Cracking under pressure? A case study of RAAC closure on the exam cohorts of St Leonard’s Catholic school

"Faith leadership as a critical dimension of the role of the Catholic secondary school principal within the Diocese of Lismore is the focus of this study. Set in the context of constant change; ecclesial, social, cultural and educational, this research seeks a more informed and sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon of faith leadership. This topic is problematic within the Diocese of Lismore, with the perception that there is little support for principals in policy or professional development. At the same time there are clear indications of a gap in the research regarding faith leadership especially from the perspective of principals. A comprehensive analysis of key literature in organisational leadership, faith in organisations, values in Christian based organisations and Catholic school leadership, reveals a number of key insights that inform this study. Here faith leadership is shown to be loosely defined with a clear distinction emerging between notions of spirituality and religion. The literature also points to the development of a values-centred congruence between organisational leadership theory and trends in the expression and management of faith and spirituality in the workplace. Thus the literature review establishes faith leadership as the personal and intrinsic motivation behind human action, expressed in human interaction and centred on core values. This finding raises questions regarding the exact nature of the values underpinning faith leadership and their source and expression in contemporary Catholic secondary schools. Based on these insights three research questions are used in this study: How do principals understand the challenge of faith leadership in Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Lismore? How do principals conceptualise faith leadership in Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Lismore? How do principals enact the faith leadership role in secondary schools in the Diocese of Lismore? This research study is informed by the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. As both a perspective and a method, symbolic interactionism is situated within a pragmatic constructivist paradigm of research. This study employed qualitative research methods, including focus group interviews, record analysis, two individual interviews and a research journal. The findings of this research study suggest that Catholic secondary school principals cannot articulate a common understanding of faith leadership and that they also make a clear distinction between personal spirituality and formal religious adherence in their conceptualisation of this facet of their leadership role. Principals also indicate that faith leadership is rendered more challenging by the reality of tensions surrounding the leadership models operating in Catholic secondary schools and differing perceptions of the role and purpose of these schools from the perspective of principals and the clergy. The data also suggest that little effort had been put into the development of a lay spirituality of faith leadership or into the professional support of principals. It is also apparent through this research study that Catholic secondary school principals, despite an absence of a clear policy or institutional definition of faith leadership, have conceptualised this dimension of their leadership role as gospel based meaning making involving an interrelated construct of ‘having’ (skills and knowledge) ‘doing’ (practical leadership action) and being (personal intrinsic motivation sourced in spiritual values). The utilisation of a discourse of personal spirituality and values, alongside a wider rejection of narrow understandings of Catholicity and Catholic school purpose, suggest that the principals involved in this study have redefined or reimagined (Mellor, 2005) what faith leadership means in contemporary Catholic schools. In addition, the absence of a definitive theological basis for this redefinition and calls for a specific understanding of faith leadership from a lay perspective, suggest that this process is ongoing and unfinished. Despite indications in the research data of tension in the leadership models evident in Catholic secondary schools and the impact of significant external and internal challenges to faith leadership and faith expression within the Diocese of Lismore, this research found principals were positive about this aspect of their role and determined to help the students, parents and staff in their school communities connect with the message of Jesus and the richness of the Catholic faith tradition."

