MSU LIBRARIES “ RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. A STUDY OF ADMINISTRATORS', TEACHERS' AND PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR BY Alida Joan Droppert A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Educational Administration and Curriculum 1984 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF ADMINISTRATORS,‘ TEACHERS' AND PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR BY Alida Joan Droppert This is a study of administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role of an international school administrator. Four areas of the role were examined: the tasks; constraints; sources of conflict and stress and the characteristics of an effective administrator. Data were collected in ten international schools from American and British expatriate administrators, teachers ?“d Parents. The schools were located in Asia, the Middle East and EurOpe. Questionnaires were completed by thirty administrators, one hundred and twenty three teachers and one hundred and forty nine parents. In-depth interviews were conducted with the thirty administrators. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient, an Analysis of Variance and the Scheffé Test were used to analyse the statistical data. Common, recurring patterns were identified in the descriptive data. Parents were concerned that the administrator was approachable, a listener and communicator who ensured that the school offered an academic program oriented to the US/UK system enabling students to fit back into their national education system. Teachers perceived the role to be that of an information coordinator, decision maker, faculty supporter, developer and respresentative. Administrators and parents cited as the administrator's primary function instructional leadership. Teachers' perceptions of this variable were significantly different. Constraints were perceived to be: finances; the overseas location; the host government and the turnover of faculty, students and the board. Administrators perceived demands on their time to be a significantly greater constraint than did the parents. Interpersonal and intergroup conflicts and lack of communication were perceived as the major sources of stress by the three groups. An effective administrator was perceived to be adaptable, flexible and energetic with good interpersonal skilIS. It was concluded that there may be conflict between the administrator and the parents should non-US/UK oriented programs be introduced into the curriculum and between the parents and the teachers due to the differences in group perceptions of the administrator's role. It was concluded that adaptable, flexible, unbiased administrators with human relations skills were more acceptable to all groups, than were dogmatic, authoritarian leaders, as they had the skills to deal with interpersonal conflicts and the difficulties associated with international school management. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful for the guidance and encouragement extended to me by my committee: Dr. S. Moore: Dr. K. Neff: Dr. D. Nickerson: Dr. S. Stark and Dr. R. Featherstone. Dr. Moore and Dr. Neff were particularly helpful with their expeditious and constructive critique of my work. The contribution made by administrators, teachers and parents in Asia, the Middle East and Europe is acknowledged. The study would not have been possible without the support and generosity of my husband, family, friends and international expatriate communities. The faculties of the Colleges of Business, Labor and Industrial Relations and Education are thanked for the contribution they made to my professional development during my program of study in the United States. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE PAGE NUMBER INTRODUCTION..........................................1 Types of Overseas Schools.............................3 The American Sponsored Overseas School................5 British Oriented Overseas Schools.....................9 The Background and General Problem Area..............ll The Specific Problem.;...............................16 The Importance of the Topic..........................l7 Research Method......................................24 Limitations..........................................26 Delimitations........................................27 Operational Definitions..............................30 Contributions to Knowledge...........................31 CHAPTER TWO CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW...........33 Role Theory and the Structure of an Organization.....34 Literature Review: Educational Administration........53 Literature Review: Expatriate Communities............60 CHAPTER THREE LOGISTICS AND METHODOLOGY............................68 The Researcher's Purpose in the Study................68 Selection of the Site................................69 The Population: Size and Geographical Location.......7l Research Questions...................................73 Data Collection Tools................................74 Data Collection Process..............................77 Contingency Plans for Overseas Data Collection.......82 The Analysis of the Data.............................85 iii TABLE CONTENTS (cont'd.) PAGE NUMBER CHAPTER FOUR THE DATA EXTRAPOLATED FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRES........88 AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Introduction.........................................88 The Demographic Data.................................89 THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR....92 Statistical Data.....................................92 The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient............92 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).........................96 Scheffé Test of Post-Hoe Multiple-Comparisons.......101 An Aggregate of the Written Responses...............105 Administrators' Perceptions of the Role.............105 A Summary of the Administrators' Perceptions........109 Teachers' Perceptions of the Role...................110 A Summary of the Teachers' Peceptions ..............llS Parents' Perceptions of the Role....................116 A Summary of Parents' Perceptions ..................121 Data Extrapolated From the In-Depth Interviews .....122 Administrators' Perceptions of the Role.............123 PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON AN INTERNATIONAL..133 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR Statistical Data....................................133 The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient..........135 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)........................135 Scheffe Test of Post- Hoc Multiple-Comparisons.......139 Administrators' Perceptions of the Constraints......l4l A Summary of the Administrators' Perceptions........l44 Teachers' Perceptions of the Constraints............14S A Summary of the Teachers' Perceptions..............l48 Parents' Perceptions of the Constraints.............149 A Summary of Parents' Perceptions ..................154 The In-depth Interview: Administrators'.............155 Perceptions of the Constraints. PERCEPTIONS OF SOURCES OF STRESS AND CONFLICT.......165 The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient...........167 Analysis of Variance................................167 Scheffe Test of Post- Hoc Multiple-Comparisons.......172 Administrators' Perceptions: Sources of Conflict....l73 A Summary of Administrators' Peceptions.............l76 iv TABLE CONTENTS (cont'd.) PAGE NUMBER Teachers' Perceptions of the Sources of Conflict. ..177 A Summary of Teachers' Perceptons...................l80 Parents' Perceptions of the Sources of Conflict.....l8l A Summary of Parents' Perceptions...................186 The In-Depth Interview: Administrators' Perceptions.l87 of Stress and Conflict. CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL.......197 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR Statistical Data....................................l97 The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient...........l97 Analysis of Variance................................201 Scheffé Test of Post-Hoc Multiple-Comparisons.......206 Administrators' Perceptions of the Characteristics..207 A Summary of the Administrators' Perceptions........208 Teachers' Perceptions of the Characteristics........209 A Summary of Teachers' Perceptions..................210 Parents' Perceptions of the Characteristics.........211 A Summary of Parents' Perceptions...................212 The In-depth Interviews: Administrators'............213 Perceptions of the Characteristics CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA........216 Introduction........................................216 The Role of the International School Administrator..217 Constraints on the Role of the International........227 School Administrator Sources of Stress, Conflict and Dissatisfaction.....239 The Characteristics of an Effective International...251 School Administrator CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSOOOOOOOOOOOOO.0.0.0.000000000256 IntIOduCtionOOOOOOOO0.0.0.0....OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0256 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF AN..........257 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTATOR Administrators' Perceptions of the Role.............257 Administrators' Differential Perceptions............258 Teachers' Perceptions of the Role...................259 Teachers' Differential Perceptions..................259 Parents' Perceptions of the Role....................260 Parents' Differential Perceptions...................260 V a. ‘\ :11 ca- . u u c .4 a .n - cu: .11 .11 ..I1 «A u 1A a nu. An. .11 Hr. An. I.” a w I... In” Inn . . ad. \u. I... |.. I... \u.. 9 . C a \r. TABLE CONTENTS (cont'd.) PAGE NUMBER A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON......261 AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR Administrators' Perceptions of the Constraints......261 Administrators' Differential Perceptions............262 Teachers' Perceptions of the Constraints............262 Parents' Perceptions of the Constraints.............263 Parents' Differential Perceptions...................263 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF SOURCES OF STRESS AND...264 CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR * Administrators' Perceptions of Stress and Conflict..264 Administrators' Differential Perceptions............265 Teachers' Perceptions of Stress and Conflict........265 Parents' Perceptions of Stress and Conflict.........266 Parents' Differential Perceptions...................266 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF..267 AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR Administrators' Perceptions the Characteristics.....267 Administrators' Differential Perceptions............268 Teachers' Perceptions the Characteristics...........268 Teachers' Differential Perceptions..................269 Parents' Perceptions of the Characteristics.........269 CONCLUSIONSOOOOOOOOO00......0......0..00.0.000000000270 Contributions to Knowledge..........................280 Suggestions for Further Research....................283 APPENDICES Census of Population 1980: U.S. Population.......285 1960 to 1980. Department of State: Fact Sheets 1 ..............286 Department of State: Fact Sheets 2 ..............289 Letter of Application to Conduct Research........296 Letter of Confirmation...........................297 The Questionnaire................................298 In-Depth Interview Questions.....................304 Sample Copy of an Administrator's Cover Letter...306 mammcnw 3’ BIBLIOGRAPHYOOOOOOOO...0.0.0.000...0.0.0.00000000000307 vi LIST OF TABLES TABLE NUMBER PAGE NUMBER 10. The Number Of Questionnaires Distributed..........72 by Sites Number and Percentage Return of Completed.........90 Questionnaires by Sites Number and Percentage of American and British.....9l Participants by Sites Administrators' Ranking of Variables Identified...93 With the Role of the International School Administrator Teachers' Ranking of the Variables Identified.....94 With the Role Of the International School Administrator Parents' Ranking of the Variables Identified......95 With the Role of the International School Administrator ANOVA to Compare Administrators,‘ Teachers'.......98 and Parents' Perceptions of the Role of the International School Administrator Administrators' Ranking of Variables Identified..l33 as Constraints on the International School Administrator ' Teachers' Ranking of Variables Identified as.....l34 Constraints on the International School Administrator Parents' Ranking of Variables Identified as.... .134 Constraints on the International School Administrator vii LIST OF TABLES: (cont'd) TABLE NUMBER PAGE NUMBER 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. ANOVA to Compare Parents,‘ Teachers' and.........l37 Administrators' Perceptions of the Constraints on the Role of the International School Administrator Administrators' Ranking of Variables Identified..l65 With Sources of Conflict in the Role of an ~ International School Administrator Teachers' Ranking of Variables Identified With...166 Sources of Conflict in the Role of an International School Administrator Parents' Ranking of Variables Identified With....l66 Sources of Conflict in the Role of an International School Administrator ANOVA to Compare Parents,‘ Teachers' and.........l70 Administrators' Perceptions of the Sources of Conflict in the Role of an International School Administrator Administrators' Ranking of the Variables.........l98 Identified With the Characteristics of an Effective International School Administrator Teachers' Ranking of the Variables Identified....199 With the Characteristics Of an Effective International School Administrator Parents' Ranking of the Variables Identified.....200 With the Characteristics of an Effective International School Administrator ANOVA to Compare Administrators,‘ Teachers'......203 and Parents' Perceptions of the Characteristics Of an Effective International School Administrator Statistics Concerning American-Sponsored.........288 Schools, 1982-83 viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION This is a study Of the perceptions that administrators, teachers and parents expressed concerning the role of an international school administrator. The researcher investigated the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role of an international school administrator; the constraints on the role; sources of stress and conflict and the characteristics associated with an effective international school administrator. The methodology of the researcher was to conduct thirty in-depth interviews with the administrators of a set of ten international schools located in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' perceptions were identified through the use of a questionnaire administered in the same set of ten schools. The interviews were analysed to identify common, recurring responses. Statistical techniques were used to analyse the survey data. O . uh.- The researcher was concerned with the perceptions of American and British expatriates. An expatriate was an individual who was working under contract in a foreign country but not a permanent resident of the foreign country. The expatriate retained his American or British citizenship, culture, language and political identity. The individual was of any profession or occupation; a diplomat; business representative; manager; accountant; banker; engineer; technician; educator; lecturer; an advisor; consultant; medical personnel; the spouse or dependent of any of the above or any individual who for personal, financial, social or medical reasons choose to reside overseas but retained American or British citizenship. In the international school the administrator was referred to as the superintendent, principal, director, headmaster or other titles depending upon the chosen term of reference preferred by each school. In large international schools where there were several levels of administrative Officers the researcher found the highest Office to be that of the superintendent or headmaster. The individual occupying this position was the chief administrative Officer to whom elementary, middle, junior high and/or high school principals reported. In these situations the researcher was concerned-with the role of the chief administrative officer. Throughout the study the international school administrator is referred to as he although the incumbents were males and females. The names of the individuals who participated in the study are not identified. All materials and personal comments have been treated with the strictest of confidence. TYPES OF OVERSEAS SCHOOLS The overseas schools provide for the educational needs Of those United States and British citizens abroad who select to educate their dependents in overseas English speaking schools. The 1980, United States Census of Population states that there are 995,546 U.S. citizens abroad; 562,962 federal employees; 515,408 armed forces; 47,554 civilians. The total number of dependents of federal employees equals 432,584. For a comparison of the 1980, 1970 and 1960 census statistics refer to Appendix A. No similar set Of statistics could be located for the numbers of United Kingdom citizens abroad. There are various types of overseas schools; missionary or church related schools; proprietary schools; company schools; the United States Department of Defence schools; United Kingdom Ministry of Defence schools and an. nth auv An. 4 international schools. Orr (1974) Missionary or church related schools have as their primary function the education of the dependents of missionaries or the education of local children served by the missionaries. Proprietary schools are profit-making institutions owned and operated by an individual or small group of individuals. Company schools are Operated by business or industrial concerns for the education of the dependents Of company employees. These type of schools are Often located in remote areas and are established by a cOmpany as a means of attracting and retaining suitably qualified personnel . The United States Department of Defense and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense Schools are provided to meet the educational needs of the dependents of military personnel. The schools aim to provide a replica of the ecincational systems in the United States or Britain. The international school is a non-profit making Organization with a multi-national student body. The curricula may have an American or British orientation but an attempt is made to meet the educational, social and cllltural needs of the multi-national student body. Data cOllection was confined to this category of overseas SChools. This category includes those schools which receive some form of grant aid from the American 5 Department Of State. The international schools receiving aid from the American State Department are usually ‘t referred to as American Sponsored Overseas Schools (A805). ‘1 As seven of the ten schools participating in the study 1 were ASOS schools they will be described more fully. THE AMERICAN SPONSORED OVERSEAS SCHOOL Figures collated by the Department of State Overseas Schools Advisory Council give the enrollment in American Sponsored Overseas Schools (A808) at the commencement of the 1982-1983 school year to be 88,305 students, of whom 26ar380 were U.S. citizens and 61,925 were citizens of the hOst countries and nationals of 90 countries. The Office of Overseas Schools gave assistance to 163 schools in 96 countries. The combined annual operating budgets of the 163 schools totalled nearly $235,000,000. Tuition accounts for the principal source of financing in the schools. The Department Of State gave annually a total of nearly $6.000,000 of assistance to the A808. The A808 have certain characteristics as identified by Orr (1974). The characteristics are as follows: 1 l - They are non-profit, non-sectarion institutions. One of the schools included in the study is an American Sponsored Overseas School but a school which is ..s aligned with the Lutheran church. The K-12 school was the only American oriented school in this particular location and was therefore included in the study. In all other locations church sponSored schools were not included in the study as the researcher felt that where the parents made a conscious choice to send a dependent to a church related school their perceptions, the intended role of the SChOOl and it's administration might have been different from the role of the international or ASOS schools. 2- Most of the A508 are located in capital or major cities. It is logical to find that these schools are located in centers of business, commerce, industry or of government for it is in these locations that international Organizations have their headquarters and where many 15cDreign personnel working for government agencies will be based. It is‘ also common to find the international schools of other national groups in similar locations. The Japanese, Russians, French and other national groups often heVe their own international schools. However, the size a“id extent of the facilities, as with all international ScIhools, will vary according to the size and composition of the community the school serves. oi. 7 3. It is usual for the A803 to be locally self governed by: a. a board Of trustees or a foundation. b. a locally elected school board or one elected by the trustees. c. a school board composed of parents elected by the parents . The American Sponsored Overseas Schools participating in this study were all locally governed, with the exception of one which was governed from a foundation in Missouri. The British schools were all locally governed. 4 . The A808 are of binational or multi-national composition. All the A808 involved in the study had multi-national Student bodies. The British oriented schools had lTlulti-national student bodies . 5.The schools are financed mainly by tuition and fees. Business and industrial concerns; foundations; U.S. government agencies; local private and government groups or individual donations may provide additional financial Support. 5 .The curriculum is American with the use of American text a RI. "‘ooa. 8 books and instructional materials. The intent of the A808 schools is to provide those American children living abroad with the Opportunity for an education at least equal to that provided to those children educated in their home country. With this philosophy in mind the researcher included the category of maintaining the United States/United Kingdom orientation of the international school in the list of items in the survey referring to the role of the international school administrator. It was placed in the list to identify what priority this had for parents, tleachers and administrators . 7oMost Of the faculty in American Sposored Overseas S<=hools are U.S. citizens, or American trained. They are hired' locally or hired directly from the United States of Alfierica. Refer to Appendix B and C for further information about the American Sponsored Overseas Schools. Fact sheets published by the Department of Stated Office of Overseas SChools provide a summary of the philosophy of the schools a lid statistical information . "lnan‘ A U5..“l I “-..‘ :‘ona ‘I-‘ i i 0.. 1.. Q I 9 BRITISH ORIENTED OVERSEAS SCHOOLS The British overseas .schools are not so clearly defined. There is no one organization which binds the schools into a recognizable group. Unlike the American Sponsored Overseas Schools, independent overseas British SChools do not receive any British government assistance. There is) no common bond between the schools such as is fOund within the A808, nor the liaison between the schools and the government as seen between A808 and the Department Of State for Overseas schools. The European Council for International Schools (ECIS) does appear to be filling this void for schools in Europe and in Africa and Asia who are affiliated with the Council. At the recent ECIS conference in Rome November, 1983, several of the British oriented schools were active and were represented by faculty or members of the administrative team. The British overseas schools, unlike their American counterparts, rarely have facilities for the education of students Of high school age. The British dependents are traditionally sent to boarding schools at the ages of ej~ght, eleven or thirteen. Thirteen is usually considered the latest possible age that a child could return home and prepare for the external examinations which selected British students sit at the ages of sixteen and eighteen. For the English speaking community with high school .,“ "5 ‘Q- A \ chug n..- ‘v “.~ ‘- "‘.I 'I. .,_ “‘c! o a "a‘fl. .."' ‘ A u I . u 10 aged dependents the American Sponsored Overseas School is often the only senior school available for those parents who do not want to send their children to boarding schools. The American schools, due to demands of the multi-national groups, are now increasingly offering Courses which lead to the completion of the International Baccalaureate, as well as Offering college preparatory c=Ourses for students interested in attending American universities. The introduction of the International Baccalaureate into American schools is a means of catering to the multi-national students' academic needs while retaining the American orientation of the schools. The American and British schools which participated .111 this study were international schools. It was not the ITeasearchers intent to conduct a comparative study between tlfle two types of schools although the analysis of the ITesearch data may yield evidence or suggest different <3L11tural perceptions of the role of the international s ehool administrator . '-- HI . .‘_ - ‘~-“I 'u A-.. a l cl. u .1. C - J I” ‘c I.‘ ll) 11 THE BACKGROUND AND GENERAL PROBLEM AREA The genesis of this study can be traced to a four year period from 1978 to 1982 when the researcher was .associated with an international school in Eastern Europe. During the four year association with the American Sponsored Overseas School it became apparent that the School was of vital importance in the community life of the expariates living and working in that particular environment. The activities, policies and functions of the SChool were conversation topics whenever people gathered tOgether, be it at cocktail parties, film evenings, card evenings or dinner parties. The school provided, in this location, a common bond between groups and a focus for the c0mmunity. Besides discussing the school as an institution, IDiirents and teachers were concerned with the manner in which administrators fulfilled their role. The orientation and curriculum of the school were important but community feelings were Often aroused by the method by which a Situation was handled. It became apparent that the ‘ Personality of the administrator could be a very important factor in maintaining a cohesive and productive working unit in an international situation. This accounted for the researcher's interest in the differential perceptions of P. an. I\ Q‘b O ..u ‘n. a.- .u. . 12 parents, teachers and administrators as to the cztuaracteristics each group associated with an effective administrator. It became apparent that an administrative position in an international location could be a stressful position. There were internal stresses due to the difficulty in estimating enrollment and staffing requirements with the constant student turnover. The student pOpulation was never stable and changes took place on a day-to-day basis. This created numerous demands on the administration and faculty and made long-term budgeting and ordering of Supplies difficult. Other stresses seemed to stem from the differing cultural demands of parent groups who had their Own pre-conceived ideas about the function of the schools and how it should be administered. Teachers seemed, in an international setting, to be more vunerable and to make greater demands on the administrators. These demands went beyond professional needs to concerns Of a personal nature reSlarding the availability of food, health facilities and tZhe quality of housing. The location of this particular international school and the political climate of the country in which it was Situated could have accounted for some Of the stresses to which the administrator was subjected. The researcher, as a result“ of the experience in Eastern Europe, was a... ‘ b... l ‘ l a a“. . In a. . In. I tu- . e '1 u' v ._. O O O. ‘ “I.. ‘ D ‘~' C A O‘ ' ..‘. ‘ . H"! ‘ I 'A‘ .' ~ .Ui . . | I‘ K ‘7. 'U. 0 UN... . v" I AI! ' 13 stimulated to investigate in greater depth those stresses and sources of conflict or dissatisfaction in the role of the international school administrator as identified by administrators, teachers and parents in other i n ternational schools . The American Association of School Administrators (AASA), (1966) described several problems which are exPerienced in A808. These include: 1. the difficulty Of maintaining programs due to the constant turnover Of faculty and students; 2. Obtaining supplies may be a problem due to distance, Cost and the time taken to receive orders and 3 . recruitment may be difficult due to the location of the SChool and local living conditions. This may require SChools to depend upon locally hired employees. The researcher did not know whether eighteen years after these problems were identified by the AASA the oVerseas situation had changed and the administrators WOllld not identify these issues as concerns but had to deal with other stresses. The researcher perceived that the international School administrator may not have been totally free to act in an unrestrained manner. There may have been certain institutional constraints upon administrators which were deSigned to give stability to the organization. u.- oqu U'v.. “I Iab 14 Itlternatively, the constraints could have been external to the organization and beyond the administrator's control but need to be addressed in order to function and create a sense of stability in the organization. The researcher was attempting to identify the perceptions of the constraints on an administrator's role. It might have been that the role of an international school administrator could not be examined out of context. The researcher did not know if the school as a unit could be completely divorced from the community it served or from economic, environmental, political and social factors which interact to create the climate in which the school existed and to which the administrator had to respond. The administrator's role may have been related to the nature 0f the organization he or she served; the individuals with whom he was associated, either as parents, teachers, or Students; the size of the international community and the l“ulti-variant conditions within the country in which the School was located. It was a concern of the researcher to c<'->nsider the environmental, social, cultural and i l'Istitutional constraints on administrators of international schools and to examine group perceptions of '3 hese constraints . The researcher investigated the set of tasks which constituted the role of an administrator by examining the I F b . ‘- n C.. ' .- c..v . 'O M -'-.Q A 'I.--- . P A ~ - on; A, inc ‘0 e... . .‘ 0... "so. -u..." ~--:~ "n‘.‘ O n.‘ a I“ ‘1: I o 0‘ o .: h ‘ .“. R“: “l f. u' . . . 15 perceptions of the parents, teachers and administrators. The role was no doubt complex, involving many tasks, but it was the researcher's intent to identify those tasks of primary concern to each group. If the parents perceived the most important function of the administrator to be that of maintaining the U.S. orientation of the school; While the teachers placed a higher priority on the administrator's role in providing staff development; but the administrator himself placed greater emphasis upon his function as a business manager; there is a potential for conflict if each group failed to appreciate the concerns of the other groups. The researcher did not know if there was an ambivalence with regard to the norm—set of the administrator in the form of differing and possible incompatible expectations. If this situation existed the Organization may have been in a state of flux or it was Possible that these contradictions may have always existed as part of the structure of the organization. They might have been the result of the differences between and within the administrator's reference groups. Organizations of any Sort are rarely conflict free or static, they can be viewed as dynamic, existing in a constant state of transformation, accommodating a multitude of partially incompatible functions and expectations. The researcher attempted to identify through the analysis of role the -b A-- P. au. .4 A- '§ .. n .n. ~ . T .-u u ‘- ll! 16 areas of strain which may never be resolved but may be present as an integral part of the structure of the international schools and as such may have to be addressed by the administator in his role as chief executive officer. TH E SPECIFIC PROBLEM The researcher investigated administrators' perceptions of the role of an international school administrator and examined the extent to which they were congruent with the perceptions of the parents and teachers. Four facets of the concept of role were investigated: 1. parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' expectations of the role of the international school administrator; 2. perceived environmental, social, organizational or Personal constaints on the role of the international School administrator; 3- perceptions of the sources of conflict, stress and verseas experience. The researcher does not wish to imply 1this will be a negative experience; overseas students may gain from exposure to other cultures, the differing art fOrms, travel, socializing with other nationals and from living and studying in a foreign environment. The r’esearcher felt that the climate within international s<=hools and the demands upon the international school administrators could not be examined in a vacuum and Segregated completely from the host national culture. ———"’ 21 Research concerning the role of the international school administrator was of importance because it was perceived that it may have been possible to identify the responsibilities and demands resulting from having to create an overseas educational environment sensitive to the needs of American and British students who may spend some or all of their formative years living and studying in foreign locations . It was important to go out to each school to conduct the data collection on site to understand the comments of teachers, parents and administrators. When the administrator of a Japanese school said he had to spend time explaining to parents some of the differences between the cultural demands on the Japanese parents and teachers and what they expected of the parents and teachers in the international school the significance of his words would l'10t have been as clear to the researcher without having been made aware of the cultural differences, having travelled on the Japanese trains, having talked and lived with a Japanese family, observed the differences in' social eXpectations and the contrasting public behavior of Japanese and Western students. The international students Were not required to wear a uniform, although there was a dress code, but in a society where there were clearly defined and an unwritten or unspoken code of dress, the Western students stood out from the crowd. The 22 iriternational school student had a freedom of speech, Incrvement and thought which clashed visibly with the quiet reserved manner in which the Japanese moved about on the subways. It was unheard Of for the Japanese to eat in the trains but Westerners would eat, chat, have their radios c>r’ Walkmans on and this, when a large group of teenagers thrives en masse, who are head and shoulders taller than “most Japanese, may have appeared threatening or lacking in reespect to those Japanese who were unfamiliar with the ffreedoms and social codes of the West. The topic was of importance to the researcher whose <2areer is in the field of international education. 'reachers and administrator expressed the view that they ‘velcomed research in their chosen profession. The :EO1lowing comments were made by one administrator upon the (:ompletion of the in-depth interview: -I found it interesting to go through the process, it is informative for me to have gone through it. The questions were thought provoking and that gives me some insight into me. It gives me some insight into my job by being asked to think about these things. It is a healthy thing to have happen to be able to articulate it. The researcher was examining administrators,‘ tzteachers' and parents' perceptions of the administration Of schools in an overseas situation. The demands, r esponsibilites and challenges facing overseas a(inninistrators in an ever-changing political arena was a 23 pertinent topic. There was evidence that schools in Asia and the Middle East were security conscious as security officers were employed to check the credentials of visitors before they were permitted access to campuses. In one location in the Middle East it was evident that the security of students and the institution was a concern of the administrator as a security officer armed with a Sub-machine gun could be Observed patrolling the perimeter of the school campus. The stresses and responsibilities of lbeing an overseas American at a time when there is an increase in urban terrorism and indiscriminate guerrilla attacks throughout the world may have influenced parents,' teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the international school administrator's role, the Organization Of the school and the relationship between the school and the host nation. 24 R E S EARCH METHOD In April, 1983 the researcher wrote to international schools in Asia, the Middle East and Europe to seek their assistance with the study. The schools were selected from those listed in the European Council of International Schools and International School Services Handbooks (21982). ,Of the schools which made a positive response to tile initial letter only those which were on the flight Path of TWA and Singapore Airlines through Asia, the Middle East and Europe were selected as participants. 'Itlternational schools in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, ”lalaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi, Italy aind the Netherlands constituted the population of the £3tudy. The researcher had been invited to include schools inn India and other locations in EurOpe as part of the EStudy but was unable to do so due to the limitations on the researchers time and personal financial constraints. Of the ten schools participating in the study, seven ‘Veare ASOS, the remaining three consisted of two British Style elementary or primary schools for grades K-6 and one K-lz British type school. The researcher found travelling from location to lc><=ation an integral part of the research technique and important in the analysis of parents,’ teachers' and 25 administrators' written descriptive comments which related to environmental issues and concerns. The data were collected using two methods: 1 . a survey administered to parents, teachers and administrators in each location and 2 . in-depth interviews with thirty administrators. It had been the researcher's intention to administer thirty surveys to parents and teachers in each location. This, however, was not always possible. The number of American and British faculty, after discounting the administrators in some locations was insufficient to distribute thirty surveys. Ten or fewer surveys were distributed to teachers in Indonesia, Brunei, Sri Lanka a nd the Netherlands . The in-depth interviews were tape recorded with the clonsent of the participant. All transcribing was completed prior to moving on to the next site. The survey data were analysed to compare the ranking (>15 items of the parents, teachers and administrators to Eseee if there were any significant differences in their E>€arceptions of the role of the international Eidministrator. The interviews and descriptive comments t1éilectations of the parents and teachers and those the administrator had for himself collectively constituted the r01e of the administrator. 31 CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE It was hoped that this contribution to research in the education, identifying the study would make a field of international concerns of parents, administrators and teachers, who are living and working in foreign lands, with regard to international schools. the leadership of A knowledge of differential group perceptions may Larwavide information which will be of benefit to administrators as to the views of others regarding their role and the direction they schools. This information might mod icum of commonality between the tecE-aohers and administrators or it Wl'lich there is a divergence of S ignificant difference in parental seek for international show that there is a perceptions of parents, may identify areas in views. If there is a and teacher perceptions (’13 the administrator's role, the sources of stress, c=<3133traints or preferred leadership style an appreciation (’15 each groups' perceptions might be of assistance to the Ei<3rninistrator in his relationship with each group and in the interpretation of his role. Studies in which there is concern with international fiaducation may contribute to a greater understanding of the Concept of internationalism and Placed upon international school the responsibilities administrators. The 32 researcher may contribute to knowledge on the relationship between the role of the international school administrator and the function and structure of international schools. . As the researcher's career is in the field of international education the subject of this dissertation is (of personal importance, interest and contributes to the international iruiividual's personal understanding of administration. CHAPTER TWO CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter has been be divided into three sections to display an analysis of prior research and literature Which related to the study. The sections are: 1- the theoretical foundations of role theory and the relationship of role to the structure of an organization; 2 - a review of the literature concerning the administration of international schools and 3° a review of the literature describing expatriate community expectations and life for the expatriate oveI'seas. The researcher included the above three categories of l ‘ . 1terature and theory as they were viewed as relevant to t . he analysis of the parental, teacher and administrator per:ertions of the role of the international school a . dmlnistrator. 