Journal articles on the topic 'School management teams School management and organization Educational leadership Education, Secondary'

Purpose An emphasis on school performance is not just a national issue, but must be examined within the global context. Successful leadership is ensured by school leaders’ compliance to a set of basic practices within particular school contexts. The impact of leadership styles on performance, the work environment and job satisfaction is emphasized, while the appropriate leadership style could make teachers more effective in terms of job productivity. The adoption of different leadership styles by school leaders shows positive results with regard to school effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to describe school leadership styles and the influence the styles have on school performance. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach with a post-positive paradigm was followed. A systematic random sample of 72 secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was selected. The Cronbach’s α coefficient, statistical significance (p-values) and effect size (d-values) were calculated, and a factor analysis was conducted. Findings The results show a difference between teachers and principals regarding the transformational leadership style. The principals in the high-performing schools were perceived as less passive-avoidant in practice than those in the low-performing schools. A principal manages and leads a school effectively by applying an appropriate leadership style. Research limitations/implications For future research, it will be advisable to make use of a mixed-method design. Although the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire addressed numerous aspects of leadership and leadership styles, the “voice” of the respondents lacked. Furthermore, more leadership styles could be investigated in different contexts. Practical implications A chosen principal leadership style is not necessarily the best style for this purpose. School principals and teachers interpret leadership styles differently. Communication is therefore important. Social implications The principal leadership style is not always necessarily the teachers’ and learners’ choice. It is important that schools keep up with a constantly changing world. Originality/value If school principals and teachers agree upon a specific leadership style, there may be better collaboration which enhances better academic performance as well as effectiveness regarding schools.

PurposeThis study aimed at exploring the change facilitator styles (CFS) that secondary school head teachers in Pakistan possess.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study using Hall and George CFS questionnaire to collect data from 276 secondary school head teachers. The CFSQ used in this study consists of 30 Likert-type questions relating to six scales. The six scales, with five items each in aggregate, form three possible CFS, including initiator, manager and responder.FindingsThe results indicate that most secondary school head teachers (75.7%) in Pakistan used responder CFS to facilitate change in their schools. 16.7% of the head teachers used manger, while only 7.6% possessed initiator change facilitation styles.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has implications for research, in particular in the developing countries where head teachers' leadership practices are rooted in the past with maintaining authority and status quo.Practical implicationsThe study has implications for policymakers and schools in developing countries, like Pakistan, in terms of considering the vital role of head teachers in change implementation. In particular, in the prevailing cluster-based educational management, the study's findings remain valuable for schools in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.Originality/valueThe paper reports the results regarding secondary school head teachers' change facilitator styles in the context of power devolution in Pakistan. The authors believe that the manuscript is appropriate for publication by the international journal of educational management because it is in line with the aims and scope of the journal. The authors assure the originality of this work. It has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication in any other journal.

In England, school leadership preparation has shifted from the National College and local authorities to teaching schools, their alliances and multi-academy trusts. Against this changing educational landscape, we investigate opportunities presented to men and women in secondary school leadership teams (SLTs). Drawing on interview data from a British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society funded investigation, we report on leadership preparation and development opportunities, aspiration to headship, headteachers’ support of ‘in house’, regional and national preparation programmes, coaching and mentoring involvement as well as access to formal and informal networks. Our analysis of SLTs as sites of potential for headship demonstrated some variability in women’s and men’s reported experiences. Accredited courses, higher degrees and workplace-based preparation provided access to leadership preparation and development opportunities; access was not transferrable from school to school. We identified a fragmented system and suggest policy and cultural changes to allow SLTs to offer inclusive and sustainable opportunities for succession planning.

