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The job satisfaction and effectiveness of principals, the effectiveness of their schools, and relationships among those three variables were investigated by questionnaires and interviews involving elementary school teachers, principals, and area superintendents in Alberta. Job satisfaction of principals was closely associated with the effect of the job on their personal lives, and it was highest in respect of working relationships with teachers and students. An appropriate school climate emerged as the most important and most effective individual aspect of the performance of schools, but a multidimensional perspective was supported. Effective principalship was seen to encompass many high priority areas, and principals′ overall effectiveness related most strongly to their decision‐making effectiveness. Principals′ job satisfaction was only weakly associated with the effectiveness of schools and principals, but the two effectiveness variables were significantly related. Teachers and area superintendents tended to rate the effectiveness of schools less positively than did principals.

Some of the most crucial current issues in educational management are related to governance, effective schooling and performance indicators, conditions of employment of teachers, and in‐service education. For example, what different types of policy and operational decisions should be made by central, regional, and school bodies? What are the most important indicators of school performance that can be reliably assessed? How can we assure that teacher‐evaluation practices are conducted fairly and appropriately so that the interests of both teachers and students are served? How can schools effectively integrate their teaching and continual professional development activities so that minimal disruption occurs with student learning? These issues were identified during study leave in 1988‐89. Interviews were conducted with staff in universities, colleges, schools, government departments, research institutes, and local education authorities in several countries. The crucial nature of the issues was assessed by frequent attention to the intensity with which interviewees spoke about an issue, and the author′s subjective assessment.

Describes the perceptions of administrators of post‐secondary institutions in Alberta with respect to various aspects of the resource‐environment of their institutions. While administrators of post‐secondary institutions in Alberta are divided on the issue of government funding ideology, the vast majority of them agreed that the attitude of the government to funding was changing. Other problems of concern to these administrators include the lack of public awareness of the true situation in their institutions, the growing competition among post‐secondary institutions, and the unpredictable funding direction from the government. Recommends a clear funding direction with multi‐year budget plan and internal restructuring to prepare for an increasingly competitive environment.

Both the criteria which can be used to assess the effectiveness of schools and the means by which effectiveness can be increased have received considerable attention during the last two decades. These criteria have usually been shown to revolve around school climate, leadership, shared decision making, effective teaching, and parental and community involvement. However, identification of universal criteria has been criticised on grounds such as poor methodology, differences in context and culture, assumptions of causality, and neglect of the influence of the external environment. Primary schools have goals and styles of operation which contrast markedly with those of secondary schools. Using approaches which differed from those commonly used in effectiveness studies, two Alberta studies asked principals (headteachers) to identify items which were (a) critical for planning and (b) important for judging the overall effectiveness of primary schools. Emphasis was placed on climate, high expectations for students, leadership, the morale and satisfaction of staff and students, effective teaching and student attitudes.

This study was undertaken in 1971–72 to compare the proportions of staff in various types of positions in public K—12 education in two Australian states and two Canadian provinces. For reasons of accessibility of data, cost, travel time, and familiarity of the researcher with the systems, the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia were selected as being representative of structurally “centralized” and “decentralized” educational systems. In addition, the study has as asociated objectives the comparison of (1) the proportions of salaries paid to personnel in various types of positions, and (2) the various administrative structures.

Explores the perceptions of junior high‐school principals about constraints on their leadership effectiveness and the overall effectiveness of their schools. Data were collected in Alberta, Canada, using a questionnaire completed by 87 per cent of the 108 junior high principals and an interview conducted with ten principals. The most frequently listed constraints on leadership effectiveness were inadequate funding, time taken dealing with problem students, and inadequate physical facilities, while the most frequently listed constraints on school effectiveness were financial support by the province, financial support by the school system, and ineffective provincial leadership. Different perceptions of constraints on effectiveness were associated with selected demographic variables including the number of years served as principal and the number of years the school had been in operation. Several constraint‐resolution strategies were recommended by respondents, including redistribution of budget allocations.

Describes a study which examined expectations for academic leadership of, and sharing of authority by, departmental heads in a community college, a technical institute, and a university in Alberta, Canada. Information was obtained from questionnaires completed by 20 deans, 123 incumbent department heads, and 17 faculty association executive members; and also from interviews with 17 department heads and three senior administrators. Several substantial differences were noted in the information provided by respondents classified by position and type of institution.

David Peace’s Red Riding quartet ( 1974; 1977; 1980; 1983 ) was published in the UK between 1999 and 2002. The novels are an excoriating portrayal of the violences of men, focusing on paedophilia and child murder, the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper and, predominantly, the blurring of boundaries between the activities of police officers, criminals and entrepreneurs. This chapter aims to examine the way in which the criminal entrepreneur draws on socially constructed ideas of masculinity and the capitalist ideal in order to establish identity. This will be achieved through an examination of John Dawson, a character central to the UK Channel Four/Screen Yorkshire’s Red Riding Trilogy, the filmed version of the novels, first screened in 2009. The central role of networks of powerful men in creating space for the criminal entrepreneur and the cultural similarities between police officers and criminal entrepreneur will be explored.

Using the research approach of bricolage, the chapter provides a reflexive commentary on the films, drawing on a number of other texts and sources, including news accounts of featured events and interviews with the author David Peace and the series co-producer Jamie Nuttgens – an analysis of the texts, using a framework suggested by van Dijk (1993) and McKee (2003) features.

The centrality of the idea of hegemonic masculinity to the activities of both police officers, and criminals and businessmen and Hearn’s (2004) assertion that the cultural ideal and institutional power are inextricably linked are examined through an analysis of the role of Dawson (and his three linked characters in the novels) in the Red Riding Trilogy.

The chapter provides an analysis of one film series but could provide a template to apply to other texts in relation to topic.

The social implications of the findings of the research are discussed in relation to work on the impact of media representations (Dyer, 1993; Hall, 1997).

It is intended that the chapter will add to the growing body of academic work on the criminal entrepreneur and the ways in which media representation of particular groups may impact on public perception and construction of social policy.