33 34 ROLE THEORY AND THE STRUCTURE OF AN ORGANIZATION The researcher examined the expectations emanating from parents, teachers and administrators as to the role of the international school administrator. A role-set was defined as that complement of role relations which persons had by virtue of occupying a particular status. The term role-set referred to all the role partners who related to one single status occupant. In this study the status Occupant was the international school administrator and the role partners were the parents and the teachers. Merton (1968) presented an analysis of the structure of role relations. He departed from Linton's (1936) theory that each person occupied multiple statuses, and had multiple roles and developed the concept of role-set, StEating thatacertain social status did not entail a Sitlgle role. Merton referred to role as the basic characteristic of social structure and defined role-set as the "complement of role relations which a person had by virtue of occupying a certain social status.‘ (Merton, J‘968, p.423.) He addressed the question of how people in spetzzified social positions were likely to respond when faced with contradictory expectations regarding their 1role. Merton developed his role-set theory to obtain col'lceptual clarity of the plural aspects rather than the . 35 uniformity of social life. In his theory of role-set Merton's aim was to explore the patterns of rights and obligations with social roles and to develop his theory to identify sources of contradictory expectations regarding these obligations and the social mechanisms for dealing successfully with the contradictions. This was of direct relevance to the study of the international school administrator. The administrator was iJ1 .a position where he may have had to mediate between the expectations of more than one group. It was for this reason important to identify the expectations perceived by eaCh group for the role of the administrator. It was ail’gued that Merton's theory of role-set had application to a theory of individual autonomy in modern society. Coser (1975) suggested that the status occupant was bound by the rules and obligations of an organization or structure but theit: the individual had a measure of autonomy in the relationship and manner in which a situation was handled. This was of importance in the analysis of role as it may ha"e been possible from the data to identify the extent to ‘vrlj-Cfll the administrators experienced common role e"(Dectations and the extent to which the interpretation of t he role was left to the individual. The argument was that the multiplicity of exDectations faced by the individual, incompatible or 36 contradictory as they may have been, made role articulation possible. Merton postulated that structures did not require rigid determinism. People had some choice in their actions. These choices were, however, socially established with corresponding normative demands. Merton (1966) distinguished between simple and complex role-sets. A simple role set was described as: a set of role partners who were few in number and .do not differ much in status position; a set group, one in which Partners were hardly ever changing, like a gemeinschaft. A Complex role set could be likened to a gesellschaft; a set in which role partners occupied different positions from one another, as in a bureaucracy. The administrator's role was more in keeping with the concept of a complex role-set in which there was a bureaucracy with a stratified work fol‘ce and. individuals changing within the different parents and student reference groups i.e., teachers, tut nover. In a complex role-set, individuals were more likely to be faced with incompatible expectations. Merton icientified the mechanisms by which the status occupant cchild reduce conflict. He suggested that members of a role Set. with different expectations had different degrees of interest in the behavior of the status occupant, had differing degrees of power in shaping the occupant's 37 behavior and in observing how the status occupant behaved. This allowed the status occupant to confront contradictory demands which each partner felt to be legitimate and determine which expectations to take account of. Due to the complexity of role relations, such as those experienced by the international school administrator when confronted by differing expectations of teachers and parents, the status occupant may have been required to reflect upon what was an appropriate expectation for his role. This may have required the Occupant to be flexible and innovative in order to come to an acceptable compromise position which accommodated differing view points without losing sight of his origc‘amizational responsibilities if this was possible. This Su9<3ested that there were certain personal qualities which may have been more highly valued in situations of leadership where an individual may have been required to mediate between differential individual and group expectations. The varying expectations which status occupants may haVe experienced may not have been just chance QQQUrrences. They may have been the result of the different structural positions of the particular role patimers. In an organizational situation, as in the case of the international school, there may have been an 38 expectation for the international school administrator to have a commitment to the institution, to have an internal involvement which may have shaped and to some degree influenced the incumbent‘s behavior. Kohn (1974) postulated that there was a relation between the complexity of relationships and the development of intellectual flexibility, furthermore, ocnzupational experiences have a determining effect on the formation of values. Seiber stated: Role accumulation may enrich the personality and enhance one's self-conception. Tolerance of discrepant viewpoints, exposure to many sources of information, flexibility in adjusting to the demands of diverse role-partners...all of these benefits may accrue to the person who enjoys wide and varied contacts with his fellow men...(Seiber, 1974, p.568.) The researcher, through the investigation of the qualities of leadership associated with an effective 1nternational school administrator, was attempting to ldentify those characteristics which were valued by palrents, teachers and administrators. Coser (1975) wrote that social structures differ in ‘tt‘fié extent to which they encourage or discourage their var:ious status occupants in the use of intellectual flexibility and this variation can be associated with the status position of the individual. The higher the position 39 in the hierarchy, it was postulated, the more demands were made upon the incumbent to make cognitive evaluations, be guided by _moral principles and have a commitment to organizational goals. Merton, in referring to behavioral and attitudinal conformity, defined behavioral conformity as acting according to normative prescriptions regardless of the individual's dispositions. Attitudinal conformity was described as giving legitimacy to an institution's Values and norms and this could result in the internalization of these values. The international school administrator may have been required to exhibit behavioral and attitudinal conformity; internalize the values of the institution; show a commitment to the school and the VaIUes it represented and translate or communicate these ValLIes to parents and teachers when confronted by d i f ferential group expectations . It may have been less demanding to function in a gel“einschaft where there was an understanding between paI‘tners and an accepted code of behavior with which everybody was familiar. The code of behavior was Ll“(ierstood and was known without having to be written down or formally communicated. In a gesellschaft with a complex Set of relations, as exists between teachers, parents and administrators, articulation of the administrator's role and the objectives of the institution may have been of 1r“Dortance. The status occupant may have gained from a 40 perception of the various attitudes of the role partners. *This may have required the use of intellectual flexibility, self direction and the ability to communicate in an elaborate, or universalistic manner. (Kohn 1974; Bernstein 1971) Merton (1967) stated that it was a basic concept in sociology that individuals who hold multiple social roles {zended to organize their behavior in terms of the stzructurally defined expectations assigned to each role. IEE’ conditions arose which caused conflict, the role with Which the individual most fully identified would be <3C>nninant and reduce the tension through a 'tautological PSeudo-solution' (Merton, 1967, p.171.) The university Professor who has a conflict in demands on his time between research, lecturing or administration may chose to de\Iote the greater part of his time to the role which is ‘“C>z:e rewarding, personally fulfilling or valued by the inStitution. If the professor becomes deeply involved in reSearch and reduces the time he can allocate to students' needs or course preparation, the students may not find this so personally satisfying and be frustrated. This may create new tensions and conflict; therefore, the solution of one problem may generate further stressful situations. Similarly, the international school administrator may have had a range of duties and tasks for which he was responsible but identified with one or more facets of his 41 role which were personally more rewarding. This may have been incongruent with the primary concerns of the parents or teachers and may have created intergroup conflicts. Blau (1975) described Merton's interest in the structural application of role theory. He referred to Merton's analysis of the I'structural constraints on status occupants mediated by their roles,“ and "to dissect how role relations combine and are modified in social estructure.' (Blau, 1975, p.120.) Blau wrote that Merton £>osed a fundamental question as to how external social <:<3nstraints influenced observable patterns of conduct. ‘1?tais involved analysing the structure of role relations Eirnong persons that exerted external and often Clruanticipated influence on the status occupant's behavior. lit: was suggested that analysis should be made of social E>Eitterns identifying those consequences which were fftlnctional and contributed to the organization and those Vitiich were dysfunctional and disturb adjustment. To this Eérld the researcher analysed perceived constraints on the l'—"<31e of the international school administrator and source <>f stress, conflict or dissatisfaction, to identify situations or external forces, groups or factors which may lWave been dysfunctional to the role of the administrator and the institution. It may have been possible for the researcher to 42 identify from an analysis of role those expectations which were common to the set of international schools. These may have been a reflection of the structure of the schools and may be an enduring part of the school which will remain stable regardless of the personality of the administrator and his interpretation of his role. It may be that each new occupant of the position of international school administrator will modify the structure in some way, either by design or unintentionally. Even in this situation, certain common tasks and demands may prevail and endure the passage of time. Michels (1957) referred to as the 'Iron Law of Oligarchy' the situation where upon gaining office leaders develop vested interests in ma intaining their positions, seeking to establish themselves firmly in office sometimes losing sight of the cOncerns which brought them to power and are less likely to take risks. It may have been found that this was eVident in international schools that administrators accepted the status quo rather than take risks and ihitiate changes. The analysis of the administrator's role may have identifed the areas in which the role was to be modified by environmental, demographic, cultural, social, political or technological constraints. These may have Shaped the expectations of the parents, teachers and the administrators and placed limitations on the autonomy of tZhe administrator in the interpretation of his role. 43 This concept had been applied by Parsons (1959) to his analysis of the levels of the organization of social structure. He described a structure as a set of relatively stable .patterned relationships of units. The unit of analysis in a social system was the actor, who had a patterned system of social relationships. The role of the actor consisted of the normative expectations of group Inembers. These expectations were linked to the structure <>f the organization with which the actor and his group were associated. Parsons stated: ...the essential aspect of social structure lies in a system of patterned expectations defining the proper behavior of persons playing certain roles, enforced both by the incumbents' own positive motives for conformity and by the sanctions of others. Such systems of patterned expectations, seen in the perspective of their place in a total social system and sufficiently thoroughly established in action to be taken as legitimate, are conveniently called “institutions.“ Institutional roles constitute the mechanism by which extremely varied potentialites of ”human nature" become integrated in such a way as to dovetail into a single integrated system capable of meeting the situational exigencies with which the society and its members are faced... The second main problem is that of the structure of institutions themselves as a system. They are resultants of and controlling factors in the action of human beings in society. Hence, as a system they must be related to the functional needs of their actors as individuals and of the social systems they compose. Thus the basic structural principle is that of functional differentiation. 44- The functional reference is in the social case more complex since both functional needs of the actor and those of the social system are intertwined. (Parsons, 1949, p.35.) The researcher was attempting, through the analysis of parental, teacher and administrator expectations of the role of the international school administrator; constraints 0n the role; sources of stress and the leadership qualities identified with an effective administrator, to describe the expectations of the role-set and the institutional demands on the international school administrator. The researcher was attempting to describe the role of the international school administrator and its relation to the structure of the social system and the structure of the school in its 0 V erseas envi ronment . Skidmore (1975) related Parsons' analysis of roles to titre internal-external motivational elements in role behavior. The role was viewed as involving voluntaristic El(Ition and culturally prescribed demands, which were w<>rked out through a system of reciprocal expectations. Skidmore discussed Parsons' attention to the motivational elements of role and the external elements or factors ‘Vhtich determine rewards and sanctions. Through the development of a recognized system of allocation of riewards based upon cultural determinants, roles were W . __.-.._l_,..__.._,___. 45 described as bringing order to a social system and this in turn served to integrate the system. The intergration was achieved due to the reduction in disruption through the allocation of scarce resources. The reduction of tension and its management, which was associated with demands on scarce resources, was achieved through a system of roles and norms. Parsons cited two further problems experienced it) systems to be those of adaption and pattern rneaintenance. He formalized the four main system problems i.r1to the following functional categories: pattern HIEiintenance; integration; goal attainment and adaption. Sk idmore (1975) explained each category: Pattern maintenance is organized around the cultural system, since it is uniquely culture which deals only in the symbolic statements of the patterns as they are at any one time. It is the social system which contains the actual role enactments. The interlinking nature of these roles concerns itself with the mutuality of expectations and duties. The social system is therefore mainly functional for the total system in terms of its ''integration" of it. The personality system is the abstraction which for Parsons is closest to the idea of the person. Since action for actors (usually persons) is ultimately conceived as voluntaristic, it is the person who is involved with orienting himself to the situation and acting in it. That is, goals in relation to situations are always being set by persons. It is appropriate that the 'goal attainment" problem should be organized around the personality system, since it is this system that works out the means of attaining goals. Finally, the problem of "adaption" to the environment is the problem of the organism to survive. 46 While societal survival is not altogether a non-social problem, it ultimately rests on materialistic problems most associated with maintenance of the organism itself. (Skidmore, 1975, p.91.) Parsons' analysis of the tension management function had application to the analysis of the role of the international school administrator. The researcher was attempting to describe the role of the international :school administrator with consideration given to the <3<3mplexity of the population he served and the overseas 1.c>cation of the institution. The analysis of the €3)r1 integration, goal attainment and adaption was of l’~"elevance to the analysis of the role of the international S’<2hool administrator; the environmental, social, political <>r' cultural constraints on his role: the sources of stress a1'16 perceptions of an effective leader for the administration of international schools. Darendorf (1968) suggested that to articulate 47 ations for a given position it was necessary to fy the position's reference group and the find the expected by the reference group of the individual ing the position. He differentiated between three of expectations; must do: shall do and can do. he analysis of any discrepancy between what the ity expected and what the administrator thought they ed may have identified what the administrator saw as 1e and what he thought people expected of him, but y not have identified what he could do or actually . The researcher was attempting to identify not only he positional expectations were of the administrator hrough the in-depth interviews what the administrator 1y found he was doing and could do. It may have ed that the role had many dimensions, but due to f time, emphasis was placed upon community relations nancial planning. There was a problem not only of ng the sum of the expectations but of identifying everyday reality and demands placed on the strator. This may have presented a picture of the demands on the administrator. iddle (1979), Biddle and Thomas (1966) presented a hensive analysis of the terminology used in role . They defined the societal roles, positional roles, -associated roles and functional roles. Biddle 48 stressed the contextual impact on roles saying that they could be influenced by the sequence of prior events and the larger societal context. He stated that the roles could not be viewed as isolated phenomenon as they were interrelated. The study of the teachers' and parents' expectations may have presented information which provided for the analysis of the different tasks and expectations which combined to form the administrator's role. The administrator may have had a measure of autonomy, t>ut his role may have been determined by the expectations <>:f the parents, teachers, school board, the individual (:11aracteristics, qualities and experiences of the Eintrol in his role while experiencing other structural ‘1uindtations and controls on behavior. Berger and Luckman ( 1966) also conceptualized role as the link between the lTluzman organism and the social structure. They referred to l'-"<31e as the basic unit of objective institutional analysis. The researcher examined the role of the administrator and attempted to explain the situational or structural cOnstraints on both the role and the freedom the 49 administrator had in the interpretation of his role. The relationship between the individual and the institution which leads to observed behavior was presented in the .form of a model by Getzels and Guba (1957). The model showing the nomothetic and idiographic dimensions of social behavior applied the concept of role to an analysis of individual and institutional conflict. They referred to role expectations of the institution and related this to the individual and his personality. They defined role as the most important sub-unit of an institution. In describing the nature of roles they stated: ...Roles represent positions or statuses in the institution; roles are defined by role expectations; roles are institutional givens; the behavior associated with a role can be viewed along a continuum from required to prohibited: roles are complementary. (Getzels and Guba, 1957, p.426.) This further illustrated the link which existed between the total community, made up of external and internal elements and the subsequent observed behavior. The identification of the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' shared common perspectives of the administrator's role provided the method of defining the international school administrator's role. Any lack of congruity between responses may have served to identify potential sources of conflict and dissatisfaction which 50 may have had a negative impact on the organization, or the role incumbent. One problem faced by the administrator may have been the lack of congruity between his self expectations and the reality of his situation. This may have created internal conflict. It was of relevance to investigate personal sources of frustration in the administrator's role. One possible source of frustration as described by Lysgaard (1959), Storm and Finkle (1965) and Higbee (1970) was role shock. Cleveland (1960) and Bock (1970) described the symptoms of culture shock. This concept had been applied to the stress and frustration experienced by those moving from one role to another. It was described as the difficulty experienced when the status of a person was significantly altered. The example was given of those who have a high status in one location and the incongruity experienced when their new role was viewed as less prestigious. Administrators who had a high status in their home school district may have experienced role shock if they found themselves among ambassadors and diplomats when in an administrative position overseas. It may, however, have been that the reverse occured that in an overseas situation the administrator had a higher status and was more highly regarded than would have been the case in his home school district. 51 Role shock may have been only one of many types of stresses experienced by international school administrators. Although the structure of the international school may have had a similar orientation to that of schools within the administrator's national system of education, it was still possible that the expected role may not have been what the administrator thought it would be. The analysis of role may have provided information of sources of stress, which may have originated from discrepancies between parents,’ teachers' or administrators' expectations or from other sources, such as the role failing to meet the administrator's personal expectations. The conceptual framework of this study rested upon the theories of role, group expectations and the relation between role and the structure of an organization, as identified in the review of literature. Merton's role-set theory was appropriate to the analysis of parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' expectations of the international school administrator's role. The concept of limited autonomy had application in so far as there were possibly some areas of the administrator's role which may have been open to personal interpretation. Parsons (1959), Blau (1975), Bergerman and Luckman (1966) referred to the relationship between the individual's role and the organization, the accompanying constraints this may have 52 imposed on behavior have been cited. The application of their research to the analysis of the international school administrator's role may have provided for an explanation of the researcher's data. Gouldner's (1960) analysis of the norms of reciprocity provided a firm theoretical foundation for the analysis of the administrator's interpretation of his role. The research by Goode (1966) and that of Gross, McEachern and Mason (1957) on role strain, together with the theoretical analyses of Merton (1957), Parsons (1959), Lysgaard (1959), Katz (1967) contributed to the conceptual framework for the analysis of the sources of stress and possible incongruity between the expectations of parents, teachers and administrators. The research was based upon an extensive and thorough conceptual framework, which was applied to the analysis of the researcher's data on the role of the international school administrator. 53 LITERATURE REVIEW: EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION In the second section of the literature review the researcher was examining research pertaining to the administration of international schools. The researcher referred to sources of literature which had application to the analysis of differential perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. The American Association of School Administrators, (AASA 1982) presented a report on themes, trends and a profile of the American Superintendency. The report included an analysis of trends in community relations; concerns of administrators; sources of stress; skills identified as necessary to remain effective; school board expectations and skills or information needed to enhance managerial and leadership capacities. Some of the findings of the report have been cited as it was thought that the researcher might have identified similar trends or patterns in the analysis of data regarding the overseas administrator. In 1982 the AASA reported the top six most restraining factors which were inhibiting the effectiveness of American superintendents to .have been; inadequate financing of schools; too many insignificant demands upon the superintendent;. lack of time; collective 54 bargaining; too much added responsibility and inexperienced, unqualified staff members. Superintendents identified as the primary expectations of the school board; skills in human relations; knowledge of finance; internal management; public relations/community relations and planning. The skills or information needed to remain effective were identified as; general management skills; human relations skills; data management/technology; financial skills; knowledge of social and educational change processes; other conflict resolution skills; political‘ skills and research skills. The university courses identified as of importance to the administrator in fulfilling his role were; human relations; personnel administration; public relations; school finance; school business management and legal aspects of education. It could be concluded from the results of the report that American superintendents repeatedly identified the need for good human and public relations skills and competency in finance. It was suggested in the report that financial problems were both fiscal and political and required the superintendent to have skills in dealing within a political arena and use the skills of collaboration and cooperation to secure scarce resouces for educational needs. The researcher attempted to identify areas of concern to the international administrators and group perceptions 55 of the issues, challenges and demands confronting the administrator in his role. It may have been that there was some commonality between those issues and trends identified by the AASA and presented in their report and the perceptions of administrators in international schools of current issues related to their role. Lezotte, Hathaway, Miller, Passalacqua and Brookover (1980), Brookover and Lezotte (1977) and Rutter (1979) in their investigations of school effectiveness and school climate had identified the importance of the administrator's role in providing instructional leadership. The researcher in this study was not investigating either school climate or school effectiveness, however, the researcher was concerned with the perceptions of parents, teachers and administrators as to the priorty given to the role of the administrator as an instructional leader. Lezotte et. a1. (1980) wrote: Principals have an important role in the school generally, and they have an especially important role. in clarifying and changing a school's learning climate and the resulting instructional effectiveness. Principals represent the organizational authority of the school, and in that regard, they symbolize what the school stands for, how it will operate, and what is important. The research on effective school, effective educational innovations, and effective strategies for planning change all point to the principal as a singularly important person in the successful school system. As the legitimate authority, the principal should 56 insure that the school's goals and objectives are known, and that the instructional programs are directed to attainment of those goals and objectives. Many principals believe that they ought not serve as the school's instructional leader. They see themselves more as administrators and managers....Perhaps the most common objection as to why the principal is unable to assume the role of instructional leader is because of conflicting time and role demands...Instructionally effective leaders control the demands on their time to provide the necessary instructional leadership rather than being controlled by the press of organizational problems. (Lezotte et.al., 1980, p.93.) Lezotte et.al. and Rutter indicated the importance of the administrator's role as an instructional leader in effective schools. International school administrator perceptions and those of the parents and teachers were examined to identify their priorities for the role of the administrator and their ranking of the category instructional leader. Current theories of school organization suggested there were structural and procedural characteristics of schools which militated against top-down management. Weick (1976) described a concept of ”loose coupling" in organizations which had application to the analysis. The picture of organizing presented by Weick was one in which there were numerous enactment-selection-retention (ESR) sequences underway at any moment in time scattered throughout the organization. Purkey and Smith (1982) 57 reasoned, if schools were loosely coupled systems having weak linkage between the administration and the relatively autonomous classroom, then notions of effectiveness that depended upon strong dogmatic administrative leadership were immediately handicapped. Other studies which contributed to the conceptual framework were those of Baracharach and Mitchell (1983) "Sources of Dissatisfaction in Educational Administration: A Role Specific Analysis" and the study conducted by Dwyer, Rowan and Lee (1982), which examined the role of the principal as an instructional manager. It was found that the administrator of successful schools had high expectations for their students and gave the teachers substantial instructional autonomy to exercise their discretion in the instructional program. It was stated that personal characteristics, district and external characteristics shaped an administrator's behavior. Leiter (1983) in an examination of the perceptions of community dissatisfaction and school organizational structures stated that the administrator acted as a buffer between the staff and the community. The buffer concept of the administrator's role was identified by Cusick and Peters (1979) in a study of the secondary principal in a small town. The buffer function of the administrator between teachers, the school board and the community was 58 referred to in Gould's address entitled, "The Principalship: Role Expectations and Leadership Style" presented to the National Association of Principals (1980). The researcher investigated the perceptions of the parents, teachers and administrators of this function and included this concept in the items describing the role of the international school administrator. The researcher referred to theories of leadership in the analysis of perceptions of the effective leadership of international schools. Stogdill's research (1974) examining personality traits associated with individuals occupying leadership positions had appliction to the researcher's study. The researcher applied Blake and Mouton's (1968, 1969) writings on organizational development using a managerial grid in the identification of descriptors of task or people oriented personnel. The researcher recognized the contributions made by Fiedler (1967); Tannenbaum (1973): Vroom and Yetton (1973); House and Mitchell's application of expectancy theory to their path-goal model of leadership (1974) and applied where appropriate their findings to the analysis of those characteristics which parents, teachers and administrators associated with effective international school leadership. A functional definition of the administrator's role which contibuted to the conceptual framework was presented 59 by Campbell, Bridges and Nystrand (1977). They described the role of the administrator in a school system with reference to the following variables; a staff leader; a symbol; a coordinator; a communicator; an instructional leader; a specialist; a generalist and a policy maker. The researcher investigated the variables of role as prioritized by the parents, teachers and administrators. The afore mentioned researchers' findings on educational administration contributed to the conceptual framework and to the identification of variables and descriptors used in the questionnaires which were administered to the groups of parents, teachers and administrators in the set of international schools. 60 LITERATURE REVIEW: EXPATRIATE COMMUNITIES The researcher included this section in the review of literature as it was considered of importance to the analysis [of the research data and contributed to the attempted explanation of American and British expatriates' expectations of the administrator's role. The characteristics of expatriate communities and the life style of the expatriate were described by Cleveland (1960), Wolfe (1969), Cohen (1977) and Brislin (1980). Cohen (1977) applied the term ”environmental bubble“ to a description of the protected environment identified in his study of expatriates. Described was the manner in which expatriates coped with the strangeness of the host environment, the extent to which the individual withdrew into the familiarity or shelter of a social group of co-nationals or the degree to which one exposed oneself to the unfamiliarity of the foreign environment. The lack of ability to speak the native language was seen to add to the dependence of the expatriate on the expatriate community and contribute to the cocoon effect which for some sojourners was manifest in ‘a segregation from and rejection of the host nation culture. Attempts at learning the language were rejected as impractical and a waste of time due to the short time the sojourner anticipated he 61 would remain in the host nation. Cohen suggested that the expatriate could be viewed as a "transient, privileged minority, which gains status by its entrance into the host society and hence tends to defend the exclusiveness of its enclave and its institutions from the hosts." (Cohen, 1977, p.24.) The international school was a part of the expatriate environment. The international school administrator was" faced with the expectations of many parents who lived within the confines of such a community. Wolfe (1969) in a study of the American military community in Turkey concluded that those groups who participated most outside the community also participated most inside the expatriate community. The situational forces and extent of the cultural differences between the host national and the expatriate groups contributed most significantly to the tenor of intergroup relations. She stated: Most of the Americans going overseas had been neither educated for nor interested in the development of broad and deep contact and sympathies with host nationals and their culture. Sentiments which might have taken them past surface impressions had not been encouraged. Negative evaluations are, more, likely in a 'developing' country with few of the material amenities of highly industrialized countries. Furthermore, differences in culture particularly religious culture, tended to make some Americans view Turkey as a repressive and austere land, offering few pleasures or inducements to balance against the cultural difficulties of venturing out. (Wolfe, 1969, p.256.) 62 The problem ‘of simultaneously living in two cultural worlds was solved by many of the American military personnel in Turkey, by the rejection of the foreign culture and immersion in the familiar culture. Wolfe's participant observation led her to conclude that language, education, religion, lack of commonality between two reference groups could all present barriers for cross cultural interaction in a foreign environment. The researcher described this study as it illustrated the dependence certain overseas personnel placed upon the familiar; the insular nature of some the expatriate communities and the subsequent importance to the expatriate of the international school. Cleveland (1960) wrote about the overseas Americans. He referred to culture shock which was precipitated by the anxiety that resulted from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social interaction. Having internalized certain patterns of behavior since childhood the overseas American became "like a fish out of water" and this resulted in the rejection of the environment which caused the anxiety. The home environment was viewed in a glamorized manner. Cleveland stated, "to an American everything American becomes irrationally glorified." (Cleveland, 1960, p.28.) The former problems in, and 63 criticisms of the country of origin, were forgotten and a rosy picture was painted of life back home. Other symptoms of culture shock were described as excessive concern about drinking water, food, dishes, anger over delay and minor frustrations and a longing to be back home. These were important observations and were relevant to the analysis of the role of the administrator and the differential expectations of parents, teachers and administrators. Cleveland (1960 ) described some of the problems encountered by Americans overseas. One of these was the host nationals concept of time and the difficulties faced by businessmen who wanted to finalize contracts as quickly as possible with national groups such as the Japanese. The Japanese placed a greater emphasis on the development of trust and building a personal relationship before negotiating any business deals. In other cases the time taken to negotiate a contract was a measure of its importance and it was a mark of respect to have protracted negotiations. Similarly, the American virtues such as clarity of expression, equality of treatment and an informal manner were seen by other nationals as neither useful nor virtuous and contrary to the culture of the host nation. Reference was made by Cleveland (1960) to the Japanese language, "in Japan the man who is the best speaker is not who is the clearest but one who can couch his ideas in beautiful phrases that just indicate. You get 64 your ideas across by innuendo rather than by being clear" (Cleveland, 1960, p.42.) The international school administrator may have experienced similar frustrations in his relation with host nationals and this may have influenced the fulfillment of his administrative role. An analysis of causes of stress to overseas U.S. corporate employees and their families was made by Orr.(l980) Inadequacy of schooling was identified as the most significant cause of distress for employees and their spouses. It was identified as a great cause of stress by thirty three per cent of the spouses and as a considerable cause of stress by twenty nine per cent of the executives surveyed. Isolation was identified as the second highest ranked cause of stress followed by culture shock and language problems. In addition some respondents cited a cause of distress to be the limitations or unavailability of employment for spouses overseas. A common opportunity for employment was the A808 but Orr stated that such employment was regarded as a source of problems. Inadequate school personnel was the most frequently cited reason for the discontent with the international schools. The comments and recommendations related to the problem of financing international schools and how this influenced the recruitment and retention of quality faculty and administrative personnel. The quality of education and the leadership role played by administrators overseas was of 65 concern to business employees and their spouses and influenced their decisions regarding further employment outside of their country of origin. Parenting overseas had benefits according to Jaquelin. (1983) She wrote " Whatever our sons choose to do as adults, I think, by exposing them to the world's rich variety of experiences, sights and ways of life now, we are helping them to grow farther toward their full potential and equipping them to make wiser, more objective life decisions in the future." (Jaquelin, 1983, p.4.) Contradictory observations regarding exposure to other cultures were cited by Moore (1981) and by Useem (1973) in her reference the problems of adjustment faced by "third culture kids." One could gain .from exposure to other cultures and this, as administrators of overseas schools suggested, could create a global awareness and contribute to an understanding of other cultures. This, however, may not have been the case. Moore (1981) wrote: High socioeconomic status foreign nationals do live in the same areas in some proximity to one another in urban centers of host countries. But there is a very visible segregation in social and in-school activities of most of the youth...In study after study using carefully honed ethnographic techniques it is reported that nation specific groups of youths and their parents live day-to-day with a highly visible "kasern mentality.