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Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Frauke Meyer, Deidre M. Le Fevre and Viviane M.J. Robinson

The notion of vulnerability underlies relationships of trust. Trust between leaders and staff is needed to solve concerns that hinder equity and excellence in teaching and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The notion of vulnerability underlies relationships of trust. Trust between leaders and staff is needed to solve concerns that hinder equity and excellence in teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how leaders show vulnerability by disclosing own possible contributions to concerns they try to resolve.

Design/methodology/approach

Data included transcripts of conversations held by 27 educational leaders about a concern with another staff and a questionnaire about the nature, causes and history of the concern. Questionnaire analysis identified if and how leaders described their own possible contribution prior to the conversation. Transcript analysis identified instances of leaders’ contribution disclosure.

Findings

Results indicate that while two-thirds of leaders identified an own contribution, when prompted prior to the conversation, one-third saw no own contribution. Leaders indicated contributing by not acting on the concern, by acting in ways inappropriate or insufficient to resolve the concern, or by not clearly communicating their concern in the past. Eight of the 27 leaders publicly disclosed their contribution in the actual conversation. In some conversations this disclosure prompted reciprocal disclosure of information about the concern and its causes by the other person, aiding a more effective concern resolution.

Originality/value

Through examining leaders’ interpersonal behavior in difficult conversations, the importance of leaders’ acknowledgments of own mistakes and communication of their own vulnerability is highlighted. A positive view of vulnerability is argued for, epistemic vulnerability, which manifests itself in the willingness to be honest and open to learning by accepting one’s own fallibility.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

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Article
Publication date: 20 July 2021

Susan Kemper Patrick, Laura K. Rogers, Ellen Goldring, Christine M. Neumerski and Viviane Robinson

Leadership coaching is an increasingly popular development tool for school principals. However, specific coaching behaviors are rarely conceptualized or examined in prior…

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Abstract

Purpose

Leadership coaching is an increasingly popular development tool for school principals. However, specific coaching behaviors are rarely conceptualized or examined in prior research. This study presents a coaching behavior framework and then analyzes actual coaching conversations between principals and coaches to illustrate how specific coaching behaviors create opportunities for principals to reflect and think critically about their leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on theories of interpersonal learning, the authors develop a framework of coaching behaviors to distinguish coaching inquiries and assertions that facilitate critique and reflection and, therefore, activate opportunities for learning. The authors use this framework to code transcripts of 55 principal coaching sessions. The authors analyze the prevalence of certain coaching behaviors and then examine qualitative patterns in how the use of certain behaviors shapes the nature of coaching conversations.

Findings

Only about one-third of coded coaching behaviors in the analytic sample are categorized as coaching inquiries and assertions that activate opportunities for learning. In the qualitative comparisons of extracts from coaching conversations, the authors find coaches' use of these behaviors produced richer, more meaningful dialogue.

Originality/value

Unlike much of the past research on leadership coaching, this analysis examines what happens in conversations between coaches and principals. This framework could be applied to a broad range of coaching programs intended to promote professional learning.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 59 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Abstract

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A Developmental and Negotiated Approach to School Self-Evaluation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-704-7

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Article
Publication date: 17 March 2016

Claire Sinnema, Larry Ludlow and Viviane Robinson

The purposes of this study are, firstly, to establish the psychometric properties of the ELP tool, and, secondly, to test, using a Rasch item response theory analysis, the…

1979

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this study are, firstly, to establish the psychometric properties of the ELP tool, and, secondly, to test, using a Rasch item response theory analysis, the hypothesized progression of challenge presented by the items included in the tool.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected at two time points through a survey of the educational leadership practices of school principals (n = 148) and their teachers (n = 5,425). The survey comprised seven effectiveness scales relating to school-wide dimensions of leadership, and one scale relating to the effectiveness of individual principals’ leadership. We undertook validation of the hypothesized structure of the eight ELP scales using the Rasch rating scale model.

