)VIESI.) RETURNING MATERIALS: P1ace in book drop to mgmugs remove this checkout from “ your record. FINES win be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. MAW 300 522i; ”at? ‘73,; (P30?! 551 9112001 @912;335:* A STUDY OF THE CAREER-PATHS OF OVERSEAS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS BY Rupert Melville William Bale 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 I b‘ ‘.I.‘ ~R ‘l O I. . FA ' ‘ (”a .1 .ih . - a ~‘ "\ n ‘*QCc \ '1. . 'u" f‘ ' V VJ: ‘ . ~. ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE CAREER-PATHS OF OVERSEAS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS BY Rupert Melville William Bale Many of the world's capital and major cities have large communities of expatriate sojourners who travel with their dependents. These 'third culture kids,' many of whom are British or US citizens, require an education that will help prepare them for re-entry into their home-country education system when they return with their parents or when they return to Britain or the United States for college. The overseas schools provide an opportunity for that education. These overseas schools are often isolated and tend not to have .personnel departments to provide career guidance and management development programs. This puts the overseas school administrators at a distinct disadvantage in comparison to his or her home-based u: ad) (I) .‘n-v (I) n: OAR—p - yuan.” 'n-~ ' “>'Ooc :ie I. ' 4.. C u, :‘1 . ~J‘ Ivy“ ‘d ‘. cl) colleagues. This is a study of the career-paths of fifty—six administrators of thirty-five overseas schools located in a geographical area encompassing an ellipse from S.E. Asia to Europe. The researcher used the field research techniques of in-depth interviewing plus personally administering questionnaires during an eighteen-weeks long, trans-globe, research data collection trip. Content analysis of the transcriptions of the interviews, plus the descriptive statistics extrapolated from the questionnaire data led to the conclusions that there was no 'career-path' for the overseas school administrators to follow, but there was such a thing as a career in the administration of overseas schools. Administrators used informal mentoring and networking to 'carve' their own individual career. These careers were affected by the administrators' family commitments, especially to providing a suitable education for his/her own children and by the effects of the expatriate community environmental bubble in which they tended to both work and live. Although there were many advantages to living and working overseas, there was a commonality expressed by these fifty-six overseas school administrators that they were hindered with regards to career progress because of a paucity of facilities for career guidance and due to the difficulties appertaining to keeping abreast of modern educational trends as developed back home. Qfld 3.1 4.: . A DU . awn! \‘w a . Q anon] AV R s QNU 1“ H Fl. L. l‘ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my appreciation for the help and guidance given by my dissertation committee :- Dr. Samuel Moore; Dr. Ruth Useem; Dr. Ben Bohnhorst; Dr. Frederick Ignatovich and Dr. Stanley Stark. Also I would like to thank the many overseas school administrators, parents and members of expatriate communities throughout S.E. Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Middle East and Europe to whom I'm indebted for their generosity in providing accommodation and support during my research trip. ii .l‘ D" I "~- ' Q a J A h. \ PS J C § Q § ‘.. u TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE TWO THRE FOUR BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY................. Company Schools......................... Proprietary SChOOIS.OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Missionary or Church Related Schools...... International Schools..................... Department of Defence Dependents Schools.. American Sponsored Overseas Schools....... Facts About The ASOS.................... Specific Problem........................ Importance of the Topic................. Research Approach....................... Limitations............................. Assumptions............................. Contribution Made By The Research....... References.............................. REVIEWOF LITERATUREOOOOO‘OOOOOO00.0.... Trait-Factor Theories............. ..... .. ........ SOCiOlogical TheorieSOOOOOOOOOOOOO0000...... Self-Concept or Developmental Theories. Vocational Choice and Personality Theories.. Recent Trends 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 References. 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O E DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......... ReferenceSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00.0.00...O. AGGREGATED DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS.................... Administrators' Nationality, Gender, .10 .13 ..33 .33 .42 .44 ..46 :.29 ..56 ..61 ..63 ..65 ..78 .079 .097 ....98 Title and AgeOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00......0.0.0.0....099 iii vd e '1 \ NI!- 4“. d D "D .-on ‘3‘ rd: 8" a... In H i ..X on ‘ C Hui '! a" '5 1m. ‘1.‘ l U s I n .' 1'32 5,“... I fl.“ ‘1! .1”! Q... C. S. a. .. ..i C a QC PL 9. v . a c no. PL Hm. a r s Q. .flu "V .3 n6 as at Flu hi and a X MM ‘3 in Q. .. a hv n... AU 55 aha u: n C v a flu 5-. nu . . hi} RI... Pu QC h.» 1.5. Du D fine a: m.‘ TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd.) CHAPTER PAGE ~FOUR (Cont'd.) Administrators' Academic Background, Training and Pedagogical Experience........................103 Administrators' Experience Before Going Overseas..........................................107 Administrators' Pedagogical Experience Overseas..........................................109 Statistics of Overseas Schools and Administrators' Remuneration......................ll3 Administrators' Requirements for Still Further Training..................................llS Past and Expected Future Influences On Overseas Careers..................................ll8 Reasons for Movement Overseas.....................122 Suggested Beneficial Attributes of an Overseas School Administrator for Career Advancement.......126 Overseas School Administrators' Career Goals and Expectations for the Future...................l30 Expatriate Community Environmental Bubble.........133 The Influence of Family Commitments on Careers....l37 Advantages and Disadvantages of Living and Working in Overseas Environments..................14l FIVE - ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATED DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWSCOOCC0.00.0.0....0000000000144 Overseas School Administrators' Nationality, Gender, Title and Age.............................l45 Overseas School Administrators' Academic Background, Training and Pedagogical Experience...l45 Overseas School Administrators' Career Trends.....l47 Remuneration......................................l47 Utility of Home-Based Training....................l48 Influences on Career Stages.......................151 Overseas School Administrators' Requirements For Still Further Training........................156 Overseas-School Administrators' Initial Career Plans......................................158 Extent of Career Guidance Facilities Overseas.....163 Suggested Beneficial Attributes Necessary for Career Advancement As An Overseas School Administrator.....................................l69 Reasons For Overseas Movement.....................l73 Difficulties Associated with Overseas Movement....181 Overseas School Administrators' Career Goals and Expectations for the Future...................188 The Influence of Family Commitments On Careers....l96 Expatriate Community Environmental Bubble.........200 iv 3117 ,u.. F09 h fin‘fir by »‘\ CA“! CJHM C”~- U‘l:t.l .n has Re () \"W'an I'd. ~-.a_,|_‘ lancer“ "Eu,”h“ .. 1"Q.~.; "ff-m4.- 1 ., lu'a—NQ ..r~_u“. \ \- y‘"3fip~ J. Db '. . 'l. 1 :- .Ifia'flv .-::,_N'. w... ~ _n Q :5-..C‘x I .‘. TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd.) CHAPTER PAGE SIX CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY..... ..... .......... ..... ..205 Conclusions.............................. ..... ....205 summarYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOO0.00.00.00.0211 The Importance of this Study......................221 Recommendations for Further Definition............225 APPENDICES Appendix A. Department of State Overseas Schools Advisory Council Fact Sheets.... ....... .227 Appendix B. Letter Requesting Permission to Collect Research Data......... ...... ....251 Appendix C. Letter of Confirmation of Visit.........253 Appendix D. Consent Forms...........................255 Appendix E. Sample Blank Questionnaire..............257 Appendix F. Open—Ended Questions For In-Depth Interviews..............................263 References.............................. ..... . ........ 265 Bibliography..........................................268 Table Table Table Table Table’ Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Ul thH \O m \l m o o o o o o u 0 PH4 h‘O O 0 Hr‘ who 0 O I. O. O. O. O. O. l—‘ b O 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.: 20.: 21.: LIST OF TABLES PAGE Nationality of Administrators..... ..... ....100 Administrative Position Now Held...........101 Administrator's Age........................102 Age When Attained First Administrative Post.......................................105 Teaching Experience Before First Administrative Position......... .......... .105 Years Coaching Before lst. Administrative Post............. ........... 106 Administrative Experience Before Going Overseas................... .......... 107 Teaching Experience Before Going Overseas........ .......... .... ..... .. ...... 108 Overseas Teaching Before Overseas First Administrative Post........................109 Time Spent At Each Overseas Post...........lll Total Pedagogical Experience Overseas......lll Student Enrollment Of Overseas Schools.....113 Annual Budget Of Overseas Schools..........ll4 Overseas School Administrators' Salaries...1l4 Areas In Which It Was Felt There Was Need For More Formal Training..............115 Most Useful Previous Training..............116 Areas Still In Need Of Further Training....ll6 Qualifications/Experience That Were of Most Help Getting Into Administration ..... .118 Major Influence In Attaining Overseas Post.......................................ll9 Influences Enhancing Overseas Career.......1l9 Qualifications Needed For Career Advancement............. .......120 vi Figure Figure Figure Figure LIST OF FIGURES Career Planning.................... Career Growth Cycle................ Examples of Special Issues During Each Stage of Job Longevity........ Career Planning Program............ vii PAGE .67 .69 .71 .73 .An .I 4 IL. 0 . ;>\ O u -v\ I . FM. r. a: CC .3 G. b c . In“ '5 .u 5 .o s “VA '§ . . a. flu and Q. 6.. .. a a: V a ,. a as. g.” r. on «a. c. 5» unu r. . g a: .a 4 at” 3 .4 ,n .. I .. a: A u a v :4 ‘4‘ :4 b a «an AI» 5 V «a u... L n LL a,» a» 5‘ n u I .v. -u «us :I can C \ uh h .h .. an L Q... V's «a 7.. «u . Pb s CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY In this study the researcher explores the similarities and differences in the career-paths and career patterns of individuals who occupy the position of administrator in thirty-five selected overseas elementary and secondary schools. It focuses on why the administrator left his country of origin, why he chose the specific country or countries that he has worked in and the major influences that have affected his career-path. Other areas of focus are the sociological aspects of overseas school administrators' careers such as networks, expatriate environmental bubbles and family commitments. The administrator of overseas schools may be male or female but for ease of reading the researcher will use the pronoun 'he' to stand for he or she. The career-paths of administrators of four types of overseas schools were investigated':- . American Schools; British schools; Anglo-American Schools and International Schools. hUNH O 1 "f‘ \-i.n\)vg‘ :4. ‘b c» |.. Overseas schools use a variety of titles for their administrators. Chief administrators of the larger - overseas schools with several subordinate administrators are often called 'Superintendents' if that overseas school has an American orientation, whereas such an administrator will be called 'Headmaster' in a British type overseas school. Administrators under the superintendent are normally called 'Principal;' there is normally a High School Principal, a Junior High/Middle School Principal and an Elementary School Principal. Headmasters normally have a 'Deputy Headmaster' and 'Heads of Academic Subject' subordinate to them. In the smaller schools of less than three hundred students there is a tendency for there to be oniy one administrator who is often called 'Director' or sometimes even 'Headmaster.‘ The use of 'the term 'administrator' in this study refers to any person filling one of the above positions, although some overseas schools also include counselors and curriculum co-ordinators on their administrative team. Most of the modernized nations have their own overseas schools in many of the major capital cities and important industrial regions throughout the world. Wherever one finds mineral wealth being exploited, be it O .4-” ~- Y.-L' uni-o ‘IIA v..- -. nap/N" .‘C..vda h' in. 599‘" v-- .A .5 A C 4 1 l..\ 1 1 III I' 'll ac at A . 7L D. A; r; .. a s . 0 m a: .3 WA. . . QC 1. a Q. A. Ce s Q. .A‘ .Hn C. .: r s no 5 P a a. L s s . n C n». . C. a: C» i. .P‘ a . a: «C 9.. 9. C. V... ..v u.. I. n.» .: ~u. .1. :- .u a \n . 2. AU o . 9b. nzv n s I «\v oil or metals, by international/multi-national conglomerates, one will find some form of overseas School to cater for the needs of the dependents of the expatriate workforce. Quite often these . 'compound schools,’ as they are sometimes known, will only consist of between five to twenty pupils with .only one or two teachers. But even these 'off—the-beaten-track schools' can sometimes be as big as to accommodate pupil populations of over one hundred; obviously it depends on the size of the managerial, technical, and specialist workforce. Companies do not, as a rule, pay for the manual laborer to travel with his family. The majority of nations in the world now have embassies or consulates in the major capital cities and it has become more common, than in the past, for the dependents of diplomats to live with their parents as expatriate sojourners. This has increased the need for overseas schools and the demand for places, especially in the lower grades, such as K—8. The British especially, 'prefer to send their dependents back home to the U.K. boarding schools by the age of nine years and at the latest before thirteen years, so that their children can 'get—on-track' for the British exam-oriented education system. Another reason for the predominance of K-8 schools is that some countries, notably the Muslim countries of The Middle East, have laws prohibiting the .nra" ‘ vvu'd.‘ ‘A"' 5"“. .9. .Au an; Ar. .: -.. a “65‘ a," ..f“‘ Q Ub.‘ :HRH ’u._ ‘00 V~ If. 4 schooling of foreign expatriate sojourners' teenage dependents. So these dependents are sent home at the age of fourteen, or embassies, and likewise companies, only send dependent-free personnel to such postings. There is no way of knowing how many overseas schools there are in the world because there is a proliferation of different types of overseas schools, using a wide spectrum of languages for their medium of instruction. There are almost as many different languages being used as the medium of instruction in overseas schools, as there are major languages. Also, there is no overall governing body or registering organization. Even in the capital city of Sofia, Bulgaria with its relatively small expatriate community, the researcher noted an English school (The Anglo-American School with 90 students), a French school (L'Ecole Francais with 50 students), an Italian school with 5 pupils, and an Iraqui school with 25 students. An executive officer of one of the major agencies representing international schools recently estimated that athere were in excess of a thousand overseas schools across the globe and that more than half of them used English as the medium of instruction. Besides the above mentioned types of school there are also Missionary Schools, British- Council Schools, United States Department of Defense Overseas Dependents Schools (DoDDS), and British Ministry of Defence Service 5 Children's Education Authority Schools. Although French is still regarded as the language of the Diplomatic-World, English is by far the most common language used in commerce and business around the world. So diplomats, foreign business representatives and entrepreneurs alike, often prefer to send their dependents to English medium overseas schools whether their native language be German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, or whatever. This study is limited to the investigation of the similarities and the differences of the career patterns of administrators of thirty-five selected overseas schools that fit the criteria of:- (1) English medium school; (2) American School, British School, Anglo-American School, International School and (3) situated geographically in the ellipse encompassing Western Europe to South-East Asia. Although there are placement agencies such as International School Services (ISS), World-wide Education Services (WES), European Council of International Schools (ECIS), British Council, Overseas Schools Services (058), Gabitas Thring, Robert Sandoe & Associates Boston and overseas area associations such as East Asia Regional Council Of Overseas Schools (EARCOS), Near East South v a. A “08' ...-\-~" ‘Apnp «Va-U- ‘nnflfi gynvbo ,- R 7" ‘I .A-' n§§ .‘NA rt “~bl » U . 6 Asia Council Of Overseas Schools (NE/SA), Association Of International Schools In Africa (AISA) and ECIS, the largest world-wide affiliation of overseas schools is the collection known as the 'American-Sponsored Overseas Schools' which are aided, but not controlled, by the United States Department of State's Office of Overseas Schools. This study is not restricted to administrators of American-type overseas schools but as this type of school does constitute some fifty-seven per cent of the schools involved in the research data collection process and American-type overseas school administrators were some sixty-eight per cent of administrators surveyed, it is important to put this type of overseas school into the context Of the total population of overseas schools. There is some difficulty in finding an adequate term to describe the American-type overseas schools which are designed to provide educational opportunities for the dependents of American expatriate sojourners, plus the children who are the dependents of other nationality expatriate sojourners and in some cases host-national children. A number of terms have been used :- 'mu1ti-national,' 'bi-national,‘ 'international' and 'multi-cultural.‘ But perhaps most systematically the term 'American-Sponsored Overseas Schools' (ASOS) has 7 been used. These terms are basically characteristic of the student population of the schools, although none of them accurately describes all of the various patterns of organization and structure that exist. The various types of American schools overseas can be grouped into the following categories :- Company Schools Where educational facilities have been inadequate or non-existent, company schools have been established by business or industrial concerns. They have been considered necessary to attract and retain qualified personnel in remote areas. These company schools were Often initiated to fulfill the educational needs of the dependents of the business's personnel only, but sometimes they have become bi-national through the enrollment Of host-national children of the company personnel recruited from the local population. They have sometimes become multi-national through the enrollment of other national children of personnel working for other companies, for example on a large industrial site complex. Schools of this type that have administrators included in this study are The Bechtel, Sultan's-Palace-Site School, Brunei,and The Shell Oil Company School, Brunei. Missionary or Church Related Schools Missionary schools have represented many churches of differing denominations and are the oldest type of overseas schools. They can be found all over the world. They have ostensibly been designed to facilitate either dependents of missionaries, the local host-national children, or both. An important feature of mission schools is their boarding facilities, which in some locations are the only available boarding educational institution. An example of this type of overseas school from which administrators have been included in this study is The Hong Kong International School. The following description is taken from the 1982-83 A/OS Fact Sheet :- The Hong Kong International School is a private Christian coeducational day school which offers an educational program from kindergarten through grade twelve for students of all nationalities and religious backgrounds. The school was founded in 1966. The school year comprises two semesters extending from September 1 - January 21, and from January 24 - June 10. The school is sponsored by and operated under the auspices of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (U.S.A.). It is also registered with the Office of the Hong Kong Government and it is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Curriculum and approaches are similar to those in schools of the U.S.A.. Instruction is in English, with French, Spanish, and Chinese taught as foreign languages. The elementary program features open-plan with team teaching and emphasis on individualized instruction. The secondary curriculum offers rigorous preparation for college with many electives and a broad intercultural, sports, and activities program. American standardized tests are administered, including College Entrance Examinations, and more than 90% of the graduates go on to colleges in the U.S.A.. Religious Studies are an integral part of the curriculum in all grades and the overall program proceeds from Christian philosophy and setting. In the 1982-83 school year there were 86 full-time and 15 part-time faculty members, including 84 U.S. citizens, ll host country nationals and 6 persons of other nationalities. Enrollment at the beginning of the 1982-83 school year was 1,369; (K,75; G.l-6, 698; G.7-8, 217; G.9-12, 379). Of the total, 799 were U.S. citizens, 161 were host country nationals, and 409 were children of 32 other nationalities. Of the U.S. enrollment, 80 were dependents of 0.8. Government direct-hire or contract employees, 497 of U.S. business and foundation employees, 222 of other private U.S. citizens. The elementary school building, which is flexible and Open in design, can accommodate 850 students and contains 8 classroom clusters, library, multi-purpose room, lunch rooms, central Offices, music, art and science rooms, plus two roof-top playgrounds, gymnasium and swimming pool. The secondary building includes 28 classrooms, library-media center, 4 science labs, music and art rooms, chapel-auditorium, cafeteria and office space. Both buildings are fully air-conditioned. In the 1982-83 school year, about 94% of: the school's income was derived from regular day school tuition and registration fees. Annual tuitions are as follows :- Kdg.:$l,575; Primary (G.l-6): $3,143; Middle (G.7-8): $3,280; Secondary (G.9-12): $3,450. Fees are payable in Hong Kong dollars. There is a one-time acceptance fee of $100. (All the above fees are quoted in U.S. dollars). (1) n o v. .unr ...u. 'iVT" o“ fly. 4' .U‘AA g. 5...- . 9A {n ...€‘ ...\.. i’" A! 10 Proprietary Schools Proprietary schools form the second oldest group of overseas schools. They are profit-making schools that are owned and operated by individuals or small groups of individuals. In the past these institutions were mostly found in Europe, with very few found in other parts of the world, but in recent years there has been a mini-boom Of proprietary schools in East Asia and The Middle East. An example of this type of overseas school from which administrators have been included in this research is the International School of London. The following description is taken from the 1982-83 188 Directory of Overseas Schools:- Founded in 1972, the International School of London is a privately sponsored school governed by an advisory council. The school is in process of accreditation by ECIS. The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is offered. The I.S.L. is affiliated with the Durglet and the Franklin School of New York. The curriculum is college preparatory and caters to the needs of the multi-national student body, with emphasis on the 13 program and British and U.S. university entrance requirements. Central to the school's philosophy is the desire to promote international understanding through education and to prepare its pupils for life in a modern, multi-national society. There is an ESL program. Extra-curricula activities are extensive and involve scheduled pursuits in creative, aesthetic, and social activities including participation in community projects. Sports include soccer, basketball, volleyball, field hockey, tennis, badminton, and swimming. Testing includes:- PSAT; SAT; GCE '0' level; IB and internal achievement tests. Recent graduates have been admitted to the London School of Economics, Sussex University, Brandis, University College London, Colorado, 'gl. U V --v:o _.-1 but“? ..-...ov.o AAC'H"‘ \uu. I V «rn‘ C 0-» - .ll'~§hl .352 any... ‘ n-u 1:4:7 fiv- "dh Q.. _ :‘nu 'bfiqur w gas. 5.“. E4.‘.' ‘0 G b b.‘ ll Freie Universitat, Berlin, and others. The school is housed on the premises of the Working Men's College, the Oldest evening college in England. The facilities include 30 classrooms, a hall equipped with drama facilities, a large library, three science labs, three music rooms, two art rooms, an audio-visual room, computer facilities and gym. It is located east of London's Regent's Park. (2) International Schools The significance of International Schools comes about because they have been established by, and are composed of multi-national groups. These schools have developed curricula which have multi-national aspects and attempt to meet the multi-national needs of their students. Again these schools are predominantly located in Europe. An example of one of the above overseas schools from which administrators have been included in this research is the Overseas Children's School, Sri Lanka. The following description is taken from 1982-83 A/OS Fact Sheet :— The Overseas Children's School, Sri Lanka, is an independent co-educational day school which offers an educational program from nursery through grade 12 for students of all nationalities. The school was founded in 1957. The school year comprises three terms extending from September 13 to December 17; January 3 to March 31; and April 18 to July 8. The school is governed by a l4-member Board of Directors. an . .- "Cfiflrh ‘. £:.,..'.'.'.D AQS. A“ L... :us’ AOIA' a“ 4.13:. Rd. Qfllq A ‘l‘ A club- 3 S» 3.7% in .4, .c “""NH-‘4'. Iii-‘I‘il'doLb 0 V S P i V' o 'J o’ n 'l bIS. “..5' “'6', J“... 1"“' "to . was. ' 7“! :“‘5d:' ‘ 1" r! .‘7‘aa J, 7*A '1 .. : . J“, C01 . .2. Q vIU. Desar‘ - u 71". one DC 6;. ‘ -~.': 33:393 ::s,' '5‘. , .G! Iqb'c : :c- - a have A, . “5.1a: or k SGPo' a it's”, y b. ’“ients c 7n w Rh}... U 0°93“ ‘I M . vautzsns .‘ ~ ‘4 $1.37.. 12 The curriculum is designed to provide areas of study related to both the American and the British systems of education. Instruction is in English. Courses are Offered in English, Mathematics, ESL, French, German, Biology, World History, Geography, English Literature, Art, Music, Physical Education/Sports, and Computing. Students are also prepared for the London Board G.C.E. '0' levels. There were 62 full-time and 2 part-time faculty members in the 1982-83 school year, including 7 U.S. citizens, 47 host country nationals, and 10 persons of other nationalities. Enrollment at the opening of the 1982-83 school year was 533 (N-3, 203; G.4-8, 227; G.9-12, 103). Of the total, 54 were U.S. citizens, 8 were host country nationals, and 471 were of other nationalities. Of the U.S. enrollment, 23 were dependents Of U.S. Government direct hire or contract employees, 3 of U.S. business and foundation employees, and 28 of other private U.S. citizens. The school rents buildings on two campuses for the Primary and the Middle/Senior Schools. There is a library, laboratories, assembly hall, art room, music room, computing room, workshop, domestic science, audio-visual room, and a limited sports facility. (3) U.S. Department of Defence Overseas Dependent Schools The DODDS system is reputed to be geographically, the largest school system in the world; it has an estimated total enrollment of about 160,000 students in 300 schools located in 25 countries around the world. And they have over 7,000 professional staff. There is a branch of DODDS operated by each of the military services. DODDS has been set up to serve only the dependents of overseas United States military personnel, so subsequently all of the students are American citizens. However, cross cultural marriages often eventuate in there being students of foreign origin in .FA. c~ Qua :- .‘b 0F F' n we ‘9!“‘1 u. .Ln'v.:' ‘o'o'J ~° ucb" “v..." oc'A-Au I l 7‘. r“. ?.J_.d.n.S, c L Y li Q 9w 'th W. . 1.:nc IPart: : '3 ’1! ¢ - R ..‘C n ‘ ““ 4929's I “~ ~41 13 these schools. The American Sponsored Overseas School (ASOS) The final category, American Sponsored Overseas Schools, includes 163 schools which are assisted by the Office of Overseas Schools and are found in 96 countries. This category includes some of the international schools mentioned earlier. As the largest group of citizens living and working outside of their own native land are Americans (1980 U.S. Census), these schools are most frequently American Sponsored and have American-type programs. The majority of ASOS's have been established fairly recently; a-large proportion were formed in the mid 1960's and more than a third have been founded since 1960, which makes many of them less than twenty-five years Old. Fewer than 20% of ASOS's were created before the 1940's. Although no statement about ASOS would apply without exception or qualification to each school, it can be generalized that the schools have a similar pattern of development. Americans tend to carry their traditions of family life to wherever they live. This includes keeping the school near the home and under local supervision, and where there has been an absence of, or an inadequacy of appropriate education for their children in an overseas syn "€ 3" n. oun“"‘ . pmvfl:‘ E .‘ugyfla :.:.« (7 Uvflvl d nrnz~ ,A‘IA' Veduv CLU- "“fi r ‘- ' 5.3.9 o 14' 5 b 0L b ..J ‘ “H i " abur‘: O. W‘ee ar' ..1 ‘§ To A . lone tn ‘36 vak In 8:1 “2:3, . HfiOIIEnt‘ :n ‘Ih M l4 expatriate community, they have undertaken to provide the necessary educational institution and facilities. The typical expatriate is Of middle to upper management status (1980 U.S. Census), upwardly mobile both in his profession and socio-economic class. This tends to generate a high level of expectation for his children. Part of the expatriates' motivation to establish adequate and appropriate local educational institutions overseas stems from their desire for their children to eventually enter U.S. colleges and universities, and their wish, unlike the typical British upwardly mobile, not to send their children home to a boarding-school. The above stated difference between the typical U.S. expatriate and the typical British expatriate, in part accounts for the sufficiency of American-type overseas schools, and the comparative dearth of British-type overseas schools. Also the fact that numerous socially mobile British expatriate sojourners believe that 'it is the done thing' to have one's 9-10 years old children back in Britain at boarding school and also the extremely exam-oriented British education system, account for the fact that it is rare to find a British overseas school accommodating students beyond class 4, or U.S. grade 5. It has been common for a group of parents to initially create a co-operative tutoring program. This generally has evolved into a more comprehensive 1‘0'3'ifi ,v-o . .Iofin‘fl; _'~.v~‘o‘ .. arany:-n: u. "l. ‘.-~~ , . CHI .IA\ a ‘5‘. -“O' V'O-O as... s 04',” . .Vanu a -’AQ.A. ‘ ~- ~~..~_: .'~.- ‘h ~OJ“. -.. N!“1 . 7"!“«EX‘ . . O A ’n .. -..‘3 1 ll. cg. ~ .. "'w .....°_ .0 ' : d.“~“ 15 operation, sometimes involving correspondence courses; tYpically the Calvert Courses out of the U.S.A. and such programs as supplied by Worldwide Education Services out of Britain. Then as the expatriate sojourner community and the number Of dependents have increased, a semi-permanent building or large apartment suite has been found along with volunteer teachers from among the spouses (typically wives) of the expatriate workforce. Often the school would draw up a charter and would be managed by a 'board' made up from the parents and elected from the parent group. Later on, when the size and the complexity of the school exceeded the skills and ability Of the local 'spouse-teachers,‘ professional teachers and administrators would be brought in and the facility would be generally institutionalized. The largest group of citizens living and working outside of their native land are Americans. Consequently it comes as no surprise that most of these parent co-operative schools were originally created by American parents. As the schools grew and the programs plus buildings improved, local host-nationals recognized the desirability of an American education for their children as a means of access to U.S. colleges and universities, and then accordingly entrance into the higher and more prestigious positions in their own government and bureaucracies. Thus with the enrollment of both 37933638 S Ca; “at of C01; the 503 any. 0: larc l6 host—national children and third country nationals, and their parents' inclusion on the governing boards, the genesis of the present-day multi-national parent co-operative overseas schools was fulfilled. Accepting that exceptions exist, most of theSe schools have continued to grow and improve, but a degree of the original patterns of organization and. function remains and to some extent is characteristic of these overseas schools :- 1. ASOS are financed mainly by tuition and fees (additional income may come from individual donations, foundations, business and industrial concerns, U.S. Government agencies, local private and government groups). The high and increasing costs of operating an overseas school have made it necessary to levy tuition rates at such a level that it is nearly impossible for children from middle or lower socio-economic groups to attend. This has the effect of producing a student body composed of pupils from mainly the upper socio-economic classes. 2. ASOS are non-profit institutions. 3. ASOS are non-sectarian institutions. _ 4. ASOS are mostly located in urban capital or major cities. 5. ASOS are binational or multi- national. The student population is made up of Americans, host-nationals and third country nationals. Some countries (notably the 'Iron Curtain' countries) exclude host-nations, and some countries exclude anyone except U.S. citizens. 6. ASOS are staffed mainly by American or American-trained teachers. In the past a large percentage of the faculty was l7 'locally-hired staff' consisting of American dependent wives and qualified local personnel, but today there is a trend away from this and toward the attraction of 'Overseas—hired' faculty. 7. ASOS curricula are American with attention given to the language, social studies and culture of the host country. American methods of instruction are used as well as American text-books and instructional materials. Some countries (notably Latin America) offer the national curriculum in addition to the U.S. curriculum. 8. ASOS use English as the medium of instruction but often courses or special classes are offered in the language of the host country. (Orr, 1974) An example of one Of the above type Of overseas schools that has administrators included in this research is The American School in Japan. The following description is taken from the 1982-83 A/OS Fact Sheet :- The American School in Japan is a coeducational day school which Offers an educational program from nursery through 12th grade plus a post graduate year for students of all nationalities, but primarily serves the American community living in the Tokyo area. The school was founded in 1902. The school year comprises two semesters extending from September to June. The school is governed by a 15 member Board of Directors elected for one-year terms by the Trustees of A.S.I.J. Foundation, the sponsors of the school. Currently, and usually, all Board members are U.S. citizens. Trusteeship in the Foundation is extended to representatives of business, U.S. Government, and church organizations and certain parents who have an interest in and provide financial support to the school. The curriculum is similar to that of college preparatory schools in the U.S.. Japanese language and area arts are offered to all students. A library of 25,000 volumes staffed by 3 professional librarians permits an emphasis upon student research. Advanced A ‘ «r '4'”! a. 1 I - .I .:~ '4 ph\ . 1 I u L .3 a3 1.. n. :9 II” as In I O n o o H». .n.. an .‘L 0 e .. n... 1 . s . n . r. C. Hz. a: 2 .nu Cu ob m . a: «a r. a... A...» As Av 3. 2 AV 1 g P. I a F. b u .G Hus :n A. .4 a» n. 4.. .~. - any a. n... we 5. an an .vu. r. .ru .nu cw .. a. a- v. an a“ .3 in u.” 4: a. nu A» Av 3. ale 3 o :- 5.6.6.. o. . a In u-.. A n! guy a. b» a m Riv I... a: ”I N9 5.4 A1. a e In. .6 Na. In. :1 b C“ 18 placement courses are offered in seven subjects among a very wide range of elective courses. The ASIJ has no provisions for students with severe learning, emotional, or physical handicaps. Both the Elementary and Secondary schools are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. For the most part graduates go on to colleges and universities in the U.S.. There are 78 full-time and 5 part-time faculty members in the 1982-83 school year, including 68 U.S. citizens, 7 Japanese and 8 persons of other nationalities. Enrollment in October 1982 was 1005; K-6, 428; G.7-12, 577. Of the total, 683 were U.S. citizens, 105 were host country nationals, and 172 were children of 36 other nations. Of the U.S. enrollment, 90 were dependents of U.S. Government direct-hire or contract employees, 430 of U.S. business and foundation employees, and 163 of other private U.S. citizens. The facilities consist Of two complete modern school plants:- one is for the K-PG located in western Tokyo, and includes library, laboratories, auditorium, gymnasium, swimming pool, tennis courts and playground/field. School bus service is provided with an average transit time of less than 45 minutes. Also, a separate facility for Nursery and Kindergarten students is located in central Tokyo. In 1982-83 school year about 78% of the school's operating income was derived from tuitions and fees. The remainder came from donations, grants, investments, and auxiliary enterprises. For the school year 1982-83, annual tuition rates were $3,200 for Kindergarten, $3,860 for grades 1-6, $4,120 for grades 7-12. Facts About The A808 The following facts are based on the 1982-83 Department of State Overseas Schools Advisory Council mimeographed 'Fact Sheet :-' The school-age children among overseas Americans, estimated to number nearly a quarter million, attend a wide variety of schools. Most of the children of military n-V‘A" ~':.:u..n( unrefil'- .3..v-3 . -1 Ab P‘Y‘V .. Vb'bd a'“ ' ‘ ... ¢ .oa'bu:flfl. _'._.VAA n-nnR‘vf 1;.