Early Catholicism and the organisational structure of the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe

The organisational structure of the United Methodist church shares many features with the early catholic institutions. Increased institutionalisation, that is, authority connected with office, is the clearest sign of Early Catholicism. By the late first century, the titles of bishop (ἐπίσκοπος), elder (πρεσβύτερος) and deacon (διάκονος) denoted specific leadership and service functions in the church. This study stresses the ethical qualifications and diaconal duties of these office bearers, applying it to the duties and responsibilities of United Methodist pastors, district superintendents, bishops and laity. It is argued that candidates for ordination should be aware of their calling to the divine ministry and their calling should be authenticated and recognised without a test of authenticity by the Church. In the Early Catholicism period, qualified leadership was established to preserve faith and combat false teaching. This must also be the case in the United Methodist Church.

Leadership: It takes a district

District superintendents must handle a variety of issues that are not directly related to instruction. Because the job is so complex, a strong central office staff is crucial. Joshua Starr considers how leaders can build a team that is able to manage logistical issues while staying true to the district vision of strengthening teaching, learning, and equity.

The Privatization of School Counseling

There is a growing movement toward privatization of part or all of public education worldwide. Although privatization in education continues to grow, there has been no study of the extent of this movement in school counseling. All 300 school district superintendents in the state of Washington were surveyed anonymously concerning the extent of privatized counseling within their schools. The empirical findings suggest that privatization is already a reality in the school counseling profession. Thus, further research on the questions that emerged from this study is important because of the nature of the ethical, economic, and service quality challenges that privatization seems to pose for school counselors and school systems.

Changing District Priorities for School–Business Collaboration

Background: School district superintendents continue to favor collaborative relationships with their local business communities amid concerns over free-market competition, maintaining public legitimacy, and scarce financial resources. Prior research is inadequate regarding the development, implementation, and institutionalization of school and business collaboration, with respect to current institutional and market pressures, and the unique contributions of superintendents. Purpose: The purpose was to examine the superintendent’s role in the development and institutionalization of school and business partnerships in a district without prior history of collaborative relationships and to assess capacity for sustainability. Setting: A medium- sized (12,850 students) metropolitan-area school district in the U.S. Southwest that also includes one local chamber of commerce was the setting. Participants: Two district superintendents (transition in leadership occurred), a chamber of commerce CEO, and 13 other school district officials and business leaders (i.e., principals, chamber members, partnership coordinator) directly involved in partnerships or providing administrative oversight participated. Research Design: Qualitative case study was the research design. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were obtained using semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis. A conceptual model for developing business partnerships and neo-institutionalism theory guide this qualitative analysis. Findings: Superintendent agency and district capacity for action (i.e., lack of professional development, departure of key roles, overdependency on myth and ceremony) both enabled and constrained partnership development, implementation, and capacity for institutionalization in the context of current institutional and market pressures. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the complimentary usefulness of the conceptual model and neo-institutionalism theory for studying leadership of school district and business partnerships and building school and community capacity for educational change.