In this paper, I explore the relationship of democracy to educational leadership; more specifically, to the notion of distributed leadership as it unfolds within policy-mandated multi-site school collaboratives, with particular reference to practices in Malta. Under the policy framework ‘For All Children To Succeed’ introduced in Malta in 2005, Maltese primary and secondary state schools embarked on the process of being organized into networks, legally termed ‘colleges’. I explore leadership distribution among the leaders constituting the college and the subsequent inherent tensions within this educational scenario. The notion of distributed leadership as perceived by the leaders is examined, and especially the leaders’ reception of its presentation in the policy document as the leadership discourse; and its eventual (non-)enactment at both school and college level. A Foucauldian theoretical framework, specifically Foucault’s concepts of power relations, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, is used to carry out a case study of a Maltese college, collecting data via semi-structured, in-depth interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. Narrative is both the phenomenon under study and the method of analysis. The policy discourse does not unfold in a participatory democratic manner in practice, resulting in an organizational paradox where leadership enactment in a Maltese college is ‘directed’ from above, rather than ‘distributed’. These findings may be significant for educational practice, policy and theory in terms of the generation of problematization which may lead to further research on this contested topic.

PurposeThis research paper explores the perspectives of Australian school principals in the state of New South Wales (NSW) regarding what they believe constitutes “merit” when selecting deputy principals, assistant principals (primary) and head teachers (secondary).Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was utilised to collect qualitative and quantitative data from school principals across the state of NSW to investigate their understanding of, and approach to, the merit selection of their respective school leadership cadres.FindingsStudy findings indicated a statewide variance in the perceptions of principals when identifying merit for the purposes of recruiting school leadership teams. These findings question the widely held view that candidates compete for school leadership positions on a level playing field.Practical implicationsIn practical terms, the findings indicate that NSW school principals would benefit from more intensive professional learning opportunities designed to enhance their ability to objectively identify and assess merit when selecting school leaders.Originality/valueThis study contributes to an enhanced understanding in an area where there is a paucity of research-based evidence focusing upon the perspectives of school principals regarding their understanding of meritocratic theory and its influence on their school leadership selection practice.

Purpose Teacher effectiveness has been a matter of concern not only for the parents and students but also for the policy makers, researchers, and educationists. Drawing from the “self-efficacy” theory (Bandura, 1977), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teacher effectiveness. In addition, it explores the role of collaboration among teachers and principal leadership in explaining the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 575 secondary school teachers and 6,020 students representing grade 6-12th from 25 privately owned schools in India. Teacher self-efficacy, collaboration and principal leadership were reported by the teachers whereas effectiveness of each teacher was captured from around ten students each who were taught by the corresponding teacher. Data were analyzed using SEM-PLS. Findings Results confirmed a positive association between teacher self-efficacy and the three dimensions of teacher effectiveness, namely, teacher’s delivery of course information, teacher’s role in facilitating teacher-student interactions, and teacher’s role in regulating students’ learning. Results also confirmed that both collaboration and principal leadership are positively related to teacher self-efficacy. Originality/value The results of the study indicate that schools need to focus on enhancing self-efficacy of their teachers and give importance to teacher collaboration and principal leadership in order to improve their effectiveness in terms of delivery of instruction, teacher-student interactions, and regulating student learning.

The main objective of this article is to analyse the four basic dimensions of the learning organization (LO) – leadership towards learning, learning structure, learning opportunities and learning culture – within the school organization context. A quantitative study utilizing a survey was carried out. By means of an ad hoc questionnaire, secondary and high school teachers were asked about some characteristics of their educational organizations that could be related to a LO. The analyses of the internal structure of the questionnaire and internal consistency of the scores were satisfactory. A questionnaire has been validated that can serve as a model for the evaluation of learning organizations in the context of high school. One school sample is analysed according to the LO model. The suitability of the model for different types of schools is verified.

Functional competencies of Head of Department has been paid attention to because for a school in Thailand, the head of each department, is very important. However, the issue is the appointment of a teacher who does not have any prior proper training before. This may cause such a teacher to have incomplete functional competencies. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the functional competencies of the Head of Department. This research focuses on the components of the functional competencies of the Head of Department of secondary schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission. As for this study, from the review on a great number of related literature, it can be granted that functional competencies of the Head of Department of secondary schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission can be grouped as follows: 1) Intellectual Leadership 2) Quality Management 3) Educational Innovation and Information Technology 4) Professionalism Development 5) Curriculum, Measurement and Evaluation of Learning 6) Learning Organization and 7) Professional Ethic. These seven dimensions are then examined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, which shows the congruence with the empirical studies.