Christianity, and specifically Roman Catholicism, is experiencing a period of global growth at the same time as declining affiliation and practice of the Christian faith is evident in many developed nations (Hackett, Stonawski, Potancokova, Grim, & Skirbekk, 2015b). This decline is evident in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2017b). The Roman Catholic Church has responded to the decline in affiliation and practice through an initiative called the New Evangelisation (Pope John Paul II, 1991). The emphasis on the New Evangelisation by the Catholic Church has contributed to the decision by Australian ecclesial and educational leaders to incorporate the New Evangelisation explicitly into the mission of Catholic schools (Catholic Bishops of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 2007). Moreover, programs have been introduced into schools to engage school communities as Centres of the New Evangelisation (Catholic Bishops of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 2007). Consequently, teachers in Catholic schools are expected to be the primary conduits for New Evangelisation initiatives (Pope John Paul II, 2001b, No. 33). The research problem underpinning this study concerns teachers’ understanding of and engagement with the New Evangelisation in Catholic secondary schools. The purpose of this research is to explore how teachers in Catholic secondary schools experience the New Evangelisation. The major research question is: How do teachers in Catholic secondary schools experience the New Evangelisation? The following specific research questions focus the conduct of the research: 1. How do teachers in Catholic secondary schools experience the contemporary expression of Catholicism? 2. How do teachers understand the New Evangelisation? 3. How do teachers respond to the New Evangelisation in Catholic secondary schools? This study is of significance because it may assist in preparing school leaders and teachers appropriately to implement the New Evangelisation by addressing the paucity of research regarding teachers understanding and implementation of the New Evangelisation in Catholic schools. Given the purpose of this study, the research paradigm of interpretivism is adopted. The epistemological framework of constructionism is appropriate as the study explores teachers’ experiences of the New Evangelisation. Symbolic interactionism is the theoretical perspective for this research using case study methodology. Participants are selected purposively from among teachers in a bounded context and data are gathered through the use of documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. The limitations of this study include the case study limitations together with the responsiveness of the participants. A delimitation of the research is the purposive selection of participants. It is the researcher’s intention to ensure a reliable, voluntary and stress-free environment for all participants during the research. Processes to ensure participant confidentiality as well as the reliability and truthfulness of the research are established. This research generates eight conclusions relating to new knowledge, policy and practice. First, teacher participants distinguish between the experience of contemporary Catholicism within the Catholic secondary school and the experience of Catholicism in parishes and the institutional Catholic Church. Second, Catholic schools ensure appropriate expressions of Catholic practice for staff and students and that for many Catholics, the Catholic school is the only community in which they worship. Third, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (ARCIRCSA) has exacerbated the disinterest in, if not rejection of Catholicism by many Catholic students, families and staff. Further, the study concludes that the ARCIRCSA has exacerbated the challenges which teachers experience concerning evangelising in a secular context. Fourth, the concept of the New Evangelisation is problematic for some teachers who are charged with its implementation. Fifth, teacher participants exhibit multiple, contestable and contrasting understandings of the concept of the New Evangelisation. Sixth, the study concludes that there are five distinct issues which mitigate against Australian Catholic secondary schools’ implementation of the New Evangelisation. Seventh, teacher participants implement the New Evangelisation according to their individual understandings of what constitutes the New Evangelisation. Since teachers do not share an agreed purpose for the New Evangelisation, they have multiple and at times conflicting responses to it. Finally, this study concludes that a relatively small number of teachers are responsible for the implementation of the New Evangelisation in Australian Catholic secondary schools.