- ‘vwaik , ‘ ‘ - Ann-4"". ic~JIVUN . . . ‘ bp- ‘QR' -..-.. u“. - nA—n:n" ‘ UV. ~‘.|.\. «year; i b.'vbb& I . . n«n_a:¢qn nun aboli- ‘Aya; ~“ “MI-.4“ . ”'“‘ 'h- ~...3 “a ‘ Q A ."'G?v‘w~: "" vou...y a... "A A - ”Nata: 53:30.3 :29 'A‘c " I 3‘5. In. ' . _-R~" “\"“nc !:~‘ ,' J, R :t.lnln< .I" q “41:. 6 I ‘ ' 7“ 1 sst ‘0‘ n R ‘ ..D 0 en: '3' - 'I' '1 3 R , “1.3.. I. - ‘ u‘n‘ -.' H1 Q T43Je: A 7 "‘a a.“ a‘4‘9 h A “ .8 RA I (FLA : J‘ S ‘anii . " \ Q I ‘4 (- «‘le ‘. . g: at: s, O ‘IDe “u ‘A {Jar » l9 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 proprietors, most of them are non-profit, non-denominational, independent schools established on a co-operative basis by American citizens residing in a foreign community. 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 U.S. Department of State; the schools which have received such assistance constitute the 'American-sponsored' schools described in this Fact Sheet. During the school year 1982-83, the Office of Overseas Schools assisted 163 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 demonstrate to foreign nations the philosophy and methods of American education. The schools are open to nationals of all countries, and their teaching staffs are multi-national. Enrollment at the beginning of the 1982-83 school year totalled 88,305, of whom 26,380 were U.S. citizens, and 61,925 were children from host countries and from 90 other countries. Of 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 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. NO statement about the A808 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, Equador, with 2,802 students. Very few schools have boarding facilities. Although emphasis varies, all the schools share these purposes :- a) to provide for American and other children educational opportunities generally comparable to educational programs in the U.S. and b) to demonstrate American educational philosophy and practice abroad to help further international understanding. The schools are not operated or controlled by the 0.8. Government. P ‘ ' oar-I- 1 .U.-.4:-‘Z1 up .nA-ib 0.. alvhrb QA-I\"G' n' vV ‘it-v.“ Ap:p:n>py U..I.i\1b~4 -I . .e :auaflIR ‘ ""‘J.a h .' u ..‘e a?!“ ..LA. 5313013 0 n.‘. :‘n‘: and t "q ‘ ..- f‘ a, 0..) :vlerunen "‘3-90 5 o . 079:3 20 Ownership and policy control are typically in the hands of associations of parents of the children enrolled, who elect a school board to supervise the superintendent or chief administrator whom the board chooses to administer the school. In some schools the organization is highly formalized, comprising corporate status in the U.S. or in the host country, while other schools are loosely-defined co-operative entities. Depending upon the predominant character of the American community, some schools are closely associated with the U.S. Embassy and AID Missions; in others the local or international communities_ share direct concern for the school with the American community. All schools are subject, 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. The combined annual operating budgets of the 163 schools total nearly $235,000,000. Tuition payments are the principal source Of financing for the schools. Tuition charges are generally lower than for comparable schools in the United States, and in virtually 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 groups, individuals and local government, and all have received some grants from the limited funds available under the program of the Office of Overseas Schools; a total of nearly $6,000,000 annually. . The instructional programs all provide a core curriculum which will prepare students to enter schools, 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 from school to school. Certain schools, especially in Latin America, must fulfill host-country curriculum 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 A308 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. U a. 4“ “vs-wt . our/nah 5. '..'hr “:‘9 . ‘-'ul‘a 34 -.l .c.( R‘A-q'VU .u. ... 5.. Ha flu ..u o C» b. A\u in Q o l b v a n U. .- 'D‘RA'Q os~v... . S. a)” ..L .AL‘ . a . u a: r... ,5. 21 In terms of faculties, the administrators and most teachers are Americans or American-trained, with a large proportion of American staff hired locally from among dependent wives. Most staff members are college graduates, and the majority hold teaching certificates. Lack of funds and, in many instances, difficult living conditions and isolation from the U.S. professional community make recruitment and retention of qualified personnel from the United States difficult. The local and the third-country teachers are usually well-qualified, although frequently they lack training and experience in U.S. educational methods. Hiring of staff is the responsibility 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. (A/OS) 22 Specific Research Problem The researcher's purpose in this study is to provide an answer to the research problem :- how do administrators of overseas schools proceed along their career-paths; also how are these career lines and career goals influenced by the expatriate environments in which they work? Overseas school administrators working at schools that can be hundreds or even thousands of miles from neighboring overseas schools are isolated, not only from their own profession, but also from such professional facilities as career guidance counseling and from facilities to help them keep abreast of modern US- and UK educational trends. Today, both in Britain and in the United States of America, educational institutions of the larger school districts and the larger corporations have recognized the need for human resource planning. Many school districts such as Newton, Massachusetts Public Schools or The Inner London Education Authority and companies such as IBM or GM are concerned today about the development of administrative talent to ensure their long-term survival and they have personnel departments that undertake administration development programs to meet this need. .9. gnu '4 3. .s. ..a n~b .: 1.4 a. :4 f. . a .. x A: . . .. . 'filn ~\U .. .u.. a. «J IL. pm v- .3. ‘. Hi. 23 Career planning, or pathing, is an important integral element of such programs. (Alpin and Gerter, 1980) International overseas schools tend neither to have personnel departments nor to have administration development programs. The rationale for the latter is Often that overseas schools do not regard such programs as cost effective because their administrative staff, like the rest of the faculty and student body, are usually transitory; normally only sojourning for two to three years at one site. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is that there are some countries whose laws and tax legislations actively penalize expatriate workers for remaining in those countries for longer than a transitory period. The expatriate sojourner in Sri Lanka, for instance, only pays 8% income tax for the "first three years, but then is penalized by a prohibitive 55% income tax for the fourth and subsequent years. This reasoning creates problems for the overseas school administrators because without personnel departments and without administration development programs to help them, they find it very difficult to acquire professional advice with regard to career guidance. If the overseas school administrators desire nu: h «AG x -. 24 continuing careers overseas they need to know how to successfully progress along a career path in their chosen field. Furthermore, the issue is augmented by Gould's analysis (1979) which revealed that administrators with the most effective careers report more extensive career planning. In addition, administrators higher in career effectiveness dimensions such as salary, career involvement, identity resolution and adaptability, have engaged in greater degrees of career planning than thOse administrators who are lower in career effectiveness dimensions.(Gould,l979) Overseas school administrators have less Opportunity for career guidance with respect to pathing, than their home-based colleagues. In Britain and in the U.S.A. higher education leads to a greater number of opportunities for career advancement and hence a greater need for career planning and access to assessment centers, along with the benefits of career counseling and pathing.(Gould,l979). There is a tendency for overseas school administrators to have academic qualifications that are as high as those of their colleagues back home (Becker and Ignatovich, 1983) and (A/OS Fact Sheet, 1982-83) and therefore a greater number of opportunities for career advancement and hence a greater need for career planning. Overseas school administrators have less opportunity for career guidance than school administrators at home. Administrators with 25 two to ten years experience in their field (i.e., the 'advancement stage' Of their careers), or in the age bracket of thirty to forty-four years (i.e., the 'stabilization stage' of their careers) also have a greater need for career~ planning. (Gould,l979). As overseas school administrators tend to fall into these categories it is reasonable to infer that, for these reasons also, they have a greater need for career guidance. But as has already been pointed out, this is not readily available; nor are there Opportunities for career planning in a formalized style. They cannot benefit from career counseling or diagnosis from an assessment center . Career planning also embraces the concepts of personnel development. If the institution does not have a personnel department, as is the case in overseas schools, then personnel development will not take place. Despite the popularity of allowing administrators to learn by 'trial-and-error,‘ there are a number of obvious reasons why allowing overseas school administrators to do this is also not cost effective, and often does not work :- l. administrators do not recognize their mistakes in dealing with individuals; 2. it may take an administrator a long time to chance upon an appropriate way of handling a 26 difficult situation and 3. failure experiences, which result from 'learning-by-mistakes,‘ lessen an administrator's self esteem and confidence.(Byham & Robinson,l976) Interaction modeling, a concept for training administrators that was very much in vogue in the 1970's and rests on a well established empirical base, has proven to measurably improve the supervisory skills of administrators. (Byham and Robinson, 1976) However, overseas school administrators are unable to avail themselves of the benefits of interaction modeling, or other forms of 'behavior modeling,‘ without having to return home from abroad. Also, this would have to be undertaken at their own expense. A further problem related to the careers of overseas school administrators is that if and when there is contraction in international educational institutions due to world recession and the recession of international trade, there is little possibility for 'downward transfers' or 'cross-functional moves,‘ as there would be in an organization back home. Some companies in Britain and the U.S.A. require each administrator to pick and develop a successor before the administrator will be considered for promotion. Opportunities for promotion from within are not the norm 27 in overseas schools and so this perpetuates the transitory nature of overseas school administrators and reduces the Opportunities of protege promotions. Linked with the phenomenon of the 'micro-environmental bubble' (Cohen, 1977) is the administrator's feeling of being isolated and consequently unaware of career opportunities. This makes career planning both more difficult and more necessary for the overseas school administrator than for the home-based educational administrator. Expatriate communities have been characterized and their life-style described by Wolfe (1969), Cohen (1977) and Brislin (1980). The term 'environmental bubble' was applied by Cohen (1977) to his description of the protected environment identified in his study of expatriates. Cohen described the ways in which expatriates coped with the 'strangeness' of the host environment, the extent to which the expatriate sojourners withdrew into the familiarity or shelter of a social group of fellow nationals or the degree to which one exposed oneself to the unfamiliarity of the foreign environment. Groups of expatriate sojourners develop and live in a 'micrO-environmental bubble,’ which, to some degree, replicates their own national cultures, values and norms but exists and sustains itself in partial 28 isolation from the culture of the host nation. The overseas school is part of the maintenance structure of this 'bubble' and overseas schools act as centers Of congregation, social interaction and group identity, besides functioning as educational institutions. Another problem that is also experienced by administrators back home but is amplified overseas because of the micro-environmental bubble, is the problem of developing dual careers. In the capitals and major cities of the world, where international overseas schools are most commonly located, there is very often only one English medium school. When this problem Of quantity is multiplied by the constraints against nepotism it becomes obvious that it is with considerable difficulty that a married couple will both be able to effectively pursue their careers in educational administration overseas. 29 Importance of the Topic Views on work and careers span the dimensions of man's imagination and can be as diametrically opposed as Huxley's, who once wrote, "Like every man Of sense and good feeling, I abominate work' and George Sand's view that, “Work is not man's punishment, it is his reward, and strength, his glory and his pleasure.‘ For many, movement up the need hierarchy and maturation is not easy and particular crises are unique to each person. But as far back as 1959, Erickson was describing the fundamental developmental phases, problems and resolution that tend to be fairly consistent for all of us. Levinson's research in 1978, which suggested six career phases, was an adaptation Of Erickson's model of life stages to a person's career. Most people do not have careers, neither do they expect to; they simply expect to have jobs. (McCall and Lawler, 1976.) The difference is a matter of time perspective and planned direction. There is considerable research literature on career planning, career stages, career assessment centers and career management in general. However, this research and theory development has evolved from studies of 'home-based' career paths and the needs of 'home-based' I. nfl,‘ h ‘\ \. 30 organizations with respect to human resource development. There is a need to evaluate and understand how these theories of career pathing and human resource development apply to administrators of overseas schools. The importance of this need is high-lighted by the fact that in the early 1980's nearly two million U.S. citizens were living outside of the United States. (1980 ~U.S. Census of Population). The data also indicate that 20% of these private sector employees and 10% of the federal employees had worked overseas for more than ten years; over 50% of both of these groups had sojourned abroad between two and ten years. (A/OS) These sojourners want their children with them (at least during the years of their children's elementary schooling) and Luebke reported in 1976 that over fifteen thousand U.S. dependents at foreign posts (not including DoDDS children) were being educated overseas in a total of over six hundred individual schools. The Office of Overseas Schools reports that in the 1982-83 school year, including DoDDS children, there were nearly one quarter of one million school-age U.S. children overseas. The very reasons why most of the overseas schools do not undertake human resource planning and administrator development programs (i.e., because of reasons of their small size, isolation, lack of cost effectiveness, the 31 transitory nature of their administrative staff) are, in fact, the very reasons why it is important and necessary for overseas school administrators to avail themselves of the benefits of career development and career pathing. There is an urgent need among present and prospective overseas school administrators for professional guidance and information regarding how best to prepare themselves so as to attain their career goals, and there is a need for an understanding of the available networks that can be used to effectively fulfill their career potentials. Also, when one considers that in the 1982-83 school year the 163 A808 alone had an enrollment of 88,305, employed 8,007 teachers and administrators, and had a combined annual operating budget totalling over $235,000,000 then one has a better appreciation of their need for administrative development and career pathing. One final concomitant to be thought carefully about is that many of the children being educated overseas are the dependents of their respective country's tOp business people and elite diplomatic corps. It is probable that these students will be among their country's future leaders. Both the overseas sojourners and their dependents tend to have high educational expectations and the overseas schools can provide quality, effective educational environments only if the administration is 32 the best available. It is incumbent on the overseas schools to develop their administrative human resources, just as it behooves the overseas school administrators to- avail themselves of the benefits of career planning. 33 Research Approach This researcher chose to use field research methods to collect his data by combining living in the environment of the overseas schools, in-depth open-ended question interviews, and a questionnaire form. A research method, like a research project, has to be justified conceptually. If one wishes to explain some behaviors in terms of background variables of the individuals performing the behavior, then one has to understand and explain the relationship between the background variables and the behavior under study. The researcher believes that to understand and explain the background variables as related to the careers of overseas school administrators one has to experience the total environment in which these careers take place. One cannot do this by reading books alone. One has to travel overseas to the schools themselves and live in the communities that these overseas schools serve. To get an accurate feeling for what the administrators are referring to in their responses to the interview questions, and to get an understanding of the concept of the environmental bubble one has to experience that environment. To sensitively comprehend the effects of the tropical climate you have to experience walking Off of a trans-pacific flight from the temperate high 70's into 34 the humid, tropical heat of the high 90's. One has to experience the feeling of being soaked in sweat by the time he or she reaches the airport lounge. TO realize the concerns of administrators about the welfare of their direct families and students with regards to international terrorism, one has to fly into airports surrounded by tanks and 'battle-alert' troops pointing loaded sub-machine guns; one has to fly the same flight-path (albeit twelve hours after) of a civilian jet-liner carrying 368 passengers that has been reported missing. And one has to land, only to find that the 'missing' civilian jet has been blown out of the sky by an air-to-air missile. One gets an insight into the environmental bubble phenomenon when one later visits the local international school to find empty places at desks once occupied by students murdered in the most recent terrorist attack. This researcher experienced these and many more incidents in just the eighteen weeks of his research trip which enabled him to interview forty-four administrators from thirty-five overseas schools in East and South East Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Middle East, and Europe. Imagine the incidents experienced in a full career overseas spanning some thirty or more years. The (I. o C) 35 arriving only days after the worst typhoon in Hong Kong's memory; the aftermath of the bloody riots amongst the Tamils and the Celonese in Sri Lanka; the sickness caused among faculty in one overseas school by Denghi Fever; and the concern about the general state of health in an expatriate community in the Middle East after a faculty member at the local international school was recovering at home (not in an isolation ward in a hospital) with hepatitis. The concern was increased because of the close-knit structure of the community and because the faculty member's family were mixing freely within the school and with the rest of the expatriate community. The richness of these types of colorful experiences that do affect the careers of overseas school administrators was brought out in a meaningful fashion 'by field research- techniques but this may not have been the case by sitting at home waiting hopefully for the normal return of mailed questionnaires. The researcher did not randomly select the fifty-six administrators Of overseas schools on whose careers this study fOcussed. Forty-four administrators were virtually self-selecting in that they were on the faculties of the thirty-five overseas schools that agreed to help the researcher with this project. The other twelve were self-selecting in that they agreed to complete the questionnaire offered to them by the researcher at the 36 ECIS Conference in Rome. Although a considerable number of other overseas schools' administrators also kindly offered the researcher assistance in the form of accommodation, meals, and the opportunity to interview members of their school's administration, these schools could not be visited primarily due to their location off any feasible air-line flight schedule. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and in-depth open-ended question interviews with administrators on the administrative team at each of twelve sites where the researcher spent from eight to fifteen days. From each of these sites the researcher travelled out to other neighboring overseas schools that were within a one day return journey travelling by a combination of boat, train, taxi, bus, subway, or by foot. The interest that' the researcher has in this topic originates, in part, from having changed direction in his own career. After teaching and holding administrative positions in schools around Liverpool, England for nine years, he entered into the field of overseas schools. He has spent the past six years studying and gaining experience in the role of the overseas school administrator; four of these years were spent as administrator-teacher at an international school in one 37 of the Communist Eastern Block Countries. Although his experiences with expatriate business and diplomatic communities and overseas school communities during his four years sojourn behind the 'Iron Curtain' give the researcher a degree of expertise in explaining and understanding the data collected in this research project, he has paid special attention so as not to become, himself, part of the data. Only by remaining 'outside' of the data could the researcher hope to keep his work objective and not to fall foul Of the criticism that might suggest his personal experiences and career were affecting his research findings. This researcher accepts the possibility Of such a weakness in methodology but by being conscious and aware of this, feels that his past experiences in the field do in actual fact add an increased dimension to this research. The research itinerary was so designed and time-tabled to coincide with the ECIS 1983 Conference in Rome. As a member of this council, the researcher availed himself of the opportunity to interview several extra overseas school administrators whose schools were not on the scheduled itinerary. Further data have been extrapolated from information collected from agencies such as ISS, NE/SA, EARCOS, ECIS, A/OS, and from pilot interviews with overseas school administrators attending M.S.U. in the 1983 summer term. 38 Limitations This research, the findings, and conclusions from the analysis of data, are limited to the'careers of the fifty-six overseas school administrators studied in the project. Because the sample population was not randomly selected the findings will not be used to infer generalizations to a broader population. It is left for the reader to decide whether these research conclusions are consistent with what one might expect of the career paths of other overseas school administrators outside of the research population. Only the careers of administrators in overseas schools that use English as the medium of instruction are brought into focus in this research. This limitation was placed on the project because the many other overseas schools that use different languages tend also not to be as uniform in type as those using English as the medium of instruction. The English language overseas schools are not exactly homogenous although they can be categorized into those that follow an American-type curriculum and those that have a British orientation. An integral part of educational institutions is the language used for the medium of instruction and this has a direct effect on the cultural orientation of the institution. This in turn is a contributing factor with regard to the career of those 39 whose occupation is associated with that institution. Consequently this research is limited to only overseas school administrators employed at schools using English as the medium of instruction. A further limitation Of the study is that the researcher chose not to include administrators of DoDDS schools. The rationale behind this choice is that the DODDS school system, which is perhaps, geographically, the largest unit school district in the world, has its own networks and career structuring for administrators. All faculty and administrators of DoDDS schools have to be American citizens and this particular limitation did not satisfy the broader field of administrators in which this researcher is interested. For similar reasons the researcher chose to focus on a population that does not include administrators of overseas mission schools; criteria for suitability as an administrator for this type of overseas school usually includes membership of a particular 'order' or 'calling' and these overseas school also have their own networks with regard to the career pathing of their school administrators. These again are limitations which do not fit in with the researcher's broader population. A very real limitation of all researches of this nature is the honesty and openness with which the 40 subjects respond to the questionnaire and respond during the interview. The researcher feels confident that this is not an issue 'of concern here because of the non-threatening nature of the study and the researcher's assurance of the subjects' anonymity. Also, the subjects were volunteers who had met with the reseacher and some provided the researcher with accommodation and food for the time that he was at their school; which all made for a relaxed and open atmosphere for the interview. This researcher has made every effort to protect the anonymity of the fifty-six administrators referred to in this study and is confident that no individual can be identified from any of the vignettes or responses recorded in this dissertation. In all the vignettes and responses recorded in this study, pseudonyms have been used and the names of false cities have been deliberately introduced. Time is always a limitation with research work, especially with field research. Here again the researcher does not feel that his project suffered unduly. Very little more could have been gained by spending longer than' seven to eight days at each site. This period of time allowed for the subject to review the questionnaire early in the week in preparation for the interview by mid-week. Then a final period of a few days at the end of 41 each week allowed the researcher to have clarified any discrepancies arising from the questionnaire or from the transcription of the interview. The geographical area delimited for the study (an ellipse encompassing Western Europe in the north west, to East and South East Asia in the south east) is a limiting factor. With unlimited funds and an unlimited amount of time a similar study could be done including the whole world, but that would have been quite unreallistic. The researcher believes that the study sample is robust and the eighteen weeks 'on-the-road' collecting data on a trans-globe itinerary took an inordinate degree of stamina and stoicism. It would be difficult to determine the eventual adverse effects to the researcher's health from an even longer journey. This type of field research can only draw together common elements and patterns of the career paths and career goals of overseas school administrators, but does not lead to generalizable or statistically significant conclusions or laws. Yet it is assumed that the validity of such research findings is found in their plausibility, and their reliability is based on their independence of the researcher. 42 Assumptions There is a group of overseas schools throughout the world that Serves the expatriate communities of diplomats, representatives of government agencies, and private businessmen. One category of overseas school is comprised of those overseas schools that use English as the medium of instruction. There is a career in the administration of these overseas schools. The advancement Of these careers is some way related to the academic qualifications Of the individual administrators. There are some commonalities, some common elements and common patterns of the career-paths and career goals of these overseas school administrators. The respondents' answers were honest and open. The conclusions from the analysis of data of this research can in some ways be thought as typical of other overseas schools administrators' careers. There are common areas in which these administrators feel they should have had more formal preparation. There is a network of formal and informal contacts 43 that helps promote the careers Of overseas school administrators. There is a relationship between the size of an overseas school's budget, the location of the school, and the administrators' salary. There are common problems from location to location Of living overseas. There are common problems from location to location of working overseas. There is some relationship between family needs and overseas school administrators' career-paths. 44 Contribution Made by the Research Although there are a number of bureaus such as ECIS, A/OS, NE/SA, EARCOS, and several other placement agencies such as 158, 088, WES, and Gabitas Thring, there is a dearth of factual information based on research to help guide overseas school administrators with respect to planning their careers. This study is a contribution to the field 'of career guidance for overseas school administrators. That there is a paucity of avenues for career guidance for overseas school administrators is high-lighted by the fact that not one of the forty-four interviewees could respond in the affirmative to the question of 'Is there anywhere that you can get career counseling other than from your fellow overseas school administrators?" An indication Of the subjects' interest in these research findings of this project was given by the fact that, without fail, each of the respondents asked, without solicitation, for a copy of the abstract when it is available. There has been comparatively little research done on the various aspects of the phenomena, overseas schools, and even less is to be found on the careers of overseas school faculty or administrators. This study contributes {—1 at) U 'D L) 45 to that body of knowledge and will be a help to those who contemplate a career in this field of educational administration. A corollary of the latter is that this study will also contribute to the helpful information for overseas school boards with respect to their continual efforts to find career administrators for their overseas schools. Likewise this research contributes to the body of knowledge available to overseas schools placement agencies. References l U.S. Department of State, A/OS Fact Sheet '83, (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1983), Hong Kong International School. 2 International Schools Services, 188 Directory Of Overseas Schools 1982/1983, (Princeton, N.J.:ISS, 1982), PP. 77-78. 3 U.S. Department of State, A/OS Fact Sheet '83, (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1983), Overseas Children's School, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 4 Ibid., International School In Japan. 5 Ibid., General Information. 46 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE Whether one agrees with Hobbes or Locke, Taylor or Mayo, or whichever paradigm of McGregor's Theory X - Theory Y, one must sense that work holds an important place in human behavior. Hearnshaw (1954) pointed out that 'a theory of work is basic to any industrial psychology." (1) However, the question of "why do people work?‘ is not being discussed here. But when one reduces the lists of human motives, of reasons for working, of why people like or dislike jobs, to a few basic reasons or needs which are satisfied by work, they include three major categories:- human relations; work and livelihood. (Renwick and Lawler, 1978) It is axiomatic that the basic reason one goes to work is to earn a livelihood, but in addition to that fundamental economic need, one hopes to achieve a goal or work for a specific purpose. Sometimes the goal or objective in life changes as conditions affecting one's life change, but although specific goals or purposes may vary, the desire for successful 47 48 achievement remains. Furthermore, since the early part of the twentieth century psychologists and economists have been asking such questions as :- "why do peOple aspire to a particular occupation rather than develop some other vocational ambition?" or, 'why do they decide on the professions which they do choose?" Consequently the varieties of work and the ways one chooses work in western culture have attracted the interest of many behavioral scientists. In this review of literature the researcher was not attempting to address philosophical questions with regard to why one works; but what was Of more importance to this study was how the interest mentioned earlier had the effect of producing a considerable quantity of research literature on career planning, career stages, career centers and the concepts of career management in general. It can be said that one of the goals of _science is the understanding, prediction and the control of natural happenings, and that a perception of comprehension is provided only when the causal mechanisms that bond changes in one or more concepts (the independent variables) with changes in other concepts (the dependent variables) have been fully delineated. (Reynolds,l979) Theoretical progress in the naturaI sciences has led to a 49 better control Of man's environment; it is this control of one's environment that distinguishes the homo sapien from the other forms of animal life. The evolution of psychology as a science has been similar to that of other sciences in that applications result from each empirical or theoretical gain. (Sarton,l952) Many Of the universally accepted principles concerning human behavior have been applied to human effort; a widely recognizable example would be that information from Skinner's operant conditioning studies of pigeons has led to the development Of programmed instruction and programmed teaching apparatus. (Argyris,l97l) The study of working conditions, including such classics as Mayo's “Hawthorne Studies," has led to the specialty of industrial psychology which is built on principles of learning and personality theory; theories that are grounded in empirical Observation and experimentation. Career counseling rests on a similar body of theory and data. In the social and behavioral sciences, theory has its grounding in the well established physical sciences. The structures of these latter theories have guided the pattern that psychological theories have taken, and some common elements basic to theory construction stand out:- 50 (l) theories serve as generalized statements designed to facilitate broad conceptualization about natural events; (2) theories relate what would otherwise be a number of disparate empirical observations; (3) theories lead to deduced theorems which in turn are often translated into further research; (4) theories produce new understandings and scientific knowledge about the nature of things; (5) theories demonstrate abstractness - an independence of time and space and (6) theories show empirical relevance - they can be compared to empirical findings. (Reynolds,l979) It is commonly agreed by some guidance counselors that theory is useful when a counselor is expected to do no more than resolve abstract hypothetical problems, but when faced with 'real-live' clients in need of help in decision making, then theory should go out the window and the counselor should take on an eclectic position even if it means working intuitively. This stance is countered by the theoretically minded counselors who would say that to work blindly is to invite error and waste. A reasonable response to both extreme. points of view is made by Rodgers (1964) who suggests that '.... depending upon the goal one has and the assumptions one makes about the problems with which counselors deal, either kind of training might appear to be good or bad." (2) 51 When one tries to categorize the theories Of career counseling (one risks the problem of over simplification and a variety Of labels could be used to identify existing models and these models can be categorized in different ways. This researcher has chosen to identify four approaches to thinking about career counseling:- (1) Trait-Factor Theories (2) Sociological Theories (3) Self-concept Theories (4) Personality-in-career Theories However, one should not conclude that the models in these categories are independent of each other; they are interwoven and often they draw on each other in terms of practice and empirical research. For instance personality theory of career choice includes many developmental factors and in the developmental approach part of the image of self-concept is based on tests which reflect the trait-factor approach. Trait-Factor Theories Career guidance has come about as a result of experimentation plus various social and environmental conditions. Historically speaking, the structural theories of career counseling, of which Trait-Factor 52 Theory is one category, are the oldest. Considerable experimentation was carried out by ,industrial psychologists and social reformers who reacted to the social and environmental conditions of their times. Borrow (1964) suggests career guidance evolved under the influence of the following conditions :- (1) economics - the industrial revolution and the division of labor; (2) social - urbanization, child labor, immigration; (3) ideological - spirit of reform and (4) scientific - emergence of the human sciences. The 'grandfathers' of career guidance in the U.S. are Parsons (1909), Kitson (1925), and Hull (1928). It is Parsons who is credited with initiating the practice of systematic guidance in the United States. According to Parsons :- In a wise choice there are three broad factors :- (l) a clear understanding of yourself, your attitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations, and their causes; (2) a knowledge of the requirements and conditions of success, advantages and the disadvantages, compensation and prospects in different lines of work and (3) true reasoning of the relations of the two groups of facts. (Parsons,l909 p.5.) Another assertion of Parsons is that there are three 53 basic components to vocational counseling :- testing; information giving and decision making through reasoning. Patterson (1973) was concerned that career counselors had become overwhelmed with dissemination of occupational ,information and had neglected the individual. Patterson and Parsons approached the issue of career guidance from the educators's point of view, but other industrial psychologists like Hugo Munsterberg were identifying workers' abilities for various jobs through testing. In similar veins Elton Mayo experimented in the area of workers' behavior and Frederick Taylor investigated the nature of production, standardized work units by means of objective observation and studies of time and motion. (Williamson, 1964) The trait-factor approach aSsumes that a matching of individuals' abilities and interests with career opportunities can be accomplished; once these are matched, the problem of vocational choice is solved. This method of career counseling is also known as 'The Minnesota Point of View' after the pioneering work done by Edmund Williamson. (Williamson, 1968) Of this technique it is said, 'The combination of the vocational-occupational background and the educational setting distinguishes this approach from all the other points of view in counseling.