Purpose: Executive isolation, also known as workplace loneliness, its factors and impact are major issues for organizational development, future of work for leadership and learning culture. The purpose of this study is to examine the Executive isolation phenomenon where relationships between power distance, organizational culture and executive…

This qualitative study considers which aspects of school climate support or inhibit student achievement as each aspect relates to school leadership and school reform efforts. Due to the increased responsibility and accountability which schools face during these challenging times, school climate and the role of the school principal formed the basis…

In this article, William Ayers constructs his Phil Smith Lecture as a call to action. Grounded in democratic principles of equality and social justice, the author invokes a liberal conception of human worth and the universal right to educational opportunity. The author critiques the passivity of the American polity in the face of Barack Obama's…

This study assesses whether Tufts University's campus culture was successful at infusing civic-mindedness in all undergraduates. Civically-minded undergraduates were defined as students who were involved in civic engagement activities as well as those who held civic attitudes and values. A structural equation model was developed and findings…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have brought new possibilities to the education sector, but at the same time, they have placed more demands on teachers. They now have to learn how to cope with computers in their classrooms, how to compete with students in accessing the vast body of information chiefly via internet and how to use…

This paper is based on a keynote speech delivered to the AUA Annual Conference, Belfast, April 2006. It discusses the concept of organisational development as it applies to universities, where internally developed approaches applying some of the core principles of standard frameworks are the norm. The author discusses several organisational…

The leadership task for a new age of schools is to stimulate continuous innovation, rather than to manage for compliance using outdated standards of work. This paper presents a typology of work cultures--the varying work conditions of schools and the challenges they present to principals in developing high-performance work cultures. Data were…

This speech addresses the issue of excellence and leadership in academia. The speech begins with a review of what excellence is, how it is judged, and why it is important. It is argued that educational institutions, although they strive for excellence, do not always attain it, or else they present cosmetic approaches to make it appear they've…

Based on a review of the literature, the author summarizes and evaluates research on the role of principals in effective schools and suggests additional factors needing study. Her review identifies nine features of effective principals and schools, involving commitment to academic goals, academic expectations, school climates that facilitate…

This paper is a proposal to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on ways to evaluate its environment for multicultural living and education. The paper begins by discussing the nature and definition of a multicultural society in higher education and the nation and minority population trends into the next century. The next issue examined…

Findings from a study that explored the relationship between school restructuring and school leadership are presented in this paper. Specifically, the research examined the processes involved in implementing the Primary Program, the first stage of British Columbia's "Year 2000" plan for the first 4 years of education. A survey of 2,547…

Attention within counseling psychology has broadened in the last decade to include the larger community within which an individual exists. Measures of the eight elements of community identification by Roberts (1980) were administered to students on two residence hall floors. The group on one floor served as an experimental group and explored in…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the influence of the principal's leadership style on school climate and student achievement. Three survey instruments--the Leadership Behavioral Matrix, the Tennessee School Climate Inventory, and the Group Openness and Trust Scale--were administered to 20 principals and 506 teachers in 20…

Presenting a framework for brain-compatible learning and literacy education implemented in grades K-5 in Carroll County (Georgia) schools, this group presentation describes brain-based education as being aware and familiar with the most recent research that is out there about how brains learn best and what facilitates brains' learning and…

This paper presents findings of a study that explored how staff and parents experienced one school's environment, particularly, the relationship between the principal's caring leadership and the school's environment. The Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Center in Peoria, Illinois, served preprimary and primary grades. Seventy-five percent of the…