This thesis constitutes a study of a Catholic secondary school in the State of Victoria, Australia, in the year 2001. It addresses the issue of the nature and purpose of Catholic schools in situ, the focus of the research being an in-depth analytical description of the participant school. Consequently, the findings are of potential relevance to those interested in the issue of the nature and purpose of the Catholic school in situ from a general and holistic perspective. Specifically, given the concern of the research with the nature and purpose of a Catholic school in situ, two anticipated areas of focus for the study were identified. These were the defining features of the school, in relation to the concern of the study with the nature of the school, and the ends of the school, in relation to the concern of the study with the purpose of the school. The study was thus governed by 2 two-part general research questions. 1. What are the defining features of the school, and how are they maintained? 2. To what ends is the school oriented, and how is this orientation sustained? In the form of an ethnographic study, the research describes and interprets the participant school from the perspective of those who constitute the day-to-day community. The findings of the study are located within a contextual understanding involving historical and prescriptive perspectives for, and literature pertaining to, the contemporary Catholic school. Given the concern of the ethnography with the development, as opposed to the verification, of theory, data gathered from five major sources over the period of a school Section headings for the Introduction through to the References have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. Likewise, page numbers have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. year were focused and analysed, through the method of grounded theory, to arrive at the findings of the study.;These five sources were participant-observation, in-depth interviews conducted with a number of the school personnel, observation of various school meetings, school documents, and a survey of the student body. The findings of the study, in their descriptive and analytical dimensions, are presented in four chapters. Specifically, these are presented in Chapters Five through to Eight, in relation to four main organising principles pertaining (a) to the description of the school, (b) to predominant perspectives on the school from within its day-to-day community, (c) to the prevailing characteristics upon which the perspectives of the day-today community turn, and (d) to the theoretical construct consequent upon the description, the predominant perspectives, and the prevailing characteristics. As with the descriptive aspect, to which the first two organising principles predominantly pertain, the interpretive dimension of the findings is largely undertaken in two chapters. The first of these chapters (i.e., Chapter Seven), pertaining to the delineation of the prevailing features evident within the perspectives of the day-to-day community, provides an interpretation of the descriptive findings in terms of an autocratic hegemony, a managerial administrative focus, and a bureaucratic organisational culture. Thus, this chapter signifies the primary analysis of the findings of the two previous chapters through completion of the descriptive dimension. The second of these chapters (i.e., Chapter Eight) places this preliminary analysis of the descriptive findings within a theoretical construct pertaining to concepts of disparity and congruity, opposition and compliance. The concepts of disparity and congruity relate to the school's adherence to ideological and primitive imperatives respectively.;Those of opposition and compliance relate to the degrees of consonance, within the day-to-day community, in terms of assent to the prevailing order within the school. Consequently, it is to be observed that the elements of description and interpretation, essential to the in-depth analytical description demanded of the ethnographic methodological approach, decrease and increase, respectively, across these four chapters. Section headings for the Introduction through to the References have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. Likewise, page numbers have necessarily been deleted for electronic presentation. The study concluded that the nature and purpose of the school were consequent upon its prevailing autocratic hegemony, its pre-eminently managerial administrative focus, and its profoundly bureaucratic organisational culture. These interconnected elements of the school's practices, disparate from the ideological imperatives advocated for the Catholic school, were found to effect a latent opposition within the school community, principally in relation to the teaching personnel, masked by the overall compliance of the day-to-day community with the prevailing order.

Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) is recognised in all Australian states’ and territories’ education systems in the senior secondary certificates of education. The federal government has researched the benefits of VETiS and promoted it as a subject area of worth through both policy and funding. System leadership in schools have also included VETiS in their strategic direction by establishing and resourcing Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to manage the compliance issues associated with the national Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. VETiS is offered in the majority of schools in New South Wales (NSW), including Catholic Schools; however, there are varying levels of implementation within schools along with wide differences in student participation across schools. With government and school leadership placing emphasis on the importance of VETiS as part of the curriculum, it is important to find out why some schools offer less VETiS than others, and why some schools have greater student take-up of VETiS than is found at other schools. Is this a result of limitations imposed by systems and situations which are difficult for schools to change, or is it caused by misunderstanding, misconceptions, or even ignorance, which—if left unchallenged— could have a detrimental impact on students’ academic choices, achievements, and ultimately, their career options? The reasons behind the variation between schools in implementation and participation in VETiS were the focus of this research. The research, situated in rural New South Wales, reports the experiences of four systemic Catholic schools and their students when making decisions in relation to Higher School Certificate (HSC) subjects. The perspectives of the students, parents, teachers and leadership were sought in order to unpack potential reasons for variation among schools and to identify any contributing issues that may impact on VETiS as a subject area of choice. The research utilised case study methodology, employing the epistemological approach of constructionism which is premised on the understanding that meaning is constructed rather than discovered. Constructionism focuses on the assumption that knowledge and meaning as constructed by the participants forms the basis for making judgements and decisions. The issues of subject implementation and subject choice provided the framework for the suite of data collection instruments, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches in a multisite case study. The research identified a number of major characteristics and factors that were found to affect the rate of participation and implementation of VETiS in specific schools. It was found that the combination of specific factors—including the characteristics of students, subject advice, school staff, subject decision processes, school leadership, school vision, school reputation and school culture—impacted on the number of courses implemented in schools and the participation rates of students. The most significant overriding contribution to decision-making both by school leadership and students about VETiS was found to be the school culture, which is established and maintained by school leadership with the principal at the top. Most other issues—curriculum choice, information dissemination, staff attitudes and commitment, and parity of subjects—were found to be a consequence of the school culture and leadership beliefs. In schools where the leadership was responsive to policy and equity issues, the school processes were found to enhance the quality of information provided to students about these subjects—and foster real choice. While the study focused on Catholic schools, the results give valuable insight into the VETiS experience which can be applied to the Australian educational sector more generally.

