A liminal approach to parents in leadership positions in schools with students of high socioeconomic background in Israel

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111
Author(s):  
Audrey Addi-Raccah ◽  
Noa Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Collaborative Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Parent Leaders ◽  
Children’S Education ◽  
Sociological Approaches

Purpose Parents’ collective involvement in their children’s education takes the form of holding leadership positions in schools. Employing the concept of liminality, which is used in anthropological and sociological approaches, the purpose of this paper is to explore the features of parent leadership in schools (PLS). Design/methodology/approach Interviews were conducted with 18 individuals: 11 chairpersons and 7 members of the parent leadership of 11 primary schools in Israel attended by students of high socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings Data analyses disclose PLS as a liminal framework, which constitutes both formal and informal dimensions, whether these be its in-school limited activities or out-of-school actions in introducing change and supporting the institutions. PLS’s functions are restricted by school principals, but simultaneously enhance school principals’ position. Practical implications The study’s findings carry implications for school collaboration with external entities. School principals need to support PLS and keep encouraging entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. There is a need for acknowledging the value of PLS’s contributions whereas policy makers must provide more guidelines and support to parent leaders. Originality/value The study focuses on exploring the position of collective parental involvement in schools. This issue is of significance in a time where parents gain more responsibility over their children’s education and schools support more collaborative relationships with external agencies. The study highlights the benefits of parents in leadership positions for school benefits and for school principals’ legitimacy, from the approach of liminality.

Mothers, sons and daughters: intergenerational transmission of education in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-586
Author(s):  
Ehsan Latif
Keyword(s):  
Upward Mobility ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Educational Mobility ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobility Index ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Children’S Education ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study used data from the General Social Survey (2011) to examine the trends in intergenerational educational mobility in Canada for the 1940–1989 birth cohorts. To this end, the purpose of this study is to focus on the relationship between mothers' education and children's education.Design/methodology/approachThe study estimated intergenerational regression and correlation coefficients and several mobility indices, namely, the Prais–Shorrocks index, immobility index, upward mobility index and downward mobility index.FindingsThe study found considerable gender differences with respect to the trends in these coefficients and indices. The study found that, over the period of study, the correlation coefficient slightly increased for sons while it decreased for daughters. The Prais–Shorrocks index, immobility index, upward mobility index and downward mobility index show that educational mobility has increased for daughters while that of sons has decreased over time. Finally, the relative educational opportunities indicators also suggest a similar result that educational mobility has increased for the daughters while it fell for the sons.Originality/valueA number of studies used Canadian data to examine intergenerational educational mobility. However, no study particularly focused on the relationship between mothers' education and children's education. In recent years, women's labor force participation rate and employment rate increased significantly. Thus, it will be interesting to see how mothers' education is related to children's education in Canada.

Assessing and strengthening instructional leadership among primary school principals in Vietnam

