A Case Study Inquiry of Four Multi-Campus Colleges in New South Wales

Charles Kivunja

The structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college A case study inquiry of four multi-campus colleges in New South Wales

Charles Kivunja Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Dip. Ed., B.A. (Hons); M.SC. Marketing; M. Agric. Econ.; M.Ed.

School of Education University of and Early Childhood Studies Western Sydney

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DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated firstly, to my wife Georgia, for her love and assuming the responsibility for the daily pressures of the family so that I could concentrate on this project uninterrupted. Her patience and understanding as the wife of a teacher-student over the last thirty four years have been a source of encouragement to my academic pursuits. Secondly, it is dedicated to my daughters, Caroline and Diana, for their love and understanding of my addiction to the completion of this thesis.

Charles Kivunja

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am thankful to many people whose support, encouragement and assistance was most helpful in the conduct and completion of this thesis. Among them is my kind friend and colleague, John Pellicano, who proof-read drafts of this thesis during its development. I would also like to thank all the interviewees – principals, teachers, students, parents and DET officials – that gave up their valuable time to provide the information that made this study possible. I owe to the Strategic Research Directorate of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training special debt for allowing me to conduct this research among its schools. I am equally indebted to key decision-makers in the Catholic Education Office, Parramatta Diocese, including Dr. Anne Benjamin and Brother Aengus Kavanagh, for their support and encouragement. Special thanks go to the Hon. John Aquilina, who having been the Minister of Education during the establishment of the multi-campus colleges in New South Wales, had first hand/insider information on the colleges which was very useful to the research. In not only accepting my invitation to be interviewed twice for the study, but also in kindly initiating the contacts with all the principals whose schools were involved in the study, and later making time for me to discuss my findings with him, the Hon. Aquilina was most supportive and helpful. I have benefited enormously from being guided along this journey by my three supervisors – Dr. Ray Livermore, Dr. Anne Power and Dr. Geoff Munns. Both Dr. Livermore and Dr. Munns brought to my project their previous experiences as Principals in Canberra and New South Wales schools respectively, and over 25 years’ individual teaching experience. This gave me the opportunity to tap into a deep wealth of expertise on structural and cultural dynamics in school contexts. As Chairman of the supervisory panel, Dr. Livermore not only provided challenging and inspirational comments which guided the research, but by giving me ready access to his library which included his own publications on the multi-campus college model, provided invaluable assistance and guidance over and above the normal supervisory call of duty. Dr. Power and Dr. Munns provided insightful discussions on the project as it developed and constructively reviewed all drafts of the thesis. By relentlessly and tirelessly pointing out areas of needed analysis and precision, their critiquing of the drafts provided intellectual guidance and encouragement which helped to cultivate rigour upon the findings of this thesis.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page …………………………………………………………………….. i Certification …………………………………………………………………. ii Dedication …………………………………………………………………… iii Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………. iv Table of Contents …………………………………………………………… v List of Tables ……………………………………………………………….. xiii List of Figures ………………………………………………………………. xiv List of Appendices ………………………………………………………….. xv List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………….. xvi Abstract ……………………………………………………………………… xvii

CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE, NATURE AND SCOPE OF STUDY ……….. 1

1.1 Rationale and importance of the study ……………………………… 1 1.2 Objectives of the study ……………………………………………… 4 1.3 Research questions investigated ………………………………..…… 5 1.4 Definitions …………………………………………………………… 9 1.4.1 Structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college ………… 9 1.4.2 Restructuring of comprehensive schools to establish a multi-campus college ………………………………………………...………………… 11 1.4.3 Multi-campus college organisational structure ……………………… 12 1.4.4 Multi-campus college organisational culture ………………………… 13 1.4.5 Dynamism in a multi-campus college ………………………………… 14 1.4.6 Middle school and senior school in New South Wales multi-campus colleges ……………………………………………………………..… 16 1.4.7 New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET) …… 16 1.5 Overview and organisation of thesis ………………………………….. 17

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS ……….. 23

2.1 Introduction ………………………………………..…………………… 23 2.2 Literature on the basic concepts which underpin the thesis ….………… 23 2.2.1 The concept of structural change and cultural dynamics ………………. 23 Charles Kivunja

2.2.2 The concept of structural-cultural dynamics in different schools of thought ………………………………………………………………. 26 2.2.3 The concept of organisational dynamism ………………………………. 34

2.3 Pace’s organisational dynamics model …………………………….. 38 2.3.1 The Work System element in Pace’s organisational dynamics model..... 40 2.3.2 The Work Perceptions element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model ……………………………………………………………………. 45 2.3.3 The Work Goals element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model …… 48 2.3.4 The Work Dynamism element in Pace’s organisational dynamics model .. 50 2.3.5 The Work Outcomes element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model… 52 2.3.6 The Feedback element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model …….... 53

2.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….. 54

CHAPTER 3: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SECONDARY DATA ON THE RESTRUCTURING OF COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS INTO MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES …… 58

3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………..… 58 3.2 New South Wales secondary school system in the pre-Wyndham era …. 59 3.3 The Wyndham, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model ……….. 60 3.3.1 The Wyndham recommendations ……………………………………..… 60 3.3.2 New South Wales Comprehensive High School following Wyndham Report ……………………………………………………………….…. 65

3.4 Reasons given in favour of establishing the multi-campus college model …………………………………..………………………………… 69 3.4.1 Reasons advanced by the DET and the Minister of Education ………….. 69 3.4.2 Other data containing reasons for the restructuring of the orthodox comprehensive high school model to establish multi-campus colleges in other parts of Australia …………………..……………………………. 71 3.4.2.1 Reasons for the establishment of the multi-campus college model in Victoria ………………………………………………………………….. 72 3.4.2.2 Reasons in the proposals for the establishment of the multi-campus college model in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory ………………… 74

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3.5 The introduction of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales.…….... 80 3.5.1 A chronology of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales 1998 – 2004 ……………………………………………………………… 81

3.6 Discussion of the secondary data and link to highlight criteria in Dynamics Paradigm ………………………………………………….. 92 3.6.1 Research question arising out of the secondary data …………………….. 92 3.6.2 The 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria arising out of the secondary data ……………………………………………………………. 93 3.6.3 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… 99

CHAPTER 4: THE DYNAMICS PARADIGM FOR ANALYSING THE STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN AN EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION ………………… 102

4.1 Introduction: The need for a new paradigm ……………………………… 102 4.2 Overview of the Dynamics Paradigm for reframing an educational organisation …………………………………………………………….. 107 4.3 Designing the new Dynamics Paradigm to focus on data analysis in this thesis ………………………………………………………………. 112 4.3.1 The Human and Physical Infrastructure (Element 1) …………………….. 112 4.3.2 The Human Interactions (Element 2) ……………………………………. 116 4.3.3 The Search for Excellence (Element 3) ………………………………….. 118 4.3.4 The Results of Human Enterprise (Element 4) …………………….. …… 119 4.3.5 The Feedback (Element 5) ………………………………………….. …… 122 4.4 Synthesis of mapping the Dynamics Paradigm to chapters 6-10 of thesis... 123 4.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………... 126

CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY OF THESIS 129

5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………….…….. 129 5.2 Research preparation, ethics and protocols ……………………………… 130 5.2.1 Preparation for this research …………………………………………… 130 5.2.2 Ethical considerations …………………………………………………… 130 5.2.3 Strategies employed to gain entry into each multi-campus college studied 131

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5.3 Suitability of case study methodology using both qualitative and quantitative research instruments ……………………..………………… 133 5.3.1 Reasons why case study methodology was chosen for this thesis ……..… 134 5.3.2 Rationale for and the use of both qualitative and quantitative instruments 136 5.3.2.1 Rationale for the twin instrumentation approach …………………………. 136 5.3.2.2 The qualitative and quantitative research instruments used ……………… 138 5.4 Epistemology, ontology and criteria applied in the study …………… 143 5.4.1 Epistemological and ontological dimensions of the case study ………….. 143 5.4.2 Criteria applied in the case study of the four multi-campus colleges …… 149 5.4.2.1 Validity considerations in the present case study ……………………….. 150 5.4.2.2 Reliability considerations in the present study ………………………….. 153 5.4.2.3 Validity and reliability considerations in the quantitative data …………. 154 5.4.3 Reflexivity and textuality considerations in this thesis …………………. 155 5.4.3.1 Reflexivity in this study ………………………………………………… 156 5.4.3.2 Textuality of this thesis …………………………………………………. 159 5.5 Selection of the cases and the sample design ……………………………. 161 5.5.1 A purposive, multiple-case sampling design for the multi-campus colleges’ case study ………………………………………………… 162 5.5.2 Interviewees, dynamics criteria and codenames in the multi-campus colleges ………………………………………………………………….. 164 5.6 Sample size, coding and analytical tools ………………………………… 167 5.6.1 Sample size for quantitative data ………………….………….………….. 167 5.6.2 Quantitative data coding and analytical tools …………………………… 170 5.6.3 Qualitative data sample size, coding and analytical tools ……………….. 171

5.7 Assumptions and limitations of the study …………………. .…………… 174 5.7.1 The assumptions that influenced the conduct of this research …………… 174 5.7.2 Limitations of the thesis ………………………………………………….. 179 5.8 Conclusion …………..…………………………………………………… 181 CHAPTER 6: RESULTS, PART ONE INTERVIEWEES’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE BACKGROUND FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS TO ESTABLISH THE FOUR MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED 183

6.1 Introduction: A restatement of the research questions to focus the data analysis ……..…………………………………………………… 183 Charles Kivunja

6.2 Interviewees’ understanding of reasons why their comprehensive high schools had been restructured and the four multi-campus colleges established … 184 6.2.1 Factors regarded as the key reasons for the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools ……………………………………………. 184 6.2.1.1 Curriculum reasons for restructuring the comprehensive high schools... 185 6.2.1.2 ‘Seizing the opportunity’ as the reason for restructuring comprehensive high schools ……………………………………………………...... 190 6.2.1.3 Contingency as the reason for restructuring high schools …...... 192 6.2.1.4 Efficiency reasons for the restructuring of comprehensive high schools…. 195 6.2.1.5 Policy, politics and other practical reasons for restructuring the high schools into multi-campus colleges ………………………………………. 196 6.2.1.6 Demonstration effects as the reason for restructuring the comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges ……………...... 200

6.3 Focus question 1.2: Interviewees’ understanding of origin of the vision to restructure the comprehensive high schools and establish the four colleges studied and how it was shared by participants at the establishment phase ………………………………………………...... 202 6.4 Focus question 1.3: Interviewees’ reasons why a variety of structural dynamics models were introduced ……………………………………… 207 6.5 Conclusion …………………………………………………………….… 212

CHAPTER 7: RESULTS, PART TWO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN THE “HUMAN INTERACTIONS” AND “SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE” ELEMENTS IN THE FOUR MULTI- CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED …………………………………... 214

7.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 214 7.2 Analysis of impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on the Human Interactions element in the four colleges …… 215 7.2.1 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on enrolments, retention rates and curriculum choice dynamics, (dynamics criteria 1 and 2) ………... 215 7.2.1.1 Reasons why the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics have greater potential for higher enrolments, greater retention rates, broader curriculum and greater subject choice cultural dynamics ………. 219 Charles Kivunja

7.2.2 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on learning and teaching environment dynamics, (dynamics criteria 3 and 4) ………… 229 7.2.3 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on teachers’ participation in decision making and on students’ choice of campus at which to study, given one sex or co-education in a particular campus, (dynamics criteria 5 and 6) ……………………………………………….. 238 7.3 Analysis of impact of structural-cultural dynamics on the Search for Excellence cultural dynamics in the four colleges studied …………… 240 7.3.1 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on resource availability, access to technology and resource utilisation cultural dynamics, (dynamics criteria 7 and 8) ……………………………………………….. 241 7.3.2 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on linkages with TAFE, University, vocational education and extra-curricular opportunities cultural dynamics, (dynamics criteria 9 and 10)…………… 246

7.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….. 255

CHAPTER 8: RESULTS, PART THREE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN THE “RESULTS OF HUMAN ENTERPRISE” ELEMENT IN THE FOUR MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED ……………………………………………………..……….. 258

8.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 258 8.2 Categorisation of the cultural dynamics investigated within the Results of Human Enterprise cultural dynamics according to commonality of interview data ………………………………..………………………… 259 8.3 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on principals’ management practices and leadership dynamics in the four colleges studied (dynamics criterion 11) ……………………………..… 260 8.3.1 Principals’ impacts on the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus colleges ……………………………………………………. 261 8.3.2 Principals’ evaluation of impact of multi-campus college structural- cultural dynamics on their management practices and leadership dynamics …………………………………………………………………. 265

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8.3.2.1 Most positive impacts of structural dynamics on leadership-cultural dynamics …………………………………………………………………. 265 8.3.2.2 Less positive impacts of structural dynamics on leadership-cultural dynamics………………………………………………………………….. 267 8.3.2.3 Most negative impact of structural-cultural dynamics on leadership dynamics ……………………………………………………………….…. 269 8.3.2.4 Differences in the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on leadership dynamics ……………………………………………………………….... 271 8.3.2.5 Commonality of ‘teething problems’ in leadership dynamics …………... 276

8.4 Impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on students’ and teachers’ outcomes, and comparisons with the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structure (dynamics criteria 12 and 13) …………………………………………… 278 8.4.1 Positive impacts of the structural-cultural dynamics on students’ and teachers’ cultural dynamics …………………………………………….. 284 8.4.1.1 Positive impacts in the middle school campuses………………………... 284 8.4.1.2 Positive impacts on students’ outcomes in the senior campuses ……….. 292 8.4.2 Negative impacts of the multi-campus colleges’ structural dynamics on teachers’ cultural dynamics ………………………………… 298 8.5 Impact of the new model on community perceptions and beliefs, and how the new dynamics compare with the traditional comprehensive high school dynamics, (dynamics criteria 14, 15 and 16) ………………... 303

8.6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 305

CHAPTER 9: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 308

9.1 Overview of analysis of the key findings among different stakeholders… 308 9.2 Analysis of the key findings across the four colleges studied …………… 309 9.2.1 Analysis of the key findings in the Human and Physical Infrastructure element ……………………………………………………………………. 309 9.2.2 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Human Interactions element …………………………………………………………………… 315 9.2.3 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Search for Excellence element …………………………………………………………………… 319

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9.2.4 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Results of Human Enterprise element ……………………………………………………………………. 322 9.2.4.1 Analysis of negative outcomes in the structural-cultural dynamics in the Results of Human Enterprise element …………………………….. 328 9.3 Feedback: Analysis of the structural-cultural multiplier effects and evaluation of the Dynamics Paradigm using the Feedback element …….. 333 9.3.1 Feedback 1: Analysis of the structural-cultural multiplier effects discovered in the four multi-campus colleges studied ……………………. 333 9.3.2 Feedback 2: Evaluation of the significance of the Dynamics Paradigm in analysing educational change in general, and in a multi-campus college in particular ...... 342

CHAPTER 10: CONCLUSION OF THESIS ……………………. 346

10.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. 346 10.2 Conclusions on the research questions ……………………………………. 346 10.3 Questions and suggestions for future research …………………………….. 348 10.4 Policy implications and options recommended ……………….………….. 352 10.5 Applications of this thesis ………………………………………………… 365 10.6 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… 369

REFERENCES CITED ………………………………..…………………….. 371

APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………….. 385

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LIST OT TABLES Table No. Page

3.5-1 Establishment chronology, cohort configuration and enrolment dynamics ……………………………………………………………… 84 3.5-2 Impact of multi-campus restructuring on cohort structural dynamics … 86 4.1 Correlation of elements of new Dynamics Paradigm to those in Pace’s model ………………………………………………………….. 110 5.5-2 Definition of Codenames used for the structural-cultural dynamics criteria for the research ………………………………………………….. 165 5.6-1 Sample design for teachers’ questionnaire administration ……………….. 168 5.6-2 Students’ sample size and design …………..……………………………. 169 6.4-1 The key contextual differences in the Work System or Human and Physical Infrastructure among the four colleges studied …………….….. 209 7.2-1 Illustration of the higher enrolments and greater retention rates which allow a broader curriculum choice in a multi-campus college compared to those in the traditional comprehensive high school ……..…. 219 7.2-2 Illustration of impact of the new structural dynamics on student enrolments per cohort in the middle school campuses as evidenced by data from Metro-A3 ……………………………………………………. 224 7.2-3 Comparison of total enrolments in the old and new structural dynamics of Metro-A College ……………………………………………………… 226 8-4 Summary of impact of multi-campus college structural dynamics on selected cultural dynamics in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm for the four colleges studied ……………………………………………………………. 281

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure No. Page

1-3 The 16 sub-questions/dynamics criteria of central research question 2.... 8

2.3-1 Pace’s structural-cultural dynamics model ……………………………... 39

3-3 The structural-cultural dynamics of the Comprehensive Education Model for New South Wales according to Wyndham, 1962 …………………… 61 3.3-2 Broadened HSC curriculum provisions of New South Wales’ Comprehensive High School model, 1995 ……….………………………. 68

3.5-1 Chronology of multi-campus college establishment in NSW, 1998-2004. 82

4-1 Pace’s model of organisational dynamism ……………………………….. 103

4-2 Dynamics Paradigm for analysing structural-cultural dynamics

in reframing an educational organisation …………………………….. …. 108

4-3 Mapping of the Dynamics Paradigm to data in thesis chapters 6 – 10 …… 125

5.3-2 The variety of research instruments used in the case study ……………… 139

5.5-1 A multiple-case sample design for the multi-campus colleges’ sample….. 162

5.6-3 Sample size and design for the qualitative data gathered ………………… 171

7.2-1 An illustration of ‘curriculum breadth’ offered at Metro-A in the old comprehensive high school and the new multi-campus college structure .. 222

9-2 Synthesis: Analysis of the key findings revealed by the Dynamics Paradigm ………………………………………………. 310 9-3 Feedback: Structural-cultural dynamics multiplier effects in a multi-campus college …………………………………………………. 334

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LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix No Page 5.2 Invitation letters to participants ………………………………………… 385 5.2-1 Invitation letter to principals …………………………………………… 385 5.2-2 Invitation letter to teachers …………………………………………….. 386 5.2-3 Invitation letter to students …………………………………………….. 387 5.2-4 Invitation letter to parents ……………………………………………… 388

5.3 Structured questionnaires ……………………………………………… 389 5.3-1 Teachers’ questionnaire ……………………………………………….. 389 5.3-.2 Students’ questionnaire ……………………………………………….. 391 5.3-3 Correlation of research question 2, to the 16 dynamics criteria and the 40 questions in the teachers’ and students’ questionnaires ……. 393 5.3-4 Interview guides ……………………………………………………. 394 5.3.4-1 Interview guide for Minister of Education ………………………… 394 5.3.4-2 Interview guide for District Superintendent ……………………….. 394 5.3.4-3 Interview guide for College Principals ………………..…………… 395 5.3.4-4 Interview guide for Campus Principals …………………………… 395 5.3.4-5 Interview guide for teachers ……………………………………..… 396 5.3.4-6 Interview guide for students ……………………………………… 396 5.3.4-7 Interview guide for parents ………………………………………… 396

6.2 Examples of time-tables from the colleges ……………………….. 397 6.2-1 Country-A College time-table data………………………………… 397 6.2-2 Country-B College time-table data ….…………………………….. 398

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABS = Australian Bureau of Statistics ACT = Australian Capital Territory AARE = Australian Association for Research in Education CDHSH = Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health CEO,WA = Catholic Education Office of Western Australia DET = New South Wales Department of Education and Training EKC = Essendon Keilor College ELLA = English Language and Literacy Assessment HREC = Human Research Ethics Committee HSC = Higher School Certificate HSIE = Human Society and Its Environment JSSTAFE = Joint Secondary School TAFE courses KLA = Key Learning Area LOLSO = Leadership for organisational learning and student outcomes LOTE = Languages Other Than English MCEETYA = Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs NSW = New South Wales NZARE = New Zealand Association for Research in Education

P & C = Parents’ and Citizens’ Association PDHPE = Physical Development, Health and Physical Education SEECS School of Education and Early Childhood Studies SERAP State Education Research Approval Process SC = School Certificate SNAP = Secondary Numeracy Assessment Programmes SRC = Students’ Representative Council SWOT = Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats TAFE = Technical and Further Education TVET = TAFE delivered Vocational Education and Training courses UAI = University Admission Index UK = United Kingdom USA = United States of America UWS = University of Western Sydney

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ABSTRACT

This case study of four multi-campus colleges in New South Wales combines both qualitative and quantitative research instruments in a multiple-case study methodology to investigate the reasons why the DET restructured 34 of its comprehensive high schools into 11 multi-campus colleges and to study the interplay of the structural and cultural dynamics in those colleges. The study is situated in the literature on organisational behaviour whose perspective recognises the close interconnectedness between structure and culture but emphasises reculturing as the essence of effective organisational dynamism. In particular, special attention is given to Pace’s (2002) dynamics model which was redesigned into the Dynamics Paradigm that underpins the data analysis in this thesis. Quantitative data was analysed with the assistance of Excel spreadsheet and the Likert-scale analytical tool. Qualitative data was coded and analysed using the qualitative QSRNVivo software. Using 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria, themes and patterns were identified in the data and through iterative, inductive analysis, they were categorised into the different elements of the Dynamics Paradigm for analysis. From the analysis, emerged a ‘rich, thick description’ of the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics in the colleges. Contextual contingency, curriculum, opportunity, economic rationalisation, politics and policies of the DET, plus demonstration effects from other Australian States and Territories were the reasons for the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools. Two primary theoretical implications arise from the study. Firstly, the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college has cumulative multiplier effects which improve the synergesis in the human interactions among participants in the college, its feeder schools and its wider community. Those dynamics mean that the multi-campus college is a new way of secondary school delivery in New South Wales and needs a new mindset to be understood and to be recultured. Secondly, the new Dynamics Paradigm developed in this thesis, provides a powerful cognitive lens to focus research on the reconstruction of the multiple realities in the structural and cultural dynamics in any educational institution. The study identifies 12 areas for further research, recommends 32 policy options which could lead to improved outcomes for students and teachers in multi-campus colleges, and proposes 11 potential applications of this thesis.

