Conflict Management in Higher Educational Institutions

Conflicts are inevitable and very common in educational institutions the world over. Conflict happens whenever and wherever in HEIs. Conflicts also rampantly occur at HEIs. Conflicts are therefore inevitable although this should not cause alarm truth is that they are natural and have benefits to organizational progress. It can therefore be noted that conflict management is part and parcel of school administration challenges that HEIs managers should handle as part of institutional politics, with extra care to benefit system and its workers. Therefore, experienced managers should motivate different conflicting groups to improve their methods and attitude towards work so that organizational goal can be achieved in the most effective manner. This however is a tough undertaking since it requires technical knowledge and skills on the part of leader. Accordingly, understanding complexity theory and applying it effectively in organizational management can transform conflict into an effective catalyst for improving school system.

Reflection of Chaos and Complexity Theory Properties within Classroom Discipline

Chaos and complexity theory has been used in the study of the natural sciences for over thirty years. Throughout the years, experts from various fields have used it as a new way to view the world around them, including its applications to the field of education and subsystems within the education system. However very few studies have been conducted on the application of chaos theory to classroom discipline. The field of classroom discipline, like the natural world, can also be observed from this perspective because it exhibits many features of chaotic/complex systems. Classrooms are often described as complex, dynamic and unpredictable environments. This makes it difficult for teachers to understand and manage classroom discipline. This paper explores the complexity of classroom discipline and how the principles of chaos and complexity theory reflect on classroom discipline. This would help inform management strategies and alternatives that would in turn enhance and improve student academic achievement and overall performance.

Principal Proactivity

Increasing environmental complexity and ambiguity require organizations to rely on their members' proactive behaviors to deal with potential chaotic occurences surrounding the organizational functioning. Individuals respond these occurences by displaying various proactive behavior forms to build predictability islands in ocean of uncertainty. In this context, principal proactivity is one of key determinants of effectiveness of schools functioning in complex and anarchic environments. In this study, numerous forms of proactive behaviour were categorized under six general dimensions as innovativeness, issue selling, social networking, strategic scanning, strategic learning and feedback seeking. A causal comparative design was used to determine levels of general forms of proactive behavior performed by school principals. The data were collected from school principals working at different levels of public and private schools in Istanbul Province during 2014-2015 year. According to the results of study, the most frequent form of proactive behaviour displayed by school principals was strategic learning.

Chaotic and Complex Situations in Girls' Education

It is mainly concentrated on variables which prevent girls' education in this study. The aim of this study is to describe chaos, complication and antidemocratic practices that emerge on girls' education. A wide comprehensive literature survey is performed on variables which concern the variables of girls' education for the scope of the study. This study is a survey designed model that aims to define the properties concerning the girls' education. Many social, economic, political and cultural problems create negative effects on girls' education. Not being able to make democracy a life style brings along girls' not being able to make use of education as it should be which is a human right. As a result, it is emphasized that only “whole democratic life style” practice for all could solve the problem of “social inequality of girls” which is enduring for ages.

Complexity Ramifications of High Stakes Examinations as a Measure of Accountability in Education Systems

Examinations occupy a strategic position in our lives and society today. In a situation where moral principles, rules and regulations for conducting examinations are truncated by either teacher or the learner, the validity and reliability of examination and certification are at risk. The nature and process of examination is something that should be looked into deeply having known the role of examination in our lives. That is essence of this paper; the way high-stakes examinations have affected various aspects of the education system in the realm of teaching, learning, assessment, discipline, roles of stakeholders, teachers' beliefs, community expectations, functional role of education, educational outcomes, individual differences, psychological status of learners, educational returns, school completion etc. This paper articulated these issues in terms of using high-stakes examinations as a measure of accountability in the education system and premised on the level of faith placed on these high-stakes examinations irrespective of educational value thereof.

Corruption as a Challenge to Quality and Quantity of Education in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Corruption has caused untold havoc not only to the quality, quantity of education and credibility of citizens in Nigeria, but also to our national growth and development in all aspects of human endeavor. In academia it diffuses and circulates through the aorta and capillaries of the system, such that it is no longer view as a bottleneck thwarting the successful implementation of educational policies. The ugly scenario has degraded our educational foundation popularly called lower basic created a permanent vacuum which the subsequent higher level proved helpless to fill. The objectivity, reliability, trust, transparency, sincerity and above all integrity known in the academia as its “glory” have been wiped out by corrupt practices. At this junction, it is mandatory to dig out the reasons behind indulgence in corruption in our lower basic, identify its causes, approaches and effects as they are dimensional in nature. The paper will attempt the definitions of the term corruption at initial, and the concluding aspect will suggest the possible remedies.

Decision Making and Problem Solving in Higher Educational Institutions

As it is stated that the economy of a country can never be greater than the education of its people, today parents and several organizations are investing a lot of money in education to better the future of their children and also meet the demands of the several generations to come. Through this process, the level of competition among higher education institutions is too high for them to survive and continuously attract parents, citizens and funders to meet demands of both institutional and community challenges. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore the concept of decision making, factors that determine the decision making process, the effectiveness of decision making and problem solving in higher education institutions deemed to be largely chaotic and complex. World over, government and states are investing in higher education to transform their communities in terms of knowledge, skills, culture and economic development.

Leadership Skills in Complex Collegial Adult Groups

Collegial groups of professional people have been shown to produce high adult achievement and performance and therefore learning the skills of working with groups to solve instructional problems is a critical task of supervision. This paper covers knowledge, skills, and procedures for developing productive instructional improvement groups in the complex school environment characterized by turbulence and chaos emanating from dysfunctional group members. Throughout this paper, the importance of these methods in developing group leadership skills has been explained: using group observations, changing group leadership styles, dealing with dysfunctional members, and preparing for meetings. The paper also demonstrates how development supervision can be applied to professional groups by showing how a developmental supervisor matches the supervisory approaches to the group's characteristics.

Education and Leadership in Social Networks

Social networks which play an important role in individuals', many of whom are youngsters, daily life got the opportunity to be used as educational tools and seem to have many features to improve educational organizations and the educational processes. Organizations exist in the very complex and chaotic environments rather than the stable and steady environments. This affects the role of administrator and especially the leader within the organization. The task of the 21st century educators is to be compromising social media leadership with media, mass media instruments and information technologies and the values of the school, and preparing the youngsters for the future by building common living environments. Within the scope of research, some explanations from literature about the concept of social networks and the use of social networks in education were given first. For conclusion, comments, conclusions and suggestions about the usability of social networks in education were presented.

Principals' Views on Stigma Tendency

Stigma takes place as a concept in the literature that affects individuals' lives negatively as well as can disrupt chemistry of organization and inhibit organizational behavior. Stigma is a concept that ostracizing individuals or groups because of their features that are not accepted by society and restricted their life on all areas. Studies on stigma have been increased during twenty years. Although school principals play the lock role and the most affecting actor in positively or negatively to school, studies on principals' stigma tendency are extremely limited. Stigma tendencies of principals' can affect chemistry of organization much more than stigma tendencies of teachers. The purpose of the study is to determine stigma tendencies of principals' by using quantitative research methods. According to research results; principals' stigma tendencies are significantly different according to seniority, level of religious feelings and health status.