‘ (Patterson,l973, p.8) (4) 54 The vocational testing movement has grown from the trait-factor approach. There are three categories of tests :- (l) Aptitude Tests These have been defined as tests of 'readiness for learning' which are, "designed to appraise what the individual can learn to do if he receives appropriate education or job training." (Thorndike & Hagen, 1969, p.644) Two examples are :- (i) Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) New YorkzPsychOlogical Corporation (1973). (ii) General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) U.S. Employment Service, U.S. Dept. of Labor (1963). (2) Interest Inventories These are surveys of tendencies to prefer a particular type of activity. Three examples are :- (i) Kuder General Interest Survey Chicago:Science Research Associates (1970). (ii) Minnesota Vocational Interest Survey New York:Psychological Corporation (1965). 55 (iii) Strong Campbell Interest Inventory Stanford California:Stanford University Press (1974). (3) Performance Tests These are most Often intelligence tests. Three examples are :- (i) Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test New York:Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich (1967). (ii) Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale Boston:Houghton-Mifflin Company (1973). (iii) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (W.I.S.C.-R.) New YorkzPsychological Corp. (1973). The approach of .trait-factor counselors can be summarized by saying that they attempt to help their clients assess their strengths and weaknesses, interests and values in relation to to the characteristics and skills required for employment in various occupations. This assistance is Offered during interviews or after the results of a batch of tests are known. 56 Sociological Theories Other names for the sociological model of career development have been the 'reality' or 'accident' theory of vocational choice. In this model attention is given to the influence of social class membership on occupational entry and career behavior. Through research it has been demonstrated that social class membership and gender are important situational determinants and affect attitudes towards education and work, the amount and kind of education and training required and the economic resources one has to implement career plans. Theorists using this approach have been Caplow (1954), Miller and Form (1951), Harmony (1964), McClelland (1970), Hanson and Fiedler (1973) and Miner (1981). The central idea behind this approach is that circumstances in one's environment, beyond the control of the individual, contribute significantly to the career choices that one makes, and that the principal task confronting the individual is the development of techniques to cope effectively with one's environment. Proponents of this model suggest that the degree of freedom of occupational choice one has is far less than might be at first assumed and one's self-expectations are not independent Of society's expectations. In its turn, 57 society presents occupational opportunities in a manner O related to class membership. An integral phenomenon that is related to sociologists' belief that circumstances impose choices on individuals, is that chance plays a major role in occupational decisions. This suggests that 'being in the right place at the right time' may be more important with respect to vocational decisiOns than systematic planning and vocational counseling. Psychologists such as Patterson (1973) do not deny that chance has a part to play in careers but they do not place nearly so much emphasis on chance as do the sociologists such as Blau and Duncan (1967). Membership in a social class both influences and is influenced by occupational membership. The Study of Elmstown's Youth by Hollingshead (1949) is a classic investigation of the role class plays in human development in general. Several other sociological studies such as Lortie's 'Schoolteacher' (1977) and Whyte's "Street Corner Society“ (1981) have pointed out similar observations. Hollingshead reported that seventy-seven per cent of Class II youths aspired to professional careers, whereas only seven per cent of Class V youths had similar high aims. Havighurst (1964) showed how the values in the home, 58 the adult models available and identified with, the differential rewards of work versus play, for enterprise versus academic achievement, all contribute to the production of a given individual and his career pattern. Huxley's “Brave New World" (1946) portrays a fictitious world where each individual is trained for his place in society. At the other extreme, Young's 'Rise of the Meritocracy' (1961) is a satirical characterization of life in a culture where people 'rise to the tOp' exclusively on the basis .Of their talents, without advantages due to family connections, money or irrelevant personal characteristics. One could say that western society lies somewhere between these two extremes. A comprehensive analysis, by Blau and Duncan (1967), of many sociological factors that are influential in determining occupational entry and careers in the U.S. raised the fundamental question of, "what determines a man's occupation?" Their answer was simply," his social beginnings because the lower one is at the beginning, the more likely he is to move up the socio—occupational scale.“ They did however, also draw further, more complex conclusions that in many ways agree with Lipsett (1962) and Sewell & Shah (1968) in that variables such as sex, race, marital status, father's occupation, family income, family status, family place of residence, all interact with significant variables and have an effect not only on 59 Opportunities, but also training and preparation. Besides the afore mentioned researchers others [such as Seigel (1978) have demonstrated that social class membership and sex are important determinants that affect attitudes towards education and work. More recently writers have become interested in the effects of one's ecology on one's career development. It is suggested by sociologists such as Katz (1980) that economic, geographic and climatic factors are important contributors to the situational context within which career decisions are made. Related to this area, and the more specific topic of cross-cultural studies of occupation, are the works of Margaret Mead (1953), Ruth Benedict (1946) and Anne Roe (1964). In a recent study by Fottler and Bain (1980) related to early environmental experiences they concluded that almost no students with low high-school aspirations eventually pursue high-level careers. Initial high expectations seem necessary, if not sufficient, cOnditions for following ambitious and coherent careers. Complementary to this is work carried out by Seigel (1978) who gave the example that future physicians tend to conceive of their career early; during their early teens, selecting high-school courses and college programs with at least some consideration to their relationship to 60 a medical career ten to fifteen years 'down the road.‘ In contrast, most manual laborers never plan for such positions, but just take whatever is available. Both McClelland's (1970) study of motivation, which focuses upon three needs : achievement, affiliation and power and also the work of Hanson and Fiedler (1973) dealing with how the relationship between work and the satisfaction of needs varies with the people involved, are corollaries to the sociological approach. Following these fields of study, Miner (1981) recently reviewed the research on the aspirations of young people over the past twenty years and reported that the drive to lead, exercise power and serve as executives has markedly declined since the nineteen sixties. (I) (I) U) (T m (I) '(1 (D 61 Self-Concept or Developmental Theories Although this approach is mostly known as the Self-Concept Model, it is the intertwining of developmental theory along with self-concept theory into one approach. The name associated with this model is Super (1957) but this model dates back to earlier works by Buehler (1933) and Samler (1953) on one approach, and client-centered counselors of the Carl Rogers' School on the other. Self-concept is a composite of numerous self-percepts and is a hypothetical construct encompassing all the values, attitudes and beliefs towards one's self in relation to one's environment. The self-concept influences and to a great degree determines perception and behavior. The self is what the person is. One's conception of self is of fundamental importance in determining perception of one's world and behavior in that world. It is necessary for the career counselor to help develop a positive self-concept in his client. At the center of the self-concept approach are the postulates that :- (1) one develops more clearly defined self-concepts as one grows older; although these vary to conform with the changes in one's view of reality; 62 (2) one develops images of the occupational world which one compares with one's self-image in trying to make career decisions and (3) the adequacy of one's eventual career decision is based on the similarity between one's self-concept and one's vocational concept of the career one eventually chooses. Super puts forward the proposal that a person strives to implement his self-concept by choosing to enter the occupation he sees as most likely to permit him self-expression. He also suggests that the particular behaviors a person engages in to implement his self-concept vocationally are a function of the individual's stage of life development. As one matures, his or her self-concept becomes stable. The manner in which it is implemented vocationally, however, is dependent upon external conditions. Therefore, attempts to make vocational decisions during adolescence take on different forms than those made during late middle age. Super believes that diverse vocational behaviors are best understood by viewing them within the context that changing demands of the life-cycle have an effect on the shape of attempts to implement a self-concept.‘ More recent researches have been carried out on this approach by :- Crites (1978), Miller and Krumboltz 63 (1978), and Wexler and Rice (1974). Vocational Choice and Personality Theories The general hypothesis that joins these theories in this last category is that people select their jobs because they envisage potential for satisfaction of their needs (McCall & Lawler, 1976) and (Mitchell,1978). A natural consequence of the above general hypothesis could be that exposure to a job slowly modifies one's personality characteristics so that, for example, lawyers gradually become like one another; if indeed they were not similar in personality to begin with. In the personality-in-career theories the ideas range from elaborate lists of needs inherent in the process of vocational choice (Happock,l957) also (Super,l974), and the detailed personality types for career areas as described by Holland (1967), to the assorted empirical researches of Small (1953), Schaffer (1953) and Roe (1957). Roe's theory typifies the personality-in-career approach. In her theory she purports that everyone inherits a tendency to expend his or her energies in some particular way. This innate predisposition towards a manner of expending 'psychic energy, combined with childhood experiences, molds the general style one 64 develops to satisfy one's needs throughout one's life. This resulting style has specific and major implications for one's career. The relationship between the genetic factors and early childhood experiences on the one hand, and vocational behavior on the other is made explicit in Roe's theory. Gardner Murphy's concept of canalization of psychic energy, and Maslow's 'Needs Theory," plus the idea of genetic influences on vocational decisions are explicitly interwoven in the personality-in-career theories. According to the needs reduction approach to career development, a hungry man will take any job that he can get so as to obtain money enough for food. Once the need for food has been reduced he will look for another job which Offers the potential of satisfying other physical and psychological needs. (Hoppock,1957) This approach has led industrial psychologists and vocational psychologists to show an interest in assessing job satisfaction in relation to a number of variables. Controversial among these theories is Herzberg's “Two-Factor Theory" (1966) in which he postulates that two sources of job satisfaction exist, corresponding to intrinsic and extrinsic events. Herzberg suggests that certain 'hygiene' satisfier dimensions exist whose presence is essential to, but not sufficient for, job satisfaction. 65 Recent Trends During recent years career counselors have turned their attentions not only to the aspects of career counseling for adolescents but also to long-term career planning for administrators and to organizational career development. In their article, "Career Development: An Integration of Individual and Organizational Needs," Alpin and Gerster (1978) suggest that the design and successful implementatiOn Of a career development program require a considerable investment of time and money, but the 'pay-Off' can be high for both the organization and for the employees. Hoy, Buchanan and Vaught (1981) recommend a procedure for getting more from management development programs. Their procedure involves participants auditing their own performance both before and after the program. According to Tuskie (1982) the ultimate reason for offering management development within organizations is to improve managers' attitudes, _knowledge and skills to ensure the organization's survival, growth, planned financial results and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Gould's Career Planning Model (1979), as shown in Figure One, is one of many similar models that have been developed during the seventies and early eighties. It has 66 cyclic simplicity and also a background of research to support it. In this study Gould investigated the characteristics of employees of a large public organization who reported that they had developed a plan for their career and a strategy for achieving the plan. Analysis revealed that individuals with the most effective careers reported more extensive career planning. Individuals higher in career effectiveness dimensions such as salary, career involvement, identity resolution and adaptability also reported more career planning. It was shown that individuals with higher education had a greater number of career opportunities and hence a greater need for career planning. Other groups who were identified as of in greater need for career planning were individuals with two to ten years in an organization (the advancement stage) or in the age bracket of thirty to forty years (the stabilization stage). In the study it was also identified that some executives allow the work environment to determine the course of their careers, and others just do not seem to perceive the need for career planning. To some degree Gould's model is supported by Hall (1979) who pointed out that career oriented people have longer time perspectives and a sense of direction with respect to career planning. In his article 'The Career Planning Process," Leach (1981) identifies four underlying factors essential to 67 Amsma .easouv ammo: quzzaqm mmmmao -.mco shaman Aprsm>Ho>cH sconce .Eoopmouwaomv mBBOmw A MBHBZMQHmDm mmmm 4 Amcflppom Hmowv wszzqo>zH 9 6 mmmoosm mquchq 90% mo swapm comm madman mmzmmH Hawommm Mo mmamemxm ("amaze msswflm PCOECOMHK/CG HMH 00m m.mco hmfloflaom cam mpm>fipazo 09 Amy m SPHHHQHLOCH3> m.m:o muHEHcHE oe on onesmmmsm 09 any mmflpfl>fipom xmmp m.mCo mNflcflpzop OB Adv mmCHUCSOLASm HMCOHpmuflcmmpo m.mco mucosamcH 09 Amy CowpspwupCOO ocm CoHmeHOApsmm m.m:o mo mmoom was mmnaacm 09 “as e . ezmsm>meo< maawxm Hmflommm m.o£o m>opQEH Os on . ocm HMHpCOPOQ HHCOHHQEOLQ . mUZMDAmzH ocm hpwHflnfimH> m.oco mocHSCO 09 ADV . xuoz meachHHmco omcwflmma on 09 Adv Menace mewpsnwanOO pCMPSOQEM cm mm hammwco o>osm as Amy mCOApMpommxo mpmcfiosonzm can soon .zsomfi>smmsm csmoa oe Acv mumspo hp ompmmoom meooon oneoDmsmzoo a maaemcoapaaoc Haaoom eafisn oe on.¢|||u»eHamnmn omnsmzms cosmooom zmeCoofi s meson Hmc0flpm3pflm Losmfiooo oe Anv szquofl HMCOHpMSpHm m.m:o oafizn oe Adv VZOHBozzH ZOHBmmmDm IIIIIIJ. awrmmmwmm mm>ozm=e wemeza ammmam qeoneaNHzaomo zo zoompm semooma IT.oszzomm2H oszzaqa mammao mzmo moneomaszbl|lloz<1|| mzmemwm mo .Alllmmwoamsmlll mezmssHssoo mammao mm: m>Heommmm mmos oHemHaamm mmoz nmzmmeozmmem 74 retention and (3) improved utilization of talent. The potentially negative side of management development programs is also indicated in Walker's model. By raising employee expectations beyond a realistic level there can be developed (1) a burden on supervisors, (2) a strain on the system and (3) increased personal anxiety. These states are likely to bring about disappointment and reduced commitment, which in turn produces (l) organizational disruption, (2) diminished performances and (3) increased turnover. A spin-Off of the concept of chance and being in the right place at the right time, in conjunction with the time-honored aphorism of 'the old-boy network,‘ is the modern trend of 'mentoring.‘ Formalized mentoring programs, as part Of career development, have become popular in the past five or six years (Phillips-Jones, 1983) and the federal government has been leading the way by experimenting with mentoring programs for at least ten years. Instead of waiting for prospective mentors and mentees to find one another on their own, formal mentoring programs provide a vehicle for managers to link up with appropriate partners. In the private sector, structured mentoring programs have been established in such corporations as Jewel Companies, ATaT, Glendale Federal Savings and Loan, 75 Hughes Aircraft and Merrill Lynch. (Phillips-Jones, 1983) The evidence put forward by Linda Phillips-Jones suggests that in the private and the public sectors formalized mentoring can work provided certain elements are in place. Her review of several mentoring programs revealed ten features critical for sucess :- (1) ensure that top management supports the mentoring program; (2) make the mentoring program part of a larger career development or management training effort; (3) insist that participation in the mentoring program be voluntary; ( ) keep each phase Of the program short; (5) select mentors and mentees carefully; (6) provide an orientation for mentors and mentees; (7) allow mentors 'structured flexibility;' (8) be prepared for potential challenges; (9) build in a monitoring system and 10) start small and ensure that the initial effort is successful. (5) This researcher has focussed on a review Of literature from the field of career counseling which will be utilized in the analysis of the data collected by the use of the methodology described in the following chapter. After collating the data in chapter four and analysing those data in chapter five, this researcher had concluded that the set of theories that were most applicable to this study and most helpful in leading to 76 proceed through their careers was the Sociological Theories Of career development. This was because the researcher concluded that informal mentoring, chance, gender, being in the right place at the right time and networking proved to be important factors in the development of the careers of the fifty-six overseas school administrators included in this study. These. factors correlate closely with the ' 'reality' or 'accident' theory Of vocational choice where attention is given to the influence of social membership on occupational entry and career behavior. A concept that is central to the sociological model is that circumstances in one's environment, beyond the control of the individual, contribute significantly to the career choices that one makes and that the principal task confronting the individual is the development of techniques to cope effectively with one's environment. The researcher will show that the common use of networking is a technique that many of the fifty-six overseas school administrators used to cope effectively with their environment with respect to their careers. An integral phenomenon that is related to sociologists' belief that circumstances impose choices on individuals, is that chance plays a major role in occupational decisions. This suggests that 'being in the 77 right place at the right time' may be more important with respect to vocational decisions than systematic planning and vocational counseling. It will be seen from the data. that chance was certainly an important factor in the career-trails of the fifty-six overseas school administrators included in this study. It is important to remember, however, that none Of the theories of career development reviewed in this chapter 'stand on their own' and it is this researcher's contention that the other theories, besides the Sociological Theories, are also useful in fully understanding the career development of the fifty-six overseas school administrators studied in this research. References l L.S. Hearnshaw, "Attitudes to work," Occupational Psychology, 28 (1954): pp. 129-139. 2 D.A. Rodgers, “In favor of separation of Academic and professional training," American Psychologist, 19 (1964): pp. 675-680. 3 F. Parsons, Choosing A Vocation (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909), p.5. 4 C.H. Patterson, Theories Of Counseling And Psychotherapy (New York: Harper Row, 1973), p.8. 5 L. Phillips-Jones, "Establishing a Formalized Mentoring Program,” Training and Development Journal, Feb. (1983). pp. 38-42. 78 CHAPTER THREE DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The collection of the research data for this study was accomplished by the use of field research techniques during a trans-globe journey which involved the visiting Of twenty-six overseas schools at thirteen sites in East and South East Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Asia, The Middle East and Europe. At the aforementioned twenty-six overseas schools the researcher interviewed (see Appendix E for interview questions) and administered questionnaires (see Appendix F for sample of blank questionnaire) to forty-four administrators; a further twelve overseas school administrators were surveyed at the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) November Conference in Rome. The actual research trip lasted eighteen weeks from late August 1983 until late December 1983, although the planning of the itinerary and schedule, plus the identification of specific sites to be visited were initiated in the preceding spring. 79 80 The maxim Of "ensuring that one puts the horse before the cart' is not difficult to understand, nor in most situations during one's life is it too complicated in its application. The problem which is usually of concern is, “which is the horse and which is the cart?" The problem that this researcher was faced with, was whether to select the specific overseas schools first and then work out a feasible itinerary, or visa versa? With the aid of an atlas plus A/OS Fact Sheets and also information from the handbooks of ISS and ECIS, the researcher selected a geographical area encompassing an ellipse from S.E.Asia to Europe that had a high density of overseas schools. Then in early spring of 1983 an introductory letter (see Appendix B) was sent to more than sixty overseas schools that were within the selected area and fitting the criteria of being :- (1) an English medium school; (2) an American, British or International school and (3) not a DoDDS or Missionary school. The response was overwhelming and inside Of eight weeks a large proportion of those overseas schools had answered the researcher's initial letter with a positive reply. It then took another six weeks of continuous cross referencing the various permutations of flight schedules from major airline companies to formulate a workable 81 itinerary that would enable the researcher to visit the maximum number of overseas schools practicable, within the geographical area concerned and within a feasible time-frame. By the end of July 1983 the administrators Of the thirteen chosen sites had been notified by' letter (see Appendix C) of their inclusion in the research project. A researcher does not have to use random sampling techniques when using field research methods. Glaser and Strauss (1967) gO as far as to say :- . . . any discussion about whether survey data are better than field data is usually meaningless. Often the researcher is forced to obtain only one kind and when theory is the Objective, both kinds are useful. Only under particular conditions of a group which allows both, does the question arise :- 'which method would give the best data on the information desired?‘ The answer is technical, not doctrinaire. (1) When choosing a statistical sample, adequacy is judged on the basis of techniques of random sampling in relation to the social structure of the group sampled. In field research, the adequate theoretical sample is appraised on the basis of how abundantly and heterogeneously the analyst chose the group for saturating categories according to the type of theory that is wished to be developed. The field researcher need not combine random sampling with theoretical sampling 82 when setting forth relationships among categories and properties. It is assumed that people are reasonable and therefore if the relationship among categories and properties holds for one group under certain conditions, then they will probably hold for other groups under similar conditions. Glaser and Strauss explained a further difference between theoretical and statistical sampling is that '. . . the sociologist must learn when to stop,“ (2) when using the latter sampling technique. The field researcher should stop when he becomes confident that considerable saturation of categories has occured in many groups, to the limits of his data. That is, as Glaser and Strauss so aptly put it, '. . . his theory is approaching stable integration and dense development of properties.“ (3) On the other hand, the researcher using statistical sampling must continue with data collection no matter how much saturation he perceives. When considering the planning and undertaking of an extensive trans-globe research trip one has to consider many variables and contingencies. Not least among these is a balance between one's welfare and one's finances. To this end the researcher planned the itinerary of the trip in such a way as to allow time for acclimatization at the beginning of the trip, in the tropics; a two-week respite half-way through the trip and a family vacation at the 83 end of the trip prior to returning to the United States in order to complete the analysis of data and write this dissertation. In this manner the researcher and wife suffered no ill effects from the arduousness or length of duration of the trip, nor from the continued changes of climate. Orientation at a number of the thirteen sites was facilitated by the researcher having accommodation arranged in advance with acquaintances. For example the researcher arrived at the first site one week before the overseas schools in that area commenced the new school year and received accommodation with a host-national family whose two daughters had been taught by the researcher during his sojourn in an Eastern European country. Those initial seven days with friends gave the researcher the opportunity to recover from the combined effects of 'jet-lag,‘ 'culture-shock,‘ and the extreme change in climate from the temperate 70's to the humid and tropical 90's. As a seasoned world traveller, the latter combined effects were minimal on the researcher, but even so, the researcher believes that the initial week's acclimatization had a long and very beneficial influence on the facility of the research trip. At the third site accommodation was received from another acquaintance who, along with her husband were expatriate sojourners in that country. This third site was very important logistically in that it acted as the 84 hub-center from which the researcher travelled out to, and returned from, four other sites over a period of six weeks. Using. the acquaintances' apartment as a 'safe-base' to leave clothes and extra blank questionnaires, the researcher was able to 'travel light' to ten other overseas schools at four other sites in the region of Malaysia and Indonesia. The 'safe-house' apartment was within easy reach of a major airport and it was extremely reassuring for the researcher to know that there was somewhere prearranged with facilities to catch up on the washing of linen and general. welfare maintenance. The fact that the researcher's acquaintance was an overseas school administrator who was well known in that region facilitated access to other neighboring overseas schools. The researcher achieved the aim to have all interviews transcribed before moving on to the next site but at this half-way stage in the research trip enthusiasm and perseverance were beginning to wane. Conveniently enough, although by design, the researcher and wife were at this point only a short flight from Borneo where their brother-in-law was an expatriate anesthesiologist on contract to the Sultan of Brunei. A two-week respite with the researcher's relatives enabled ”batteries to be charged" and proffered the prearranged opportunity to interview administrators of four nearby 85 overseas schools. Duly invigorated by the fourteen-day sojourn in Borneo the researcher proceeded via three more sites to Italy where by co-ordinated timing an additional twelve overseas school administrators were made accessible by their attendance at the ECIS November Rome Conference. The fact that there are more than fifteen overseas schools in Rome made that ancient capital an ideal eleventh site. Fortune was with the researcher up to the very end of the trip because even though the country of the twelfth site was undergoing a general strike, the data collection process was made possible and expedited by the timely arrival of the researcher's father-in-law (who is a host-national of that country), which made transportation readily available in the absence of public transport, taxis, telephone and postal services. It would have been impossible to collect data from the three dispersed overseas schools in the country of the twelfth site without the fortuitous coincidence of a large family gathering for a wedding anniversary which mandated the researcher's father-in-law's attendence. The timing for arrival at the thirteenth, and final ~site, was planned to coincide with the week before the school closed for the Christmas vacation and as this site was in the researcher's home country it meant Christmas 86 could be spent reunited with family before returning to the United States to complete this dissertation. The planning, co-ordinating and scheduling of this itinerary took several months to arrange but it was executed with the minimum of hitches and it enabled the researcher access to administrators from the very beginning of the East Asian overseas schools' fall term, right up to the last week of the European overseas schools' autumn term. To a limited extent, each week had its own routine to be accomplished. Travel was restricted, wherever schedules permitted, to flying in and out of each site at weekends so as to have Sundays for orientation and then Mondays through Fridays were left free for research data collection at the local overseas schools. This was supposed to have been a 'fool-proof' system that would allow a minimum of five work-days per week at each site and any spare days were to have been used for the transcribing of interviews. However, at the third, fourth and fifth sites, on consecutive weeks, the researcher arrived to find that the schools in those locations had a planned one day national holiday of some description which increased the pressure to collect the research data on the remaining four days. As the situation materialized, this did not create such a big problem as one might have expected because the researcher was housed with administrators at each site; therefore during 87 holidays and at weekends the researcher had the opportunity to discuss the research project with those administrators. Early each week it was necessary to telephone ahead to the next site to check that the administrators there were still prepared to participate in the study and to enquire about accommodation and arrangements for being met on arrival at the airport. This was necessary because in some cases the last communication between the researcher and the school had been over three months prior to the researcher's arrival. The routine also included a mid-week re-confirmation of the next flight on the schedule. The journey went according to plan bar one slight hitch when the researcher was stranded in the deserts of The Middle East, but after a couple of telephone calls to the researcher's travel agent in the United States and an overnight dash across the desert by taxi everything was back on schedule. It is heartily recommended that one have a good travel agent working on one's behalf. Due to the kindness and hospitality of the overseas schools administrators who took part in this study and the expatriate communities that they serve, the researcher had only to find accommodation at one site and had only to take taxis from three airports during the 88 whole trip. On one occasion an administrator drove out to the national airport at three o'clock in the morning to meet the researcher. After a two hour drive back to the city the administrator only had a couple of hours sleep before his school started at 7.15 that morning. Although it was a Saturday the overseas schools in that region were obliged by Islamic Law to have their 'weekends' on Thursdays and Fridays. Consequently Saturdays were the beginning Of the weeks. On the rare occasions that the researcher needed to take a taxi from the airport, only the minimum of US$ were exchanged at those airports' 'bureaux-de-change' as it has been the researcher's experience that as a 'captive audience' travellers are given a very poor rate of exchange at ports of entry. A much better rate of exchange is given downtown at the major city banks. On the first business day Of each week the important initial task was to become known and accepted by the host administrative team and the faculty. This was not difficult and it has been this researcher's observation that overseas school communities enjoy having visitors. Most of the schools had sent out 'flyers' to the faculty and parents the week prior, announcing the researchers' forthcoming visit, but even so the researcher went to great lengths to explain to the faculties the non-threatening and non-judgemental nature of the 89 research project. The methodological procedure varied from site to site to the extent that at some schools the chief administrator had scheduled an introductory meeting for the researcher to meet with the administrative team, while at other schools the researcher was left to make the arrangements. The latter method was not so efficient as it entailed repeating the same background introduction several times over. After introductions had been made, questionnaires distributed to the administrative team and interview schedules arranged, the researcher had the unenviable task of making contact by telephone, sometimes 'right out of the blue,‘ with other administrators of neighboring overseas schools that were within a one day return journey, and 'pleading the case' for permission to call over for an interview. Very often this process was expedited by the chief school administrator who was the researcher's site host, initiating the telephone call and making the introductions. This is an example of the 'network' that exists among overseas school administrators; even though the nearest overseas school can be hundreds of miles away they are neighbors in the overseas schools 'loosely-coupled' informal system and the network is active. The routine became easier with practice and the researcher became more confident in using the network. Also some of the adjacent overseas 90 schools that the researcher had known about prior to the trip had been contacted by mail from the United States in the spring and they had agreed to participate in the study even if not to the extent of hosting the researcher; on the other hand the existence of some of the neighboring overseas schools came as quite a surprise to the researcher who did not hesitate to add any 'bonus' to the anticipated pool of potential data. The researcher experienced very few problems during the trip; none of which were insurmountable. One expected difficulty, which did not materialize, was the planning of meals. The researcher has a healthy appetite and has never refused a dish, be it snails, octopus, sea-weed, or goats cheese. The potential problem was not, “what to eat?" but “where and when to eat?" Thanks to the previously mentioned generosity of the expatriate and host-national communities overseas the researcher ended up being more concerned with the extra calories consumed that produced sixteen pounds increase in weight. After questionnaires had been given out to administrators at the beginning of each time period spent at any site the interviewees had several days to focus their thoughts on the research topic before the in-depth interview which took place later in the week. This procedure meant that the researcher could read through 91 completed questionnaires before the interviews and then have any ambiguities clarified during the interview session. This researcher attempted to standardize and routinize the data collection process by the use of predetermined interview questions (see Appendix F) so that the same area of topics were covered during each interview. This procedure enhanced the researcher's ability to encourage the interviewees to refrain from digressing. The in-depth interview questions were selected so as to provide a 'richness' of data that reflected the experiences of the administrators appertaining to their careers. Each interviewee was given a consent form (see Appendix D) and understood that they were participating voluntarily. Even though the interviews were being