CHAPTER 1

PURPOSE, NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.1 Rationale and importance of the study

From 1998, the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET) commenced a process of restructuring some of its comprehensive secondary schools into a complex system of schools called multi-campus colleges. Each college comprised a cluster of several middle school campuses and one senior campus which were set up in different geographical locales, but were to function as one educational entity, under the governance of a single School Council or Board.

By 2004, a total of 34 comprehensive high schools had been restructured and amalgamated into 11 multi-campus colleges in New South Wales. Ten percent of all secondary schools in the State were in multi-campus college structures (DET, 2004a, p.255). Of the 305,199 secondary school students enrolled fulltime in all New South

Wales government secondary schools in 2004, nearly 8% were in multi-campus colleges (ABS, 2004, p.13). The multi-campus colleges had an average years 7 – 12 apparent retention rate 44.12% higher than the State average (DET, 2004a, p. 285).

Such restructuring initiatives changed not only the organisational structure but also the school practices which constitute the cultural dynamics in the schools that became involved in this different way of delivering secondary school education.

However, in spite of the above significant statistics, coupled with such a fast rate of establishment, and despite their wide spread both in metropolitan and rural areas, and not withstanding the previous work done on them, for instance by Howe (1987; 1990;

1991), Livermore (1990; 1991) and Tofler (1991), available literature including recently completed research by Kivunja (2001) and Polesel (2001), showed that generally, there was a gap in the information on the structural and cultural dynamics in these colleges.

In particular, data on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in these

2 colleges was not readily available. Accordingly, the first reason why this study was undertaken was because, to date the structural and cultural dynamics in these colleges remained largely unresearched and unknown. This study was therefore undertaken to help address the significant gap in the research literature specifically on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college.

The second reason why this study was important was because multi-campus colleges exist in both the private and government schools sectors. This is true, not only in New South Wales, but also in other States of Australia. In New South Wales, for example, many multi-campus colleges such as Terra Sancta College located partly at

Schofields and partly at Quakers Hill, and St. Andrews College at Marayong and

Quakers Hill, exist within the Catholic Education Systemic Schools (CEO, Parramatta,

2005). In Victoria, Xavier College belonging to The Society of Jesus (Xavier College,

2002), is one of many examples of multi-campus colleges run by religious institutions in that State while Essendon Keilor College, which is said to comprise “three great campuses, (Essendon, East Keilor and Niddrie), as one great State School”, is an example of these colleges in public education in that State (EKC, 2005, p.2).

In Western Australia, several multi-campus colleges are run by the Department of Education and Training as discussed for instance by Moroz (2003, p. 7) and by the

Western Australian Catholic Education Office (CEO, WA, 2005). In Tasmania, of the

34 private schools within the Association of Independent Schools, 6 are reported to operate within multi-campus college structures (AIS, 2005). Similarly, in Queensland,

Emmaus College with a campus at Main Street and another at Yamba Road in

Rockhampton is an example of a multi-campus college in that State (Emmaus, 2005).

Moreover, apart from situations such as those exemplified above where multi- campus colleges actually exist, there are instances of considerable debate and several proposals which advocated the introduction of these colleges for instance in Canberra in the ACT, (Livermore, 1990; 1991; Hargreaves, 1991; Rogers, 1991 and Wallace, 1991).

Therefore, this study has potential to benefit different internal and external stakeholders across different education sectors in Australia.

Thirdly, this study is important from a methodological dimension because it represents one of the first case studies of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales employing both qualitative and quantitative research instruments (Merriam, 2001) following a multiple-case sampling methodology. In favour of a multiple-case approach

Miles and Huberman say, that a lot of recent research results support their argument that:

Multiple cases offer the researcher an even deeper understanding of processes and outcomes of cases, … and a good picture of locally grounded causality. … By looking at a range of similar and contrasting cases, we can understand a single-case finding, grounding it by specifying how and where, if possible, why it carries on as it does. We can strengthen the precision, the validity and the stability of findings (Miles and Huberman, 1994, pp 26 – 29).

Furthermore, Miles and Huberman (1994, p.41) also support the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods when they point out, that “quantitative and qualitative methods are inextricably intertwined”. Similarly, Hammersley (1992, pp. 159-160) reported that “since the 1960s, there has been … increased interest in the combination or even integration of quantitative and qualitative techniques … in social research”. Hammersley (1992, p. 172) then concludes that:

What is involved is not a simple contrast between two opposed standpoints, … not a cross-roads where we have to go left or right, … but a range of positions sometimes located on more than one dimension. … Many combinations are quite reasonable. … selection among these positions ought to depend on the purposes and circumstances of the research rather than being derived from methodological or philosophical commitments.

In defence of this position Scott (1996, p.59) says that:

The assumption that qualitative and quantitative research methods represent two distinct and opposed approaches to the study of the social world is being challenged. … Differences exist; but … the two methods can sensibly be used within the same investigation.

This thesis is thus set apart in its design and methodology perspectives because it shows that both qualitative and quantitative research instruments and data can be used effectively in a case study, to help validate, interpret, clarify and illustrate findings in the different cases. Weinstein and Tamur (1978, p.140) concur when they rhetorically ask: “Why throw away anything helpful”? As Miles and Huberman (1994, pp. 41- 43) further enlighten the importance of the methods used in the present study:

The question, then, is not whether the two sorts of data and associated methods can be linked during study design, but whether it should be done, how it will be done, and for what purposes. Qualitative data is not the only way of proceeding.

As discussed in chapter 3, some quantitative data on multi-campus colleges was available on enrolments in those colleges (e.g. DET, 1998 – 2004 and Polesel, 2001).

Such data showed for example, that whereas there were only 1,776 students enrolled in these colleges in 1998, by 2004 the total enrolment was more than 23,000 (DET, 1998

– 2004). However, no comprehensive analysis of the relationships experienced by people in the structural and cultural dynamics of multi-campus colleges was publicly available in the literature.

In conclusion therefore, this study was important because it would extend an understanding of the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi- campus college and the possible impact on secondary education. Such knowledge should benefit not only specific stakeholders such as principals, students, parents and parishes but also other stakeholders including the DET, politicians, bureaucrats, academics, employers, the Australian society at large as well as enhance capacity for global comparisons to be made of the utilitarian value of these colleges.

1.2 Objectives of the study

Whereas there is a plethora of publications and research reports on secondary schools in New South Wales and Australia in general, there is a gap in the information

5 on the multi-campus college model. It was therefore the overall aim of this study to make a significant contribution to a better understanding of the structural and cultural dynamics in selected multi-campus colleges in New South Wales. The study sought to facilitate this improved understanding by pursuing three related objectives.

The first objective was to investigate, document and present a historical account of the internal and external socio-economic factors which were instrumental in the secondary school reforms that led to the establishment of the multi-campus colleges in

New South Wales.

The second objective was to document and present in this thesis, the chronological development of the multi-campus colleges that emerged out of those structural reforms.

It was reasonable to expect that the structural changes that transformed the organisational structures of previously autonomous secondary high schools into integrated multi-campus colleges had an impact on the cultural dynamics in those colleges. However, to date there was very little information about the structural and cultural dynamics in those colleges. The third objective of the research was therefore to gain an understanding of the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college.

1.3 Research questions investigated

This thesis was guided by two central research questions. Firstly: Why were some of the comprehensive high schools in New South Wales restructured into multi- campus colleges? And secondly: What is the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college following such restructuring?

As the research was informed by the literature reviewed in chapter 2 and by the background data discussed in chapter 3, these two central questions were refined and expounded with subsidiary questions so as to enable the thesis to focus on the salient

6 elements of the colleges’ background issues and structural-cultural dynamics. The subsidiary questions for the first central question were:

1. What are interviewees’ understandings of why the DET restructured some of

the autonomous years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools in their area and

established a multi-campus college?

2. What are interviewees’ understandings of whose vision it was and how it was

shared at the establishment phase of the restructuring?

3. What are interviewees’ understandings of why a variety of models were

introduced?

Each of these questions was important in generating useful information on the restructuring of the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school to establish the new colleges. The first was important because it led to an investigation of the rationale for and the factors which were critical in the establishment of the four multi-campus colleges which were selected for case study in this thesis. The second was important because it enabled an analysis, not only of the origin of the restructuring vision, but also whether it was shared by the different stakeholders of those colleges. This was important because as Pace (2002, p.4) suggests, the extent to which people perceive that they were involved in decisions that impact on their “Work System” influences their participation and contribution to the cultural dynamics in their “Work System”. Leaders in educational change such as Fullan (2001a, pp. 4-5) argue that having a good vision is not enough in bringing about improvement of relationships in schools and classrooms.

Having that vision shared is a far more important goal. The third part of this question was intriguing because, although data from the DET (1998 – 2004), had shown that no two multi-campus colleges were similar in structure, no detailed explanation had been offered for the differences.

The second central research question was subdivided into 16 sub-questions, or dynamics criteria, as illustrated in Figure 1-3 and discussed further in chapter 3. (See section 3.6.2 on page 93 and summary in Table 5.5.2 on page 165). The reason why this question was subdivided into so many questions was to take full advantage of the exploratory nature of this research and target the 16 dynamics which were revealed in chapter 3 as core variables in the data on the restructuring of comprehensive high schools into multi-campus college structures.

The use of these dynamics variables enabled the thesis to raise a wide variety of questions which opened the way to an informed understanding of the meaning of the multi-campus college phenomenon as perceived by the people in those colleges and thereby provided a stage for launching research into the structural-cultural dynamics therein. Therefore, these questions were important because they guided the research towards an understanding of the inner workings of educational change following the restructuring of autonomous comprehensive high schools and their integration into one multi-campus college. This was consistent with Fullan’s (2001a) advice that to understand such dynamics:

We have to know what change feels like from the point of view of the teacher, student, parent, and administrator if we are to understand the actions and reactions of individuals; and if we are to comprehend the big picture, we must combine the aggregate knowledge of these individual situations with an understanding of organisation and institutional factors that influence the process of change as governments, teacher unions, school systems, and communities interact (Fullan, 2001a, p. xi).

Figure 1-3 shows not only the 16 sub-questions that were investigated but also the different chapters of the thesis in which the various questions were investigated.

Question 1-10 were answered in chapter 7 and questions 11-16, in chapter 8.

Additionally, the Figure illustrates the different elements of the Dynamics Paradigm developed in this thesis (See chapter 4), to analyse the structural and cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges studied.

Figure 1-3: The 16 sub-questions/dynamics criteria of central research question 2

Central Thesis question 2: What is the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics

in a multi-campus college?

Dynamics Question 2 subsidiary questions: Paradigm Element The 16 subsidiary questions or structural-cultural dynamics criteria used to investigate relationship between/ or impact of multi-campus

college structural dynamics and/ on cultural dynamics

Sub-question Sub-question in the four case studies

1 How do the structural-cultural dynamics impact on enrolments and retention [ Chapter 7 ] rates?

Human 2 How have the structural-cultural dynamics impacted on curriculum and subject choice? Interactions 3 How are the structural-cultural dynamics impacting on the learning environment? (Element 2) 4 How do the structural-cultural dynamics affect the teaching environment? 5 How is decision making shared in the new structural-cultural dynamics? 6 What is students’ opinion on one sex rather than a co-educational campus within the structural-cultural dynamics?

[ Chapter 7 ] 7 How do the structural-cultural dynamics impact on resource availability and Search use? For 8 What access to new technology do the new structural-cultural dynamics Excellence create? 9 What linkages and joint resource use with University and TAFE (Element 3) do the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics create? 10 How do the structural-cultural dynamics impact on extra-curricular activities?

11 How do the new structural-cultural dynamics impact on principals’ roles? [ Chapter 8] 12 How do the new structural-cultural dynamics impact on students’ outcomes 13 How do the new structural-cultural dynamics impact on teachers’ Results outcomes? of 14 How do the new structural-cultural dynamics meet the stated assumptions Human and beliefs? Enterprise 15 How did/do people in the community react/respond to the new structural- cultural dynamics? (Element 4) 16 How do participants compare the new structural-cultural dynamics to the traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structural-cultural dynamics?

Source: Summary of the 16 sub-questions/dynamics criteria and the different chapters of the thesis in which each was investigated.(See also Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 and dynamics criteria summary on page 165).

As shown in the above Figure, the 16 dynamics criteria sub-questions were categorised into three elements of the Dynamics Paradigm namely, “Human

Interactions, Search for Excellence and Results of Human Enterprise” elements (See

Dynamics Paradigm, Figure 4-2 on page 108).

1.4 Definitions

Whenever new terms are introduced in the different chapters of this thesis, they are defined or explained. However, this section defines and explains seven of the study’s central terms because they are repeatedly used in the thesis. Another reason for defining them here is to make clear, the exact meaning they were given in this thesis so that their use is particular to the multi-campus college phenomenon as studied in this thesis rather than in general use. In accordance with Hammersley (1998, p.80) the purpose of the definitions is to acquaint the reader with “statements about how the author is going to use a term, about what meaning is to be associated with it”. The seven terms are: structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, restructuring schools to establish a multi-campus college, multi-campus college organisational structure, multi-campus college organisational culture, dynamism in a multi-campus college, middle school and senior school campus of a multi-campus college, as well as

New South Wales DET.

1.4.1 Structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college

In explaining the meaning of dynamics in general, Stacey (2002, p.3) says that

“dynamics means movement and concern with the dynamics is concern with how the phenomenon moves, unfolds or evolves over time”. Emphasis in this explanation is on change. In expounding on this change Stacey further says:

A dynamic phenomenon is one that displays patterns of change over time and a study of the dynamics of any phenomenon is concerned with what generates these patterns and what properties of stability and instability, predictability and unpredictability they display (Stacey, 2002, pp. 3 – 4).

Stacey’s explanation of dynamics in the above passage fits this study well because the term structural dynamics was used in this thesis to refer to the rapid changes which the DET introduced in the comprehensive high schools which it reconfigured into clusters of schools operating as one multi-campus college. It also includes the changes which continue to occur in the structures of the new model so that aspects of stability and instability can be studied.

This explanation is in accord with Pace’s (2002, p.6) terminology of structural dynamics which include the processes that create change within the “Physical and

Human Infrastructure” of the organisation which he calls the “Work System”. Similarly,

Kliem and Anderson (2003, p15) also define structural dynamics of an organisation in terms of “the constant changes and influences to the physical environment of the organisation”.

Therefore, the changes in the patterns of behaviour of people in a multi-campus college following the structural changes are the cultural dynamics. Those changes, in

Pace’s language, are in the human interactions within the multi-campus college Work

System. This is why structural change and cultural dynamics in this study were so closely interrelated such that where it was not possible to distinguish between the consequences of change in structure and those due to change in behaviour, the composite term structural-cultural dynamics was used. This was done to give consideration to whether the changes in both structure and culture within the multi- campus college dynamics were simultaneously having the perceived impact or outcome.

It is also worth pointing out, that cultural dynamics are much more complex in a multi-campus college than in the orthodox comprehensive high school because of the greater critical mass of layers and groups of people involved in the interactions among the different campuses of one college, the different personalities among principals, their deputies, head teachers and teachers in one college. As Senge (1999, p. 190) points out,

“groups add dynamics and knowledge beyond what one person can do alone”. Besides,

11 the geographical separation of participants in one college imposes structural dynamics which tend to stifle the rate of interaction among the cultural dynamics. This type of constraint does not exist in a normal high school where years 7 – 12 are located in one site.

The cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college are complicated further by loose couplings arising out of the co-location of the senior campus with tertiary institutions of TAFE and University. Further complexities arise due to the sharing of joint facilities such as libraries, assembly halls, canteen and lecture theatres. The possible mix (and perhaps clash) of the culture of students of high school age in a multi- campus college with an adult culture in TAFE and University also adds a dimension to the cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college which does not exist to the same degree in a traditional comprehensive high school.

In conclusion, the cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college are defined in this study simply as the changes that occur among people in a multi-campus college regarding, as Barker and Coy, 2004, p.72 aptly say, “how they do things around here” among their campuses. Therefore, the concept of cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college refers to the changes, processes and interactions that occur among the interwoven and interdependent relationships among people in such a college, namely the principals, teachers, students and parents. External stakeholders such as DET officials responsible for those schools and members of the public where the schools are located, also have an influence on the structural-cultural dynamics of each multi-campus college.

1.4.2 Restructuring of comprehensive schools to establish a multi-campus college

In this thesis the term ‘restructuring’ is used to refer to the way in which previously autonomous, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools in some locales in

New South Wales, were first divided by the DET, into years 7 – 9/10 middle schools

12 and years 10/11 – 12 senior schools and then amalgamated, to make them one college consisting of several middle school campuses and one senior campus.

It is worth noting within this definition, that although ‘multi’ technically means

‘many’, within New South Wales DET literature, this term is equally applied to colleges that comprise only two sites. For example, Brisbane Water multi-campus college consists of Umina Campus with years 7 – 9 in the middle school and Woy Woy

Campus, with years 10 – 12 as the senior campus. Similarly, Moree multi-campus college comprises one years 7 – 9 middle school campus at Carol Avenue, and the years

10 - 12 senior campus at Albert Avenue. Therefore, this thesis used the term multi- campus college in the DET connotation to refer to schools that consist of two or more sites.

1.4.3 Multi-campus college organisational structure

Pace (2002, p.28) defines the structure of an organisation simply as “the way in which individuals and roles relate”. Thus defined, multi-campus college organisational structure is seen as the definition and arrangement of roles, relationships and responsibilities in those colleges. This definition is consistent with Senge (1999, p. 40) who says that:

structure means the basic interrelationships that control behaviour. It includes how people make decisions – the ‘operating policies’, – whereby we translate perceptions, goals, rules and norms into actions.

While this meaning is relevant to the organisational structure of a multi-campus college, a definition which appears to fit the organisational structure of New South

Wales multi-campus colleges more precisely, is Mintzberg’s (1979, p.2 and 66) definition of:

organisational structure (as) the sum total of those formal and informal ways in which an organisation divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination among them in order to establish stable patterns of behaviour.

Similarly, Ainsworth, Smith and Millership (2002, p.85) say that organisational structure is “the way work is broken down into different elements and the way in which reporting relationships are built so that coordination of effort and output can be achieved at minimum cost”.

An application of these definitions to organisational structure of a multi-campus college helps in understanding the operational paradox that the DET appeared to face in the restructuring of comprehensive high schools to establish multi-campus colleges. The

DET’s division of schools into many campuses and then merging them to create one college is paradoxical in that it tends to reflect an apparent fundamental contradiction in which human activity “requires division of labour … and (then) its coordination to accomplish activity” (Mintzberg, 1979, p.2). The different views of researchers on this paradox are outlined in the literature review in chapter 2 of this thesis.

1.4.4 Multi-campus college organisational culture

Simpson (2004, p.72), like Deal and Kennedy (1983), Fink (2000), Fullan

(2001a) as well as Barker and Coy (2004), defines organisational culture simply as “the personality of an organisation”. But for the present thesis to gain a deeper understanding of this concept so as to be able to interpret or make sense of the cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, it was necessary to adopt Schein’s (1997) definition of the culture of a group as:

A pattern of shared assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the current way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems. … The deeply embedded unconscious basic assumptions (are) the essence of culture (pp. 12 – 16).