Findings

We established constructs that underpin leadership practices that are more and less effectively performed and determined the nature of their progression from those that are relatively routine through those that are more rigorous and challenging to enact. Furthermore, a series of analyses suggest strong goodness-of-model fit, unidimensionality, and invariance across time and educator group for the eight ELP scales

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on experienced principals - future studies could usefully include school leaders who are new to their role or compare leadership patterns of higher and lower performing schools. A useful future direction would be to investigate the predictive validity of the ELP tool.

Practical implications

Originality/value

This study reveals the ELP is a useful tool both for diagnosing leadership effectiveness and, given that it is essentially stable over time, may prove useful for charting the effectiveness of leadership development interventions.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration , vol. 54 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 21 March 2008

Viviane M.J. Robinson

Several arguments have been put forward about why distributed leadership in schools should contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning. This paper aims to investigate…

6729

Abstract

Purpose

Several arguments have been put forward about why distributed leadership in schools should contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning. This paper aims to investigate the extent to which conceptual and empirical research in the field is aligned to this goal.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion of alignment was structured around two differing and overlapping conceptions of distributed leadership. The first conception examines the distribution of the leadership of those tasks designated by researchers as leadership tasks. The second conception examines the distribution of influence processes.

Findings

The paper finds that the first conception has the advantage of giving leadership educational content by embedding it in the tasks and interactions that constitute educational work. The selected leadership tasks are typically not specified, however, in ways that discriminate the qualities required to make a positive difference to student outcomes. The knowledge base needed to make such discrimination is found in outcomes‐linked research on the selected educational tasks rather than in research on generic leadership and organisational theory. There is also little attention to the influence processes that are at the heart of leadership. While the second approach pays more attention to these influence processes, its generic treatment of leadership limits the possibility of finding and forging stronger links to student outcomes.

Originality/value

The paper highlights that research which integrates both concepts of distributed leadership, in suitably modified form, is likely to be a productive way of making stronger links between distributed leadership and student outcomes. The linkage requires more explicit use of the evidence base on the improvement of teaching and learning.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 10 August 2012

Karen Seashore Louis and Viviane M. Robinson

The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability…

4027

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability policies affects their work. It is posited that school leaders’ responses to external accountability are likely to reflect a complex interaction between their perception of the accountability policies, the state and district contexts in which those policies are situated and their own leadership beliefs and practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use both principal and teacher survey data to explore the question of how perceptions of external policy are associated with instructional leadership behaviors. Cases of seven principals are employed to flesh out the findings from the survey analysis.

Findings

It is concluded that external accountability policy may have a positive impact on instructional leadership – where they see those policies as aligned with their own values and preferences, and where they see their district leaders as supportive of school‐driven accountability initiatives. In these cases, school leaders internalize the external accountability policies and shape them to the particular needs that they see as priorities in their own school. Where one or the other of these factors is weak or missing, on the other hand, leaders demonstrate more negative attitudes to external accountability and weaker instructional leadership.

Originality/value

This analysis draws on a unique, large‐scale data base and uses a mixed methods approach to answer the question.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 50 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2001

Viviane M.J. Robinson

While in agreement with the broad coherentist approach of Evers and Lakomski, the position taken here is that coherentism, in itself, does not provide a sufficiently developed…

1877

Abstract

While in agreement with the broad coherentist approach of Evers and Lakomski, the position taken here is that coherentism, in itself, does not provide a sufficiently developed normative framework to underpin an ethics of educational administration. The coherentist approach to ethics is that the requirements of survival and social problem solving ensure the development of neurally‐based moral prototypes. Following writers such as Clark and Flanagan, argues that the normative resources of coherentism should be enriched by sententially expressed normative standards, and that the approach to such standards taken by virtue ethicists is fruitful. Virtue ethicists reject a rule‐based approach to morality and embrace the idea of moral prototypes. This is consistent with a naturalised epistemology, including the learning of ethical administrative practice.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2001

