Volume 25, Issue 1

An Examination of Two Studies on Chinese Principalship:  Implications for Educational Planning

Dehua Liu and Tak Cheung Chan

The purpose of this paper is to critically review two studies conducted ten years apart to examine the roles and responsibilities of school principals in China. Data of one study were collected from seven provinces of south China while those of the other study were mainly from Changsha area, Hunan Province. Though the same survey instrument was used in both studies for data collection, because of time and location differences, direct comparison of findings tend to be inappropriate. Longitudinal approach of school leadership studies in the future is recommended. Results of this review showed that principals in these two studies had unbalanced workload in distributing their effort in dealing with daily school businesses. The research approaches and findings of these two studies have significant implications for planning of educational leadership programs, planning of daily school practices and planning for future research in school leadership.

Planning Strategies to Fill Principal Vacancies:  The Issues and Some Choices

Pamela A. Lemoine, Thomas J. McCormack and  Michael D. Richardson

Superintendents, personnel directors and school boards across the nation are faced with a growing problem of locating high caliber replacements for the exodus of school principals that began as we entered the decade of the 1990s. This departure, which began as natural attrition due to age and retirement, has been accelerated by several other factors including working conditions, educational reform and lack of funding for educators and educational programs. Since principals are critical to school success and student performance an examination of principal selection strategies is critical, particularly the planning needed to find the best applicants. There are several selection strategies that superintendents and school boards can use to recruit and employ the best candidates available, including “grow your own” prospective principals.

Inclusive Education Plans and Practices in China, Thailand, and Turkey

Tanyathorn Hauwadhanasuk, Mustafa Karnas and Min Zhuang

As the changing world becomes more globalized and diverse, people become more connected. It is beneficial educators to learn about the educational practices of every nation. Educational planning efforts promote inclusive education and practices in the three countries: China, Thailand, and Turkey. It is important to raise awareness of the ways that history, culture, social perceptions, and public policy influence special education. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transitional process of special education programs, services, and public policy toward inclusive education in China, Thailand and Turkey. In addition, this paper aims to present the development of educational plans that promote inclusive education and practices in these countries. The results of this paper indicate that the special education development and its process in China, Thailand, and Turkey are challenging. China is anxious for special education reform. Thailand has progressive special education initiatives spreading throughout the country. The education policies in Thailand and Turkey have addressed issues regarding children with disabilities and appear to move toward inclusion for individuals with disabilities. Indeed, the prospects for individuals with disabilities in these three countries are improving.

Knowledge Management Issue:  A Case Study of the Department of Educational Administration at a Saudi University

Fatemah Abdullah Alhazmi

This research employs a qualitative methodology to investigate Knowledge Management (KM) in the department of educational administration at a Saudi university. The research seeks to establish an understanding of KM, including its implementation and challenges. The findings from the participants are grouped into three major themes, each of which contains a number of sub-themes: (1) Understanding KM; (2) applying KM; and (3) the challenges of applying KM. The study is divided according to the participants’ understanding of KM into five sub-themes: (1) the process of knowledge creation, socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation; (2) sharing tacit knowledge; (3) finding data electronically; (4) transferring tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge; and (5) sharing information. The results reveal the majority of interviewees view the implementation of KM as straightforward in the area of research and weak in the area of administration. All the interviewees stated that the main challenges when implementing KM in their department relate to issues of administration and culture.