In an attempt to simplify this rather complex definition, Simpson (2004, p. 71) says that all this means “the unwritten ground rules” of the group. Although all aspects of culture are not necessarily ‘unwritten’, in a multi-campus college the unwritten

14 ground rules are peoples’ perceptions about the patterns of work created by the new structural-cultural dynamics of their college, reporting relationships, decision-making, leadership and peoples’ expectations regarding what are acceptable and unacceptable practices within their college. They are what they regard as important and, in the words of Taylor (2004, p.6), “what people do … to fit in, to be accepted and to be rewarded” as members of a multi-campus college.

While Schein’s definition clearly implies that culture is partly a function of time because it inevitably takes a while for a group to learn and to share basic assumptions as it solves its problems, his definition was preferred in the present thesis because it served to alert the analysis to the fact that because multi-campus colleges are relatively new organisations, it was reasonable to expect them to be in the process of forming their culture. This made it even more intriguing for the present study to try to understand not only the structural and cultural dynamics that were emerging within these new colleges, but also to shed some light on how the old culture that existed in the traditional comprehensive high schools, some of which like Country-A College (See pseudonym definition in section 5.5.1, page 162), had been in existence for over 80 years, had reacted or responded to the vision of the new model and the importance of the interrelationship between the old and the new model.

1.4.5 Dynamism in a multi-campus college

Dynamism is an idealistic concept and may be envisioned to be central to the change theme that is pivotal to the establishment of a multi-campus college as evident in this passage from Pace (2002, p. 3):

Organisational dynamism is that mysterious element that captures emotions and commitment and intrigues organisational members. It is the secret ingredient in the workplace that energises us, refreshes us, and fortifies us resulting into having individuals, teams and systems that are vigorous, robust, refreshed, efficacious, cogent and potent in the pursuit of organisational goals.

In unpacking what all this means in terms of dynamism in a multi-campus college, it is necessary to focus both on the goal of dynamism and the process of dynamism. The goal of dynamism is to improve performance of the organisation. In a multi-campus college this would be improvement in students’ and teachers’ outcomes within the structural and cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college. The process of dynamism involves the “release of energy and vitality among organisational members to work for the realisation of organisational goals” (Pace, 2002, p.3).

Interpreted within the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, the presence of dynamism would be reflected in the actions of principals, teachers and students who would be enlivened by the activities going on in their campuses. The experience of dynamism among the participants in the life of a multi- campus college, would release their proactive energy towards the pursuit and achievement of goals of the college. Principals, teachers, students and parents would hold very positive perceptions of their multi-campus college, show loyalty and enthusiasm and create genuine excitement among colleagues about the events in their college across all the campuses and all organisational levels within each campus.

This focus of each organisational member towards making a contribution to enthusiasm and genuine excitement, resonates well with what Fullan (2000, p. 13) identifies as the new meaning of leadership. According to such meaning, “each and every educator must strive to be an effective change agent”. If this were achieved in the structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, dynamism would have been accomplished and there would be leadership in a culture of change which means creating a culture (Fullan, 2001b, p.44). This explanation was useful in informing the thesis that organisational dynamism and cultural dynamics are intimately intertwined.

1.4.6 Middle school and senior school in New South Wales multi-campus colleges

The term middle school is used in this study to refer to years 7 – 9/10 cohorts of the multi-campus colleges. The term deserves explanation here partly because not all education systems refer to these years as ‘middle school’ but more importantly, because interviewees were very emphatic in their explanation that they used it since they did not like their years 7 – 9/10 campuses to be referred to as ‘junior’ schools relative to

‘senior’ schools. They said that such terminology would infer that one campus was superior to another whereas the multi-campus college ethos was that all schools within one multi-campus college cluster are equal partners. The term was therefore valued because it helped to propagate this structural-cultural dynamic.

There were two types of middle school in the four colleges surveyed. Three of the colleges had their middle schools configured with years 7 – 10 cohorts, while the fourth had its cohorts structured as years 7 – 9. Good reasons for this difference in the structural design of the colleges were given by the interviewees and are discussed in chapter 6. The corresponding cohorts in the senior campuses were therefore years 11 –

12 in three of the colleges but years 10 – 12 in one of the colleges. In the latter, year 10 students were included among the ‘seniors’ whereas in the former they were in the

‘middle’ school campuses.

1.4.7 New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET)

The use of the term New South Wales Department of Education and Training

(DET) needs some definition because it is used in this thesis in a rather narrow sense in which it means the central administration which is charged with the responsibility of implementing Ministerial policy on matters of public secondary schooling in New South

Wales.

This narrow focus is needed because, as one would expect, school principals, their teachers and government schools are all part of the DET. However, in regards to

17 the decision to restructure comprehensive high schools so as to establish multi-campus colleges in New South Wales, this term is restricted to the key decision makers in the

Department, from the Director General to District Superintendents.

1.5 Overview and organisation of thesis

This thesis focuses on the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics which were created by the restructuring of the relevant New South Wales

DET comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges from the inception of those initiatives in 1998 to the completion of this study in 2004. The goal of the research was to discover the rationale for such restructuring and in particular to gain a better understanding of the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on students’ outcomes, on the work and working conditions of principals and teachers who work in those colleges and on parents who send their children to those schools.

Since there were few prior studies on the structural-cultural dynamics in New

South Wales’ multi-campus colleges, this study was primarily exploratory research in nature. Thus, apart from the goal of discovery, the study also aimed at reducing the gap in the information on the structural-cultural dynamics in these colleges and on raising new questions for future research into the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college.

The study is organised into ten chapters. The present chapter introduces the thesis, states the problem investigated and why it was important to conduct research into this area. It categorically delineates the objectives of the thesis and states the questions that guided the research. Key terms used in the thesis are also defined in this chapter.

The next chapter reviews literature on organisational behaviour within which this thesis is located and highlights Pace’s organisational dynamics model as a useful tool in conceptualising the structural and cultural dynamics in an industrial setting. The chapter comprises four sections. First, the concept of structural change and cultural

18 dynamics is explored. Second, the concept of organisational, structural-cultural dynamics in different schools of thought is outlined. Third, the concept of organisational dynamism is illuminated. Fourth, Pace’s (2002) dynamics model is discussed and identified as the basis for the development of the theoretical framework for analysing change in an educational setting. That theoretical framework is developed in chapter 4 and referred to throughout the thesis as the Dynamics Paradigm.

Having reviewed the relevant literature in chapter 2, the thesis then discusses the historical context of the research and summarises secondary data on the reforms in New

South Wales secondary schools in chapter 3, so as to contextualise the thesis within existing information on relevant educational reforms in this State and in particular to gain an understanding of the circumstances that led to the restructuring of comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges as represented in existing data.

The contextual background discussed covers the education system from the pre-

Wyndham era, through the development of the Wyndham comprehensive high school model. That period was chosen as the staging point because it marks the time when major educational reforms in secondary education occurred in many States of Australia.

This is well documented in many authoritative reports on secondary school reforms in this country. In New South Wales, for example, Wyndham (1957, p. 63) reported that:

Within the last fifty years the field of secondary education has altered radically, both in scope and purpose. It has come to be accepted that not only will all children complete primary education, but they will all pass on to some form of secondary education, remaining at school at least until the age of fifteen years. Today, almost all pupils do attend school until that age. Secondary education is the education not of a select minority, but of all adolescents, irrespective of their variety of interests, talents and prospects.

Similarly, in Victoria Blackburn (1985) pointed out that in that period:

the foundations of the present government secondary school system were laid. Education entered a phase in which secondary schooling was made accessible to all. It was provided in high and technical schools and in non-government schools, all of which accommodated a sharply rising number of young people (Blackburn, 1985, p.3).

As an elaboration on the importance of the reforms that occurred during that period, Blackburn (1985, p.4) explained that those educational reforms changed secondary schooling in Australia from one “predominantly preserved for a minority of young people intending to do higher education, to one where the majority of students stay for the full secondary span”. The increase in number and in the diversity of students who stayed at school after the compulsory schooling years appears to have been a basis for structural reforms which sought ways in which to improve education delivery that would meet the developmental needs of the larger numbers of students of more divergent abilities.

In agreement with Blackburn, McGaw (1996) pointed out that fundamental changes affecting secondary schooling in NSW were undertaken during that period especially following the Wyndham (1957) recommendations on secondary school reform. Those recommendations are reviewed in detail in chapter 3 of this thesis. That chapter also explores the reasons given in the background data as to why it was deemed desirable to introduce the multi-campus college model, not only in New South Wales, but also in other States and Territories of the Australian Commonwealth. That is followed by an outline of the chronological establishment between 1998 and 2004 of the

11 multi-campus colleges which now exist in New South Wales. From an examination of that historical data on the reconfiguration and integration of comprehensive high schools into the multi-campus colleges arise 16 questions on the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics in these colleges. These questions are then used as the dynamics criteria (See pages 93-99), which are built into the Dynamics Paradigm in chapter 4 (See page 108), and applied in the analysis of all the data in this thesis.

As said above, in chapter 4 the thesis combines Pace’s theory reviewed in chapter 2 with the historical data on restructuring of comprehensive high schools discussed in chapter 3, to design a new Dynamics Paradigm for studying change in an educational institution. That Paradigm is then applied, for the first time, in chapters 6 -

10, to investigate the structural and cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges studied for this thesis.

Chapter 5 discusses the research design and methodology of this study. The study’s preparatory strategies, ethical considerations and protocols are outlined. The case study methodology which was chosen for this thesis is discussed along with the multiple-case sampling strategy which was used to gather the data. The case study used both qualitative and quantitative research instruments in a complementary manner, as recommended by Merriam (1988, p.2), Hammersley (1992, p.172), Miles and

Huberman (1994, pp. 41-43) as well as Glaser and Strauss (1999, p.18), so as to be able to triangulate the data “and enhance the validity and reliability of the study” (Merriam,

1998, p.69).

This methodology was also supported by Denzin and Lincoln (2000, p.5) as “a strategy that adds rigor, breadth, complexity, richness and depth to an inquiry”.

Mathison (1988, p.17) also agrees that such methodology assists in the provision of “a holistic understanding of the situation studied to construct plausible explanations about the phenomena being studied”. The use of this methodology enabled the research to explore in detail key factors in the structural-cultural dynamics of each of the four multi-campus college scenarios, so as to gain an informed understanding of the multiple realities regarding what and how change feels like within these colleges as reconstructed by principals and teachers who work there; students who study there and from parents who send their students to those colleges.

Additionally, chapter 5 discusses the epistemological and ontological dimensions of this case study. It also explains the trustworthiness criteria of validity and reliability which were applied in this thesis and details the different strategies that were followed to enhance the validity and reliability of the data. Issues of reflexivity and textuality of this thesis are discussed in this chapter as well.

Using the Dynamics Paradigm, the study’s findings presented and discussed in chapters 6 to 8 and analysed in chapter 9 aim to provide data grounded in rich description of the critical background factors and the structural-cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges studied and represent an attempt to effectively answer the central research questions of the thesis. While the findings harmonised with many of the speculations in earlier literature on multi-campus colleges, they indicated some new structural and cultural dynamics involving a synergesis of multiplier effects which had not been documented in earlier literature on multi-campus colleges in New South

Wales, thereby making an incremental contribution to knowledge and understanding of the dynamics in these colleges. The findings also addressed many gaps in the existing data and thus provided new evidence which clarified old issues.

The analysis and discussion of the results in chapter 9 synthesises the results of the thesis in order to succinctly crystallise the study’s findings on interviewees’ understanding of the restructuring decision and of the impact of the multi-campus college model on the structural and cultural dynamics in their college, and on the background factors that were critical in the introduction of multi-campus colleges in

New South Wales.

The thesis is concluded in chapter 10 which identifies 12 ways in which the findings of this study set the stage for future research and provides 32 recommendations for policy formulation regarding the operation of the existing colleges and the establishment of additional multi-campus colleges in the future. Based on the findings, the chapter then makes 11 suggestions on the different applications to which the thesis could be put. These include further private and institutional research into the dynamics in all the multi-campus colleges in the State, especially in middle school dynamics, and on the impact of these dynamics on teachers’ and principals’ work and working conditions in this new way of secondary school delivery.

An investigation of the structural and cultural dynamics in the four multi- campus colleges studied required an intellectual framework. The literature that informed the intellectual basis for the investigation of those relationships and the problems therein is reviewed in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS

2.1 Introduction From the discussion of the rationale, importance and questions of this study, as well as the key definitions presented in the previous chapter, it became clear that the theoretical underpinnings of the present study lie in the domain of organisational theory with emphasis on organisational structural and cultural dynamics. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to provide a well informed conceptual map for an investigation into the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college. This is achieved through four steps. Firstly, a review is conducted of literature which makes explicit the concept of structural change and cultural dynamics. Secondly, literature on structural-cultural dynamics in different schools of thought is discussed. Thirdly, literature on the concept of organisational dynamism is reviewed. Fourthly, Pace’s model of organisational dynamics and related literature is reviewed.

2.2 Literature on the basic concepts which underpin the thesis

2.2.1 The concept of structural change and cultural dynamics

Following the definition of organisational structure in chapter 1 (See page 12) as

“the sum total of those formal and informal ways in which an organisation divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination among them in order to establish stable patterns of behaviour” (Mintzberg, 1979, pp. 2 & p.66), it was clear that organisational structural change and cultural dynamics are inextricably linked. This explanation was important in the present study of restructuring the organisational structure of traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools because it created an awareness that if you change the structure of such a school into a multi-campus college structure, you most likely change how the school functions – that is, its culture.

Structural change and cultural dynamics are intimately intertwined because structure represents not only the established forces and tradition in an organisation but also of power relationships within the organisation. Mintzberg (1979) warns that while it is not always the case, in most situations, “to tamper with these forces is to invite strong resistance” (p. 67). In other words, when preparing to change the structure of a school, you need to be aware of the “force-field for change” (i.e. positive forces supporting the change and negative forces resisting it. See Schein, 2005, p. 352), and be prepared to change the culture as well.

In a question that aptly relates structural change to cultural dynamics, Bolman and Deal (2003, pp. 46 – 47) ask, “How does structure influence what happens in the workplace?” Their answer includes the following explanation:

Essentially, it is a blueprint for formal expectations and exchanges among internal players (executives, managers, employees) and external constituencies (such as customers and clients). Like an animal’s skeleton or a building’s framework, structural form both enhances and constrains what an organisation can accomplish. (For example), formal structure enhances morale if it helps us get our work done. It has a negative impact if it gets in our way, buries us in red tape, or makes it easier for management to control us.

Similarly, Senge (1999, p. 43) highlights the inextricable interconnectedness between structural change and cultural dynamics when he says that “the underlying structures shape individual actions and create the conditions where types of events become likely.”

The significance of structure in “reframing schools as learning organisations”

(Silins and Mulford, 2002, p.425) was also emphasised by Marks et al. (2000) who having studied six high performing schools included school structure as one of the six dimensions which they identified as determinants of “a school’s capacity for organisational learning” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p. 428). Silins and Mulford (2001, p. 7) also explained that the existence of the appropriate structure was important because it is one of the factors which give the school favourable conditions for the

25 creation of opportunity and ability to share information, knowledge and commitment of organisational members to collaborative learning.

Fullan (2001b) agrees with this suggestion when he writes, “leading in a culture of change means creating a culture, not just a structure, of change” (p. 44). He adds,

“structure does make a difference, but it is not the main point in achieving success (in implementing change). Transforming the culture – changing the way we do things around here – is the main point. I call this reculturing” (pp. 43 – 44). Stanford (2005, p.5) concurs when he writes: “changing the structure impacts on each of the other aspects of the organisation, but structure is not the only consideration. For things to work well you need to design not simply re-structure. We have to think beyond structure into design” (italics emphasis in original text). The metaphorical interpretation of reculturing in terms of designing means that reculturing is a core concept within the cultural dynamics of an organisation and is likely to be central to effecting meaningful change in a multi-campus college.

This dichotomous need to “restructure” and then “reculture” (Fullan, 2001b, pp.

43 – 44); to “divide” and then “coordinate” (Mintzberg, 1979, p.66) as the essence of effective structural change and cultural dynamics is helpful in the conceptualisation of structural change and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college because it draws attention to the fact that in changing the structure of comprehensive high schools the

DET had embarked upon changing not only the structure as such, but also human relationships among principals, teachers and students in those schools, as well as parents who sent students to those schools.

In the DET’s decision to divide years 7 – 12 cohorts in a comprehensive high school into years 7 – 9/10 middle school campuses and a years 10/11 – 12 senior campus, and then coordinate several of those middle schools and one senior campus to form one multi-campus college (as is discussed in the next chapter), significant structural changes were made. The designers of the multi-campus college model

26 inevitably, knowingly or unknowingly, faced the important question of how to promote the most effective structural-cultural dynamics for the improvement of students’ outcomes in those schools.

The question of what structural changes promote the most effective cultural dynamics in the pursuit of organisational goals is not new. It has exercised the minds of many organisational theorists in different schools of thought as they have tried to come to terms with the question of how to design the optimal relationships between structural and cultural dynamics in their organisations. It is therefore fitting in this section, to briefly review the development of such organisational thought.

2.2.2 The concept of structural-cultural dynamics in different schools of thought

It is reasonable to commence the discussion in this section with a review of literature from the classical school of organisational theorists because they are generally regarded as the founding fathers of organisational thought (Poole and Van de Ven,

2004). For instance, classical school organisational theorists such as Adam Smith

(1776), Woodrow Wilson (1887), and Henri Fayol (1916) and later contributors such as

Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick (1937), focused on the formal structure of organisations which laid emphasis on the prescribed, official relationships among people in one organisation such that there was specialisation and direct supervision among organisational members and processes and products could be standardised.

Structural change and cultural dynamics in those organisations called for three principles which were characterised as unity of command, scalar chain and span of control. These structural-cultural dynamics meant, respectively, that one, and only one, chief executive issued the command to his subordinates; that there was a direct line of command from that executive, through successive supervisors and subordinates to workers, and finally, that there was a set number of employees reporting to one supervisor (Mintzberg, 1979, p. 9).

Like the classical theorists, Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911) believed in specialisation and division of labour but under scientific management which rigidly standardised organisational structures resulting in cultural dynamics which stipulated that there was “one best way” of work organisation, based on engineering methods.

Accordingly, it was argued, that “there was a single organisation structure that was highly effective in all settings” (Donaldson, 1996, p.61).

Similar to Taylor’s engineering structural-cultural dynamics, Max Weber (1914) also defined organisational structure in terms of division of labour but under bureaucratic organisational structural-cultural dynamics in which the cultural dynamics reflected the principle that there was “a machine-like” best way to perform the prescribed tasks, under formalised rules, job description and training (Gerth and Mills,

1958, p.10).

Thus, in summing up the theoretical positions of the earliest schools of organisational thought (Wilson, Taylor, Weber and Fayol), organisational structural- cultural dynamics postulated in their models reflected a formal, hierarchical, authoritarian, pyramid-like, top-to-bottom structure, with executives at the apex of the pyramid, managers in the middle layers and supervisors and workers at the bottom.

People’s tasks were broken down into specialised, standardised, simplified components and each worker was required to keep pace with assembly line-like machines. People worked on a need-to-know basis, with authority and decision making vested in the upper echelons of the organisation who had the responsibility for thinking, planning, organising, leading, controlling and coordinating. The underlying assumption of these theorists was that structure was consciously designed through a rational decision process, which standardised relationships and that the choice of structure was central to the level of efficiency and effectiveness that a firm could achieve.

Such standardised work relationships remained the predominant perspective in the structuring of an organisation in the industrialising countries until the experimental

28 work of Mary Parker Follett (1929) in large corporations in the USA, pioneered what became known as the “human relations movement” and “contingency theory” which gave birth to the behavioural school of thought. Key contributors to that school included

Elton Mayo (1933) as well as Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) who conducted the

‘Hawthorne Studies’ at the Western Electric Company in the USA, and introduced the concepts of morale, group dynamics, democratic supervision, personal relations and motivation in organisational theory, all of which laid emphasis on the importance of human and interpersonal factors in the understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation.

Their work gave new meaning to organisational structural-cultural dynamics because, in the behavioural structures, managers and workers were to work in partnership with each other. There was emphasis on human and interpersonal factors such as job satisfaction and group relationships such as collaboration and collegiality, which as will be suggested later in this chapter, are expected to be the foundation of the ethos of a multi-campus college’s structural-cultural dynamics.

The Hawthorne Studies encouraged the work of other behaviourists such as

Barnard (1938), Moreno (1947), Bales (1950) and McGregor (1960), whose research contributed further understanding of the role of informal subgroups within an organisation’s structural-cultural dynamics and refined techniques for studying human interactions within different structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation.

In the 1950s, the contemporary school of organisational theorists emerged with the work of many researchers at the Tavestock Institute such as Trist and Bamforth

(1951). Like the behaviourists, these theorists recognised the importance of the cultural dynamics in organisations but they linked them in vital interdependence with the technical systems of an organisation. Since the 1960s this school of thought attracted copious research including, Likert (1961), Crozier (1964), Woodward (1965), Lawrence

29 and Lorsch (1967) at Harvard, Pugh et al. (1969), Hickson et al. (1969), Galbraith

(1973) and Khandhwalla (1977).