‘ This is especially evident on military bases where there is on-base housing. And it is not limited to short-time-outers. While it is not a rampant condition, there are more than a few parents and young people who have been 66 guests-in-country for several years but give no overt signs of ever having left the U.S. They have not participated in the life of their hosts. A cross cultural comparative awareness for administrators in not easily obtained unless you put yourself into the head of a person from an utterly different culture. Contact alone will not do. Even sustained contact is an insufficient condition. The administrator must be ready to respect, accept and have the capacity to participate. The administrator must have some plasticity--the ability to learn and change is crucial. (Moore, 1981, p.9) The administration of an international school could be a complex role in which there were many stresses which may have their origin in the nature of the overseas expatriate community, the distance of the values and attitudes of the expatriate from those of the host national, the measure or extent of adjustment made by the expatriate to their overseas situation or the limited options for the education of dependents which existed in certain locations. Moore (1976) wrote that in situations where there was only one international school several options were open to parents, accept the philosophy of the school, leave the family at home, send students away to boarding school or seek a position on the school board and attempt to influence how education shall be delivered. The dynamics of working with multi-national groups and the attending constraints this may have imposed could have been used as a positive force for change if groups formed constructive coalitions. Mediating between self-interest 67 pressure groups may however have been stressful if the administrator was lacking in interpersonal skills or the ability to deal with group dynamics. Durkheim (1972); Williamson (1979); Neff (1973); Bourdieu (1971, 1977); Bernstein (1971); Bowles and Gintis (1976); Cusick (1973, 1983) wrote concerning the manner in which the basic values of society were transmitted through the culture; process, content and structure of an education system; through the school rituals, totems and patterns of acceptable behavior. An analysis of the expectations of expatriate parents, teachers and administrators of the international school administrator's role may identify the societal values, attitudes and norms which each group think are significant for the direction of the institution. The researcher compiled a comprehensive conceptual framework and extensive review of the literature because of the relevance of the theories to the analysis of the data and their relevance in the explanation of the many factors which influenced parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' expectations of the international school administrator's role. CHAPTER THREE LOGISTICS AND METHODOLOGY The description of the logistics and methodolgy are divided into the following sections: the researcher's purpose in the study; the selection of the sites; the population, its size and geographical location; research questions; the data collection tools; the data collection process; contingency plans for overseas data collection and the analysis of the data. THE RESEARCHER'S PURPOSE IN THE STUDY The researcher examined the perceptions that administrators, parents and teachers expressed concerning the role of an international school administrator. The researcher collected statistical and descriptive data. The descriptive data were used in conjunction with the Statistical results in an analysis and explanation of the .statistical findings. The researcher examined the descriptive data to identifyvrecurring comments which 68 69 related to perceptions of the role of the international school administrator; sources of stress, conflict and dissatisfaction; constraints on the international school administrator's role and the perceived characteristics of an effective international administrator. SELECTION OF THE SITE Although the data collection took place during a period of four months from the end of August to late December, 1983 the initial planning of the researcher's study and the selection of the site dated back to April, 1983. A letter, Appendix D, requesting permission to conduct the collection of research data was sent to the administrators of more than sixty schools. The schools were located in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The schools were selected from those listed in the 1983 directories of the European Council of Overseas Schools and the International Schools Services. Only international schools listed as non-military, non-sectarian, British or American oriented were contacted. At this stage of the planning the researcher was working with a travel agent to develop and compile a flight schedule which would facilitate the collection of data in as many of those 70 sites, as was logistically possible, in which the administrator had responded in the affirmative. A criterion in the final selection of the sites was that they were on the flight path of TWA and Singapore airlines in an arc which permitted the researcher to keep on travelling westward. International schools which were within a days surface travel of.the major airports on the proposed route were also considered for inclusion in the study. Numerous combinations of airline companies were considered but rejected because they did not permit the researcher to visit such a wide variety of overseas schools and in as many different countries. The optimum number of schools were visited using the combined flight paths of the two airline companies selected. A further criterion in the selection of the sites was that the schools would grant permission for the collection of data for two independent studies. The researcher's husband was also collecting data for his doctoral dissertation. The researcher indicated that assistance with accommodation during the proposed seven day visit would be appreciated. This was clearly stated in the initial letter to avoid any ambiguity and to indicate that the researcher was a student who was personally funding the research project. The researcher was provided with accommodation by relatives, friends, faculty members and 71 administrators in all but one location. It was this type of hospitality and generosity which made such a research project possible. Upon the acceptance of the researcher's proposal in June, 1983 a letter, Appendix E, confirming the dates, times and duration of the proposed visits was sent to participating schools. The locations of participating American Sponsored Overseas Schools were; Tokyo, Japan;' Hong Kong; Singapore; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The locations of participant British international schools were; Jakarta, Indonesia; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Rome, Italy. THE POPULATION: SIZE AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION The researcher initially proposed to administer copies of the questionnaire to thirty parents, thirty teachers and three administrators in each of the ten sites. This would constitute a population totalling three hundred parents, three hundred teachers and thirty administrators. The actual population surveyed was three hundred parents, thirty administrators both as proposed and two hundred and five teachers. The size of the faculty at several of the international schools was such that the number of American and British teachers was insufficient 72 to facilitate the distribution of the proposed thirty questionnaires in each site. The number of questionnaires distributed in each geographical location is presented in Table 1. TABLE 1: THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES DISTRIBUTED BY SITES. SITE ADMINISTRATORS TEACHERS PARENTS TOKYO 3 30 30 HONG KONG 3 30 30 SINGAPORE 4 30 30 KUALA LUMPUR 4 30 30 JAKARTA 2 10 30 BRUNEI 2 10 30 COLOMBO 4 5 30 ROME 3 30 30 ABU DHABI 3 20 30 ROTTERDAM 2 10 30 TOTAL 30 205 300 In this study the researcher was only concerned with the perceptions of American and British expatriates. In Colombo, Sri Lanka there was a large staff of host nationals who were interested in the study and wished to participate. The administrator of that school was interested in administering the questionnaire not only to the American and British faculty but also to the host nationals to analyse the research findings with regard to the perceptions of all of the faculty. In Sri Lanka the researcher had a larger population of teachers but has 73 omitted from the analysis these data relating to the host nationals as it was not a part of this study. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The researcher examined parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' differential perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. Four questions were being investigated. 1. What were parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator? 2. What was each group's perceptions of the environmental, social, organizational and personal constraints on the role of the international school administrator? 3. What were the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the ~sources of stress, conflict and dissatisfaction in the role of the international school administrator? 4. What was each group's perceptions of the characteristics of an effective international school administrator? The researcher examined the measure of congruity between the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. 74 DATA COLLECTION TOOLS The researcher used two methods for the collection of these data, a questionnaire and the in-depth interview. The Questionnaire Copies of the questionnaire were administered to parents, teachers and ,administrators in each location. Participants were requested to rank order items which identified the individual's expectations of the role of the administrator, the constraints on the role, the sources of stress and the characteristics the individual associated with an effective international school administrator. A copy of the questionnaire is included as Appendix F. Each item was accompanied by a descriptor to clarify and define the researcher's terminology. A space was provided at the end of each of the four sections for the participant to voluntarily answer in written form the same question as that addressed through the ranking of the variables. Many participants wrote descriptions of their expectations in addition to completing the ranking process. This gave a written reaffirmation of their views. One participant wrote, " my personal opinions are contained in all of the above, and have not been restrained, rather directed by the categories identified." 75 The questionnaire was developed by the researcher. The researcher consulted a statistician regarding the development and refinement of the instrument. The statistician recommended as a refinement the use of the ranking process to identify group perceptions. The data collection design was examined to ensure that it was in such a form that the data could be transferred on to computer data sheets, were acceptable for key punching into the computer and could be analysed using established statistical procedures. The statistical procedures by which the data would be analysed were determined. The refinement of the questionnaire also involved eliminating duplicate variables and improving the format to ensure that the instructions were clear, precise and explicit. The In—depth Interview The researcher had in-depth interviews with the participating administrators. The administrators completed the questionnaire prior to the interview. The in—depth interview was directed toward the investigation of answers to the researcher's four questions regarding the role of the international school administrator. The same four questions had been presented in the questionnaire. The in-depth interviews were designed to provide the 76 administrators with the opportunity to explain in_ detail what they identified as the expectations parents, teachers and they themselves held regarding the role of the international school administrator, the constraints on the role, the sources of stress, and the characteristics associated with an effective administrator. The in-depth interviews provided the researcher with the opportunity to examine case studies presented by the administrators as an explanation or illustration of their relations with teachers, the school board and the community. The in-depth interviews and the descriptive data extracted from the questionnaires were regarded as having an important function in the researcher's methodology and a valuable tool for data collection. The format of and the questions addressed in the interviews can be referred to in Appendix G. Each administrator was asked to address the same set of questions during the in-depth interviews. The researcher designed the in-depth interviews to complement the questionnaire and examine the administrators' perceptions of the administrator's role. The researcher refined the questions by asking colleagues to read them and comment on clarity and by asking a consultant statistician if the questions provided for the collection of the descriptive data and addressed the 77 research questions. DATA COLLECTION PROCESS The Questionnaire The researcher tried at all times to distribute the questionnaires in a standard manner but this was not always possible as the researcher had to comply with the wishes of the administrators in each school. The most commonly used and standard form of distribution was for the chief administrator to write a cover letter which upon duplication was attached to copies of the questionnaire. Refer to Appendix H for an example of a cover letter. The cover letter gave the administrator's endorsement of the study, indicated to whom, where and the date by which the questionnaires should be returned. The teachers and parents were selected from faculty and pupil lists. The researcher distributed the questionnaires across all age groups unless the administrator specifically requested that they be given to a certain age group, as was the case in two locations. In five locations where there were small faculties all the American or British faculty was surveyed, elsewhere the distribution was made by the selection of thirty subjects from the total population of the full-time faculty. 78 The questionnaires for parents were placed in sealed addressed envelopes and given to students to personally carry home. In one location, at the request of the administrator, the questionnaires were sent out by mail. In some sites the researcher was required to deliver the questionnaires to each student, while in other locations the administrators preferred to give the questionnaires to teachers to distribute to the pupils in their respective classes. It was the preference of the researcher to personally give the questionnaires to students. The researcher was working within a tight time schedule and wanted to ensure that the students received the 'questionnaires on the first day of the researcher's visit to each site. The researcher wanted to collect as many of the completed questionnaires as possible while in each location rather than depending upon others to distribute, collect and mail responses on the researcher's behalf. The first day at each site was very demanding. The researcher attempted to make the earliest possible appointment with the chief administrator to outline the purpose of the study, request access to staffing and pupil lists for the selection of the population and to make arrangements for an appointment for the in-depth interview. A draft of a cover letter used in previous sites was presented to the administrator to expedite matters. Personal secretaries to the administrators were 79 most cooperative in the typing of the amended cover letters, which were then photo-copied in sufficient numbers to meet the researcher's requirements. The school day for students in some locations in the tropics was from approximately 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There was no extended lunch break. In these situations the researcher would not have been able to complete all the necessary paper work for the distribution of the questionnaires in this .time frame without the full support of the administrators, secretarial staff, the faculty and the assistance of the researcher's husband in the labelling of envelopes and "stapling of cover letters to the questionnaires. Participants were requested to return completed questionnaires to the school office three days following the distribution of the survey. The researcher left a self addressed envelope with the secretary of each school for the forwarding of any questionnaires which were returned after the researcher's departure. The researcher's address in the United States was included in the researcher's own cover letter attached to the questionnaires to enable participants, if they so desired, to mail their completed questionnaire directly to the researcher. 80 The In-depth Interview The participant administrators were given a copy of the questions to be addressed during the in-depth interview. The questions were given to the participants several days before the meeting so that they would not be taken by surprise and could prepare themselves for the interview with an understanding of the subject content under investigation. An official apppointment and set allocation of time to conduct the in-depth interview was sought by the researcher. The researcher preferred to have the appointment written into the administrator's appointment book rather than depending upon a casual arrangement. If for some reason the administrator could not make the original appointment a second formal meeting was decided upon. The interviews took approximately forty-five minutes to an hour to complete and were tape recorded with the consent of the participant. All but one of the in-depth interviews were conducted on the school premises in the privacy of the office of the incumbent, during the working day. In the one exception to this the interview was conducted during the evening at the administrator's home. The transcription of the tapes for each site was completed while the researcher was in the geographical location of the school. The researcher had two taped 81 interviews to transcribe per week in those sites where two administrators participated in the study but as many as four to transcribe in locations which had a larger administrative team. This necessitated careful planning of time on the part of the researcher and a commitment to complete the transcribing before moving on to the next location. It was considered important to complete the transcribing in situ, not only to avoid an accumulation of work to be completed upon the return of the researcher to the United States, but to alleviate the reseacher's concern that there may have been some electrical variations between countries which would not have been discovered until the following week or later and this may have rendered the recorded interviews and data inaccessible. One of the advantages of completing the transcriptions while in the geographical location of the school was that it was possible to return to the administrator and ask for clarification of any points made in the interview or a restatement of an answer which was not picked up clearly on the tape recording. 82 CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR OVERSEAS DATA COLLECTION The collection of research data in ten different countries located between latitudes 8 degrees south and 54 degrees north of the Equator and between longitudes 2 degrees west and 140 degrees east of Greenwich needed serious planning with regard to the physical and mental stamina required to cope with climatic differences; the constant changing of time-zones; the potential hazards to health; scheduling of innoculations/immunization against tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis; tablets required for strains of malaria which may be contracted; scheduling of flights and their reconfirmation; the procurement of necessary visas, baggage and health insurance; the management of finances to avoid changing inexcess of requirements while ensuring liquidity; where and how to make long distance telephone calls timed to locate administrators at the next site during their school day. These represent but a small part of the total number of contingencies which should be considered by any researcher prior to embarking on a project involving extensive travel. The security of documents, both during travelling and while resident in each site, was one major concern of the researcher. A lockable large hard-sided attache case was purchased before leaving the United States and carried as 83 hand luggage throughout the trip. The volume and weight of paper carried by the researcher was considerable and a constant concern when checking through security clearance at every airport. In Hong Kong the attache case failed to meet the size specifications for hand luggage by a fraction of an inch but the researcher was given clearance by the airline company to take the case on board as hand luggage. On a second occasion, while waiting in the departure lounge to board the flight to Brunei, the researcher was approached by an overly officious airline hostess who expressed the view that the attache case was too big for hand luggage. To avoid any confrontation and avoid the loss of documents the researcher defused the situation by quick thinking and emptied a soft fabric shoulder bag of travel reading material, embroidery, passport, and travel documents transferring as many items into the attache case while redistibuting the researcher's documents between this bag and the researcher's husband's attache case. The hostess was content with this solution and checked in the offending piece of luggage. To handle such situations required a certain composure and equanimity as it was essential to realize that in Asia to try to argue would require a certain loss of face on the part of the official which would be culturally unacceptable. It was, therefore, necessary to remain calm in all situations and find a way, 84 if it was important, of achieving one's objective without compromising the third party. The best made plans and precautions can prove inadequate when the unexpected happens. The researcher had no means of anticipating the changes made in boarding regulations for individuals travelling from Abu Dhabi to Athens. Early in the week the researcher reconfirmed the ongoing flight to Athens but received a telephone call at 10 a.m. on the Friday morning of the day prior to the departure to say that it was not possible to board the flight scheduled for 3 a.m. the following morning and offering as an alternative a flight to Athens via Beruit. No indication was given for the sudden change in the traveller's schedule. As Friday was a Moslem holy day nothing could be achieved by contacting the local agent despite several hours of effort on the researcher's part to achieve a solution this way. A distress call placed to the researcher's travel agent in East Lansing, taken on the agent's recorded message machine proved to be the only effective means of ‘getting the researcher out of a potentially expensive and (difficult travel problem. The researcher when placing the <1all realized that there was something like seven hours tidne difference between the two countries so a response frwam the distress call would not be received until six or . 85 seven o' clock in the evening local time in Abu Dhabi. When the agent managed to book reservations on an alternative flight out of Dubai not Abu Dhabi and arranged by telex for the transfer of the researcher's ticket to the an alternative company a cheer was raised by the researchers and their American hosts. The researcher had then to set out on a five hour taxi ride late at night across the desert to Dubai in order to make the new connection. The researcher continued on schedule thanks to the efficiency, and help of an East Lansing travel agent. An important contingency plan was to make all travel arrangements through an agent who was experienced in dealing with individuals who travel overseas on trips other than package tours, who recognized that immediate action can save the traveler unanticipated additional expenses and hours or days of anguish while stranded in sites like the United Arab Emirates. THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA The statistical data extracted from the questionaires were analysed using the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient which measured the strength of the linear .relationship between group perceptions of the role of the iJIternational school administrator, constraints on the rrxle, sources of stress and characteristics of an 86 effective international school administrator. The researcher used an analysis of variance (ANOVA) where the ranking given to each variable was converted into a standard score and a comparison made of the group means for each variable. Using the statistical data obtained from the ANOVA the Scheffe Test, a post-hoc multiple-comparison of means, was performed to examine which pairs of comparisons were significantly different. The statistical data were collected using a ranking process. Participants were requested to rank variables from greatest to least importance. This method did not identify variables perceived to be of no importance. The use of a five point scale for each variable may have identified the variables to which each group gave equal weight or identified the variables each perceived to be unimportant. The comparison of the means from the ranking process provided the researcher with data which identified the variables each group identified to be of the greatest and least importance but were the researcher to perform a follow up study a scale of one to five would be used for each variable. Having consulted and studied the writings of Glasser (and Strauss (1967); Blummer (1956, 1959, 1962); Erickson, Florio and Bushman (1980) in the use of field research techniques and the analysis of ethnographic data the 87 researcher examined the descriptive data for common, recurring statements. CHAPTER FOUR DATA EXTRAPOLATED FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRES AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS INTRODUCTION The researcher divided the presentation of the data into five sections 1. the demographic data; 2. the role of an international school administrator; 3. the constraints on the role of an international school administrator; 4. the sources of stress, conflict and dissatisfaction in the role of an international school administrator and 5. the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. In sections two through five are presented the «administrators,' teachers' and parents' perceptions of the r1>le, the constraints, the sources of stress and the Cfiiaracteristics of an effective administrator. The 88 89 researcher divided the description of the data in each of sections two through five into subsections in which are presented: 1. the statistical data; 2. the data extrapolated from the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' written responses to questions two, four, six and eight on the researcher's questionnaire and; 3. the data extrapolated from the in-depth interviews with the administrators. 90 THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA The questionnaires from one hundred and forty nine parents, one hundred and twenty three teachers and thirty administrators were completed and returned to the researcher. This represented a return of one hundred per cent from the administrators, sixty per cent from the teachers and fifty per cent from the parents. The number of questionnaires returned at each of the ten sites by parents, teachers and administrators is displayed in Table 20 TABLE 2: NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE RETURN OF COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES BY SITES. SITE ADMINISTRATORS TEACHERS PARENTS # % # % # % TOKYO 3 100 16 53 14 46 HONG KONG 3 100 18 60 15 50 SINGAPORE 4 100 15 50 12 40 KUALA LUMPUR 4 100 19 63 15 50 JAKARTA 2 100 7 70 13 43 BRUNEI 2 100 6 60 14 46 COLOMBO 4 100 5 100 15 50 ABU DHABI 3 100 15 75 19 63 ROME 3 100 15 50 17 56 ROTTERDAM 2 100 7 70 15 50 TOTAL # AND % 30 100 123 60 149 50 Of the three hundred and two subjects, two hundred and three were Americans and ninety nine were British, a 91 ratio of approximately two Americans to one British subject. The number of American and British participants in each site is presented in Table 3. TABLE 3: NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF AMERICAN AND BRITISH PARTICIPANTS BY SITES. SITE ADMINISTRATORS TEACHERS PARENTS AM. % BR. % AM. % BR. % AM. % BR. % TOKYO 3 100 0 0 16 100 0 0 4 100 0 0 HONG KONG 3 100 0 0 18 100 0 0 15 100 0 0 SINGAPORE 4 100 0 0 15 100 0 0 12 100 0 0 KUALA L. 4 100 0 0 17 90 2 10 15 100 0 0 JAKARTA 0 0 2 100 0 0 7 100 0 0 13 100 BRUNEI 0 0 2 100 0 0 6 100 0 0 14 100 COLOMBO 3 75 1 25 1 20 4 80 5 33 10 67 ABU DHABI 3 100 0 0 15 100 0 0 16 84 3 16 ROME 0 0 3 100 0 0 15 100 3 18 14 82 ROTTERDAM 2 100 0 0 7 100 0 0 12 80 3 20 TOTALS 22 73 8 27 89 72 34 28 92 62 57 38 There were one hundred and forty four male participants and one hundred and fifty eight females. One hundred and thirty two of the participants had been overseas for one to five years, eighty five had been overseas for six to ten years, fifty°one had been overseas for eleven to fifteen years, and thirty two of the participants for over fifteen years. These data for two of the subjects were not given. 92 THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR STATISTICAL DATA The administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables which they identified with the role of the international school administrator are presented in Tables 4, S and 6. THE SPEARMAN RANK CORRELATION COEFFICIENT The researcher calculated the Spearman . Rank Correlation Coefficient of the administrators' and the teachers' rankings and found a correlation of 0.877. There was a correlation between the rankings of the parents and the administrators of 0.818. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient between the teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables they associated with the role of an international school administrator was 0.76. 93 TABLE 4: ADMINISTRATORS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Instructional Leader 3.600 3.654 2. Policy Maker 5.067 4.394 3. Decision Maker 7.133 5.329 4. Information Coordinator 7.767 4.918 5. Experienced Teacher 7.967 6.128 6. Staff Developer 8.300 4.504 7. Curriculum Director 8.567 5.309 8. Business Manager 9.267 5.369 9. Public Relations Officer 9.567 5.083 10. Mediator 10.433 4.776 11. Academic Specialist 10.700 5.553 12. Liaison Parents/Teachers 11.000 4.259 13. Finanacial Expert 11.400 4.438 14. Staff Representative 12.967 4.115 15. Negotiator 13.033 4.650 16. Maintains US/UK Orientation 13.100 5.195 17. Intermediary 13.500 4.995 18. Liaison Sch./Prof.Agencies 14.167 4.450 19. Parents' Representative 15.833 3.797 20. Maintaining Traditions 16.500 3.946 94 TABLE 5: TEACHERS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Policy Maker 5.358 4.295 2. Experienced Teacher 6.366 5.258 3. Information Coordinator 6.537 4.551 4. Instructional Leader 6.699 4.909 5. Decision Maker 7.870 5.937 6. Staff Developer 8.699 4.139 7. Mediator 9.041 4.628 8. Staff Representative 9.317 4.395 9. Academic Specialist 10.325 6.367 10. Curriculum Director 10.390 5.697 11. Negotiator 10.463 4.726 12. Public Relations Officer 10.488 4.983 13. Liaison Parents/Teachers 11.293 4.125 14. Business Manager 11.756 5.933 15. Maintains US/UK Orientation 12.407 5.060 16. Intermediary 13.211 4.924 17. Financial Expert 13.228 5.623 18. Parents' Representative 14.512 3.705 19. Liaison Sch./Prof.Agencies 15.024 4.493 20. Maintaining Traditions 16.602 3.712 95 TABLE 5: PARENTS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Instructional Leader 5.146 4.292 2. Information Coordinator 7.121 4.303 3. Curriculum Director 7.134 4.776 4. Experienced Teacher 7.154 5.642 5. Policy Maker 7.336 4.898 6. Academic Specialist 7.597 6.075 7. Maintains US/UK Orientation 8.964 5.788 8. Business Manager 9.872 5.817 9. Staff Developer 10.725 4.891 10. Decision Maker 11.007 6.064 11. Mediator 11.114 4.934 12. Liaison Parents/Teachers 11.221 4.475 13. Negotiator 11.477 4.459 14. Public Relations Officer 11.718 4.481 15. Financial Expert 12.564 5.637 16. Staff Representative 12.913 4.442 17. Parents Representative 13.483 6.516 18. Intermediary 13.550 5.090 19. Liaison Sch./Prof. Agencies 14.121 5.106 20. Maintaining Traditions 15.329 5.186 96 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) The researcher compared the mean rankings of the parents, teachers and administrators on each of the twenty variables in the list associated with the role of the international school administrator. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means to test the hypotheses: 1. There is no difference between the administrators' perceptions and the teachers' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. 2. There is no difference in the administrators' perceptions and the parents' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. 3. There is no difference between the teachers' perceptions and the parents' perception of the role of the international school administrator. The overall alpha was set at 0.05. As there were twenty variables in the ranking process the overall alpha had to be divided by twenty. Therefore the individual alpha for each variable to be significant was 0.0025. A significant difference at the level of significance of 0.001 was found between the parents', teachers' and 97 administrators' rankings on the following variables; instructional leader; policy maker; decision maker; staff developer; curriculum director; academic specialist; staff representative; maintains US/UK orientation and at the .002 level for the variable mediator. The researcher did not retain the null hypotheses with regard to these variables as a significant difference was found between the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and administrators. The results of the ANOVA on the twenty variables are shown in Table 7. TABLE PARENTS' ROLE OF THE * Significant at the overall alpha level of .05 The individual alpha was set at .0025 MEAN INSTR.LEADER Admin. 3.600 Teachers 6.699 Parents 5.146 POLICY MAKER Admin. 5.067 Teachers 5.358 Parents 7.336 DECISION MAKER Admin. 7.133 Teachers 7.870 Parents 11.007 INFORM.COORDINATOR Admin. 7.767 Teachers 6.537 Parents 7.121 EXPER.TEACHER Admin. 7.967 Teachers 6.366 Parents 7.154 STAFF DEVELOPER Admin. 8.300 Teachers 8.699 Parents 10.725 CURRIC. DIRECTOR Admin. 8.567 Teachers 10.390 Parents 7.134 STANDARD DEVIATION 3.654 4.909 4.292 4.394 4.295 4.898 5.329 5.937 6.064 4.918 4.551 4.303 6.128 5.258 5.642 4.504 4.139 4.891 5.309 5.697 4.776 MEAN SQUARE F WITHIN 20.247 21.275 35.339 19.959 30.679 20.796 27.264 7.381 7.394 11.684 1.137 1.284 8.126 13.101 7: ANOVA TO COMPARE ADMINISTRATORS,‘ TEACHERS' AND PERCEPTIONS OF THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. INTERNATIONAL SIGNIF OF F .001* .001* 0001* 0312 .278 .001* .001* TABLE 7: (cont'd.) MEAN BUSINESS MANAGER Admin. 9.267 Teachers 11.756 Parents 9.872 PUBLIC REL.OFFICER Admin. 9.567 Teachers 10.488 Parents 11.718 MEDIATOR Admin. 10.433 Teachers 9.041 Parents 11.114 ACAD. SPECIALIST Admin. 10.700 Teachers 10.325 Parents 7.597 LIAISON BETWN. P/T Admin. 11.000 Teachers 11.293 Parents 11.221 FINANC. EXPERT Admin. 11.400 Teachers 13.228 Parents 12.564 STAFF REP. Admin 12.967 Teachers 9.317 Parents 12.913 NEGOTIATOR Admin. 13.033 Teachers 10.463 Parents 11.477 STANDARD DEVIATION 5.369 5.933 5.817 5.083 4.983 4.481 4.776 4.628 4.934 5.553 6.367 6.075 4.259 4.125 4.475 4.438 5.623 5.637 4.115 4.395 4.442 4.650 4.726 4.459 MEAN SQUARE WITHIN 33.910 22.576 23.001 37.796 13.613 30.540 19.289 21.853 F 4.371 3.781 6.336 7.882 a 056 1.434 24.557 4.248 SIGNIF OF F .013 .024 .002* .001* .926 .240 .001* .015 100 TABLE 7: (cont'd.) MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF P MAINTAINS US/UK ORIENT. Admin. 13.100 5.195 29.645 16.661 .001* Teachers 12.407 5.060 Parents 8.964 5.788 INTERMEDIARY Admin. 13.500 4.995 25.148 .160 .853 Teachers 13.211 4.924 Parents 13.550 5.090 LIAISON SCH./PROF.AGENCIES Admin. 14.167 4.450 23.060 1.270 .282 Teachers 15.024 4.493 Parents 14.121 5.106 PARENTS' REP. Admin. 15.833 3.797 28.014 2.987 .052 Teachers 14.512 3.705 Parents 13.550 5.090 MAINT. TRADITIONS Admin. 16.500 3.946 20.448 2.903 .056 Teachers 16.602 3.712 Parents 15.329 5.186 101 / SCHEFFE TEST OF POST-HOC MULTIPLE-COMPARISONS The researcher conducted the Scheffe Test to perform a post—hoc comparison of the means of the variables which were found to be significantly different using the ANOVA. The test was conducted using a .0025 value for alpha. The results of the Scheffe were: Instructional Leader There was a significant difference between the administrators and teachers with regard to their perceptions of the instructional leadership role of the international school administrator. The administrators placed a significantly higher priority on their role as an instructional leader than the teachers. The F probability was .0015. Policy Maker ,There was a significant difference between the parents' perceptions of the administrator's role as a policy maker and the teachers' and administrators' perception of this role. The teachers and administrators placed a significantly higher priority on this function than the parents. The F probability was .0002. 102 Decision Maker There was a significant difference between the parents' perception of the administrators' role as a decision maker and the teachers' and administrators' perceptions of this variable. The administrators and teachers gave the variable, decision maker, a significantly higher ranking than the parents. The F probability was less than .0001, one hundredth of a per cent. Staff Developer There was a significant difference between the parents' perception of the staff development role of an international school administrator and the teachers' and administrators' perception of this role. The teachers and administrators placed a significantly higher priority on the staff development function of the administrator's role than the parents. The F probability was .0001. Curriculum Director There was a significant difference between the parents' and teachers' perception of the role of the administrator as a curriculum director. The parents gave this variable a significantly higher ranking than the teachers. The F probablity was less than .0001, one 103 hundredth of a per cent. Mediator There was a significant difference in the parents' and teachers' perceptions of the mediator role of the administrator. The teachers gave the variable a significantly higher ranking than the parents. The F probabity was .0005. Academic Specialist There was a significant difference between the parents' perception of the administrators' role as an academic specialist and the teachers' and the administrators' perception of the variable. The parents gave the variable, academic specialist, a significantly higher ranking than either the teachers or the administrators. The F probability was .0001. Staff Representative There was a significant difference between the teachers' perception of the role of the administrator as a staff representative and the administrators' and parents' perceptions of this variable. The teachers gave the variable a significantly higher ranking than either the parents or the administrators. The F probability was less 104 than .0001, one hundredth of a per cent. Maintains US/UK Orientation of the School There was a significant difference between the parents' perception of the administrator's role of maintaining the US/UK orientation of the school and the administrators' and teachers' perceptions of this role. The parents placed a higher priority on maintaining the US/UK orientation of the school as a functon of the international school administrator's role than both the administrators and the teachers. The F probability was less than .0001, one hundredth of a per cent. 105 AN AGGREGATE OF THE WRITTEN RESPONSES Administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' responses to the open-ended survey question concerning their perceptions of the role of the international school administrator are presented in this section. The data extrapolated from the questionnaires are collated using content analysis. ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE Twenty four administrators responded in writing expressing their perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. The data are presented as percentages of the number of written responses in which administrators identified the category as a function of the administrator's role. The administrators perceived the role of the international school administrator to be: 1. Concern for Students and to Create a Happy School Environment (54%) Fifty four per cent of the administrators stated that it was the role of the administrator to run a happy school with a good atmosphere, a school which catered to the needs of students and provided for the professional growth of the faculty. The administrators perceived it to be 106 their role to maintain high morale and to develop the staff potential. A selection the administrators' written responses is quoted to present their perceptions in their own words: —to insure that the students under his supervision receive the optimum in education, basic skills, understanding the culture in which they live and that to which they will return. Work with all groups to achieve this; -encourager and enabler of good education by staff and a good atmosphere among students, staff and parents. Pastoral care and development of broad and successful extracurricular activities are also important [and] -l. interests of students comes first - providing programs best suited to their - needs and expectations; 2. creating an atmosphere of professional growth for the teachers; 3. keeping the channels of communication open to all concerned. 2. An Instructional Leader (42%) Forty two per cent of the administrators perceived it as the administrator's role to be the instructional leader in an international school. It was identified as the administrator's role to keep the organization working towards its objectives while being concerned for the staff, students and parents. Examples of the administrators' responses are: -a good experienced schoolmaster who can maintain academic standards, recruit first-class teaching staff and run a happy school [and] 107 -be flexible and stable. Maintain high morale and academic standards. Develop staff potentials. Implement boards policies. Public relations between staff, students, board, community and administration. 3. To Maintain, Support, Implement and Interpret Board Policy (33%) Thirty three per cent of the administrators perceive the role ' to include the implementation, support and interpretation of the‘ board's policy. Administrators' written responses included: -that he will be able to run an international school, interpreting board policy into actual experience, delegating much of the non-academic executive action. He will be the academic leader for the students, staff and parents [and] -to understand the school's philosophy, direct and lead in its implementation. To have a vision for continuous improvement of the school. To know and recognize characteristics of effective schools and gopd teaching and build a community that works for achieving that vision. 4. A Communicator (29%) Twenty nine per cent of the administrators perceived it to. be the role of the international school administrator to keep open channels of communication to all concerned groups to facilitate the two-way flow of information. 