly with the principals, with minimum participation of other stakeholders. Consequently, there were dissatisfactions and concerns raised by the participants. The concerns were directed at the management and included lack of communication, lack of transparency, unacceptable disciplinary procedures, autocratic leadership styles and centralized decision-making. According to the findings, it would appear that democratic models of governance were insufficiently used or overlooked by the principals. Concerns raised by the respondents were a clear indication that much needed to be done to change the mind-set of the principals.
Educational Studies
D.Ed (Education Management)

Site-based management (SBM) is recent restructuring initiative in schools. The study is carried out with the aim of investigating the extent to which teachers participate in site-based management in schools. The researcher assumes that teachers are sidelined in site-based management in schools. An extensive literature review provides a theoretical foundation of the study and exposes the nature of site-based management. The qualitative approach is used in the case study. Data are collected through interviews that were conducted between July and September 2004. The interpretive paradigm is used in data collection, analysis and interpretation. The collected data are analysed through inductive analysis. The major research finding is that teachers are marginalised in site-based management in schools and that school-based decision making is still largely in the hands of school principals. It is recommended that principals and SMT's improve their management and leadership styles in order to allow for real participation of teachers in decision-making to take place.
Educational Studies
M.Ed (Education Management)

Educational authority in a situation where schooling is democratised is explored. The bases of authority such as social order, legal authority, knowledge, moral values and societal structures are established. The role of authority in education relationships and in the realisation of the educational aim is researched in order to attempt formulating criteria for accountable authority. The basic tenets of democracy that included aspects such as involvement, consultation, communication and reflective decision making are explored. Since fundamental human rights is a critical issue and precondition for a democracy, a focus on Chapter Two of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is related to the research. Attention is also given to the hierarchical school structure and the rights and responsibilities of those involved in this structure. Through an extensive literature study and a qualitative analysis of the responses to a questionnaire, conclusions are reached and recommendations made.
Educational Studies
M. Ed. (Philosophy of education)

Good governance occupies a centre stage in the development discourse. Since there are currently no guidelines on the practice of good governance for ECD centres, this qualitative study followed the exploratory research approach and employed the case study research design to gain insight into how ECD centres in Mabopane practiced good governance concerning the roles played by parents in decision-making and accountability. The study used the Social Capital and Stakeholder theoretical frameworks to contextualise the investigation and employed eclectic methodological approaches involving triangulated sampling techniques, data collection methods and tools as well as data sources to generate data. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis and it was found amongst others that there were weaknesses in the governance practices within the ECD centres regarding parents’ roles in decision-making and accountability. The study recommended, amongst others, for concerted efforts involving all stakeholders to address those flaws.
Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)