As a group, the contemporary theorists emphasised that there was a mutual interdependence between the formal and informal structures of an organisation. For instance, the work by Trist and Bamforth (1951) at the Tavestock Institute concluded that there was an inextricable relationship between the technical and social systems of an organisation’s structure. In the case of Crozier’s (1964) work, he showed that standardisation and formal systems of authority impinge on and are in turn affected by unofficial power relationships.

Within that school of thought, the dominant perspective that emerged was structural contingency theory (Grandori, 2005, p.49). Contingency theorists such as

Burns and Stalker (1961), Chandler (1962), Woodward (1965), Lawrence and Lorsch

(1967) as well as Pugh et al. (1969), conducted pioneering research on the structural- cultural relationships in an organisational situation and, in stark contrast to Taylorist views discussed above (see page 27 above), concluded that “there is no one best structural design” for all organisations.

For example, based on several case studies Burns and Stalker (1961) found that stable settings did best with mechanistic structures, while settings characterised by high degrees of environmental and task uncertainty required organic structures. Equally emphatic of the important relationship between organisational structures and their contexts Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) case studied firms in three industries and concluded that “the rate of environmental change should determine the degree of structural differentiation and integration within an organisation. Organisations whose structures fit their environment have a higher performance” (Lawrence and Lorsch,

1967, p. 161). The implication of that research finding was to extend the contingency argument to the proposal that there is a link between the organisational structural dynamics and organisational efficiency.

The work by Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) was followed by other proponents of the contingency perspective who broadened the range of contingency factors that impact on the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation. For example, Perrow (1967) investigated the effects of technology on firm strategy, Galbraith (1973) studied the effects of task uncertainty. Khandwalla (1977) studied the effects of environmental hostility on the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation. Dewar and Duncan

(1977) related strategies to structural dynamics.

The late 1970s through to the 1990s witnessed an increase in research literature which expressed the belief that “environments are powerful determinants of organisational design” (Poole and Van de Ven, 2004, p.162). Among these studies,

Fligstein and Freeland (1995) suggested that the power of decision makers within the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation to solve internal resource dependencies is a function of their abilities, knowledge and links with the outside world. This belief thus highlighted the duality of the pivotal role of leadership and of contingency considerations in the restructuring and reculturing of an organisation. Its implication for the present thesis is that contextual factors need effective leadership to coordinate and to harmonise the structural-cultural dynamics which foster organisational development and learning and also preserve and encourage the kinds of relationships within a multi- campus college which promote the capacity among principals, teachers and students to respond to change in a manner which makes a positive difference to the lives of students in those colleges.

Other studies of structural and cultural dynamics of that period included Hannan and Freeman (1984) who, among other findings, pointed out that organisational change occurs due to selection of organisational forms at the population level but, internal organisation change is difficult due to inertia among organisational members. Such inertia could in fact lead to resistance to change as pointed out for instance by

Mintzberg (1979, p.67), Evans (1996, pp. 27 – 38), Stoll and Fink (2001, p.5) and

Stanford (2005, pp. 237 – 238). The recognition of the presence of internal inertia and possible resistance to significant change is consistent with “the fundamental assumptions underlying any change in a human system, originally from Kurt Lewin’s

1947 model”, for the need to create a “disequilibrium” in the existing cultural dynamics of the organisation which he called “unfreezing” the existing dynamics so as to create the “motivation for change” (Schein, 1997, p. 298). This is why Stanford (2005, p. 238) advises and explains that when contemplating organisational change:

Prepare yourself well to handle the difficult task of talking to people about the changes. Be sensitive to people’s stage of transition. Understand the reasons why they may resist changing. It is your job to help them leave the discussions with (a clear understanding of) the reasons for the changes, … the specific impact on themselves, about dates, next steps and available support.

Moreover, in their seminal work, Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004, pp. 1 – 2) say that the types of school restructuring which were found to be more successful were: those attempting to make not only first-order changes (i.e., in curriculum and instruction) but also those second-order changes which support efforts to implement first-order changes (i.e., culture and structure). Given that certain forms of restructuring challenge some existing teacher paradigms, resistance to change is predictable.

These leaders in the field further warn that:

Reforms for schools, no matter how well conceptualised, powerfully sponsored, brilliantly structured, or closely audited are likely to fail in the face of cultural resistance from those in schools. By their actions, or inactions, students, …teachers, … middle managers, … and principals help determine the fate of what happens in schools, including attempts at reform (Mulford et al., 2004, p.3).

The message in this literature for this thesis is clear. The cultural dynamics existing in the comprehensive high schools proposed for restructuring need to be attended to, (i.e. unfreezing), preferably before the restructuring commences and thereafter. In particular, the implication of contingency theory for the present thesis is that the appropriate structure in the establishment of a multi-campus college must reflect

32 the demands of the context within which the college is situated. This implies that different multi-campus colleges may design different structures. Furthermore, in planning educational reform, there is need to consider not only curriculum and instructions issues but also structure and culture.

Additional current research perspective on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics within an organisation (e.g. Poole and Van de Ven, 2004) is that structure is the product of a social process. It is not the central determinant of organisational effectiveness but it is instrumental because it creates opportunities for cultural dynamics to change. This view was expressed by Hargreaves (1994) as well. As

Poole and Van de Ven (2004, p. 161) point out:

one role of structure is to contain and channel individual’s actions to serve broader goals of the organisation. Formal structures have symbolic as well as action-generating properties. In other words, structures can become invested with socially shared meanings, and thus, in addition to their objective functions, can serve to communicate information about the organisation to both internal and external audiences.

The synoptic review of the development of organisational theory given above, brings the present thesis to the theme of organisational design as represented in current literature about the link between structural and cultural dynamics by leaders in organisational change thought such as Mintzberg (1979), Louis and Miles (1990),

Fullan (1991; 2000; 2001a-c; 2003; 2004), Dinham et al. (1995), Hargreaves and Fullan

(1998), Scott (1999), Senge (1999), Marks et al. (2000), Pace (2002), Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004), Young and Hester (2004) as well as Stanford (2005) whose work is included in the discussion in this chapter.

For instance, Mintzberg (1979) interprets structural dynamics in terms of:

turning those knobs that influence the division of labour and the coordination mechanisms, thereby affecting how the organisation functions – how materials, authority, information and decision processes flow through the structure (p. 65).

Once again, the link between structural dynamics and cultural dynamics stands out clearly in this important passage on organisational restructuring.

In outlining the basic components of organisational structure and therefore the elements which need to be addressed in restructuring, Mintzberg (1979) characterises them as “job specialisation, behavioural formalisation, training and indoctrination, unit grouping, unit size, planning and control systems, liaison devices, vertical decentralisation and horizontal decentralisation” (p. 66 – 68). Behind these concepts are key elements relevant to an understanding of structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college scenario, such as division of labour between a college principal and a campus principal, and which raise questions as to how many tasks a given position in a multi-campus college should contain, and how specialised each task should be.

These elements also undergird other key concepts in the analysis of structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college such as administrative division of labour across campuses, systems of formal and informal authority and communication systems across faculties, systems of decision-making, control and direct supervision by head teachers or coordinators, all of which have a role to play in the functioning of a multi-campus college. They reflect the belief shared widely among modern organisational theorists such as Louis and Miles (1990), Evans (1996) and Fullan

(2001a), that changing the structure inevitably means interfering with established patterns of behaviour. In other words, in the establishment of a multi-campus college, structural change and cultural dynamics are very closely entwined and intimately interlinked. This is why in this thesis, as pointed out earlier (See section 1.4.1, page 9), where it is not possible to separate structural from cultural impacts of a change, the composite term structural-cultural dynamics is used.

This awareness of the close link between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college brings to the fore, the need to understand organisational

34 dynamism, not just as a general concept but as the heart of the structural and cultural dynamics in the multi-campus college model as discussed in this thesis. Therefore, the next subsection outlines the concept of dynamism as used in this thesis and leads the literature review to a discussion of Pace’s organisational dynamism model which was redesigned in chapter 4 to develop the Dynamics Paradigm for analysing change in an educational setting, – the Paradigm that was used in the analysis of the data gathered for this thesis.

2.2.3 The concept of organisational dynamism

Following the definition of dynamism in chapter 1 (See page 14), as the energy that vitalises organisational members, Pace (2002, p.11) further says that the development of dynamism in an organisation is encouraged and facilitated if employees have a sense of ownership and are responsible for whole tasks or process, they possess multiple skills and can perform a variety of tasks well, they have a feeling of autonomy in making work choices, they work cooperatively, they are well enough informed to recognise problems in their work, they can influence what happens in the organisation and they are recognised and rewarded for their contribution to the organisation.

In contrast, if the existing structural and cultural dynamics in a college did not allow teachers in those colleges to experience a sense, feelings and the abilities described above, teachers would not be able, energetic or enthusiastic “to invest themselves fully in their work” (Pace, 2002, p.11). In Fullan’s (2003, p.11) words, they would lack “intrinsic motivation or sense of moral purpose”.

Thus characterised, dynamism in a multi-campus college is envisioned in this thesis to reside not in principals and their leadership teams at the top of the organisation but “dispersed within the school between and among people” (Mulford, 2003, p. 2), throughout all organisational members of the college, including students. Given such conceptualisation, dynamism in a multi-campus college should permeate all layers of

35 the college’s organisational structural and cultural dynamics, calling from each and all members of the college, a commitment and a passion to make a positive “difference in the lives of students and to help produce citizens who can live and work productively in increasingly dynamically complex societies” which Fullan (2000, p. 4) calls “the moral purpose of education”.

The concept of dynamism fits well with the concept of establishing a multi- campus college because the central proposition in each of these concepts is the synergy which is expected to flow from the teamwork and collaboration within the structural- cultural dynamics of such a college. For instance, Pace (2002, p.3) explains that given dynamism, people in the workplace can turn a dull problem into an exciting adventure by working together as a team. Similarly, in structuring the multi-campus college model, the DET (1988) expressed the belief that collaboration and teacher collegiality would be the very foundation for the synergesis of the multi-campus college ethos which would lead to improved structural and cultural dynamics.

This may be said to be consistent with Silins and Mulford’s (2002, p. 427) proposition that:

the processing of knowledge by individuals, while solving problems as a collective, leads to changes in values, beliefs and norms that results in the development of a unique learning culture – (the culture of organisational learning).

Such a culture leads to the development of schools as “learning organisations” which according to Marks et al. (2000, p.241) are associated with the ability for “identifying and correcting problems, learning from past experience, acquiring new knowledge, processing issues on an organisational level and changing the organisation”.

The potential for dynamism to occur is far greater within the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, not only because of the greater critical mass created by the larger numbers of students, teachers, principals and parents compared to the numbers in the traditional comprehensive high schools, but also due to the expected

36 interactions between and among these participants. If these interactions are enabled, dynamics could accelerate at a much more amplified rate and lead to the realisation of economies of scale. Dynamism, therefore, needs to be the ideal in the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, because its practice could enable participants to interact and communicate frequently with each other, share their successes and failures and build each other’s confidence in the achievement of improved students’ and teachers’ outcomes.

Dynamism was referred to in this thesis (chapter 1, section 1.4.5, page 14), as an idealistic concept because of the assumption that it is the very essence of building greater capacity for change which can lead to a holistic improvement across the different sites of a multi-campus college. ‘Idealistic’ was deliberately coined to impart the understanding that dynamism might not yet be in full practice in any of the multi- campus colleges studied in this thesis, but its pursuit has the potential to lead to improved participation and performance among members in a multi-campus college.

This conception of dynamism resonates well with Fullan’s (2000) conception of the four central pillars for building greater educational change capacity namely, “individual and institutional vision-building, inquiry, mastery, and collaboration” (p. 12).

In Fullan’s (2000) first pillar, namely personal and institutional vision-building, dynamism creates opportunity for the vision to become shared in a manner similar to that suggested by Senge (1999, p.205) because people begin to ask the question: “What do we want to create?”. Given this pillar, each “individual educator is a critical starting point (for change) because the leverage for change can be greater through the efforts of individuals, and each teacher has some control over what he or she does” (Fullan, 2000, p.12). Such involvement of each individual in bringing about organisational improvement would be consistent with Kouzes and Posner’s (2003, p.383) suggestion that “leadership is everyone’s business”.

Just as Pace (2002, p.3) equates dynamism to “vitality in organisational change because both involve the release of energy”, so does Fullan (2000, p.15) say that the second pillar for building greater educational capacity, “inquiry, is the engine of vitality”. Like Senge (1999, p.174), by “inquiry”, Fullan means peoples’ desire and ability to question and update their “mental maps” and to extend what they value in their school. Inquiry therefore, like vitality, could contribute to dynamism in a multi- campus college because it encourages participants to engage in what Deming (1982b, p.xi) called a “constancy of purpose” which in the case of a college is continuous learning.

Fullan’s third pillar of educational change is mastery. This is a key ingredient in dynamism because it means that participants, while remaining focused on what is really important to them, also discover how change or new ideas fit into their personal vision and learn how to apply those ideas for the good of their college. As Senge (1999, p.

141) pointed out:

Personal mastery goes beyond competence and skills. It goes beyond spiritual unfolding or opening. … It requires spiritual growth. It means approaching one’s life as a creative worker.

Finally, in identifying collaboration as the fourth pillar of greater educational change capacity, Fullan (2000, p.17) says that “the ability to collaborate, on both a small and large scale, is becoming one of the core requisites of postmodern society”. As

Deming (1982b, p.19) noted “there is no substitute for teamwork” in improving quality and productivity in an organisation. In accordance with Senge’s (1999, p. 114)

“principle of leverage”, given the greater critical mass of people involved in the structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, it could be inferred that collaboration among them could provide the leverage needed to release the energy for

“significant, enduring improvements” which Pace (2002, p.65) calls “vitalisation”.

In conclusion, the significance of the vital role that dynamism could play within the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college cannot be overemphasised.

Perhaps it is best emphasised by Pace (2002, pp. 10 – 11) when he again explains that:

Dynamism says that employees who find their work interesting and fulfilling, can also find ways to make their work more efficient and productive. Employees who experience the spirit of dynamism in the workplace are more resourceful and confident. ...(They) produce more at a higher quality… (and) bring constancy of purpose to their work.

This passage from Pace, like the discussion in this subsection, links this literature review with Pace’s organisational dynamics model which is reviewed in detail in the following section because it provides the foundation for the Dynamics Paradigm developed in chapter 4 for the analysis of data in this thesis.

2.3 Pace’s organisational dynamics model

Pace (2002) approaches structural and cultural dynamics in an organisation from the stance that dynamism is the fundamental factor that intensifies people’s feelings about the value of work in their organisation and releases their energy to work for the attainment of organisational goals, which he calls “natural work goals” (p. 61). This central role of dynamism in the effectiveness of the structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation was also acknowledged by Pollard (1996, p.13) who said that dynamism provides “the life, the vitality, the conscience, and, yes, even the soul” of an organisation. In agreement with Pollard, Pace adds that just as:

the soul gives vitality and energy to individual lives, (so does) dynamism enhance the natural vitality and energy of individuals, giving soul, life and energy to organisations within which those individuals work (Pace, 2002, p. xiv).

As illustrated in Pace’s (2002) model in Figure 2.3-1, for such dynamism to be translated into effective structural-cultural dynamics which result into the achievement of natural work goals, Pace (2002, pp. 4 – 12) prescribes six major elements of

Figure 2.3-1: Pace’s structural-cultural dynamics model

Work Work Work Work Work Systems Perceptions Goals Dynamism Outcomes

Organisational Structure Performance 1. Potential Productivity Energy 2. Excel Work itself 3. New ways Opportunity 4. Opportunities Environment Quality Devoted Management 5. Initiatives Practices Fulfilment 6. Influence to

7. Contribute Goal Innovation

8. Meaningful Organisational Expectation Accomplish- Guiddelines 9. Significant ment

10. Unique Profit

11. Personal 12. Aspiration

13. Do more

14. Optimistic

15. Proud

16. Envision

Climate

Feedback

Source: Pace’s (2002) Organisational dynamism: Unleashing power in the workforce. Pp.2-164.

40 organisational structure and culture that need to be coordinated into meaningful relationships. Those elements are: 1) The Work System, 2) Work Perceptions, 3)

Natural Work Goals, 4) Work Dynamism, 5) Work Outcomes and 6) Feedback (Pace,

2002, p. 4). The way these elements relate, combine and interact, constitutes the structural and cultural dynamics which affect productivity and performance; in other words, the achievement of natural work goals and the realisation of outcomes. The central part of Figure 2.3-1 illustrates the key structural and cultural dynamics aspects in each of these elements of Pace’s model as discussed in various chapters of Pace’s book

(See Pace, 2002, pp. 2 – 164). The rest of this section describes the model and its relevancy to this thesis.

2.3.1 The Work System element in Pace’s organisational dynamics model

A Work System comes into existence when individuals identify natural work goals which can be achieved more effectively through collective effort. This is why people have to be grouped so that they can have the power, information, knowledge, rewards and other resources which allow them to coordinate their efforts to achieve their goals (Lawler, 1996). The activities of individuals within the Work System are interdependent and interact with one another, through coordination, to function as an operating whole.

As illustrated in Figure 2.3-1, the Work System of Pace’s model comprises several internal structural-cultural dynamics elements within an external environment.

The elements include: i) the organisational physical and human structure, ii) the work itself, iii) the worker, iv) leadership and management practices and v) the organisational guidelines. Its external environment dynamics comprise the society within which it is located and the culture of which it is part and in which it is embedded.

Apart from a succinct identification of the internal elements of the Work

System, the inclusion of the external environment in the major elements given above is

41 significant in this analysis because it recognises the contextual reality of an organisation which is often unrepresented or under-emphasised. It is important to include the external environment dynamics in a study of organisational behaviour because no organisation exists in a vacuum, outside of its immediate environment and the wider community of which it is part.

Another aspect of this element which Pace gives special significance, is the role of the worker as the focal point of an industrial enterprise. This is significant because it emphasises the importance of the individual human being at the centre of the structural- cultural dynamics of which he or she is the architect and at the same time under the influence of those structural-cultural dynamics. This is why the structural-cultural dynamics in this model are said to be iterative. It also serves to emphasise Pace’s point that “the Work System is developed through the efforts of the individuals of which it is comprised” and that “individuals have the natural right to actualise their potentials throughout their lives and that the primary justification of Work Systems is to promote the actualisation of individual potential” (Pace, 2002, pp. 29 – 30). Scott and Hart

(1990) refer to this aspect of the Work System as the “Individual Imperative”.

Each worker has potential to have an impact on the structural-cultural dynamics of the Work System. The impact that a worker brings to bear on those dynamics depends on the worker’s personality, attitudes, perceptions and attributions which together enable people to develop different preferences. Each of these four attributes deserves a short explanation.

The worker’s personality, for instance, is composed of their sociability, power and status differences, self-esteem and reputation. Their attitudes result from their thoughts, feelings and intention and they are important in influencing the structural- cultural dynamics that people develop because they influence people’s reactions in the work place.

Attitudes are important because, “a positive attitude toward something means that a person has good intentions toward, feels good about, and has optimistic thoughts about something” (Pace, 2002, p.30). On the contrary, a negative attitude would imply the opposite of these. Therefore, by changing people’s attitudes we can change their behaviour and hence the way those people impact on the structural-cultural dynamics in the organisation. Unpacking the implications of this explanation suggests that if we are to improve the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, we need to change, among other things, the attitudes of people that lead, work and study there.

Perceptions are important because they constitute the mental map that individuals bring to bear and use or refer to in their behaviour and interactions within their work place so as to make meaning of the structural-cultural dynamics in the Work

System. “We interpret other people, things and events in terms of our mindsets”: - our perceptions (Pace, 2002, p.31).

Attributions are an important part of the Work System because they enable organisational members to provide explanations for why people behave the way they do. For instance, attributions could help the principal of a multi-campus college or his/her entire leadership team to review workloads if people at their college were appearing overworked. Alternatively, they could look at the circumstances surrounding observed behaviour to try to understand how they impact on the structural-cultural dynamics in a particular situation observed at their college.

Another important aspect of the Work System is the ‘work itself’. This refers to the formal tasks workers engage in, and the ways in which the tasks assigned to them by the organisation should be done to achieve the goals (Griffin, 1982). The ways in which work is done is defined by Pace as “work technology” (Pace, 2002, p.31). The kind of work that a person does, directly influences his/her contribution to the structural- cultural dynamics in the organisation but also significantly impacts on his/her life, both inside and outside the Work System. Therefore, what happens within the structural-

43 cultural dynamics at one’s multi-campus college, impacts on their own way of life. This is why the restructuring of a comprehensive high school could have impacts reaching far beyond the precincts of the school. Therefore, in analysing different aspects of work as such, it is important to consider its three dimensions, namely: range, depth and relationships.