tape-recorded, they were free to discontinue their participation at any time without penalty. The interviewees were not asked to choose a particular response but were encouraged to respond freely. The researcher transcribed each taped interview within twenty-four hours of each interview when details could be recalled fresh from memory. It took considerable stoic self-discipline on the researcher's part to ensure that each recorded interview was transcribed before moving on to the next site; but 92 this procedure was maintained even though time was at a premium due to the demands of orientation, travelling to neighboring overseas schools and also the researcher teaching some substitute lessons for administrators at sites where the interviewee was carrying a teaching-load. This gave those administrators some extra free time to compensate for the time taken to answer the questionnaire and participate in the interview. On a number of occasions where time was very tight the researcher had to resort to doing the final transcription on the inter-site flight using headphones and running the tape recorder on batteries. One practical note of interest is that the researcher never let the completed research questionnaires or transcriptions of the interviews out of sight. The research papers were carried by the researcher at all times; they were never allowed to go in the luggage hold of any aircraft and they were placed under the mattress every night. This might seem extreme behavior but the reasoning was two-fold :- (l) to ensure that the researcher finished the trip with the data to be analysed; (it might be expensive to replace a suitcase of clothes lost in flight, but it would be impossible to replace lost research data collected at a given time and place) and (2) a high priority was the protection of the research subjects' anonymity. Administrators of overseas 93 schools whose students include the dependents of ambassadors, diplomats and influential top executive businessmen are at risk, especially in today's climate of international terrorism. The researcher has interviewed administrators whose telephones have been 'tapped' and others who have been approached with bribes for derogatory information about students who have been dependents of important people. Researchers have a prime responsibility to protect their subjects and not allow research data, that might be used in coersion or blackmail, to get into the hands of a third party. Anonymity is a major consideration on the subject's consent form. See Appendix D. Two further practical preparations were completed prior to the commencement of the research trip and facilitated the comparative smooth-running of the project. One was of a utilitarian nature and the second was of importance to the researcher's health and welfare. Rather than‘ have to borrow a tape recorder at each site, the researcher decided to carry one throughout the trip. This posed a practical problem because some countries have 110 volts AC at 60 cycles per second as in the US, whereas many other countries have 220 volts AC at 50 cycles per second, as in Europe. Also virtually every country has a different sized and a different shaped wall outlet socket. The researcher ventured out on the trip 94 armed with a small portable tape recorder, a step-down transformer (220 volts AC to 110 volts AC), a hoard of chargeable batteries and a charger that worked off both 220 volts and 110 volts, plus an array of various plugs and adaptors guaranteed to fit any socket in the world. As a last resort the researcher was prepared to bare some flex and use two matchsticks to open unco-operative wall sockets. Even equipped with this mountain of paraphernalia the researcher experienced a high-pitched whine after recording in one country in the Far East but solved this problem by purchasing an inexpensive mini-transformer that changed 220 volts AC to 6 volts DC. The second of the final preparations that the researcher completed one month prior to departure was a series Of innoculations against yellow fever, polio, tetnus, typhoid, cholora, hepatitis, and smallpox, plus a course of anti-malaria medicines. Because the strains of malaria protozoan prevalent in Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo are extremely virulent, the researcher was advised to take the common anti-malaria drug plus a sulfur-based drug for four weeks prior to departure, weekly while in malaria infested areas and then for a further six weeks after leaving malaria infested regions. The researcher followed these precautions with an air of skepticism but 95 even after coming in close contact with victims of malaria, denghi fever, hepatitis, and the common cold, did not contract any illness throughout the entire journey. Although the researcher ate numerous meals off of 'satay' stalls in the East and from street vendors in Asia, not once were the symptoms Of 'Delhi Belli' or diarrhea experienced. It is left up to the reader to decide whether the researcher's lack of malaise was due to 'pure luck' or due to effective preparations; or perhaps a combination of the two. A description of the research data and an analysis of this data is given in Chapter Four and Chapter Five respectively. Data from the responses to the sixty-seven questions on the questionnaire are collated in Chapter Four and this information has been presented using descriptive statistics. Each of the original completed questionnaires was given a code number so that the respondent would remain anonymous. The 'master key' has been stored separated from the questionnaires and each of the completed questionnaires was photo-copied. The originals were stored safely and then the photo-copies were cut up so that all the responses to each of the sixty-seven questions could be easily grouped together. This process (similar to the method used by Levi Strauss 96 and described by De George, 1972) facilitated the collation of the data and the averaging for the descriptive statistics. The transcriptions of the in-depth interviews were treated in a similar manner to the questionnaires. Each was coded and photo-copied. The original transcriptions were stored safely and the photo-copies were cut up so that all the responses to each Of the Open-ended interview questions could be easily grouped to facilitate the process of content analysis. The analysis of the data is described in Chapter Five with reference to the review of literature presented in Chapter Two. References 1 Barney Glaser and Anselm Srauss, The Discovery Of Grounded Theory (Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co., 1967), pp. 107-108. 2 Ibid. p.109. 3 Ibid. p. 112. 97 CHAPTER FOUR AGGREGATED DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS In this chapter the researcher has displayed the groups of raw data from the completed questionnaires plus the transcribed interviews and by the use of descriptive statistics has displayed information with respect to central tendency and percentages for use in analysing the common characteristics of the career-paths of the fifty-six overseas school administrators who participated in this study. The analysis of these data using the theories described in the review of literature as a conceptual framework will be explained in the next chapter. In order to be able to describe common profiles and characteristics of the fifty-six overseas school administrators with respect to features of the career paths their common responses to the individual questions on the questionnaire and the interview questions have been grouped and collated. 98 99 These data have been collated from the questionnaires that were administered to and completed by fifty-six administrators and from the transcriptions of in-depth, open-ended question interviews with forty-four of those administrators. The subjects were administrators of thirty-five overseas schools located in a geographical area encompassed by an ellipse from South East Asia to Europe. Administrators' Nationality, Gender, Title and Age As shown in Table 1. the majority of the overseas school administrators who took part in this research project were American citizens; sixty-six per cent were Americans. The second largest national group consisted of British citizens; twenty-nine per cent were British. There were only three administrators who were neither American nor British :- one was an Australian; a second was a Frenchman and a third was a Dutchman. Together these last three constituted five per cent Of the subjects surveyed. 100 Table 1.: Nationality of Administrators. Number Per Cent U.S.A.................. ..... .......37 66.1 British............................16 28.6 Australian......................... 1 1.8 Dutch..;........................... 1 1.8 French............................. 1 1.8 Eighty-six per cent of the members of the administrative teams in the survey were male. Fourteen per cent were female. Of these eight females four were chief administrative officers, which represents seven per cent Of the total research sample. These four female chief administrative officers had arrived at their respective location by a variety of avenues :- the first was on site accompanying her expatriate sojourner husband; the second had originally arrived on site accompanying her host-national husband but subsequently had been divorced and she was the proprietor of the school; the third had been on site for a considerable number of years accompanying aged retired missionary parents and the fourth was administering a one room school house. Fifty-three per cent of the subjects involved in the research held the position of chief administrative officer and had the title of either Superintendent (19.6%), Headteacher (23.2%) or Director (10.7%). 101 Eighty-seven per cent of the chief administrators within the sample were male; thirteen per cent of the chief administrators were female. See Table 2. The other forty-six per cent of the administrative teams that took part in the research had the titles of either Deputy Headteacher (5.4%), High School Principal (12.5%), Middle School Principal (7.1%) including one female, Elementary School Principal (12.5%), Counselor (5.3%) including one female or Curriculum Coordinator (3.6%), both females. Table 2.: Administrative Position Now Held. MALE % FEMALE: % TOTAL: % Superintendent...........(ll) 19.6 - - (11) 19.6 Headteacher.........-....(10) 17.9 (3) 5.4 (13) 23.2 Director................. (5) 8.9 (l) 1.8 (6) 10.7 Deputy Headteacher....... (3) 5.4 - (3) 5.4 High School Principal.... (7) 12.5 - - (7) 12.5 Middle School Principal.. (3) 5.4 (l) 1.8 (4) 7.1 Elementary Principal..... (7) 12.5 - - (7) 12.5 Counselor................ (2) 3.6 (l) 1.8 (3) 5.4 Curriculum Coordinator... - - (2) 3.6 (2) 3.6 Total....................(48) 85.6 (8) 14.4 (56)100.0 The average age of the overseas school administrators on the administrative teams taking part in this research was forty-four years and as can be seen from Table 3., the median age was forty-four years. A graph drawn from these data would be bimodal and would 102 have a slight positive skew which would be brought about because the largest mode of sixteen being positioned at the thirty-six years to forty years age range. There was a tendency for the median and average ages Of the chief administrators (i.e., superintendents, headteachers and directors) to be greater than those of the subordinate administrators such as deputy headteachers, principals, counselors and curriculum coordinators. The average age of the chief administrators was forty-seven years and the median age for that group was forty-seven years. The average age for the subordinate administrators was forty-one years and the median age for that group was forty years. Table 3.: Administrator's Age. Age Range Number Per Cent 3lyrs.-35yrs. 5 8.9% 36yrs.-40yrs. 16 28.6% 4lyrs.-45yrs. 11 19.6% 46yrs.-50yrs. 14 25.0% Slyrs.-55yrs. 4 7.1% 56yrs.-60yrs. 5 8.9% 61yrs.-65yrs. l 1.8% Mean Age = 44.3yrs. Median Age a 44.1yrs. 103 Administrators' Academic Background, Training and Pedagogical Experience There was a tendency for the administrators to have taken art subjects (a ratio Of thirty-four: to fifty-six, which is sixty-one per cent; 34:56;‘ 61%) in high school rather than science (13:56; 23%), math (3:56; 5%) or languages (5:56; 9%). This tendency was reflected in the data with respect to the major area Of the administrators' first degree :- arts (30:56; 54%); science (9:56; 16%); math (5:56; 9%); languages (6:56; 11%); social sciences (2:56; 4%) and elementary education (4:56; 7%). The background' and training of the overseas school administrators was reflected in the subjects that they had taught during their teaching experience :- arts (21:56; 38%); science (11:56; 19%); math (6:56; 11%); languages (6:56; 11%); elementary education (11:56; 19%) and physical education (1:56; 2%). One administrator had been a full-time physical education coach but seven others (i.e., thirteen per cent) responded that they had taught physical education as a subsidary subject and seventeen other administrators (i.e., thirty per cent) responded that they had been involved with coaching an extra curricular activity. The highest academic qualification held by 104 twenty-two administrators (i.e., thirty-nine per cent) at the time they first attained an administrative position was a Bachelor's Degree. When this class of twenty-two was subdivided into administrators with Bachelor's of Arts and those with Bachelor's of Science, the ratio of seventeen BA to five 88 reflected the tendency outlined earlier for the overseas school administrators to have had an academic background in the field of arts. The highest academic qualification held by thirty-two administrators (i.e., fifty-seven per cent) at the time they first attained an administrative post was a Master's Degree. Two of the overseas school administrators (i.e., four per cent) had Doctorates at the time they first attained an administrative position. As can be seen from Table 4. the average age when the overseas school administrators first attained an administrative post was thirty-three years; the median age when the overseas school administrators first attained an administrative position was thirty-three years. 105 Table 4.: Age When Attained First Administrative Post. Age Number Per Cent 21yrs.-25yrs. 4 7.1% 26yrs.-30yrs. 17 30.4% 3lyrs.-35yrs. 21 37.5% 36yrs.-40yrs. 8 14.3% 41yrs.-45yrs. 4 7.1% 46yrs.-50yrs. 1 1.8% 51yrs.-55yrs. 1 1.8% Mean = 32.8yrs. Median = 32.9yrs. On average the overseas school administrators taught for eight years before attaining an administrative position; the median length of teaching experience before attaining an administrative post was seven years. See Table 5. Table 5.: Teaching Experience Before First Administrative Position. Years Teaching Number Per Cent lyr. - 2yrs. 3 5.4% 3yrs.- 4yrs. 13 23.2% 5yrs.- 6yrs. 12 21.4% 7yrs.- 8yrs. 10 17.9% 9yrs.-10yrs. 4 7.1% llyrs.-12yrs. 4 7.1% 13yrs.-l4yrs. 5 8.9% 15yrs.-16yrs. 2 3.6% l7yrs.-18yrs. 3 5.4% Mean - 7.6yrs. Median = 7.1yrs. Sixty-eight per cent of the overseas school administrators had no coaching experience before 106 attaining an administrative position. Of the thirty-two per cent who did have coaching experience before attaining an administrative position they coached on average for four years but the overall average for the fifty-six administrators was one year. The median was point seven of one year. See Table 6. Table 6.: Years Coaching Before lst. Administrative Post. Years Coaching Number Per Cent Zero years 38 67.9% lyr. - 2yrs. 10 17.9% 3yrs.- 4yrs. l 1.8% Syrs.- 6yrs. 5 8.9% 7yrs.- 8yrs. - - 9yrs.-10yrs. 1 1.8% llyrs.-12yrs. - - l3yrs.-l4yrs. l 1.8% Mean = 1.2yrs. Median = 0.7yrs. Seventy-three per cent of the overseas school administrators had no occupational experiences other than teaching or coaching before taking on an administrative position. On average, those twenty-seven per cent that did have other occupational experiences such as counseling, curriculum development or an occupation outside of pedagogy, spent six years at those other occupations before taking up an administrative post. This 107 average drops to two years of occupational experience other than teaching and coaching when one considers all the fifty-six overseas school administrators. Administrators' Experience Before Going Overseas Sixty-four per cent of the overseas school administrators had no previous administrative experience before going overseas. For the thirty-six per cent that did have administrative experience before going overseas, the average was five years of administrative experience. The average for all fifty-six administrators was two years Of administrative experience before going overseas. As can be seen from Table 7., the median is point seven of a year administrative experience before going overseas . Table 7.: Administrative Experiece Before Going Overseas. Years Admin. Number Per Cent Zero 36 64.0% lyr. - 2yrs. 6 10.7% 3yrs.- 4yrs. 8 14.3% 5yrs.- 6yrs. 2 3.6% 7yrs.- 8yrs. - - 9yrs.-10yrs. l 1.8% llyrs.-12yrs. l 1.8% 13yrs.-l4yrs. - - 15yrs.-16yrs. l 1.8%' l7yrS.-18yrs. l 1.8% Mean = 1.8yrs. Median = 0.7yr. 108 Three Of the fifty-six overseas school administrators had no teaching experience in their home country before going overseas; this equals five per cent of the group. The average number of years teaching experience before going overseas was five years. The median was four years. See Table 8. Seventy-five per cent of the administrators had no coaching experience before they went overseas and although the mean for those twenty-five per cent that did have coaching experience before going overseas was five years, the overall average for the fifty-six administrators was one year. The median was point six of a year. Table 8.: Teaching Experience Before Going Overseas. Years Teaching Number Per Cent Zero 3 5.4% lyr; - 2yrs. 17 30.4% 3yrs.- 4yrs. 13 23.2% 5yrs.- 6yrs. 5 8.9% 7yrs.- 8yrs. 8 14.3% 9yrs.-10yrs. 4 7.1% llyrs.-12yrs. 3 5.3% l3yrs.-l4yrs. 2 3.6% 15yrs.-16yrs. l 1.8% Mean = 4.9yrs. Median = 4.2yrs. 109 Four of the fifty-six overseas school administrators, which is seven per cent of the total, had occupational experiences outside of teaching and coaching before going overseas. Administrators' Pedagogical Experience Overseas Sixteen of the overseas school administrators went straight into administrative positions, overseas without any previous overseas teaching experience. The average number of years teaching overseas for the other seventy-one per cent before attaining an overseas administrative position was five years; the overall average for the fifty-six administrators was four years and the median was three years. See Table 9. Table 9.: Overseas Teaching Before Overseas First Administrative Position. Years Teaching Number Per Cent Zero 16 28.6% lyr. - 2yrs. 14 25.0% 3yrs.- 4yrs. 12 21.4% 5yrs.- 6yrs. 6 10.7% 7yrs.- 8yrs. 2 3.6% 9yrs.-10yrs. - - llyrs.-12yrs. 2 3.6% l3yrs.-l4yrs. 2 3.6% 15yrs.-16yrs. - - l7yrs.-18yrs. 2 3.6% Mean = 3.5yrs. Median = 2.6yrs. 110 Those sixteen per cent Of overseas school administrators who had coaching experience overseas before attaining an overseas administrative position coached for an average of three years whereas the overall average ‘for coaching overseas before attaining an overseas administrative position was point five of a year; the median was point five of a year. Only one overseas school administrator had an occupational experience outside of teaching and coaching overseas before attaining an overseas administrative position. Twelve of the fifty-six overseas school administrators (twenty-one per cent) were at their first post overSeas; eighteen of the administrators (thirty-two per cent) were at their second overseas post; nine of the administrators (sixteen per cent) were at their third post overseas; ten of the administrators (eighteen per cent) were at their fourth overseas post; two of the administrators (four per cent) were at their fifth post overseas and five of the administrators (nine per cent) were at their sixth overseas post. 111 Table 10.: Time Spent At Each Overseas Post. Post Mean Median lst. 4.3yrs. 3.2yrs. 2nd. 4.7yrs. 4.1yrs. 3rd. 3.9yrs. 3.7yrs. 4th. 2.8yrs. 3.1yrs. 5th. 3.5yrs. 3.9yrs. 6th. 2.2yrs. 4.4yrs. Grand Mean = 3.6yrs. The 'grand mean' time spent at overseas posts was four years. The average period Of time spent overseas by the fifty-six overseas school administrators during their career was thirteen years. As can be seen from Table 11., the median time spent overseas during their career was twelve years. Table 11.: Total Pedagogical Experience Overseas. Years Number Per Cent lyr. - 4yrs. 8 14.3% 5yrs.- 8yrs. 9 16.1% 9yrs.-12yrs. 13 23.2% l3yrs.-16yrs. 13 23.2% l7yrs.-20yrs. 4 7.1% 21yrs.-25yrs. 6 10.7% 26yrs.-30yrs. 2 3.6% 31yrs.-35yrs. - - 36yrs.-40yrs. l 1.8% Mean = 12.5yrs. Median = 12.3yrs. 112 The average number of years in administration overseas was eight years; the median was nine years. The highest academic qualification held by fourteen (twenty-five per cent) of the overseas school administrators was a Bachelor's Degree; thirty-three (fifty-nine per cent) held a Master's Degree and nine (sixteen per cent) held a Doctorate. 113 Statistics Of Overseas Schools and Administrators' Remuneration School enrollment for the thirty-five overseas schools involved in this research ranged from less than fifty pupils to over two thousand pupils, see Table 12. The annual budgets for the thirty-five overseas schools ranged from less than two hundred thousand US Dollars, to over three million US Dollars. See Table 13. Table 12.: Student Enrollment Of Overseas Schools. Student Enrollment Number of Schools 1 - 50 2 51 - 100 2 101 - 150 4 151 - 200 2 201 - 250 l 251 - 300 3 301 - 500 7 501 -1000 5 1001+ 9 Mean = 632 Median = 344 Salaries, benefits, conditions of service and 'contract packages' varied considerably from overseas school to overseas school; a composite of data with respect to remuneration is given in Table 14. 114 Table 13.: Annual Budget Of Overseas Schools. School Budget Number of Schools $1 - $200,000 1 $200,001 - $300,000 - $300,001 - $400,000 4 $400,001 - $500,000 - $500,001 - $750,000 5 $750 001 - $1,000,000 3 $1,000,001 - $1,500,000 2 $1,500,001 - $2,000,000 3 $2,000,001 - $3,000,000 2 $3,000,001 - plus 12 Unlimited/Whatever Is Required 3 Table 14.: Overseas School Administrators' Salaries S H D D/H H/P M/P E/P Cou C/C Total...... ....... 12 8 12 2 7 4 7 3 2 Cash $15,000-$20,000 - l - - l l - - - $20,001-$26,000 - - 2 l l l 3 1 1 $26,001-$31,000 1 5 2 - - - l - - $31,001-$36,000 2 - 3 1 l l l 2 1 $36,001-$4l,000 l 1 3 - 4 1 2 - - $41,001-$46,000 5 l 2 - - - - - - $46,001-$51,000 2 - - - - - - - - $75,000 1 - - - - - - - - House.............12 6 7 l 6 4 7 2 2 Health Insurance..10 7 ll 2 6 4 7 2 2 Flights Annually.. 4 3 - 1 - - - l - Flight Biennially. 8 3 9 - 6 4 7 1 2 Car............... 8 4 5 l l l 3 - - (SaSuperintendent; H=Headteacher; D=Director; D/H=Deputy Headteacher; H/P=High School Principal; M/P=Middle School Principal; E/P=Elementary School Principal; CounCounselor and C/C=Curriculum Coordinator) 115 Administrators' Requirements for Still Further Training In response to the question, "What help have you received frOm overseas school boards with respect to further training?" fifty-five per cent indicated that they had no help; thirty per cent indicated that they had received some help; nine per cent indicated that they had received considerable help and five per cent responded that they had received a great deal of help. The question, 'In light of your experience as an overseas school administrator, in what major areas do you now feel that you should have had more formal training?" produced the responses shown in Table 15.:- Table 15.: Areas In Which It Was Felt There Was Need for More Formal Training. Finance ......................thirty four responses; Business Management................thirty responses; Public Relations.................thirteen responses; Language............................seven responses; Counseling...........................five responses; Personnel Management.................four responses; Curriculum Development................two responses and Teaching...............................no responses; The following responses shown in Table 16. were received in reply to the question, 'Which areas of training do you think have served you best in your career 116 as an overseas school‘administrator?" :- Table 16.: Most Useful Previous Training. Teaching......................forty-three responses; Public Relations.................nineteen responseS; Counseling........................sixteen responses; Business Management.................seven responses; Finance.............................seven responses; Language............................seven responses and Personnel Management.................four responses. Common responses to the question, "What problems do you now face, for which you feel that you require further professional training/workshop/in-service to handle?" have been grouped as shown in Table 17.:- Table 17. Areas Still In Need Of Further Training. Finance/Business Management.......eighteen responses; No Problems........................fifteen responses; Computers In Education................nine responses; Group Process Decision Making.........five responses; Curriculum Development................five responses; Personnel Evaluation..................five responses; Keeping Up With Educational Trends....four responses and Students' Placement..................three responses. Forty-six of the fifty-six overseas school administrators were not enrolled in university courses or furthering their academic qualifications. Of the ten that were enrolled in university programs two were fulfilling 117 the requirements for doctorates, a third was pursuing a master's degree, another was involved in a 'workshop' and six were undertaking academic studies as part of 'summer extension programs.‘ Twenty-four of the fifty-six overseas school administrators were last enrolled in a university course, workshop or in-service in 1983; fifteen were last enrolled in 1982; three were last enrolled in 1981; three were last enrolled in 1980; one was last enrolled in 1979 and the remainder were last enrolled more than six years before the date of responding. The last course that twenty-four Of the fifty-six overseas school administrators took was related to administration; the last course that eleven administrators took was related to the use of computers in education and the other topics recently studied by overseas school administrators were curriculum development, The International Baccalaureate, statistics and counseling. Eighteen of the administrators went to the United States for their most recent courses; a further eighteen were enrolled at regional workshops; ten were enrolled at local workshops and five had returned to Britain for their most recent courses. Forty-nine of the fifty-six overseas school administrators were not working toward an academic degree 118 higher than the one they already held. Five administrators were working toward doctorates (although as previously recorded, only two of those were currently enrolled) and two were working toward Master's Degrees. Past and Expected Future Influences On Overseas Careers Twenty-seven of the fifty-six overseas school administrators responded that teaching experience had been the greatest help in getting into administration. The grouped responses to the question, "Which qualification/experience helped you most get into administration?“ are shown in Table 18. :- Table 18. Qualifications/Experience That Were Of Most Help Getting Into Administration. Teaching Experience...........twenty-seven responses; Advanced Academic Qualifications...fifteen responses; Personal Qualities.....................six responses; Extra Curricula Activities............five responses; Network/Friends/Contacts..............five responses; Problem Solving Ability...............four responses; Organizational Creativity..............two responses and Chance/Opportunity.....................two responses. Sixteen overseas school administrators responded that a network of friends and contacts had been the greatest help in attaining a position overseas. The responses to the question, “Which qualification and/or 119 experience helped you most move overseas?" have been grouped and are shown in Table 19. :- Table 19.: Major Influence In Attaining Overseas Post. Network/FriendS/Contacts...........sixteen responses; Advanced Academic Qualifications...sixteen responses; Teaching Experience....................ten responses; Desire To Travel.......................ten responses; Follow Husband.......................three responses; Peace Corps Experience................two responses; Flexibility In Assignment..............two responses; Interview Technique....................two responses and Successful Admin. Experience...........one response. Twenty-five of the overseas school administrators considered that the network of friends and contacts had been the greatest help in enhancing their career prospects overseas. The grouped responses to the question, "Which qualification or experience helped most enhance your career prospects overseas?" are shown in Table 20. :- Table 20. Influences Enhancing Overseas Career. Network/Friends/Contacts........twenty-five responses; Experience Overseas.................sixteen responses; Advanced Academic Qualifications........ten responses; Willingness To Stay Longer............seven responses; Ability To Adjust.....................three responses; F1exibility.............................two responses; Teaching Spouse.........................one response and Luck....................................one response. 120 Twenty-three of the overseas school administrators were of the opinion that they needed no further qualifications for future career advancement. The responses to the question, "What qualifications do you think you will need for future career advancement?‘ are shown in Table 21. :- Table 21.: Qualifications Needed for Career Advancement. No Further Qualifications.....twenty-three responses; Doctorate........................seventeen responses; Master's Degree......................seven responses; Success In Present Post................six responses and Finance Courses......................three responses; Fifty-one of the fifty-six overseas administrators agreed that there was a career in the administration of overseas schools. Four administrators did not think that there was such a thing as a career in the administration of overseas schools. One administrator did not know. In answering the question, "How did you get into overseas schools?” twenty-two of the fifty—six administrators indicated that they applied directly through the mail in response to newspaper advertisements; nineteen administrators used friends to get into overseas schools; twenty administrators used placement agencies; 121 two used professional associations; two got in via The Peace Corps and one via the US Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Thirty-four of the overseas school administrators regarded 'travel' as the most important reason for initially going to work in overseas schools; for twenty—seven 'adventure' was the most important reason; twelve left their home country for 'better prospects;' three went overseas because they were accompanying their spouse; two went for money; two left their home country because of desire to get out of their indigenous public education system; one left during childhood; one left after a divorce and one because of past experiences at home. The ways that the overseas administrators first heard about overseas schools were varied and sometimes included a combination of methods. Twenty-seven of the fifty-six overseas school administrators first heard about overseas schools from friends; eleven read about overseas schools in newspaper advertisements; another eleven found out about overseas schools from placement agencies; eight were informed about overseas schools at college; four went to overseas schools during their own childhood and two 'learned about these schools from professional associations. 122 Six of the fifty-six administrators had lived overseas during their childhood; the other fifty had not. The parents of the six administrators who had lived overseas during childhood were working there at that time. The parents of the other fifty administrators had not worked overseas. Reasons for Movement Overseas In response to the question, “What attracted you to the first post overseas?” fifteen administrators answered that it was just the job itself; eight were attracted by the prospect of travel; another eight were attracted by the specific location of the overseas school; seven were interested in a 'different culture;' five went for a 'taste ‘of adventure,‘ two wanted to return to a country that they had previous experience of; one was returning home from a Peace Corps assignment; one went for the salary benefits; one was assigned by DoDDS; yet another followed her husband and one decided on that particular location because it offered plenty of opportunity for sports. Six administrators did not respond to the question. The reasons that the forty-four administrators who were not in a first post overseas gave for leaving their first post were varied :- thirteen cited that they had 123 left the first overseas position for career advancement; six moved on because it was 'time for a change' or end of contract; three returned home before going overseas again; two had attained posts which paid more; two had to move because their first overseas schools were closed due to deterioration of the local political environments (i.e., President Reagan pulled all US citizens out of Libya and the British schools were evacuated after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus); one administrator moved from the first post to seek a better education for his children; one female administrator chose to follow her husband and one administrator left because of another offer to go to another overseas school. Twelve administrators did not respond to the question on the questionnaire but the reason for leaving their first post overseas was assertained during the interview with them. Fourteen of the forty-four administrators who had moved to a second overseas post responded that they had chosen the particular school because of its geographical location; eleven had been attracted by the job; four had been looking for a different culture; two had chosen the school because it had afforded an appropriate education for their children; one had been following her husband to his home country and one had been attracted by the small expatriate community. Eleven administrators did not respond. 124 Of the twenty-six administrators who had left the second post of their overseas career, nine responded that they had left for career advancement; four went to a third post 'just for a move;' two moved to a 'better' school; one returned to the US to accept an administrative position before later returning overseas; one left because his children had 'outgrown' the school; one emmigrated to the USA with his American wife for five years so that his older children of an earlier marriage could gain USA citizenship; one had to leave because the climate was affecting his health; one moved because of the challenge of the third post and one administrator left to get married. Five administrators did not respond. Twenty-six of the administrators were either at their third post overseas or had been at a third post overseas. Nineteen of these responded to the question, “What attracted .you to the third post overseas?“ Five administrators regarded the job itself was the attraction of the third post; four were attracted by the geographic location of the third job; three answered that the money was the main incentive to move to the third post; it was the 'quality' of the school that attracted two administrators; another two wanted to renew past experiences in the country of location of the third post; one was looking for a 'stable' country; another wanted a 125 new adventure and one sought after a country that used English because he had learned three new languages in the past. Sixteen of the seventeen administrators who had moved on to another post after their third post answered the question, “Why did you leave the third overseas post?" Nine responded that they had moved for career advancement; three decided to move because they were being paid in 'local currency' and the countries' money kept devaluing; two were evacuated because their schools were closed (i.e., Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the civil war in Lebanon) and two left because their children's education was suffering. All seventeen of the administrators who were either at their fourth post overseas or had worked at a fourth post overseas responded to the question, “What attracted you to the fourth post?” Six were attracted by the location; another six went for the job; three had wanted the better life-style offered; one followed her husband and one was attracted by the challenge of the job. Two administrators had left their fourth post overseas for career advancement; one just wanted a move; another had to move because of serious health problems; one was evacuated when the Iranian Moslem Revolution closed the school; one left because of his dislike of the 126 'crooked owner' of the school and the last was in search of a better life-style. Four of the seven administrators who were either at their fifth overseas post or had worked at a fifth overseas post were attracted there by the job itself; one wanted to travel; another was attracted by the money and the seventh liked the country. Of the two administrators who had left a fifth overseas post, one was after more money and the other went for career advancement. The last two responses correlate with the two responses to the question "What attracted you to the sixth post overseas?“ The responses were 'salary' and “professional growth." Suggested Beneficial Attributes of an Overseas School Administrator for Career Advancement When asked, "What would you look for in a successor?“ more than half of the administrators responded that previous successful overseas experience in a similar administrative position was of importance; twenty-nine made this response. Flexibility was the second most sought after quality producing fourteen responses. Other important criteria were human relations skills, providing nine responses, then adaptability and energetic each with seven responses. Six administrators 127 thought it important that their successor should be supportive of present school policies and philosophy. The following criteria were also felt to be important :- decision maker with leadership skills; rounded teaching experience; cross-cultural awareness and counseling training; likes kids; sense of humor; public relations skills; good recruiting sense; loyalty and stability. The administrators believed that overseas school boards also looked for evidence of previous administrative success overseas when they were hiring a new administrator; this answer provided thirty-one responses. Also high on the liSt with twenty-three responses was that the administrator should be well known with a good reputation for success overseas. Academic qualifications were also regarded as important in the eyes of the overseas school board as were qualities of leadership. The administrators believed that school boards overseas were also looking for adaptability and flexibility when hiring a new administrator. Although six thought that school boards wanted an administrator who would implement policy without 'rocking the boat' another seven thought that a 'pendulum effect' was evident in that after a number of years with a 'yes man' school boards swung towards hiring a 'hatchet man.