The directions of education development change in the conditions of VUCA world. It will allow educational institutions to be competitive and improve the quality of their educational services. One of these fields of educational process management is social and community learning.The current article studies the issue of social and community learning as one of the fields of educational process management and the possibilities of its further use in the educational process of preschool, general secondary, out-of-school and postgraduate education. The most important life skills today are actively studying and learning strategies, as well as the skill of leadership and social influence as one of the skills important for specialist, not just the leader. The content of the definitions of «social learning» and «community-learning» and their features is determined.The possibilities of using in the educational process such types of educational and cognitive activity organization as coworking, network-ing, foresight, crowdsourcing, benchmarking, event, etc. are indicated in the context of the study. Examples of practical techniques of Singaporean educational structures are given.It is concluded that community learning is an educational process implemented on the basis of partnership pedagogy, and its effective-ness and efficiency are ensured through cooperation between students, parents and teachers through various projects, informal meetings, conversations, study circles, etc. Social learning is implemented using various platforms and online tool

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to know the extent to which a decision-making framework assists in providing holistic, comprehensive descriptions of strategies used by school leaders engaging with distributed leadership practices. The process by which principals and other education leaders interact various school-based actors to arrive at a distributed decision-making process is addressed through this paper. The position taken suggests that leadership does not reside solely with principals or other education leaders, but sustains the view that the actions of various actors within a school setting contribute to fuller and more comprehensive accounts of distributed leadership. Design/methodology/approach While the application of rational/analytical approaches to organizational problems or issues can lead to effective decisions, dilemmas faced by principals are often messy, complex, ill-defined and not easily resolved through algorithmic reason or by the application of rules, as evidenced by the two stories provided by Agnes, a third-year principal in a small countryside elementary school in a small northeastern community, and by John, a novice principal in a suburb of a large Southwestern metropolitan area. Findings The value of the objective knowledge growth framework (OKGF) process is found in its ability to focus Agnes’s attention on things that she may have overlooked, such as options she might have ignored or information that she might have resisted or accepted, as well as innumerable preparations she might have neglected had she not involved all the teachers in her school. Research limitations/implications The implementation of the OKGF may appear, occasionally, to introduce unnecessary points along this route and may not be laboriously applied to all decision-making situations. However, the instinctively pragmatic solutions provided by this framework will often produce effective results. Therefore, in order to reduce potentially irrational outcomes, the systematic approach employed by the OKGF is preferable. The OKGF must be managed, implemented and sustained locally if it is to provide maximum benefits to educational decision makers. Practical implications Given the principals’ changing roles, it is abundantly clear that leadership practice can no longer involve just one person, by necessity, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine how things could have been accomplished otherwise. Expecting the principal to single-handedly lead efforts to improve instruction is impractical, particularly when leadership may be portrayed as what school principals do, especially when other potential sources of leadership have been ignored or treated as secondary or unimportant because that leadership has not emanated from the principal’s office (Spillane, 2006). In this paper, the authors have striven to reveal how a perspective of distributed leadership, when used in conjunction with the objective knowledge growth framework, can be effective in assisting principals in resolving problems of practice. Social implications Different school leaders of varying status within the educative organization benefit from obtaining different answers to similar issues, as evidenced by John’s and Agnes’s leadership tangles. Lumby and English (2009) differentiate between “routinization” and “ritualization.” They argue, “They are not the same. The former erases the need for human agency while the latter requires it” (p. 112). The OKGF process, therefore, cannot provide school leaders with the “right” answers to their educative quandaries, simply because any two school leaders, facing the same issues, may utilize differing theories, solutions, choices or options which may satisfy their issues in response to their own individual contextual factors. Similarly, in a busy day or week, school leaders may be inclined to take the shortest distance between two points in the decision-making process; problem identification to problem resolution. Originality/value Should the OKGF process empower decision makers to obtain sound resolutions to their educative issues by assisting them in distancing themselves from emotions or confirmation biases that may distract them from resolving school problems, its use will have been worthwhile.