Introduction There are steadily expanding claims that teacher community contributes to the improvement in the practices of teaching and schooling (cf., Witziers et al., 1999; Little, 2003; Darling-Hammond and Bransford, 2005) as well as individual teacher development and the collective capacity schools (cf., Seashore Louis et al., 1996; Grossman et al., 2001; Imants et al., 2001; Achinstein, 2002; Piazza et al., 2009). In line with Grossman et al. (2001), we are interested in teacher community at the local level, where interaction, dialogue and trust are necessary elements of building cohesion. Based on the definition of community by Bellah et al (1985), we define a teacher community as ‘a group of teachers who are socially interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision making, and share and build knowledge with a group identity, shared domain and goals, and shared interactional repertoire’. This means that we distinguish three core features of a teacher community: group identity, shared domain and goals, and shared interactional repertoire. These features refers to the nature of a community (group identity), what a community is about (shared domain), and how it functions (shared interactional repertoire). In a literature review of Brouwer et al. (in press), 31 design principles have been retrieved from the literature about the setup of efficient and effective teacher communities in schools. Examples of design principles are the promotion of interdependence, shared responsibility and individual accountability, the development of guidelines for dealing with conflicts and decision-making, and the consideration of group size and heterogeneity of expertise. The use of online workspaces might solve issues in communication and collaboration of school teachers as well as in establishing feelings of cohesion and trust –in addition to face-to-face interaction and collaboration. However, the problem is that we do not know how online workspace should be designed in order to efficiently and effectively communities of teachers in secondary school. Method and results A systematic review will be presented of online workspaces from the perspective of how teacher communities should be designed in order to effectively and efficiently support collaboration and communication of teachers in secondary schools. These tools includes tools for collaborative writing, file sharing, mind mapping, group communication, social networking, wikis and blogs, web presenting, whiteboarding, web and video conferencing, chat and instant messaging, and project management and event scheduling. Subsequently, online collaboration tools are evaluated on the way their functionalities potentially facilitate the design principles that have been worked out. Literature Achinstein, B. (2002), “Conflict amid community: The micropolitics of teacher collaboration”, Teacher College Record, Vol.104 No.3, pp.421-455. Bellah, R. N., Madsen, N., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the heart; Individualism and commitment in American life. Berkeley, CA: University of Calidofornia Press. Brouwer, P., Brekelmans, M., Nieuwenhuis, L., & Simons, P. R. J. (in press). Fostering teacher community development A review of design principles and a case study of an innovative interdisciplinary team. Learning Environments Research. Darling-Hammond, L. and Bransford, J. (Eds.) (2005), Preparing teachers for a changing world. What teachers should learn and be able to do, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Grossman, P., Wineburg, S., & Woolworth, S. (2001). Toward a theory of teacher community. Teacher College Record, 103, 942-1012. Imants, J., Sleegers, P. and Witziers, B. (2001), “The tension between sub-structures in secondary schools and educational reform”, School Leadership & Management, Vol.21, No.3, pp.289-307. Little, J. W. (2003), “Inside teacher community: representations of classroom practice”, Teachers College Record, Vol.105 No.6, pp.913-945. Piazza, P., McNeill, K.L. and Hittinger, J. (2009), “Developing a voluntary teacher community: The role of professional development, collaborative learning and conflict”, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April, San Diego, CA. Seashore Louis, K., Marks, H. and Kruse, S. (1996), “Teachers’ professional community in restructuring schools.” American Educational Research Journal, Vol.33 No.4, pp.757-798. Witziers, B., Sleegers, P. and Imants, J. (1999), “Departments as teams: functioning, variations and alternatives”, School Leadership & Management, Vol.19 No.3, pp.293- 304.

