title: Leadership Activities and Behaviours that Enable Classroom Teachers

authors: Al-Abbas, Abdullah Adlan

subjects: Leadership Behaviours

abstract: Leadership has a well researched and significant influence on the quality of school organisation and student learning. Much of the research has centred on educational leadership theory and the opinions and perspectives of serving principals. In Saudi Arabia there is little research that considers the leadership needs of schools from teacher perspectives. This project investigates the most influential and important leadership behaviours and activities displayed by principals that enable and support classroom teachers. The research is undertaken from the perspective of classroom teachers to ascertain their views regarding these enabling behaviours. It explores ways in which various leadership behaviours could influence the quality of classroom teaching and learning, and support the work of classroom teachers. The report includes a literature review that contributes to building a local literature base for Saudi Arabia, focusing on quality school leadership.

text: Leadership Activities and Behaviours that Enable Classroom Teachers Leadership has a well researched and significant influence on the quality of school organisation and student learning. Much of the research has centred on educational leadership theory and the opinions and perspectives of serving principals. In Saudi Arabia there is little research that considers the leadership needs of schools from teacher perspectives. This project investigates the most influential and important leadership behaviours and activities displayed by principals that enable and support classroom teachers. The research is undertaken from the perspective of classroom teachers to ascertain their views regarding these enabling behaviours. It explores ways in which various leadership behaviours could influence the quality of classroom teaching and learning, and support the work of classroom teachers. The report includes a literature review that contributes to building a local literature base for Saudi Arabia, focusing on quality school leadership.

year: 2010

title: Mediational engagement in E-learning: An Activity Theory analysis

authors: Pahala Gedera, Dilani Sampath

subjects: Learner engagement

abstract: The emergence of educational technologies offers flexible learning opportunities to students. However, the nature of the online learning environment can lead to disengagement and subsequent minimal participation, which present challenges and concerns in relation to students’ learning. Therefore, in order for learners to have positive learning experiences, it is vital to identify factors that affect students’ engagement in online learning environments.

Although the use of learning management systems (LMS) as an asynchronous e-learning platform can influence learner engagement, there is little research on these influences and the ways in which an LMS affects engagement. In addition, studies on students’ perceptions of learning and engagement with synchronous and asynchronous technologies are under-explored. In response to these concerns, this research sets out to gain a better understanding of students’ engagement in e-learning activities. In particular, the study examines mediating factors that affect students’ engagement in e-learning activities in a range of e-learning contexts at the University of Waikato. The study also aims to explore the affordances and constraints of some e-learning tools and their influence on students’ engagement in this context.

The research was carried out in the form of three case studies and students and lecturers of the three courses in three different university departments participated in this study. Qualitative data collection methods used in the research were interviews, observations and document analysis. The data were collected throughout the duration of the courses.

In exploring the factors that affect students’ engagement in e-learning activities and how the various elements operate together, Engstrom’s (1987) Activity Theory was used as the research framework. Activity theory helps describe learning activities, mediating tools, relationships between elements of activity systems and goals and objectives of activities. The constituents of an activity system include subject, object, tools, rules, community and division of labour. An activity system framework allowed this research to examine the relationships between these elements and also the way elements affect each other.

Findings indicated that students’ active participation in the three cases was mediated by the educational technologies, the learning materials, the design of the course and the English language.  The analysis also showed that the lecturers’ technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) was reflected through the design of the courses and consequently influenced students’ learning. The development of an online learning community also benefitted students’ learning. Some deliberate strategies like creating spaces for communication both in general and in specific modules provided students with opportunities to work collaboratively, share ideas and useful information, and learn from each other. These interactions also facilitated close connections among students. The guidelines that specified information about the format of written or oral presentations, duration or length, level of formality, assessment criteria/marking guidelines and referencing guidelines also acted as a mediator and influenced the way students participated in activities in all three case studies. The analysis also indicated the importance of participants’ responsibilities in their courses. In particular, as a result of lecturers not defining both their roles and those of their students, some misunderstandings, confusions and frustrations occurred. These mediated students’ engagement.

Insights gained from this study related to affordances and constrains of some e-learning tools and their influence on students’ engagement may be of benefit to tertiary educators. The pedagogical strategies that are suggested at the end of this thesis can also be of use to teachers and instructional designers when designing online courses. Overall, the findings confirm the importance of providing appropriate conditions for learner engagement in online learning contexts, and significance of lecturers’ technological pedagogical knowledge on learner engagement and positive learning experiences.

text: Mediational engagement in E-learning: An Activity Theory analysis The emergence of educational technologies offers flexible learning opportunities to students. However, the nature of the online learning environment can lead to disengagement and subsequent minimal participation, which present challenges and concerns in relation to students’ learning. Therefore, in order for learners to have positive learning experiences, it is vital to identify factors that affect students’ engagement in online learning environments.

Although the use of learning management systems (LMS) as an asynchronous e-learning platform can influence learner engagement, there is little research on these influences and the ways in which an LMS affects engagement. In addition, studies on students’ perceptions of learning and engagement with synchronous and asynchronous technologies are under-explored. In response to these concerns, this research sets out to gain a better understanding of students’ engagement in e-learning activities. In particular, the study examines mediating factors that affect students’ engagement in e-learning activities in a range of e-learning contexts at the University of Waikato. The study also aims to explore the affordances and constraints of some e-learning tools and their influence on students’ engagement in this context.

