A case study of listening to educators

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dc.contributor.advisorMcNeill, John L.
dc.contributor.authorMurray, David Wayne
dc.coverage.spatial2000001879en
dc.date.accessioned2005-07-29T21:16:55Z
dc.date.available2005-07-29T21:16:55Z
dc.date.issued1996
dc.descriptionBibliography: p. 264-288.en
dc.description.abstractIn British Columbia, the matter of effectiveness has been a particularly powerful concern, as demands for a higher quality education system were expressed during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a time of extended conflict in the realm of public education. Difficulty in meeting these demands made school district administrative personnel, that is, those who were directly accountable to their respective School Boards and communities, especially vulnerable to public scrutiny and criticism. As a consequence, school district administrators needed to probe the views of their stakeholders to find ways to improve the nature of work life, that is, to develop and maintain an organisational culture conducive to an effective administrative process. But the problem was that there was no practical means of inquiring into overall school district effectiveness through stakeholder participatory input. In response, the purpose of this thesis was to explore a practical-collaborative approach to study the general administrative effectiveness of a school district. To accomplish this task, it was necessary to research the symbiotic relationship between the organisational culture and the administrative process. And a fundamental conclusion that can be drawn from this thesis for future research is that culture cannot be separated from the institutions and processes that are incorporated into the administrative process. This thesis argues that organisational culture embodies prior negotiations and accommodations made by stakeholders, and by defining the realm of preferred norms it thereby ties the administrative process to the future. The rationale for the interpretive approach taken in this thesis emerged from a challenge to the assumption of potential availability of complete information. The interpretive approach challenged the assumption of determinacy, and instead pointed to the fundamental indeterminacy of social knowledge. But at the same time, in a practical manner this thesis recognised the goal-oriented activities of the administrative process, which are based on the belief that more informed decisions are better decisions. Evidence of indeterminacy and of attempts to come to better informed decisions existed in a dynamic tension. Therefore, the practical-collaborative framework carried out in this thesis followed a way of thinking about administration that was both interpretive and reflexive. As this thesis accomplished the purpose of providing formative feedback for improved operational, curricular, and instructional policies and practices in the school district, an argument supporting a practical-collaborative approach for inquiring into school district effectiveness was made. As this thesis reported, school district effectiveness could be determined in a manner acceptable to the stakeholders of the school district that it served, for the evolutionary nature of this research served in the development of long-range plans for school district improvement and overall effectiveness.
dc.format.extentxi, 342 leaves ; 30 cm.en
dc.identifier.citationMurray, D. W. (1996). A case study of listening to educators (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/21055en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/21055
dc.identifier.isbn0612186318en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/29053
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject.lccAdditional Copy: 370 EDC 1996 MURen
dc.subject.lcshSchool districts - British Columbia - Administration - Case studies
dc.subject.lcshSchool management and organization - British Columbia
dc.titleA case study of listening to educators
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineEducational Research
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
ucalgary.thesis.accessionTheses Collection 58.002:Box 1049 520680442
ucalgary.thesis.additionalcopy370 EDC 1996 MURen
ucalgary.thesis.notesUARCen
ucalgary.thesis.uarcreleaseyen
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