For the formation and development of tomorrow’s highly effective Manager model it is not already enough of competences from the area of only classic management and/or classic emotional and even business leadership. The optimum combination of universal values and strategic anticipation, social leadership, universal and special management technologies is necessary. Aspects of innovation process management on organization’s holistic development have been considered, main groups of higher school’s development strategies have been marked, and two types of innovative processes in the education system have been characterized in this paper. The author emphasizes that the traditional association of efforts in the training of specialists through a formal merger of several structures is ultimately ineffective. More productive will be the consolidation of efforts (in parallel with formal associations) through contractual relationships, creation of basic chairs at enterprises, strategic alliances, consortia, network organizations, educational and industrial groups, technology parks, business parks, innovative educational and industrial clusters, in other words, through creation of formal virtual structures. These chairs should become such points for growth of future organizational structures for graduates’ training, in other words, they should become mini-academies, which will provide the high level training, and development of science. The paper talks about creation of new forms and organization experiences for training of managerial human resources of new generation through formal virtual structures creation with authorities, high educational institutions, business representatives, secondary school institutions, preschool facilities. This project implementation requires the allocation of several stages. The first one is creation of Institute of management (as faculty) as the core organizational structure in the form of high educational institution unit. A sample structure of such Institute has been proposed, the practical experience of such structures formation has been placed in the clearest light. In the process of their development the Institutions can be transformed into more complex structures (e.g., academies, management universities), combining the traditional organizational structures with creation of strategic formally virtual associations with various educational and industrial structures at the municipal, regional, Federal, and international levels

Introduction: In an educational organization, because of its important function in human resources development and training in the community, respecting the values, spirituality, leadership, and management strengthening, based on spirituality and good citizenship behavior and commitment have greater importance. Aim: This study examined the relation between spiritual intelligence with organizational citizenship behavior and organizational commitment of secondary school teachers. Methods: The research method was correlational and its population included all teachers in education districts 2 and 5 in 2015 from which 358 teachers were selected by using Cochran formula and simple random sampling method as a sample. To collect data, three questionnaire: the King Spiritual Intelligence questionnaire (2007) and Padasakof et al. citizenship behavior questionnaire (2000) and organizational commitment questionnaire of Meyer (2001)were used .The reliability of the tools obtained by Cronbakh Formula 0/85,0/84, 0/7 respectively. For statistical analysis, the descriptive statistics (average, percentage, Standard deviation) and inferential statistical tests (Kolmogorov - Smirnov test, Pearson correlation coefficient test and stepwise regression analysis) were used. Conclusion: The results showed that none of the components of citizenship behavior has a significant relation with a critical thought component of spiritual intelligence. Regarding the personal meaning making component of spiritual intelligence, only the components of sportsmanship and social customs have a significant relation, and other components have no significant association. All components of citizenship behavior are significantly associated with a transcendental consciousness component of spiritual intelligence and have no significant relation with self-awareness extends component. None of the organizational commitment components have a significant relation to the critical thinking component and high awareness of spiritual intelligence and only the emotional commitment of the organizational commitment component have a significant relation with the personal meaning making of spiritual intelligence, as well as with the expansion of consciousness component.

