While often cited as one of the most rewarding professions, teaching is demanding, technically challenging, and more closely scrutinized by the public than ever. Although research has helped the education community better understand how children learn and how to support and develop educators, teachers report more dissatisfaction with their jobs…

In PISA 2009, Finland and Singapore were both ranked high among the participating nations and have caught much attention internationally. However, a secondary analysis of the means for Reading achievement show that the differences are rather small and are attributable to spurious precision. Hence, the two nations should be considered as being on…

This chapter provides a historical and practical background on the evolution and responsibilities of administering study abroad programs for U.S. college and university students.

Purpose: To investigate the problems of practice experienced by novice school principals as they transition into their new occupation, focusing in particular on the first 3 months on the job--a critical transition period according to the literature. Research Methods/Approach: This theory-building, mixed-methods, longitudinal study examines a…

Finland's education system is regarded as one of the most effective in the world. Shared values of the Finnish welfare society continue to influence national education policies that determine how education is organized, governed, and led. Findings from a national study of the superintendency, however, suggest recent demographic and financial…

The underlying theoretical argument in this article views municipal school superintendents in the Nordic context as middle managers in organizational theory terminology. Empirical support for this discussion emerges from national data collected among Norwegian school superintendents in 2009. Findings show that the actual work and leadership…

During recent decades, the rise of the global economy launched a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. Heightened concern about the quality of schools launched what is arguably the most pervasive, intense, and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. Examinations of the…

This study provides empirical data about the role and work context of the school principal in the Lebanon. The study applied grounded theory methods in collecting and analysing the data. The data were collected through a series of open-ended interviews with 53 secondary school principals, and focus group interviews with 8 principals from public as…

Herein, we address the reformation of Ontario early learning. Over the next 3 years, all 4- and 5-year-olds in Ontario (Canada) will be able to attend full-day early learning with child care, before and after school provided by the Government of Ontario Ministry of Education. The benefits of such a change are both academic and societal and are…

According to a 2010 survey on how university presidents spent their time, the respondents revealed that on a list of six common responsibilities, the one to which they devoted the least attention was "academic affairs." Derek Bok writes in this article that, although this finding seems to have attracted little attention, he finds it…

In this article, David Watson debates the pros and cons of leadership skills in both a small and large university. Watson relates his own experiences regarding the changing atmosphere of leadership. He states that his experiences have caused him to reflect on what is genuinely generic about individual capacities for institutional leadership: that…

In England, governing bodies continue to be responsible for the conduct of publicly funded schools. This article compares the governing of publicly funded primary schools (for 5-11 year olds) and secondary schools (for 11-18 year olds). The research analysed policy documents and the governing of 16 primary and 14 secondary schools. The main…

Significant changes have taken place in the governance of education systems around the world. Shifts in education policy have led to a focus towards reform through leadership development and away from school management analysis. This shift in policy from management to leadership has fostered a large number of academic studies presenting a…

The research pivoted on the question whether South African school principals fulfilled their caring role towards teachers. The aims of the study were threefold. First, to determine how principals rated their care-giving, secondly to determine whether significant discrepancies existed between principals' rating of their care-giving and…

Within an era of seemingly ever-increasing school accountability to both Federal and State jurisdictions in Australia, the impact of such requirements has received little attention in the literature. This research project was designed specifically to investigate the impact of compliance requirements on school leaders' workloads. The…