‘ Other criteria cited were :- energetic; curriculum developer; experienced educator; financial expert; 'jack of all 128 trades;' scape-goat and someone independent. Twenty-nine of the fifty-six overseas school administrators were of the opinion that friends, contacts and networking had been of most help in their career advancement overseas; eight thought that professional associations had helped them most, while six responded that placement agencies had helped them most with respect to career advancement. Another six believed that their career advancement had come from their own initiatives and inquiries; two administrators had most help from journals, while one put his career progress down to experience. All but one of the fifty-six administrators reflected an agreement that overseas school administrators need classroom experience. Thirty-one of the administrators had found that their present job had not evolved very differently from the job description and that their role was not different to that which had been expected. Four found the job more encompassing than had been described and another four felt that the job had 'grown with the school.‘ Other responses to this question were :- there were more plant responsibilities; the job had gotten narrower; it involved more financial management; the job was more difficult because I had been blocked by those that hired 129 me; it was more community oriented and there had been more socializing with parents; more time had been spent with host-national agencies than had been expected and there was more time spent in the office with less time in contact with the pupils. Although ten administrators felt that nothing had surprised them about the job they were now doing, there were' many other individual, site-specific surprises :- breadth of job in the office; time spent in the office; extent of human relations problems in the school; lack of support‘ from the faculty; how little I knew; intense parental pressure and political maneuvering; how much change one can bring about; lack of professional approach by the faculty; high quality of the teachers; lack of operating policies; time on book-keeping; financial instability of the school; amount of public relations work involved; extent of turnover problems; positive support from the school community; need for patience in dealing with inefficient local bureaucracy; high standard of local-hire teachers; most people like to be told what to do; insolation from local community; amount of legal work involved; lack of pedagogical knowledge of the school board; few discipline problems and lack of definition between roles. The question, 'How would you characterize other '130 overseas school administrators?“ brought the following wide range of responses :- professional dedicated educators (twenty-three responses); innovative; adaptable; flexible; adventuresome; mobile; assertive; outgoing; frustrated worriers about school boards; good listeners and articulate. Overseas School Administrators' Career Goals and Expectations for the Future When asked to compare the role of overseas school administrators with that of school administrators back home nineteen of the fifty-six administrators suggested that the overseas administrators could spend more time dealing with eductional matters because they had to spend less time on union negotiations and with problems associated with the law and litigations. Seven thought that the overseas role was more flexible and six saw the overseas role as basically the same but there were extra responsibilities especially with respect to the housing and welfare of faculty. Other responses were that the role overseas was more community oriented; had a broader perspective; was more encompassing due to the lack of central office support systems; allowed for more creativity and was more visible. The career goal of twenty—five administrators was to 131 continue in overseas education but four of those were looking for more comfortable environments; six wished to grow professionally overseas; five wanted to eventually be a superintendent of an overseas school whereas another five wanted a chief administrative job back home; three were in transition with respect to career goals and were unsure of their goals and three others were in search of happiness. The future meant continuing overseas for twenty-five of the fifty-six administrators; continuing in similar overseas posts for twelve of those twenty-five, including career advancement to a superintendency for three and in overseas posts with better conditions and more money for the other ten. Fifteen did not know what the future might bring. Ten imagined that they would soon be returning home; five of those to retirement. Three wanted to own a school and one responded that she would be following her husband. In response to the question, 'What would be the reasons for returning home?‘ sixteen administrators indicated family responsibilities such as aging parents and children's education; thirteen replied that it would be because they were retiring; twelve suggested that they would not be returning to their country of origin, 'home 132 was where their hat lay!‘ Eight foresaw that their need for a life-style, better than could be attained’ overseas and a love of the USA would eventually take them home; three thought that they might have to go back home because of the difficulty of securing another overseas post from overseas; two had intentions of returning to the USA to finish higher degrees and one envisaged the imminent collapse of the local economy featuring highly among the reasons for returning home. ”What position do you think you will be seeking when you return home?“ was a moot question for seventeen of the overseas school administrators because eleven intended to retire when they went home and six had no intention of returning home. A further six would be looking for a superintendency; five wanted a high school principalship; four wanted a middle school principalship; three wanted to get out of education; three were looking forward to 'getting back to the roots' as classroom teachers; five thought they might go into the field of educational consulting and four suggested that they would like to get into university teaching. One humorous respondent joked that he would be returning to a 'horizontal position,‘ as in a coffin! The seventeen administrators who were either intending to retire when they returned home or had no 133 intentions of returning home had a one hundred per cent chance of getting the position they wanted upon returning home. Of the other thirty-nine, fifteen thought that with the proper preparation they had a good chance of getting the position they were looking for; thirteen put their chances at 'slim;' five thought their chances were 'fair' and four were of the opinion that they had been overseas too long and that their chances were zero. Thirty-two of the overseas administrators had some type of pension to look forward to in preparation for retirement; twelve were covered by TIAA/CREF, fifteen had 'good' pensions and five had 'fair' pensions. But twelve had no pension. Twenty-two responded that they would have to use savings and investments during their retirement. One administrator thought that he would never be able to afford retirement. Expatriate Community Environmental Bubble Job related reasons were given by thirty-four of the overseas administrators in response to the question, "What attracted you to this community?" Of those thirty-four reasons five focussed on the challenge of the job; four highlighted the reputation of the job; three administrators were attracted by the salaries and benefits that were better than their previous job; two 134 were attracted because they were offered jobs that suited both administrator and spouse; one went because of the good superannuation offered and one was attracted by the fact that it was the only job offer available. Twenty-two of the responses were related to the community:- fourteen administrators were attracted by the location or the culture of the school's locale; two found the community appealing because of the stable host-national government; two were attracted because the community offered a relief in comparison to previous 'hardship' posts; another two were drawn by the availability of an American style high school for their children; one was following her husband; one had lived in the country as a child and one gravitated towards the community because it was located in his father's country of origin. The reason for leaving past communities given by nineteen of the fifty-six administrators was that they had moved for career advancement; seven had left because either the school or the job had closed; six went in search of a new experience; another six needed to find more appropriate schooling for their children; a third group of six had left because the salary was so poor. Other reasons for leaving included wanting to return to the USA for study; being tired of environmental restrictions such as found in strict Moslem countries; husband's contract had ended; ill health and the fact 135 that the job was getting 'untenable.’ When asked "What do you think that the reasons will be that will make you leave this community?" twelve of the administrators indicated that they would leave because they had spent 'long enough' there; nine answered that they would be moving for professional growth; four could only stay in the particular location that they were at for a limited period because of host-national laws; another four would limit their stay because of adverse climatic or environmental conditions; four would leave due to family needs; three were retiring; four responded that they would leave if the school board would not support their work or perhaps if there were radical school board changes. Other reasons given for potential moves were :- the opportunity to make bigger contributions elsewhere; tired of living in a communist country; dispersal of own children; boredom; husband's contract ends; growing dislike of host-national culture and school enrollment decline. In the opinion of sixteen of the administrators overseas environmental factors had not had any effect on their career decisions; .lack of safety because of political or social unrest featured in career decisions made by seven administrators; quality of available schooling for their own children was quoted by five; 136 environmental factors having a negative affect on health was given by four and three thought that environmental factors had a positive affect on their career decisions. There were a number of individual responses to the question :- poor 'local—hire' salary of spouse; frustrated by bureaucracy in Italy; racial prejudice against whites in The West Indies; crash of the Hong Kong Dollar; lack of American food; climate had to be warm; could not work in The Middle East as a divorced single woman; repeated flooding of the school and the lack of available potential partners. Twenty—three of the overseas school administrators considered that the overseas expatriate sojourner communities had not affected their career decisions, or had little effect on their career decisions. Eleven thought that the expatriate communities had a positive affect on their career decisions and that the camaraderie among faculties overseas and friendships within the expatriate community helped compensate for the poor local environmental conditions. One administrator opined that overseas expatriate communities had little affect on that person's career decisions because that administrator did not socialize. Other responses were :- they had a negative affect because of expatriate communities' low opinion of educators; there had to be a large expatriate community; it is difficult to move and leave close 137 friends in the expatriate community; contacts within expatriate communities had opened up new opportunities; expatriate communities' environmental bubbles have proven to offer limited life-styles and disagreement with the out-dated colonial views of the school board in Argentina forced a career decision. The administrators in twenty positions overseas had replaced predecessors who had not had their contract renewed even though the predecessor had sought such a renewal. Nine of the predecessors of administrators overseas had not sought to renew their contracts and had returned to their home country; seven had moved on to new posts; one had gone into private business; another had expanded his entrepreneurial activities and one had moved because her husband's contract had ended. Seventeen administrators did not respond to the question. The Influence of Family Commitments On Careers Of the forty-eight overseas school administrators who were currently married, forty had their spouse living overseas with them. Forty of the forty-eight had been married once and the other eight had been married two times. Of the single administrators, five had never been married and three were divorcees. There was no trend for those married administrators to have spouses who were 138 either considerably older or considerably younger than themselves. Thirty-three of the American and British administrators were married to spouses of their own nationality. There were eight cross-cultural marriages including spouses from Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Korea, Peru and Switzerland. Thirty-three of the accompanying spouses overseas had employment and twenty-nine of those worked as teachers at the same school as their administrator-spouse; three worked in private business and one worked at a host-national school. There were a total of forty-four children accompanying twenty-seven of the married administrators whose spouses were also overseas; there were twenty-two boys and there were twenty-two girls. The median was two children per administrator with accompanying spouse. Thirty-six of the forty administrators with accompanying spouses thought that their spouse enjoyed living overseas; two thought that they enjoyed it sometimes and two thought that their spouse did not like it overseas. Seventeen of the twenty-seven administrators with children overseas had their children attend the school at which they had employment; the children of five administrators were too young to attend school and those of the other five were too old to attend school. Ten 139 administrators had children attending school back home and two had children attending school in a country other than their home country but not at the overseas post. According to twelve of the administrators whose children were attending the school where they themselves had employment, there was no conflict of interest because of having their children at the same school as themselves. Five thought that this situation did bring about conflict; two had experienced this as a source of conflict in the past but now their children were at university. Of the twenty-nine administrators whose spouse worked at the same school as them, sixteen did not think that this was a cause of conflict; six were of the opinion that it was and three thought that it caused minimal conflict. Four did not respond. Forty-two of the administrators responded positively to the question, "Do you have any family back home?" Four did not have any family back home and ten did not respond to the question. Of those with family back home, eight had spouses; thirty-one had parents; seventeen had siblings and seventeen had children back home. Twenty-three of those with family back home did not think that this was a cause of emotional strain; thirteen thought that it was and fifteen thought that it sometimes was a cause of emotional strain. 140 The families of over seventy per cent of the fifty-six administrators had played a major role in the administrators' career decisions :- twenty-five responded to the question, "To what extent does/has your family influenced your past/present career decisions?" by stating that ninety per cent of all career decisions overseas involved agreement within the family as -all must be well for the family to function and stay overseas; six administrators suggested that families grow together more in interdependence and decision-making whilst overseas; three commented that the family's influence on career decisions had been greater in the past when children's schooling needs had to be considered. Other individual observations were :- there had to he opportunities for the spouse; the family were the main reason for being overseas because being overseas provided a more stimulating educational stimulus for them; consideration would not be given to a post regarded as unsafe for family; rapidly aging parents were now becoming a consideration and children's desire for a settled home was also a consideration. Seven administrators believed that family considerations had been a minimal influence in career decisions and nine expressed the opinion that family considerations had no influence on career decisions. 141 Advantages and Disadvantages of Living and Working in Overseas Environments The main reason for working overseas quoted by thirty-three of the administrators was for travel, adventure, to experience different cultures, meet interesting people and to enjoy new stimulating, challenging and rewarding experiences. Twenty-two administrators worked overseas because without interference from the unions and the courts they were able to make greater professional contributions to schools and this led to greater job satisfaction. Ten administrators worked overseas, for the financial benefits. Improved life-style was the reason given by seven administrators and another seven preferred the 'worldmindedness' of student bodies made up of students from many different nationalities. Three administrators liked the overseas country that they had been working in, each for more than fifteen years. Another three believed that their skills had been developed to work overseas and after so many years out of the 'mainstream' back home, they would not be able to get a job in their home country. One administrator stayed overseas because of the supportive parent groups and another worked overseas because of dislike of the violence prevalent in schools back home. 142 Poor job security, no pension and little prospect of a job back home accompanied by the difficulty of finding the next overseas post were cited as important problems associated with working overseas by fourteen administrators. Ten saw the difficulty of keeping abreast of current educational thinking as a main problem; six found local laws and bureaucratic 'red tape' major problems; another six were troubled by a lack of language proficiency. The mobility of faculty, students, parents and continuously changing school boards was expressed by five as problematic whereas poor communication services and the difficulties of getting supplies troubled six administrators. There were numerous other problems pertaining to working overseas :- continually troubled by the inconveniences associated with always living in developing countries; communication with local-hire faculty; difficulty in keeping committed faculty because of the rapid devaluation of the local currency; cost of recruiting faculty; appropriate education of own children;highly demanding parent community; lack of central office support system; dominant and meddling school board;no job for spouse; poor local staff; simultaneously adjusting to a new job and a new culture and losing proficiency of mother-tongue. Four administrators thought that there were no problems associated with working overseas. Many of the problems related to working overseas were also connected with living overseas and visa versa. 143 The problem that twenty-seven administrators refered to most often was the problem of being out of touch with relatives, friends and personal business interests at home. Three of the twenty-seven specifically mentioned that they missed children who were away at school. Seven other administrators were troubled by poor security and another five felt that poor health care was the main problem. Five always felt a foreigner and lacked roots and four missed good sports facilities; three had been concerned about the adverse climate overseas. Other problems associated with living overseas were :- always living with developing nations; inefficiencies overseas; boredom of spouse because local laws sometimes did not allow dependents of expatriate sojourners to work; small expatriate community did not reflect host national culture; communication problems due to lack of foreign language proficiency; lack of 'Americanization' of own children; own children grow up without roots; few opportunities to further one's own academic qualifications; few opportunities to find a suitable partner with respect to marriage and the continual necessity to explain to short-stay expatriates the need for long-term sojourners to make lasting friendships with host-nationals. The analysis of these data has been presented in the following chapter along with further supporting data and common statements collated from the transcriptions of the forty-four in-depth interviews. CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATED DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS This researcher analysed the data collated from the fifty-six completed questionnaires and the transcriptions of the forty-four in-depth interviews by use of a Levi Strauss-type structuralistic approach to content analysis and has drawn on commonalities with respect to the characteristic profile of overseas school administrators plus the nature of the career-path of the fifty-six administrators working in overseas schools to sketch a composite profile which has been substantiated where appropriate by vignettes extracted from the in-depth interviews. The interpretations have been formulated by considering the analyses in conjunction with the career guidance theories described in the review of literature. 144 145 Overseas School Administrators' Nationality, Gender, Title and Age When describing the average administrator employed at a random sample of the thirty-five overseas schools included in this study, one was likely to find that administrator to be a male who was a citizen of the United States; if the school had a British orientation then the administrator was most likely to be a male British citizen. The chief administrator was most likely to be called Headmaster or Superintendent and was on average likely to be about forty-seven years of age, which was older than the average subordinate administrator who most often went under the title of Principal and on average was forty-one years old. The overall average age for the members of the administrative teams included in this research was just over forty-four years. Overseas School Administrators' Academic Background, Training and Pedagogical Experience It was most common for these overseas school administrators to have taken subjects from the field of arts rather than from the field of science during their high school years and to have continued with the arts 146 rather than the sciences during their undergraduate studies. The subjects studied for higher academic qualifications were most likely to have been education or educational administration. These trends were reflected in the subjects taught by the overseas school administrator before attaining an administrative position in that they had tended to teach arts subjects rather than sciences or languages. The overseas school administrator had taught arts subjects, on average, for nearly eight years before moving into an administrative job; just under five of these years involved teaching in their home-country and over three years of teaching were completed abroad before they got an administrative position. There was little tendency for these overseas school administrators to have had experience as a coach or to have had any other occupational experience at home or overseas. It was normal for the overseas school administrator to be nearly thirty-three years of age and hold a Master's Degree before attaining an administrative position. Most of the overseas school administrators had no adminstrative experience back home before going overseas but those that did have administrative jobs at home, held such positions for an average of five years before going overseas. 147 Overseas School Administrators' Career Trends The average administrator was in his second overseas post where he would stay for more than four years; the average time spent at each overseas job was between three and four years. The average administrator had spent over twelve years abroad during his career and on average nearly eight and a half of these years had been as an administrator. His highest academic qualification was likely to be a Master's Degree but if he was British it would probably have been a Bachelor's Degree. The overseas school at which he was an administrator would have had, on average, a budget of nearly five hundred thousand US Dollars and would have had an enrollment of over six hundred students. Remuneration It is difficult to describe the typical salary plus 'benefits package' earned by the average overseas school administrator because these varied according to whether the administrator was the chief administrative officer of a school or a subordinate administrator and also on the budget of the school. ‘However, it was common for the administrators to have a house plus utilities, health insurance, flights at the beginning and end of each two year contract, a car plus a tax-free salary in the region 148 of thirty-six thousand US dollars per annum. Although most of the overseas school administrators had not received any help from overseas school boards with respect to further training, over a third had received some help and some had received quite a lot of help. Most of the administrators regarded finance and business management as their weakest areas with respect to past training and these areas were also quoted as areas in which still more training was needed. Even though these areas of weakness were identified by the overseas school administrators, most of the administrators were not enrolled' and actively working towards higher academic qualifications; even so, most of them had been recently enrolled in either a summer extension program or a regional workshop. 'Computers in Education' was a popular course recently taken by many. More than half of the overseas school administrators had recently travelled as far as the USA or Britain for courses . Utility of Home-Based Training The average administrator cited that teaching and an advanced academic degree had been the greatest help in getting into administration but virtually none of the fifty-six respondents thought that any of their 149 university courses had been of much help in relationship to working overseas. Some of the common responses from the in-depth interviews to the question, "Were any of your university courses related to working overseas?" were as follows :- -...no. As a matter of fact, after I'd finished my three months of Peace Corps training I wrote back to the university and told them that I'd learned more in three months than in four years at university with regards to teaching. The way the Peace Corps did it was a good basis for working overseas; -...none whatsoever. The only things that were useful were that I was working my way through as a graduate assistant in The Center For International Education and that's where I got a lot of experience working with international schools and made many, many, many contacts! It was 'hands-on' experience as I was working with overseas situations. Also, a goodly number of my professors allowed me to twist courses and papers to the overseas situation; so consequently these were very atuned to overseas applications; -...no. In fact the other way around; Law, Economics and Curriculum; all of which were very US oriented. Some general courses like Comparative Philosophy were helpful; they give one a general background and ideas about educational thinking; -...no. I passed '0' and 'A' Levels and the entrance exam for the RAF, trained to be a pilot and after the War I entered education in a 'sidewards move.‘ I learned the administration side of things as "monkey-see, monkey—do;" -...not at all. I don't think that any of the finance courses that I took were of much use overseas because financing private schools is a lot different from the US public schools; -...specifically no. But I got my first admin. job with only a Bachelor's, luck and a fluke; if 150 I'd had the graduate courses earlier they would have been useful but after the fact it was a little late. They would have lent an aura of expertise and polish to my presentations to the board and community. The courses are too oriented to Stateside education to be useful overseas. International Education Programs are filled with students who are going to work Stateside; most state universities are obligated to give courses to prepare people for their own state system and are therefore limited in what they can do for overseas people; -...yes, a fair number of courses in international relations and international business. In my senior year I studied for one semester at The London School of Economics; -...yes. I was allowed to relate all of my courses as far as possible to the overseas position. My plan was to get off the plane in June, go to school for one year and get back on the plane the following June. The university knew that and allowed all of my papers to relate to administration overseas; -...no. I find that as a real weakness of education programs; I've done overseas administration research doctoral work and my review of literature has indicated that there is a significant number of American curriculum schools abroad with over two million students who will ultimately come back to the US and it is important that their schooling is disrupted as little as possible. Having taught and now as an administrator overseas and having interviewed other administrators abroad it is apparent to me that there are unique problems, challenges and responsibilities abroad that teachers have no training or experience in. Basically, therefore, when we recruit teachers you basically hope that you get someone who is flexible and adaptable; -...no. And I don't think that there are any. It is not possible. It would be very difficult to give a quality course; each is site specific; it would be watered down to the degree that it became just a job search explaining what jobs are available and what the different schools are like. I don't think that there are problems overseas that are not unique; those that tend to be more intense do tend to be more localized; we had no problem or contact with the government in 151 Zaire (perhaps two times a year), here in The Middle East it's twice a day! Influences On Career Stages The majority of the overseas school administrators thought that teaching experience and advanced academic qualifications had been the greatest help to them in getting into administration. As many administrators also thought that networking, friends and contacts had a major influence in getting overseas posts as thought that academic qualifications had been a major influence. The average overseas school administrator considered that networking, friends and contacts had helped most in enhancing his career overseas and he regarded experience overseas as being important. A sample of common responses to the in-depth interview question, "What factors have helped you most in your career?" lends support to the sociological theories of career development with respect to 'being in the right place at the right time' and also with respect to 'chance happenings' outside of one's control bearing important influence on one's career-path. The first response is easily identifiable as an example of 'informal mentoring' which is an integral component of networking or the 'good old boy syndrome :-' -...people have helped me most. The peOple I've been fortunate enough to work with have been good professionals and people I've respected and they've respected me; they've been very helpful 152 in my moving from school to school; especially Jane, she is very much aware of me, my career goals; she's a power-house in S.E. Asia; -...being at the right place at the right time. Some place along the line a break is going to come along; it is important to be in a position to take advantage of it. I was around when they fired the business manager. Had they had the time to do a full search in the States they would have come up with people, who on paper, would have been better. Things can happen, they've happened here, where they are forced to hire internally; people die, leave suddenly, get fired, so they go with someone on the staff, perhaps on a temporary basis and if they do well ....then it becomes permanent. I've seen it happen many times. Also if you're going into an interview 'cold' or the application pile 'cold' without overseas contacts then you don't stand a chance. You have to know someone; -...I think that you've got to take risks. There are two words :- you've got to be FLEXIBLE and you've got to be ADAPTABLE. I've been fairly lucky with relationships; you've got to know people; jobs are not going to just fall into your lap. It's necessary to be constantly in touch with your peers, organizations (ISS, ECIS, NESA), international bodies. I think that you can't rely only on agencies, it can help but it's not the whole thing; you've got to get really broad experiences under your belt; -...my personal factors would have to be flexibility in both my teaching subject and where I'm prepared to work. In all my teaching posts I've actively pursued coaching and sponsored extra curricular activities which showed initiative and flexibility. I've also done a lot of travelling both in and out of the military and shown ability to adapt to other cultures, which I think is probably the single most important factor; -...my academic qualifications, especially in Argentina where the school was very snobbish and was impressed with letters on note paper - Cambridge degree and an Oxford Dip. Ed.; at this post having worked in Argentina (which is very Italian, more so than Spanish) was a big chance factor plus the fact that my predecessor had not had any experience of Italian culture before 153 coming here, which added to reasons for his making a mess of things; -...my service background. It formed a direct link into the 'old boy network' and when my close friend who was the previous headmaster drowned, the schoolboard phoned me. I hope that I'm not suggesting that I was offered this job solely on the basis of friends, but it certainly helps; it doesn't hinder; -...the factors that affect all individuals must be seen against the backdrop of what that particular institution needs at that particular point in its history. For me these factors have been the ability to think clearly and the ability to deal with things, not in anger but with a certain amount of human relations skills. At the same time there is a lot to being at the right place at the right time to being fortuitous enough to have the opportunity to apply your abilities. When I came here for instance this group was just getting involved in a building project - I'd been involved in a building project; they needed a complete rewrite of their policy manual - I'd just done one at my last district; they were complaining about guidance services - I'd dealt with that in my last two jobs. Because of my personal experiences ,I've been able to take certain circumstances that have come down this 'pipe-line' and deal with them not only from a theoretical standpoint but from the point of experience; -...the factors were not to do with schooling or academic qualifications. It's factors to do with learning how to deal with people, mediate and relate to people, especially in a close environment like we have here. You must get along with people and be very outgoing in fact. If you stay 'out of it,‘ if you want to live your own life, then you'd better stay at home and not go abroad. I had my own life back home, but here you can't be private; it's like living in a jam-jar. Everyone sees everything you do. You can't afford to choose your friends here; you have to be sociable with everyone; -...friends and the 'network.' That's how I got here; I'd let it be known on the 'grapevine' that I was not happy in Nassau because of the racial tensions and Dave phoned me late in May 154 that he'd got a good offer from Europe and was going to ask his school board to release him. He phoned me again in early June to say that he'd gotten the job and had been released from his contract; that was very late for his board to start looking for a superintendent with suitable credentials and free to move. My case was pressed for me, I don't suppose too many other potential candidates got to hear of the opening. The school board flew me over for interview and I got the job. I'd worked with Dave for three years as his superintendent; we were/are friends and our families get on well together; whenever we go to the USA for conferences or recruitment we have dinner together and we exchange Christmas cards plus the odd letter. Members of the so-called 'network' sometimes phone each other when enquiring about a possible appointment. I know dozens of overseas administrators this way; some better than others but when you've been the head of a big school like ----- (in North Africa) and you know everyone on each sandhill in The Middle East you build an extensive network. You go through the same adversities and make some good friends. Although it's not that 'cut and dry;' you must be capable of the job! You must have the versatility, the adaptability and the ability to change courses and use the talents you have and the talents around you. You can't call in the specialists from next door; next door is five thousand miles away! This researcher contends that the above sample of common responses given during the in-depth interviews lends interpretive evidence in support of the sociological or 'accident' theory of vocational choice and 'reality' theories of career development. It was not within the administrator's control that his friend drowned; it was chance that one administrator had experience of Italian culture from a background in Argentina and his predecessor had made a mess of things 155 because of his lack of ability in this context; it was the chance of 'being in the particular 'right place' when the business manager got fired that offered the opportunity to .another administrator; it was one administrator's social class membership that connected him into an 'old boys network' and this can be explained by the fact that one had to be a member of the middle to upper classes to become an RAF pilot before the Second World War; membership of social class also featured in the response from the administrator who had studied at Oxford University and Cambridge University because selection for admission to these institutions was significantly dependent on attendence at a British public (fee paying) school, which in turn is related to home background and membership of the middle and upper classes. (Times Educational Supplement, Jan. 1984) According to the sociological theories of career development, one of the principal tasks confronting the individual is the development of techniques to cope effectively with one's environment and be in a position to maximize the opportunities that come one's way. Such techniques include the development of networks, being flexible and building up a broad range of experiences so as to fit a large number of overseas school's needs. 