Введение. Обоснована необходимость качественного изменения системы управления образовательной организации, в частности возможность применения матричного подхода для организации эффективного взаимодействия в педагогическом коллективе. Цель – обоснование роли матричного управления в организации эффективного взаимодействия педагогов. Материал и методы. Материалом исследования послужили результаты психолого-педагогического поиска отечественных и зарубежных ученых (А. В. Афониной, А. А. Бодалева, Я. Л. Коломинского, В. А. Маликовой, А. Х. Маслоу, А. Б. Орлова), а также опытно-экспериментальной работы, проведенной сотрудниками, магистрантами и студентами бакалавриата Северного (Арктического) федерального университета в период с 2017 по 2019 г., позволившей изучить особенности и динамику взаимодействия педагогов, обусловленные качественными изменениями системы управления. Результаты и обсуждение. Основная цель государственной образовательной политики – повышение качества образования и организация эффективного взаимодействия в педагогическом коллективе – являются прогрессивным средством ее достижения. Однако феномен синергетической интеракции, обладая потенциалом для качественного роста команд, в сфере образования в полной мере не изучен. Более того, практика показывает, что в современной школе создание персональных образовательных пространств превалирует над групповой и коллективной работой сотрудников, а проблема выстраивания эффективного взаимодействия на местах является одной из ключевых. Ответственность за функционирование и развитие продуктивных трудовых взаимоотношений возложена на административный корпус, и именно в системе управления кроются регулятивные механизмы организации эффективного взаимодействия. В основе гармоничного менеджмента в любой отрасли, включая профессиональную образовательную деятельность, заложены четыре основные управленческие функции – планирование, организация, мотивация и контроль. Критериями эффективного взаимодействия, согласно исследованиям А. В. Афониной, являются взаимопознание, взаимопонимание, взаимоотношение, взаимные действия и контроль. Использование в управленческой структуре двух данных равноправных организационных блоков, взаимодействующих между собой на паритетном основании (матричный подход), является действенным механизмом для организации эффективного взаимодействия педагогов, что доказали результаты проведенного эксперимента. Заключение. Матрично-структурированный менеджмент обладает позитивным потенциалом для построения и поддержания эффективного взаимодействия педагогов и в отношении образовательной среды представляет собой инновационно ориентированную организационную управленческую систему. Introduction. The purpose of the article is proving the expediency of necessity of a qualitative change in the management system of educational organizations, in particular, the possibility of applying the matrix approach, in order to organize effective interaction in the teaching staff. Material and methods. The research materials were the results of the psychological and pedagogical findings of national and foreign scientists (A. V. Afonina, A. A. Bodalev, Ya. L. Kolominsky, V. A. Malikova, A. Kh. Maslow, A. B. Orlova), and the experimental work, which was carried out by employees and students of Master’s program of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University from 2017 to 2019. These data allowed studying the peculiarities and dynamics of the secondary school teachers’ interaction, due to qualitative changes in the management system. Results and discussion. The main goal of the state educational policy is to improve the quality of education, and the organization of effective interaction in the teaching staff is a progressive means for achieving it. However, the phenomenon of synergetic interaction, possessing the potential for qualitative growth of teams, has not been fully studied in the field of education. Moreover, practice shows that modern teachers prefer the creation of personal educational spaces. There is an extremely low level of teachers’ group and teamwork at school, and the problem of building effective interaction between pedagogues is one of the key. Responsibility for the functioning and development of productive labor relations lies with the administrative stuff, and there is a lot of regulatory methods for organizing effective interaction. Professional educational activity is based on the main principles of harmonious management in any industry. There are four the most important management functions. They are planning, organization, motivation and control. The criteria for effective interaction, according to the research of A. V. Afonina, are mutual cognition, mutual understanding, relationships, mutually defined actions and mutual influence. Using the data of these equal organizational units in the managerial structure on a parity basis (a matrix approach) is an effective way for organizing of teachers’ effective interaction. This idea was proved by the results of the experiment, which had been conducted in one of the Arkhangelsk secondary schools. Conclusion. Matrix-structured management has a positive potential for building and implementing of teachers’ effective interaction. Moreover, in conformity with the educational environment, it is an innovatively oriented organizational management system.