Another component of the Work System that needs to be explained is leadership.

Leadership is such an important part of the Work System that Pace says, “The Work

System cannot be understood clearly without understanding the function of leadership in the system” (p. 33). Scott (1999, p.50) also emphasises the importance of effective leadership in the “effective management of educational change” within a school. Fullan

(2001a, p. 261), also agrees when he writes:

nowhere is the focus on the human element more prevalent than in the recent recognition of the importance of strong and effective leadership. (And he later added:) effective school leaders are the key to large-scale, sustainable education reform (Fullan, 2004, p.15).

In support of this view, Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004, p.ii) say that

“Leadership we know makes all the difference in success or failure of organisations”.

Similarly, Truskie (2002, p.1) asserts that, “there is a direct link between leadership, organisational culture and performance”. Silins and Mulford (2002, p. 443) also point to the important role of leadership when they propose that “leadership … (has) been shown to influence what happens in the core business of the school: the teaching and learning”. In particular, these authors refer to an increasing number of studies (e.g.

Leithwood, 1994; Silins, 1994; Silins et al., 2000), which indicated that transformational leadership was “perceived by teachers to generate the most helpful management practices in the context of educational change” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p. 429). Furthermore, these leaders conclude that, “The principal’s role is a significant one in facilitating school restructuring in general and, in particular, the reframing of

44 schools as learning organisations” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p. 430). More recently,

Mulford (2003, p.8) reported that “whatever elements of restructuring of public schooling … are employed, they all have in common a strong dependence on effective school leadership for their successful implementation”. Moreover, “leadership that makes a difference to a high school having a community focus, staff feeling valued and organisational learning – characteristics essential for the improvement in leadership for organisational learning and student outcomes, LOLSO (Mulford et al., 2004, p.2) – is transformational and distributed” (Mulford et al., 2004, p.6).

Barker and Coy (2004, p.13) also say that, “the success or failure of cultural change will depend on the attitude of the leadership team. They must be prepared to champion the beliefs and values that underpin the emerging culture.” Additionally these authors affirm that at the heart of the cultural change process “lies the integrity of the leader, the example set by the leader and the trust established by the leader” (Barker and

Coy, 2004, p.61). As Hackman and Wageman (2005, p. 37) rightly assert, “traditionally, leaders’ behaviours and decisions, have been viewed as highly consequential for effectiveness of organisations”.

Thus, there is a repeated pattern in consensus among leaders in educational change literature that leadership plays a key role in the structural and cultural dynamics designed for school improvement. It is the glue that holds together the structural and cultural dynamics within the organisation through the execution of informational, interpersonal and decisional roles. As Scott (1999, p.93) says:

effective leaders know how best to shape culture, develop a positive working climate, communicate their service’s mission and priorities, coordinate quality assurance and enhancement in learning programmes and reward staff as they grapple with ongoing change.

Thus, the leadership and management practices enable the planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling and coordination of the structural and cultural dynamics within the Work System (Pace, 2002, p.32). To conclude this subsection by

45 paraphrasing some of the seminal work by Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004, p. 6), for such school leadership and management practices to be characterised as

“transformational” they would also focus on providing individual support; cultivating a school culture that is caring, respectful and willing to change; establishing a facilitating structure; articulating the vision and goals of the school; setting high performance expectations for teachers and students and encouraging intellectual stimulation among staff while providing opportunities for collegiality and continual learning among staff, and a capacity for further change.

2.3.2 The Work Perceptions element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model

Work perceptions are the sense that people make out of their lives within their workplace. Work perceptions are of the utmost importance in the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation because the way people behave reflects their perceptions of the situation they confront in their workplace (Pace, 2002, p. 45). Such importance of peoples’ perception was also highlighted by Kinlaw (1988, p. 38) when he wrote:

If managers and supervisors are going to get the best performance from their work groups, they must consider not only the actual work environment but employees’ perceptions of the workplace. Successful management requires supervisors to look beyond the real work world and adopt a perceptual model for influencing performance as well, focusing on the perceptions that have an impact on the performance.

As illustrated in Figure 2.3-1, four groups of work perceptions were identified by Pace, as key determinants of workers’ feelings of empowerment, enthusiasm and vitality within the structural-cultural dynamics of their organisation. These were characterised as perceptions: i) of their performance, ii) about what kind of opportunities are available for them in the organisation, iii) about the extent of fulfilment they derive from work in their workplace and iv) of how well their expectations are met by the structural-cultural dynamics in the organisation.

Like the other five elements of Pace’s model, these four perceptions interact with, influence and impact upon and are in turn affected by the other elements within the milieu of the structural-cultural dynamics of the organisation. For example, they are influenced by leadership in the organisation, by colleagues and subordinates, by the nature of work being carried out and by the organisational structure within which work is carried out (Pace, 2002, p. 46). Perceptions which emerge within the structural- cultural dynamics in an organisation such as a multi-campus college workplace will also reflect the characteristics of people in the organisation such as their skills, capabilities, aptitudes, talents, demographic profile, and length of service, experience, role and ethnic background.

For example, performance work perceptions in a multi-campus college would focus on how well principals, teachers and students think they are doing their work or conducting their studies. Thus, performance work perceptions encompass self-efficacy and self-confidence (Pace, 2002, p.50). Performance perceptions are important, because, for instance, if students hold positive perceptions about their studies, they will be optimistic about their ability to do their assignments in a more efficient and effective manner, (hence self-efficacy). This could impact positively on their realised outcomes.

The opportunity perception represents conditions in the Work System which are favourable to the workers to achieve their goals. Opportunity work perceptions are important because, for instance, if teachers perceive that they have opportunities to advance themselves and their status to promotional positions such as head teachers or college deputies within their multi-campus college, then they will feel enthusiastic about what they do within the structural-cultural dynamics in their workplace. As a result of such enthusiasm, teachers would be energised to work harder so as to “move ahead” (Pace, 2002, p. 48) to executive positions.

Pace says that such opportunity perceptions are probably the most powerful of the four perceptions because of their significant impacts on employees’ self-esteem,

47 aspirations, commitment to the organisation, energy level and problem solving. He adds that the creation of opportunities is mutually beneficial in an organisation because, employees given opportunity by an organisation tend to feed their positive feelings back into the organisation. Employees who see high opportunity expend their energy more proportionately to the pursuit of those opportunities. This is why Pace says that employees with high opportunity tend to proactively address problems. This benefits both the organisation and the individual worker.

The third perception – fulfilment – is “the perceptions employees have of the extent of their autonomy and self-determination in the organisation as well as how free they are to work as they please” (Pace, 2002, p.6). For example, within a college, the assumption would be that while fulfilled employees did what they want in their own way, this would be consistent with the pursuit of their college’s mission and purpose of education to make a positive difference in the lives of their students. As Brooker,

Hughes and Mulford (2000, p.4) noted, “this is what ‘good teaching’ ought to be – reaching and influencing people, regardless of their backgrounds”.

This perception that they can make a difference in their students’ outcomes would energise teachers to be innovative, creative and “to work free” (Pace, 2002, p.

50). Macleod (1985) found that there was a clear link between people’s feeling of fulfilment and their level of involvement in their organisation, job satisfaction, increased productivity, effectiveness, efficiency and corporate success. In his study of teacher satisfaction, Dinham (1995, pp. 65), also found that “changing pupil behaviour and attitudes were also significant sources of satisfaction” for teachers. Dinham added that:

Overall, teacher satisfaction was found to be tied up closely in what could be termed the human or affective domain and centred on achievement, both of pupils and of themselves and of recognition for this (Dinham, 1995, p. 66).

The fourth and final of Pace’s perceptions – expectations – are “the perceptions that employees have of whether their aspirations are being attained, and how meaningful their work is” (Pace, 2002, p.6). Expectations are very important to the structural and cultural dynamics in a Work System because they “create aspirations for what should happen to a person at work as a result of their association with the organisation” (Pace, 2002, p.47). In addition, Pace (2002) found that employees whose perception was that their expectations had not been met “experienced seething unrest and low morale” (p. 47). Moreover, expectations are closely linked to fulfilment because people, who perceive that their expectations are unmet or failed, also perceive that their lives are unfulfilled.

2.3.3 The Work Goals element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model

The work goals (also called natural work goals), “are the ideas, the aims, values, the goals and purposes innate to human beings that enable them to work effectively”

(Pace, 2002, p. 7). As illustrated in Figure 2.3-1, they include workers’ potential and ability to take initiative as they seek to excel at what they do in their unique ways and their search for new ways and opportunities available to them to participate meaningfully in organisational life. Included also, is their ability to make significant contribution to production and to participate in important decision-making. As part of achieving their natural work goals, workers also seek unique, personal and organisational aspirations. Their search for their goals is shrouded in optimism and pride. Besides, their goals are not all temporarily operational. Some are tactical while others are long term goals, envisioning the future. In the pursuit of their goals, workers develop “their ability to do more” (Pace, 2002, pp. 4-5).

The goals are important in the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation because they provide the motive that causes people within a given set of structural- cultural dynamics to take action. Such action is initiated as a response to an unfilled

49 need or as a choice which a worker makes in the pursuit of their unattained goal.

However, for the pursuit of goals to have Deming’s (1982b, p.xi) “constancy of purpose” – to be an on-going cultural dynamic – workers need to be, not only

“motivated” but also “vitalised” by which Pace (2002, p.65), means “highly motivated” as a result of having their energy released and hence, they feel empowered, rather than being directed about what to do (Pace, p.65).

The pursuit of natural work goals is critical to the development of effective structural-cultural dynamics in any organisation because setting goals energises and directs people’s behaviour in the workplace. For instance, Locke and Latham (1990) found that:

Once the individual has a goal and once he or she chooses to act on it, the three direct mechanisms – effort, persistence and direction – are brought into play more or less automatically (p. 12).

Therefore, the setting of meaningful work goals for employees is a necessary precondition for the effective restructuring and reculturing of the structural-cultural dynamics in their organisation. This is so because, once people are clear about the goals of their organisation and begin to pursue them, their behaviour takes on direction so that they apply the needed effort to work toward the achievement of those goals and persist until they achieve their goals.

This explains why Pace (2002, p.7) found, that workers who had a high perception of achievement of their natural work goals within their organisation, were also found to “feel enabled, enthusiastic, and able to express individualism in the workplace, all of which are triggers for vitality” which can enhance the effectiveness of the structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation.

2.3.4 The Work Dynamism element in Pace’s organisational dynamics model

Using the terms “dynamism” and “vitality” synonymously, Pace (2002, p.3) says that they refer to the release of proactive energy within the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation. According to Pace (2002, p.65), workers who are “vitalised” are:

workers who take the initiative to find and solve problems, and to have the urge to do what’s right and needed rather than to do only what they are assigned, … who are more than motivated.

The essence of such vitality within the structural and cultural dynamics of any organisation is positive work perceptions, which were discussed above and achievable natural work goals which are set within an enabling organisation which creates opportunities for its members. Therefore, vitality is intimately linked to work perceptions and to all the other elements of the organisation.

Miller (1981, p.22) describes vitality in terms of “the freedom to experience spontaneous feelings” in the workplace. The freedom, Miller adds, “enables the self to become liberated from repression and begins to grow, express oneself and develop a true spirit of creativity” (p. 55). Thus, vitality, like dynamism illustrated in Figure 2.3-1, enables organisational people to release “energy devoted to goal accomplishment”

(Pace, 2002, p. 5). This is why, as pointed out at the start of this subsection, vitality and dynamism are used by Pace (2002, p.3) as synonyms.

Furthermore, as noted by McClelland (1969, p.27), vitality is about “the frequency a person thinks about doing things better”. Persistent thought about doing things better, leads to the formation of behaviours which improve the structural and cultural dynamics within an organisation. Like Edward Deming’s (1982a) total quality movement which is believed to have revolutionised corporate image about Japanese manufacturing industry, vitality is so central in the development of effective structural and cultural dynamics in any organisation because it means “the persistent pursuit to do things better” (Pace, 2002, p.9). This persistent pursuit for better outcomes was succinctly expressed by Deming (1982a, p.96) when he said:

Everyone in the company must attack improvement of quality, not just the problems that walk in, but as a plan of knowledge by which to find problems and the causes thereof. … Efforts toward improvement of quality must be total. Every employee, every manager, every executive must give a damn and must want to do better.

This concept of ‘total (school) improvement’ fits perfectly with the DET’s approach to the restructuring of some of its high schools by not just tinkering with minor structural changes but by completely changing the way education is delivered in those schools. It also fits well with their justification for the restructuring of some of its comprehensive high schools to establish multi-campus colleges because, as discussed in chapter 3, the DET believed that the structural and cultural dynamics within the multi- campus college model would lead to “doing things better” than the old, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, which was no longer fitted to the conditions prevailing in certain locales.

To want to do better is a fitting ideal of what leading positive educational change is all about. It is about designing structural and cultural dynamics which create opportunity for meeting students’ learning needs in a better way. Its overriding purpose is to provide for the improvement of students’ outcomes, other participants’ outcomes, and outcomes of the community in which the school is established. This moral purpose, suggested McClelland and Winter (1969), gives us the theoretical justification for enhancing a constancy of purpose, which Miller (1977, p.64) like Pace (2002, p.9), also calls “vitality”. As Podolny, Khurana and Hill-Popper (2005, pp. 13 – 15) also point out,

vitality focuses on the full conception of meaningful action in an organisation. An action is meaningful when its undertaking: 1) supports some ultimate end that the individual personally values; and 2) affirms the individual’s connection to the community of which he or she is a part.

The following passage from Pace (2002) is a fitting conclusion to a review of the vitality element in his organisational dynamics model:

Vitality brings spirit to the workplace, empowers people to work from the heart and makes employees exude with dynamism and to produce more at a higher quality (Pace, 2002, p.10).

2.3.5 The Work Outcomes element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model

Out of the interactions of people within the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation emerge outcomes. They are the “results from having consistently vitalised organisation members” (Pace, 2002, p.8). The more vitalised organisational members are, the greater their productivity and the better the quality of their work products derived from their interactions. In a commercial enterprise that Pace was theorising for, these outcomes were measured in monetary terms and their value expressed in terms of profits gained by the organisation, often through taking innovative action to maintain a competitive edge on industrial rivals.

Pace (2002) says that the outcomes in highly vitalised structural-cultural dynamics within an organisation are characterised by organisational members who respond quickly and appropriately to the problems that arise within the organisation. For example, within the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation, if workers were able to solve problems on their own and were also keen to assist where help was required, this would reflect increased productivity based on vitality. Moreover, workers in such an organisation would seek help freely from others realising that to do so is not a sign of weakness. Furthermore, morale in such dynamics would be high. Additionally, people in those structural-cultural dynamics would perceive their organisation as a better place in which to work and in which they were empowered and accomplished.

The cumulative effects of such improved industrial outcomes would lead to profit maximisation.

2.3.6 The Feedback element of Pace’s organisational dynamics model

The feedback element enables organisation members to review the relationships within their structural-cultural dynamics so as to confirm whether their goals are accomplished or not, whether their efforts are appreciated or not and whether their activities are on target to meet their natural work goals (Pace, 2002, p.8).

It is the primary responsibility of organisations to assist or at least create opportunities for their members to set natural work goals and to do whatever they can reasonably do, to encourage their members to achieve those goals. Therefore, whereas the structural-cultural dynamics developed or that evolve within an organisation should aim to enable organisations to achieve their personal, financial, social and environmental goals, they also need to ensure that their workers achieve their goals.

This can be at a personal level, a group level, an institutional or community level or in combination of these.

In the provision of feedback, emphasis should be on the achievement of improved outcomes rather than technical procedures taken to correct actions that appear to have gone wrong. Feedback is extremely important because it enables workers to gain an informed understanding of the meaning of their structural-cultural dynamics in terms of achieving their natural work goals.

In summing up, this section has outlined the 6 elements of Pace’s industrial, organisational dynamics model. The role of each of these elements: the Work System,

Work Perceptions, Work Goals, Work Dynamism, Work Outcomes and Feedback, in the essential task of helping organisation members to achieve their natural work goals while helping their organisation to maximise its financial returns was critiqued. In particular, the analysis emphasised that the effectiveness of the structural and cultural dynamics within an organisation in maximising productivity and profits, is very much a function of the achievement of natural work goals by organisational members because this, in turn, affects the structural and cultural dynamics that evolve within the

54 organisation. The analysis also emphasised that dynamism is the heart and soul of the structural and cultural dynamics in an organisation because “it is the surest way to elicit outstanding individual, team and organisational performance” (Pace, 2002, p.4) which lead to profit maximisation.

2.4 Conclusion

The review of literature on the concepts of structural change and cultural dynamics, on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in different schools of thought, on the concept of dynamism and on Pace’s model presented in this chapter, contributed vital information to the development of the conceptual framework epitomised in the Dynamics Paradigm presented in chapter 4, in six main ways.

First, the literature on structural change and cultural dynamics made it very clear that structural change and cultural dynamics are inseparable. Therefore, when the structure of an organisation such as years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools is changed, and the schools integrated into a multi-campus college, the culture is also affected. Given the geographical separation of the sites that comprise one college, there is a greater need for coordination of the activities of all members in a multi-campus college’s structural-cultural dynamics than in an ordinary years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school located in one place under one principal. This realisation is important because its implication is that a multi-campus college is not just another comprehensive high school. Its structural-cultural dynamics are much more complicated and require more intensive coordination mechanisms, stronger “glue that holds organisations together, the backbone of organisational structure” (Mintzberg, 1979, p. 13), if they are to contribute to the moral purpose of education, namely “to make a difference in the lives of students” (Fullan, 2000, p. 4).

Secondly, the review of the earlier organisational theories postulated by the classical-scientific and bureaucratic theorists led to the realisation that the structural- cultural dynamics of the old, comprehensive high school model represented the

Taylorist belief that “there was one way” to provide secondary education to all students in New South Wales.

Thirdly, the literature from the behaviourists, human movement theorists and contingency theorists informed the research that the structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation such as a multi-campus college comprise formal and informal components.

In a multi-campus college, because of the larger critical mass of people involved, such informal components are more involved and based on the spontaneous and flexible ties among more principals, many more teachers and parents guided by feelings and personal interests indispensable for the operation of the formal, but too fluid to be entirely contained by it.

The implications of this theory are, that in place of the orderly information flow, step by step up the hierarchy to the unit of command along a designated chain of command and span of control generally accepted by the postulates of the classical theorists, information within the structural-cultural dynamics of an organisation really follows a grid of communications pathways overlapping, often contradictory and elusive networks which really are not channels in the formal Taylorist, Weberian sense.

Such pathways are made even more informal and intricate by the highly versatile information flows made possible by modern information technology in today’s society.

Consequently, messages tend to be mutual and compensatory, taking on the conformation of a galaxy.

This realisation is important in the study of the interactions among members of a multi-campus college because it helps to provide a background for an understanding of how in the galaxy of informal communication among the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, individuals might bypass the formal authority system in order

56 to communicate directly. Such a communication system in a multi-campus college is more complicated than that in a traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, not only because of the geographical separation among the campuses of one college, but also due to the duplicated roles involving principals, multiple campus principals and deputies, heads of the same department located one in the middle school and the other in the senior campus – situations which do not exist to the same degree in a comprehensive secondary school located on one site.

Fourthly, the literature on contingency theory suggested that there is a need, when designing the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, to carefully consider both the particular conditions of the micro-context factors that are contingent to each school situation as well as the relevant external macro-context. The theory teaches us that organisations create internal environments, which influence people’s behaviour, and the business’ internal environment is itself influenced by the external environment around it. This reinforced the belief expressed earlier, that the dynamics between structure and culture are inextricably interlinked and need to be considered simultaneously in any restructuring to improve schooling.

Fifthly, the literature on Pace’s dynamics model laid a firm understanding for this thesis that the goal of dynamism is to improve the effectiveness of the organisation.

However, that literature clearly showed that Pace’s model had been formulated to improve effectiveness of commercial organisations whose outcomes were measured in monetary profits. In contrast, because “the moral purpose of educational change” is to improve non-monetary outcomes measured in terms of “making a positive difference to the lives of students” (Fullan, 2000, p. 4 and 2003, p. 11), and to provide “improved student learning” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p.431) and “facilitating pupil achievement”

(Dinham, 1995, p.70), the literature review alerted the present thesis to the need to develop a theoretical framework that could be used to study change in an educational setting. This became a key problem to be tackled in this thesis because the aim of

57 restructuring the comprehensive high schools was to provide a better way of secondary schooling delivery to students in New South Wales.

Additionally, the review of literature on the current perspective to organisational restructuring and reculturing, emphasised that “the central mechanism through which the organisation exercises coordination and control, is the socialisation of participants to the values of the organisation, rather than through written rules and supervision” or any other mechanism (Owens, 1998, p.35).