108 5. Decisive, Adaptable and Flexible (20%) Twenty per cent of the administrators expected the administrator to be decisive but not impetuous, open-minded, adaptable and flexible. The following is an example of one written response: -that he/she should have proven competence in a wide range of administratve skills, be adaptable, flexible, open-minded, a decision maker, but not impetuous. Other Comments The administrators wrote that it was important for the international school administrator to be committed to overseas education and aware of the different needs of the multi-national student body. It was stated that the administrator should have had teaching experience. 109 A SUMMARY OF ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS The administrators' most frequently cited expectations of the international school administrator's role were: . concern for students and faculty; . concern to create a happy school environment; . an instructional leader; 1 2 3 4. to implement, interpret and support board policy; 5. to facilitate intergroup communication and 6 . to be decisive, adaptable and flexible. 110 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE Fifty teachers responded in writing to express their perception of the role of the international administrator. The following data are presented as percentages of the number of written responses in which teachers cited each category as‘a function of the administrator's role. The teachers were concerned that the 'administrator should (be): 1. A Faculty Developer, Representative and Manager (34%) Thirty four per cent of the teachers referred to the staff leadership role of the administrator. Teachers wrote that the administrator should be an individual who was supportive of the staff; a person who would provide for staff development; one who gave constructive criticism and considered faculty input. The teachers stated that it was the role of the administrator to represent their views and them on the school board. The role was in sum a faculty management role. Several teachers' responses were: -to consider the wishes and expectations of the staff. Staff recruitment is vital. Good staff = good school. Staff conflict is bad anywhere but hopeless in the third world; -coordinate school curriculum. Stand behind the staff and support them; decide in matters of conflict; 111 -to implement board policy in support of educational and professional excellence. To support teachers with the same degree of respect and caring as they propound teachers are to treat students and parents; -to provide support and constructive criticism to me the classroom teacher. To be effective in communication up and down the school staff ladder. To be a leader and decision maker as needed; -inspire respect from teachers in having been an experienced and successful classroom teacher. Be a firm but sociable mediator; -one should be familiar with current educational trends and materials in the U.S.A.; supportive of staff, willing to listen to staff; respectful of the local culture and traditions; able to make decisions fairly and quickly; an organized person who can run a school in an organized manner; -to lead and be seen to lead; look after his staff; be a competent teacher; be a good administrator; take a firm line with management committees and parent committees [and] -be intelligent, decisive and far-sighted. He should be fully informed of the latest trends in education and try to keep up with them by sending staff on courses. He should maintain good rapport with staff, parents, students and the community. 2. An Educational Leader (30%) Thirty per cent of the teachers stated that it was the role of the administrator to set the academic standards for the school. They stated that they wanted the administrator to be knowledgeable concerning current teaching methods, materials and trends in education. Twelve per cent of the teachers stated that the administrator should have 'been an experienced and 112 competent classroom teacher. Ten per cent referred t role per of the administrator as a curriculum director. cent stated that he should be an academic specia Some of the teachers' responses were: -be the school's leader coordinating the efforts and interests of all concerned for the betterment of the children's education; -to establish a cooperative, positive, active framework in which to work and have a wide knowledge of, experience in and enthusiasm for international education; -be a positive thinker who is diplomatic in all situations of public relations and someone who is competent enough to be continually improving academic achievements; -to lead a school in a straight forward, clear—cut way giving confidence and stability to all concerned [and] -to take a lead in setting the academic atmosphere of the institution. 3. A Decision Maker (24%) admi Twenty four per cent of the teachers stated tha nistrator should be decisive and be fair, unbaise impartial ~ in his decisions. It was the teac expectation that the administrator would implement poli cy and make decisions quickly not in a protr manner. Several teachers' responses were: -to make decisions on school policy and make sure they are implemented; to determine school curriculum and texts, determine policy and to direct the academic climate of the school; 0 the Eight list. t the d and hers' board acted 113 -in any matters within his jurisdiction, after discussions with his staff or relevant qualified personnel, he make a decision based on the information received and communicates this decision to all parties concerned. Nothing is more frustrating than working for an indecisive administrator [and] -that he comes from, an academic or arts background (not a coach). He works with the board in implementing board policy and can make decisions after receiving input from the parties concerned. He is cognizant of the international nature of the school and is a capable administrator of staff and budget. 4. A Communicator (22%) Twenty two per cent of the teachers stated that the role of the administrator was to be an effective communicator and listener with the ability to handle interpersonal relationships and group conflicts. Teachers' responses included: -strong communication skills; high expectations of students, staff and himself; empathic to the concerns of students and staff; an advocate of excellence [and] -improve communication between the faculty, board and parents; promote a good working relationship among the faculty; encourage the faculty to become better teachers. Other Comments Twelve per cent of the teachers stated that they saw it as the role of the administrator to be a competent business and financial manager. Six per cent expressed the 114 view that the administrator should leave the finances and business aspect of the school's management to others. Teachers stated that the administrator should be an individual with a non-authoritarian manner, who was honest and could develop a team spirit in the school. The administrator's role was seen to include dealing with the local bureaucracy or host nation officials. The teachers were of the opinion that experience in other international schools was of importance. It was the expectation that the administrator would be respectful of other cultures and in no way prejudiced. Teachers' responsed: -that he manage the overall financial and business aspects of the school and set a climate of professionalism, efficiency and equity in all matters [and] - -a professional, organized and efficient business manager. 115 A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS Teachers most frequently stated that they identified the role of an international school administrator with a person who was: 1. a faculty developer, representative and manager; 2. an educational leader; a decision maker and 3. 4. a communicator. 116 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE Seventy three parents responded in writing to express their perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. The data are presented as percentages of the number of written responses in which parents cited each category as a function of the administrator's role. The parents were concerned that the administrator should (be): 1. An Instructional Leader Managing the School Environment (63%) Sixty three per cent of the parents referred to the instructional leadership role of the administrator. Parents wrote that the administrator should be an individual who creates a happy, friendly, rewarding learning environment. They stated the administrator should be a person who will provide the best possible educational facilities. He should ensure that the school runs smoothly and has stability, with a curriculum at least equivalent to that in the USA/UK. The administrator should set high academic standards, providing a quality education which makes use of modern techniques and methods of teaching. In sum the parents ‘perceived the administrator's role to be that of an academic leader of the school. 117 Fifteen per cent of the parents stated that the administrator should be an experienced teacher and twelve per cent stated he should be an academic specialist. A selection of parental responses illustrates parental perceptions of the instructional leadership role of the administrator: -maintain high standards of education whilst ensuring a high degree of stability and contentment among and between faculty and students; -to direct his energy into providing a happy, learning environment for my child; -a concerned professional whose first priority is to create a caring, stimulating educational environment [and] -to give my children an education equivalent to home country standards and to qualify them for transfer to a home country university which in turn involves motivation of the school teaching staff. 2. Attend to Students' Needs (27%) Twenty seven per cent of the parents expected the administrator to attend to students needs. Parents wanted the administrator to be concerned for the mental, emotional and social needs of students. They wanted the administrator to provide a school which would be a happy healthy place from which there was an easy transition back to schools in the USA/UK or to another international school without any social or academic problems. Another 118 expectation was that the administrator would promote cultural awareness, international understanding and help students to settle into student life overseas. Parents stated: —that the first priority must be the emotional as well as physical well-being of the children. Secondly to insure that the curriculum offered be on a par with that of the American system. Also he should have good interpersonal skills to effectively deal with children, teachers and parents; -to see that the school is maintained in such a way that quality education is achieved in a friendly and easy atmosphere. I wish the school to be as close to one at home as possible so that my child feels like an American and will make the transition back to a U.S. school with as little academic and social problems as possible [and] -to organize a stable situation of learning for a child in a foreign environment so that the child could slip back into a stateside school with no problems. 3. A Decision Maker (27%) Twenty seven per cent of the parents stated they wanted the administrator to be decisive. Parents expected the school leader to have the ability 'to analyse, evaluate, establish policy and give direction to the school. They wanted somebody who would be decisive, but not in an dogmatic, dictatorial manner. Parental responses were: -he must be able to make decisions. Obtain through his direction good academic results to 119 prepare students for the future [and] -ablity to have full control at all times of the pupils, teachers, administrative staff and of the establishment as a whole. Decisive in all actions. 4. A Communicator (26%) Twenty six per cent of the parents stated they wanted the administrator to be a good communicator. Parents wanted the administrator to ' be an individual with excellent interpersonal skills; a person who was approachable, a listener and a communicator. A selection of parents' comments is given: -someone who can be approached and who will listen to complaints and suggestions and follow through with some type of action; -he/she must be a communicator. If the school board is unaware of the climate among teachers/parents it is the fault of the administrator - of course that works in other directions. Often a facade of openness hides a basic "cover it up, calm it down" stance. He/she must also be able to weigh the various conflicting needs, often all valid, and creatively compromise [and] -someone who can effectively handle different nationalities and personalities into cooperating with each other to gain the best educational values for each child. 5. A Faculty Manager (21%) Twenty one per cent of the parents expressed the expectation that the administrator should be responsible 120 for the recruitment, supervision, retention, further training, development and support of the faculty. One of the responses made by a parent stated the expectation that the administrator should: -recruit, train and develop the best possible faculty capable of achieving the school mission. 6. Manage Local Affairs (12%) According to parental expectations the administrator should provide for the smooth functioning of the school in a foreign economic situation, dealing with local problems, host country bureaucracies and be sensitive to being a guest in the host nation. Other Comments The parents expected the administrator to have an overview of the organization; have financial and business skills; to be approachable with the ability to work with parents, teachers and students; unbaised, fair, flexible .and tolerant; sensitive to the needs of the expatriate community and in good health with a happy family life. 121 A SUMMARY OF PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS Parents' written responses expressed the opinions that they wanted the international school administrator to be an individual who was primarily: 1. an instructional leader; 2. a creator of a happy school environment; 3. decisive; 4. sensitive to students' needs; 5. a communicator and listener with good interpersonal skills and 6. a faculty manager. 122 DATA EXTRAPOLATED FROM THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS The in-depth interviews provided the thirty administrators with the opportunity to express their perceptions of the role of the international school administrator; the constraints on the role; the sources of stress, conflict and dissatisfaction and the characteristics of an effective administrator. Prior to the in-depth interviews the administrators had completed the questionnaire. The interviews provided the administrators with a means of verbally describing and explaining their perceptions, referring to what they saw as the expectations of others and their own expectations for an international school administrator's role. The researcher cites samples of administrators' verbal statements of their perceptions which were direct quotations from the transcriptions of the in-depth interviews. The researcher identified the common, recurring patterns in the descriptive data of the in-depth interviews. 123 ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE Perceptions of Parents' Expectations. The administrators were unanimous in their perception that the parents expected the administrator to provide a school with a quality academic program. As the administrators were unanimous in their perception that the parents wanted a quality academic program this was felt by the researcher to be an important finding. The administrators thought the American and British parents wanted the academic curriculum to be as close as possible to that of schools in the United States or Britain to enable students to keep on a par with their peers in the home country. The parents were seen to be concerned that the administrator would listen to them and communicate with them. Administrators stated that parents wanted the administrator to provide for a happy, ordered, organized school with good discipline. The International Baccalaureate was offered as a program in some of the high schools to meet the needs of the multi-national student body. It was the perception of other school administrators that they may offer the course in future years to meet the needs of non-American students. The administrators' stated: 124 -the parents expect me to be more than anything else providing, leading and establishing a good school. A kind of school which will allow them to be transferred from Dallas, Texas to Singapore and then return after two or three years with their education uninterrupted or infact enhanced; -they look for a school which is commensurate to the best priVate institutions in the United States, not public schools. To that end they want to have a quality curriculum provided by me with supporting staff; they want to make sure the people I hire are the top quality; they want to make sure the school plant is in excellent physical condition so that they can go back to the United States, Europe or Asia and know they had a tOp flight education, really rigorous, academically oriented, with homework, quality text books, computer programs. In addition they are looking for someone who can deal effectively with government officials and representatives of many embassies; -American parents expect you to reproduce an American school. They want to be dead sure that when their children return to an American school they will be working in similar materials. The school becomes the center of the expartriate community. The expectations are that you are going to keep their kids happy and that you are not going to complain when the parents take them out of school for two weeks [and] -as certain factors come into play, more non-Americans, the school maintains its present size and if we can firm up with other countries that they'll recognize the International Baccalaureate, I'm thinking of Australia, I think we'll have to look at it. The school was identified as the common bond between members of the expatriate community. It was a known entity in what may for some be an alien environment. This was presented as a reason why it became a focus in the expatriate community. There were not the outside 125 organizations familiar to people back home in which the expatriate could participate in community life so the school in some cases filled this void. For this reason the extra-curricular program of the schools was seen to be very important and an expectation of the parents. An administrator stated that he felt the companies who sent out families to overseas positions did not do enough to help them settle into the strange environment and that the school was called upon to provide a support service for such families: -many parents are a bit frightened in a place such as this. They don't quite know what to expect, customs are different, religion is different, language may be different. They attach themselves to the school because it is a known quantity. It may very well be the only community organization they have around. Sometimes they get in your hair but the school does serve this function, reassuring them in cases, helping them to get settled. I must say that most companies, certainly most American companies, do not do much for their families to get them settled in and happy so we provide for this need. Students adjust much faster than adults. Perceptions of the Teachers' Expectations. The administrators' perceived the teachers to expect the international school administrator to be the leader of the‘ school, allowing for teacher input and being supportive of the faculty. Administrators perceived the support they gave to the faculty in an international school to go beyond that which the administrators would 126 extend in the States. The administrators felt they had less of an adversary role with their teachers and were called upon to be involved in a wide range of personal/emotional support services. Some administrators commented: —teachers want somebody who will handle their problems. In an overseas school the administrator has to do much more for the teachers than stateside. If something goes wrong in their house they call me. There was nobody in the States who ever called me because their plumbing was not right; -teachers expect a lot of organization and organizational ability. They definitely expect a lot of consultation and respect for their experience and input. They like to feel they are part of the decision making process in the school. They do not want an autocratic type at all [and] -they want to see somebody who will provide leadership and direction. They want to be involved in the decisions but they want me to put ideas in their head and say this is where we want to go. A Business and Financial Manager. The chief administrators said that they were responsible for the financial stability and continuity of the schools. The larger schools employed business managers, the school boards of smaller schools assisted in this function. Administrators stated it was their responsibilty to ensure that they had sufficient funds to meet the on going costs of running an international school 127 as they could not appeal to state departments of education for funds. Administrators commented: -it is my responsibilty to do the budget and also the income. We have to make sure that income matches outgoings here because we cannot go to the state for aid, we cannot draw a bond, you have to break even; -the management of a school in the U.K. does not involve so much on the business side. I had to adjust to that idea. The board see me as the managing director of a company. The idea is that they make the policy and I carry it out. They expect the school to run like a successful business. It is my responsibility to see that this is done. If you are the head of a school in England most of your time is spent guiding, advising and helping teachers. I find I don't have the time to do much of that; -most of the schools I have worked in I have had a part-time bookkeeper which has put me in the role of business manager as well as the educational director [and] -it is beautiful if you (can have a strong business manager who walks in and presents you with the finished documents and you can say this is exactly what I need, that is pretty rare. Almost uniformly I would not have made any financial decision without consulting the business manager. You do have the overall responsibility for making a budget and monitoring it. I sign every check and I refuse to sign it without back up data. Everything costs money, even good morale costs a little money. Community Relations. The administrators stated that it was one of their tasks to foster good relations between the school and the community. This was seen to be achieved by offering a program of extra-curricular activities; opening the school 128 buildings for the use by the community for functions or community sponsored programs or events and providing a flow of information between the school and the community. Some of the administrators commented: -the school doesn't have specific neighborhoods where housing areas provide extensions of the school day. The school itself provides any activities that are held in relation to the community. They are held here on an extended day basis. The Ministry of Education has decreed that we cannot have parties so the school cannot have sponsored dances or parties; -with regard to community relations the school is going to follow the educational trends of what the parents want. So long as you are consistent and fair, as helpful as you possibly can where it is possible, not being too rigid, I think, you will get the cooperation of the parents; -the school is the focus of the British community here; -community relations, my role here is to make sure parents are communicated with, that they know what's going on, that we will listen to them, that we are receptive to complaints and suggestions; -I have to project myself into the community as someone they can trust and turn to otherwise it is not going to work. I have got to project to the community the idea that we at the school are competent people, that we are doing a good job of educating the students so that when they go back to the States or wherever everything is going to be alright [and] -community relations in an international school is always a more touchy item as you are drawing on people from a variety of backgrounds. We certainly feel it is necessary in terms of community relations to allow people to have a say and involve them in the running of the school, even when we have a school board that does the policy and decision making. We like to involve the community as much as we can. We do that not 129 just for public relations sake but because if they buy into what's happening they will be supportive. A Communicator. It was the perception of the administrators that there should be open channels of communication for the school to function with as little conflict as possible. The teachers were perceived as wanting to have input with regard to the decision making process. Parents were perceived as wanting to have as much information as possible without being deluged. Administrators stated: -it is my job to make sure that communication is made helpfully and appropriately. I think that it is what teachers expect that they are informed that they don't get any surprises. The expectation of my teachers is they want to know sometimes more than necessary from my perspective; -sometimes I think we communicate too much or we communicate the wrong things. I guess my expectation here is that there would be a constant review of all the things going on. Is it effective? Are there ways of improving it? Are we communicating what we want to? [and] -parents are always asking you at the grocery store or one place or another about the progress of their children I think you must always be sure that you are reflecting the school's attitude. 130 An Instructional Leader It was the perception of the administrators that they were the educational leaders of the school and this was a primary function of the role of the international school administrator. The role was one of a supervisor or an advisor as the responsibility for the curriculum and selection of texts was delegated in most cases to principals, the faculty, department heads or curriculum coordinators. The administrators stated that they had overall responsibilty for the direction and quality of the school program. They stated they had to be aware of the program to provide for continuity and not follow individual whims. This was to accommodate for the fact that there was a high faculty turnover so there was a need for formal guidelines with regard to the curriculum and the ordering of educational materials. With regard to teacher management the administrators stated that it was. their aim to maintain morale and be supportive of -the faculty. The administrators stated it was important to recruit quality teachers so they felt the recruitment and selection process was important and one with which they were involved. Maintaining high standards was cited as an ongoing expectation of the administrators. In an overseas setting with a changing board it was considered necessary to constantly be seeking to improve 131 the school. One administrator stated you could not sit back and rest on past achievements. The administrators referred to their concern to stay up to date and the efforts they made to obtain information about current trends in education. Administrators noted: -if you come into a school system which is really pretty shakey you can make some basic changes which everybody recognizes and everybody appreciates. After which it is a question of what have you done for me lately. You are only as good as your last hit record of your last touchdown. The areas of change are getting more subtle. The school has matured in our view point. I don't think there is ever such a thing as a stability in a school. A school is either getting better or worse; —teacher management is very important, not just management but the whole area of personnel management. I expect that I am able to challenge the teachers, nurture the teachers, support them, help them to grow in ways that are consistent with what we are about as a school. To listen to them, counsel them, to do all those kind of things. I feel it is one of the most important functions I have, just keeping the people who are performing able to do their job; -I regard it as a very important part of my role to see that people are happy with their working situation. When on the occasions in the years I've been here the administrator has been somewhat more authoritarian I think the results have been very, very inferior than what they might have been had a different approach been used; -I see myself as an educational leader. One of my concerns being overseas is how do you keep up with what's going on? Journals can do it; you can go back in the summer but you aren't involved in what's really happening, the guts of what's going on back in the States. It's one of our commitments here that we are going to be a top flight school in terms of American curriculum we need to have that. I need to somehow keep up with 132 that. I go back to summer school, I invest three to six weeks every summer. It is not quite the same as involvement. If we advertise that we are representing a country's curriculum we need to somehow keep up with that [and] -I expect and hope to see a more international approach to education with greater understanding. I find it a little hard to be optimistic on that score as I think cultural, national roots are very, very deep maybe especially so in the case of Americans, roots may not be the right word here. It certainly is a strong awareness of one's cultural and national identity. I hope to see a less provincial outlook on the part of the young people and parents as the years go by and I hope that a school like ours can contribute to that. I trust that it will but it is no simple task. The researcher has presented the data describing administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator. The data were extracted from the questionnaires and the transcriptions of the in-depth interviews. In the next section of the chapter the researcher describes the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the constraints on the international school administrator. 133 PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR STATISTICAL DATA of the variables which they the role of the The administrators,‘ teachers' international presented in Tables 8, 9 and 10. TABLE 8: ADMINISTRATORS' ON THE and parents' OF identified with constraints on school administrator RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED AS CONSTRAINTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. ranking RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Student and Faculty Turnover 4.500 3.381 2. Financial Constraints 5.300 4.087 3. Time Allocation 5.967 4.021 4. Teacher Resistance to Change 6.767 4.240 5. Local Environment 6.967 3.970 6. School Buildings 7.167 4.371 7. Availability of Sch. Supplies 7.267 4.417 8. Maintaining Demanded Programs 7.333 3.497 9. Parental Demands 7.867 3.246 10. Pre-estabished Policies 8.233 3.540 11. Lack of Managerial Expertise 9.633 4.072 12. Lack of Admin. Experience 10.233 4.116 13. Multi-Nat.Students/Community 10.633 4.081 14. Maintaining Traditions 11.067 2.912 15. Multi-national Faculty 11.133 3.848 134 TABLE 9: TEACHERS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED AS CONSTRAINTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Financial Constraints 4.854 3.995 2. Student and Faculty Turnover 6.317 3.930 3. Parental Demands 7.089 3.735 4. Availability of Sch. Supplies 7.089 4.031 5. Local Environment 7.138 4.369 6. Lack of Admin. EXperience 7.187 4.608 7. Time Allocation 7.301 3.927 8. Pre—established Policy 7.423 3.992 9. School Buildings 7.724 3.935 10. Teacher Resistance to Change 8.146 4.598 11. Lack of Managerial Expertise 8.244 4.307 12. Maintaining Demanded Programs 8.463 3.581 13. Multi-Nat.Students/Community 10.016 3.709 14. Multi-national Faculty 11.073 3.168 15. Maintaining Traditions 11.699 3.539 TABLE 10: PARENTS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED AS CONSTRAINTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. mmqmthNH o o o o o o o o l-‘l—‘l—‘H “Ni-"O o o o 14. |—‘ U1 . RANKED VARIABLES MEAN Financial Constraints 4.940 Student and Faculty Turnover 5.772 Lack of Admin. Experience 6.799 Availability of Sch. Supplies 7.007 School Buildings 7.430 Local Environment 7.503 Parental Demands 7.906 Lack of Managerial Expertise 8.322 Teacher Resistance to Change 8.336 Pre-estabished Policies 8.349 Multi-Nat.Students/Community 8.617 Maintaining Demanded Programs 9.020 Time Allocation 9.128 Multi-National Faculty 9.403 Maintaining Traditions 11.322 STANDARD DEVIATION 4.104 4.012 4.569 4.558 4.396 4.194 3.872 4.159 3.823 3.880 4.242 3.527 3.932 3.980 3.617 135 THE SPEARMAN RANK CORRELATION COEFFICIENT. The researcher calculated the Spearman Rank Coefficient of the administrators' and the teachers' rankings of the variables associated with the constraints on the role of the international school administrator and found a correlation of 0.70. The correlation between the rankings of the parents and the administrators was 0.55. The Spearman Rank Correlation between the parents' and teachers' rankings of the variables they perceived to be constraints on the role of the international school administrator was 0.83. ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) The researcher compared the mean rankings of the parents, teachers and administrators on each of the fifteen variables in the list associated with the constraints on the role of the international school administrator. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means to test the hypotheses: 1. There is no difference between the administrators' perceptions and the teachers' perceptions of the constraints on the role of the international school administrator. 136 2. There is no difference in the administrators' perceptions and the parents' perceptions of the constraints on the role of the international school administrator. 3. There is no difference between the teachers' perception and the parents' perception of the constraints on the role of the international school administrator. The overall alpha was set at .05. Therefore the individual alpha for each variable to be significant was 0.003. A significant difference in the rankings at the level of significance of 0.001 was found between the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the constraints on the role of the international school administrator on the variables; time allocation; lack of administrative experience and the multi-national faculty. The researcher did not retain the null hypotheses with regard to these varaibles as a significant difference was found between the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents. The results of the ANOVA on the fifteen variables are shown in Table 11. 137 TABLE 11:. ANOVA TO COMPARE PARENTS,‘ TEACHERS' AND ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. * Significant at the overall alpha level of .05 The individual alpha was set at .003 MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF F ST./FAC.TURNOVER Admin. 4.500 3.381 15.379 2.677 .070 Teachers 6.317 3.930 Parents 5.772 4.012 FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS Admin. 5.300 4.087 16.469 .146 .864 Teachers 4.854 3.995 Parents 4.940 4.104 TIME ALLOCATION Admin. 5.967 4.021 15.516 11.991 .001* Teachers 7.301 3.927 Parents 9.128 3.932 TEACHER RESIST.TO CHANGE Admin. 6.767 4.240 17.605 1.757 .174 Teachers 8.146 4.598 Parents 8.336 3.823 LOCAL ENVIRONMENT Admin. 6.967 3.970 18.023 .353 .703 Teachers 7.138 4.369 Parents 7.503 4.194 SCHOOL BUILDINGS Admin. 7.167 4.371 17.737 .284 .753 Teachers 7.724 3.935 Parents 7.430 4.396 AVAIL.OF SCH.SUPPLIES Admin. 7.267 4.417 18.806 .048 .953 Teachers 7.089 4.031 Parents 7.007 4.558 TABLE 11: (cont'd.) 138 MAINTAIN. DEMANDED PROG. Admin. Teachers Parents PARENTAL DEMANDS Admin. Teachers Parents PRE-ESTAB. POLICIES Admin. Teachers Parents LACK OF MANAG. EXPERTISE Admin. Teachers Parents LACK OF ADMIN. EXPERIENCE Admin Teachers Parents MULTI-NAT.STUD./COMMUN. Admin. Teachers Parents MAINTAIN. TRADITIONS Admin Teachers Parents MULTI-NAT.FACULTY Admin. Teachers Parents MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 7.333 3.497- 8.463 3.581 9.020 3.527 7.867 3.245 7.089 3.735 7.906 3.872 8.233 3.540 7.423 3.992 8.349 3.880 9.633 4.072 7.187 4.608 6.799 4.569 10.233 4.119 7.187 4.608 6.799 4.569 10.633 4.081 10.016 3.709 8.617 4.242 11.067 2.912 11.699 3.539 11.322 3.617 11.133 3.848 11.073 3.168 9.403 3.980 MEAN SQUARE WITHIN 12.576 14.134 15.168 17.740 20.642 16.134 12.409 13.370 3. 70 F 043 0693 .987 0393 .198 .688 o 584 993 SIGNIF OF F .049 .186 .139 .250 .001* .004 .559 .001* 139 I SCHEFFE TEST OF POST-HOC MULTIPLE-COMPARISONS The researcher conducted the Scheffe Test to perform a post-hoc comparison of the means which were found to be significantly different using the ANOVA. The test was conducted using a .003 value for alpha. The results of the Scheffe were as follows: Time Allocation There was a significant difference between the parents' perception of time allocation being a constraint and the perceptions of the teachers and administrators. The parents perceived time to be significantly less of a constraint than either the teachers and the administrators. The F probability was less the .0001, one hundredth of a per cent. Lack of Administrative Experience There was a significant difference between the perception of the administrators and the perceptions of the teachers and parents in the perception that lack of administrative experience was a constraint on the international school administrator. The administrators perceived lack of administrative experience to be less of a constraint than the parents and the teachers. The F probability was .0002 140 Multi-National Faculty There was a significant difference between the parents perception that the multi-national faculty was a constraint and the teachers and administrators perception that the multi-national faculty was a constraint. The parents perceived a multi-national faculty to be a greater constraint than both the teachers and the administrators. The F probability was .0001 141 ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS Twenty two administrators responded in writing to express their perceptions of the constraints on an international school administrator. The respondents perceived the constraints on the overseas administrator to be the overseas location of the school; the pressures from parents and from living in the expatriate community; financial constraints; lack of access to professional materials and educational support services; faculty turnover and school board-administrator relations. 1. The Overseas Location (27%) Twenty seven per cent responded that they perceived the overseas location of the international school to be a constraint on the international school administrator. Reference was made to the government regulations and laws which influenced the administration of the school. 2. Parental Pressures (22%) Expatriate community parental pressures were cited by twenty two per cent of the administrators as a perceived constraint on the international school administrator. Living in an expatriate community was perceived as a constraint. Administrators commented: 142 -pressures by a small vocal group intent upon seeking power for their own purpose; -the social meeting of parents and board and subsequent acceptance of non-professionally based ideas of the former because of their'position in the local community. The ability of a board of governors to ignore or reject plans based upon the administrator's professional experience [and] -lack of understanding and short-sightedness on the part of parents and board. Low fees and no money. 3. Financial Constraints (18%) Lack of financial resources was perceived as a constraint by eighteen per cent of the administrators. Two administrators wrote: -1. availability of materials and current information - delays caused by mail. The time and effort which "simple" things take and 2. tight budgets caused partly by increased cost of "imported" goods. Always having to "make do.‘ [and] -only time and financial constraints really restict the administrator. 4. Access to Educational Materials and Support Services (18%) Eighteen per cent of the administrators perceived the limited access to professional materials and educational support services as a constraint on the international school administrator. Administrators responded: 143 -1. living in a "fish-bowl" environment; 2. not having access to professional materials or resources and 3. teacher resistance to change; -lack of access to local English language data bases; lack of understanding of the local bureaucracy [and] —1ack of support facilities (local authority advisors, teacher centers, resource centers, inter-school activities, interchange of expertise, free flow of information and new ideas from home country) in addition to the ranked items above. Other Comments Fourteen per cent of the administrators referred to faculty turnover and school board relations as constraints on the administrator. The personality of the administrator; school buildings, student turnover and teacher resistance to change were cited as constraints. Administrators wrote: -shortcomings on the administrator himself in understanding the role and the need to delegate and to leave time to concentrate on essentials; -without a doubt the transient nature of the faculty inhibits team building and you are constantly starting over and retraining. The close nature of the community; -1. excessive student mobility (i.e., students stay only a few years) one cannot always see the fruits of one's labors and 2. excessive host government bureaucracy [and] -changing student body and parent support groups, government regulations. 144 A SUMMARY OF ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS The administrators written perceptions of the constraints on the international school administrator which were most frequently cited were: . the overseas location; pressures from the expatriate parent community; financial constraints and I5 u N H o . access to professional materials and support services. 145 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The forty two teachers responded in writing to express their perceptions of the constraints on an international school administrator. They cited the local overseas environment as a constraint to the administrator. Financial constraints; parental pressure; demands on the administrator's time; faculty and student turnover; school buildings; availability of supplies and pre-established policies were also cited as constraints. The percentage of responses in each category and the teachers' perceptions of the constraints were: 1. The Local Environment (24%) Twenty four per cent of the teachers were of the opinion that the international school administrator was constrained by the laws and regulations of the host country and by the insular nature of the expatriate community. Cultural differences were cited as constraints on the administrator. Lack of support services due to the overseas location of the school were cited as constraints on the administrator. Teachers responded: -regulations devised by the country; uncooperative staff and parents; political uncertaintly of the country; -the foreign atmosphere and the larger financial 146 responsibility; -1ocal laws; local language and school board turnover [and] -inability of some administrators to adjust to an overseas environment which lacks the traditional support system. 