Introduction / Innovation Concept: The 2015 CanMEDS framework requires all Canadian residency programs to increase their focus on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS). A survey of the FRCP Emergency Medicine Residency Program Directors in Canada (63% response rate, 8/13) found that 75% (6/8) of programs have QIPS curricula with 84% (5/6) in the form of didactic lectures and 67% (4/6) as resident participation in a local project. Lectures alone do not expose learners to the practicality of conducting a QIPS project, and local resident projects often do not expose learners to the complexities of organization-wide QI initiatives. Furthermore, QI initiatives require working in interdisciplinary teams. We therefore hypothesize that an effective QIPS curriculum will require multiple education methods delivered using a multi-disciplinary lens. Methods: A collaborative longitudinal QIPS curriculum for emergency medicine residents at the University of Toronto (UT) was developed using multiple educational methods by physicians and non-medical QI specialists. The curriculum addresses three levels of QIPS training: Knowledge (lectures in PGY1 and 2), practical skills at the local clinical microsystem level (QI project in PGY3), and practical skills at the organization level (problem solving using the case method in PGY5). Curriculum, Tool, or Material: The lectures are taught by physicians involved in local and organization-wide QI projects and by those in senior management. The PGY3 residents enrol in a co-learning curriculum developed by the Department of Medicine, where residents and faculty conduct a local QI project together. The PGY5 teaching cases were created with management consultants using material from a real hospital QIPS initiative. PGY5s are taught using the case method that places the learner in the role of the organization’s manager who discusses the issues in class and proposes actions. Residents learn about the practicality of their recommendations by discussion with the management consultants, who disclose the case outcomes and review the lessons learned. Conclusion: A longitudinal QIPS curriculum for emergency medicine residents at UT was developed collaboratively. Multiple teaching methods address all three levels of QIPS training. This curriculum represents a novel use of the case method to instruct QIPS project leadership and management outside of the business school setting. Discussions with management consultants provide a different perspective of the real-life challenges of conducting QIPS initiatives.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the significance of the incidence of female principals in the urban sector of Eretz Israel, against the background of growing Jewish society, through the prism of which we can view the development of modern Hebrew education during the waning Ottoman rule. Design/methodology/approach – In addition to the archival material, contemporary newspapers provided an important source, as did memoirs of prominent people that, to some extent, filled in the “gaps”, more on the running of the schools and less on the activities of the four principals. Findings – A survey of the archival material reveals that the four women share biographical elements, their talents, personalities and education obtained abroad, style of school leadership and organization, not to mention their moral contribution to the education of girls in Eretz Israel. Practical implications – One may point to other fields in which women began to play a more prominent role, based on European training and experience. For instance, in medicine and a modern approach to midwifery, From 1900, modern trained female doctors, nurses and midwives began to be employed in hospitals and private practices around the country, helping to radically reduce childbirth fatalities and allowing women to consult a woman practitioner where before they had been unwilling to expose themselves to men. Although a direct link between the earlier presence of female educational administrators and the entry of women doctors may be difficult to establish, the atmosphere had certainly begun to change. Social implications – From that period on, during the British Mandate, and after the creation of the State of Israel, immense changes have been instituted. One can view the seeds of these changes as, at least in part, having been planted by the pioneering work of our four women. There were far reaching developments in the conception of female management from the time of the Ottoman rule through the period of the British Mandate. Originality/value – This research shines a light on a forgotten world and pursues a phenomenon not yet revealed in Zionist historiography − the running of girls’ schools by women in the Jewish community, under the dying Ottoman regime. The study allows us a deeper insight into the historical educational processes that fashioned the profession of head teachers, via pioneering female principals. Female administration in a patriarchal society, with a hegemonic male orientation that placed man at the centre and woman as secondary, faced these problems, obstacles and opposition. Women who were appointed to run schools had to justify their position by imitating the “masculine” style of management and to carry out their work − both pedagogical and administrative − without organizational, social or emotional support. They suffered opposition, internal (their male teaching staff) and external (from patrons and the religious community) and the need to respond to their criticism.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on the informal learning (IL) processes of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Spain. Its objective is to study the strategies currently used by teachers to generate IL, identifying the factors that condition such learning and the changes that must be introduced to enhance it. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is qualitative, with information from interviews with school principals (n = 21) and teachers (n = 60) from 22 primary and secondary schools in Spain and from 3 discussion groups with experts (n = 17). The topics used refer to strategies to generate and promote IL and its conditioning factors. Findings The findings suggest that, regardless of the stage (primary/secondary) and ownership of the centre (state/private), the teaching staff use IL strategies that, beyond individual actions, involve meeting, sharing and reflecting with other teachers. The challenge is that IL facilitates both professional development and the development and improvement of the organizations. School principals play a central role in achieving this relationship and promoting the institutionalization of changes and educational administration in facilitating the right conditions for their development and recognition. Research limitations/implications Given that the participation of schools in the research was voluntary, as was that of the teachers who agreed to be interviewed, some bias may exist. To refine the analyses it would also have been interesting to contrast with the people interviewed some of the assessments which appeared in the focus groups. Finally, future work might focus on analysing in greater detail the effect of different management styles on IL. Practical implications The results presented point to the need for decisive support from school leadership teams for collaborative work processes and joint reflection, which are one of the basic conditions for facilitating IL and, at the same time, for encouraging organizational learning. Furthermore, in the Spanish context, there is the challenge of combining the participation of teachers in formal training actions with the recognition of IL generated in the development of daily professional activity. Originality/value The data provided complements and reaffirms the findings of research carried out in other types of organizations, at the same time highlighting the importance of horizontal relationships among education professionals and the difficulty of creating a solid foundation for organizational changes. Improvements are, on the other hand, highly conditioned by the role adopted by school principals.