The study recorded in this thesis sought to gain initial baseline information about purpose of Catholic schools, from perspective of those who lead Catholic schools and from perceptive of those who lead parishes in diocese of Townsville. The study is perhaps first step in beginning to ask whether a nineteenth century decision about Catholic schools as the best sociological conditions for religious socialization of young is .... necessarily best twentieth century solution (Leavey, 1993, p9). To address that issue three key questions need to be answered . Firstly, for whom do our Catholic schools exist in 1990s? Second, what do we, want our Catholic schools to be doing for those entrusted to them - or what criteria do we use to measure their effectiveness? Thirdly, what is relationship of school to local church community - is it valid to call Catholic schools communities in their own right? As study is concerned with perceptions of parish leadership and school leadership in a particular diocese a case study method was chosen. The study sought information in three areas: - The perceived purposes of Catholic school today - The changing role of Catholic school today and its relationship to parish - The changing evangelising role of parish and school The study concluded that Catholic schools in Diocese of Townsville provide only experience of church for most of their students and indeed for many, if not most of their families. But it is a transient experience for there is little attempt to link school faith community with parish or any other external faith community. Parents appear to be struggling with their role as primary educators in handing on faith and are seeking much more from schools in this regard. Both parish and schools are operating quite independently with each intent on establishing their own faith community. The research also highlighted that allegiances to parish have changed. The data indicate that less than 20% regularly attend Sunday Eucharist and both parish leadership and school leadership recognise that many families avail themselves of many services now offered through schools. While smaller, country parishes still appear to have some relevance and some sense of community, larger towns or city parishes appear to define community quite differently. The research also highlighted paucity of dialogue between those who lead schools and parishes in Diocese and this has contributed to lack of clarity about nature and purpose of Catholic schooling today. In reality many pastors' expectations of schools had changed little and traditional criteria for success (attendance at Mass, involvement in parish, reception of sacraments) were still applied. Catholic school leadership teams were also struggling with defining nature of purpose of Catholic schools, particularly in light of changing expectations of parents who enroll their students in Catholic schools. Catholic schools are now only experience of church for so many students was clearly recognised. The additional responsibility this places on school leadership and on faith witness of teachers was also recognised by all involved in research as a critical issue.

PurposeDiocesan systems of Catholic schools in the USA have been trying to make urban elementary schools more sustainable in an era of declining enrollment. This paper sought to better understand how system and school leaders conceptualize what it takes to “sustain the legacy” of these schools.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative analysis of interview data collected from 44 Catholic system and school leaders, comparing leaders’ perspectives about what they believed urban Catholic school principals should be doing to contribute to sector reform initiatives.FindingsWe found system and school leaders agreed principals should take responsibility for “sustaining the legacy” of urban Catholic schools, but they disagreed about the ultimate purpose of sustaining these schools. These disagreements shaped the decisions each group believed principals should prioritize.Originality/valueWe demonstrate in this paper that a systemic reform lens is useful when attempting to make sense of whether or how certain conditions within diocesan systems as currently designed may account for ongoing and persistent organizational crises within the Catholic sector.

