Principals’ Self- and Interpersonal Leadership Amid Work Intensification

2020 ◽  
pp. 105268462093538
Author(s):  
Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Condition ◽  
Job Expectations ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Metro Vancouver ◽  
Work Intensification

Objectives: Despite all the attention given in recent years to work intensification among school principals, little research has explored the practices and strategies that principals employ to meet their job expectations and demands and how they adapt to the increasingly uncertain and complex school reality. This qualitative study identifies practices and strategies that principals employ to meet their job expectations and adapt to their intensified work condition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Framework: The study integrates self- and interpersonal leadership into a composite framework to guide the inquiry. Methods: Eighteen school principals in Metro Vancouver participated in one-hour semi-structured interviews and shared their comments on the changing nature of their work and strategies they use to go about doing their work amid work intensification. Results: The findings capture principals’ skills and competencies that pertain to their personal and social competencies, including self awareness, self direction, social awareness, and relationship management. The findings also identify knowledge and skills that are necessary to prepare principals for their work and highlight strategies they use to gain a sense of being in control at work in a complex and changing work environment.

Subversive leadership and power tactics

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Secondary School Principals ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Metro Vancouver ◽  
The Status ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Relational Harm

Purpose Principals’ leadership has become a subversive activity that is carried out strategically to challenge and disrupt the status quo and resist policies and practices that are counterproductive to their work. The purpose of this paper is to reveal subversive tactics principals use in pursuit of justice and equity in schools and identify challenges and risks associated with their subversive leadership practices. Power tactics were used as a conceptual framework to guide the analysis of subversive activities by school principals. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study focuses on 18 elementary and secondary school principals from six district school boards in the Metro Vancouver area who participated in the semi-structured interviews on their practices that epitomize different tactics in response to increasing demand and accountability. Findings The power tactics identified in this study illuminate many of the dilemmas principals face in their work and demonstrate the various ways principals exercise their political acumen to “act strategically to determine which tactics to use, when, and with whom.” In exercising ethics of subversion and critique, participants are more likely to use soft, rational, and bi/multilateral rather than hard, non-rational, and unilateral power tactics. Such tendency reveals their concern about causing relational harm and shows their strategic avoidance of direct confrontation. Research limitations/implications Considering the limitations on the sample size and the research context, more research is needed to examine to what extent subversive practices are exercised and how they play out in different contexts. Originality/value The study shows that leadership involves upholding morals and values, even if this means having to use subversive practices to ensure inclusive, equitable, and just outcomes.

scholarly journals Learning Laboratory: An Integrative Learning Design for International Business in a Complex Dynamic World

2021 ◽  
pp. 105256292110296
Author(s):  
Peter Zettinig ◽  
Majid Aleem ◽  
Danijela Majdenic ◽  
Michael Berry
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
International Business ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Integrative Learning ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Multinational Organizations ◽  
Personal Competencies

Graduates of international business (IB) programs are facing a complex dynamic world in which they need both specific and generalist knowledge they can activate in socially negotiated situations. Their competencies must go beyond narrowly applying knowledge, which requires open minds, transferable social competencies, and skills for crossing multiple boundaries to serve their organizations to deal with global challenges. In order to facilitate the development of such professional and personal competencies, we established a learning laboratory, a space providing simulated opportunities in real multinational organizational structures, where students experiment with intercultural encounters while solving business challenges and reflect on their experiences to develop their managerial practices. This article introduces our instructional innovation by discussing the underlying learning framework and providing an illustration of the approach. The lab has three main learning outcomes: building conceptual knowledge, developing sociocultural practices in multinational organizations, and enhancing self-awareness and reflective competencies. At the core of the lab are a series of IB strategy challenges which students solve by organizing, managing, and leading global virtual teams (GVTs) that are formed with members from five overseas universities. We detail the alignment of our framework, review the actions and interactions that facilitate learning, and discuss learning effectiveness and implementation of the lab.