The research was carried out in the form of three case studies and students and lecturers of the three courses in three different university departments participated in this study. Qualitative data collection methods used in the research were interviews, observations and document analysis. The data were collected throughout the duration of the courses.

In exploring the factors that affect students’ engagement in e-learning activities and how the various elements operate together, Engstrom’s (1987) Activity Theory was used as the research framework. Activity theory helps describe learning activities, mediating tools, relationships between elements of activity systems and goals and objectives of activities. The constituents of an activity system include subject, object, tools, rules, community and division of labour. An activity system framework allowed this research to examine the relationships between these elements and also the way elements affect each other.

Findings indicated that students’ active participation in the three cases was mediated by the educational technologies, the learning materials, the design of the course and the English language.  The analysis also showed that the lecturers’ technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) was reflected through the design of the courses and consequently influenced students’ learning. The development of an online learning community also benefitted students’ learning. Some deliberate strategies like creating spaces for communication both in general and in specific modules provided students with opportunities to work collaboratively, share ideas and useful information, and learn from each other. These interactions also facilitated close connections among students. The guidelines that specified information about the format of written or oral presentations, duration or length, level of formality, assessment criteria/marking guidelines and referencing guidelines also acted as a mediator and influenced the way students participated in activities in all three case studies. The analysis also indicated the importance of participants’ responsibilities in their courses. In particular, as a result of lecturers not defining both their roles and those of their students, some misunderstandings, confusions and frustrations occurred. These mediated students’ engagement.

Insights gained from this study related to affordances and constrains of some e-learning tools and their influence on students’ engagement may be of benefit to tertiary educators. The pedagogical strategies that are suggested at the end of this thesis can also be of use to teachers and instructional designers when designing online courses. Overall, the findings confirm the importance of providing appropriate conditions for learner engagement in online learning contexts, and significance of lecturers’ technological pedagogical knowledge on learner engagement and positive learning experiences.

year: 2014

title: Te Puea Herangi: an ethno-biographical study

authors: King, Michael

abstract: Early explanations of Maori leadership (for example Buck 1950) tended to emphasize the principle of male primogeniture - the expectation that community leadership would in the normal course of affairs pass to the eldest sons of lines of first-born males. Later studies of Western-educated leaders and those with a non-traditional power base (see Butterworth 1969, Cody 1953, Condliffe 1971, and Henderson 1972) continued to emphasize male primacy. Against the tenor of these studies, however, is the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century the Maori King Movement was dominated and welded together by a woman who preached male primogeniture though her life seemed to contradict the principle; Te Puea Herangi was not of a senior descent line and neither compensated for its absence by a substantial degree of European education nor consolidated her position by marriage. Nor was she simply a forceful leader in Maori terms only: Professor J.G.A. Pocock (in The Maori and New Zealand Politics) called her “possibly the most influential woman in our political history”.

This study examines Te Puea's leadership role: how she came to assume it, how she exercised it, and its consequences. Analytical concepts like Max Weber's distinctions between charismatic, traditional and rational-legal authority, have been avoided. The danger of adopting them is that the themes and emphases of research material can be easily and unintentionally warped to fit the model, in the interests of tidiness and intelligibility. Instead, this study proceeds by way of a detailed and chronological examination of the major events of Te Puea's life, and an evaluation of actions and statements as they occur and in the context in which they occur. It is, in other words, a consideration of Te Puea's life in terms of her own concepts, and in relation to the Maori and wider public affairs of her day. Explanations for her behaviour are sought within the boundaries of her own life and culture rather than from the imposition of alien models.

text: Te Puea Herangi: an ethno-biographical study Early explanations of Maori leadership (for example Buck 1950) tended to emphasize the principle of male primogeniture - the expectation that community leadership would in the normal course of affairs pass to the eldest sons of lines of first-born males. Later studies of Western-educated leaders and those with a non-traditional power base (see Butterworth 1969, Cody 1953, Condliffe 1971, and Henderson 1972) continued to emphasize male primacy. Against the tenor of these studies, however, is the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century the Maori King Movement was dominated and welded together by a woman who preached male primogeniture though her life seemed to contradict the principle; Te Puea Herangi was not of a senior descent line and neither compensated for its absence by a substantial degree of European education nor consolidated her position by marriage. Nor was she simply a forceful leader in Maori terms only: Professor J.G.A. Pocock (in The Maori and New Zealand Politics) called her “possibly the most influential woman in our political history”.

This study examines Te Puea's leadership role: how she came to assume it, how she exercised it, and its consequences. Analytical concepts like Max Weber's distinctions between charismatic, traditional and rational-legal authority, have been avoided. The danger of adopting them is that the themes and emphases of research material can be easily and unintentionally warped to fit the model, in the interests of tidiness and intelligibility. Instead, this study proceeds by way of a detailed and chronological examination of the major events of Te Puea's life, and an evaluation of actions and statements as they occur and in the context in which they occur. It is, in other words, a consideration of Te Puea's life in terms of her own concepts, and in relation to the Maori and wider public affairs of her day. Explanations for her behaviour are sought within the boundaries of her own life and culture rather than from the imposition of alien models.

year: 1977