This thesis aimed to study the perspectives of religious education coordinators' in secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne regarding their management of a particular curriculum change in religious education. The change in question involved a 'top down' (Morris, 1995) change to a 'text-based curriculum' (Pell, 2001) directed by the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is responsible for religious education in Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese. Situated within a qualitative paradigm this research utilised grounded theory as a means to identify and analyse the theory generated from interviews with religious education coordinators who were responsible for managing the change. The emergent categories were used to generate new theory in relation to how religious education coordinators managed the curriculum change. Key theories generated from this study included factors that impeded the change such as an inability to understand the theoretical position underpinning the curriculum innovation, and inadequate qualifications to teach religious education. It also generated theory about factors that assisted the management of this change such as time to reflect on practice, and support from school leadership teams. The theory generated was analysed against the existing knowledge about curriculum change in education, textbook use and leadership in religious education. A distinguishing aspect of this research is that it linked the general literature on educational change as it applies to curriculum change, with curriculum change in religious education.The study also proposed some recommendations for future directions and practices concerning the management of curriculum change in religious education in Catholic schools.

Catholic schools are not the places they used to be! This research paper attempts to bring some understanding as to why this assertion is valid by pursuing, firstly, a clearer definition of the contemporary nature and purpose of the Catholic school and, secondly, the consequent challenges to Catholic school leaders to respond to the challenges with some sense of purpose rather than hope. The notion of a Spiritual Revolution is advanced to express many of the features of an upheaval in spirituality so diverse and powerful that it is challenging many of our understandings and assumptions about the real purpose of the Catholic school. The role of Catholic school leaders in having a vision for the future which will speak cogently to the issues and questions of our times is also explored. The challenge presented to school leaders is to seize the moment so that we provide for our communities schools which are genuinely Christian bearing faithful witness to our mission. This research paper aims to inform all groups involved in the planning for and establishment of Catholic schools of the future. Data about the perceived nature and purpose of Catholic schools was collected from eight principals of the Mackay region. This was done via an initial interview of all Principals which was then followed up with a questionnaire, focussing on three areas: a) The purpose of the Catholic school; b) The changing nature of the Catholic school; c) Challenges to the role of the Principal. The data collected from these questionnaires was analysed and presented under key themes which emerged. The study concluded that: 1. Catholic schools, on a continuum between two often conflicting paradigms, have moved away from the traditional role paradigms of catechesis, institution, dependency (parish school) and representative democracy to the more relevant paradigms of evangelization, community, co-existence (small Christian community) and participative democracy. 2. The Catholic school is experiencing a degree of acceptance and appeal within the community because it has taken the lead in this area, whilst some other areas of the Church are experiencing a diminishing role because they are still operating out of the traditional paradigms. 3. The key to what is currently happening in Catholic schools seems to be based on the fact that Catholic schools are now more accountability, thoughtful and reflective in their approach. Supporting this approach is the fact that school communities have embraced so fully the principles and process of Renewal. Catholic schools are seen to be very aware of the need to re-form the way in which the substance of catholic beliefs is presented in the light of a new, emerging group mentality (Thornhill, 1997). 4. Leaders of the Catholic school have a keen sense of their own spirituality and value people-centred practices. 5. Leaders of the Catholic school have the ability to live with the mystery of life, dance with confusion (Duignan, 1996), and embrace chaos.

The teaching of primary languages has been increasing steadily, in response to the future entitlement for all Key Stage 2 (KS2) pupils aged 7–11 to learn a foreign language by 2010. However, there remain concerns about progression both within KS2 and through to secondary school and about how learners' progress is assessed. This paper presents findings on the issues of progression and assessment taken from case studies which formed part of a project funded by the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES), now the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). This project set out to evaluate 19 local authority (LA) Pathfinders in England that were piloting the introduction of foreign language learning at KS2 between 2003 and 2005. Findings revealed that there was inconsistency between schools, even within each LA Pathfinder, in the use of schemes of work and that assessment was generally underdeveloped in the majority of the Pathfinders. In order to set these findings in context, this paper examines the issues of progression and assessment in foreign language learning in England. Finally, it investigates the challenges English primary schools face in terms of progression and assessment in the light of the new entitlement and discusses implications for the future. Managing progression, both within KS2 and through to secondary school at KS3 (ages 11–14), is one of the key factors in determining the overall success of starting languages in primary school.