2. Financial Constraints (24%) Twenty four per cent of the teachers stated that administrators were subject to financial constraints. These constraints included limited funds for faculty salaries. Some teachers responded: -budgets; special interest groups; lack of managerial and administrative skills [and] -money, money, money; problems inherent in the expatriate situation. 3. Demands From the Expatriate Parent Community (22%) The teachers stated that parents were often unrealistic in their demands on the administrator and this was a constraint. The multi—national parent community was cited as a constraint due to their different expectations. Teachers commented: —different expectations of different national groups; the legal situation in the host nation; fluidity of the student population; -need to satisfy various national groups; difficulties of operating on a shoe-string budget; difficulty of ensuring welfare of the staff (emotional and otherwise); 147 -undue interference by the governing body or the school board [and] -a demanding international community with high expectations, while having limited funds for faculty salaries commensurate to those expectations. 4. Time Demands (14%) Fourteen per cent of the teachers cited the demands on the administrator's time was a constraint. They stated that often the administrator did not spend sufficient time with students or making classroom observations. Two teachers responded: -too many demands on time; culture of the host country especially Japan [and] -the inability to cope with the demands on his time. Other Comments The teachers stated that the administrator was constrained by his own personality; lack of administrative experience and managerial expertise. Teachers perceived the turnover of the faculty, students and the administrators as constraints on the administrator of an international school. Some teacher responses were: -by his own psychological needs. We have often had administrators who were terribly insecure and went into administration for unworthy reasons; 148 -the main problem is the need to import and wait for basic texts; -it is difficult for the administrator to be a decision maker and an instructional leader if time is wasted in text orders, time allocation or fighting pre-established policies; -1ack of history - not around long enough; too much turnover; -lack of managerial expertise has to be the biggest constraint; -lack of educational administative experience in curriculum and instructional leadership; an unwillingness to demand excellence at the expense of creating conflict; -shortage of space, i.e. school buildings; availability of school supplies and lack of administrative experience [and] -changing staff; restrictions imposed by the country; parental pressure, from parents who worry about whether their child will integrate easily into the country of origin. A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS The teachers' written responses indicated they perceived the major constraints on the administrator of an international school to be: 1. the overseas location of the school; 2. financial constraints; 3. pressures from the expatriate parent community and 4. demands on the administrator's time. 149 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The fifty nine parents who responded in writing cited the local overseas environment as a constraint to the administrator. Financial constraints, faculty turnover, student turnover and the quality of teaching staff were also cited as constraints. The percentage of responses in each category and the parents' perceptions of the constraints were: 1. The Local Environment (24%) Twenty four per cent of the parents were of the opinion that the international school administrator was constrained by the laws and regulations of the host country; by the attitude of government officials; by local currency constraints; environmental problems and cultural differences as seen by the time taken to get things done. Some parents' responses which referred to the constraints resulting from the local environment of the school were: -a general attitude of "it can wait until tomorrow" by most of the local firms that maintain and supply the school which in no way reflects on the administrator; -1ocal environment being able to find suitable and reasonably priced housing at the same standards as one is used to: if one is not contented with their personal affairs it must affect the attitude towards the job; 150 -laws of the country; -local traditions and habits; -any local pressure from the situation of the school [and] -lack of understanding of local officials to the needs of foreign students. 2. Financial Constraints (19%) Nineteen per cent of the parents perceived limited or lack of funds to be one of the constraint on international school administrators. Parental perceptions are expressed in the selection of responses quoted: -limited funds, changes of personnel, constraints due to maintaining demanded programs; -1ack of funds, facilities and teachers. Cultural restrictions within the particular country [and] -the financial constraints mean that very often a school has to employ less suitable staff than if it were able to recruit contract teachers from either the U.S.A. or the U.K. The fact that the students nearly all come from middle class to upper class homes means the parents often are more aware of the needs for their children and this in turn makes the task of an international school administrator and staff more difficult as the parents are more willing to criticize and find fault with the establishment. 3.Student and Faculty Turnover (14%); Hiring Quality Teachers (14%) Fourteen per cent of the parents identified the transient nature of the faculty and student body and the 151 difficulties of hiring quality teaching staff as constraints on the administrator. Parents commented: -a rapid turnover of students; -constant turnover of students and faculty, the multi-national community, lack of administrative and managerial expertise; -lack of readily available teaching tools and - supplies as well as the abnormally high staff turn-over and constant need to be hiring new staff. Also diversified backgrounds needs/wants of parents; -difficulties in an international environment related to obtaining good quality teachers and retaining them [and] -the struggle to maintain equipment; provide experienced, well qualified staff and to cope with the constantly moving population of children. 4.Lack of Administrative Experience and Managerial Expertise (12%); School Board Administrator Relations (12%) and the Availability of Supplies (12%) Twelve per cent of the parents cited lack of administrative experience, lack of managerial expertise, school board administrator relations and the availability of supplies as a constraint on the international school administrator. The parents cited the administrator's inability to give leadership and direction to the school as a constraint. They expressed the view that where there was a poor relationship between the school board and the administrator this would be a constraint. The difficulty 152 of obtaining supplies in an overseas location was perceived as a further constraint. Parents stated: The Administrator's Experience and Expertise. -lack of the special aptitude that comes not just from academic training but also from special attributes needed by an international school administrator; -limitations of personal ability and/or expertise in areas of leadership, management also limited imagination and vision [and] -the administrator of the school would be most restricted by his own inability to effectively apply his abilities and education to unify and direct the parents, teachers and students. He is the orchestra conductor. School Board and Community Relations. -single minded board, bad staff, lack of funds, interference of the board on educational matters, freedom on finances, local bureaucracy; -too frequent parental interference, lack of policy guidance from the board and especially overseas finacial constraints [and] -too much interference of board members and parents; and availablity of supplies in a foreign situation. Other Comments It was perceived that the lack of understanding by foreign nationals, with students in the school, of the American education system was a constraint on the administrator. The increasing number of students who spoke English as their second language and the difficulty this 153 presented to developing a suitable curriculum and to teachers was viewed as a problem. Parental demands; inadequate facilties; a top heavy administrative team; the employment of spouses and the education of their children in a school; too rapid a turnover of administrators and administrators who were stale because they stay in one place too long were all cited as constraints by less than ten per cent of the parents' who responded in writing to this question. A selection of parents commented: -a growing number of students who are very limited in their use of English. This is desirable in one sense but makes it difficult for the teachers and the administration to plan curriculum; -the main constraint on the administrator is lack of depth and breadth. Too many in one place for too long. Stale, valued as "friends" "good people" not for their expertise. Lots , of "nepotism" involved. Husbands administering over wives, parents, cousins, you name it. In bred = unhealthy [and] -the high expectations of the average expatriate parent. 154 A SUMMARY OF PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS The written comments of parents in response to question four on the questionnaire cited the following as their perceptions of the major constraints on the international school administrator: 1. the laws, restrictions and environment of the host nation; 2. finances; 3. faculty and student turnover and 4. the lack of quality teaching staff. 155 THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW: ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The researcher extracted the data regarding the constraints on the international school administrator from the in-depth interviews. The Host Government and the Overseas Environment The administrators cited the government of the host country as a constraint on the international school administrator. The manner in which it constrained the administrator varied to some degree from location to location. In one European location the laws regarding the termination of an employee's contract were cited by the administrator as having application in the international school. This made it necessary to rigorously evaluate employees before they were offered a renewal of a two year contract. The school had to set aside large sums of money to buy out those employees the organization wished to terminate who were protected by the European employment laws. In the Middle East the government constraints were associated with the Moslem religious beliefs of the Arabs and the manner in which this influence the attitudes, laws and regulations in the Middle Eastern countries. The 156 control of the government went beyond the statement of safety standards for the facilities of the school plant and influenced the curriculum; the students who were allowed to attend the school and the age range of the students. There were regulations regarding the employment of personnel and the types of activities which could be carried out in the school. Co-educational extra-curricular activities were restricted. In Asia, government constraints were also felt by the international school administrators. The constraints influenced the financing of the school. The taxation of expatriates in one location was at such a high level that after three years no overseas hired personnel were retained, which exacerbated the problem of faculty turnover. The taxation level of the government was seen by the administrator as detrimental to the school as the overseas faculty would often start seeking other employment during their second year in the school. In another Asian location the administrator cited government laws regarding the employment of a quota of locally employed staff as a constraint. He was not permitted to hire foreign nationals to (run the kindergarten. He expressed the opinion that in the kindergarten he would have preferred native English speakers as these were important formative years and there were many students who were learning English as a second language. 157 The locations of the international schools in a foreign country with different ways of doing every day tasks was cited as a constraint by administrators. The time taken to have simple maintenance work completed was an example cited by one administrator. Another administrator referred to the difficulty in obtaining exactly what one ordered from local firms even after an explicit explanation had been given. The administrators admitted it was part of their role as an international school administrator to accept the differences in ways of doing things and the time taken to get things done but nevertheless it was a constraint as it was a drain on their time. . The dependence of some international schools upon their embassies was cited as a constraint by one administrator, especially if there were only a small number of American students in the school. The language barrier was identified as another constraint. An administrator stated, that he and his wife felt cut off from cultural entertainment and the arts. They could get magazines but they arrived up to six weeks late. Administrators' verbal comments extracted from the transcriptions are included to describe the administrators' views in their own words: 158 -the bureaucracy may be terribly slow and things might not get done in a western way. But that's our problem, we've got to live with that; -the environment is a constraint. Looking at problems as simple as the air-conditioning. It is such a hassle dealing with the local maintenance people to try and get it working efficiently. Silly things like that take up time. Assuring the teachers that the fact is not being ignored. It is being worked upon and hopefully will be put right. -the problem of simply acquiring materials; something as simple as an exercise book, which we buy locally. We get the teacher to actually draw a page with the lines they want and margins, for music, we send it off and what comes back is nothing like what you've sent in. Another couple of weeks elapses before you get what you want. More elaborate equipment and books have to be ordered from overseas. It takes long term planning. I sent the orders off in May and here we are in the middle of October and the present order has not arrived. The last shipment that came was queried and over three months elapsed and a certain sum of money passed hands before it was released. So there are constraints of that nature; -I think there comes a time be it three years, four years; for some it is less where living in a third world country is taxing. I think it initially starts off in a subtle way but what bothers me the most is, I don't think I'll ever understand what the Malaysians' really think. In your own country you make lasting friendships whereas here you come in, do your thing and leave; -the constraints can only get worse, is the way I feel right now, especially the governmental constraints. There is talk of raising the tax liability for any expatriate from year one to fifty five per cent. That kind of prevailing attitude is going to affect every expatriate, so there will be less expatriates here; -in this country one of the biggest constraints is the law regarding the dismissal of personnel. If you have offered a second contract to somebody, you might as well forget trying to get rid of them without a golden hand shake, so I 159 think you are constrained to make very tough evaluations as you go along. You get saddled with people that you'd really prefer would move on; -the language barrier is a constraint, but the biggest disadvantage of expatriate life is the separation from many types of intellectual stimulus that would be available if we were living in a college town or university center. There are compensating factors, but I would say intellectually there is a sense of being cut off. Magazines come six weeks late but again relative to other parts of the world we are very fortunate; -embassies abroad have a whole lot of rules and regulations, created in Washington, you will get people who will do only what it says they can do. If they don't have children in the school they are not about to do any more than that. When I had thirty five Americans in the school I had no problems or difficulties. The year it dropped down to eight Americans it was extremely difficult because there was nobody saying, "Hey, you can read that interpretation many ways and we are not going to read it today. We are going to help the school." [and] -one of the problems always overseas is getting the equipment you want always at the right time. That is always a problem no matter where you are. In some cases the right materials never arrive. Then you have the usual irritations of clearing school equipment through customs and that sort of business. 160 The Expatriate Parent Community. The composition of the parent community and their views on the type of educational institution they wanted overseas was cited as a constraint by many administrators. The parent group were predominantly professionals, managers, businessmen or embassy personnel. The view was expressed by the administrators that the expatriates were very conservative and were not receptive to innovations in the curriculum. Many parents wanted a carbon copy of a private American high school or in the case of the some British expartriates, a minature Eton with a formalized approach to teaching. The select group of students which constituted the school population was seen to be somewhat of a constraint by one administrator. He was of the opinion that overseas students were deprived in failing to be exposed to the less advantaged, the handicapped or to students whose parents were from a greater variety of occupations. Administrators stated that they had to explain to parents that their children were subject to the laws of the host nation. This was brought up with reference to the strict penalties in many countries for the possession of hard and soft drugs, penalties included imprisonment or death by hanging. The administrator stated that some expatriates regarded themselves as, he used the term 161 "extra-territorial" and he had to work to make parents realize that their children were not outside of or exempt from the laws of the land. Administrators commented: -they'd like to see this school as a mirror image of the school they left in the States or Europe. It just doesn't happen but a lot of parents would like to see that. It has to be explained to parents that our extra-curricular program won't be the same as it is in the States. You have to be flexible otherwise you'd go crazy; -we are dealing here with a senior management community. We deal with people who have extraordinarily high expectations. I think that this is primarily encouraging but if there is a limitation to the kind of community we are serving the problems would be in two areas. It is very, very conservative so in a sense if you want to try something innovative it is frowned upon more than it might be in a mixed community, or in a community say like a university community. The second thing is there is a certain loss in the educational value that comes to kids who go to school with a wide variety, I think it makes a difference to have mothers and fathers who are secretaries, plumbers, rodeo riders, farmers, airline mechanics, artists and designers. We have these folks represented in such a small proportion compared to the overwhelming number of business people and diplomats [and] You have a very rarified slice of life. In that sense kids may be very sophisticated from their multi-national exposure on the one hand but on the other can be very naive about people who are destitute in the world and they don't translate that unless it comes in their own race or nationality. If they go home to the U.S. and were to see a beggar on the streets of Chicago it would probably have somewhat more of an effect than seeing a begger in the streets of Asia. It has less of an effect if it is seen in that community which is not my community. 162 The Relations with the School Board. The relations of the administrator and his board were discussed in-depth during the interviews. In many cases the administrator said that there was a good relationship between himself and the board, however the administrators stressed that this relationship was subject to change due to the turnover of board members and individual members who would "ride a specific issue" onto the board. Poor relations between the board and the administrator was cited as the reason for most administrators to leave their positions. Another administrator suggested that it was important to decide what issues were important to the international school administrator so that the individual had firmly in his mind those issues which were important and worth fighting for or resigning over and those which were unimportant or secondary. A selection of administrators' comments is: -this school is actually one of those that does operate the way everybody says they should; that is the school board concerns itself strictly with policy and not with administration and that has made it very easy for us here at the school for the administrators to function; -I think the board can create sometimes impossible friction and this is the cause of the departure of more heads than perhaps any other factor. I have certainly got a large number of friends who have left a school as a head because they couldn't live with the type of interference that was carried out by the school board. Usually it developed in a short time, either a change in chairman, or a particular board member, or a few 163 members. The board suddenly gets it into its head that it must be giving directives on all sorts of aspects of the day-to-day policy of the school. They are frequently directives that fail to take account of the staffs' views and fail to appreciate other factors involved in the life of the school. They are quite often not the correct directives anyway; so the conflict develops and the head is very likely to take a stand on an issue or resign on the principle of not being able to live with the board of directors; -boardwise the way our school is set up has a tremedous effect on me. They do not see their function as being to set policy for the school and direct the administrators to implement the policy. They want to come in and administer and direct. I sometimes get these days when I'm very low on my job satisfaction. I get disgusted and think why did they hire me in the first place [and] -I think you ought to have your ideals in order. There ought to be things for which you would give up your job and other things for which you'd almost do that and other things that you don't care about. Where administrators get into trouble is mixing these categories and going to the wall with their jobs over something that really isn't that important to them personally. Your personal ideals, yes, they can be a constraint. The Faculty. The administrators discussed their relationship with the faculty and said that in many cases the faculty presented a greater constraint on them than the school board. The reason for this was that with the school board they could say I will get back to you on this issue but the teachers looked for instant decisions over issues where both parties may have had valid cases but the administrators stated that some teachers were 164 uncompromising in their stance. The administrators' stated: -the majority of teachers are, I think, very flexible and recognize that people come from different educational backgrounds and have different procedures and methodologies. They tolerate this and work with the parents. Unfortuantely there are always a hard core group who refuse to recognize anybody elses system; they are a continual pain [and] -internal governance is very difficult. Diverse backgrounds of staff, differences in expectations and the approaches to decision making. You get people who want to have a voice but they don't necessarily want to spend the time on it, working it through. People are transient here with a twenty five to eighty five per cent turnover of faculty in a given year and that is a constraint. The constraints identified by the administrators through the in-depth interviews were those related to the overseas location of the school, the laws and regulations of the host country. Reference was made to financial constraints. The administrators cited the expectations of the parents who wanted schools as close as possible to those at home, school-board and administrator relations when unfavorable relations existed were a constraint and faculty who were set in their ways were further constraints on the international school administrator. 165 PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOURCES OF STRESS AND CONFLICT The administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables which they identified with the sources of conflict in the role of an international school administrator are presented in Tables 12, 13 and 14. TABLE 12: ADMINISTRATORS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Lack/Communication betw.P/T/A. 5.200 3.326 2. Initiating Undesired Change 5.567 3.093 3. Admin./School Board Relations 5.633 3.837 4. Allocation Financial Resources 5.767 4.240 5. Admin./Teacher Relations 6.567 3.370 6. Role Fails to Meet Adm.Expect. 7.033 3.996 7. Personality of Administrator 7.300 3.789 8. Multi-Nat. Community Expect. 7.433 4.561 9. Admin. Leadership Style 7.667 3.661 10. Admin./Parent Relations 7.833 3.163 11. Local Bureaucracy/Host Nation 8.167 4.009 12. Overseas Location of School 9.800 4.286 13. Multi-Nat. Faculty Expect. 0.467 3.711 14. Admin./ Student Relations 0.800 2.999 166 TABLE 13: TEACHERS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION l. Lack/Communication betw.P/T/A. 4.976 3.489 2. Personality of Administrator 5.167 3.844 3. Admin. Leadership Style 6.154 3.516 4. Allocation Financial Resources 6.341 3.743 5. Initiating Undesired Change 6.561 3.502 6. Admin./Teacher Relations 7.073 3.811 7. Role Fails to Meet Adm. Expect. 7.154 3.726 8. Admin./School Board Relations 7.301 3.677 9. Multi—Nat. Community Expect. 7.667 3.661 10. Admin./Parent Relations 8.073 3.001 11. Multi-Nat. Faculty Expect. 8.488 3.544 12. Local Bureaucracy/Host Nation 8.976 4.425 13. Admin./ Student Relations 10.463 3.408 14. Overseas Location of School . 10.707 3.802 TABLE 14: PARENTS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION l. Lack/Communication betw.P/T/A. 5.336 3.675 2. Personality of Administrator 5.832 4.135 3. Initiating Undesired Change 5.966 3.580 4. Multi-Nat. Community Expect. 6.758 3.834 5. Allocation Financial Resources 7.235 3.679 6. Admin./Teacher Relations 7.356 3.733 7. Role Fails to Meet Adm. Expect. 7.443 3.877 8. Admin. Leadership Style 7.450 3.621 9. Admin./Parent Relations 7.477 3.376 10. Multi-Nat. Faculty Expect. 7.833 3.163 11. Admin./School Board Relations 8.007 3.748 12. Local Bureaucracy/Host Nation 8.262 4.585 13. Admin./Student Relations 9.866 3.644 14. Overseas Location of School 10.349 4.144 167 THE SPEARMAN RANK CORRELATION COEFFICIENT The researcher calculated the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient of the administrators' and the - teachers' rankings of the variables associated with conflict in the role of an international school administrator and found a correlation of 0.762. There was a correlation between the rankings of the parents and the administrators of 0.725. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient between the teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables they associated with the role of an international school administrator was 0.907. ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) The researcher compared the mean rankings of the parents, teachers and administrators on each of the fourteen variables in the list associated with sources of conflict in the role of an international school administrator. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means to test the hypotheses: 1. There is no difference between the administrators' perceptions and the teachers' perceptions of the sources of conflict in the role of an international school administrator. 168 2. There is no difference in the administrators' perceptions and the parents' perceptions of the sources of conflict the role of an international school administrator. 3. There is no difference between the teachers' perceptions and the parents' perceptions of the sources of conflict in (the role of an international school administrator. The overall alpha was set at 0.05. Therefore the individual alpha for each variable to be significant was 0.0035. A significant difference, in the mean of the ranking, ' at the level of significance of 0.001 was found between the parents,’ teachers' and administrators' perception of the source of conflict in the role of an international school administrator with regard to the variable, the multi-national faculty expectations. The researcher did not retain the null hypotheses that there was no difference between the administrators', teachers' and parents' perceptions of the source of conflict due to the significant difference in their perceptions of the multi-national faculty as a source of conflict. A difference at the level of significance of .007 was found between the perceptions of the administrators, 169 teachers and parents on the variables; administrator-school board relations; the overseas location of the school and the leadership style of the administrator as sources of conflict. The results of the ANOVA on the fourteen variables are shown in Table 15. 170 TABLE 15: ANOVA TO COMPARE PARENTS,‘ TEACHERS' AND ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. * Significant at the overall alpha level Of .05 The individual alpha was set at .0035 MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF F LACK/COMMUNICATION BETW.P/T/A Admin. 5.200 3.654 12.726 .344 .709 Teachers 4.976 3.489 Parents 5.336 3.675 INITIATING UNDESIRED CHANGES Admin. 5.567 3.093 12.276 1.462 .233 Teachers 6.561 3.502 Parents 5.966 3.580 ADMIN./SCH.BOARD RELATIONS Admin. 5.633 3.837 14.514 5.084 .007 Teachers 7.301 3.677 Parents 8.007 3.748 ALLOC. FINANCIAL RESOURCES Admin. 5.767 4.240 13.919 3.031 .050 Teachers 6.341 3.743 Parents 7.235 3.679 ADMIN./TEACHER RELATIONS Admin. 6.567 3.370 13.926 .617 .540 Teachers 7.073 3.811 Parents 7.356 3.733 ROLE FAILS TO MEET ADM.EXPECT. Admin. 7.033 3.996 14.655 .263 .769 Teachers 7.154 3.726 Parents 7.443 3.877 PERSONALITY OF THE ADMINISTRATOR Admin. 7.300 3.789 15.886 3.617 .028 Teachers. 5.167 3.844 Parents 5.832 4.135 171 TABLE 15: (cont'd.) MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF F MULTI-NAT. COMMUNITY EXPECT. Admin. 7.433 4.561 15.762 1.914 .149 Teachers 7.667 3.661 Parents 6.758 3.834 ADMIN. LEADERSHIP STYLE Admin. 7.667 3.661 12.835 5.081 .007 Teachers 6.154 3.516 Parents 7.450 3.621 ADMIN./PARENT RELATIONS Admin. 7.833 3.163 10.313 1.173 .311 Teachers 8.073 3.001 Parents 7.477 3.376 LOCAL BUREAUCRACY/ HOST NATION Admin. 8.167 4.009 15.181 .689 .503 Teachers 8.976 4.425 Parents 8.262 4.585 OVERSEAS LOCATION OF SCHOOL Admin. 9.800 4.286 14.514 5.084 .007 Teachers 10.707 3.302 ' Parents 11.221 4.475 MULTI-NAT. FACULTY EXPECT. Admin. 10.467 3.711 13.927 7.456 .001* Teachers 8.488 3.544 Parents 7.833 3.163 ADMIN. STUDENT RELATIONS Admin 10.800 2.999 . 12.183 1.477 .230 Teachers 10.463 3.408 Parents 9.866 3.644 172 / SCHEFFE TEST OF POST-HOC MULTIPLE-COMPARISONS The researcher conducted the Scheffe Test to perform a post-hoc comparison on the means Of the variables which were found to be significantly different using the ANOVA. The test was conducted using a .0035 value for alpha. The results were: Multi-National Faculty Expectations There was a significant difference between the parents' perception that the multi-national faculty were a source of conflict and administrators' perception that the multi-national faculty were a source of conflict. The parents peceived the multi-national faculty to be a greater source of conflict than the administrators. The F probability was .0003 Administrator-School Board Relations There was a significant difference between the administrators' and parents' perceptions of the sources of conflict due to administrator-school board relations. The administrators' perceived the relationship between the international school administrator and the school board to be a greater source Of conflict and stress than the parents. The F probability was .0019 173 ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT Eighteen administrators responded in writing to the question concerning the sources of conflict in the role of the international school administrator. Two main sources of conflict were cited. Fifty per cent of the respondents expected the international school administrator tO be required to deal with interpersonal conflict. Eighteen per cent perceived the personality of the administrator and lack of administrative ability to be a source Of conflict. Other sources of conflict cited were finances, demands on time, the host country and living in an expatriate community. 1. Interpersonal Conflict (50%) The interpersonal conflict was perceived to emanate from differing group values among the multi-national parent community, the school board and the faculty. Conflicting and unrealistic parental expectations were cited as a source of conflict. Some of the administrators wrote: -centered on the different values held by different groups in the community. Most involve conflict Of what "should be" and what "can be," many people are not very practical and fail to realize that a school is a business; -high expectations Of parents, staff and boards 174 that are not realistic [and] -the true lack Of understanding by many people Of education today. 2. The Personality Of the Administrator (18%) The administrator's own personal failure to realize personal goals and the lack of administrative ability was cited as a source of conflict. Administrators wrote: -usually conflicts from my experience are due to the inability Of the administrator [and] -he must be able to have the confidence Of the "people" groups - teachers, students, board, parents and the key to this confidence is his personality. His style of leadership will be patterned by his personality the two are bound together. Other Comments Nine per cent Of the administrators cited finances, demands on time, the host country laws and living in the expatriate community as perceived sources Of conflict for an international school administrator. Administrators stated that it would depend upon the environment, no conflicts existed in their particular situatiOn. The turnover Of the school board and the faculty were identified as perceived sources of conflict. Some administrators responded: -finances and the unstable economy, fluctuating currency; 175 -conflicting demands on time and conflicting demands of different teachers/groups of teachers are difficulties; -the need to serve the international community, tO raise the school to a high level of academic excellence and to maintain economic viability all within a twenty four hour day; -changing boards and expectations; lack of continuity in the faculty; finances and the expectations of expatriate teachers who become too comfortable overseas; -re1ations with the host nation's bureaucracy. Unrealistic parental expectations, e.g. parents who expect a carbon-copy of an English public school [and] -conflicts magnified by the closeness of the society and its relative isolation from the general host-country community. 176 A SUMMARY OF ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS The most frequently cited perceptions Of the sources of conflict were: 1. interpersonal conflict involving parents, teachers and the school board; 2. the personality and leadership style of the admin- istrator and 3. finances; demands on time; the host country bureaucracy and the turnover of faculty and the school board. 177 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT Thirty one teachers responded in writing to the question. They identified the sources of stress, from their perceptions, to be interpersonal conflict; the personality and leadership style Of the administrator; lack Of administrative expertise and experience; lack Of communication and the local bureaucracy. The percentage Of teachers who identified with each Of these categories and other sources Of stress, conflict or dissatisfaction identified by teachers were: 1. Interpersonal Conflict (68%) Sixty eight per cent of the teachers stated that they perceived sources of conflict to be intergroup relations. Conflict was identified to as coming from a situation of trying to please everybody. Teachers identified administrator-teacher relations as a source Of conflict. Relations between the administrator, the school board and the parents were cited as a source Of stress. Teachers' comments included: -probably the interpersonal relations aspect of the job of the administrator is even more important overseas than at home. The sources Of conflict are: 1. lack of talent and skill in working with people and 2. lack Of specific knowledge about school finance, curriculum etc.: 178 -the greatest sources of conflict are to do with human relations, if not correct the whole school will suffer as a result; -differing expectations of groups we People bring their own values to bear on serve. the school and consensus on goals and programs is difficult to achieve; -administrators who treat education as only a business will create conflict with professional staff; -strong personalities of teachers who chose to teach in overseas situations; -unrealistic expectations from parental community; -overseas parents and teachers are; individualists; 2. eager to climb up in 1. their business (parents) or 3. have high expectations for their children's education and their own ideas on how the school should be run (parents and teachers). This is certainly the most difficult problem facing the overseas administrator; -the same as any administrators anywhere - lack of perceptive understanding of their teaching staffs' jobs [and] -the inability to relate to people whatever their personality. The inability to provide appropriate leadership, a difficult matter in international school. 2. The Personality of the Administrator (61%) Sixty one per cent of the teachers personality and leadership style of the administrator as an cited source of conflict. Some of the teachers commented: -the personality of the head of the school is what makes or breaks the school over the term. The head must be one who seeks the long best teachers and resources then allows the people he the a 179 has chosen to have input and to help develop the school as a team. The head must be a facilitator. If the head cannot work with all groups there will be problems. If the person is respected the rest will fall into place [and] -the sense of power all administrators feel; personality; lack of communication; a preferred leadership style not conducive to most teachers and parents. 3. Lack of Administrative Expertise and Experience (16%) Sixteen per cent of the teachers referred to the lack of the administrator's expertise and experience as a source of conflict. They stated that often the administrator's experience was not appropriate to the overseas situation. One teacher wrote: -too often administrators bring along values and styles of administering that were appropriate at their old location but not here. For example one administrator refused for two years to allow school trips because in California such trips were the source of many school court cases. Other Comments The teachers stated that they perceive poor communication skills as a source of conflict and stress. The local bureaucracy of the host government was cited as a source of conflict for the administrator. Other conflicts cited were teacher resistance to change; the multi-national faculty and mediating between teacher-teacher relations. Teachers responses were: 180 ~when the communication between the administrator, staff, parents and school board is poor; if the administrator is autocratic or the staff are opposed to change or redirection; -not communicating and studying the changes to be made before implementing the change. He must show that he has received input from the concerned parties and then communicate why he has reached the solution he has [and] -local bureaucracy; political uncertainty and the destructive obstructive personality of the administrator. A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS The teachers perceived the major sources of conflict to be: 1. interpersonal conflict; 2. the personality and leadership style of the administrator; 3. lack of administrative expertise and experience and 4. lack of communication skills. 181 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT Fifty one parents responded in writing to the question. They _identified the sources of stress, from their perceptions, to be interpersonal conflict; intergroup communication; the personality and leadership style of the administrator; the overseas location of the school and financial stresses. The percentage of parents who identified with each of these categories and other sources of stress, conflict or dissatisfaction identified by parents were as follows: 1. Interpersonal Conflict (67%) Sixty seven per cent of the parents referred to some form of interpersonal conflict and stress on the international school administrator. Twenty four per cent of the parents stated that they perceived sources of conflict to be the relationship between the multi-national community and the administrator. This was seen to be the result of different group 'expectations and a lack of understanding of the American school curriculum. School board-administrator relations was cited by twenty per cent as a source of conflict as were parental demands on the administrator by sixteen per cent. Administrator-teacher relations and parent-teacher relations were referred to as l82 sources of conflict by five point eight and one point nine per cent respectively. A selection of parents' responses are: -interpersonal conflict provides the single most damaging element in any educational environment; -basically the multi-national community imposes great difficulty on an administrator. I feel all other problems are secondary; -multi-national community having conflicting expectations of the administrator; -these conflicts would relate to the multi—national nature of the school population with conflicting demands and expectations; -demands from the community when the school is the only available one to meet needs; -since teachers overseas have no unions administrators must in the end champion their needs. Without an excellent staff a school is nonexistent therefore any conflict between the board, parents and teachers must be resolved by the administrator with this slant [and] —conflicting attitudes between groups. 