PurposeAt a time when many education systems are grappling with the issue of school reform, there is a concern that traditional UK secondary schools are organised in a way that makes them unable to respond to increasingly complex environmental demands. This research-based paper uses complexity theory to gauge the organisational differences between (1) the traditional model of schooling based on same-age organisation and (2) a form of organisation based on multi-age tutor groups, one that schools call a vertical tutoring (VT) system. The intention is to highlight the organisational changes made by schools that choose to transition from their same-age iteration to the VT system, and expose organisational assumptions in the dominant same-age structure that may account for the failure of reform.Design/methodology/approachThe author's consultancy and research work spans two decades, and includes around 200 UK secondary schools, and others in China, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Qatar, Germany and Colombia. This conceptual paper draws on the recorded discourse and critical reflections of leadership teams during programmes of transformative learning, the process involved in the transition from one system to another. Using descriptions of school organisation abstracted from the complexity literature, differences in the two models not otherwise apparent, come into sharp focus. These not only reveal a substantive connection between organisation, complexity, and individual and organisational learning, but offer insights into the challenge of school reform.FindingsSame-age organisations act in ways that regulate and restrict the agency of participating actors (staff, students and parents). The effect is to reduce a school’s learning capacity and ability to absorb the value demand on its system. Such a system is closed and non-complex. VT schools construct an open and fluid learning system from the base, deregulating agency. By unfreezing their structure, they intervene in processes of power, necessitating the distribution of leadership to the organisational edge, a process of complexification. The form of organisation chosen by a school explains the failure of reform.Originality/valueInsights from VT schools cast considerable doubt on the viability of traditional same-age structures to serve complex societies and communities, while highlighting the critical role played by complexity theory in organisational praxis. If correct, the current emphasis on teacher “will and skill”, curricular editing, pedagogy and the “what works agenda” will be insufficient to bring about reformational change and more likely to contribute to systemic stasis.

Educational institutions need to meet the demands posed by society. Specifically, the Catholic ideology centers, in their constant search for educational excellence, family satisfaction and continuous improvement, must establish a system that effectively manages all areas of the organization and guarantees its quality. This article shows the bibliographic analysis carried out around quality management models, which have stood out for their results in the business field and their adaptations to the educational field. Its fundamental principles have been analyzed and combined to obtain dimensions and indicators with which to develop a final model applicable to these educational centers. With a systematic process of analysis on the approaches of a descriptive-comparative study, the importance of leadership, organization and process management, and the training of professionals involved in the process is discovered. The quality management model, which is proposed, is specifically oriented to the centers of Catholic ideology that teach in the stages of Pre-school Education, Primary Education and Secondary Education, called to respond, with a project of their own, to their ideology and mission.