Revisiting presenteeism to broaden its conceptualization: A qualitative study

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mouna Knani ◽  
Pierre-Sébastien Fournier ◽  
Caroline Biron
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Holistic Interpretation ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Negative Factors

BACKGROUND: Presenteeism is generally viewed as a symptom of organizational or individual dysfunction and is rarely considered as a behavioral response to positive triggering factors. Our study examines this issue in small enterprises (SEs), which are an unexplored environment in terms of presenteeism. OBJECTIVE: Through in-depth analysis, this study aims to understand the positive and negative factors that impact presenteeism in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on SEs. METHODS: We adopt a qualitative methodological approach in which we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with employees and owner-managers of SEs with between 20 and 49 employees. RESULTS: Our thematic analysis shows that presenteeism can be explained by factors related to pressure to attend work, by individuals’ constraints and commitment, by organizational and individual characteristics and by a congenial work environment. Presenteeism can also be a type of “therapy” which helps individuals to avoid focusing on being sick and enables them to stay active and avoid social isolation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study differs from earlier research by providing a more in-depth analysis of the positive and negative factors that trigger presenteeism. This article will help to expand the current theoretical knowledge about presenteeism and encourage a more holistic interpretation of the phenomenon.

Accountability in the financial management practices of school principals

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agrippa Madoda Dwangu ◽  
Vimbi Petrus Mahlangu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Principals ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Status

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms employed in financial management practices of school principals in the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education. The strengths and weaknesses of the systems and mechanisms of the processes to hold school principals accountable are explored in detail in this study. The argument that this article seeks to advance is that accountability of the school principal to the school governing body (SGB) does not yield the best results in terms of efficiency. It creates a loose arrangement in terms of which the school principal takes part in financial mismanagement in schools.Design/methodology/approachData collection was made through semi-structured interviews whose purpose was to draw experiences from SGBs, particularly the finance committees who are in fact the sub-committees of the SGBs; as well as literature review. The finance committee is made up of the chairperson of the SGB, the secretary of the SGB, the treasurer of the SGB, and the financial officer who is a clerk responsible for the keeping and the management of financial records of the school. The process started with semi-structured interviews, then transcribing, coding, developing themes, making meaning of the themes and subsequently developing a principle.FindingsMechanisms employed by schools and the Department of Education to hold principals accountable for their financial management practices fail to make them fully accountable and effectively face the consequences of acts on their part that are illegal and unlawful. The mechanisms need a great deal of overhauling. The argument that this article seeks to advance is that this account of the school principal to the SGB does not yield the best results in terms of efficiency. It creates a loose arrangement in terms of which the school principal easily gets away with a crime when financial mismanagement occurs in the school.Research limitations/implicationsParticipants could possibly not be comfortable and willing, to tell the truth as it is. Participants might have the fear that telling the truth could land them in trouble with the law. Whilst participants were assured by the researchers of their anonymity and the confidentiality of the information given by them, there was no guarantee that the fear of being exposed would subdue completely. There was also a possibility that some participants would not be willing to say the truth as it is for fear of being victimised by other participants for exposing the status quo in their schools.Practical implicationsThe findings and recommendations from this study may be used by the Department of Basic Education as a source of information for policymakers and stakeholders to understand the effectiveness of their mechanisms to ensure the accountability of school principals on issues of financial management. On the basis of this study, policymakers will then be able to revisit their policies for the purpose of strengthening them. The principal is therefore responsible for the day-to-day administration and management of school funds because of this mandatory delegation. However, when things go wrong, it is the SGB that is held liable.Social implicationsSchool principals hold dual accountability in terms of which they are accountable to the employer only in so far as their professional responsibilities are concerned on financial management in the first instance. They are by no means accounting officers in schools. In the second instance, they are fully accountable to the SGB for issues relating to financial management. Section 16A of SASA lists the functions and responsibilities for which the principal as an employee of the Department of Basic Education, and in his official capacity as contemplated in Sections 23(1) and 24(1) (j) of the same Act, is accountable to the head of department (HOD).Originality/valueThe study provides a theoretical and empirical contribution to the existing literature on the effectiveness of the mechanisms employed to ensure the accountability of school principals in their financial management practices in schools. It offers practical recommendations putting in place mechanisms that effectively hold school principals wholly accountable for their financial management practices in schools. Most of the time, it is easy for the principal to get away with a crime even in instances where he or she is called upon to account for alleged financial mismanagement.

scholarly journals Learning from others: A critical reflection on an international study programme

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 337-350
Author(s):  
Alison McInnes ◽  
Joan M Goss ◽  
Hannah Fisher ◽  
Robyn Brockman
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
International Study ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Professional Networks ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Study Programme

This article offers a critical reflection on an international social work study programme at a Northern European university in 2015. This study develops a shared sense of the expectations and experiences of two academic staff and two students who took part in this social work programme. Interesting findings from this life-changing opportunity were ascertained and included awareness of own motivational learning as well as developing cultural competencies (including language and communication skills), intellectual competencies (including working with others to solve problems), social competencies (including increases in self-confidence and self-awareness) and professional competencies (via increases in professional networks). This supports national data regarding the importance of student mobility including study visits abroad.