Viviane M.J. Robinson

The dual purpose of this paper is to locate the contribution of Argyris and Schon to the field of organisational learning, and to discuss aspects of their work which are…

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Abstract

The dual purpose of this paper is to locate the contribution of Argyris and Schon to the field of organisational learning, and to discuss aspects of their work which are particularly distinctive or controversial. There are two distinct strands of research on organisational learning. The descriptive strand, with its roots in social and cognitive psychology, seeks to understand the processes by which organisations learn and adapt. The normative strand, which is sometimes referred to as research on the “learning organization”, is concerned more with how organisations can direct their learning in ways that bring them closer to an ideal. While Argyris and Schon, with their emphasis on intervention and improvement, belong to the latter normative strand, they have also contributed greatly to the descriptive strand because their normative theorising is grounded in detailed empirical study of organisational processes. The article contrasts Argyris and Schon’s account of learning as the manipulation of symbolic representations of organisational life, with the non‐symbolic, feedback‐driven account of learning offered by many descriptive researchers. It suggests how these two accounts could be integrated by recognising that differing tasks or problems require different learning processes and different types of expertise. This more differentiated approach casts doubt on the notion of a generically capable “learning organisation”. The paper concludes with a call for more researchers to bridge the divide between the descriptive and normative strands of research on organisational learning.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

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Article
Publication date: 27 September 2011

Viviane M.J. Robinson, Stuart McNaughton and Helen Timperley

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two recent examples of the New Zealand Ministry of Education's approach to reducing the persistent disparities in achievement between…

1836

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two recent examples of the New Zealand Ministry of Education's approach to reducing the persistent disparities in achievement between students of different social and ethnic groups. The first example is cluster‐based school improvement, and the second is the development of national standards for literacy and numeracy across the primary sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The evaluative framework used was derived from recent international analyses of the characteristics of school systems, which are either high performers or successful reformers on recent international surveys. Policy documents and evaluation reports provided the evidence on which the evaluation of the two New Zealand (NZ) examples is based.

Findings

The six criteria associated with high system performance and/or reform success were: system‐wide commitment to educational improvement; ambitious universal standards; developing capacity at the point of delivery; professional forms of accountability; strategic resourcing; and institutionalizing the improvement of practice. The present analysis of the NZ reform examples suggests that while there is a broad commitment to more equitable outcomes, a new resolve to introduce and report against national standards, and a high level of espousal of professional accountability, there are significant contradictions between school self‐management and the work that needs to be done to reduce achievement disparities.

Originality/value

This paper's evaluation of these two examples raises important policy questions about the assumptions that are made in the NZ self‐managing system about teacher and leader capability and about where responsibility for school improvement lies.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 49 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2005

Viviane Robinson and Lorrae Ward

This study investigated the conceptions of governance that informed the practices of school trustees, and considered the extent to which those conceptions matched the policy…

1117

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the conceptions of governance that informed the practices of school trustees, and considered the extent to which those conceptions matched the policy imperatives that shaped New Zealand's school governance framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with 32 participants in the governance of New Zealand primary schools. The interviews were structured around four scenarios that described the work of a hypothetical Board. For each scenario, the participants were asked to rate how well the Board did its job and then asked to explain their ratings.

Findings

Conceptions of good governance were dominated by concerns about the quality of relationships and the effectiveness and efficiency of task completion. There was little evidence that educational or democratic values shaped governance activity.

Research limitations/implications

These findings were derived from a small sample of 32 participants, drawn from a disadvantaged, multi‐cultural community. While their generalizability to all New Zealand primary school should not be assumed, the similarity of these themes to those reported in prior New Zealand surveys suggests that this sample may not be atypical.

Originality/value

The originality of this study is that it presents a methodology for discovering the extent to which key policy ideas are reflected in the understanding of those who are intended to carry them out.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 43 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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