School Leadership, Epistemological Beliefs, and Governance: Exploring New Directions

Author(s):

Petros Pashiardis(presenting / submitting)Stefan Brauckmann(presenting)Panayiota Kendeou Athena Michaelidou

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

26. Educational Leadership

Format:

Paper

Session Information

26 SES 02 A,

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-13

15:15-16:45

Room:

JK 25/132,G, 20

Chair:

Helen Wildy

Contribution

School leadership has been identified by a number of researchers as a key element in the effectiveness of school organizations (Gronn & Ribbins, 2003; Pashiardis & Brauckmann, 2009; Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005). In their endeavor to raise school performance, principals employ various leadership styles which can be defined as the sets of practices, behaviors and/or actions that are used to provide direction and guidance to the school. School principals’ leadership styles are likely to be influenced by their epistemological beliefs, namely beliefs about the nature and acquisition of knowledge (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Schommer, 1990). However, up to date no attempts have been made to explore this relation. Moreover, principals’ leadership styles influence and, are being influenced, by their beliefs about the contextual and governance structures in which they operate such as, for example steering patterns and accountability provisions (Brauckmann & Pashiardis 2009; Leithwood, & Jantzi, 2005). Similarly, little research has been undertaken to explore this relation. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to explore the relation between the leadership styles school principals adopt when leading their schools and their epistemological worldviews (i.e. holistic beliefs about the nature and acquisition of knowledge) within the changing policy environments and organisational arrangements in which they operate (i.e., situational governance with regards to school context and system level differences). We hypothesize that epistemological worldviews and beliefs about educational governance structures co-determine the principals’ leadership style or styles by imposing certain constraints on principals’ decision making, learning, and practices. At this stage of our project, the conceptual framework will be presented depicting the relationships between the main variables investigated. Moreover, the results from the quantitative part of the research will be described and the implications arising from the results will be discussed.

Method

Three structured questionnaires were developed and validated in order to assess principals’ leadership styles, epistemological beliefs, and beliefs about the contextual and educational governance structures in which they operate. The three questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 273 primary and secondary education principals working in urban and rural schools in Cyprus. Qualitative data collection has also been conducted using a sub-sample of 30 primary and 25 secondary school principals, to enhance the validity of the quantitative data. The qualitative data collection involved a think-aloud task (Kendeou, 2010) during which principals were asked to read and reflect out loud about a complex problem in a school context involving teachers, students and parents. While reading out-loud the case study, one sentence at a time, participants were asked to think-aloud at pre-specified points. Principals’ responses to the think-aloud tasks have been transcribed and will be coded based on a coding scheme developed from the constructs extracted from the quantitative analysis.

Expected Outcomes

The quantitative data analysis followed two steps. First, the questionnaire data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis to identify the underlying structure of the questionnaires and to evaluate its reliability. Second, SEM was used to test models depicting various relationships between the identified constructs of interest: leadership styles, epistemological worldviews or beliefs, and governance structures. With regards to the qualitative data, the frequency of responses for each think-aloud category will be analyzed through Cluster Analysis to explore the degree to which clustering of variables corresponds to the relations identified in the SEM models. Validating questionnaire data with the think-aloud data will strengthen potential conclusions drawn from either methodology alone. The findings from this research have important theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical standpoint, modeling and testing these relations will provide insight into how different factors influence, and are being influenced, by the ways principals lead their schools. In practical terms, the findings will inform the design of evidence-based, school leadership training programs that take into consideration important factors that influence how principals lead schools. In effect, this research responds to the European goal of enhancing the competences of our society in managing complex situations within a lifelong learning context.

References

Brauckmann, S. and Pashiardis P. (2009). From PISA to LISA: New Educational Governance and school leadership: Exploring the foundations of a new relationship in an international context. Paper presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Diego, USA. Gronn, P., & Ribbins, P. (2003). Evolving Formations: The Making of Secondary School Principals on Selected Small Islands. In P. Pashiardis & P. Ribbins (Ed.). International Studies in Educational Administration. Special Issue on the Making of Secondary School Principals on Selected Small Islands, 31(2), 76-94. Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88-140. Kendeou, P. (2010, August). Think-aloud paradigms. Invited workshop paper presented at the Society for Text and Discourse meeting workshop, Chicago, IL. Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2005). A review of transformational school leadership research 1996-2005. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 4 (3), 177-199. Marzano, R.J. Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005). School Leadership that Works. From Research to Results. USA: ASCD and MCREL. Pashiardis, P. & Brauckmann, S. (2009, December). From PISA to LISA: Searching for the right leadership cocktail mix across Europe. Paper presented at the Cyprus Educational Administration Society Conference “The Leader of the 21st century School”, Nicosia, Cyprus. Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 498-504.

Author Information

Petros Pashiardis (presenting / submitting)

Open University of Cyprus

Nicosia

Stefan Brauckmann (presenting)

German Institute for International Educational Research, GERMANY

Panayiota Kendeou

Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus

Athena Michaelidou

Centre for Educational Research and Evaluation, Cyprus

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