156 Overseas School Administrators' Requirements For Still Further Training Almost all of the overseas school administrators were of the opinion that there was such a thing as a career in the administration of overseas schools and most of them thought that they would need further academic qualifications for career advancement. As indicated earlier in this chapter, the average overseas school administrator had recently taken courses back home or at a regional workshop. Even so, many of the administrators found it difficult to access adequate facilities for keeping abreast of modern educational trends and for renewing themselves professionally while overseas. These views were borne out by the following sample of typical responses to the interview question, "What facilities are there for renewing yourself professionally while overseas?" :- -...it's hard; really hard. In the first place the schools don't build enough in-service days into their budget and schedule. They just don't do it. Secondly who am I going to get to in-service me in counseling? Then there is the administrative aspect to the job; the administrators don't have the time nor the inclination to do in-service. Then if I were a principal who's going to in-service me? Again there are the conferences, but they tend to offer general topics in teaching so that they can accommodate the majority of personnel out here. Take computer education; that's fine; so I learn something about computers; but that's only 157 once a year. Besides that you read; you read the journals. But it's hard and you have to go back to the USA to take courses if you want something on your record. MSU run courses out here, but it's hard during term time; it's a strain; we have a lot going on out here; -...it could be pretty difficult out here because of the isolation but there are some exciting programs offered by MSU, Trenton State/New Jersey, Athens, Arkansas and there are other workshops run by EARCOS, NESA, and ECIS. I'd prefer to take courses overseas than go back to the States; you get to meet other overseas administrators and you all have common interests and problems. You learn a lot about opportunities coming up. The courses have more of an overseas emphasis; although that is a problem as the professors often try to relate their presentations to overseas administration but they are often lacking in their own overseas experience. There is a lot of room/opportunity to do a better job in these courses. It's a tough one; there are a lot of unique problems about administration overseas that are usually not touched upon; -...one of my personal frustrations; not enough opportunity for professional in-service;‘there's MSU that came out here; this year was the initiation of South East Asia Teachers Conference Overseas (SEATCO) and then there's EARCOS for the administrators; -...that's a real weakness in my opinion. The overseas administrator, like the overseas teacher, has to depend upon individual initiative for the most part to stay current. Most school people that I have spoken to generally indicate that we keep abreast on current changes in education because most of their staff return to their home country for the summer, some take courses; but that's a generalization. That's an assumption that people are going to go back during the summer and stay active in the profession. I think that in reality people go home, relax, they travel and visit friends plus family; they get away from school; -...there aren't many. We all think that; teachers and administrators. We're in a bit of a vacuum. This was really brought home when the 158 SEATCO was in Jakarta last year; we closed the school for the day because the response was so great from the staff. They were so enthusiastic after the conference workshops and meetings. Three of us are going to the SEATCO this November; it's quite an outlay for the school but the school board think that it's worthwhile. None of our British staff go on courses back home during the summers but they tend to be ines of expat. workers and stay over here with their husbands or take their family on holiday; -...it's very difficult in a private school system. You either go back to your own country on sabbatical which private schools are unwilling to fund (costs and replacement) or you arrange for a specialist to come to you and talk to your staff. As far as administration is concerned, there is absolutely no link between administration of this school and the administration of any other school in the world as far as I know. The situation is peculiar to each situation; -...MSU sends out professors. However I don't think that you can replace the 'on campus' experience where you can select your professors and talk with other students. Overseas School Administrators' Initial Career Plans During his senior year at high school the average overseas ‘school administrator had no intention of entering the teaching profession as a career option and in fact only six of the forty-four interviewed had thought of education as a possible career before they went to college. This researcher contrasts this with the findings of Seigel (1978), who stated that those students with high aspirations chose their careers early. The following extracts from the interview responses to the question, "What were your career plans in your senior 159 year at high school?" suggest that the average overseas school administrator had planned to be anything but a school teacher and here again this researcher has identified the phenomenon of chance which is important to the sociological theories of vocational choice :- -...not to go into teaching! I went in for it quite by chance. I had intended industry. During my last year up at Oxford I was offered three jobs, but I wasn't sure what I wanted. I had done my National Service so I was quite old not to know what to do. My tutor suggested a further year; in Education. He said that it would be easy. It was. During my teaching practice term, quite by chance the P.E. guy broke his leg and the geography teacher had a nervous breakdown so I was thrust into a full time-table. I had gone into the Dip. Ed. year with every intention of not going into teaching but during that teaching practice I found that I enjoyed it; -...none; I was born and raised on a farm and knew nothing else. I would probably still be there if it weren't for Vietnam and the requirement to enlist; -...Uncle Sam took me into the services for the end of World War Two; -...an RAF career; my father was an RAF officer and that's what I planned to go into; -...we had very poor career guidance at school and I think I had planned to follow my brother as an engineer. I got side-tracked into education by accident; -...I didn't have any idea; when I went into college I finally majored in zoology because that was my highest grade in my senior year at high school. But I knew that I wanted to travel and I knew that I wanted to go overseas before there ever was such a thing as the Peace Corps. I knew I wanted to go overseas and live with families. Peace Corps started up during my last year at college so I interviewed with them. I was on my way back home from my Peace Corps work 160 when, _as I was about to board the next plane, I was told that the local overseas school was looking for teachers; I started off on 'local-hire;' -...I only knew that I had a desire to travel; but that was about it. My parents had never left the state; perhaps my desire was a reaction to that? My elder sister married a Foreign Service Officer when I was in my formative years and they used to come back from abroad with stories; I used to think, "That sounds great!" To that end I thought that I was going into business. I got my MBA and got a job on Wall Street. If I had stayed there in that job I would have gone overseas after two or three years. My MBA courses had an emphasis on international business as I had known that I wanted to go overseas and my BA in economics was going to help. To cut a long story short I got disenchanted with the business world and went into teaching because they were short of math teachers and I needed to earn some money as my wife was pregnant! The average overseas school administrator agreed that there was such a thing as a career in the administration of overseas schools albeit a 'risky' one and although on average the overseas school administrator had not planned a career in education by the time he had reached his senior year in high school there was a commonality in the avenues that led these administrators into a career in education. Again, chance features high among the characteristics that describe the routes taken by these administrators that led into a career in education and ultimately into a career in the administration of overseas schools. As cited before, chance and circumstances in one's environment, beyond the control of 161 the individual, contributing significantly to the career choices one makes are central ideas to the sociological theories of vocational choice. The following 'typical' or 'common' responses to the interview question, "How did you get into overseas schools?" substantiate the questionnaire returns on the same question and suggest that the average overseas school administrator got into overseas education partly by chance and through responding by mail to newspaper advertisements or with the help of friends; but which ever way, it was without career guidance counseling :- -...a friend from college had a father who was desperately looking for teachers for a private school in the Virgin Islands; she called him; he hired us over the phone - 'sight unseen;' -...friend of a friend; the timing was right. They approached me. A friend of my friend was the principal of a school in Zaire and stopped over in Utah on his way through hiring. I'd just been on the phone to my friend that day explaining my dissatisfaction with my position and that I was ready to move anywhere. My friend told his friend who called me. I was hired over the phone; -...we were getting married and my fiance knew the area curriculum coordinator for DoDDS and he told her that he needed a reading person and that if I could get over to Germany then I'd got the job; -...with a Master's at twenty-six the possibility of breaking into administration was pretty slight. It so happened that the new high school principal at Athens was finishing his Ph.D. at a university up at the other end of the state; he called my superintendent who put him in touch with me. I went over to see him and he 162 offered me a job; -...when I was at college I worked for a dean of students who had wanted to go to Guam. Finally he got to go down there and he wrote back to us explaining what fascinating times they were having so we decided we'd apply. We saw an advertisement in an educational magazine - on one page they were asking for teachers and .the facing page was advertizing a teachers' dispute against the administration down there and telling everyone how bad it was! We applied and got the jobs; we just sent over our CV and they wrote back offering jobs; -...the British Council had sent me a couple of addresses but later I found out about agencies like ECIS and the like. My old headmaster gave me a leaflet when I dropped in to see him after I came down from Oxford; I had let him know that I was thinking about going overseas. He said, "You won't want this!" and was just about to throw it in the waste-paper basket; then he said, "Well take it and look at it." After that I forgot about it and it was weeks later whilst I was on a walking holiday in Switzerland that I found that leaflet screwed up in one of my pockets. The interviews were to be in Italy so I went on down there and presented myself at the office. They gave me the job; -...Australia was actively recruiting in the US in the seventies. I saw an advertisement and that started my interest growing. I wrote a number of enquiry letters on my own and then made contact with recruiters at the Northern Iowa Recruitment Fair. After a number of interviews I got five job offers so I chose what I thought was the best; -...I was finishing Peace Corps and was on my way out through Manila; I heard about the international school while I was waiting for the plane. I picked up a job there; -...by following my husband abroad. Partly I chose to marry him because I wanted to travel overseas; he was not a US citizen; -...we had the ISS Handbook and we just went through it saying, "...that looks good, ...that's good, ...that one looks good...!" We sent off twenty-five letters with our resumes 163 etc.; we had five offers, all from direct letters! -...I was finishing my Ph.D. and~ the university placement office phoned me with regard to a possibility in Greece. I'm probably the only person who got a job, other than his first, through his university .placement center! But they had received a call from the President of Greek College to say that he was looking for someone with high school experience and with overseas experience. I'd been with DoDDS years before. He was coming to R ----- to interview someone and decided to hit Greenboro as well; we talked and I got the job but every time we meet for dinner during recruitment trips or conferences he always reminds me how he had decided 'on a whim to hit Greenboro as well!‘ Extent of Career Guidance Facilities Overseas It can be.seen from the following responses to the interview question, "What facilities are there for career guidance overseas?" that there was common agreement among the administrators that it was very difficult to get career guidance with respect to a career as an administrator of an overseas school. However, although the type of 'formal mentoring' as described by Phillips-Jones (1983) was not practised, informal mentoring was ubiquitous :- -...very, very limited. I think most people would agree with that; there may be exceptions, I don't know of any; -...none to my knowledge; peers; -...sometimes placement agencies like ECIS will help; but there isn't really much in the way of 164 career guidance, even from them, other than from peers; -...you have to look for the jobs and opportunities yourselves; -...as far as I know there is no career guidance. You decide you want to move.....; -...I think only from colleagues and the people you work for. I think that breaking into administration overseas is very difficult because there are not enough‘ assistant principalships; most of the overseas schools are small, they need a principal not an assistant principal. And most overseas communities do not want to take a chance, they want a proven, experienced overseas administrator. And that's the first step - to get the first principalship. It's not easy. We've got a couple of talented administrative aspirants here; I don't know how to help them; it's tough to get the first principalship; -...I know of none. I think that it's a question of personal drive. If you want to get out of your own country (USA or UK) you must make your own path, do a bit of trail blazing and pick your own path as you go; -...I think that a lot of it is internal, inside schools; I talk to the senior members of our administrative team with regards to how to apply, what to say, types of recommendations or testimonials to get. That sort of advice can also come from the heads of ECIS etc.; -...formally none. The only help that I've seen comes from the universities who run courses overseas and then from colleagues. I remember one young man that I took to the school in North Africa and after one year promoted him to elementary principal. After three years he came to Malaysia as the deputy of the school and then he moved up to the chief administrative position. Subsequently he has moved to be the head of a school in Europe and I have come in here behind him. Myself and a number of other administrators had seen this guy was good and he proved a really efficient administrator and so he was helped from job to job - somewhat like mentors. That sort of guidance of young educators who want to get on in overseas 165 administration goes on, especially if they're seen to be a good risk; -...not very much as far as I can see. We try to run in-service courses to keep teachers up-to-date so that they're not suffering from being 'in the field' overseas. But one could be led into a 'backwater' in an overseas school and one might find it difficult to get back into a job back home after a lengthy stay overseas. There are limited career possibilities in overseas schools but some overseas schools do not recruit from the overseas field; they only take recruits from the UK. They don't want people who have spent their lives abroad; Hong Kong only recruit straight from the UK. On the other hand one does sometimes look for people with overseas experience, who have demonstrated that they can survive overseas. Nevertheless, someone who has had a career overseas, one place after another, is not always the best candidate for us here; he could be suspect. I would like to know his motives; -...EARCOS; but mainly just job lists. I've known people who after doing a job search have sent around a letter saying that this is what I did, this is how it worked out, these are the best methods and this is what it cost me. That sort of exchange goes on. No counseling has been brought to my attention. From my experience, as an overseas school administrator you're on your own; it's your reputation and your network of friends; -...generally from the chief school administrator. I was 'grooming' a teacher in Eastern Europe last year. I've had a number of close 'mentorship' relationships with other senior administrators overseas and mentored some teachers, giving ideas and leads; -...in the past I just moved from place to place following my husband and creating what best I could out of each situation. On the east coast of Malaysia I even opened my own school. Now I'm divorced and independent I need more training and career guidance. The question of careers for women is important; -...there are things out there but you have to go after them yourself; 166 -...there is no formal program of career guidance that I'm aware of. I know that most areas have associations of overseas schools and their administrators workshops are good opportunities for extending one's own network and informally passing on experiences and vacancies that one has heard might be opening; -...most of it is 'hit and miss.‘ If I had a problem I would go talk to Jack, our superintendent; it's certainly not formal. Jack's got a lot of experience and he got into our contract that we have a week to attend recruitment fairs; the board have been fantastic, they realize that we are isolated out here. The fifty-six overseas school administrators were not asked on the questionnaire to respond to the question about what facilities were available for pursuing a career in administration overseas but this question was part of the in-depth interviews. The common response was that there were no facilities available for pursuing a career in the administration of overseas schools; the important thing was to be part of the extensive networking that exists between overseas administrators. This supports the concept that is central to the sociological theories of career development: one must develop techniques to cope effectively with one's environment. Some common responses to this question were -...not much exists. For a job there are agencies (ISS, ECIS) but there is not much in terms of training. MSU helps but with most schools when they talk about international 167 education they're not talking about overseas schools; -...professional conferences and associations like ECIS and EARCOS are the one thing that can be of real assistance; that's where you hear about jobs and those are the people that keep you in touch with the job market. Then there's the environmental bubbles,,both the smaller ones in each community and also the world—wide bubble. The overseas school world is small; I personally know half of the overseas heads and I've only been at two truly international overseas schools. It does not take long to get onto that circuit - board members move around , they know about me, teachers move around. I've been asked privately to apply for at least two jobs because I'd been recommended by an ex-teacher. I don't think that placement agencies are much help; -...there's the network. It does not take long, doing a good job and being seen, before you start getting calls from people saying, "Hey there's a job opening. Are you interested? We'd like to have you apply!" There is a network. At the same time there does not seem to be an institution that runs courses for overseas school administrators. Unlike, for instance, the Foreign Service where you can go to Georgetown University that has a whole division for grooming people for diplomatic careers. There's a certain amount of adventure; risk taking. Overseas educators take bigger risks by coming abroad; they have no tenure. It's a risk; absence of honor, respect and pride; like hanging out your name plaque on the door and standing by their professional reputation, protected by nothing. Only their self respect in themselves; -...I would say that it depends upon your personal contacts, 'the good old boy network;' one administrator has been in a school for X years and a friend of his has been in another school and they tell each other they're about to move; trade offs. These things happen; -...it's very much a matter of chance. There are no facilities as such; interviews, appointments, it's all a matter of chance and whether you're at the right place at the right time and if your face fits. Or if you know somebody who knows 168 somebody on the board and suggests your name. These are the factors that count as the real influence and I see no evidence that there's any logical process in selecting administrators in overseas schoos; -...there are excellent opportunities abroad due to the large number of overseas schools and the lack of facilities to search out, recruit and promote enough quality people. A large number of administrators come from teaching ranks who have worked abroad. They develop a unique understanding of the problems and challenges associated with working overseas. I think that the opportunities are very good but there is probably a lot of competition for administrative positions. When you have screened those who have not had previous overseas experience, who have not had previous administrative experience in an overseas setting, I think you are down to a very few well qualified committed professionals; those who are still deeply committed to the educational program rather than looking at the assignment as a two year leave of absence from their home school; -...you have to take advantage of meetings and personal contacts and conferences. For instance, this summer I spent some time doing coursework with Trent State University at Majorca; while I was there I went out of my way to go up to Madrid to meet the superintendent of the international school up there because my wife and I would like to make a move in that direction. You've got to take advantage of Opportunities and situations. In fact, the longer you are overseas the more people you get to know. The fact that Peter is now in Europe and John is now in Malaysia, (they're both administrators who have just left here), will be a big help to me. The 'mentor' thing is bigger overseas than it is in the States; -...it's hard; it's easier to get jobs from the States than it is when you're overseas because you're right there for the recruitment fairs. For me out here, I'd have to write letters; they'll hire teachers 'blind' but they want to interview administrators and I'm not going to fly to London or Greece at my own expense on the off-chance of getting through the interview. A lot of people only go to the conferences to find out about jobs; they don't go to the presentations! The 'old boy' network is very 169 active overseas; if I heard of a job opening in, say, Taipei, my administrator would call there directly by phone and present my case (and perhaps arrange for an interview at this year's EARCOS conference; -...it's very difficult; in the States there's a career-path to follow whereas overseas it's very much a case of which jobs open up at a time when you're ready to move, where you happen to be, how you heard about it, and most important is who you know. This job in Europe was never officially advertised but the day that Ben resigned, the board had twelve applications on their desk! One was mine. It was never put on the market. When I left Eastern Europe they had two hundred and fifty applicants and that was for a 'hardship post!‘ Can you imagine how many this job would have attracted? I happened to know an ex-board member from my school in Eastern Europe who had just been transfered to Western Europe and had gotten to know a board member here; he found out about the job being open and phoned me that day. My credentials and experience stood up but it was nice for me that they did not have to wade through three hundred other applications before they found mine. Suggested Beneficial Attributes Necessary for Career Advancement As An Overseas School Administrator The responses from the questionnaires showed that the commonly held belief of the fifty-six administrators with respect to the personal qualities they would expect of a successor was that he should have had successful experiences as an administrator overseas and that he should be both flexible and adaptable. It was also thought that he should have good human relations skills, be energetic and be a decision maker with leadership skills. These views were supported by the responses to the interview question, "What personal attributes would 170 be beneficial for an overseas school administrator?" :- -...adaptability, open mindedness, flexibility, ability to see a situation in a light different than they're used to; -...outgoing, articulate, good listener, presentable, have a feeling of confidence; -...patience; you must realize that things cannot be done in a day; on the other hand you have to maintain standards. You must have PR skills, you spend a lot of time in the community going to ambassadors' homes and when sheiks come through the door you must be able to meet them at their level and be able to say no sometimes; you must be able to approach them without upsetting them; there are people who can shut us down in a day if they so desire and you get on the wrong side of them. There are things you must recognize that you don't go against; we had to close the school for three days last year in mourning for one of the shieks' seventeen year old son who wiped out his Mercedes doing a hundred and twenty miles per hour in town; he killed four others; -...you must be aware of the administrative functions. You must be flexible. Certainly a high degree of flexibility. Ability to generate positive interpersonal relationships. You must be able to disassociate yourself from your US status and mix with the host-nationals and the local-hires; you have to recognize logistics are substantially different here. You must appreciate the fact that different nationals might be harboring differing goals; there's a whole bag of tricks; -...I think that you have to be flexible and tolerant, and willing to see a new way of doing something. If you try the 'memo system' with Asians it just won't work; you have to sit down with them and discuss the issue over tea. Then you get answers. You have to be flexible and be aware of the cultural idiosyncrasies of the nationals that you are working with. Just recently I found out why we've been getting blue toilet seats in our lime green bathrooms; we didn't specify on the order form! If you want white, you must state it! If you don't state, then you get whatever comes to hand. Another 171 principal wanted two posts removed. They did it and filled the holes with rocks; he wanted it grassed over but didn't say, "Fill in with tOp-soil." So he got rocks. In Asia you must specify. You have to treat it as a game and learn the rules that they are playing to; -...adaptable; flexible; supportive of the staff. In the States you can have an independent life after school. Overseas it's vitally important to be involved with the staff and be aware of their personal needs. Support systems and morale are important and are directly related to admin. awareness of needs. Most of your social life revolves around the school, so if you're the type that can create a feeling of caring and good morale then you'll do better; -...he has to be a good listener; has to be organized; must be a fairly good public speaker; has to communicate well with faculty, board, parents and kids; you should have a pretty good idea of what you think a good school is; -...I think you have to be really flexible. Things just don't work overseas the way they do in the US. Flexible in a lot of things, in other people's views, you have to be accepting in the fact that they just don't see things the way you do. It isn't always 'black and white' overseas; there are always people saying, "...wait a minute, in our country we don't do things that way!" Flexible and tolerant. More than anything you've got to be able to work with people because you've got a transient group of teachers coming through every two years and you've got to grab that person, develop a rapport with them, get them to respect you and this sort of thing in a very short time; then they're gone again and you've got another group. You don't have the luxury of saying, "These teachers know me! They've been here for fifteen years!" You can't sit back. You've got transience; every time you've got new people you've got new ideas. You've got to take those new ideas and work them into the type of school that you want without destroying their creativity; -...you've got to have good relations, morale, school climate; you've got to be absolutely fair. People will put up with a lot if they feel that it's fair; -...you have to be flexible; there are many 172 frustrations overseas - laborers who neither read nor write, but the structure goes up and it gets maintained. You have to have a sense of humor and then you can't lose. But flexibility is something very much required in terms of overseas administration. If you can't find a certain product you must be able to turn to other things, other ways; -...f1exible. Not surprised by things that can happen in your personal life. You have got to expect the unexpected. You have got to expect no water, no electricity. You've got to expect rumors of political problems and be able to cope with them. You've got to expect that suddenly they'll pull out American families and the school will go down dramatically overnight and you have to step down from being a superintendent to a teacher, so you have to be flexible. You have to be positive because you have to. keep the attitude of your staff positive to face the political rumors; -...administrators overseas have a much greater responsibility to caring for their teachers, more than in the States where there is much more in the way of 'back-up offices' etc. but here the whole game's yours. Because of that you need administrators who are willing to work really hard and very often long hours; they must be organized but most of all they must be true educators with sincere interest in children's total education. Parents overseas are much more involved in ’ the school. The overseas administrators that I've experienced have spent a lot of time with parents; you've got to be able to sit down with parents and give them time. Tolerance. You must be able to look at yourself at the end of the day and laugh at least at one thing because the frustrations are very great. Basically you have to be a real hard worker; you can't come overseas for a holiday. You can't be rigid in your thinking. One of the problems is the tremendous 'turn-over' of staff, kids, parents, board and administrators; it's important therefore, to have things written down; to have policies, procedures and curriculum so that the next person does not have to start at square one; -...you have to be free from your own ego getting involved in your decisions; free from personal involvement in the issues that come up and administrators are often 'ego' people. The 173 job does not have a whole lot of built-in strokes so you end up standing alone a lot. And it's hard standing alone and not let your ego get involved. Overseas it becomes more of an issue because you get involved in people's lives; they're often community schools. With overseas-hired teachers you're not only involved in pay, benefits, curriculum and all the other professional matters but also in all the maintenance factors of living; like housing, shopping, health, emotional events and long off family. Personal relationsip skills and communication skills are important. This researcher did not administer aptitude tests, interest inventories or performance tests to the fifty-six overseas school administrators who took part in this project so the researcher cannot analyse the data with respect to the 'trait-factor approach' whereby counselors attempt to assess their clients' strengths and weaknesses, interests and values in relation to the characteristics and skills required for employment in various occupations. However the reader, no doubt, can readily appreciate and recognize the commonalities of beneficial attributes for administrators overseas schools that emerged from the responses quoted above and can perceive how these ‘commonalities mesh with the 'trait-factor theories' of career counseling. Reasons For Overseas Movement Although varied, there was a commom trend in how the fifty—six overseas school administrators first heard 174 about overseas schools. The majority heard of the existence of overseas schools from friends or relatives and many had come by the information through reading or from placement agencies. A relatively high proportion (nearly eleven per cent) of the administrators had lived overseas as children, which was to be expected, being in agreement with Useem's concept of Third Culture Kids (TCK) and their propensity for seeking careers that enable them to travel and live overseas (Useem, 1978). Travel and adventure appear to have been important drives that directed these fifty-six administrators to their initial overseas post and although some were interested in the particular culture or location of that first overseas job, on average, the administrators responded that they were attracted mostly by the job itself. For those administrators who had been at more than one overseas post there was a commonality in that they left one post for career advancement or because they had been at that post for 'long enough' and they were attracted to the next post, again for career advancement or because of the school's location. The administrators who had been overseas for the greatest number of years and who had worked at the greatest number of posts tended to take into consideration their family's needs and the potential career prospects and benefits of the next job more than just the geographic location of the next 175 position. The following were common responses to the interview question, "Why do you work overseas?" :- —...job satisfaction is number one; plus adventure. The opportunity for quality education for our children. For a living situation that allows the family to do a lot more together; you're travelling together and you're a lot more dependent on one another; -...you're free of a lot of the laws; you're free of a lot of the financial restrictions; you're allowed to be an educator; -...if you're romantic you can 'just get off on it;' sometimes I just flick through the ISS Handbook and think, "Where do I want to go next? North Africa? Maybe I'd like to go there for a while?" If you like to travel, if you like different cultures, it's great; -...I think that the real key is that one has more control over the school in an overseas environment than one has in one's own country. It might be that a private school in the US is comparable to this, but you don't have to worry about teachers' unions or about government regulations. I would not like to work in an overseas school where fifty per cent of the kids were host-nationals (like in South America) and that's not because I don't like working with host nationals. But with those people, every time you want to raise tuition you get a reaction. I've worked most recently where ninety-five per cent of the kids have been from embassies or company sponsored, so you can ask for what you need. If you need it and can make out a case for it, you get it; -...I love to live overseas. I like the international community of people, the students, parents and faculty; all very cosmopolitan. The kind of people that you work with seem to be more adventuresome, open minded and flexible; -...there are few restrictions here. I like the quality of life here as a superintendent; house, car, maid, big dollars. I like the free time 176 that I have here to do the sort of thing I never had time to do Stateside; I run three times a week; sail (I've gotten my helmsman's certificate since I've been here); I've got my diver's license., I had one February in Pennsylvania where I had eighteen after school functions, board meetings, Saturdays, evenings. Here it's twice a month board meetings in the afternoons which are very pleasant. The committee meetings here take place in the afternoons so it's just an extended day; when I go home, I go home. I used to go home, eat quickly, say, "Hi!" to the kids and then go back to meetings. Too taxing! Besides having more free time the remuneration package here is very nice; I've never had as much : house; car; leave; annual flights home; baggage; insurance and the salary itself is higher. All this and money too! -...main attractions are the schools themselves. They tend to be freer and more creative; there tends to be a feeling of professionalism (more than in the USA); I like the kind of youngsters that are living and moving overseas. I like the kind of professional educator that comes overseas; the teachers that are over here are here because they like children. You overlook the hassles (because they are there); it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't for the fact that the schools are good educational .institutions. I'm talking as a parent as well as a head. My two daughters have had good education overseas. It's much, much better. One of my daughters went from second grade through twelfth grade in overseas schools; she was very well prepared for university and she could have gone to one of the very best schools in the US (in Santa Clara) if we'd stayed in California. The girls were individuals; they were taken care of; people cared for them overseas; -...my children's education was number one; a very important factor. I can be a real headmaster here. I couldn't in London where I'd be subject to all sorts of illegitimate demands and pressures from governors who are not educationalists. Here I'm accountable to the parents, but I think that that's how it should be. I'm being paid to do the job and to ensure that the place is run well, but I can achieve that here. I can hire or fire staff and get rid of kids; I don't have to worry about local authorities telling me that I can't suspend 177 kids. I can fashion the place more after my own desires, more than I could ever do in the UK; -...because it makes my life worth while; because it is tremendously exciting to me; very challenging. Here I can walk into the superintendent and say, "I think I've got this marvellous idea; I think it'll work with the kids!" and he'll give me encouragement and we'll give it a try. I think that overseas you have the opportunity of using your commitment, take part in what's going on and really make some changes; -...not having actually selected overseas administration as a career option, but sort of just gone into it, I think that I've stayed overseas because it has been an enjoyable productive experience and in the back of my mind I have the idea that it would be extremely difficult to find an equivalent job in the USA; -...I find that working in a small organization overseas like this you're a big fish in a small pond; it gives personal satisfaction. I found working in a large educational authority in England very dispiriting, you could never get to the man at the top, never get a straight answer, never get anything changed and I came to the conclusion that I was nothing more than 'a post box and an messenger boy.