2. Intergroup Communication (27%) Twenty seven per cent of the parents identified failure to get input from all groups and poorly communicated changes in policy as sources of conflict. Parents' responses which referred to communication as a source of conflict included: -much of the conflict in any school arises from lack of communication and in a situation where you may have parents with set views on education, 183 teachers who in general may be less qualified than one would get at home, where resources are limited and where there is a constant turnover of both staff, parents and students, communication between all parties is important; -being a poor communicator and failing to accept the ideas of teachers, parents and students. Not having the energy and desire to excel; -primarily his inability to communicate between the board and the parents and ensure that one knows and agrees with the other; -usually I have found that conflict is caused by misunderstanding of a change in policy or because of insufficient reasons being given for a change [and] -the administrator's role must be clearly defined and clearly, effectively communicated to teachers, parents, board and the local authorities from the outset. Administrator's goals must be established and mutually agreed upon to permit freedom of action within goals/policy. Parents' personal direct interaction with the administrator should be kept to the minimum. 3. The Administrator (22%) The personality of the administrator was identified as a source of conflict by fourteen per cent of the parents. The administrator's style of leadership was referred to by eight per cent of the parents. Some parents wrote: -personality and leadership style seem to be the greatest source of conflict; -as goes the administrator - so goes the school. The administrator is the key of the success and the temperament of the teacher, student and parent involvement; In 184 -should the individual be totally inflexible and unable to adapt to the local environment [and] -an administrator is often caught between the board and the parents in decision making. If he is not strong in his own convictions this causes great conflict for the school and the administrator. 4. The Overseas Location of the School (18%) Eighteen per cent of the parents cited the laws of the country, restrictions and the attitude of host nationals as a source of conflict. A selection of their responses are: -the location of the school in a foreign territory; -1ocal laws and traditions; —location of the school; multi-nationals [and] -lack of understanding of American curriculum and suspicion on the part of some community members that there may be gaping holes in their children's education. Certainly location is a factor - the third world is opposed to the expatriate highly professional community. 5. Finances (16%) The conflict caused by financial issues was referred to by sixteen per cent of the parents. Some parents stated: -money, parents, host nation government [and] -lack of funds necessary for the smooth running of an international school with its diverse q q ‘ l I ( 18S problems. Other Comments Twelve per cent of the parents were of the opinion that if the administrator had good interpersonal skills and the ability to administer there would be very little conflict. Twelve per cent wrote that they were not qualified to comment and did not see any visible conflict. Four per cent stated that they saw the same conflict in overseas school administration as was to be found in stateside schools. Four per cent cited inferior teachers as a source of conflict. Two per cent referred to teachers having their children as students in the same school as a source of conflict. One parent saw the multi-national school community as having the potential to be a positive factor in the schooling of American students. Another parent expressed the view that the administrator would always have to be able to deal with interpersonal conflict no matter how competent he was as an administrator. Two parents wrote: -most non-American parents have much higher academic expectations of their children than American parents have. This mixture of cultural values can be beneficial to everyone if handled as an opportunity by the administrator. American children bring creativity and free thinking into the lives of children from strict academic cultures. These non-American children can bring a sense of order and discipline to their American peers. It need not cause conflict if recognized by the administration (and teachers) as an 186 opportunity to grow for all [and] -however successful or capable an administrator is he will find personality conflicts of differences of opinion with at least some strong-willed persons among faculty, parents, students or government bureaucrats. A SUMMARY OF PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS The sources of conflict which were cited by the parents were: 1. interpersonal conflict; 2. intergroup communication; 3. the personality and leadership style of administrator; 4. the overseas locaton of the school and S. finances. most frequently the 187 THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW: ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS AND CONFLICT Interpersonal Relationships The sources of stress and conflict perceived by the administrators were interpersonal and intergroup relationships. The relationship between the administrator and the teachers; between the administrator and the parents and teacher-teacher relations were all cited as potential sources of stress in an overseas setting, especially so overseas because of the closeness of some expatriate communities. The personality of some individuals was cited as a source of stress. The number of women who were in the community, who were often highly educated but were bored with no source of employment in their field, were identified as a group who made more demands on the administrators than their spouses, whose time was occupied by their professional commitments. If the parents were unhappy then it was stated that this would influence the attitude of the children and possibly involve the school. The stresses associated with living overseas in situations of political uncertainty were (identified as having a long lasting impact on the expatriate sojourner. 188 Administrators stated that it was difficult when recruiting new faculty to identify which teachers would adjust to living in a foreign environment. The ability to adjust was identified by one administrator as being dependent upon the personality of the individual and by another to be related to the reasons for seeking overseas employment. Administrators commented: -parents here are very demanding. I'm comfortable with that, I have high expectations too, including of them and I will say that back to them. On the other hand, given the environment in the overseas setting parents having a luxury with servants, drivers and things like that, I think they are used to people doing a lot of things for them. In a lot of ways the school becomes one more thing that they tend to believe ought to do things for them. They are used to people doing what they tell them to do so when it comes to a school I think they have a similar set of expectations and that puts pressure on us because it's not always going to happen that way, I think for any administrator you have to realize you are going to be in a situation where you are not always going to be pleasing everybody nor should you expect to but that can be stressful; -a source of stress is teacher disputes. They have strong personalities. You try to mediate a dispute and they are unyielding and don't want to compromise. I find that definitely stressful for me. Me in the middle between two people who will not yield. I think compromise is always the right solution to the problem, so I find it hard to deal with uncompromising people; -the faculty's expectations are different than what I thought they'd be. They want someone to solve their: problems for them. Overseas people are not as settled as they would be in the States generally. They have anxiety about their situation which makes them more prone to jump, to leap, to be overly anxious about small things. Small things get out of proportions very quickly. It means putting out lots of small fires. I 189 expect people to say I'm responsible for myself I can take care of myself rather than have them say to me what are you going to do about it [and] -I would say faculty expectations, teacher stress, this is the number one source of conflict. With the faculty members they are on the battle line, they are in the classroom or they are having conflict with the teacher next door and they want an instant solution. The hardest part is saying to both of them you are both right now where do we go from here. It is never a.clear cut case of this one is wrong and this one is right. This is the worst conflict to solve. Unemployed Women in the Expatriate Parent Community Administrators stated that there were women in the parent community who did not have enough to occupy their time. The administrators stated that the school was a source of employment for a number of the expatriates in this category but there were only a limited number of openings for women who did not have teacher certification. Voluntary work did exist and was encouraged in the schools to utilize the energies and valued expertise of the spouses. It was suggested that the expatriate life of a woman was more difficulty for those who did not have employment. The men in the expatriate communities were' described as working long hours and having many demands on their time whereas women were often trying to find things to fill their day. The administrators stated that this group of women was more critical and made greater demands on the administrators' time than the men in the community. 190 Bored, unemployed women in the community were perceived as a source of stress to the international school administrator as the women were seen to vent their frustrations on the school by making a major issue over a minor issue. Administrators commented: -unemployed women are a source of ‘stress. There is nothing worse than a bored person in a potentially hostile environment or unfamiliar environment. Here there are a large number of people who are unemployed but many act as volunteers, so they are productive. In South America they took an issue and built it out of proportion. Johnny's going to fall in any playground in the world this doesn't mean the whole school is unsafe and needs to be dynamited; -highly educated women who cannot find a market for their skills in a foreign setting are a source of stress. Often times after the children have reached a certain age women become I quote 'a bother" to the school with unrealistic expectations and generating things that may not be a problem, putting it out of perspective. We try to accommodate for this by offering continuing education classes which helps some people with their leisure time; —in many cases it is the wife who is unable to adjust to life in Italy, being unable to communicate or get services and the attention they could get very quickly at home. That disturbs them, difficulties with landlords and finding accommodation at a reasonable price, driving on the roads that sort of thing [and] -we are catching frustrations, especially from the spouses who are brought into the country without being able to work, not having things work the way they are used to. I think the school catches the 'flak' all over the place. Negative feedback because people aren't happy about other things. We are easy targets. Of course everbody is an expert on education because they were all educated. We catch some of that stress. We get some of their guilt about bringing their children overseas; 191 -women are more demanding than men in overseas communities because they have time on their hands. They don't have positive, rewarding work to do. Any administrator overseas is required to deal with this; -companies do some really ridiculous things. They'll bring out a man, almost never a woman into a location such as this (Asia.) Your wife should be happy because we are giving her a maid, a cook, a driver, a garderner, a villa and so on. The result is the women don't have anything to do. To let all that human talent go to waste, to ignore it and let it become a negative force rather than a positive one is ridiculous. The school tries to address this problem by hiring from this pool. We have teachers' aides who may be bright talented people who aren't trained for teaching. We do have a large pool of volunteers. But in the final analysis we are not a social agency. I feel we do more than many overseas organizations. The school feels the effect of this situation. I could tell you some stories that would make your hair curl - bored women in Egypt: -some of the women have very little to do, a lot of them are very unhappy; -in Saudi Arabia I was very happy during the day when I was working and miserable the rest of the time because I was in an apartment where I didn't have people to drop by. I couldn't go out on my own. I couldn't drive. I had to count on my husband who doesn't like shopping to take me shopping. We really didn't enjoy it. People who live in compounds with a pool and recreation facilites they adjust better in someways unless they let that become their whole world. Then that is a very small community and they have the same problems any one in a small community would - a fish bowl syndrome, everybody knows your business [and] -personally I find a lot of stress' from my family. My wife gets sick more often than I do. I am concerned about her health that then affects my attitude towards this place, the country, peOple and the school. My wife used to teach in the school when we just arrived. She was harangued by a board member so now she wants nothing to do with the school whatsoever. That's 192 stressful because if I am invited to a function, a party of a board member or even another teacher then my wife will usually say, 'I don't want to go.‘ It puts me in a strained position because I have a responsibility to attend at least a certain number of these things. She is becoming more and more cynical towards living overseas. The Host Nation Government and Overseas Environment The government policies which act as a constraint on the administrator result in stress when the administrator cannot get tasks done without repeated visits to ministries. The difficulty and time taken to obtain employee work permits was cited as an example of a stressful situation. The political instability of some overseas countries was cited as a stressful situation. One administrator described the trauma of being in Iran at the time of the revolution and living in Turkey during a political coup. The effect that such experiences had on overseas students was cited as an example of stresses placed upon children in international schools. Administrators were, therefore, not only managing situations between adults and helping them to adjust to overseas life, but were required to be aware of the stresses children experienced in living overseas. Administrators stated: -the stress from the government is tremendous, I had to go eleven days in a row to get permission for my new teachers to come here in the fall. It is very difficult to get people into this country. We are still working on the residence 193 permits for the kids of two of our teachers who arrived in August.(stated in November) That is stressful. Just yesterday I saw the director of immigration for the entire country trying to sort it out; -the government is growing more and more discerning about their dispensation of work permits (Asia.) There was a case last week with a British Petroleum geologist who was told there wouldn't be a work permit for him as he was too young, too inexperienced. I also know of a lecturer at the university with an M.A. from Oxford who has been told he must leave at the end of this year because they are only going to employ people with doctorates. Persumably this may well push the age group of the expatriate community up and affect the age of students coming to the school [and] -in the overseas situation you've got to admit the stresses are greater. I'm one of the greatest proponents of overseas education but I cannot say that we haven't subjected our family to a great deal of stress. I have dreams about coups and revolutions my children do too, yet they are not nightmares. They have those kind of dreams because those are their kinds of experiences. Both of my children want to get into overseas work, have enjoyed the overseas school community but they have had stress too. They have been through the Iranian revolution and the coup in Turkey. We left Saudi Arabia intact, the pressures on the Gulf right now everybody knows; although they are not living here they know we are here. Every child who is in an overseas location has that kind of political stress. If they are old enough they can understand it. If not they will hear their parents discussing it. Another stress for children is that parents are not always selective in their dicussions of overseas. So the kids are hearing things that other kids wouldn't hear. Kids listen to parents' conversations, this happens in the States as well. You can almost tell the attitude of the parents from the attitude of the children. They will call the locals rag heads. They hear it and of course they believe it. Their parents are their role models. If you get a kid saying I hate it here you know that parents are unhappy here. So the stress goes all the way down through the children. We deal with that every moment of the 194 teaching day. The strangeness of the overseas environment and its distance from what is familiar may be such that the individual who seeks overseas employment finds the experience too much and returns to the United States or Britain. Administrators reported having had this happen to some faculty when faced with the stresses of adjusting to the host national environment. One administrator stated: -teachers who come over here with any additional stress the first thing that can happen to you, the jet lag can destroy you. Of eight people who came overseas in our first overseas experience two got right back on the plane in the airport and left. It was Guam, a tropical island of paradise, for us it was like two years of vacation. They got back on the plane the same day. The humidity when you got off the plane was like a plastic bag over your head, maybe that did it, maybe they expected to get off in the United States. You have housing maybe you are expecting it to look like the house you left. We've been in every kind of housing, you've got to know you may be without water or electricity. You've got to know that the cockroaches may have saddles and accept them and hit them with a shoe. Maybe it will be when you walk out of the school the first day the men will look at you either in disgust or admiration either way it is uncomfortable. You have to be honest about why you are there and if you find out you are there for the wrong reasons you have to go. The Personality of the Administrator Administrators stated that it was a stressful situation to be an administrator of an international 195 school. Administrators perceived that the personality of the administrator was an important fact, one which influenced interpersonal relationships and the manner in which the individual coped with stressful situations. Administrators stated: -I am under more scrutiny here more stress than with any job I have had before [and] -the personality of the administrator is critical. You cannot be authoritarian in your approach. The parents are not the sort who will take orders. They will question your every decision. You really have to account for everything you are going to do. You cannot be an adversary you have to have the parents on your side. The Stresses of an International School Administrator The perceptions of the stresses on the international school administrator were, according to the administrators' statements in the in-depth interviews, related to the tension between groups, the strain of living in an overseas environment and from the expectations of parents and teachers. The lack of employment for women in some expatriate communities was cited as a cause of stress. Administrators thought some women were bored and frustrated due to the lack of intellectually stimulating things to do to occupy their free time. Administrators expressed the opinion that the school became the focus of some individuals' stresses. The 196 school, it was suggested, was used as an outlet for some of the expatriates' personal frustrations. Interpersonal relations were identified as source of conflict which were sometimes linked to the personality of the individual be they an administrator, parent or teacher. The relations between the administrator and the school board were cited as a potential source of stress and conflict, however -many administrators stated that in their present situation the board and the parents were very supportive, positive and gave liberally of their time and expertise. 197 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR STATISTICAL DATA The administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables which they identified as the characteristics of an effective international school administrator are presented in Table l6, l7 and 18. THE SPEARMAN RANK CORRELATION COEFFICIENT The researcher calculated the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient of the administrators' and the teachers' rankings of the characteristics associated with an effective international school administrator and found a correlation of 0.873. There was a correlation between the rankings of the parents and the administrators of 0.786. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient between the teachers' and parents' rankings of the variables they associated with the characteristics of an effective administrator was 0.909. 198 TABLE 16: ADMINISTRATORS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH ,THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Participative Leadership Style 6.833 4.542 2. Interpersonal Skills 6.900 5.235 3. Energetic 7.167 4.698 4. Responsible 7.400 4.005 5. Adaptable 7.533 5.587 6. Flexible 7.800 4.698 7. Rationality 8.067 3.823 8. Decisive 8.467 4.967 9. Knowledgeable 9.500 4.897 10. Far Sighted 10.100 4.908 11. Goal Oriented 10.333 5.567 12. Conflict Manager 10.500 4.754 13. Self Confident 10.667 4.574 14. Friendly 11.067 5.232 15. Creative 11.200 5.314 16. Culturally Aware 11.500 6.022 17. Fluency of Speech 13.800 5.255 18. Business Acumen 14.733 4.961 19. Task Oriented vs.People Or. 16.500 3.452 20. Authoritarian 19.267 2.258 199 TABLE 17: TEACHERS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION 1. Flexible 6.236 4.727 2. Interpersonal Skills 6.496 4.585 3. Decisive 7.008 4.873 4. Adaptable 7.504 5.409 5. Energetic 7.862 4.399 6. Participative Leadership Style 8.496 5.216 7. Far Sighted 8.951 4.845 8. Rationality 9.065 4.662 9. Responsible 9.089 4.217 10. Goal Oriented 9.325 4.968 11. Conflict Manager 10.171 5.060 12. Culturally Aware 10.203 5.249 13. Friendly 10.301 4.760 14. Knowledgeable 10.496 4.881 15. Creative 11.862 4.895 16. Self Confident 12.431 4.758 17. Fluency of Speech 13.919 4.690 18. Business Acumen 14.751 4.732 19. Task Oriented vs.People Or. 16.634 4.064 20. Authoritarian 18.984 2.758 200 TABLE 18: PARENTS' RANKING OF VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR RANKED VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION l. Adaptable 6.188 5.042 2. Decisive 7.262 5.574 3. Flexible 7.463 5.058 4. Energetic 7.705 5.155 5. Interpersonal Skills 8.483 5.120 6. Far Sighted 8.604 4.847 7. Goal Oriented 8.685 5.065 8. Knowledgeable 9.101 4.852 9. Rationality 9.671 4.576 10. Responsible 9.732 4.533 11. Participative Leadership Style 9.926 5.466 12. Culturally Aware 10.221 5.532 13. Creative 10.262 5.457 14. Friendly 10.503 4.750 15. Conflict Manager 10.852 4.765 16. Self Confident 12.678 5.132 17. Business Acumen 13.450 5.381 18. Fluency of Speech 13.678 4.901 19. Task Oriented vs.Pe0ple Or. 16.215 3.972 20. Authoritarian 17.671 4.662 201 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) The researcher compared the mean rankings of the parents, teachers and administrators on each of the twenty variables in the list associated with the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means to test the hypotheses: 1. There is no difference between the administrators' perceptions and the teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. 2. There is no difference in the administrators' perceptions and the parents' perceptions of the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. 3. There is no difference between the teachers' perceptions and the parents' perception of the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. The overall alpha was set at 0.05. Therefore the individual alpha for each variable to be significant was 0.0025. 202 A difference at the level of significance of 0.004 was found between the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' rankings on the variable' interpersonal skills. A difference at the level of .005 was found on the variable participative leadership style. The results of the ANOVA on the twenty variables are shown in Table 19. 203 TABLE 19: ANOVA TO COMPARE ADMINISTRATORS,‘ TEACHERS' AND PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. MEAN SQUARE F MEAN STANDARD SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF P PARTICIPATIVE LD. STYLE Admin. 6.833 4.542 27.890 5.369 .005 Teachers 8.496 5.216 Parents 9.926 5.466 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS . Admin. 6.900 5.235 24.210 5.757 .004 Teachers 6.496 4.585 Parents 8.483 5.120 ENERGETIC Admin. 7.167 4.698 23.190 .252 .777 Teachers 7.862 4.399 Parents 7.705 5.155 RESPONSIBLE Admin. 7.400 4.005 18.985 3.697 .026 Teachers 9.089 4.217 Parents 9.732 4.533 ADAPTABLE Admin. 7.533 5.587 27.334 2.413 .091 Teachers 7.504 5.409 Parents 6.188 5.042 FLEXIBLE Admin. 7.800 4.698 23.826 2.581 .077 Teachers 6.236 4.727 Parents 7.463 5.058 RATIONALITY Admin. 8.067 3.823 21.650 1.757 .174 Teachers 9.065 4.662 Parents 9.671 4.576 DECISIVE Admin. 8.467 4.967 27.461 .941 .392 Teachers 7.008 4.873 Parents 7.262 5.574 204 TABLE 19: (cont'd.) MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF F KNOWLEDGEABLE Admin. 9.500 4.897 23.698 2.798 .063 Teachers 10.496 4.881 Parents 9.101 4.852 FAR SIGHTED Admin. 10.100 4.908 23.545 1.201 .302 Teachers 8.951 4.845 Parents 8.604 4.847 GOAL ORIENTED Admin. 10.333 5.567 25.772 1.505 .224 Teachers 9.325 4.968 Parents 8.685 5.065 CONFLICT MANAGER Admin. 10.500 4.754 23.878 .657 .519 Teachers 10.171 5.060 Parents 10.852 4.765 SELF CONFIDENT Admin. 10.667 4.574 24.306 2.090 .125 Teachers 12.431 4.758 Parents 12.678 5.132 FRIENDLY Admin. 11.067 5.232 23.067 .311 .733 Teachers 10.301 4.760 Parents 10.503 4.750 CREATIVE Admin. 11.200 5.314 27.252 3.188 .043 Teachers 11.862 4.895 Parents 10.262 5.457 CULTURALLY AWARE Admin. 11.500 6.022 29.910 .748 .474 Teachers 10.203 5.249 10.221 5.532 Parents 205 TABLE 19:(cont'd.) MEAN STANDARD MEAN SQUARE F SIGNIF DEVIATION WITHIN OF F FLUENCY OF SPEECH Admin. 13.800 5.255 1.957 .083 .920 Teachers 13.919 4.690 Parents 13.678 4.901 BUSINESS ACUMEN Admin. 14.733 4.961 25.854 3.129 .045 Teachers 14.751 4.732 Parents 13.450 5.381 TASK ORIENTED RATHER THAN PEOPLE OR. Admin. 16.500 3.452 15.703 .385 .681 Teachers 16.634 4.064 Parents 16.215 3.972 AUTHORITARIAN Admin. 19.267 2.258 14.357 4.988 .007 Teachers 18.984 2.758 Parents 17.671 4.662 206 SCHEFFE TEST OF POST-HOC MULTIPLE-COMPARISONS The researcher conducted the Scheffe Test to perform a post-hoc comparison of the means of the variables which were different at the level of .004 and .005 using the ANOVA comparison of the means. The Scheffe Test was conducted using a .0025 value for alpha. The results were: Participative Leadership Style There was a significant difference between the administrators' and parents' perception of the variable participative leadership style. The administrators placed a significantly higher priority on this quality than the parents. The F probability was .001. Interpersonal Skills There was a significant difference between the teachers' and the parents' perception of the variable interpersonal skills. The teachers placed a significantly higher priority on interpersonal skills than the parents. The F probability was .001 207 ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS Fifteen administrators responded in writing to the question. Twenty per cent identified each of the following as characteristics they associated with an effective international school administrator; good interpersonal skills; a communicator; competence and experience of administration. Thirteen per cent cited the qualities of goal oriented, adaptable, flexible and unbiased as qualities they identified with an effective administrator. Thirteen per cent stated they thought all of the qualities listed for ranking except authoritarian and lack of regard for individuals in a task oriented approach were qualities which were associated with an effective administrator. Other responses suggested the administrator should be decisive, empathic, thick skinned, patient and sincere. A selection of the administrators' written responses is cited to present their opinions in their own words: -a clear understanding of the type of school he is trying to achieve and the limitations (both his and others) to such achievement; -a manager of situations not a manipulator of people, ideas, things; -patience, determination, administrative Askills and ability to communicate; -high expectations for self and others; good 'people' skills, empathic, open positive and genuine; 208 -understanding, sincerity, flexibility and lack of cultural bias [and] -a natural decision maker working in an atmosphere of equity and fairness. A SUMMARY OF ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS The most frequently cited written responses were: 1. good interpersonal skills; 2. the ability to communicate; 3. a competent experienced administrator and 4 . goal oriented, adaptable, flexible and unbiased. 209 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS Twenty five teachers responded in writing to the question. Thirty two per cent of the teachers indicated they wanted the administrator to have interpersonal skills. Twenty eight per cent wanted the administrator to be decisive. Twenty four per cent wanted the administrator to be a communicator, a listener, adaptable and an experienced administrator and educator. Twenty per cent stated they wanted an individual who was supportive of the staff and one who would develop the faculty. Sixteen per cent made reference to the characteristics flexibility and a friendly manner. Twelve per cent cited the characteristics as goal oriented, interest in people and concern for the whole school. Teacher responses included: -a "professional" is what schools need with administrative, educational and interpersonal relations, knowledge and skill with a genuine interest in people, especially young peOple; -to be flexible but to capitalize on the talents of faculty and staff. The head should promote the feeling of working as a team; —flexibilty overseas is vital; Abe able to adjust to local conditions and mix well with students, teachers and parents; -be adaptable, represent the entire school in the community, create a positive attitude in the school and make well thought out decisions; -take care of staff whatever their needs be due to the location, money matters, etc; 210 -to be a living example of the principles we educators constantly hold up to our students [and] -intelligent, natural leadership capablities, good communicator, able to help others to comprehend and work together. A SUMMARY OF TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATOR. Teachers most frequently cited the following characteristics as being associated with an effective administrator of an international school: 1. interpersonal skills; 2. decisive; 3. a communicator and listener; 4.Ladaptable; 5. an experienced administrator and educator; 6. a supporter and developer of the staff and 7. flexible and friendly. 211 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS Of the forty five parents who responded in writing to this_question twenty two per cent wrote that they wanted the administrator to be goal oriented defining the expectations for the school. Twenty per cent stated that the individual should have good interpersonal skills, a pleasant manner, be personable and friendly. Eighteen per cent of the parents wanted the administrator to be decisive. The same percentage expressed the opinion that the administrator should be approachable by parents and understanding of group aspirations. Sixteen per cent used the terms flexible, adaptable and unbiased as descriptors of characteristics they perceived to be appropriate. Other responses made reference to a concern for students; kind, just; a leader; one who has managerial skills; an experienced educator and administrator; having financial skills and culturally aware. Seven per cent stated that they thought all of the qualities except for authoritarian were appropriate. 212 A SUMMARY OF PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS The characteristics most frequently cited by parents as their perceptions of the characteristics associated with an effective international school administrator were: 1. goal oriented; 2. interpersonal skills; 3. decisive; 4. approachable and 5. adaptable, flexible and unbiased. 213 THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW: ADMINISTRATORS' PRECEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS It was the perception of the administrators that the international school administrator should be an individual who had the ability to communicate, liSten and deal with people. He must have good interpersonal skills. It was expressed that an administrator who was dogmatic or authoritarian in his approach would be unacceptable to the expatriate parent community or faculty as they wanted to have input and contribute in the decision making process. The administrators stated that the status oCcupant should be honest, organized and have the ability to make decisions. Anybody who was in any way culturally biased would be unsuitable for the position. In response to the question regarding how the administrators' interpreted their role, they stated that they had an open door policy and tried to make it clear to all groups that they would not only listen to them but come back to them to communicate what action had been taken when dealing with a problem. The administrators stated that they tried to communicate to the community that they were competent, knew what they were doing, and could be depended upon to follow through if consulted by parents or faculty. Administrators commented: 214 -I think you have to be a good recruiter. You need to have the knack of hiring the right people. People who are positive about life. The first question I always ask is how you like it where you are. Then I am very suspicious of people who start listing all the miserable things about their current situation. I look for people who when life hands them a lemon they make lemonade. You need people who can deal with constant turnover, a strange country, they've got to be positive people; -you have to project to people that you are aware of their feelings if you are going to remain aloof I am positive an overseas administrative post is not for you; -people go through certain traumas coming here. I believe it is necessary to remove one of the traumas which schooling might bring about by making myself available; -if people are a part of the decision and if they are made to feel they are doing an excellent job them you get the best out of them. Teachers are your number one resource; -because of the turnover you have got to be clear on where you are going and what your goals are; -I can never come off duty, whether it is at a dinner party, cocktail party, going to the swimming pool, running in the jungle or flying out in an aeroplane you are still approached as the head of the school; -you have to be honest and follow through with what you are doing. Secondly I think you have to demand high standards of people and to follow through with those high standards yourself. I would like to see overseas school boards giving less weight to previous overseas experience and more weight to academic training; -I interpret my role by being accessible, available, listening and supportive of parents, kids and teachers. I think I meet the parents' expectations by letting them know what's going on and by listening to them to find out exactly what they've got to say [and] 215 -in this school, I think a hard liner type would be wrong. In general a tough authoritarian type would not be acceptable. Overseas you have to be interested in people and certainly not in the least prejudiced. You have got to be prepared to accept all the different values and pick up on all the warning signs. There are times when a cultural difference is really upsetting parents. You need to see it before it reaches boiling over point. You must be sensitive to different points of view. The administrators stated that interpersonal skills were very important to the effective administration of an international school. The administrator it was stated should be honest, healthy, energetic, flexible and adaptable with an unbiased attitude, accommodating as far as possible and respecting the different views and customs of other national groups. In this chapter the researcher presented the statistical and descriptive data. An analysis of the data is presented in chapter five. CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an analysis of the data with reference to the conceptual framework and review of literature. An analysis of the findings is provided by collating the statistical and descriptive data to draw a clear, composite picture of the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents of the role, the constraints, conflicts, stresses and the characteristics of an effective international administrator. This is achieved through the identification of the areas of intergroup agreement and disagreement followed by a discussion and interpretation of the findings with referenCe to the theories and concepts presented in the conceptual framework. 216 217 The conclusions which are grounded in the findings and analysis of the data are not presented in this chapter but are identified in chapter six. THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR There was agreement between the administrators, teachers and parents in their perceptions of some areas of an international school administrator's role. The areas in which there were agreements are perceived to be of educational significance as this identifies that there is some unity of thought and common group perceptions of the administrator's role. These findings will not be neglected in the analysis of the data as they serve to identify facets of the role in which there is group consensus regarding the priority and importance attached to particular tasks. The areas in which there are statistically significant differences in perceptions are of great importance as they identify the issues of concern to a particular group which are potential areas of intergroup conflict and misunderstanding. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients provided an indication of the strength of the relationship between the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents. The most positive correlation of (r=0.877) was 218 between the administrators and the teachers. The greatest difference with a correlation of (r=0.76) was between the‘ parents and the teachers. The results indicate that the administrators and teachers were closer in their perceptions and that should conflict arise as to the interpretation of the role the greatest differences in perception .would be between the parents and the teachers. The analysis is substantiated by the results of the ANOVA and Scheffé Test which were used to identify significant differences between the perceptions of the parents and the teachers. Analysis of the findings show that the role of an international school administrator includes the tasks of being an instructional leader, policy maker, decision maker, information coordinator, experienced teacher and staff developer. The administrators and teachers selected these six variables for the tasks to which they gave priority. The parents' perceived the administrator's primary functions to include the role of an instructional leader, information coordinator, experienced teacher and policy maker. It was found that there was some commonality in the perceptions of the three groups that the administrator should perform these functions which substatiates the analysis that these are primary functions in the role of the international school administrator. 219 The teachers perceive the role of an international school administrator to be that of an educational leader rather than an instructional leader. The analysis is based upon the descriptive data and the significant difference in the teachers' ranking of the variable ' instructional leader.