Enhancing instructional leadership through collaborative coaching: a multi-case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Houchens ◽  
Tom A. Stewart ◽  
Sara Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Peer Coaching ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Group Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Theories Of Practice

Purpose Executive coaching has become increasingly important for enhancing organizational leaders’ professional effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a growing body of research literature that examines how coaching techniques help school principals improve their instructional leadership. Design/methodology/approach Using a protocol based on a theories of practice framework (Argyris and Schön, 1974) to support principals in deepening their self-reflection, this study added the element of a guided peer-coaching component in a group setting. Findings Results confirmed the effectiveness of the coaching protocol for assisting principals in deepening their self-awareness and critical reflection regarding their leadership, including the way principals’ core assumptions about teaching and leadership shaped the outcomes of their problem-solving strategies. Perceptions of the peer-coaching element were mixed, however. While principals reported feeling affirmed by sharing their leadership challenges with others, and indicated that the group coaching experience contributed to their sense of professional community, there were limitations to principals’ willingness to challenge one another’s core assumptions. Originality/value This study builds on literature that cites theories of practice as a mechanism for enhancing professional effectiveness and represents a further iteration of recent research studies applying the concept to the work of school principals. Findings affirm that a coaching protocol based on theories of practice is well received by principals, serves to deepen self-reflection, and can, in limited cases, contribute to sweeping changes of thinking and practice congruent with the concept of double-loop learning.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Exploration of Individual Differences in Wellbeing for Highly Sensitive Individuals

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky Black ◽  
Margaret L. Kern
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Lay Conceptions ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

Cultures explicitly and implicitly create and reinforce social norms and expectations, which impact upon how individuals make sense of and experience their place within that culture. Substantial differences in research findings across a range of behavioral and cognitive indices can be seen between what have been called ‘Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD)’ societies, and non-WEIRD cultures. Indeed, lay conceptions and social norms around wellbeing tend to emphasize social outgoingness and high-arousal positive emotions, with introversion and negative emotion looked down upon or even pathologized. However, this extravert-centric conception of wellbeing does not fit many individuals who live within WEIRD societies, and studies find that this mismatch can have detrimental effects on their wellbeing. There is a need to better understand how happiness is created and experienced by the large number of people for whom wellbeing manifests in alternative ways. This study investigated one such manifestation – the personality trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) – qualitatively investigating how sensitive individuals experience and cultivate wellbeing within a WEIRD society. Twelve adults participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that highly sensitive individuals perceive that wellbeing arises from harmony across multiple dimensions. Interviewees emphasized the value of low-intensity positive emotion, self-awareness, self-acceptance, positive social relationships balanced by times of solitude, connecting with nature, contemplative practices, emotional self-regulation, practicing self-compassion, having a sense of meaning, and hope/optimism. Barriers of wellbeing included physical health issues and challenges with saying no to others. This study provides a richer idiographic representation of SPS wellbeing, highlighting diverse pathways which can lead to wellbeing for individuals for whom wellbeing manifests in ways that contradict the broader social narratives in which they reside.

scholarly journals SELF-EVALUATION OF PROSPECTIVE SPECIAL EDUCATORS’ COMPETENCIES FROM THE STANDPOINT OF PERSONALISED LEARNING PARADIGM

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (34) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanija Ališauskienė ◽  
Irena Kafemanienė ◽  
Algirdas Ališauskas
Keyword(s):  
Special Educators ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Personalised Learning ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Study Process ◽  
Personal Changes

The article analyses how self-evaluation of prospective special educators’ acquired<br />competencies helps them to identify their needs and study expectations from the<br />standpoint of personalised learning and opens up ways for teachers to start a dialogue with students, better understand learners and, considering their professional interests, improve study quality. The study was aimed to disclose theoretical links between personalised learning and students’ active participation in the study process, to determine how future special educators self-evaluate acquired competencies and disclose their learning interests, interpret self-evaluation results of prospective special educators’ competencies, based on the theoretical methodological model of personalised learning. Seeking the research aim, mixed methodology was employed: quantitative and qualitative research and data processing methods were combined. The study was attended by 78 I-IV year students of the first study cycle of special education. The study demonstrated that personal and social competencies were an integral part of professional competencies; therefore, in students’ opinion, these competencies should be given particularly much attention educating future special educators. Prospective special educators emphasise the influence of studies on changes in and maturity of their values, self-awareness, personal changes. Less expressed characteristics of personalised learning are self-directed learning, implementation of experiential abilities and purposefulness

scholarly journals Fenomena Taubat pada Komunitas Forsabda di Tulungagung

ESOTERIK ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Mega Mustika Sari ◽  
Achmad Sauqi
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Phenomenological Method ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Human Happiness ◽  
Art And Culture ◽  
Minimum Age