‘ Here I'm more than that; ' -...for me it's the life-style. It's the attractions, it's exciting. Just being abroad; even when you're not there, just listening to the international news you say, "Yeh, I've been there, I know what they're talking about!" Like when Aquino was murdered, a group of us who had been in Manila at one time or another got together one evening to talk about it. The Korean airliner that was just shot down by the Russians, we had students, families from the community and friends on that flight. It brings the news into your lives. The people back home are so insular, so inward looking. The rapid expansion in S.E.Asia; we see it happening. The Japanese etc., they're overtaking the West; we see it happening. It's exciting. Before I went out to the East I read up on these countries and I recognized that it is here that things are going to happen. It's here; it's happening. I wanted to be here. The diplomatic circle; I think it is interesting to mix with these 178 people; I enjoy the cocktail parties. The facility and the ability to travel. That's why I work and live overseas. I did my practice principaling in a small town in Ohio; the desk was half filled with law books, union rules, what you can do and what you can't do; everything had to follow the guidelines. Teachers could not spontaneously and voluntarily put on a play; you couldn't call more than one faculty meeting a month. That's not education. I like it overseas where educators say, "If there's a need, let's fill it!" Where you sit down and talk about kids, know them, work with them. In the school that I worked in the States at two thirty you trampled each other getting to the door. Here people remain in school until all hours discussing what's best for the kids and the school; -...the advantages of working overseas are very clear. First of all you have adequate money to buy the materials to do the job. Secondly you have the best kids in the world. Thirdly you have supportive parents. Within reason the tuition buys everything that one could possibly think of to enhance the lives of the kids. When I was back home I can remember spending half an hour with the superintendent and feeling really good about coming away with one hundred and fifty dollars. Last year here, I told the school board that the way to go was with computers. They asked, "How many and how much?" I said, "Fifteen .for about twenty thousand dollars.". They said, "O.K.!" They want the best for their kids. In the States you wouldn't have the money; then you'd have a first hearing and a second; finally you'd have to choose and identify between twelve different models and you'd upset all those you didn't buy from. The kids here are great; they come from thirty-eight different nations; they read at hdme, they don't have television; they might watch a video for an hour or so, now and then, but they communicate as a family. Those parents are interested in their kids. In the States administrators carry a million dollars insurance against law suits plus professional association coverage. Not only do we not have those here, we have only had one parent go to the school board with a complaint in three and a half years. Mostly they go to the teacher first and then come to us, but we virtually always can sort things out among ourselves. 179 McClelland's three motivators :- power, affiliation and achievement are all clearly identifiable in the last vignettes. For some administrators it's the power associated with being 'a big fish in a small pond;' for others, satisfaction comes from mixing with 'the diplomatic set' on the cocktail circuit and yet others are motivated by satisfaction which is derived from their enhanced ability to achieve because of administrative freedom. As can be seen, the advantages of working overseas were quite clear to those administrators interviewed but there were restrictions and 'draw-backs' to working and living overseas. The following responses depict the common negative aspects with working and living overseas -... the transient community is a problem, teachers, kids, families. You develop things with kids and then they're gone. Local drug laws; you can walk into a chemists off the street and get two hundred 'Seconol' over the counter; heroine is available! The drug laws are a problem for the administrators. Parents complain, but we don't write the local laws; we can only regulate what their kids do in school; -...'turn around' time with orders is a restriction. If you make a mistake with your orders or if you forget something, the kids suffer and you look bad. Although we are on a direct telephone line to the States and you can fly things in, at a price. Local government can be a problem, getting things in; -...restrictions? Oh yes. Not being able to keep 180 up with what's happening in education in the States or elsewhere. So I go back every year to summer school and I have a tremendous number of subscriptions to professional journals; -...probably the biggest restriction is that due to the turnover you are limited to how much you can build program-wise and with respect to relationships; -...rate of turnover; both kids and faculty. It's difficult when you've had a good teacher build up a department and then leaves. The longer your're at a school, the more you know and the more you take on. Recruiting to replace a good teacher is difficult; -...you get out of touch with family, friends and the profession; -...one wishes one could be a little closer to the profession. One can keep up by reading, but that's not the same as talking about it over a beer with other colleagues in the 'run of the mill stream' back home. To that extent there is a certain degree of isolation here. You can know what's going on, but that's not the same as experiencing it. You have to work on it; -...constant turnover is a headache. You train a board to work your way and then it all changes. Another difficulty is working with local bureaucracies; 'you don't understand it but you've got to work with it. It's very, very difficult to understand it; it's very, very difficult to deal with it; it's very, very frustrating whether it's Africa or Europe. The inefficient ones you can get around; the efficient ones are worse; -...well it 'ain't home!‘ Once you realize that. I've got water blocked in my sink right now; it's been sitting there for two weeks. Every time you flush the toilet you have to fill it again with a hose; that's just the way it is. On the amount of money the school allows for housing it's all we can afford. Many times the schools will get the apartment and furnish it; then they take care of it's maintenance. Then you don't have so many problems yourself but you still have the electricity go dim or out; the water's always going off. If you're not going to accept that, then you shouldn't be here anyway; there are always minor irritations; 181 -...restrictions? Budget; finance; inadequate buildings; unrealistic expectations of what the role of the school is; unrealistic expectations of what can be accomplished in an overseas school; -...right now we find it very difficult having all of our children living away; the last one just graduated high school so we're going through the same 'withdrawal symptoms' we would have had anywhere in the world, although being overseas makes the distance and consequently the feeling of isolation even greater. Also I'm an ardent sports fan! I miss not being able to keep up with the basketball and football and baseball seasons; I miss that part of the USA; no TV; there are just things about being an American that one misses once in a while. As cited in Chapter Two, Hanson and Fiedler (1973) have suggested that the relationship between work and the satisfaction of needs varies with the people involved. It would appear to this researcher that those administrators who remained overseas found that their work satisfied their needs and that the advantages out-weighed the restrictions. Difficulties Associated with Overseas Movement Trying to establish a career as an overseas school administrator was a risky affair because, as can be seen from responses quoted earlier, there was no career-path to follow, there was no tenure and facilities for career guidance were virtually nonexistent. Even with these evident difficulties a considerable number of educators 182 had created for themselves a career in the administration' of overseas schools but one of their prominent dilemmas was securing positions in administration overseas and moving from post to post. The following are some common responses to the interview question, "How easy is it to move from overseas post to overseas post?" :- -...I've found it relatively easy but it's a lottery; it's Russian Roulette with your career. You either have to do what I did the first time; that is resign and make it known all over that you're available; or you do the opposite and walk into your board in late May and say, "Hey, I've got this great job offer!" But it's not nice to do that. Everything depends on your relationship with the board; absolutely everything. The board are the ones who are either going to recommend you or not for your next position; no board now, hires without phoning and talking to at least two or more of a prospective candidate's present board; -...it is not easy; it helps somewhat if you have a worldwide group of connections; people that you know, people that you've met and you maintain these connections; -...in the British style overseas schools there is no system like in the American style overseas schools, it is not too easy; -...these schools are pretty isolated but the communications and the contacts are kept up; we. do it much more so than if we were in the US because it's vital to us both personally and professionally. I've found no problems moving but I don't know if you've analysed what I said earlier but I stayed in Nassau for only one year, which is not a good recommendation on the face of it; but I have a reputation and when I say that Nassau is just not the place to be, they accept that; -...if you have the contacts it's possible. If 183 you don't, it's really tough. Most people know someone at the place they're going to. I'm keeping definite contacts alive. Most places want to interview you for admin. jobs; if you can get to interview then you stand a chance, but if you can't and you don't know anyone then it's impossible; -...once you're overseas and proven yourself, it's not that difficult; you might not get what you want, where you want, when you want but you can move. It's the 'grape-vine,‘ 'the old boy network' and 'being at the right place at the right time;' knowing the right people. Mainly through networks. It works the same way when we're hiring; if someone is available and is known by one of the network then we call that person on the phone and ask them. Plus the word gets out and people get a reputation that follows you; -...it seems to be who you're known by; it's a lot of 'word of mouth.‘ Our ex-superintendent has just moved to Europe; if he had a job he'd phone me. A lot of that goes on; -...I think it's hard but it also depends from year to year what becomes available and it depends on one not being restrictive in the geographical area and types of schools your're looking for; -...you're really not master of your own fate. You have to be prepared to jump at an opportunity; it's not much good trying to 'map out a career-path.‘ Timing is difficult; many times jobs don't become available until late in the Spring and after you've had to commit yourself to another year at your present school. But you've got to be professional about it. (If I were a board member and the headmaster came in June to say that he'd just got a job offer that he couldn't refuse, I'd be straight on the 'blower' to his prospective new school and explain to that school board how he was letting us down! If a head expects his teaching staff to give him notice in February then he should do the same with his board. This researcher analyzed the above responses as 184 providing further support for the sociological theories of career development because maintaining networks was understood as being synonymous with developing techniques to cope effectively with circumstances in the administrators' environments that contributed significantly to their career choices. An integral influence on overseas school administrators' careers was how they reacted to working and living in environments that were often quite different to the environment in which they were brought up and quite different from the environment and culture in which they were trained for their profession. Even though the average overseas school administrator was self-described as outgoing, adventuresome and as typically one who enjoyed travel, the impacts of culture shock and role shock were common citations that consistently featured in the responses during the interview question, "What were your initial reactions to working overseas?" Some typical responses were :- -...we drove all day and through the night to cross the length of Yugoslavia and arrived in the dark; tired out. We were amazed by all the bleached limestone desert. We wondered, "What on earth had we let ourselves into?" We had always known the lush green of New England. We wondered, "What was it going to be like?" We went down town; no-one spoke English. We were completely disoriented! Couldn't recognize anything to buy to eat! We knew it was going to be different, but I was not as prepared as I had imagined I would be. For a couple of months it 185 was tough. I would have 'broken' if I had been on my own; I would have gone back home. Having my wife with me made all the difference. It doesn't matter where you go, that initial period of getting used to living and working overseas is tough. After that you always have experiences to fall back on. Coming to Asia would have been worse if it had not been for our past experiences; we couldn't find a house; we had to move two or three times. We brought over our dog; it died. Both our parents died that year. It could have been really tough; had it been our first year overseas I think that we would have packed up and gone home. You have to be resilient and you have to realize that things are going to be different. For a year you might get bumped around a bit; it's all part of the experience; some of it is bad; -...it was total shock the first time; a kind of complete frustration with everything you try to do, work, eat, communicate, shop, live; -...the first few days were a daze; we couldn't find the food shops and there was nobody to turn to. Our orientation, or lack of it, was a disaster. We never quite recovered from that; this place was so much better and we settled in very much more quickly and were more productive at school; -...the Caribbean was more of a culture shock than here; this is Chicago in comparison, at least on the surface; -...a typical frustration is the language wherever you go when your job depends upon your ability to communicate; when you find that a number of your employees don't communicate in English and you don't communicate in the native language your effectiveness is greatly reduced; but the degree of culture shock that I've experienced here is considerably less than in Egypt; -...in Macedonia I was pretty startled by how little the school cared about the faculty. I phoned the superintendent from the airport; he only said, "Phone me back with a phone number when you've found yourself accommodation!" The philosophy of that school administration was that they were doing the overseas—hires a favour bringing them to the 'seat of civilization.‘ 186 Africa; I was startled by the lack of dedication the teachers had allowed themselves slip into. The quality of their personal lives was such that they were not in a position to lead kids. I feel strongly that you must be a role model for kids; you don't want them to be exactly like you, but anyone who doesn't believe that kids are affected by how their teachers behave and dress are right off base. We got the teachers to wear shirts and pants, not cut-offs and tank-tops; we got them to come to school regularly unless they were really ill and we encouraged them not to be 'hung-over' in the mornings on school days; we had lesson plans for the first time and we didn't renew the contracts of the philanderers and partner swappers; -...initial reaction was extreme excitement but after the 'honey-moon' was over it became more of a struggle; -...we didn't know what we were coming to; we didn't know how primitive it would be; we're getting over that now; -...Pakistan, the heat; Kabul, the beautiful city; Malaysia, how green it was; -...when we came here we were completely on our own! We had some sort of building but no staff nor equipment; we had to start from scratch. After having all the support systems of the central office, that was some kind of role shock; I had to become a 'Jack-of-all-trades' and put my status to one side; -...the Benelux Countries was a surprise. I knew that there had been human relation problems here; in the recent past there were 'lock-outs;' that's the reason why I got the job, but what I didn't realize was what a disasterous effect that has on the day-to-day systems of management, just getting things done was so difficult with such low morale and mistrust of everything I said; -...the parents here at Bangdung had been very antagonizing, hypercritical; it took them a year to come round. The school is only seven years old; there has been a great deal of political struggling; I'm the sixth head in eight years; the main problem is due to the turn-over of staff, teachers, children, parents and the 187 board; things are getting better; -...there are far more strains and stresses among the people here; far more than among parents and students in more settled circumstances; people are under far more pressure; this is reflected in the school; the transient nature of the student body and expatriate community does not help; it creates tensions and produces a superficial approach to many things. The homes are very often virtually one parent as the fathers are away on business so often; parents are off at cocktail and dinner parties so often that the students spend a great deal of time on their own and this sometimes leads them into drugs and other troubles. Although there had been some site-specific surprises during the average administrator's career with respect to the job that they had to do in comparison with the original job description, on the whole most of the fifty-six administrators had found that their jobs had not evolved very differently to the job description given them during recruitment. The administrators tended to characterize other overseas school administrators as professional, dedicated educators who were innovative, adaptable rand flexible. It was also suggested by these administrators that they could put these traits to good use overseas because there they could spend more time dealing with educational matters as they had to spend less time on union negotiations and with problems associated with the law and litigations. The role of the overseas school 188 administrator was seen as basically similar to that of educational administrators back home but there were extra responsibilities for the overseas administrator, especially with respect to the housing and welfare of faculty. The extra responsibilities were regarded as a test of the overseas school administrators' ingenuity and resoursefulness. These data can be analysed utilizing the general hypothesis of the personality—in-career theories whereby it is suggested that people with similar personality characteristics occupy similar occupations. (Mitchell, 1978) Also it is suggested that people select vocations because they envisage potential for satisfaction of their needs by the successful application of their personal skills. (McCall and Lawler, 1976) Overseas School Administrators' Career Goals and Expectations for the Future The majority of overseas school administrators had career goals that included their continuing in administrative roles overseas. Those already in the 'top' jobs wanted to continue in similar positions and those in the subordinate administrative posts aspired to positions of chief administrative officer. Content analysis of responses to the interview question, "What do you see as 189 your career future?" identified the following common responses :- -...I won't go home. I'd like another six or so years here. Perhaps another overseas appointment after that; Nairobi? Europe? I'd certainly be in charge. Power might corrupt. But it's certainly nice! -...that's very difficult to say. I certainly envision currently staying in the overseas system for ten years or so. To project further than that is not, I think, very realistic. I certainly envision in the next ten years or so I'll be actively involved either as a high school principal or as a superintendent of an international or American school overseas; -...I really don't know. I tend to follow the 'opening door' philosophy of career development. I see myself continuing overseas until retirement and that probably means a couple more schools because I believe that an overseas school head should move every five or six years and I don't believe in 'job-hopping,' staying only two to three years. On the other hand, this is an awfully good job that I've just moved to and I could comfortably stay here to retirement if I felt that I had enough challenges. So I don't know; it's very unlikely that I'd take a job in the US. I'll retire in the US but I don't know where; -...having just become headmaster, that's a bit premature. Well, I'm here for four years; by which time I'll be fifty-five. They might extend me another four years if I'm lucky; I can't go to a better place than this; -...difficult. I get a great deal of satisfaction from this job. If it were somewhere else I'd stay for life; but the climate and the locale do get to me. There's good social life but sometimes I think it's a bit false; they're not here very long. At my age I think that I could get one more similar post. I have no ambitions to get a bigger school; even here I find it difficult to get into the classrooms. In a bigger school it would be impossible. I think that there is no chance back as a head at home; 190 -...I suppose that I'll either stay here or at the most one change before I retire. If I did move it would be to another overseas post; it would have to be a spectacular offer to take me back to the USA and it would have to be in the capacity of a job related to overseas schools; -...we used to play this game once a week when we were in Africa. We use to say, "In a year, where do you think we'll be?" We never guessed correctly and it was chance that the political situation developed in such a way that Reagan pulled us all out in the middle of the year. We were lucky to get these jobs; it was not planned; -...after this I'd like to be the head of a small to medium school or the deputy superintendent of a large school for five or so years. At this point I don't see myself running a big school. It's more a PR job. I see myself staying overseas but eventually I'd like to find something good; good location, good money, good conditions, and stay; but it's all luck! For someone who has not travelled abroad or who has not worked overseas it might be difficult to understand that the majority of the administrators experienced no great pull to return to their home countries for a prolonged period during their working life and quite a large proportion of them had no particular plans to retire to their home country. It has already been stated that this present research did not include the administering of personality tests, so analysis of the careers of the fifty-six overseas school administrators with respect to the 'personality-in-career' theories is not possible in this dissertation but there does appear 191 to this researcher to be evident a commonality of personality-type among the administrators who participated in this research. There was a propensity for these administrators to be living and working overseas because that way of life satisfied their needs in a way that living and working back home did not. This supports the general hypotheses of McCall and Lawler (1976) and Mitchell (1978) that suggest people select their jobs because they envisage potential satisfaction of their needs. The following responses to the interview question, "What would be the reasons for returning home?" support the data from the fifty-six questionnaires :- -...I don't have a quarter of an acre on the ocean waiting 'for me. We have the ability to adapt; we won't retire to the States, I'll probably die teaching in Africa or India. I can't imagine life without teaching; after a few more years here we'll probably give our time and expertise to schools in a developing country. I'm not working for the security of a condominium in Florida; -...I probably won't; -...we don't have a pull to the US. We're not waiting for the ideal job to show up in the US. When six years have gone and the girls are through university we'll save for two years and then go to Europe to teach, for the experience; the money's much less there but we'd be going for the culture. We are greedy for travel and culture, not for more money after the girls have left university. We don't want to be anything but US citizens; -...I am considering what's important to me back 192 in the US. Now my daughter's graduating I'm freer; I might go back to school; family might take me home; re-marrying might do it. My children both being back in the US is a draw to be closer. I have no desire to teach in the US, so job wise I'll look overseas; -...family illness, retirement; -...retirement probably. Or I might get fired and nobody picks me up! External rather than internal; I have no intention returning to the US before I retire; -...maybe the capriciousness of schools' firing policies. In the States there is a formal evaluation process of how an administrator is doing; but not overseas. You can literally get on the wrong side of a school board member over a game of tennis and they can get together with a couple of others and turn against you. The changing, transient nature of a board can mean that all the work that an administrator has done can be forgotten when a new board member comes in with a one-mind set and set everything into a downwards trend. Perhaps when the kids go to college I might go back with them; -...I don't intend going back, but who can tell? I've known many others who have said the same but have ended up returning home when the pressure overseas has become too great; problems with wives, drinking, board, living; -...I've been here over twenty years and I intend retiring here. I know others like myself but I have known many who have returned home :- one previous administrator here, had a long term goal to be administrator of a US private school and as soon as the opportunity arose he went back; another high school principal left after six years because of his wife's strong family ties back home, but it nearly broke up their marriage; others have had boys who wanted to take part in major league sports which is not possible over here so they returned Stateside; I recall one who went home' to retire after twelve years here; many return because of family; some have a career-path in mind to move to the US to get a large superintendency or teach in university. 193 The precarious nature of careers in administration of overseas schools has been highlighted by several quotes and responses referred to in this dissertation and was focussed upon by the administrator who alluded to the capriciousness of overseas schools' firing policies. Furthermore, the adventitious proclivity of ’careers in administration of overseas schools was communicated by the administrator whose philosophy of career development was based on the 'opening door stratagem.‘ In recapitulation this researcher suggests that these rationales dovetail with the sociological or 'reality' theories of career development. The transience of overseas school boards 'contribute significantly to the administrator's professional environment and yet this phenomenon is beyond his control. One of the central ideas behind the 'reality' or 'accident' theories of career development is that the individual has to develop techniques to cope effectively with his environment and from analysis of the data collected by questionnaire and interview this researcher postulates that overseas school administrators spend considerable amounts of time and energy developing skills to cope effectively with their school boards. If the net result of the efforts to 'handle' his school board was failure and ended in his being 'fired,' 194 the overseas school administrator's plight was not enhanced by the view that was generally held by the fifty-six administrators in that they believed it was very difficult to attain a comparable job back home after working overseas. It was also believed that the chance of getting a comparable administrative position back home diminished in direct proportion to the length of time spent overseas. A further predicament indicative of the risky nature of careers in the administration of overseas schools was the concern evinced by the administrators with regards to pensions. The majority of the fifty-six administrators had 'some sort of' pension to look forward to upon retirement but only just over twenty-five per cent had what was thought by them to be 'good' pensions and some of those had made their own provision for their pension. Nearly twenty-five per cent of the administrators had no pension at all and nearly half suggested that they would have to use their savings for retirement. The situation with respect to pensions was exacerbated by the fact that there was no standardized procedure from one overseas school to the next overseas school so that an administrator might have had a good pension scheme with one job but no provisions for pension with the subsequent position. 195 Taken in total, all of the fifty-six overseas school administrators could attribute career decisions to either environmental conditions or expatriate community 'environmental bubble' factors. So even if their career decisions had not been affected by factors such as temperature, humidity, political unrest or frustration with host national bureaucracies, then their career decisions had been affected by such factors as the camaraderie among overseas faculties or the negative 'goldfish bowl' phenomenon of expatriate community environmental bubbles. There was also an anomaly with respect to the fact that the majority of administrators responded that they had moved from successive posts for career advancement and only a couple admitted that they had their contract renewal refused. However the majority also responded that their predecessor had left because his contract renewal had been refused. Either this researcher's population contained a disproportionate number of administrators who had never had their contract renewal refused or the majority of answers of, "For professional growth!" in response to the question, "Why did you leave your last position?" were masking the real reason. 196 The Influence of Family Commitments On Careers The average overseas school administrator was a married man who was accompanied overseas by his wife who was approximately the same age as he and of the same nationality. His two children were either overseas with him or they were past high school age and were back in the home country. It was normal for the administrator's wife to have worked at the same school as he and most administrators thought that this had caused no serious problems or conflicts of interest, as neither had having his own children attend his school. The average administrator had family back in his country of origin and on average this only caused little emotional strain. The family unit was evidently a very important constituent of overseas life and performed a paramount function in the decision making process with respect to the overseas school administrator's career. Considering the important position held by the family in western society it is not surprising that the administrators took into major consideration their family's needs before concluding career decisions. The following vignettes and responses to the interview question, "How have your family commitments affected your career decisions?" aptly support this concept and the idea that these administrators were 'family men' tends to group them with 197 respect to personality type :- -...I would never have applied for a job where I couldn't take my children; so that, for a period of eight years, eliminated applying somewhere like Saudi Arabia even though salaries there are phenominal and the schools are well supported. I just wouldn't put myself in the position where I'd have to send my children to boarding school. My own wife's career has become a victim of all this. In Malaysia they didn't want her to work. In the middle of the second year she managed to get a job because they were short and she kept it thereafter. But here, again, they don't want the administrators' wives to be employed at the school. Financially it's not essential that she works, but in a couple of years it might be essential for mental health that she finds a job. She has subordinated her career to mine. The past superintendents' wifes have worked here and rightly or wrongly have been given responsibility for turmoil and grievances, so the board wanted no part of that scene again. The first question I was asked over the phone before being offered an interview was, "Is it essential that your wife works at the school?" If I'd replied, "Yes!" then that would have been the end of the telephone conversation and no interview; -...I left DoDDS because I thought that my kids needed to get to the USA to get to know its culture etc. but after a year back home I dispelled myself of that. I think personally that some of the best American schools in the world are overseas and we get plenty of turn-over of kids to bring in trends and fads. There was a time though, that I thought my kids were turning anti-American because they'd been overseas so long; my twelve year old son walked into a US supermarket and was disgusted. He spat out, "Look at all those rows devoted to cereals; look at this conspicuous consumption; this country is sick!" But he got over that. It was reversed culture shock. I have an idea that all my children will end up with careers that have an international bent; -...we've made these decisions of where to go somewhat jointly, though it's never quite that way. My wife is broader than I am in where she 198 can get work as an art specialist and elementary teacher. I'm looking for only one post and that's the head of a. school. Each school has only one of those. She's done some giving I must admit. It has been a family commitment. I've seen many, many times where wives have not been able to fulfill their careers and have gotten into all sorts of difficulties - relationships, emotional, marital and have forced their husbands to return to the US. I have been able to take jobs in large schools and always K-12 and have 'had an excellent education for my children. But I do know of teachers and administrators who have had to return to the US for their children's education. This happens more in the Persian Gulf where schools are more often K-6 because of the host-national laws not allowing expatriates' dependent children to stay after sixth grade. I wouldn't have accepted a post where there was not appropriate education for my girls. I believe that the family should stick together while the children are growing up. University is a bit different, but difficult; but one realizes that they're more grown up by eighteen; -...not a whole lot because my family were older when I came overseas; we missed our children but not to the point of returning home and my wife has been able to pursue her teaching career here. In actual fact it was because my wife was very unhappy that we left Bangkok. The international school there would not allow the administrators' spouses to work in the school so my wife taught at a local school for twenty per cent of what she could have earned and under poor conditions. That was one of the main reasons we didn't stay in Bangkok. I've seen many cases of others returning - illness of children; phillandering causing families to break up; quite common; I could name five since I've been here. I've seen single women teachers- get involved with married men and chosen to go home; I've seen pairs of married couples swap partners and go home for divorce; —...our parents and family back home don't understand us being overseas, but that's where we're at. But with respect to my wife and I, then everything we do with regard to career is totally affected by immediate family; our personal situation, my happiness in the job, my wife's happiness and her opportunity to teach 199 and enjoy it. I've seen people go back to the States because one or other of the couple have been unhappy or needed to get back to their parental family. The education of children is important especially in the eighth to ninth grade plus, in the Middle East. I've seen this send people home. Sometimes it's just the 'tip of the iceberg' and they want to go back home anyway and don't make an effort to find a K—12 post overseas. This happens more with elementary school» principals. In the situation we were in, out in North Africa, it was the rule, a stipulation that the wife worked; the main reason being that she'd go crazy if she didn't. In a couple of cases I saw, where the husband was stuborn and wouldn't let their wife work and wouldn't go back to the US, they developed into very bad situations - drink, emotional and two cases divorce through promiscuity; -...in terms of our little ones, I'd be glad for them to graduate here but as they're not even in kindergarten yet we'd not grow. Because of our children's age we'll stay away from any hardship post and' I'll not accept any K-6 post when they're post middle school; -...at first I followed my husband, then one of the major causes of our separation was because my career did not coincide with my husband's career; so in that respect my career has directed my family life. Staying in one spot so that my daughter could graduate is an example of how my family commitments have directed my career. Last year I had a good job offer in Asia but had to turn it down because my daughter who has just entered twelfth grade pleaded with me to let her graduate here. Two years ago Surabaja made a less enticing offer but this year it was such a good offer that it was difficult to turn down. I think they are a little mad at me for not accepting this year. I hope it does not affect future prospects. We're very vulnerable overseas; we have no tenure, no protection. A single person has more flexibility but they still like married couples. Because of my children I have not been able to accept jobs where they've only had a K-8 program and as a single woman I've not been able to apply for jobs in the Middle East. As a 'climbing' administrator at the bottom of the ladder I probably need to take an admin. post in a K-7 school in a remote area, but I haven't been able 200 to do that with two teenage kids; -...it has Split my family! My wife left with my son to take up a high school principalship in the Mediterranean area. My son had outgrown my last school and my wife was not fulfilled there either. Then the following year my daughter outgrew my school and left to join my wife. That was the last straw! I could not stay at that hardship post with all my family gone; that was the main incentive to get out. I'm lucky to get here and 'in Europe t' boot!