‘ The teachers stated in their written comments that they saw the administrator as an educational leader but it was found that they gave instructional leadership a significantly lower ranking than the parents and administrators. The teachers may have identified the administrator as a leader of the institution but failed to identify the administrator as an instructional leader since they, the teachers, are actually doing the teaching. Instructional leadership is a primary function of the administrator's role according to the perceptions of the parents and administrators. This analysis is based upon the finding that both the parents and administrators identified instructional leadership as the primary function and made reference to the it's importance in the descriptive data. Lezotte et.al. (1980) cited the importance of the instructional leadership role of the school administrator in effective schools. Parents perceive the administrator's role to be that of maintaining the US/UK orientation of the school, setting high academic standards and monitoring the 220 curriculum. This analysis is based upon the statistically significant differences in the ranking of the' variables I'curriculum director;' ”academic specialist" and ”maintaining US/UK orientation of the school“ together with the parents' written responses which referred to the students' needs and the school climate. Parents repeatedly stated that they wanted the school to be providing an up-to-date American or British curriculum with current texts and modern equipment. The parents' emphasis on the educational quality of the institution was further substantiated by the analysis of the parents' perceptions of the constraints on the administrator, one of which was perceived to be the difficulties of hiring quality teachers overseas. There is group consensus that the administrator should be an information coordinator and a communicator. The teachers, parents and administrators gave a high priority to these functions thus identifying the intergroup consensus regarding these functions. As the administrator's role as an information coordinator and communicator were perceived to be of importance by all of the groups these were seen to be important functions of an international school administator's role. The teachers expect the administrator to be a staff manager and developer rather than an aCademic specialist 221 and curriculum coordinator. The analysis is grounded in the findings that the teachers were concerned that the administrator be a policy maker, an experienced teacher, mediator, an information coordinator, a staff developer and staff representative. In selecting these variables the teachers differed significantly from the parents with regard to their perception of the administrator being a staff developer and a mediator and with the administrators and parents with regard to the administrator's role as a staff representative. The teachers placed a higher priority than the other two groups on their perceptions of the administrator being an intermediary, staff representative, staff developer, information coordinator and a negotiator. This substantiates the analysis of the findings with regard to the teacher's perceptions of the administrator's role. Teachers are ambivalent in their perceptions of the administrator's role as a business and financial manager. The administrator and parents were closer in their perceptions of the business and financial management function of the administrator's role than the teachers who gave these variables a lower ranking. The difference was not statistically significant but considered worthy of reference as some of the teachers wrote that they felt the administrator should leave the business management to others. 222 Administrators identify with the parents' expectation that it is the administrator's role to provide a quality eductation in an overseas location. As suggested by Darendorf (1968), the administrators were asked to identify what their perceptions were of the expectations of the parents and the teachers. The administrators perceived the parents to be concerned with the academic climate of the institution and with the administrator's role in providing for the social, emotional and the educational needs of the students. The administrators were unanimous in their perception that parents wanted the school to provide a quality academic learning environment for the students. It was found from the statistical and descriptive data that the parents' major concern was that the administrator should be an instructional leader providing an excellent academic program. The analysis of these findings showed that the administrators recognized the parents' expectations. This is an important finding because if the administrators failed to identify with the parents' expectation this could be a major area of conflict between the two groups. Administrators recognize parents' expectations but find they are not always able to meet them if they are perceived as being unrealistic. The administrators felt that they met the parents' expectations but sometimes 223 there were stresses due to the parents' unrealistic expectations. One administrator of a British school stated that some overseas British parents wanted him to provide a miniature Eton with an extremely formal approach to education but he was not happy with this approach and wanted to provide the quality of education that the parents expected in a more relaxed atmosphere. The administrators' self expectations were synonymous with those of the parents that it was the international school administrator's role to provided an academically oriented curriculum but they found that some parents failed to realize that they could not provide the identical facilites to those in schools in the States or Britain. The administrators recognized the parents' expectations that students were being prepared for entry into universities or other institutions of higher education in America, Britain or wherever they chose to study and felt they met these expectations. Analysis of the administrators' responses identified that they recognized the expectations of the teachers and perceived that the teachers wanted an administrator to be supportive. Administrators stated that the teachers in an overseas situation made greater demands on them to deal with personal concerns and problems, these demands were thought to be greater than they would expect or had experienced from teachers in the U.S.A. or in Britain. 224 The administrators' statements indicated that they recognized the stated differential expectations of the members of the role-set. Merton (1968) referred to the analysis of role as a means of identifying contradictory expectations regarding obligations and the social mechanisms for dealing with the contradictions. The administrators repeatedly identified the mechanisms by which they addressed the different expectations of the parents and teachers: to facilitate intergroup communication; to be a person who was approachable and attentive. to the concerns of parents, students and teachers. References in the data pertaining to the role, the conflicts in the role and the characteristics of an effective administrator indicated the administrators perceived interpersonal skills to be the mechanism by which to solve interpersonal conflicts and address contradictory expectations of their role. The administrator who was a listener, a communicator, approachable, decisive and unbiased was perceived as an effective administrator. An administrator who was dogmatic or authoritarian in his approach was perceived as unacceptable to the parents and teachers. An analysis of the findings show that the administrators identify more closely with the teachers' perceptions of their role than they do with the parents' 225 perception of the role. This was consistent with Merton's theory of role relations (1966) in which he stated that in a complex role-set, individuals were more likely to be faced with incompatible expectations. He also suggested . that the status occupant had some individual autonomy when confronted with contradictory expectations to identify those which were felt to be legitimate. It was stated that if contraditions' arose, the status occupant would identify with those expectations which were found to be more rewarding. The behaviors rewarded by the institution and associated with the structural demands on the administrator may be the preference of the administrator. It was found that the administrator identified more closely with the teachers' perceptions of his role and the greatest distance lay between the parents and teachers. _ The administrator recognized the different expectations of the parents and the teachers but the statistical results show that the administrators and teachers were closer in their perceptions. An analysis of the findings shows that the administrators identified more closely with the teachers but also were clearly aware of the parents' expectations. Should there be conflict regarding the perceptions of each group as to the role of the administrator the conflicts would be more likely to occur between the parents and the teachers. These are important findings as they concur with Merton's theory that when 226 faced with different group expectations the status occupant may identify more closely with one particular group. The administrators were found to identify with the people with whom they are working every day, who are their fellow educators and professionals. The administrator identified his role to include: instructional leadership; creating a happy school environment with high academic standards; concern for the students and faculty; the interpretation, the implementation and support of the school board's policy; facilitating of intergroup communication and requiring an individual to be supportive of the faculty; being decisive, adaptable and flexible. This accommodated many of the stated expectations of the teachers and the parents. The parents were more concerned with the orientation of the school towards the American or British system and with the academic standards of the school while the teachers placed a greater emphasis on the functions of the administrator's role pertaining to staff development, staff representation and interpersonal relationships between the administrator and the teachers. The three groups agreed that the administrator should be an experienced teacher. There were no contradictions with regard to perceptions of the administrators, teachers and the parents as presented in the statistical and descriptive data. The descriptive data substantiated the 227 results of the statistical analysis. CONSTRAINTS ON THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR An educationally significant result which is drawn from an analysis of the findings is the identification that there are constraints on the role of an international school administrator and they are ‘recognized by the parents, teachers and the administrators. The lack of significant difference in the three groups' perceptions on all but three of the variables was considered educationally significant as it was seen to verify the priorities given to the constraints and corroberate the findings which identified that there were real and meaningful constraints _on an international school administrator's role. A tangible part of the administrator's role is, therefore, seen to be determining the best method of addressing these constraints. There was a consensus of opinion that the major constraints on an international administrator's role are: student and faculty turnover; financial constraints; teacher resistance to change; the local environment; school buildings and the lack of availability of supplies resulting in the need to import basic texts. There was 228 also consensus on the ranking of the variables that maintaining demanded, programs; parental demands; pre-established policies; lack of management expertise and maintaining traditions are constraints identified in decreasing priority of importance. The statement identifying these variables to be constraints is justified through the findings of the statistical and descriptive data in which each group described how they perceived these variables to restrict the administrator. The constraints on the. overseas administrator are, therefore, numerous and of importance in the analysis of the role as their identification indicates that an administrator is not free from internal and external forces or the pressures which are seen to restrict the manner in which he can interpret his role. The demand on an administrator's time is a constraint on the role. The foundation of the analysis is the statistical and descriptive data. A statistically significant difference was found to exist between the parents' perception of time as a ‘constraint and the teachers' and administrators' perception of this variable. Parents perceived time to be less of a constraint on the administrator than the teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the time constraints on the administrator's role. This is an important contribution to the analysis of 229 the constraints on the role as the parents may perceive that the administrator has nothing to do all day when in fact he and the teachers perceive that there are constant demands on his time. The parents and teachers perceived lack of administrative experience to be a greater constraint on the administrator's role than the administrators' perception of this variable as a constraint. A further statistically significant difference was identified to be between the perceptions of the parents that the multi—national faculty was a constraint and the perceptions of the administrators and teachers who identified this variable as less of a constraint on the administrator. As this was not perceived to be as great a constraint by the adminiStrator it may be that that further research would be necessary to identify the reason for the differences in the group perceptions. Blau (1975), Parsons (1949) and Skidmore (1975) referred to the constraints which were placed upon role occupants by an institution, culturally prescribed demands and the internal and external elements and sanctions of role occupants. The patterned expectations of the status occupant's reference group and the incumbent's conformity to these expectations, Parsons suggested, established the institutionally prescribed functions of an individual's 230 role. The perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents of the institutional, cultural, societal and the situational constraints on the administrators were identified by the researcher through the analysis of the statistical and descriptive data extrapolated from the questionnaires and the in-depth interviews. An educationally significant finding is that the constraints on the administrator's role are not only institutional constraints but are also factors external to the organization associated with the religious, economic, political and cultural orientation of the host nation. The religious orientation of a nation, especially in Moslem countries, was identified as a constraint on the administrator. The administrators stated that they were responsible for the institution's conformity to the laws and regulations of the land and this often meant restricting programs. The schools had to conform to the cultural values and beliefs of the host government which restricted extra curricular programs of co-ed sports and co-ed entertainment activities. The co-education of students was contradictory to the fundamental beliefs of the Moslem communities. These constraints influenced the structure of international schools and the role of the administrator who was responsible for the interpretation and implementation of government policies. 231 The overseas location is a major constraint on an international school administrator's role. The in-depth interviews and open ended questions provided the three groups with the opportunity to give details of why they perceived the overseas location to be a constraint and their perceptions of the manner in which the administrator was constrained. The descriptions referred to the time required to process and wait. for imported goods and educational materials to arrive in the host country and the difficulty in some locations of dealing with the clearance of the goods through customs. The currency regulations of some countries and the tax laws were identified as a constraint. It was the perception of the administrators that they were isolated from the mainstream of educational ideas and did not have the support systems as experienced by administrators of educational institutions in the U.S.A. or the U.K. Conferences and summer courses at American universities were perceived as going some way to meet the needs to remain conversant with current pedagogical ideas and research. The expatriate parent community is a constraint on an international school administrator. This statement is substantiated by the statistical and descriptive data. The parent group was perceived by the administrators and teachers as being vocal in its demand for a quality academic program. It was the perception of the 232 administrators that some parental demands were unrealistic and that international schools were unable to replicate the extensive programs of schools in Britain or the States. The cost of running the overseas school and of financing the complete operation, which often included the financing of faculty housing, flights and benefits, together with the cost of importing educational materials made the economics of international schools a costly operation and required the schools to have a high fee structure to meet their expenses. Societal demands and rewards influence and restrict the actions of an international school administrator. The analysis is based upon the statistical and descriptive data. The administrators perceived the curriculum of the school to reflect the parental demands for a rigorous academic program. The structure of international schools was seen by administrators to reflect and be determined by societal values, demands and rewards. The administrators stated that they were constrained by the parents who were reluctant to accept pedagogical changes or the introduction of new ideas into the schools. The conservative attitudes of the parents in the community were found to concur with the findings of Cusick and Peters (1979) in their study of the role of the secondary school principal in small American towns. 233 An administrator's role is, therefore, influenced and determined by societal values. There are constraints resulting from the overseas location of the school. The laws and regulations of a foreign country influence the financing of international schools and the recruitment of overSeas and locally hired personnel. Two of the six constraints identified in the AASA report (1982) on the American superintendency were also identified as constraints on the international school administrator. These were financial constraints and the demands on time. The overseas administrators stated that they did not perceive the threat of litigation to be a constraint on their role although it was perceived to be so in the United states. They perceived that they had a greater flexibility in staffing practices and could concentrate more of their time on improving the quality of education they offered in the international schools. This was reflected in the failure_ of any administrator to refer to collective bargaining as a constraint. The allocation of financial resources was identified as a source of stress. This was perceived to be so because of differential pay scales for locally and overseas hired personnel. Parents perceive the multi-national faculty of overseas school to a constraints on the administrator's 234 role. The administrators and teachers did not perceive the multi-national faculty to be a major constraint. Their perceptions were significantly different from those of the parents, some of whom also perceived overseas teachers to be of inferior quality to their American and British counterparts working in schools back home. Parents perceived there were difficulties associated with the hiring of quality personnel overseas. The parents perceived the multi-national community and student body to be a greater constraint than both the teachers and administrators. Although this was not a statistically significant result the written responses of the parents substantiated the findings of the ranking process that the parents perceived the multi-national community and student body to be a greater constraint than it was perceived to be by the teachers and administrators. The parents' perceptions of the multi-national community may be a potential source of conflict for an international school administrator. If not acknowledged it may become an issue in the parent community. The faculty and the school board can act as a constraint on an administrator. This statement is corroborated by the findings of the in-depth interviews in which the administrators stated that they found the faculty and school board to be constraints on their role. Many administrators praised the work of their school 235 boards identifying the support they gave and their contributions of time and expertise. Administrators stated that if they had to pay for all the help they received from individuals who were the cream of their professions, who held demanding executive and managerial positions, they would have to substantially increase the school fees. It was stated that when things went wrong between the administrator and the board this could create a situation which could result in the administrator's resignation or the board's failure to renew his contract. If there was tension between the board and the administrator and negative conStraints were imposed, the experience was perceived to be very stressful. The administrators did not see all of the constraints imposed by the school board as restrictive. Rather, they were seen to promote a professional working environment. The formulation of policy by the school board was not perceived as a negative constraint but productive and a necessary structure which assisted the administrator in the implementation of his role and helped the administrator to define with the board the extent of their responsibilities. The school boards were found to be a constraint when areas of their responSibilities were not clearly defined and policies were not written or acted upon. 236 The high turnover of the faculty, teachers and the school board is a constraint on an international school administrator. This is the perception of the parents, teachers and administrators. This statement is substantiated by the analysis of the data. The administrators, teachers and parents stated that the transient nature of the students and the faculty were a constraint on the administrator. The administrators stated that they could not recognize teachers' whims with regard to teaching materials or courses. They found that they had to keep building and rebuilding a constantly‘ changing school board. They would just achieve cohesion and then there would be a completely new board and the process would begin all over again. Administrators find teachers to be a constraint when they are perceived as being inflexible and entrenched in their attitudes. The analysis of the data identified that parents, teachers and administrators identified as constraints: the turnover of faculty and students; finances; the overseas location of the school; parental demands and pre-established policies. The maintenance of traditions was identified as the least constraint on the administrator. Administrators and teachers perceived the multi-national faculty and community to be less of a constraint than it was perceived to be by the parents. The administrators and teachers perceived the demands on the 237 administrator's time to be a greater constraint than the parents perceived it to be. The administrators perceived that they were constrained by being isolated and unable to have easy access to recent educational journals and support services. These findings were identified by the administrators, teachers and parents in their written responses to the open-ended questions in the questionnaire and through the responses given during the in-depth interviews. The administrators, teachers and parents perceived that there were institutional, environmental, cultural and societal constraints on the role of the international school administrator. Not all of these constraints were perceived as restrictive but they were identified as determining the manner in which the administrator could interpret his role and were found to place constraints upon the administrator's freedom to act independent of others. The administrator was not able to act independently of others or be completely autonomous in his actions but was found to be influenced by the expectations of the members of his role-set and the demands upon his role from the social system made up of the expatriate parent community and the external constraints determined by the host country. This concurred with the theories of Merton (1968) and Coser (1975) who suggested that a status occupant did have some individual autonomy but was bound 238 by the rules and obligations of an organization, structure or social system. The identification of the variables in which there was a lack of significant difference and the areas of significant differences in group perceptions of the constraints on an international admnistrator's role are considered important findings. They provide details of the major restrictions on an administrator's role in the management of an educational facility which is established to address the needs of an expatriate community in what is often perceived to be a restrictive overseas environment. 239 SOURCES OF STRESS, CONFLICT AND DISSATISFACTION There is evidence from the perceptions of the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions that an international school administrator is subject to stress and conflict. There is considerable agreement between the groups as to the sources of the stress and conflict. The primary source of conflict, on which there was consensus, was the lack of communication between parents, teachers and administrators. This is considered an educationally significant finding as the identification of consensus in group perceptions means that an administrator is better equipped to manage and reduce conflict by developing strategies which address common areas of concern. When there are differential perceptions regarding the sources of conflict and the administrator fails to recognize the source there may be a break down in communication or the issue may not be of importance to him in these instances the conflict could develop into a controversial issue if it is a major concern of either the teachers or the parents. The analysis of the findings are of educational significance and make an important contribution to research on the administration of international schools. The five major sources of 'stress and conflict in the role of an international school administrator are: lack of 240 communication between the parents, teachers and administrators; initiating undesired change; administrator-school board relations; the allocation of financial resources and administrator-teacher relations. The analysis is. grounded in the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents who all placed lack of communication; allocation of financial resources and initiating undesired change in their list of the five greatest sources of conflict. The teachers referred to the personality and leadership style of the administrator as the other variables in their first five sources of conflict. The parents perceived the personality of the administrator and the multi-national community to be major sources of conflict for an international school administrator. Parents find the multi-national faculty's expectations of an administrator to be a source of conflict but this is not the perception of either the teachers or the administrators. The analysis is based upon the statistically significant difference found between the parents' perceptions of the multi-national faculty expectations as a source of conflict and the administrators' perceptions of the multi-national faculty. This is an important finding as the administrator who is made aware of parents' perceptions can develop methods of communicating that both he and the teachers find the 241 multi-national faculty to be a professional body which is a competent group who do not make excessive demands upon the administration. It may however be that a multi-national faculty is a source of conflict but there is a sense of loyalty among the faculty which accounted for their responses. The analysis of the parents' perceptions was consistent with the findings of parents' perceptions concerning the constraints on an administrator in which parents were found to perceive the multi-national faculty to be a constraint{ An administrator should be aware of the parents' feelings towards the multi-national faculty as this may help him to be prepared for conflict or develop methods to avoid conflict and alleviate the parents' concerns. An administrator who recognizes the parents' perceptions on this issue will be conscious that there will be discontent if the faculty consists of a large number of non-American or non-British teachers. The school board is a source of conflict for an administrator but parents fail to recognize this. The statement is based upon the analysis of the statistical and descriptive data. A significant difference was identified between the administrators' and the parents' perceptions of the relationship between the school board and the administrator being a source of conflict. The administrators identified an international school administrator's relationship with the school board as a 242 significantly greater source of conflict than it was perceived to be by the parents. The analysis could be interpreted to show that there is limited contact between the parents and the board except for official communication from the administrator. As the administrator and the board work in close contact and there may not be open board meetings the relationship between the board and the administrator may be a more private affair so the conflicts that exist between the two groups may not be public knowledge unless they arise over concerns raised by the community. The administrators, teachers and parents all identified the overseas location of the school; administrator-student relations and the local bureaucracy of the host nation to be sources of conflict for an international school administrator. The analysis is supported by the data collected from the open-ended questions and in-depth interviews where extensive reference was made to the local environment as a source of stress. The personality of the administrator and his leadership style were also found to be perceived sources of conflict by the parents, teachers and the administrators. The data is interpreted to show that stresses are not only associated with interpersonal conflicts but with factors which are external to the organization and result from adapting and coping with 243 everyday life in a foreign environment. Each are very real and meaningful areas of stress as could be seen from the selection of the parents,‘ teachers' and administrators' comments cited in Chapter Four. Skidmore (1975) presented Parsons' analysis of the pattern maintenance function of a status occupant as organized around the cultural values of a social system. Parsons' theories of pattern maintenance, goal attainment, integration and adaptation had application to the analysis of the role of the international school administrator and the tension management function of the administrator. The cultural values of the parents were found to influence what they wanted for the education of their dependents to prepare them for future life. The parents wanted the schools to be of a high academic standard. The parents stated that they wanted the education to be on a par with the best schools in the United States or Britain and to have an American or British curriculum. This made demands upon the administrator. The administrators perceived some of the parental demands to be the sources of stress. To accommodate this stress the administrator had to develop patterns of tension management. The administrators perceived that they had developed schools which had integrated into the structure of the schools methods of addressing the parents' demands for a quality education but that they were often unable to provide as extensive a 244 program of extra-curricular activites as that found in schools in the U.S.A. or the U.K. This was found to substantiate Parsons' theory of pattern maintenance, goal attainment, integration and adaption as the administrators were responding to the demands of their social system which consisted of a highly motivated ambitious parent group who wanted their children to have a quality education. Parsons identified the personal element and influence that an individual could have on the system of goal attainment. The findings that the parents, teachers and administrators perceived that the personality of the administrator was a source of stress supported Parsons' theory that the personality of the status occupant was of importance in goal attainment. The fourth concept in Parsons' theory of social systems was that of adaption to the environment. The ability to adapt determined the survival of the system. The administrators perceived there to be constraints and stresses on the administrator due to the local environment but there was evidence that the international school administrators perceived that they were able to accommodate and adapt to the requirements of the host national governments. In one location the taxation laws which were cited as a constraint were perceived as being a 245 factor in the growth or decline of the school. If the tax laws became too repressive the administrator perceived there would be fewer expatriates and this would influence the enrollment in the school. There was evidence that the administrators had to adapt to the overseas environment and be respectful of the host government regulations. The adaptation was not always easy and was identified as stressful when administrators failed to get tasks accomplished in the manner and time which they were familiar with in their country of origin. Parsons' theory of adaptation was of direct relevance to the analysis and interpretation of the findings as adaptation is identified as an extremely important factor managing stress and conflict associated with the role of an administrator in an overseas location. Stress and conflict is perceived to be not only associated with the administrator if he fails to fulfill institutional expectations but to be associated with the personality of the administrator. Getzels and Guba (1957) presented a theory of the relationship between the nomothetic and idiographic dimensions of role relations. They identified the influence a social system had on the expectations of the institutional role and relationship of this to the individual's personality and personal expectations. The analysis of the findings show that that where the role failed to meet the personal expectations of 246 the status occupant this was as a source of stress. The researcher found that parents, teachers and administrators perceived there to be both institutional and personal demands, constraints, stresses, conflict and expectations on the international school administrator. As the parents were seen by the administrator to be in agreement in their expectations that 4the administrator was the instructional leader and provided a rigorous educational program this influenced the institutional role of the administrator. The parents and teachers each expressed expectations regarding the personality they perceived to be associated with the effective management of an international school which illustated the association between the two dimensions of Getzels and Guba's theory. Over‘ anxious, bored unemployed women in the expatriate community are a source of stress to an international school administrator. The analysis of the data was supported by Orr's (1980) similar findings in his analysis of the sources of stress to overseas U.S. corporate executives. Members of expatriate communities were concerned about the quality of overseas schools. Spouses who are unemployed were perceived be a source of stress to the international school administrators. The administrators perceived the spouses to have more anxieties about life overseas and to bring their problems to the school or be overly critical of the school due to 247 other frustrations. These findings are documented in vignettes of descriptive data. An administrator's role requires an ability to deal with the stresses brought to his attention by parents, teachers and students in the school and expatriate community. It was the administrators' perception that children adjusted to overseas living more easily than adults but by listening to parents' conversations children could become under stress if their parents were not happy and this became a concern of the school and the administrator. The administrators, also, stated that many of the unemployed spouses made a positive contribution to the school and gave generously of their free time and were actively involved in school activities. This finding can be interpreted to show that the stresses for women can be alleviated by the development of methods to channel their energies into interesting and worthwhile activities. International schools were seen to be making a positive contribution to addressing this need by providing employment for spouses and by encouraging groups to use the school for community based activites. The closeness of the expatriate community is a source of conflict and stress. This analysis is based upon the administrators' perceptions that there are stresses on the international school administrator which are the result of 248 the closeness of the expatriate community or the 'fish-bowl' syndrome. This was consistent with the findings of Cleveland (1960); Wolfe (1969); Cohen (1977) and Brislin (1981) who found that the expatriate often failed to integrate with the host national community due to political, linguistic, economic, social, religious or cultural factors. The closeness of the expatriate community was found to be a source of stress by the administrators who perceived they were not able to have a private life and were never off duty. In some locations life was likened to perceptions of living in a small town community. One source of stress for an international school administrator is the interpersonal relationships between parents, teachers, the school board. Moore (1981) identified school board relations overseas to be a potential source of stress but proposed the mechanisms by which tensions could be reduced, suggesting multi-national groups could work together by forming constructive coalitions. The administrators perceived administrator-school board relations to be a source of stress for an international school administrator. It was found that the characteristics identified with an effective administrator included interpersonal skills which were perceived to be of value in managing interpersonal stress and conflicts such as those perceived 249 to exist between the administrator and the school board. There is consensus that lack of communication between parents, teachers and administrators is a major source of conflict in the role of an international school administrator. The analysis is grounded in the statistical and descriptive data. It was the perception of the lparents, teachers and administrators that poor communications between groups was a source of conflict for the international school administrator. This was consistent with the statements of the teachers and parents who cited their concern to have input with regard to the decision making process. Weick's theory (1976) that educational institutions have '1oose1y coupled' groups made the perceptions of the parents, teachers and administrators regarding the sources of stress an important factor in the management of educational personnel. Lack of communication was perceived as stressful by groups who wanted to be actively involved in the organization of the school and by those who wanted to be kept informed of management decisions. The administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the stresses and conflicts on an international school administrator were found to include interpersonal conflict; interpersonal communication; allocation of financial resources; initiating undesired 250 change and the stresses and conflicts from living in a foreign environment within the closeness of an expatriate community. Some administrators referred to role shock, especially where administrators found themselves to be under stress from demanding school boards. Culture shock and the strains this had on day-to-day life of the administrator was perceived to be a source of stress both for the administrator personally and in his management of faculty who were themselves adjusting to life in a foreign environment. The personality of the administrator and his style of leadership were perceived to be sources of stress, conflict and dissatisfaction. The analysis presented in the next section is perceived to be of direct relevance to this section as administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the characteristics of an effective international school administrator identify the characteristics which are perceived to be effective in the management of conflict and stress. 