Abstract
This chapter explores decision-making dilemmas for school principals through an education research study of risk-taking in such decision-making that in itself was difficult to negotiate for both the principals participating in the study and the researcher. The researcher asked principals to expose whether they had made decisions that were non-compliant with government policy requirements. Such decisions involve risk as principals may be exposed to criticism for non-compliance with established policy when they are unable to meet conflicting requirements, or when negative outcomes arise from decision-making. This created a dilemma for principals about whether to participate and respond to the question “Have you been non-compliant?” and for the researcher in undertaking the study and posing a question where there was risk of non-disclosure by the participants.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACARA. (2012). National report on schooling. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2012/national_report_on_schooling_in_australia_2012.html
Allison, G. (1983). Public and private management: Are they fundamentally alike in all unimportant respects? In J. Perry & K. Kramer (Eds.), Public management, public and private perspectives. Palo Alto: Mayfield Publishing.
Andrich, D., and Styles, I. (1994). The structural relationship between attitude and behaviour statements from the unfolding perspective. Paper presented at the 23rd international congress of applied psychology, Madrid, Spain.
Barrett, P. (1999). Corporate governance – managing risk, delivering performance. Paper presented at the IIR conference. Canberra.
Bauer, S. C., & Bogotch, I. E. (2006). Modeling site-based decision making: School practices in the age of accountability. Journal of Educational Administration, 44(5), 446–470.
Bennett, N. (2001). Power structure and culture: An organizational view of school effectiveness and school improvement. In A. Harris & N. Bennett (Eds.), School effectiveness and school improvement: Alternative perspectives (pp. 98–122). London: Continuum.
Bennis, W., & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper and Row.
Busemeyer, M. R. (2012). Two decades of decentralization in education governance: Lessons learned and future outlook for local stakeholders. Paper presented at the OECD conference, Warsaw.
Caldwell, B. J. (1990). School-based decision-making and management: International developments. In J. Chapman (Ed.), School-based decision-making and management. London: The Falmer Press.
Collier, J., & Roberts, J. (2001). An ethic for corporate governance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11(1), 67–71.
Cooke, S., & Slack, N. (1991). Making management decisions (2nd ed.). London: Prentice Hall.
Coroner, State. (2002). Record of investigation into death: Inquest into the death of Wahab Ali. Perth: State Coroner, Western Australia.
Council for Australian Federation. (2007). Federalist paper 2: The future of schooling in Australia. Melbourne: Author.
Council of Australian Governments. (2008a). Communique: Council of Australian Governments 24th Meeting – 29 November 2008. Canberra.
Council of Australian Governments. (2008b). National Education Agreement.
Council of Australian Governments. (2008c). National Partnership Agreement on Literacy and Numeracy.
Council of Australian Governments. (2008d). National Partnership Agreement on Low Socio-Economic Status School Communities.
Cummings, R., & Stephenson, K. (2001). Evaluation study of the local management of schools pilot study. Perth: Department of Education.
Dalton, I., & Read, J. (2001). Staying alive: The price of school improvement. In I. Dalton, R. Fawcett, & J. West-Burnham (Eds.), Schools for the 21st century: Developing best practice. London: Pearson Education.
Department of Education. (2011). Independent public schools. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/independentpublicschools/detcms/portal/
Department of Education and Training. (2004). Regulatory Framework [Web site and CD ROM]. Department of Education and Training May 2004 [cited 2004].
Department of Education and Training. (2009). Unlock your school’s future. Perth: Author.
Department of Education and Training, Government of Western Australia. (2012). Unlock your school’s future. Perth: Author. Retrieved from www.det.wa.edu.au/independentpublicschools/detcms/portal/
Eacott, S. (2009). New look leaders or a new look at leadership. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Reseaerch in Education conference, Canberra.
Eacott, S. (2011). Liberating schools through devolution: The Trojan horse of the state. Leading & Managing, 17(1), 75–83.
Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces probing the depths of educational reform. London: The Falmer Press.
Hoy, W. K., & Miskel, C. G. (2005). Educational administration: Theory, research and practice (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Jamieson, I., & Wikely, F. (2001). A contextual perspective: Fitting school round the needs of students. In A. Harris & N. Bennett (Eds.), School effectiveness and school improvement: Alternative Perspectives. London: Continuum.
Karstanje, P. (1999). Decentralisation and deregulation in Europe: Towards a conceptual framework. In T. Bush, D. E. Bell, R. Bolam, R. Glatter, & P. Ribbins (Eds.), Educational management: Redefining theory, policy and practice. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
McMahon, A. (2001). A cultural perspective on school effectiveness, school improvement and teacher professional development. In A. Harris & N. Bennett (Eds.), School effectiveness and school improvement: Alternative perspectives. London: Continuum.
Mok, J. K.-H. (2001). From state control to governance: Decentralization and higher education in Guangdong, China. International Review of Education, 47(1/2), 123–149.
Robson, A., Harken, E., & Hill, C. (2001). Investing in government schools: Putting children first. Perth: Department of Education Services.
Sahlberg, P. (2010). Rethinking accountability in a knowledge society. Journal of Educational Change, 11, 45–61.
Sarason, S. (1982). The culture of school and the problem of change (revised ed.). Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon.
Sarason, S. (1990). The predictable failure of educational reform. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
School Education Act. (1999). Parliament of Western Australia.
Seddon, T., Angus, L., & Poole, M. E. (1990). Pressures on the move to school-based decision-making and management. In J. Chapman (Ed.), School-based decision-making and management. London: The Falmer Press.
Sergiovanni, T. J. (2000). The lifeworld of leadership: Creating culture, community and personal meaning in our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Starr, K. (2008). Whose risk? “Managing” risk in the principalship. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education conference, Brisbane.
Thorn, C., Meyer, R. H., & Gamoran, A. (2007). Evidence and decision making in education systems. In P. A. Moss (Ed.), Evidence and decision making. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
Trimmer, K. (2003). Review of the regulatory framework. Education Department of Western Australia.
Trimmer, K. (2011). Non-compliance by school principals: The effects of experience, stakeholder characteristics and governance mechanisms on reasoned risk-taking in decision-making. DBA, Curtin University of Technology, Perth.
Trimmer, K. (2013). Independent public schools: A move to increased autonomy and devolution of decision-making in Western Australian public schools. Childhood Education, 89(3), 178–184.
Wirtz, V., Cribb, A., & Barber, N. (2005). Reimbursement decisions in health policy: Extending our understanding of the elements of decision-making. Health Policy, 73, 330–338.
Wong, K. K. (1997). Bureaucracy and school effectiveness. In L. J. Saha (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the sociology of education. Canberra: Pergamon.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Trimmer, K. (2016). “Have You Been Non-compliant?” Dilemmas of Decision-Making for School Principals and Education Researchers. In: Rossi, D., Gacenga, F., Danaher, P. (eds) Navigating the Education Research Maze. Palgrave Studies in Education Research Methods. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39853-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39853-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39852-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39853-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)