Leadership for the reform of senior secondary learning : a case study of Queensland's vocational education and training in schools

Abstract

The research project reported upon in this thesis focuses on leadership for reforms in Senior Learning through vocational education and training in schools (VETiS). Developments in Queensland during the period of 2006 to 2009 provide the empirical focus for this study. The main research question is: what is the characteristic of leadership displayed in the implementation of reforms to Senior Learning through VETiS? The contributory research questions that are addressed in the evidentiary chapters and help answer the main research question relate to: the policies driving the leadership of reforms of education and training in Queensland schools; the barriers to VETiS reforms that pose challenges for leadership strategies; the worries facing Queensland's VETiS leaders and the changes made due to their leadership; and the vindication of their leadership. To date there has been no research that has specifically studied the leadership of the Senior Learning reforms in Queensland, or elsewhere in Australia. This research in this thesis contributes to knowledge of leadership now operating at different levels across different systems and sectors in Queensland. Fullan's (2005) concept of tri-leadership and Lear's (2006) concept of leadership in terms of radical hope were used as the conceptual framework, and provide the counter-point for the argument developed in this study. Data were collected through interviews and from documents. NVivo software was used to aid in the data analysis. How leadership can be characterised given the multi-dimensional, multilevel, multi-agency nature of education and training reforms in Queensland schools is the underlying theoretical concern. A Chinese metaphor, li' ti? is introduced to conceptualise the complexity of leadership in Queensland because of the limitations identified in Fullan (2005) and Lear's (2006) theories. This Chinese concept serves as useful and innovative lenses for understanding educational leadership in the context of large scale educational reform. Overall, this thesis argues that the leadership of Queensland's education and training reforms in senior secondary learning can be better understood by the concept of li' ti? leadership than the key concepts from Fullan (2005) or Lear (2006). Li' ti? leadership refers to the capability to deal with multi-dimensional, multi-level, multi-agency changes. Li' ti? leadership includes understanding policy driven change, the strategies xv to engage challenges and barriers to innovation, the necessity to track changes, and the need to vindicate efforts to make change.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English