Survey research has identified, using questionnaire approaches, that important assessments are a significant source of stress and worry for students in secondary school. In particular, failing important examinations and the consequences of failing these examinations are rated as more important than a range of other personal and social worries. Qualitative approaches have gone further in exploring the meaning of these stressful events for students concerned, highlighting themes such as an over‐identification with academic success and the perception of GCSE examinations as constituting a crucial moment in determining the future life trajectory of a student. However, this area has been neglected by researchers working on the education–psychology disciplinary boundaries, and a number of important features have yet to be specified regarding the development, antecedents and educational consequences of assessment/examination stress in Key Stage 4 (KS4). The aim of this article is to build on previous work to explore some basic questions surrounding KS4 assessments from a student‐centred perspective: (a) what factors lead to the development of assessments in KS4 to be perceived as stressful; and (b) what are the effects for the students concerned? Thirty‐four students were interviewed from six secondary schools in the North of England, identified as being likely to experience examinations as anxiety‐provoking events and analysed using the principles of grounded theory. Twelve themes emerge structured around a central narrative of ‘stress, achievement and esteem’, which highlighted three key findings. First, stress was linked to the motivation to achieve and the fear of failure through esteem judgements and conditions of acceptance from important others. Second, the experience of stress was linked to a wider educational context including practices and policies pursued by teachers and schools. Third, a more specific state, examination anxiety, was associated with facilitating effects prior to examinations and debilitating effects during examinations. These findings have furthered insights into the developmental antecedents and effects of assessment/examination stress in KS4, and highlighted the need to investigate school/teacher practices and policies and to ascertain the mechanism by which examination anxiety might produce debilitating effects.

The purpose of the research was to explore how leaders and teachers of low socio-economic status (SES) Catholic secondary schools engaged with a system led reform to build capacity for leadership to improve learning in their school communities. The research was informed by the school and system improvement literature which noted the limited success of large-scale reforms in secondary schools and identified the need to understand how leaders can better build capacity for improvement. The case study focussed on the leadership of four low SES Catholic secondary schools from New South Wales (NSW), Australia who were part of the National Partnerships programme under the direction of a Diocesan school system. The research explored the experiences of system leaders, principals, curriculum coordinators, leaders of pedagogy, heads of department and teachers as they engaged with the system driven reform. The research demonstrated that leadership of learning in secondary schools should be shared with heads of department who are professionally valued, developed and positioned to work closely with classroom teachers. The study confirmed that leaders of learning who share whole school approaches to promote literacy, student centred pedagogy, use of data and the moral purpose of the reform initiative improve student outcomes. In this study a broadly distributed model of leadership characterised by relational trust and teamwork built both a learning culture and the capacity to improve student outcomes. It also found that system reform was more likely to succeed when it was adapted by school leaders to meet their local context. This research is significant in this field because it provides a practical understanding of how leadership should be distributed to build capacity and improve student outcomes, as well as contributing towards better understanding of the importance of middle leadership of heads of departments and instructional coaches in reforming and improving learning outcomes in secondary schools.

Collaborative partnerships between schools aimed at improving student outcomes are well documented. However, limited research exists on effective collaboration between intermediate (Years 7–8) and secondary (Years 9–13) school leaders during the transition to secondary school. This qualitative study explores the collaborative practices of a group of Year 8 and 9 school leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand, focusing on strategies to enhance students’ transition experiences. In this study, data was generated through face-to-face structured interviews with participating school leaders, allowing for in-depth exploration of their collaborative practices. A Communities of Practice framework provides a lens for interpreting the findings guiding the design of interview questions and informing the analysis of the data, ensuring coherence between the theoretical and methodological approach. The study highlights school leaders’ pivotal role in fostering successful transitions for students through strong relationships and sustained communication within and between their school communities.