251 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR The lack of significant difference on all but two of the twenty variables identifying the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the characteristics of an international school administrator is considered to be an important educational finding. This shows that there is agreement between the groups as to the qualities an individual should have to be effective. The problems which arise in administration overseas ought not to be exacerbated if consideration is given to these qualities in the selection and appointment of administrative personnel. There is consensus that the most important qualities of an effective administrator are the qualities of interpersonal skills, energetic, adaptable and flexible. The analysis is based upon the statistical and descriptive data. The administrators included the qualities of participative leadership style and responsible in their top six characteristics. The teachers included participative leadership style and decisive. The parents included decisive and far sighted. An authoritarian leader is not acceptable to parents, teachers or administrators. The analysis is grounded in 252 the findings from the statistical and descriptive data. The variables which were least valued by administrators, teachers and parents were authoritarian and task oriented. The descriptor for task oriented identified the administrator to be concerned with task accomplishment rather than individuals. There was consensus that the administrator should be decisive but the findings show that the decisions cannot be made without regard for group or individual feelings. Business acumen and fluency of speech were in the group of least important characteristics. The lack of importance placed upon business acumen may account for some of the stress and conflict associated with the management of finances in international schools. The analysis that a dogmatic or authoritarian leader was perceived as unacceptable by the parents, teachers and administrators was consistent with the reasoning of Purkey and Smith (1982) who stated that if schools were loosely coupled systems, as suggested by Weick (1976), having weak linkage between the administration and a relatively autonomous classroom then notions of effectiveness that depended on strong dogmatic leadership would be handicapped. Administrators and teachers find a participative leader with interpersonal skills to be more effective as 253 an international school administrator. This is considered an important finding as it has implications with regard to the qualities which boards may seek in the recruitment of administrative personnel. The foundation for the statement is the ranking given to these variables by the administrators and teachers and the statistically significant difference identified between the administrators' and parents' perceptions of the characteristic, participative leadership style. The administrators placed a significantly higher priority on this variable than did the parents. A statistically significant difference was identified between the parents' and teachers' perceptions of interpersonal skills. The teachers placed a significantly higher priority on this characteristic than the parents. An effective administrator has good interpersonal skills and is adaptable, flexible and unbiased. This statement is based upon the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents. Teachers and administrators perceived ability in interpersonal and intergroup communication and prior teaching and administrative experience in international schools to be associated with the effective administration of an international school. The parents and teachers perceived the characteristic of being able to be decisive ,as of importance. The parents stated that they wanted the 254 individual to be goal oriented while the teachers stated that they identified an effective administrator with an individual who was a supporter and developer of the staff. This substantiated the teachers' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator in which they stated they were concerned that the educational leader should be staff oriented. The parents perceived that the administrator should be approachable. This was congruent with the researcher's findings that parents wanted input and . to be able to communicate with administrator concerning the school. The qualities which were most frequently cited as those associated with an effective international school administrator were: interpersonal skills; flexible; adaptable; energetic; unbiased; participative leadership style; a communicator and decisive. Kohn (1974); Coser (1975) and Seiber (1974) wrote that social structures differ in the extent to which they encourage status occupants to develop and use intellectual flexibility. It was found by the researcher that flexibility was valued as a quality by the parents, teachers and administrators. The implication was that the administrator should be a thinking, discerning person rather than an individual who followed rote instructions passed down to him. 255 The finding that interpersonal skills were perceived to be -associated with an effective administrator was congruent with the finding of the AASA (1982) in their study of the qualities perceived to be required by effective American superintendents. The qualities associated with the human relations role of the administrator were ranked highly. The sources of stress and conflict were perceived to be associated with lack of communication, interpersonal relations and the personality of the administrator. Therefore the identification of the perception that ability in people skills was associated with an effective administrator was consistent with previous findings. An analysis of the statistical and descriptive data has been presented to interpret the findings and to provide a succinct picture of the administrators,‘ teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role; the constraints; sources of stress and conflict and the characteristics of an effective international school administrator. The anaysis is substantiated by the identification of the relationship between the findings and the theoretical framework of the study and prior research. CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS INTRODUCTION In this the final chapter the findings are restated in summary form. The perceptions common to the administrators, teachers and parents are presented prior to the identificaton of the perceptions of each particular group. The division of the summary into these sections is not intended to imply that an international administrator's role can be segmented. The chapter is divided into sections for the ease of reading and _to provide a summary not only of the collective findings but also the concerns specific to each group. Having presented the summary of the findings the final sections address the conclusions which are grounded in the analysis of the data; the contribution the study has made to knowledge on international school administration and suggestions for further areas of study. 256 257 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR The adminstrators, teachers and parents were all concerned that an international school administrator provided: instructional leadership; be an information coordinator, a communicator, an experienced teacher and a policy maker. The primary tasks on which there was group conSensus were all related to the role of the administrator as an educator and communicator rather than tasks associated with the financial and business management of the institution. ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE The administrators perceived the role of the international school administrator to be primarily that of an instuctional leader; a policy maker; a decision maker; an information coordinator; a experienced teacher and a staff developer. The administrators stated in response to the open-ended survey question that the administrator should: be concerned for students and faculty; be concerned to create a happy school environment; be an instructional leader; implement, interpret and support board policy; facilitate intergroup communication and be decisive, 258 adaptable and flexible. From the in-depth interviews the researcher found the administrators were unanimous in their perception that the parents expected an international school administrator to provide: a high quality, academic educational curriculum and a happy learning environment. The teachers were perceived to expect the support of the administrator both in dealing with parents and with problems associated with living in a foreign environment. The administrators stated in the in-depth interviews they perceived the role of the international administrator to be that of: an instructional leader; overseeing the business and financial management of the school; a facilitator of good community relations and a communicator. ADMINISTRATORS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The administrators placed a significantly higher priority than the teachers on the instructional leadership function of the administrator's role. The administrators placed a significantly higher priority than the parents on the following functions of the administrator's role: policy maker; staff developer and decision maker. 259 TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE The teachers expected the international school administrator to primarily be a (an): policy maker; experienced teacher; information coordinator; instructional leader; decision maker and staff developer. The researcher found from the open-ended ‘question that the teachers expected an international school administrator to be: a faculty developer, representative and manager; an educational leader; a decision maker and a communicator. TEACHERS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The teachers 'were found to place a significantly higher priority than both the parents and the administrators on the administratbr's role as a staff representative. The teachers were found to place a significantly priority than the parents on the administrator's role as: a mediator; policy maker; staff developer and decision maker. 260 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE The researcher found that the parents expected an international school administrator to be a (an): instructional leader; information coordinator; curriculum director; experienced teacher; policy maker; academic specialist and maintainer of the US/UK orientation of the school. The parents' responses to the open-ended question indicated they perceived the role of the international school administrator to be: an instructional leader; a creator of a happy school environment; a decision maker; sensitive to students' needs; a communicator and listener with good interpersonal skills and a faculty manager. PARENTS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The parents were found to place a significantly higher priority than both the administrators and the teachers on an international school administrator's role of maintaining the US/UK orientation of a school. The parents were found to place a significantly higher priority than the teachers on the administrator's role as an instructional leader; curriculum director and -academic specialist. 261 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR There was consensus between the administrators, teachers and parents that the following are major constraints on an administrator's role: a high turnover of faculty, students and the board; financal constraints; the local environment; parental demands and the difficulties of obtaining school supplies in an overseas location and school buildings. ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The researcher found the administrators perceived the greatest constraints on an international school administrator to be: student and faculty turnover; financial constraints; time allocation; teacher resistance to change and the local environment. It was found from the open-ended question on the questionnaire that the administrators perceived the following to be constraints on the role of an international school administrator: the overseas location; pressures from the expatriate parent community; finances and limited access to professional materials and support services. The administrators stated in the in-depth interviews 262 that ' they perceived the international school administrator's role to be constrained by: the host government; the overseas environment; the expatriate parent community and relations between the administrator, the school board and the faculty. ADMINISTRATORS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The researcher found a significant difference between the administrators' perception of lack of administrative experience as a constraint and the perceptions of the parents and teachers. The administrators perceived lack of administrative experience to be less of a constraint than either the parents or the teachers perceived it to be. TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The greatest constraints on the administrator's role as identified by the teachers were: financial constraints; student and faculty turnover; parental demands and the availability of school supplies. From the open-ended question the researcher found the teachers to perceive the constraints to be: the overseas location of the school; financial constraints; pressures from the expatriate parent community and demands on the administrator's time. 263 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONSTRAINTS The parents were found to perceive the role of an international school administrator to be constrained by: finances; student and faculty turnover; lack of administrative experience; the availability of school supplies and school buildings. The parents stated in the open-ended question that they perceived the constraints to be: the laws and restrictions of the host government; finances; faculty and student turnover and the lack of quality teaching staff. PARENTS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS There was a significant difference between the parents', perceptions of the time constraints on the administrator's role and the administrators' and teachers' perception of this variable. The parents found time to be less of a constraint on an administrator of an international school than either the teachers of the administrators. 264 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF SOURCES OF STRESS AND CONFLICT IN THE ROLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. The major sources of conflict on which there was found to be consensus between the perceptions of the parents, 'teachers and administrators were found to be: lack of communication between groups; interpersonal and intergroup conflict; initiating undesired changes; the allocation of financial resources; the personality and leadership style of the administrator. ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS AND CONFLICT The administrators perceived the greatest sources of conflict in an international school administrator's role to be: lack of communication between parents, teachers and administrators; initiating undesired change; administrator-school board relations; allocation of financial resources and administrator teacher relations. The administrators' responses to the open-ended question identified as sources of conflict: interpersonal conflict involving parents, teachers and the school board; the personality and leadership style of the administrator; finances; demands on time; the host country bureaucracy and the turnover of the faculty and the school board. It was found from the in-depth interviews that the 265 administrators perceived stress to be associated with: interpersonal relationships; unemployed women in the expatriate community; the host nation's government; the overseas environment and the personality of the administrator. ADMINISTRATORS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The administrators were found to perceive ‘the relations with the school board as a significantly greater source of stress than the parents perceived them to be. TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS AND CONFLICT The teachers perceived the stresses and conflicts on an international school administrator's role to be: lack of communication between the parents, teachers and administrators; the personality and the leadership style of the administrator; allocation of financial resources and initiating undesired change. The teachers stated in the open-ended question that they perceived the stresses to be: interpersonal conflict; lack ’of communication; the personality and the leadership style of the administrator; lack of administrative experience and expertise. 266 PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS AND CONFLICT The researcher found that the parents perceived the sources of conflict to be: lack of communication between parents, teachers and administrators; the personality of the administrator; initiating undesired change; the multi-national community expectations and allocation of financial resources. The findings from the open-ended question were that parents perceived the sources of conflict to be: interpersonsal conflict; interpersonal communication; finances; the personality and leadership style of the administrator and the overseas location of the school. PARENTS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS Parents perceived the multi-national faculty expectations to be a significantly greater source of conflict than either the administrators or the parents. 267 A SUMMARY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR The Alack of significant disagreement as to the characteristics associated with an effective international school administrator was considered an educationally significant result. Administrators, parents and teachers were agreed that the an effective administrator should have good human relations skills and be adaptable, flexible and energetic. There was consensus that an individual who was an authoritarian would be the least effective as an administrator of an international school. ADMINISTRATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS The administrators identified as the most important characteristics of an effective international school administrator an individual who was (had): a participative leadership style; interpersonal skills; energetic; responsible; adaptable and flexible. The researcher found the administrators stated in the open-ended question that they perceived the qualities associated with an effective administrator to be: good interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate; a competent and experienced administrator; goal oriented; adaptable; flexible and unbiased. 268 It was found from the in-depth interviews that the administrators .perceived the characteristics of an effective administrator to be interpersonal skills. A dogmatic, authoritarian leader was perceived as unacceptable as an international school administrator. ADMINISTRATORS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS Administrators placed a significantly higher priority on the participative leadership style of the administrator than the parents. TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS The teachers were found to identify the qualities associated with an effective administrator to be flexibility; interpersonal skills; decisive; adaptability; energetic and a participative leadership style. The researcher found the teachers to state in the open-ended question that they perceived the effective administrator of an international school to be (have): interpersonal skills; decisive; a communicator; a listener; adaptable; an experienced teacher; a supporter and developer of the staff; flexible and friendly. 269 TEACHERS' DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS The teachers placed a significantly higher priority on interpersonal skills than the parents. PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS The parents perceived the following characteristics to be the most important for an effective administrator: adaptable; decisive; flexible; energetic; interpersonal skills; and far sighted. It was found from the open-ended question that the parents perceived the characteristics of an effective administrator to be: goal oriented; interpersonal skills; decisive; approachable; adaptable; flexible and unbaised. 270 CONCLUSIONS Having analysed the perceptions of the administrators, teachers and parents regarding the role, constraints, stresses and characteristics of an effective administrator what does one finally conclude about the role of an international school administrator? The conclusion is that the position of an international school administrator is one which is very demanding. The administrator is a visible, public figure whose actions and decisions are open to the scrutiny of the faculty, students, parents, the board and the government. The role requires an individual with the ability to function under these conditions, in situations- in which every decision will be subject to question and people will demand answers. The position is seen to be more demanding than that of other expatriate managers who are working with a work force mainly comprised of host national local employees and meeting the expectations of their head offices which are often located in the States or Britain. The pressures on the administrator are directly related to having to be an accommodator. The administrator must be an individual who meets the expectations of his role-set; a person who is prepared to listen and be seen to be attentive to everybody's demands and is sensitive to 271 their concerns. It is found that nobody wants to be disappointed or turned 'away so the the role involves a considerable amount of public relations work. It is for this reason that human relations skills are vitally important to be effective. The administrator must however be seen to be decisive as this is the expectation of all of the groups and it is at this point that there are conflicts. Although groups want a decisive leader they do not always agree with the decisions even if they were a party to their formation. It is therefore concluded that the conflicts for an international school administrator are directly related to the active, vocal parent community and demanding teaching force. The administrator who is an accommodator with people skills will be more successful in dealing with the conflicts, that are seen to be an integral part of his job, than an individual who is dogmatic as this is perceived as a manner which would generate more friction. The status occupant must be able to work under pressure and be able to adjust to the constraints of overseas administration. The role is, therefore, complex and demanding. It requires an individual who has the ability to mix easily and communicate effectively with government officials, executives, parents, students and fellow educators. The role requires a leader who can take 272 a wholistic perspective; a logical, clear thinking, unbiased, flexible educational leader who has the skills to accommodate individuals and groups but not lose sight of the goals and objectives for the international school while directing the institution towards its defined goals. Other more specific conclusions which are drawn directly from the analysis of particular group concerns are presented in the following paragraphs. It is concluded that the orientation of an international school is a potential source of conflict because parents place a significantly higher priority than teachers and administrators on maintaining the US/UK orientation of an international school. Should an administrator propose the introduction of programs such ,as the International Baccalaureate there may be resistance from American or British parents, depending upon the national orientation of the school, who would want the curriculum to continue using a program with which parents are familiar which is seen to reflect their national system of education. Parents place a significantly higher priority than teachers on the administrator's role as an academic specialist, curriculum director and as an instructional leader. These are perceived as potential areas of conflict between the parents and the teachers. 273 The staff are more concerned with the facets of the administrator's role which are of personal importance to them. This was identified through the significance given to the administrator's role as a staff developer and staff respresentative. The parents give significance to the areas of- the role which are personally important to them which includes the quality of the education for their dependents not the development of the staff. The difference in perceptions may influence the relationship between parents and teachers should they fail to recognize each other's primary concerns. The administrators perceived that the parents wanted an administrator to be an instructional leader and provide a quality academic education in an overseas location. It is concluded that the parents' concern for a quality education overseas is not specific to one cultural group. Both the American and the British parents have this common expectation. It is deduced that regardless of the cultural origin of the parents they are primarily concerned that an administrator ensures that the school provides for academic excellence, however, the system desired is one which will prepare their dependents for re-entry into the educational system of their country of origin. In a multi-national community it is concluded that basically parents are concerned with the same issue: how 274 best the education system can prepare their dependents for future life. The conflicts are perceived to focus on the methods by which these objectives can be achieved, not the goal of the education system. It is concluded that parents see the orientation of the curriculum as not just a matter of learning facts but as a means of transferring a part of their culture and values of their country to their children and this makes the orientation of the curriculum a significant issue. This concurs with the theories of Williamson (1979); Neff (1973); Durkheim (1972); Bourdieu (1971, 1977) and Cusick (1983) who wrote concerning the manner in which the basis values of society were transmitted through the culture, process, content and patterns of behavior of an education system. The parents' perceptions regarding the constraints and stresses from a multi-national faculty are used to reinforce the conclusion that their major concern is the orientation of the school. The administrator and teacher did not perceive the multi-national faculty to be a constraint or source of conflict. The parents' perceptions regarding a multi-national faculty may become an issue in the parent community. Administrators may benefit from a knowledge of these perceptions and be sensitive to an issue which may be a potential for conflict. Overseas, women who are often well-educated and have 275 no source of employment or opportunities of furthering their own career are seen to be highly critical and often over react to minor problems. The international school administrator is called upon to address the inordinate concerns of this particular group and it is felt that the school is sometimes used as the focus for personal frustrations and anxieties regarding life overseas. This conclusion cannot be generalized to all women but is a phenomenon associated with expatriate communities. Many women make a positive contribution to international schools and will give voluntarily of their time and energy to provide extended school programs. Women are, also, used as a source of local cheap labor in some schools. It is, however, concluded from the analysis of the data that many unemployed spouses of the expatriate work force are a source of stress for international school administrators. It is found that there are constraints associated with the overseas location of the school due to the host national governments. It is concluded that the qualities of flexibility, adapatability and being unbiased are highly valued as administrators are likely to be in situations where familiar support services are not available so improvisation and divergent thinking skills are a necessity. From the analysis of the statistical and descriptive 276 data it is concluded that an administrator with competency in human relations skills with the ability to communicate; listen; to be decisive and to relate to people; an adaptable and flexible individual; this type of person wOuld be subject to less stress and conflict in international schools and would meet the expectations of the parents and teachers. It is concluded that the qualities of flexibility and adaptability, which were perceived as being associated with an effective administrator, are qualities which may be valued in international teachers. This conclusion is derived from administrators' perceptions that they found it difficult to work with intransigent, uncompromising faculty members. Although there is agreement that there are financial constraints on an administrator and the allocation of financial resources are a source of conflict, the qualities of financial expert and business acumen were not ranked highly by the parents, teachers and administrators. It is deduced that the administrators are more concerned with the educational management of the school and often do not have the necessary financial skills to independently ;manage the finances of an international school. This was found to be the case in the schools visited. In the larger schools there were business managers and in the smaller 277 schools the administrators were found to be dependent upon the expertise in the parent community. It is concluded that administrators might benefit from courses in finance; accounting; the interpolation of budget sheets and business management as a means of reducing the conflict and stress associated with financial issues and of addressing the long term planning of school finances. The international school administrator's role is without the constraints of the US/UK labor laws and the threat of litigation. Although administrators are subject to host country labor laws administrators overseas can devote more time to the task of providing for educational excellence without some of the restrictions placed upon stateside administrators and the fear of litigation and union intervention. There are some similarities between the constraints on an overseas administrator and those experienced by American superintendents. This conclusion is based upon the finding that demands on an administrator's time and finances are a constraint on overseas administrators and American Superintendents. There is the common perception that human relations skills are necessary prerequisites for the effective administration of schools and for the successful management of community relations in the States 278 and overseas. 'From these findings it is concluded that there are some areas of commonality in the perceptions of the role of the international administrator and that of the American superintendent. Having cited similarities in the roles of overseas and stateside administrators it is emphasized that an international school administrator must be an individual ‘who has personal strength and stability to provide the leadership required in international schools while meeting the demands of parents and teachers and coping with the stresses of overseas living. The professional and personal demands on the administrator and the emotional support sought by the administrator's reference group make it imperative that he is an individual without personal stress with the ability to deal with other people's problems without internalizing every problem and criticism. The administrator must be empathic and supportive but with an inner strength and emotional stability. He is called upon to meet the needs of others yet may not have individuals, other than his spouse or a close colleague, to whom he can turn for professional support or contact . The administrator of an international school should be happy and comfortable working in a foreign environment. The administrator is required to provide guidance to 279 parents and teachers and reduce some parents' anxieties and guilt regarding the overseas education of their dependents. The administrator must be happy in his own situation in order to impart to others the confidence and the support they seek. The necessity to have human relation skills and the need to be emotionally secure and stable in one's own personality and professional role is seen to be vital for effective international school administration. The necessity for these qualities of leadership are heightened by the transient nature of school personnel and the composition of the expatriate community. These qualities are, therefore, identified as being of greater importance for effective administration in an overseas situation than in the administration of schools in the U.S.A. or the U.K. There is considerable agreement in the characteristics of an effective administrator, the sources of conflict and the constraints but it is concluded that the differential perceptions of the role present the greatest potential source of conflict as it is in this area that there were the greatest number of significant differences in perceptions. 280 CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE The identification of the parents' concerns for the academic orientation of the school and the significantly higher priority parents give to an administrator's function of maintaining the US/UK orientation of a school and the perception that the administrator should be an academic specialist and curriculum director was perceived to be valuable information for international administrators. The teachers' perceptions of the role of the international school administrator which they perceive to be one of providing: staff developer; being a communicator, a policy maker, a decision maker and an experienced teacher is an important contribution as it shows that the staff look to the administrator for support, guidance and development. In the knowledge that this is the faculty's concern an administrator would be able to contribute to staff development and ensure that there are means to provide for open channels of communication between the faculty and himself. The identification of the areas in which there are agreement between the perceptions of the parents, teachers and administrators of the constraints on the international school administrator's role, i.e., finances; teacher resistance to change; the local environment, the host 281 government and school buildings, contributes to knowedge in the field of international school administration. This knowledge may be useful in preparing administrators for employment overseas as prior knowledge that there are constraints from the local environment and from other sources would prepare prospective international school administrators .for their role overseas enabling them to adjust more rapidly to the strangeness of life in a foreign environment. A contibution is made to the knowledge of sources of stress and conflict through the identification of an agreement that interpersonal group conflict; interpersonal communication; initiating undesired change and allocation of financial resources are perceived to be sources of stress and conflict on the role of an international school administrator. Human relations skills and the qualities of adaptability and flexibility are found to be associated with an effective administrator of an international school. This is perceived to be an important contribution to knowledge of the characteristics perceived to be associated with effective administrators. This information may be useful to school boards in their recruitment and retention of personnel who will be effective in the management of international schools. The knowledge that 282 there is group consensus in the lack of suitability of an authoritarian leader is also a meaningful contribution to research on overseas administration. (I) 283 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH The areas in which there are significantly different perceptions of the role, constraints, stresses, conflicts and characteristics of an effective administrator have been identified it is therefore suggested that further research could be used to study if these differences are a source of conflict on the role of the international school administrator. A climate study could be made of international schools to investigate the administrator's performance of an instructional leadership role as this was perceived by the administrators to be the primary function of an international school administrator's role. A study could be made to examine the manner in which the international school administrator interprets his role. An instrument such as Blake and Mouton's managerial grid could be used to examine the leadership style of the administrator as it was perceived that an effective administrator of an international school should be participative leader and be people rather than task oriented. It is suggested that a study could be conducted. to identify the differential perceptions of the multi-national parent community to examine and identify if 284 there are cultural differences in the perceptions of the role, constraints, sources of stress and conflict and perceived characteristics of an international school administrator. APPENDI CES 285 APPENDIX A CENSUS OF POPULATION 1980: U.S. POPULATION ABROAD 1960 TO 1980. POPULATION 1980 1970 1960 U.S.POPULATION 995,545 1,737,836(b) 1,374,421(b) ABROAD (a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES 562,962 1,114,224 647,730 ARMED FORCES (C) 515,408 1,057,776 609,720 CIVILIANS (d) 47,554 56,448 38,010 DEPENDENTS OF 432,584 371,366 506,393 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES (d) (a) Excludes U.S. citizens temporarily abroad on private business, travel etc. Such persons were enumerated at their place of residence in the United States as absent members of their own households. (b) Includes U.S. citizens abroad for long periods of time who were not affliated with the federal government (1970, 236,336; 1960, 187,834) and crews of U.S. merchant vessels (1970 15,910; 1960, 32,464). (c) Based on tabulations provided by the Department of Defense. (d) Based on tabulations provided by the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Defence and State in 1980 and on eumeration and tabulations from the Departments of Defense and State in 1970 and 1960. 286 APPENDIX B DEPARTMENT OF STATE: FACT SHEETS 1 DEPARTMENT OF STATE C)\/E]?ESEJ\ESSSCZPTCDCDL£5.PJD\NSSC)FFY CZCDLJDJCJL. FACT SHEET 1932-33 "AMERICAN-SPONSORED" ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCI‘DOLS OVERSEAS The Worldwide Context: The school-age children among overseas Mericans~estimated F0 number nearly a quarter million--attend a wide variety of schools. Most of the children of military personnel attend schools established and operated by the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and a number of civilian government agency and private-sector children also attend these schools on a space-available. tuition- paying basis. However, most of the civilian agency dependents abroad attend non-Government. coeducational, independent schools of various kinds. Although these schools include those founded by U.S. companies, church organizations, and individual proorietors, most of them are non-profit, non-denominational, independent schools established on a cooperative basis by American citizens residing in a foreign conmunity. Many of the schools in this latter group have received assistance and support from the U.S. Government under a program administered by the Office of Overseas Schools of the 0.3. Department of State; the schools which have received such assistance constitute the "American-sponsored“ schools described in this Fact Sheet. Statistics on the "Anerican-Sponsored“ Schools assisted by_ the Department of State at a Glance: Oufing’fhe school year 1982-1983, the Office of'Overseas SChools is assiSt- ing I63 schools in 96 countries. The purposes of the assistance program are to help the schools provide adequate education for U.S. Government dependents and to demon- strate to"foreign nationals the philosophy and methods of American education. The schools are open to nationals of all countries, and their teaching staffs are multi- national. Enrollment in the schools at the beginning of the 1982-83 school year totalled 88.305, of whom 26,380 were U.S. citizen, and 61,925 were children from host countries and from some 90 other countries. 0f the U.S. enrollment, 6,603 were dependents of employees carrying out U.S. Government programs, 11,542 were dependents of employees of U.S. business firms and foundations, and 8,235 were dependents of other private citizens. Of the total of 8,007 teachers and administrators employed in the schools, 4.285 were U.S. citizens and 3.722 were foreign nationals from some 70 countries. A table is attached which suamarizes the statistics of the American-Sponsored Overseas Schools. Basic Characteristics: No statement about the American-sponsored overseas schools would apply without exception or qualification to each school. Variety is one of their basic characteristics. They range from tiny schools such as that in Guangzhou. China, with seven students, to the American School of Quitor, Ecuador, with 2,802 students. Very few schools have boarding facilities. Althougi. emphasis varies, all the schools share these _pgrposeu a) to provide for American and other children educational opportunities fienera y comparable to educa- tional programs in the U.S.. and b) to dmiionstrate American educational philosophy and practice abroad to help further international understanding. The schools are not operated or controlled by the U.S. Government. Ownership and policy control are typically in the hands of associations of parents orfithewchilcfen enrolled, who elect a school board to supervise the Superintendent or chief adminis- trator whom the board chooses to administer the school. In some schools the organi- zation is highly formalized. conprising corporate status in the U.S. or in the host Statistics as of September, l982 287 country, while other schools are loosely-defined c00perative entities. Depending upon the predominant character of the American community, some schools are closely associ- ated with the U.S. Embassy and A10 Missions; in others the local or international conmunities share direct concern for the school with the American comunity. All schools are smject, in varying degrees and with varying effects, to host-country laws and regulations pertaining to educational practices. importation of educational materials, personnel practices and the like. Combined annual gpgrating budgets of the 163 schools total nearly $235,000,000. Tui- tion payments are TEE principal source of financing for the schools. Tuition charges are generally lower than for comparable schools in the United States, and in virtual- ly all the schools tuition income alone is insufficient to provide for programs that are comparable to those in good U.S. schools. Many schools derive additional support from gifts and contributions from U.S. and local business firms, foundations, mission roups, individuals and local government, and all have received some grants fron the imited funds available under the program of the Office of Overseas Schools (a total of nearly $6,000,000 annually). The instructional prpgrams all provide a core curriculum which will prepare students to enter schooli} colleges and universities in the United States. The language of instruction is English, supplemented in certain schools with the local language. The content of the programs may be more or less typically “American," depending upon the proportion of U.S. students. and the quality, of course, varies with each school. Certain schools, especially in Latin America, must also fulfill host-country curricu- lum requirements. The curricula tend to be largely academic, with relatively little attention given to vocational or commercial education, primarily because of the high costs involved in the latter programs. An outstanding characteristic of most Ameri- can-sponsored schools is the use they have made of their location abroad to provide quality programs of foreign language instruction, study of local culture, and social studies. The quality and range of instructional materials is excellent in increasing numbers of the schools. In terms of faculties, the administrators and most teachers are Americans or American-trained, with a large pr0portion of American staff hired locally from among dependent wives. Most staf members are college graduates, and the majority hold teaching certificates. Lack of funds and, in many instances, difficult living condi- tions and isolation from the 0.5. professional community make recruitment and retention of qualified personnel frdn the United States difficult. The local and third-country teachers are usually well-qualified, although they frequently lack training and experience in U.S. educational methods. Hiring of staff is the respon- sibility of the individual schools. Plant and equipment facilities vary widely in adequacy. Because of the difficulty in securing long-term financing many schools are housed in inadequate buildings, although increasing numbers of overseas schools occupy fully adequate school plants and facilities. For further information: Dr. Ernest M. Mannino Office of Overseas Schools Room 234, SA-6 Department of State Washington, 0. C. 20520 Tel. 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