Consequently, the literature review laid the foundation for both an informed understanding of the structural and cultural dynamics in an organisation, and the need to combine such theory with an understanding of the changes which were made to the structure of comprehensive high schools in New South Wales in the establishment of multi-campus colleges. This was needed to help extend our understanding of the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college. Thus, the literature review led to the realisation that a new model – one which is not only theoretically sound but also based on the data from and about the restructuring of schools into the multi-campus college structure – was needed.

Accordingly, the next two chapters address this need. Firstly, chapter 3 discusses historical data on reforms of secondary schools in New South Wales DET schools with special emphasis on, a) the reasons why the structure of selected comprehensive high schools was reconfigured and in particular, b) what structural changes were made in those reforms and more importantly, c) what were the key structural-cultural dynamics

(the core variables of the Dynamics Paradigm), impacted by those changes. Chapter 4 then incorporates that data into the theory from the literature review to design the new

Dynamics Paradigm for studying change in an educational institution, and then details how the Dynamics Paradigm was applied in the analysis of data on the structural and cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges case studied for this thesis.

CHAPTER 3

HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SECONDARY DATA ON THE RESTRUCTURING OF COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS INTO MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES

3.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is threefold. Firstly, it provides a historical context for the educational reforms which were undertaken in New South Wales secondary school system of which the restructuring of some high schools led to the establishment of the 11 multi-campus colleges now in this State. Secondly, it presents secondary data which gives reasons why the establishment of multi-campus colleges was advocated, not only in some areas in New South Wales, but also in other States and Territories of the Australian Commonwealth. Thirdly, it provides data on structural change which sheds light on the structural and cultural dynamics which needed to be investigated (i.e. the 16 dynamics criteria), to gain an understanding of the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college.

This is accomplished in five steps. Firstly, a brief description of the organisational structure of New South Wales secondary school system in the pre-

Wyndham period spanning from the post war period to the Wyndham Report is presented. Secondly, an outline of the key features of the organisational structures of

New South Wales years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school under the Wyndham model is given. Thirdly, a summary of some of the data in available literature on reasons given in favour of establishing a multi-campus college, in New South Wales and other

Australian States and Territories is presented. Fourthly, a chronology of the establishment of the multi-campus colleges in New South Wales beginning in 1998 to

2004 during which period the 11 multi-campus colleges now in New South Wales were established is outlined. Finally, the data is summarised so as to clearly indicate the changes in the structures that were created by such reforms and to specify how the data

59 presented in this chapter informed the 16 dynamics criteria which were used in the

Dynamics Paradigm to investigate peoples’ understanding of the impact of such structural change on the cultural dynamics in their multi-campus college phenomenon.

3.2 New South Wales secondary school system in the pre-Wyndham era

Because the establishment of the multi-campus college model sought to change the structural and cultural dynamics of the traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school in some schools and in selected areas of New South Wales, it is appropriate to outline briefly how the comprehensive high school model had developed in New South

Wales up to the stage at which the DET sought to change how it operated. It was those changes that introduced the multi-campus college model. This outline is useful in contextualising the emergence of the new model within its historical perspective.

The Wyndham (1957) Committee of Inquiry found that the existing structure of secondary schooling in New South Wales “had not changed since the re-organisation of

1912 and any reforms which were introduced had been piecemeal modifications of the status quo” (Wyndham, 1957, p.40). The status quo consisted of a tripartite structure comprising Qualifying Certificates to mark the end of Primary School, an Intermediate

Certificate for an early exit from the Secondary School and the Leaving Certificate for those who wished to be considered for matriculation into University studies.

The tripartite system was defective because it tended to determine students’ pathways too early in their learning. Moreover, as far as years 7 – 12 secondary schooling was concerned, it reflected a flawed philosophy that ‘one model fits all’ secondary school situations in New South Wales. Following that approach, the

Department of Education continued to provide for all adolescents with a curriculum which was meant to be for the academically oriented students who had been ‘selected’ for University. Those structural-cultural dynamics were deficient because the curriculum of the Intermediate Certificate or the Leaving Certificate was too difficult

60 for many students of average ability. The result was that the secondary education system did not provide for the increasing number of non-academic students. This was in spite of the fact that their number exceeded those academically inclined (Wyndham,

1957, p.33).

As a result of the deficiencies which existed in the pre-Wyndham secondary school model, McGaw (1996, p.57) reported that the model badly needed reform because, only 50% of students attained the Intermediate Certificate at the end of year 9, only 16% completed year 11, only 13% obtained a Leaving Certificate, less than 8% matriculated and less than 5% commenced University. That reform was provided by

Wyndham’s (1957) Ministerial Committee of Inquiry which produced a comprehensive review of New South Wales education system. The highlights of the report which impacted directly on New South Wales comprehensive high school are outlined in the following section.

3.3 The Wyndham, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model

3.3.1 The Wyndham recommendations

Following an extensive review of New South Wales education system, the

Wyndham Committee recommended a restructuring of the secondary school system which led to the new model illustrated in Figure 3-3. The reforms included, inter alia, the introduction of a six years comprehensive secondary education system which comprised four years of Lower Secondary School Stage and two years of a Senior

Secondary School Stage. As shown in Figure 3-3, these were to be preceded by seven years of a Primary School Stage.

As can be seen in Figure 3-3, the Wyndham model introduced changes designed especially to improve the structural and cultural dynamics of the old model. For instance, it abolished the three tiered structure of the old model through several reforms.

Starting with the Primary School Stage, it abolished the Qualifying Certificates. This

Figure 3-3: The structural-cultural dynamics of the Comprehensive Education Model for New South Wales according to Wyndham, 1962

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

With no other Matriculation Examination

HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAM

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STAGE • Two years • Years 11 – 12 • Age 17 – 18

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXTERNAL EXAM

LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STAGE • Four years • Years 7 – 10 • Age 13 – 16

• Universal • Core subjects

COMPREHENSIVE SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEM EDUCATION COMPREHENSIVESECONDARY • Elective subjects

NO EXAMINATION

PRIMARY SCHOOL STAGE

• Seven years • Up to age 12

Source: A synthesis of Wyndham (1957, pp. 99 – 109) Report. Recommended in October 1957; enacted by the Education Act of 1961 and first implemented in 1962.

62 was seen as an improvement because it stopped the practice of using these tests to predetermine who could and who could not succeed at secondary school and to select students for different pathways using selection criteria which could not “justify selection of pupils at the end of the primary school stage” (Wyndham, 1957, p.24), which was an early age of about 12.

Thus the model introduced by Wyndham eliminated the use of the Primary Final

Examination, Intelligence Tests and Cumulative Records for primary school years as the basis for admission to Secondary Education and “on the completion of Primary

School, at the age of about twelve, all pupils (were to) proceed to Secondary Education without examination” (Wyndham, 1957, p.99).

In offering six years of secondary education the Wyndham Committee introduced the Comprehensive High School Model which was considered to be better than the old model in many ways. For instance, it provided for a universal secondary education of four years for all students in the Lower Secondary School Stage up to the age of about sixteen. This change was an improvement because it made lower secondary education of four years universal for all students since there was no selection against any Primary School leaver. This dynamic ended the selective high school nature which had been created in the three tiered structure of the various tests already mentioned.

This was considered to be a better model because, as a result of this change, apart from students in different school systems such as selective high schools, the majority of students were expected to leave school after that stage, thus leaving a few, more able students to undertake another two years of upper secondary education in the

Senior Secondary School Stage where they would be prepared for tertiary education

(McGaw, 1996, p.10).

Moreover, the adoption of the new model meant that all students followed a curriculum of core subjects including English and Mathematics and a combination of electives. This was seen as an improvement on the old model because it made the

63 standards more uniform across all secondary schools while at the same time broadening the secondary school curriculum and giving students a greater choice of subjects

(Wyndham, 1957, p. 40). The broadening of the curriculum was an improvement on the old model which had offered the same academically demanding subjects to all students, many of whom just didn’t have the ability to handle them and the subjects “were too academic for them” (Wyndham, 1957, p.31).

Furthermore, the electives were to be selected by students “under the guidance of experienced teachers, progressively in the light of pupil achievement and potential”

(Wyndham, 1957, p.99). The guidance by experienced teachers could be seen as having created an opportunity for “good teaching (which) ought to be – reaching and influencing people, regardless of their background” (Hughes, 2000, p. 4). It also showed the type of care that is required if schools are to “make a difference in the lives of students” (Fullan, 2001a, p.30). Additionally, it meant that the new model provided students with an opportunity to improve their outcomes and realise their potential through choosing subjects that really interested them and in which they were showing ability to excel.

Moreover, on the completion of the four-year secondary school course, the

School Certificate Examination was to be an external examination set by the Board of

Secondary School Studies and examined externally. The implementation of the examination required that it was to be retrospective of the four years of secondary schooling and indicative of the satisfactory completion of the entire Secondary

Education Stage.

The Wyndham model also abolished the Intermediate Certificate as an early exit from universal education. Although a formal statement of attainment could be given by the school, there was to be no other external examination or general certificates issued before the completion of the fourth year of the Secondary Education Stage. The compulsory school leaving age remained at 15 years old. This was an improvement on

64 the old model because it encouraged students to stay in secondary education for the full four years and therefore not only enabled them to complete their compulsory schooling to the age of nearly 15 but also improved their skills and made them more employable on graduation from secondary education. This was consistent with Fullan’s (2000, p. 4) recommendation of the need for education to fulfil its:

moral purpose, (which is) … to make a difference in the lives of students regardless of background, and to help produce citizens who can live and work productively in increasingly dynamically complex societies.

Additionally the Wyndham model gave students an opportunity to be part of the secondary school education culture during their longer stay as well as the chance to be more mature before leaving this stage of their education.

Another change brought in by the Wyndham model was a two years Senior

Secondary School Stage which was introduced for those students who wished to proceed beyond the School Certificate Stage. This was significant because it introduced the Higher School Certificate which was to be awarded on the satisfactory completion of an external Higher School Certificate Examination. Its requirement for two years, following the four years of secondary school, was seen to be an improvement on the old model because it meant that students now graduated aged 17 or 18 and were more mature as they left school or entered University than under the old model. This change was calculated to improve their success in the labour market or at the University

(Wyndham, 1957, p.98). The Wyndham model was also seen as an improvement on the old model because the Higher School Certificate was to be acceptable for admission to

University and therefore obviated the need for any matriculation examination

(Wyndham, 1957, p.100), while simultaneously providing a level of attainment shown by the Leaving Certificate examinations.

As one would expect with any such recommendations of far reaching impacts on the structural-cultural dynamics of the entire education system, a lot of public discussion was involved. For instance:

these recommendations generated a lot of public debate from parents, non-government schools and the Teachers Federation, who were concerned about costs, the introduction of an external examination and the likely impact of the new curriculum structure on the traditional academic program of secondary schools (McGaw, 1996, p.7).

Following such debate the New South Wales Government enacted the Education

Act of 1961 which approved the implementation of the recommendations of the

Wyndham Committee starting from the 1962 school year (McGaw, 1996, pp. 6 – 7) thereby introducing the new structural-cultural dynamics in secondary education delivery in New South Wales.

3.3.2 New South Wales Comprehensive High School following Wyndham Report

The implementation of the structural-cultural dynamics of the Wyndham comprehensive high school model was described as having:

sought to make lower secondary education of four years universal. The majority of students would be expected to leave at that stage, leaving a select few, more able students to undertake another two years of upper secondary education to prepare for tertiary education McGaw (1996, p.10).

However, by 1980 the percentage of each cohort who completed secondary education was small and low relative to comparable countries overseas. This led to questions among Australian education policy makers as to how the Wyndham model could be made more effective (Ainley and Sheret, 1992). Consequently, starting especially from the 1980s, measures were undertaken by the Board of Secondary School

Studies in the DET to improve the Wyndham comprehensive high school model.

For instance, as a way of encouraging students to embark upon and to stay the course of secondary education, greater differentiation of subjects was undertaken

66 throughout the 1980s and 1990s. One of many examples of this dynamic was the introduction of a new variety of English, called 2 Unit “Contemporary English which had less emphasis on literature, in the expectation that it would meet the needs of students lacking proficiency in English” (McGaw, 1996, p.13). Following from this, in general, a subject was usually offered in three courses differentiated as a 3 Unit course, a 2 Unit course and a 2 Unit General course, with an option of a 4 Unit course that could be taken in some subjects such as Mathematics and Science.

This differentiation of subjects was seen as an improvement on the traditional comprehensive high school model because it broadened, deepened and in some respects softened the curriculum on offer to secondary school students. This continued to make the HSC course more manageable for the more diverse students now in secondary education. McGaw (1996, p.10) noted that by 1990 “the student population had grown and become much more diverse. (Not only secondary education but) Upper Secondary

Education had become almost universal”. Ainley and Sheret (1992) reported that by

1990 “two thirds of the cohort of young people progressing through government high schools in New South Wales stayed to Year 11 and half stayed to complete Year 12” (p.

92). As noted further by Dinham (1994, pp. 1 – 2),

there was increased attention paid to the school-work transition, with alternative more vocationally and recreationally oriented secondary subjects being formulated to better meet the needs of the perhaps less academically-able students who were no longer able to find employment in traditional ‘trades’ and were returning to post-compulsory education in increasing numbers and/or who were being attracted to senior high school because of rising educational and vocational expectations.

Commenting on the contextual elements of those times Dinham (1995, p.64) further asserted that “youth unemployment levels have remained high, and post- compulsory retention has risen. There has been pressure to modify curricula to accommodate these students”.

This new scenario within the DET high schools meant that the Wyndham comprehensive high school model could no longer serve effectively, as the ‘one best way’ to provide education to all adolescents in all New South Wales high schools. For instance, as Dinham (1994, pp. 7 – 8) pointed out, as the post-compulsory student retention rates increased, high school teachers questioned the ability of “the efficacy of the HSC in meeting the needs of this changed … clientele”.

At the same time, schools were being “looked upon as the appropriate places to seek solutions to an increasing range of social, economic and political problems”

(Dinham and Scott, 1996, p. v). Moreover, these were times when “global social, cultural and economic change (was) translated by governments into … reforms aimed at restructuring schools (so as) to adapt to change and improve outcomes” (Silins and

Mulford, 2001, p. 4). Given the challenges of this local and global context, many began to argue that the Wyndham model needed to be restructured, wherever possible, so as to become more flexible in order to cater for the more diverse students’ needs of the 1990s and beyond.

This view led to many measures that were taken in the 1990s to improve the

Wyndham model. Two, of many examples cited by McGaw (1996, p.12) were the introduction of Legal Studies as an HSC subject within the HSIE faculty and the addition of an entirely new KLA known as Physical Development, Health and Physical

Education (PDHPE). Another example of the additional measures in the 1990s was:

the widening, by the Board of Secondary School Studies (BOSSS), of the curriculum options so as to include Secondary School/TAFE courses, links with industry, University recognised vocational courses, as well as distinction courses for students with the ability to accelerate their studies (Riordan and Weller, 2000, p.14).

As a result of those improvements by 1995 the HSC curriculum had an enormously widened range of subjects and courses which McGaw (1996) summarised as consisting of the courses shown in Figure 3.3-2. As a matter of fact, because of such

68 a broadening of the curriculum, “there was a commonly held view that the curriculum had become ‘overloaded’ (or) increasingly crowded” (Dinham, 1994, p.7).

However, in spite of the availability of such broad curriculum provisions, many high schools structured on the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model could not take advantage of the many subjects on offer. This was mainly because their senior cohorts did not have enough students to enable the constitution of classes in which diverse subject choices could be catered for.

In contrast, proponents of the multi-campus college model such as the Minister for Education (Aquilina, 1998, 2001, 2004) and the New South Wales DET (1998-

2003), like Howe (1990) at Morwell in Victoria, Livermore (1990), Hargreaves (1991) and Rogers (1991) at Canberra in the ACT, had done earlier, argued that the structural- cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college model could improve on the deficiencies

Figure 3.3-2: Broadened HSC curriculum provisions of New South Wales’ Comprehensive High School model, 1995

Board-Developed Courses

o 149 courses o 81 subjects o 8 Key Learning Areas (KLAs) o 3 Joint Secondary School-TAFE courses with Board Developed status

Board-Endorsed Courses

o 220 JSS-TAFE courses o 17 General Content-Endorsed courses o 7 Vocational Content-Endorsed courses

School-Designed Courses

o 2, 857 courses, in o 298 course areas

Source: McGaw (1996). Their future: Options for reform of the Higher School Certificate, p. 19. NSW: DET Sydney.

69 of the traditional comprehensive high school model because, inter alia, they created opportunities for students to be given a much wider curriculum. The many reasons they put forward in support of the introduction of a multi-campus college over the traditional comprehensive high school model are summarised in the next section.

3.4 Reasons given in favour of establishing the multi-campus college model

This section summarises the reasons found in secondary data in favour of the introduction of multi-campus colleges, not only in New South Wales, but also in other

States and Territories of the Australian Commonwealth.

3.4.1 Reasons advanced by the DET and the Minister of Education

Vinson (2002, pp.10-11) and DET literature (1998, p.84 & 1999, p.103, DET,

2000, p.19& DET, 2002, pp.1-2) advanced many reasons in favour of establishing the multi-campus college model. Firstly, multi-campus colleges can provide a broader and deeper range of curriculum offerings in the senior campus. This could consist of an expanded and more flexible curriculum including vocational, TAFE and University courses. This would make it possible to maintain comprehensive high-quality education in existing schools. The increased linkages with TAFE and University would help to form connections between those who possess knowledge and those who need it.

Moreover, it was argued, that in the setting up of the new colleges, state-of-the- art facilities would be provided. Furthermore, the amalgamation of the restructured high schools would enable students in a multi-campus college to have access to a teaching staff which combines the experience of schools, colleges and universities.

Secondly, it was felt that senior campuses could provide increased access to vocational education (by being co-located with TAFE institutes and/or universities).

Related to this reasoning was the assumption that the location of a multi-campus college senior campus with TAFE and University would lead to a more efficient use of

70 resources. Besides, such a joint venture would provide students with expanded career paths through vocational education and training options and tertiary opportunities, and as well help to create partnerships that provide students with greater curriculum diversity and expertise.

Thirdly, it was proposed that multi-campus colleges provide age-appropriate schooling structures. This was attributed to the fact that there is a more 'adult' environment on the senior campuses, and better focus on year 7 - 10 teaching needs in the middle school campuses of the multi-campus college.

Fourthly, it was suggested that multi-campus colleges may assist in overcoming poor academic outcomes by raising academic expectations and levels of engagement for the full range of students. Following from this reason, it was further suggested that a multi-campus college could help to attract students to public education who might otherwise have attended non-government schools or dropped out of formal education.

Furthermore, the DET (1999) argued that multi-campus colleges are a way to counteract negative community perceptions in relation to individual schools. Because such negative perceptions could lead to a downward spiral of enrolments, and to eventual threat to the survival of a comprehensive high school, this argument was given considerable emphasis in the relevant literature.

This reasoning was found to have been a key consideration, for instance, in the restructuring of the five high schools in the Mount Druitt Schools District area about which the press (The Daily Telegraph, 01/1996) had given negative publicity. A similar experience was found to have existed among some of the schools that were restructured in the Newcastle area. Both these findings are dealt with in detail in chapters 6 – 8 of this thesis.

The sixth reason given in the DET literature was that the establishment of a multi-campus college would improve the participation rates and educational outcomes

71 of students from areas that are currently under-represented in the senior years of schooling.

Seventh, it was argued that the multi-campus college model would provide students with greater opportunities in the workforce and tertiary education through the development of community links. This would enable the local business community to transfer knowledge for the benefit of everyone.

The above reasons were also prevalent in the press releases and other documents issued by the Minister for Education and Training who had advocated the establishment of multi-campus colleges because he believed that they could provide a broader curriculum and greater subject choice to students, offer improved economic efficiency, effectively meet local community needs and create a better learning environment for students (See, for example, Aquilina, 1998; 2001 and 2004).

However, in giving these reasons, the literature did not cover reasons why the

Minister of Education and the DET thought that the multi-campus college model would be able to meet educational needs in those locales better than the comprehensive high school model and meet the claims detailed in this section. Accordingly, informed by this literature, the present research raised many questions and, as discussed in section 3.6, formulated the 16 dynamics criteria which are the basis for the investigation of the structural and cultural dynamics in the present study. (See also questions in the

Interview Guide in Appendix 5.3-4).