‘ -...part of the problem is that although my wife has been overseas and she likes being overseas, she's bored being at home all day with the two kids. She can't work here; she can't get a work permit as a nurse. She's at home all day! It's driving her nuts! Still we're planning to stay overseas as we think it's advantageous for the family but we'll only take the next job somewhere that my wife can work; so that will be a limiting factor; -...when we went to The Med. my daughters were in grammar school and we were quite worried about that. I wouldn't go anywhere there wasn't a good grammar school stream. I was offered 'Gib.’ and Malta but I turned those down because they couldn't offer a good education for my daughters; Hong Kong also didn't look so good at the time. Cyprus offered a good grammar school; St. John's. They both ended up with ten 0' Levels and university degrees, so overseas education didn't do them any harm! Expatriate Community Environmental Bubble Many of the comments above relate also to the phenomenon identified by Cohen (1977) as the 'expatriate environmental bubble' and a major feature of life in these 'bubbles' is with whom you socialize. Typically, expatriates mix with other expatriates of similar cultural backgrounds, if not the same nationality and 201 mother-tongue. It can be seen from the data collected during this research that, with few exceptions, the fifty-six administrators socialized, almost exclusively with their administrator colleagues, their faculty and other expatriates. The following common responses to the interview question, "With whom do you socialize?" support Cohen's thesis :- -...my position requires a certain social commitment which often puts me in with other Americans; my recreational socialization is mixed with 'Brits.,' 'Aussies' and other 'expats.;' -...not so many contacts with local people; they simply don't want it. My main contacts are through sports; I play sports every day. My friends are totally international but from the expatriate community; -...expatriates of the same age and interests. We don't mix with the locals; they don't want it and we don't speak their language. We don't get much opportunity to meet; -...a broad cross-section of the community. From the most senior diplomats to those in our age bracket and those with children the same age as ours. We spend a lot of time with the faculty and with parents; -...my wife and I socialize mostly with non-school US expatriates; -...I have no contact with the Asian community whatsoever. I have contact with the faculty and perhaps ten per cent with parents. I think that the administration are in a difficult position socializing with faculty; -...same socio-economic status with an interest in music and amateur dramatics. Not much with the locals, but that's as much because that's the way they like it, as because it's my wish; 202 -...we float very much on the surface. We don't meet many Indonesians; I've had the local staff at my home but never been invited back to an Indonesian's home; -...in North Africa it was mostly expatriate Americans. We did have some Arab friends but you had to be very careful about that if you wanted to remain in the country. Here in Malaysia there is more opportunity to mix with the host-nationals, but in the years that I've been here we have not taken advantage of this situation; -...ninety-five per cent expatriates; -...definitely more with the expats.; I'm not sure why. It just works out that way. We try to get to know expats. outside the faculty and school society. The administrator gets drawn in because of his position but also tends to get isolated because of his position; -...more expatriate; more teachers than anybody. I don't know if that is by choice, or what? I've been in Asia for four years and I don't know many locals to get friendly with; our paths just don't cross; -...almost exclusively expat. teachers, other principals and parents. Single people tend to socialize with host-nationals because expat. social gatherings are mostly in pairs so singles go to host-nationals. There were some administrators who, although they socialized to a considerable extent with the expatrtiate community, they also made efforts to 'break out of the bubble' :- -...I mix a lot with host-nationals. I have a life outside of school. Did quite a bit of motor racing in earlier years and I write articles for a local magazine which makes a change from 203 school mastering. I have tried to assimilate into the local environment; -...in Central America we socialized with host-nationals. We found that with a two year cycle of expats. we were for ever making new friends who, in no time at all would up and leave; so we made the transition into the Spanish speaking society. In the Eastern Block we were much more into the host community than the diplomatic community. This is the first school I've been at, where I'll have an opportunity to lead a life outside school unconnected with school; -...it changes. In a Non-European setting you're inevitably forced into the 'bubble,‘ although there is always the opportunity, especially as an administrator, to meet locals at clubs like the Round Table. One of the ruinous things overseas is the 'compound.‘ You need to stay separate. We've managed to. For example I don't socialize with any of my faculty; I've never had a 'best friend' on the staff; -...in Japan we mixed half and half. We had many close Japanese families as friends, but it took a long time; -...here in The Middle East it is very difficult to develop a closeness with the Arabs; they're very polite and considerate. They'll spend the time of day with you but there's not the relationship that I'd like. Recently I've aggressively pursued some Arab contacts in several bars and I have made some very good and useful contacts; I've improved my Arabic and learnt more of the culture. It's just a little too much of a good thing, all the time with the Western expat. group. By analyzing the data this researcher has shown that the sociological theories of career development can be used to most fully comprehend the careers of the fifty-six overseas schools administrators. The central and reoccuring idea appears to be that chance has played 204 a major role in their careers and also gender has been an ‘ important determinant affecting attitudes towards their appointments. Such attitudes and circumstantial elements of the overseas school administrators' professional environments have been beyond their control, but have contributed significantly to their career choices. This researcher has shown by analysis of the data that these overseas school administrators have not had the degree of freedom of occupational choice that one might at first have assumed. At the same time, although their self-expectations were not independent of society's expectations, society presented occupational opportunities in a manner very much related to chance and being in the right place at the right time. The conclusions have been drawn together in the final chapter of this dissertation along with this researcher's recommendations for further study in this field. CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY Conclusions The conclusion of this researcher is that there were careers in the administration of overseas schools but there was no 'career-path' into which an overseas school administrator could be 'tracked.' At least, there was no 'career-path' in the way the term is commonly used in the field of career management and there were no personnel departments in overseas schools to be concerned with the development of administrative talent and to undertake administration development programs. There_was no 'career planning' or 'pathing' such as was undertaken in US and UK corporate bodies like IBM and Vauxhall Motors and as undertaken in the school districts such as Howard County Public Schools, Maryland and the Liverpool Education Authority, whereby talented administrators were identified on the basis of performance and testing and then were 'tracked' through their careers. 205 205 When entry level administrators are hired by corporations such as AT&T or Shell Chemicals that have administrative development programs, they are tracked by their company's respective personnel departments and are given responsibilities that take them towards the heart of the organization before they are promoted to a 'higher' position with another department. But they start further out on the periphery of this department and have to again work in towards the center of the corporate structure before gaining further promotion to yet another peripheral position in yet another department. In this manner the aspiring chief administrator's career-path zig-zags from the periphery towards the center and then out to the periphery again at a higher level. This form of career-pathing, described by Schein as a 'Career Cone' (Schein, 1978), can take place in the larger districts and education authorities of the US and the UK but it does not happen overseas. Just getting into administration in overseas schools is a large career hurdle. The problem is exacerbated because not only are there no personnel departments in overseas schools but also many of the overseas schools are too small to warrant an assistant director or assistant principal. Therefore the number of entry level administrative positions is diminished. This becomes a 'Catch 22' 206 situation because overseas school boards prefer to hire directors and principals with overseas administrative experience. A further problem for the aspiring overseas school administrator is that it is often difficult to build a reputation in one place, expecting 'promotion to be forth-coming. Due to the transient nature 'of the student body, the parents and the school board, no sooner than one has built a reputation than the people who know you have left and if a new chief administrator comes in then the chances are he will bring in his own mentees as soon as there is a subordinate administrative opening. As already stated, this can be helpful to the administrator who has built extensive networks or who has mentors but as the educational institutions overseas tend to be on the small size and quite isolated this process leaves a lot to chance. It is the conclusion of this researcher that instead of there being a common career-path for overseas school administrators to follow, they each developed their own 'uncharted course' with respect to careers and they were each individual 'trail blazers' whose career routes were very much influenced by chance, gender, childhood background, colleagial networking, informal mentoring and by being in the right place at the right time. 207 This researcher concludes that the group of theories most applicable to this study and most helpful in leading to an understanding of how overseas school administrators proceed through their careers is the Sociological Theories of career development. This interfaces with the conclusion that informal mentoring, chance, gender, being in the right place at the right time and networking proved to be important factors in the development of the careers of the fifty-six overseas school administrators included in this study. These factors correlate with the 'reality' or 'accident' theory of vocational choice where attention is given to the influence of social membership on occupational entry and career behavior. A concept that is central to the sociological model is that circumstances in one's environment, beyond the control of the individual, contribute significantly to the career choices that one makes and that the principal task confronting the individual is the development of techniques to cope effectively with one's environment. It has been shown that the common use of networking was a technique that many of the fifty-six overseas school administrators identified as being used to cope effectively with their environment with respect to their careers. An integral phenomenon that is related to the 208 sociologists' belief that circumstances impose choices on individuals, is that chance plays a major role in occupational decisions. This suggests that 'being in the right place at the right time' may be more important with respect to vocational decisions than systematic planning and vocational counseling. It will be seen from the data and their analysis that chance was certainly an important factor in the career-trails of the fifty-six overseas school administrators included in this study. There were a number of commonalities among the various similar 'career trails' that had been hewn by these fifty-six overseas school administrators but there was no 'career-path' into which they could be tracked. It is concluded that their careers were very much a matter of chance and were significantly influenced by circumstances in the environmental bubbles in which they tended to live and the professional environments in which they worked and over which they tended to have little control. One of the principal tasks confronting the overseaS' school administrators was to develop techniques to cope effectively with these environmental circumstances and this researcher concludes that the extensive networks evidenced were constructed as a direct response to this task. This researcher further concludes that the fifty-six 209 individuals who occupied the position of administrator in the thirty-five selected overseas schools did share some similarities of career patterns and that these can be explained by the sociological theories of career development. There was a commonality in that they were nearly all males from white, upper working class/middle class family backgrounds who had similar educational histories and a higher than normal proportion of them had lived overseas during their childhood. They were mostly American or British citizens whose academic bias was towards the arts and whose professional experiences in their home country, before going abroad, were similar in both duration and in the fact that they had tended not to have been involved in coaching. However there was a tendency for them to have had some coaching experience once they got overseas and this can be explained by the fact that 'expatriate community environmental bubbles' created a need for greater participation by overseas educators in extra curricular activities. Many of the administrators expressed that one of the attractions of working overseas was the lack of legal constraints with regard to administering educational institutions and the reduced fear of litigation or union intervention. It is felt that this situation tended not to work to the benefit of aspiring female administrators and this is evidenced by the fact that without equal 210 opportunity laws and seemingly without equal access to the 'old boy network' their career prospects were diminished. This researcher recently witnessed female administrators and female teachers being refused even the screening applications at a recruitment fair for positions in Arab States. At the same recruitment fair a male administrator with a prosthesis was encouraged not to apply. In the US and the UK an administrator's career prospects and employment opportunities are not dependent on his marital status. Overseas however, one stands a much better chance of good career opportunities if one is married and in many posts you are at a distinct advantage if your spouse teaches because the hiring school then only has to pay for one apartment and two flights along with one shipment of household effects to bring out two employees. If they employed an administrator plus a teacher whose spouses were not employable as teachers, then the overseas school would have to pay for two apartments, two household shipments and four flights. It is advantageous not to have dependents. Some countries will not allow expatriates' dependent spouses and dependent children to reside in the host country. The anomaly to the above is where school boards, in attempting do avoid nepotism, will not hire the spouse of an administrator. 211 The fact that annual recruitment fairs have recently been established and are well sponsored lends support to the conclusion that there does exist a need for help in developing careers in the administration of overseas schools. However, as these recruitment fairs tend to be held in the US and the UK during term time they preclude the attendance of all but the recruiting officers (i.e., the chief administrators) from the overseas schools. The subordinate administrators may not get time off because more often than not, they are 'deputizing' for the superintendent or headmaster who is back home recruiting and at the same time extending his own network. Even with time off the cost of jet flights make such trips prohibitive. Summary These fifty-six overseas school administrators had similar academic qualifications before attaining administrative positions and although many of them continued with formal academic programs beyond the Master's level, they concurred that their university courses were not relevent to the administration of overseas schools. They also concurred that they were in need of still further training in business management and finance. This last concurrence was evident from both the 212 administrators' responses to the questionnaires and from the administrators' responses during the in-depth interviews. There was agreement among the administrators that teaching experience and advanced academic qualifications had helped them get into administration, but most thought that networking, friends and contacts had a major influence in their getting overseas posts. It was also established that networking, friends and contacts had helped most in enhancing their careers overseas. Overseas experience was held to be important in this respect and it was also felt that gaining ‘the initial overseas administrative experience was a most difficult obstacle to establishing a career in the administration of overseas schools. It is this researcher's summation that these factors can be analyzed using the sociological theories of career development whereby it can be interpreted that the 'old boy networkings' were techniques engaged by the overseas administrators to cope effectively with their respective environments. There was similarity in their careers in that the fact that they tended to remain at subsequent overseas posts for similar durations, earning similar amounts in the way of remuneration for comparable administrative positions. It was common for these adminsitrators to get a house plus utilities, health insurance, biennial 213 flights home, a car plus a tax-free salary in the region of thirty-six thousand US dollars per annum. Although the benefits and remuneration from a career overseas seem to be generous and attractive to those with 'wonder-lust' and a sense of adventure, there was some disparity between responses from administrators with regard to whether or not they were better off overseas than if they had continued their career back home. Several administrators pointed out that on the deficit side of the equation were items such as the cost of sending children back home to private school and their flights out at Christmas and other holidays; the cost of storing household items back home; the cost of shipping household items from overseas poSt to overseas post as the baggage allowance never seemed to quite cover everything; the costs of maintaining two homes; the cost of return flights home at mid contract and the incalculable costs due to anxiety over lack of tenure and anxiety over the welfare of family back home. Overall, however, this researcher believes that those who make a career in the administration of overseas schools do find that the tax-free benefits and the potential for satisfaction do out-weigh the hardships and the debits. Another method engaged by these overseas school administrators for effectively coping with their 214 environment was to stay abreast of up-to-date theory and practices in educational administration. Although there was a common trend for these administrators to think that they would need still further training in such subjects as business management and finance plus modern trends such as the use of computers in education, there was a further commonality with regard to their career development in that they were somewhat isolated from access to facilities and programs offering their required training and consequently resulted in their paying large amounts of money to return to the US or the UK on a regular basis to take further courses. Many of the fifty-six administrators stated that they found it difficult to access adequate facilities for keeping abreast of modern educational thinking and for. renewing themselves professionally while overseas. Many of the administrators subscribed to numerous educational periodicals and read them. The manner by which these administrators sought to stay abreast of modern trends as a method for the development of techniques to effectively cope with their professional environment can also be likened to the 'innovation stage' in the model by Katz (1980) whereby one ".... improves one's special skills to enable one to enlarge the scope of one's participation and contribution and also influence one's organizational surroundings." (Katz,l980) 215 The phenomenon of chance was involved at many 'turning points' and during a number of 'stages' of the overseas school administrators' careers. Many of the administrators originally, had no intention of considering a pedagogical career. However, chance happenings were involved in early career decisions; chance happenings were involved in how many of the administrators were informed about the existance of overseas schools; chance was involved in many of the administrators' initial recruitment to an overseas post and chance played a major role in their subsequent moves from one overseas post to the next overseas post. Even with mentors and extensive networks, it was by chance that some administrators were ready for a move and actively searching for a new position when particular 'openings' were offered to them. One could postulate that chance was involved in some administrators being 'third culture kids.’ Central ideas to the sociological theories of vocational choice are that chance and circumstances in one's environment that are beyond one's control, contribute significantly to one's career choices. Having no career-path to follow made it difficult for the fifty-six administrators to establish a career in the administration of overseas school and the lack of facilities for career guidance plus the lack of facilities for assistance in moving from post to post 216 overseas compounded their difficulties. Back home in the 08, an administrator's position might be equally as tenuous as that of an administrator overseas but in the US an administrator has the advantages of 'quantities of scale.‘ Within a small city district there will be a number of opportunities for promotion and advancement and within a metropolis there will be very many more opportunities and also the administrator will have the aids of professional associations and efficient communication networks. Overseas the administrators don't have these and the neighboring overseas school might be hundreds of miles away. However, even with these negative aspects associated with establishing a career overseas, there seemed to be sufficient needs satisfiers to motivate these administrators to accept the risks involved and to actively pursue careers in the administration of overseas schools. The phenomena of informal mentoring and networking were integral criteria of pursuing these careers. It can be reasoned that these criteria are congruous with the central concept of the sociological theories that one's trenchant task is to develop techniques to cope effectively with one's environment. This researcher concludes that those overseas school administrators who purportedly found it relatively easy to move from post to post and pursue a career overseas were succeeding in this basal task; but 217 even they were in agreement that the whole issue of finding administrative jobs overseas was a risky and mercurial business. Those administrators who had been successful in moving from post to post overseas ascribed their success to networking, luck and chance. The reasons these overseas school administrators worked abroad and the reasons they moved from post to post indicated another area of career commonality. This researcher found that one of the motivations to work overseas and also one of the motivations to move from post to post was the potential for satisfying needs :- such as the need for adventure; the need to experience different cultures; the need to travel and the need for potential job satisfaction. This commonality can be explained by reference to the studies of McClelland (1970) and also the work of Hanson and Fiedler (1973) who suggest that the relationship between work and the satisfaction of needs varies with the people involved. This commonality can also be explained by reference to the general hypotheses of McCall and Lawler (1976) and also Mitchell (1978) whereby it is suggested that people select their jobs because they envisage potential satisfaction of their needs. From these it can be concluded that if the common occupational situation was satisfying similar needs, then there might also be a common factor involving the type of people filling those 218 occupations. The aforementioned idea was also supported by the fact that all the fifty-six administrators characterized other overseas school administrators as having similar personalities and portraying similar personal attributes that were regarded as beneficial for their vocation. Categorical conclusions on this axiom would not be appropriate in this dissertation because, as stated in an earlier chapter, this researcher did not administer personality tests to the fifty-six administrators. Besides the commonality that the fifty-six overseas school administrators found their occupations very rewarding and thought that their vocations presented the opportunities for needs satisfaction, there was also the commonality that these careers existed in environments that were also restrictive. The common restrictions included poor job security, poor pension benefits, few prospects of a job upon returning home and difficulties due to the mobility and transient nature of the students, faculty, parents and board members. However, even with these restrictions it was the common career goal of the fifty-six overseas school administrators to remain abroad until retirement. This leaves this researcher concluding that, in the terms of McCall and Lawler, these administrators still envisaged potential satisfaction of their needs from working overseas. 219 The conclusion that the administrators overseas remained abroad because they still envisioned potential satisfaction of their needs from working overseas must be tempered with the notion that many administrators believed that they had 'burnt their boats' by being out of country so long and were no longer employable back home. They believed that they had developed skills that were specialized for the overseas situation and that these skills were thought of as not being relevant to the US or the UK situation. This view also has to be balanced with the virtual craving of the overseas school administrators to keep abreast of modern trends in education. One other set of findings includes the commonalities shared by the fifty-six administrators with regards to family commitments, socializing, culture shock and what Cohen (1977) refers to as the effects of the 'expatriate community environmental bubble.‘ The administrators were nearly all what might be referred to as 'family men' who took into serious consideration their family's needs concerning education, health and ‘ welfare before finalizing career decisions. Also they could be classified as a group who socialized mostly with other English speaking expatriates such as administrator" colleagues, faculty and parents. They tended to find the 220 claustrophobic nature of the expatriate community environmental bubble restrictive, but only a small proportion of them attempted to 'burst out' of that bubble and get to experience the host-national culture close up. It is concluded that although these fifty-six administrators were self-described as adventuresome and outgoing, they preferred to explore the world from within the security of their own safe and familiar bubble. It is concluded that the infrastructure or economic base of the overseas schools influences the age, experience and qualifications sought in an administrator and this in turn influences the superstructure or total quality of the institution. This conclusion was drawn from the analysis of data where it was demonstrated that in the large, well established overseas schools with annual budgets in excess of two million US dollars the chief administrators were individuals with extensive administrative experience, who held doctorates and were hired from positions of prestige in the US or similar large overseas educational institutions. As a contrast to this, in overseas schools with annualbudgets of less than a couple of hundred thousand US dollars the chief administrator tended to be hired locally, have the minimum academic qualifications, be the spouse of an 221 expatriate sojourner and be paid in local currency with limited benefits. Looking beyond the chief administrator the contrasts in the facilities, the plant, the total program or the superstructure of the overseas schools was apparent. In the analysis this researcher sought to go beyond the surface events to uncover the deeper meaning and significance of the data to identify the unconscious motivations and underlying factors which influenced human actions and decision-making with regard to careers. The factors which shape, influence and structure overseas school administrators' decisions were‘ analysed to find the fundamental patterns common to these administrators. This researcher concluded that there were multiple levels to a career and the level of the administrator was determined by age, nationality, experience, gender and qualifications. The movement laterally and from one level to another was seen to be influenced by chance, the establishment of networks and informal mentoring. The Importance of this Topic The importance of this topic was brought to the attention of this researcher continually throughout the research, from the early stages of its conceptualization 222 This researcher found considerable research literature on career planning, career stages, career assessment centers, mentoring and career management in general, but that research theory development evolved from studies of home-based career-paths and the needs of home-based organizations with respect to human resource development. There was a dearth of literature pertaining directly to, and developed in, the overseas situation with respect to careers. The urgency for the need to evaluate and understand how these theories of career-pathing and human resource development apply to administrators of overseas schools was manifested by the anxious and serious concern expressed by each of the fifty-six overseas school administrators who took part in this study that this researcher send a copy of this dissertation's abstract when it was completed.It was expected that some, but not all, of them might have shown interest in the topic because the subject related to their career, but there was a deep feeling of isolation felt by those overseas administrators, especially with respect to career guidance and with regards to staying abreast with modern trends in education. From the US alone, there were nearly a quarter of a million school-age children overseas in the 1982/1983 223 school year who were the dependents of expatriate top ranking business representatives, engineers, diplomats and entrepreneurs. The parents of some of these and the hundreds of thousands of other children overseas not only showed concern to have their families be with them overseas, but also were concerned that these TCKs received first class education while they were overseas so that they could fit back into their own country's education system when they returned home after their overseas sojourn. During this research trip this researcher had many conversations and discussions with parents who were school board members and they expressed their concern about the lack of information available to them and the lack of facilities available to help them recruit overseas school administrators. Their concern to hire the best administrators was understandable when one considered that in the 1982/1983 school year the one hundred and sixty three ASOSs alone had an enrollment of over eighty-eight thousand, employed over eight thousand teachers and had a combined annual opperating budget totalling over two hundred and thirty-five million US dollars. Twelve of the thirty-five overseas schools whose administrators were included in this study had annual opperating budgets of over two million US dollars. It took high caliber chief administrative officers to implement the policies decided upon by the school boards 224, of these institutions and it was the school boards' responsibility to recruit capable administrators. However, as already stated, there was little in the way of facilities to help them with their recruitment process. Considerable interest in this topic was also shown by the various officials of ECIS, NESA, EARCOS and 188 with whom this researcher was in contact during the data collection. The results and conclusions of this research will be of use to the teachers and administrators who would consider working overseas, teachers and administrators already working overseas, overseas school boards and regional agencies such as ECIS, NESA EARCOS and ISS. 225 Recommendations for Further Definition This researcher recommends that overseas schools in conjunction with the regional organizations need to make a coordinated effort to improve the exiguous facilities that exist for the promotion of careers in the administration of overseas schools. Overseas schools, like other similar educational institutions will only be as good as the leadership that implements the policies that come from their school boards. And it is the administrators to whom the school boards go for advice to formulate that policy. Therefore it is just as important for these institutions themselves, as it is important for the aspiring overseas school administrators that there should be improved facilities for recruiting administrators and for the pursuance of careers overseas. Also, overseas schools should schedule their calendar to allow for all the faculty to be sent to regional workshops and those organizing the workshops should include formal career guidance opportunities to the benefit of both institutions and administrators. These suggestions would incur costs to execute, especially the transportation of faculty to regional conferences, but this researcher suggests that such programs would be cost effective in comparison to the costs involved in repatriation of faculty and administrators mid-contract when they prove ineffective due to culture shock, role 226 shock or because they were just inadequately suited for the job and they had been ill-adviseably recruited because their selection had been completed without appropriate facilities. In conclusion this researcher suggests that there is great scope for further research in the field of careers in the administration of overseas schools. One such research that would complement this present study would be to administer a battery of personality tests to a sample of overseas school administrators to investigate a possible commonality or correlation between administrators' personality types. APPENDICES APPENDIX A APPENDIX A . DEPARTMENT OF STATE OVERSEAS SCHOOLS ADVISORY COUNCIL FACT SHEET "AMERICAN-SPONSGED' ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS OVERSEAS 1982-83 The worldwide Context: The school-age children among overseas Mericans-«stimated to number nearTy a quarter miliion--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 water 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.‘Aithough these schools include those founded by U.S. comanies, church organizations. and individual proprietors. 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 smport from the U.S. Government under a program administered by the Office of Overseas Schools of the U.S. Department of State; the schools which have received such assistance constitute the "Merican-sponsored" schools described in this Fact Sheet. Statistics on the "American-S onsored" Schools assisted b the De artment of State at a Glance: During Efie school year 1982-1983, the Office of Overseas Scfiools is assist- ing 16! 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 Merican 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 26.3w were U.S. citizen, and 61,925 were children from host countries and from some 90 other countries. Of 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 sumarizes the statistics of the American-Sponsored Overseas Schools. dasic 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. Althoug: emphasis varies. all the schools share these purposes: a) to provide for Merican and other children educational opportunities genera y comparable to educa- tional programs in the U.S.. and b) to demonstrate American educational philosophy and practice nnroad 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 orthe chderen enrolled, who elect a school board to supervise the smerintendent 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. 1982 127 128 country, while other schools are loosely-defined cooperative 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 communities share direct concern for the school with the American conmunity. All schools are subject. 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 operating budgets of the 163 schools total nearly $235,000,000. Tui- tion payments are the principalisource 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 from the imited funds available under the program of the Office of Overseas Schools (a total of nearly 56.000.000 annually). The instructional programs all provide a core curriculum which will prepare students to enter schoolil 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-trainéa. with a large proportion of American staff hired locally from among dependent wives. Most staff 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 U.S. professional community make recruitment and retention of qualified personnel from 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 financifig' 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 h. Mannino Office of Overseas Schools Room 234. SA-G Department of S tate Hashington. 0. C. 20520 Tel. (703) 235-9600 112$? nmowmog . 32 8.18 30.3 to...” 83m 3.» 3%: n8.» 8 35.: ~85 :3 33 SN; 3 2: ~o~.an Sum.m o.¢.o~ owe.“ meu.n ~o~.~ ”co._ _~ mu_4o=au¢ mac." cm“ ~mm._ .mn.. m. cm zc cucumzoem-z