<p class="06IsiAbstrak">This research is motivated by the phenomenon where modern humans experience inner anxiety. The condition of human happiness is not only the satisfaction of physical needs, but also the fulfillment of inner needs. In the perspective of Sufism, efforts to fulfill inner needs are carried out by getting closer to God. Efforts to get closer to God in the science of Sufism begin with repentance. From those studies this research's aim is to study the phenomenon of repentance in cultural actors (javanes culture). In the area around the researcher, one of the cultural actors community is Forsabda (Art and Culture Discussion Forum). This study aims to determine the meaning and application of repentance to Forsabda activists. This research is a qualitative research with a phenomenological method. Data mining was carried out on Forsabda Tulungagung activists, to five participants with semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documentation methods. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling method with the following criteria: 1) Have a minimum age of 25 years, 2) Actively participate in Forsabda activities, 3) Willing to provide information. The data collected were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) techniques. The results of this study indicate that there are four meanings of repentance for Forsabda activists, namely self-awareness, self-evaluation, tawhidan, and habluminAllah. While the application of repentance to Forsabda activists is muhasabah, tawakal, tawadhu, istiqomah, gratitude, and inner peace.</p>

scholarly journals Implementasi Budaya Sekolah Bernuansa Islami Dalam Pendidikan Karakter Di MIN I Malang

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahda Chaira ◽  
Agus Tinus
Keyword(s):  
Character Education ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Islamic Culture ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Before School ◽  
Friday Prayer ◽  
The Way

Abstract: The purpose of the research is to describe the implementation of Islamic culture in MIN I Malang, describe the Islamic character developed in MIN I Malang, identify the obstacles in the implementation of Islamic culture in MIN I Malang, and describe the efforts made by school institutions to overcome these obstacles. The research method was conducted using descriptive qualitative. Data is collected using structured interviews by taking the subject of teachers, school principals, and parents of students. The results show that the implementation of Islamic culture in schools begins with the construction of a system that directs the behavior of students with Islamic character through the habituation of Islamic behavior. Then supported by the implementation of the Koran, Kultum, and memorization of the Qur'an in the first fifteen minutes before school hours every day. Duha prayer, Dhuhr prayer, Friday prayer, and princess in school. The obstacle to developing Islamic culture in schools is the habit of parents who are sometimes not in line and the way to overcome them is by creating a Whatsapp group for students' parents.Keywords: Implementation, Islamic Culture, Character Education Abstrak: Tujuan dari penelitian adalah untuk mendeskripsikan implementasi budaya Islami di MIN I Malang, mendeskripsikan karakter Islami yang dikembangkan di MIN I Malang, mengetahui kendala dalam implementasi budaya Islami di MIN I Malang, dan memaparkan upaya yang dilakukan oleh lembaga sekolah untuk mengatasi kendala-kendala tersebut. Metode penelitian dilakukan dengan deskriptif kualitatif. Pengambilan data dilakukan menggunakan wawancara terstruktur dengan mengambil subjek guru, kepala sekolah, dan orang tua siswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa implementasi budaya Islami di sekolah diawali dengan dibangunnya sistem yang mengarahkan perilaku siswa yang berkarakter Islami melalui pembiasaan perilaku Islami. Kemudian ditunjang dengan pelaksanaan mengaji, kultum, dan hafalan Al-Qur’an pada lima belas menit pertama sebelum jam masuk sekolah setiap harinya. Pelaksanaan shalat dhuha, shalat dhuhur, shalat jumat, dan keputrian di sekolah. Kendala dari pembasaan budaya Islami di sekolah adalah pembiasaan orang tua yang kadang tidak sejalan dan cara mengatasinya adalah dengan membuat grup Whatsapp bagi orang tua murid.Kata kunci: Implementasi, Budaya Islami, Pendidikan Karakter

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