3.4.2 Other data containing reasons for the restructuring of the orthodox comprehensive high school model to establish multi-campus colleges in other parts of Australia

Secondary data also showed that the reasons and arguments advanced in support of the educational reforms to restructure the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school into the multi-campus college model, were not unique to the New South Wales

DET but were in fact prevalent in other States and Territories of the Australian

Commonwealth. The data showed, that prior to the New South Wales DET conception of the idea of establishing multi-campus colleges, the model had been long discussed in some of the other Australian States and Territories such as Victoria (Kurnai, 1987;

Howe 1987, 1990, 1991; Tofler, 1991 and Latrobe, 1991) and the Australian Capital

Territory (Livermore, 1990, 1991; Hargreaves, 1991; Rogers, 1991 and Wallace, 1991).

The reasons and arguments contained in that data are summarised in the following subsection.

3.4.2.1 Reasons for the establishment of the multi-campus college model in Victoria

Kurnai College is on record (Latrobe, 1991, p.16) as “the first multi-campus college in Victoria” having been established at Morwell with Dr. Jack Howe as its first

Principal. Howe (1991, p.1) explained that “the ‘super college’ was established when in

January 1987 Morwell and Maryvale High Schools, Morwell Technical School and

Churchill Secondary school amalgamated into one multi-campus college”. In its formation the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structure was replaced by three years 7 – 10 middle school campuses at Morwell, Churchill and Morwell

Heights and a years 11 – 12 senior campus at Maryvale. The reasons given in the

College Handbook (Kurnai, 1987, pp.1 – 3) in support of the establishment of Kurnai

College were, in the main, mirrored by those cited in the above subsection in the DET

(1998 – 2003) data because they included the proposition that the amalgamation of the schools involved would better provide for secondary students in the Morwell-Churchill communities since it would give students access to a broader range of curriculum than could be offered in a traditional 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structure, and that the senior campus at Maryvale offered a wide range of units for the VCE studies, unmatched elsewhere in Gippsland (Kurnai, 1987, p.3).

Secondly, in an argument reproduced in New South Wales, it had been said at

Morwell that the multi-campus college would help to generate and to maintain community pride in government secondary schooling in the Morwell and Churchill region (Kurnai, 1987, p.2).

Thirdly, in a reason which was not found in the New South Wales literature, but contained in Livermore’s (1990) and Brennan’s (2000) Canberra, ACT data, the

Victorian data argued that the multi-campus college model encourages all students to complete six years of secondary education because it was one college rather than the stand alone senior structure they had at Maryvale. The data further added that the multi- campus college model provides a more equitable preparation for all students to proceed to VCE studies at the senior campus because all students in the middle schools are assured a place in their senior campus.

In commenting on his experiences as College Principal in the first multi-campus college in Victoria over its first three years, Howe (1990, p.3) gave other reasons which supported the establishment of the multi-campus college model. He concluded his positive remarks with an emphasis on the curriculum argument and economic efficiency reasons when he asserted that “in tough economic times, we have to provide as many opportunities for our students. Kurnai maximises opportunities for students. And that is what it is all about” (Howe, 1990, p.17).

With such high commendation for the multi-campus college model in Victoria, it would be difficult not to suspect that the New South Wales DET would have been aware and inquisitive about the possible merits of this model for improvement of the

Wyndham model which, as noted earlier, needed restructuring. Nevertheless, in spite of possible demonstration effects from the Morwell experience, none of the DET data available to the present study made reference to the Victorian model. The possibility of such demonstration effects was left to the present research to investigate. The results of that investigation are reported in chapter 6 of this thesis.

3.4.2.2 Reasons in the proposals for the establishment of the multi-campus college model in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory

Another Australian example in which available data gave many arguments in favour of the establishment of a multi-campus college was Canberra, in the ACT, where

Livermore (1990), Tofler (1991), Hargreaves (1991), Rogers (1991) and Wallace

(1991), discussed many benefits which could be expected to flow from Mt. Rogers

College whose establishment was being proposed for the Canberra region. Although the proposals were in the end not implemented, they nevertheless contributed to informed debate on the potential merits of the multi-campus college model. In particular,

Livermore (1990 and 1991) who like Howe (1987) also suggested that the establishment of a multi-campus college would provide opportunities for a broader curriculum, not only elaborated on this reasoning, but also proffered many arguments which had not been given in the other literature discussed above. His arguments are summarised here because they help to elucidate this debate.

i) The curriculum articulation dynamics

The essence of this argument was that because the establishment of a multi- campus college merges several high schools into one, it created a critical mass of a greater candidature, resulting in dynamics which allowed a broader curriculum to be offered. This was seen as an improvement on the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model because it enabled the school, especially in the senior campus, to meet the diverse subject interests of students. This was deemed desirable in the Mt.

Rogers proposal because, like Howe (1991) had said in the Victorian model at Morwell,

Livermore noted that “the old days of everyone doing the same subjects have well and truly gone”. This meant that the practice which reflected that there is “one best way”

(Taylor, 1911) to provide secondary schooling had been superseded by the new dynamics.

Livermore’s argument became particularly relevant in the late 1990s because in

New South Wales “the proportion of students completing secondary education to year

12 grew phenomenally” (Ainley & Sheret, 1992, pp. 1-2) and, as noted by McGaw

(1996, p.10), “now secondary education had become almost universal and students stayed on to complete their secondary education without compulsion”. With the increased number of students staying to complete high school, there was an increase in the range of academic levels of students’ abilities, attitudes and interest. Schools were therefore challenged as to how to cater for the increased and more diverse candidature that they taught. The more students a college had, this argument goes, the easier it would be to constitute class groups interested in a subject thereby making it feasible to offer that subject. Livermore (1990) accordingly concluded that the multi-campus college structure was better able to provide for secondary students because each campus could give students access to a broader range of subjects. This reasoning was mirrored in New South Wales data discussed earlier.

ii) The economic rationality dynamics

Although Livermore (1990) like Howe (1987) and later Aquilina (1998) and the

DET (1998-2000) advocated the economic rationality argument, he extended this argument by focusing on the need to consider both the micro-context and macro-context of the multi-campus college model. On a micro-context level, he focused on the local supply and demand conditions of high schools that got restructured to establish a multi- campus college and said that where years 7 – 12 high schools were folded into years 7 –

10 cohorts, a surplus of places previously occupied by years 11 and 12 arises but a shortage of places demanded by years 7 to 10 which have different curriculum demands also occurs. A multi-campus college structure, it was argued, balances out this relationship because the surplus of students from one or more sites can be absorbed by the demand for students at the other site or sites of the multi-campus college.

On a macro-context level, the economic rationalisation argument looks at best- practice protocols stipulated by tightening of Government Budget lines which call for small governments, with reduced expenditure and stringent efforts to maximise the return to the education dollar. The argument suggests that a multi-campus college is able to achieve these economies because the same facilities are shared, thereby increasing structural and cultural productivity. Additionally, the folding of some high schools would reduce the operational costs. Besides, the argument goes, since several campuses are managed as one multi-campus college, this gives the college larger purchasing power through economies of scale.

iii) Access to up-to-date and expensive information communication technology

In a reasoning which was similar to that advanced in the amalgamation of secondary colleges at Launceston and Hobart to establish senior secondary colleges in

Tasmania (March, 1996, p. 4), Livermore (1990) focused on schools’ need to modernise their practices and to have access to modern technology and equipment. He however noted that such equipment is expensive and might in fact be too costly for individual schools to afford. It was argued, therefore, that the amalgamation of schools into a multi-campus college could enable the participating schools to use their combined economies of scale buying power to purchase equipment which they could then share.

iv) The staff rationalisation dynamics

In his staff rationalisation argument Livermore (1990) postulated that with the merger of several schools to establish one ‘super college’, existing staff could either be shared between campuses or moved from campus to campus according to demand. This would allow rationalisation of teaching and ancillary staff by ensuring that staff are allocated tasks that demand their skills irrespective of what campus they would be on.

Livermore (1990) explained that under such rationalisation, there would be no

77 demarcation of work areas since staff would be appointed to the multi-campus college and not to a campus.

v) The minimisation of staff mobility problem dynamic

A problem that Livermore (1990) discussed under this reason was that which is experienced in the movement of staff between stand alone years 7 – 10 junior secondary schools and autonomous years 11 – 12 senior high schools such as Bankstown and St.

Mary’s Senior High Schools in New South Wales (Polesel, Teese and O’Brien, 2001) and Dickson College and Narrabundah College in the ACT (March, 1996). This problem arises because in many cases teachers do not wish to be transferred from teaching ‘seniors’ to teach ‘juniors’. In contrast, those teachers who have taught

‘juniors’ for a number of years feel that their initial appointment to a junior school should not restrict their transfer to a senior high school.

Livermore suggested that, the restructuring which amalgamates previously autonomous, stand alone ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ high schools into one multi-campus college, overcomes this problem because the different sites become one college and staff can be moved within the college according to campus need. It was proposed that, over time, this would enable teachers to rotate between the senior and junior campuses of their college.

vi) Staff and student welfare and social interrelationship dynamics

Focusing on staff and student welfare Livermore (1990) further suggested that the mergers would bring larger numbers of staff together under one college umbrella.

The synergy of the critical mass would imply that people were more likely to interact among the many more members of the college community. For instance, this would give teachers more colleagues to work with, to share their knowledge with and to socialise with. Teachers could then have a greater opportunity to meet and interact at a subject level and on a faculty basis. Furthermore, this argument held, that a multi-

78 campus college represents a more effective and efficient provision of secondary education because the total number of students within its six cohorts is likely to be greater than that in any stand alone middle school or high school in the same area.

Livermore suggested that, among other benefits, this meant that the students could be assigned a welfare officer to cater for their needs.

vii) Retentivity, continuity and systems synchronisation dynamics.

Elaborated by Livermore (1990) and also discussed later by Brennan (2000), was this multi-faceted argument which relates to stand alone junior and senior high schools. This argument says that many students on completing the junior years in one secondary school (a years 7 –10), do find the transition to the senior years in another high school (years 11-12) troublesome. It then postulates that a structure which breaks such a division between junior school years and senior high school years helps to break the psychological barrier between these two levels of schooling and therefore encourages students to complete the six years of secondary education rather than ‘drop out’, ‘be alienated’ or ‘finish’ at the end of year 10. The longer stay over years 7 – 12 would also give them the opportunity to absorb the culture and ethos of the college and to enhance the development of school identity during that time. The multi-campus college model was envisaged as capable of achieving this outcome because it would bring an end to stand alone junior and senior high schools by having all its cohorts from years 7 through to 12 coordinated as one collaborative college.

Secondly, it was argued, that in the case of stand alone junior and senior high schools with years 7 – 10 in one place and years 11 – 12 in another, such autonomous structures, “allow stratification to occur such that a significant proportion of students are alienated from educational experiences and leave early” (Brennan, 2000, p.8). So it was reasoned that the inherently unifying structure of a multi-campus college model, by creating a continuum of the cohorts from years 7 – 12 in one college, would help to

79 redress alienating forms of school organisation and enhance cohort retentivity and continuity.

The third tier of this argument derives partly from the above advocacy for an integrated curriculum and consistent with Howe’s (1987, p.3) speculates that in a multi- campus college structure it would be relatively easy to develop integrated school protocols and operational structures such as a timetable for the whole college. Such an integrated timetable could, for instance, enable students to attend some subjects on the middle school campus as well as on the senior campus. Thus, the multi-campus college model would produce increased flexibility and synchronisation, not only among staff but also among students.

Fourthly, Livermore (1990) speculated that within a multi-campus college model, as students moved from their middle school campus to their senior campus, this might give them an opportunity to make a fresh start in the more adult learning environment on the senior campus.

viii) Demographics and minimum disruption arguments

In his discussions Livermore (1991) explained that over time, demographics in an area change and thus lead to shifts in the local population. The changes in the demographics arise out of the macro-context of a school over which it has no control.

For instance, new suburbs could develop in outer suburbs leading people to migrate from the inner city zones which are more densely populated, with higher rental costs, more traffic congestion and pollution, to the outer suburbs. Such demographical changes could lead to shifts in the local population which could leave some schools no longer viable because of decreased student enrolments.

Whereas such a scenario could lead to a closure of a years 7 – 12 autonomous high school, a multi-campus college would be better able to respond to such changes in student enrolments because students could easily be re-allocated from campus to

80 campus within the one college. This would minimise disruption to students, staff, parents and the community as the remaining campuses would provide the necessary accommodation for the students that would be displaced by school closures.

It would be reasonable to propose that the reasons and arguments presented in this section, particularly those contained in the Ministerial and DET data, helped to inform the Ministerial decision to restructure some of New South Wales, DET comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges because it was in the background of such arguments about the potential benefits of multi-campus colleges in

Australia that the DET embarked upon the establishment of this model within its secondary schools in selected areas. It may therefore be concluded that this data contributes to an understanding of this thesis’ first central research question, namely,

“Why did the DET restructure some of its autonomous year 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools and establish multi-campus colleges”? However, it was felt that because this data was internal to the Ministry of Education and to the DET, it needs to be validated by independent primary data gathered by the present research. Accordingly, this question is investigated further in chapter 6 using primary data collected in the case study of the four multi-campus colleges selected for this thesis.

3.5 The introduction of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales

This section presents secondary data which provides insight on the structural changes that were actually made in the different high schools to restructure them into the multi-campus colleges in New South Wales. Firstly, the data is used to present an account of the chronological development of multi-campus colleges in New South

Wales. Secondly, it is used to document some of the more salient structural changes that occurred in the reconfiguration of each high school to establish each multi-campus college. Thirdly, it is used to indicate gaps in the information on the relationship between the new structures and the concomitant cultural dynamics. Fourthly, it helps to

81 shed some light on certain aspects of the structural-cultural dynamics of those multi- campus colleges which were not well documented or understood. These are then targeted by the 16 dynamics criteria which, as discussed in the next chapter, were built into the Dynamics Paradigm designed for investigating the dynamics in the colleges studied. The data also helped to raise questions that made up the questionnaires and interview guides (See Appendix 5.3-1 to 5.3-3 and 5.3-4 respectively) which were used to interview participants in this research. A synthesis of how the secondary data presented in this chapter contributed to the 16 dynamics criteria is given in subsection

3.6.2 of this chapter.

3.5.1 A chronology of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales 1998 – 2004

According to official secondary data (MCEETYA, 1999, p.101) the introduction of multi-campus colleges in New South Wales commenced during the sesquicentenary of public education in New South Wales which was celebrated in 1998. “In March

1998, the Minister for Education and Training announced the formation in western

Sydney of the Nirimba collegiate group of schools” (MCEETYA, 1999, p.103) as part of its Collegiate Education Plan. The DET explains that the plan involved “cooperative ventures and partnerships among Years 7 to 12 schools that resulted in the formal establishment of multi-campus senior colleges linked to TAFE institutes or universities, or both” (DET, 1999, p138). It was noteworthy that the restructuring initiative was taken not long since a newspaper article (The Telegraph, 01/1997), had criticised some schools in the area for “failing students” who had achieved poor HSC results.

By including in its inventory of multi-campus colleges (DET, 2003, p.30) collegiate schools such as the ‘Nirimba Collegiate Group of Schools’ which although administratively operating independently, cooperate and send their senior students to a senior high school in their area (DET, 1999, p.138), as well as dual campus colleges such as Brisbane Water and Moree College, the latest data available (DET, 2003 &

DET, 2004) indicate that a total of eleven multi-campus colleges have now been established since their inception in March 1998 (MCEETYA, 1999, p.103). A chronology of their establishment is illustrated in Figure 3.5-1.

In Figure 3.5-1, data from the DET shows that, listed by their chronological date of establishment, the eleven multi-campus colleges are Nirimba Collegiate, Chifley,

Dubbo, Northern Beaches, Callaghan, Georges River, Brisbane Water Secondary,

Sydney Secondary, Tuggerah Lakes Secondary, Great Lakes and Moree College (DET,

1999,p.138; DET, 2003, p.30 & DET, 2004, pp.1-3). Data on the chronological establishment of each of these colleges and on some of the structural-cultural dynamics

Figure 3.5-1: Chronology of multi-campus college establishment in NSW, 1998-2004

Year multi-campus college was established1

Multi-Campus College 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Count Count 1 Nirimba Collegiate * 2 Chifley College * 3 Dubbo College * 4 Northern Beaches College *

5 Callaghan College * 6 Georges River College * 7 Brisbane Water College * 8 Sydney Secondary College * 9 Tuggerah Lakes College *

10 Great Lakes College * 11 Moree Secondary College *

Cumulative total established 1 2 5 8 9 10 11

Source: Summary of data in DET (2003, p. 30 and 2004, pp. 1 – 3).

Note: 1: Establishment date varies because some schools refer to commencement of the changes and others to finalisation. E.g. Nirimba middle school changes commenced in 1998 but its senior campus opened in 1999. Moree changes started earlier but did not finalise until 2004. ======

83 that were initiated by the restructuring is presented in the following outline with the assistance of Tables 3.5-1.

1) The Nirimba Collegiate Group of Schools establishment in 1998

Nirimba College was established in March 1998 in Blacktown District (DET,

1999, p.138) comprising three existing local high schools to form the first multi-campus college experiment in New South Wales (DET, 2002, p.30). Its establishment resulted from the restructuring of Quakers Hill, Riverstone and Seven Hills, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools into years 7 – 10 middle schools and the construction of a new site named Wyndham College located at Nirimba Education Precinct in Quakers

Hill where it shares facilities with UWS Blacktown Campus, NSW TAFE College

Nirimba Campus and a Catholic multi-campus college called Terra Sancta College.

The restructuring started in the middle schools in 1998 and starting from the

1999 school year Wyndham College took its inaugural enrolment of 288 year 11 students who had graduated from its three feeder schools in 1998 (DET, 1999, p.138).

The data presented in Table 3.5-1 indicated that Wyndham College’s three feeder schools had a total enrolment of 2,316 students in 2004. Wyndham College itself had

531 students enrolled in years 11 and 12. This represented an average cohort size of 265 students: - a figure which was large enough to constitute a reasonable cohort size per senior year. This critical mass of students enabled new structural-cultural dynamics to take place which could help to address the problems of the old comprehensive models discussed earlier. However, there was no data publicly available on the new dynamics and this encouraged the present research.

2) Chifley Multi-Campus College establishment in 1999

“Following extensive community consultation, the Minister announced the establishment of Chifley College in August 1999 as a multi-campus co-educational college” (DET, 1999, p.138, & DET,. 2001, p.83) in Mount Druitt District, comprising

Table 3.5-1: Establishment chronology, cohort configuration and enrolment dynamics

Student Year College established Participating campuses Enrolment 2004 Quakers Hill High School, Years 7 - 10 918 1998 Nirimba College Riverstone High School, Years 7 - 10 425 Seven Hills High School, Years 7 - 10 442 Wyndham College, Years 11 - 12 650

1999 Chifley College Bidwill Campus Years 7 – 12 625 Dunheved Campus, Years 7 - 10 523

Mount Druitt Campus, Years 7 – 10 590 Shalvey Campus, Years 7 - 10 341

Whalan Campus, Years 11 - 12 450

2000 Dubbo College Delroy Campus, Years 7 – 9 593 South Campus, Years 7 – 9 600 Senior Campus, Years 10 - 12 775

2000 Northern Beaches Balgowlah Boys Campus, Years 7 - 12 413 Secondary College Cromer Campus, Years 7 - 12 938 Mackellar Girls Campus, Years 7 - 12 990 Manly Campus, Years 7 - 12 744 Freshwater Campus, Years 11 - 12 392

2000 Callaghan College Wallsend Campus, Years 7 - 10 824 Waratah Technology Campus, years 7 - 10 919 Jesmond Campus, Years 11 - 12 532

2001 Georges River Hurstville Boys Campus, Years 7 - 10 546 College Peakhurst Campus, Years 7 – 10 638 Penshurst Girls Campus, Years 7 – 10 647 Oatley Campus, Years 11 - 12 892

2001 Brisbane Water Umina Campus, Years 7 - 9 934 Woy Woy Campus, Years 10 - 12 789 Secondary College

2001 Sydney Secondary Balmain Campus, Years 7 - 10 496 College Leichhardt Campus, Years 7 - 10 740 Glebe: Blackwattle Bay Campus, Years 11-12 475

Berkeley Vale Campus, Years 7 - 10 871 2002 Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College The Entrance Campus, Years 11 - 12 992 Tumbi Umbi Campus, Years 7 - 10 803

Forster High School, Years 7 - 10 713 2003 Great Lakes College Tuncurry High School, Years 11 - 12 365 Tuncurry Junior Campus 7 - 10 428

2004 Moree Secondary Carol Avenue Campus, Years 7 – 9 267 College Albert Street Campus, Years 10 – 12 258

Total students enrolment 23, 530

Source: DET (2004, p. 30 & 2004, pp.1 – 3); Great Lakes (2004, p.4).

“five schools merged together to form a super-school” (Chamber of Commerce, 2000, p.1). The idea of an innovative secondary school was particularly welcome to residents in the Mount Druitt area where it was said that the college was created out of the need to have an educational structure for Mt. Druitt that was unique and able to better meet the educational needs of students from the greater Mt. Druitt district, through the provision of opportunities previously not available in the area (Chifley College, 1999, p.1).