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hảo Thi Nguyễn ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Chia Wen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Primary School Principals ◽  
Principal Instructional Leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to an emerging literature on educational leadership and management in Vietnam by addressing several goals. First, the study sought to translate, adapt, and validate an existing measurement instrument, the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) Teacher Form, for use in Vietnam. Next, it aimed to describe patterns of instructional leadership evidenced among a sample of urban and rural primary school principals. Then, the researchers examined if these patterns of principal instructional leadership could be linked to one or more “antecedent variables”: school size, school location (urban/rural), principal’s gender and prior teaching experience. Finally, the paper sought insights from principals and teachers on how instructional leadership could be strengthened in the Vietnamese education context. Design/methodology/approach Both quantitative survey and qualitative methods were used in this study. The sample consisted of 569 teachers and 117 principals working in 117 primary schools located in Ho Chi Minh province of Vietnam. Data collection employed a translated and adapted Vietnamese language form of the PIMRS Teacher Form. An open-ended question posed to both teachers and principals was included in the survey instrument to gather recommendations for strengthening instructional leadership in Vietnam. The research used Rasch analysis, Cronbach’s test of internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, t-tests, and analysis of variance in data analysis. Findings The research achieved a preliminary validation of a Vietnamese language Teacher Form of the PIMRS. The analysis of PIMRS data gathered from teachers found that the primary school principals were perceived to be exercising instructional leadership at a surprisingly high level. Consistent with international research findings, selected evidence indicated stronger instructional leadership from the female principals, though the pattern was not strong. None of the other antecedents evidenced a significant relationship with patterns of principal instructional leadership. A number of overlapping recommendations were made by teachers and principals for strengthening instructional leadership in Vietnam. Research limitations/implications Although a Teacher Form of the PIMRS Vietnam was successfully validated, follow-up studies should be conducted with both the Teacher Form and Principal Form of this instrument. More broadly, the high scores on the PIMRS accorded to the principals in this study were deemed “surprising” in light of the lack of prior policy focus and training on this role of the principal in Vietnam. Thus, the authors recommend that this research be extended to a larger cross-level study of schools from different parts of Vietnam in order to provide additional confirmation of these preliminary findings. Practical implications Feedback from principals and teachers indicated a need for system leaders to articulate instructional leadership more explicitly as part of the principal’s role set in Vietnam. Only then will it become part of the formal expectations that shape principals’ practice and the preparation and professional development programs in which they participate. The principals also suggested that instructional leadership could be strengthened by enabling model principals to share instructional leadership practices with colleagues. Finally, teachers and principals highlighted the need to broaden, legitimate, and strengthen sources of instructional leadership within the school beyond the principal. These suggestions are not only consistent with policy actions taken in other societies, but are also grounded in the context of education in Vietnam. Originality/value The first internationally published study of educational leadership and management in Vietnam only appeared in 2012. In the succeeding years, several qualitative studies have emerged describing principal leadership practices in a handful of schools. The current study represents the first published quantitative study of school leadership from Vietnam. Although the results are preliminary in nature, the study provides both baseline data on principal instructional leadership and a validated instrument that can be used in future research.

scholarly journals Some basic observations on conducting a systematic review: a brief reply to Goldstein, Vatalaro and Yair

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Beng Huat See ◽  
Stephen Gorard
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
School Attainment ◽  
Poor Understanding ◽  
Intervention Impact ◽  
Children’S Education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a response to Goldstein et al.’s (2017) attempted rebuttal of the authors’ prior paper in this journal (See and Gorard 2015). Design/methodology/approach The prior paper reported a systematic review of interventions to involve engaging parents more in their children’s education in order to raise school attainment. Goldstein et al. make a large number of unwarranted claims about its quality. They reproach the authors for using reports of unpublished evidence, for mis-labelling or mis-describing studies, and for denigrating studies by labelling them as “bad”. The authors were very surprised when first alerted to this response and went back to look at all of the research reports that Goldstein et al. claimed the authors mis-represented in the authors’ assessment. Findings The authors found that the Goldstein et al. claims are false and based on such a poor understanding of how evidence is reviewed that it was strange to see their paper in this journal. Originality/value In the authors’ reply, they look first at why unpublished material must be included in a review, and why the outlet for publication is not relevant, then at appropriate designs for causal questions, and at the confusion in Goldstein et al. between evaluation quality and intervention impact. The authors look at many examples where the confusion leads to Goldstein et al. making incorrect assertions about the authors’ paper, in order to make the point that their whole idea of how to conduct a systematic review is wrong.

Primary school principals ' job satisfaction and occupational stress

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merike Darmody ◽  
Emer Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
School Principals ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Primary School Principals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors associated with occupational stress and job satisfaction among Irish primary school principals. A principal’s job has become increasingly demanding and complex in recent decades. However, there is little current research into their levels of stress and job satisfaction, particularly based on nationally representative data. In order to understand how principals perceive their job and how best to support them, new insights into factors contributing to job satisfaction and stress of school principals are warranted. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an analysis of Growing up in Ireland data, a national representative study of nine-year-old children in Ireland. In order to explore the simultaneous impact of individual and school factors on stress and job satisfaction of principals in Irish primary schools, multivariate analysis was used. Analyses in this paper are based on responses from principals in 898 schools. Findings – The results of the study indicate that a significant number of primary school principals in Ireland are not very satisfied and feel stressed about their job. Regression analysis revealed that job satisfaction and occupational stress were related to a complex set of personal characteristics, working conditions, school context and teacher climate. Research limitations/implications – The data are limited to primary school principals. However, this is in itself an advantage since it allows for greater insights into variation across principals in job satisfaction and stress, holding the effect of school level constant. Originality/value – This is the first study of its kind in the Irish context that explores the simultaneous effect of a number of factors on school principals’ stress and job satisfaction.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic background and gene-environment interplay in social stratification across the early life course