The main aim of this study was to provide insights into the current conceptions and practices of distributed leadership and its contribution to change and school improvement in a large public secondary school in Queensland, Australia. It has achieved this aim in a number of ways. First, the case study has used the framework and tools of cultural-historical activity theory to map and gain insights into Southern State High School (name has been changed) as a dynamic interdependent activity system. Second, the mapping process has facilitated an analysis of the perceptions and attitudes of case study participants towards the concept and action of distributed leadership. Third, the study has identified a range of tensions and contradictions associated with the distribution of leadership and how these have influenced leadership practice at Southern State High School. Fourth, the investigation has contrasted its findings with other international research on distributed leadership and its potential for influencing change and school improvement. The study reveals why distributed school leadership has become prominent in the contemporary international context of school improvement and leadership in the past decade. The reasons include the intensification of principal’s work, dramatically increased accountabilities of positional leaders, inadequate succession planning, parent participation in school decision making, and continuous reform driven by social, political and technological change. The main thesis of the study is that in the turbulent complexity of modern schooling, effective leadership is more likely to be spread across a network of individuals rather than concentrated in the hands of one or two leaders. This reinforces dissatisfaction with the heroic overtones of charismatic leadership, the “power of one” or “super-leader” which has become increasingly challenged by those who define leadership as a collaborative and team-based activity. The core notion of distributed leadership suggests that school leadership does not just reside in the principal’s office but requires multiple leaders, formal and informal, spread across the school community. Yet, the interesting paradox is that effective distributed leadership practice depends first and foremost on a strong, powerful, yet humble “head” or principal. This research project strongly reinforces that conclusion. One of the main suggestions made is for a detailed developmental framework for distributed leadership practice to be constructed and considered by those who are responsible for supporting and enhancing the leadership skills of positional leaders. If a more practical and pragmatic set of distributive leadership resource materials are available for school-based practitioners, it is conceivable that the concepts, principles and ideas will be applicable to, and give impetus to, continuing school improvement and reform.

This study provides an investigative and analytical view of the social and political processes occurring within the implementation of a system initiated and resourced, secondary school improvement initiative (SSII) in a Catholic urban school system in a capital city on the East coast of Australia. The SSII follows a tiered model of implementation within a local school system [in this case, the MacKillop Catholic School System, (MCSS)] and its schools through a group of school-based middle-level leaders, the School Improvement Middle Leaders (SIMLs). This thesis is a six-site case study. The lens of symbolic interactionism is adopted as the theoretical perspective and multiple-site case study adopted as the methodology. It explores the experiences of SIMLs working within the SSII reform initiative across the MCSS to investigate influences of the SSII on the interactions occurring within each school and the school system structures. Successful reform is about creating the conditions, which enable teachers to change and improve their practice. Models of school reform can adopt two views. The inside view of school reform focuses on the capacity of a school to transform itself. Teacher learning is crucial, and school conditions need to foster that learning. This type of model can be described as “bottom up”. An outside view of school reform is one involving the implementation of externally-developed initiatives. A model in which innovations and practices developed by policy-makers and then transferred to multiple settings (“scaling up”) can be described as “top-down”. The SSII is an example of a blended “top down” and “bottom up” initiative in secondary schools. This multiple site case study uses individual, semi-structured interviews and an online survey instrument, to gather the participants’ perspectives on the numerous, different experiences that occur in six secondary schools as a result of the implementation of this school improvement initiative. The central findings of the study are reflected in a proposed model, which describes the conditions that enable a school improvement middle leader within a school to support teachers and facilitate an improvement in their practice. This study serves to highlight the complexities that occur within the school reform agendas in systems and secondary schools, and the pressures placed on middle leaders charged with the responsibility of leading an initiative within their unique school context. The complex nature of secondary schools and how they operate within a school system means any new initiatives are challenged, situated and adopted within the existing established hierarchies of these organisations. Exploring these complexities assists in understanding the nature of school change, social interactions, and the concept of middle leadership within the unique and common features of urban secondary schools.