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jani Erola ◽  
Hannu Lehti ◽  
Tina Baier ◽  
Aleksi Karhula
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Genetic Effects ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Shared Environment ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Children’S Education ◽  
The Impact

To what extent are genetic effects on children’s education, occupational standing, and income shaped by their parents’ socioeconomic characteristics? Does the impact vary over their children’s early life course, and are there differences across the social strata? We studied these research questions with Finnish register-based data on 6,542 pairs of twins born from 1975 to 1986. We applied the classical twin design to estimate the relative importance of genes. As outcomes, we compared education, occupation, and income in early adulthood. We found that shared environment influences were negligible in all cases. Notably, the proportion of genetic effects explained by parental characteristics mattered most for education and for occupation only because they were associated with their children’s education—but not for income. We did not find any variation across their early life course; however, we found that genetic influences were stronger among the advantaged families for income and education. Thus, gene-environment interactions (GxE) operate differently for different status-related characteristics. For the unique environment, the pattern was consistent across outcomes as the effect was greater among the advantaged families. Stratification scholars should therefore emphasize the importance of the unique environment as one of the drivers of the intergenerational transmission of social inequalities.

scholarly journals Rural minimum living standard guarantee (rural Dibao) program boosts children's education outcomes in rural China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Zixuan He ◽  
Xiangming Fang ◽  
Nathan Rose ◽  
Xiaodong Zheng ◽  
Scott Rozelle
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Propensity Score Weighting ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Children’S Education ◽  
Children's Learning

PurposeTo combat poverty in China's rural areas, Chinese government has established an unconditional cash transfer program known as the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Rural Dibao) Program. Interestingly, despite the importance of education in breaking cycles of poverty, little is known about Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's education. This study investigates Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's learning outcomes by first examining targeting issues within the program, exploring a causal relationship between Rural Dibao and learning outcomes, and then exploring potential mechanisms and heterogeneous effects.Design/methodology/approachFixed effects model and propensity score weighting method and data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from the years 2010 and 2014 were used.FindingsThe results suggest that the Rural Dibao program suffers from high levels of targeting error, yet is still effective (i.e., program transfers generally still go to people in need). The fixed effects and propensity score weighting models find that program participation raises rural children's standardized test scores in CFPS Chinese-language and math tests. In investigating mechanisms, increased education expenditure seems to connect Rural Dibao participation to increased learning results. The heterogeneity analysis shows that poorer, non-eastern, not left behind, younger or male children benefit from the program (while others have no effect).Originality/valueThese findings suggest that Rural Dibao participation boosts rural children's learning, which could indicate a long-term anti-poverty effect, and that if the program can resolve targeting problems, this effect could be even greater.

Exploring the moral and distributive levers for teacher empowerment in the Finnish policy culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 756-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Merok Paulsen ◽  
Kjell Brynjulf Hjertø ◽  
Saku Petteri Tihveräinen
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Teacher Empowerment ◽  
Moral Leadership ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supported Work ◽  
Work Domain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between school leadership practices and teacher empowerment in the Finnish policy culture. Specifically, moral leadership and distributed leadership enacted by school principals are tested in a simultaneous design as predictor to two distinct yet related aspects of teachers’ sense of empowerment, respectively, in their work domain and their classroom domain. Design/methodology/approach – The study investigated a field sample of 246 individual teachers from ten Finnish primary schools. Hypotheses were developed and tested by structural equation modeling. Findings – The results indicate that moral leadership exerted by school principals support teachers’ sense of empowerment both in work domain and classroom domain. Distributed leadership, in the meaning of sharing instructional leadership tasks with teachers, supported work domain empowerment but did not predict classroom domain teacher empowerment. Taken together, the model show the value of school principals facilitating teachers in decision-making processes paired with showing a strong moral basis in their relationship with teachers. Research limitations/implications – The study reinforces the importance of moral leadership and distributed leadership as conjoint drivers for teachers’ sense of empowerment. It would be highly valuable to replicate this study in various multi-level settings. Practical implications – The findings recommend school leaders to put emphasis on facilitative, ethical, and authentic practices in immediate relationships with their teachers. Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence regarding the partial relationships between principal leadership practices and teacher empowerment.

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