As illustrated in Table 3.5-2, the five high schools that were restructured were

Bidwill, Dunheved, Mount Druitt, Shalvey and Whalan High School. The restructuring reconfigured Dunheved, Mount Druitt and Shalvey High Schools into middle schools each with only years 7 – 10 cohorts. Bidwill High School was to continue as a comprehensive years 7 –12 school but as part of Chifley College and no longer a ‘stand- alone’ autonomous high school. Whalan High School was to cease operation as a full fledged comprehensive high school and instead became the senior campus for students from the other partner campuses. The latest available statistics in the DET Schools

Census for 2004 which were given in Table 3.5-1 above indicated that the three middle schools had an enrolment of 1,453 students, Bidwill Campus had 625 and the senior campus at Whalan had 450 students. Thus a total student population of 2,528 adolescents plus the leadership teams, head teachers, teaching staff, ancillary staff and parents now experienced structural and cultural dynamics about which not much data was publicly available and therefore needed primary research.

3) Dubbo College, Northern Beaches and Callaghan College establishment in 2000

In the following year (2000) further restructuring of DET comprehensive high schools led to the establishment of three multi-campus colleges namely Dubbo College,

Northern Beaches Secondary College and Callaghan College. As evident in Table 3.5-1,

Dubbo College comprises Delroy and Dubbo South middle school campuses and the senior campus. In the establishment of this college, the restructuring merged three high

Table 3.5-2: Impact of multi-campus restructuring on cohort structural dynamics

Net Impact College Old Cohort Structure New Cohort Structure On cohorts Quakers Hill High School, Years 7 – 12 Quakers Hill High School, Yrs 7-10 Lost 2 Nirimba Riverstone High School, Years 7 – 12 Riverstone High School, Yrs 7-10 Lost 2 Seven Hills High School, Years 7 – 12 Seven Hills High School, Yrs 7-10 Lost 2 Wyndham College did not exist Wyndham College, Yrs 11-12 Gain 2: New

Bidwill High School, Years 7 – 12 Bidwill Campus Years 7 – 12 Left same Chifley Dunheved High School, Years 7 – 12 Dunheved Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Mount Druitt High School, Years 7 – 12 Mount Druitt Campus, Years 7 – 10 Lost 2 Shalvey High School, Years 7 – 12 Shalvey Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2

Whalan High School, Years 7 – 12 Whalan Campus, Years 11 - 12 Lost 4

Dubbo Delroy High School, Years 7-12 Delroy Campus, Years 7 – 9 Lost 3 South High School, Years 7-12 South Campus, Years 7 – 9 Lost 3 Central High School, Years 7-12 Senior Campus, Years 10 - 12 Lost 3

Northern Balgowlah Boys High School, Years 7-12 Balgowlah Boys Campus Years 7-12 Left same

Beaches Cromer High School, Years 7-12 Cromer Campus, Years 7 - 12 Left same Mackellar Girls High School, Years 7 -12 Mackellar Girls Campus Years 7-12 Left same Manly High School, Years 7 - 12 Manley Campus, Years 7 - 12 Left same Freshwater High School, Years 7-12 Freshwater Campus, Years 11 - 12 Lost 4 Beacon Hill High School, Years 7-12 Closed altogether Lost 6

Callaghan Wallsend High School, Years 7-12 Wallsend Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Waratah Tech. High School, Years 7-12 Waratah Tech. Campus, Years 7 -10 Lost 2 Jesmond High School, Years 7 - 12 Jesmond Campus, Years 11 - 12 Lost 4

Georges Hurstville Boys High School, Years 7-12 Hurstville Boys Campus, Years 7 -10 Lost 2 River Peakhurst High School, Years 7-12 Peakhurst Campus, Years 7 – 10 Lost 2 Penshurst Girls High School, Years 7-12 Penshurst Girls Campus, Years 7-10 Lost 2 Oatley Campus, did not exist Oatley Campus, Years 11 - 12 Gain 2: New

Brisbane Umina High School, Years 7 – 12 Umina Campus, Years 7 – 9 Lost 3 Water Woy Woy High School, Years 7 – 12 Woy Woy Campus, Years 10 – 12 Lost 3

Sydney Balmain High School, Years 7 – 12 Balmain Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Leichhardt High School, Years 7 – 12 Leichhardt Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Glebe High School, Years 7 – 12 Blackwattle Bay Campus, Yrs 11-12 Lost 4

Tuggerah Berkeley Vale High School, Years 7 – 12 Berkeley Vale Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Lakes The Entrance High School, Years 7 - 12 The Entrance Campus, Years 11 - 12 Lost 4 Tumbi Umbi High School, Years 7 – 12 Tumbi Umbi Campus, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2

Great Forster High School, Years 7 - 12 Foster High School, Years 7 - 10 Lost 2 Lakes Tuncurry High School: did not exist Tuncurry High School, Years 11 - 12 Gain 2: New Tuncurry Junior Campus: did not exist Tuncurry Junior Campus 7 - 10 Gain 4: New

Moree Moree College Carol Avenue, Years 7-12 Carol Avenue Campus, Years 7 – 9 Lost 3

Moree College Albert Street, Years 7- 12 Albert Street Campus, Years 10 – 12 Lost 3

Source: Interpretation of data from DET (1998 – 2004) Directories of Schools in New South Wales.

87 schools which had significantly different levels of cultural dynamics by virtue of their differences in age. Dubbo High School was the oldest of the partners having been established in January 1917 (DET, 2003, p.58). In contrast, Dubbo High School South had been established in 1942 and Dubbo High School at Delroy in 1980.

These differential dates were important for the study of the structural and cultural dynamics in the colleges because of the assumption cited earlier, that the development of cultural dynamics is to some degree a function of organisational duration (Schein, 1997). It was therefore important to research into how the existing culture in the different colleges had impacted on the new structural dynamics and vice versa.

It was noted in the data, that whereas the middle schools of most of the other multi-campus colleges comprise years 7 – 10 cohorts, at Dubbo they comprise years 7 –

9 students only. The senior campus comprises years 10 – 12 unlike the more common years 11 – 12. The reasons for this structural difference, its strengths and weaknesses were investigated in this study’s survey of a Country based college and are reported at length in chapter 6 and 7 of this thesis.

As shown in Table 3.5-1 (page 84), with five separate campuses and a total of

3,477 students, Northern Beaches Secondary College is the largest multi-campus college in New South Wales. Its establishment in June 2000 resulted from the restructuring of six, previously autonomous years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools.

As illustrated in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), those schools were Balgowlah Boys High

School (1954), Beacon Hill High School (1960), Freshwater High School (1960),

Cromer High School (1976), Manly High School (1949) and Mackellar Girls High

School (1968). The schools had been first established as high schools in the year shown in parenthesis after each school respectively (DET, 2003, p.105).

Out of those six schools, the restructuring closed Beacon Hill High School altogether and created four comprehensive multi-campus sites and one dedicated senior

88 high school campus. The merger showed a complicated system of structures comprising two, single sex campuses, one co-educational campus, one selective campus and a dedicated senior campus. The campuses are named Balgowlah Boys Campus, Mackellar

Girls Campus, Cromer Co-educational Campus, Manly Selective Campus and

Freshwater Senior Campus. The reasons why these structural and cultural configurations were chosen for this college as well as their strengths and weaknesses were not given in the data and warrant future research.

Also “in 2000 the Principals of Jesmond University, Wallsend and Waratah

Technology High Schools developed a visionary plan for a new multi-campus secondary school” (Callaghan, 2004, p.2). Out of that vision emerged Callaghan

College which opened in February 2001 as a multi-campus college in Newcastle

District, comprising three campuses namely Jesmond, Wallsend and Waratah

Technology Campus. Of these three, Jesmond is the years 11 – 12 senior campus and the other two are middle school sites each with years 7 – 10.

As shown in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), in the restructuring of Waratah High School into one of the campuses of Callaghan Multi-Campus College, the school was folded from a years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school into a years 7 – 10 middle school campus (Waratah, 2004, p.6). In contrast, Jesmond University High School which had been an autonomous, comprehensive years 7 – 12 high school until the restructuring, not only lost its autonomy but also folded four of its cohorts so that starting from 2001 it catered only for senior students in years 11 and 12. However, its enrolment now included students who had come from the Wallsend and Waratah campuses which had been made middle school campuses with years 7 – 10 only (Callaghan, 2004, pp. 4 -5).

4) Georges River, Brisbane Water, and Sydney College establishment in 2001

Three more multi-campus colleges were established in 2001, namely Georges

River, Brisbane Water, and Sydney Secondary College. As shown in Table 3.5-1, (page

84), Georges River Multi-Campus College comprises Hurstville Boys, Peakhurst,

Penshurst Girls and Oatley. The first three of these are middle school campuses each with years 7 – 10 and Oatley is the senior campus with years 11 - 12.

The DET (2003, p.30 & 2004, pp.1 - 3) data summarised in Table 3.5-1 (page

84) showed that the middle schools of Georges River College had a total enrolment of

1,831 students in 2004 with an average cohort size of 153 students. The senior campus at Oatley with a total enrolment of 892 students had an average enrolment of 446 students per cohort, suggesting that it was a very attractive campus. However, the data did not explain why Oatley Campus, which was an entirely new campus, having been purchased by the DET in 2000 from the University of New South Wales had become so attractive to students and parents in the area. As discussed in chapter 6 and 7, this issue was investigated by this study.

Although Brisbane Water College is generally categorised as a multi-campus college (DET, 2003, p.30), it has only two campuses within its organisational structure.

It comprises Umina Campus on the Woy Woy peninsula and Woy Woy Campus, both of which are in the Central Coast Schools District. It was established in 2001 following the restructuring of the two schools. As shown in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), before the restructuring each school was a years 7 - 12 comprehensive high school. With the restructuring on its 25th birthday since its establishment in 1976 (DET, 2003, p.1),

Umina College was folded into a middle school campus with only years 7 - 9. Woy

Woy shed its years 7 – 12 structure and became the senior campus of the dual campus coalition with only years 10 – 12. Between the two schools, a total of 6 cohorts were merged in the restructure.

Additionally, in 2001 the restructuring of three secondary high schools in the

Port Jackson Schools District led to the establishment of Sydney Secondary Multi-

Campus College (DET, 2003, p.30). As illustrated in Table 3.5-2, the College was established from the restructuring of Balmain High School, Leichhardt High School and

Glebe High School. Until the restructuring, each of the schools had been a comprehensive high school with years 7 - 12 cohorts since the mid 1970s.

With the restructuring, Glebe High School became a senior high school campus and named Blackwattle Bay Campus, with years 11 and 12 only. Balmain and

Leichhardt high schools folded their year 11 - 12 cohorts and each became a middle school campus with years 7 -10. In that restructuring a total of 8 cohorts were absorbed into the new multi-campus college structure. The total number of students enrolled in the middle school campuses in 2004 was 1,236 and that in the senior campus 475 making this the smallest multi-campus college in the metropolitan areas of the state in that year (DET, 2004, pp. 37-40).

5) The establishment of Tuggerah Lakes Multi-Campus College in 2002

Tuggerah Lakes Multi-Campus College was established in 2002 from the merger of three high schools, namely Berkeley Vale, The Entrance and Tumbi Umbi

High School. The creation of a multi-campus college out of these three schools brought together some very well entrenched cultures from The Entrance High School which had existed since 1970 and the young school cultures of the Tumbi Umbi School which was only five years old (DET, 2003, pp. 42-44).

In the restructuring, Berkley Vale and Tumbi Umbi high schools were both reconfigured into years 7 – 10 middle schools. The Entrance Campus was now to cater for all years 11 and 12 students from the three schools in this multi-campus college structure. As shown in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), the restructuring involved a net loss of eight cohorts. Because each of the three high schools had relatively large senior cohorts, the merger resulted in a total enrolment of 992 students in 2004. Future research is needed to investigate the structural-cultural dynamics among so many students in the senior cohorts, into the trends in enrolments at this college and the economic as well as the demographic factors influencing such enrolments.

6) The establishment of the Great Lakes Multi-Campus College in 2003

According to the Department of Education (DET, 2003, pp. 47 - 49), the Great

Lakes Multi-Campus College was established in late 2003. The restructuring that created this college involved “one of the largest comprehensive high schools in NSW”

(DET, 2003, p.47). In 2002, “the school was known as Forster High School and catered for over 1600” students drawn from the southern Great Lakes area (DET, 2003, p.50).

In 2003, the school was restructured into three separate schools, comprising two middle school campuses and one senior campus (DET, 2004 p.50). The restructuring involved folding Forster High School from a years 7 - 12 comprehensive high school into a middle school with years 7 -10 and the creation of two new campuses named

Tuncurry Junior Campus and Tuncurry Senior Campus respectively.

As shown in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), Tuncurry Junior Campus, like Forster

Campus, is a years 7 - 10 campus. Tuncurry Senior Campus hosts years 11 and 12. The

College’s data (Great Lakes, 2004, p.4) indicated that following the restructuring the total enrolment in the college was 1,506 in 2004. Of these, the older school had kept

713 students. The new middle school of Tuncurry Junior Campus hosted 428 students and the senior campus at Tuncurry had 365. Although it was beyond the scope of this study to investigate these structural-cultural dynamics in detail, the changes suggested by the above statistics indicate an area that calls for future case study research.

7) The establishment of Moree Multi-Campus College in 2004

Although the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools that formed

Moree multi-campus college commenced earlier, DET (2004) data lists 2004 as the official completion of its establishment phase. Like Brisbane Water comprising only two campuses, Moree Secondary College was the latest multi-campus college to be established in New South Wales. It officially opened in February 2004 with a total

92 enrolment of only 525 students and thus represents not only the youngest but also the smallest multi-campus college in New South Wales.

The college was established through reconfiguring Moree High School at Carol

Avenue from a years 7 – 12 to become a years 7 – 9 middle school known as Moree

College, Carol Avenue Campus and a simultaneous folding of Moree High School at

Albert Street from a years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school to become Moree College

Albert Campus with only years 10 – 12 and therefore the senior campus. The model set up was thus similar to that at Dubbo and Brisbane Water College. This raised questions for this study as to why the Country based multi-campus colleges appeared to favour this configuration rather than the more common cohort structure of years 7 – 10 in the middle schools and years 11 – 12 in the senior high school. This question was investigated in the case study of one of the Country based colleges.

3.6 Discussion of the secondary data and link to highlight criteria in Dynamics Paradigm

3.6.1 Research question arising out of the secondary data

The trend of the data first presented in Figure 3.5-1 (page 82) and discussed in section 3.5.1 with additional supporting data in Tables 3.5-1 (page 84), and 3.5-2 (page

86), showed a rapidly growing interest in the establishment of multi-campus colleges especially in 2000 and 2001 when a total of six multi-campus colleges were established in that short span of time. Although the data showed that the rate of establishment had declined to one new college every year after 2001, nevertheless the fact that eleven colleges had been established within six years of the inaugural establishment reflected the enthusiasm with which the DET had pursued this new model of secondary school delivery.

For instance, the data showed that whereas in 1998 the first multi-campus college in New South Wales opened comprising only four high schools, the number of

93 schools in such organisational structures had grown to 37 by 2004. The DET (2004) estimated that, that number represented nearly 10% of all secondary schools in New

South Wales – a figure of substantial significance.

With regard to students who were involved in the restructuring, the DET (1998 –

2004) census data showed that the number of students in multi-campus college structures increased from 1,776 in the Nirimba Collegiate cluster schools in 1998 to

23,530 in the 11 colleges in 2004 as illustrated in Table 3.5-1 on page 84. The total number of students represented in these figures was nearly 8% of all secondary school students in New South Wales (ABS, 2004, p.13). Additionally, the data on the reconfiguration of the high schools discussed above and illustrated in Table 3.5-2 (page

86), revealed gaps in the literature on these colleges. This led this research to raise 16 sub-questions (See page 8), about the second central research question of the thesis. As stated earlier, (See page 5), the second central research question, is: “What is the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college”?

As explained above, the 16 sub-questions of this overarching question are the core dynamics criteria built into the Dynamics Paradigm presented in the next chapter.

Because of their significance to this research, the 16 dynamics criteria are individually outlined below.

3.6.2 The 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria arising out of the secondary data

Criterion 1: Enrolments and retention rates

This criterion arose out of the data summarised in Table 3.5-2 which showed that the new structures had reconfigured the cohorts of the schools involved and integrated student enrolments. The question that this criterion sought to incorporate in the Dynamics Paradigm was how the new structures had impacted on students’ enrolments and retention rates since the establishment of each multi-campus

94 collegAdditionally, the criterion also sought to gain an understanding of how the amalgamated student enrolments had impacted on the structural and cultural dynamics which were emerging in the new model. As illustrated in Appendix 5.3 containing the questionnaires (5.3-1 and 5.3-2), and interview guides (5.3.4-1 to 5.3.4-6), this criterion was targeted by three questions in the structured questionnaires and by all the interview guides.

Criterion 2: Curriculum breadth and subject choice

The Ministerial data, in agreement with that from the DET, Livermore and

Howe reviewed above, speculated that the multi-campus college structure creates opportunities for the college to offer a broader curriculum so that students can have a wider subject choice especially in their HSC courses. This criterion was built into the

Dynamics Paradigm, not only to test the validity of this speculation, but also to extend an understanding of how and why the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college impact on the curriculum that can be offered and on the range of subjects that become available to students especially in years 11 and 12.

Criterion 3: Learning environment

The data showed that not only had cohorts been amalgamated (See Table 3.5-2), but some old buildings had been demolished, new ones had been erected and in other situations additional premises were acquired through direct purchase and refurbishment.

Additionally, campuses that are geographically separated were to be vertically or laterally coordinated so as to provide education as one entity in the new structural- cultural dynamics. Principals, staff and students who had belonged to isolated schools were now to administer, lead, teach and study in an integrated identity. Clearly, the data showed that the learning environment had changed. Accordingly, this criterion was included in the Dynamics Paradigm to investigate interviewees’ understanding of the

95 impact of the new model on the learning environment within the loose or tight couplings in each multi-campus college studied.

Criterion 4: Teaching environment

In addition to the point made above, the data summarised in Table 3.5-2 showed that the hierarchical autonomy of years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools was replaced by interdependent years 7 – 9/10 middle schools and years 10/11 – 12 campuses.

Teachers who had taught small classes were now to face larger class sizes as a result of cohort restructuring and amalgamation as illustrated in Table 3.5-2. Moreover, teachers who previously had the possibility of teaching students in years 7 through to 12 now found themselves with either years 7 – 9/10 only in the middle school campuses or years 10/11 – 12 only in the senior campus. This criterion sought to gain an understanding of interviewees’ views on how the new structural-cultural dynamics they were now working in were impacting on their teaching environment.

Criterion 5: Shared vision and decision-making

With schools that were geographically separated but now united in one operational structure, it was reasonable to investigate how coordination of the campuses within each site and across each college’s cluster of three or four participating campuses was being effected, how they communicate with one another, share the vision of their new model and participate in the day-to-day decision-making processes in their college.

Criterion 6: One sex or co-education in a campus

As discussed in the data, some of the multi-campus colleges were structured such that they have a combination of some single sex campuses within their structures as well as co-educational campuses while others did not. The former have a boys only campus, a girls only campus and a coeducational campus in the middle school cohorts.

The latter have all their campuses as co-educational sites. This criterion was accordingly

96 included in the Dynamics Paradigm to investigate participants’ understanding of how, if at all, the sex of a campus had any effects on students’ choice of campus at which to study or on parents’ decision as to which campus they would send their children. This criterion also enabled questions to be asked as to whether there was any reason why this particular structure had been chosen for the colleges that were structured in this way.

Criterion 7: Resource availability and utilisation

The data showed that as part of the restructuring illustrated in Table 3.5-2, there had been an increase in the physical infrastructure and human resources in the colleges.

This criterion was used to investigate interviewees’ assessment of resource availability in their colleges and their understanding of how effectively and efficiently they were being utilised. This criterion also sought to gain some understanding of how interviewees compared current resource supply in the new structures with that which had been available in the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school.

Criterion 8: Access to information technology

The data gave access to information technology as one of the reasons in favour of restructuring schools into a multi-campus college structure. Livermore (1990) for instance, referred to the economies of scale which the amalgamated schools could gain through pooling their finances and thus be able to afford modern information technology which tends to be too expensive for individual schools to afford. This criterion was included in the Paradigm to test whether this speculation was being realised in the multi-campus colleges studied.

Criterion 9: Linkages and joint resource use with TAFE and University

Data from all the sources discussed in this chapter said that the new structure would enable the senior campus of the multi-campus college to develop more effective linkages for vocational education, TAFE and University than the high schools could

97 develop while they stood alone. The data further showed that indeed, in some of the colleges, the senior campus was located on the same site with TAFE, University or both of these institutions. This criterion was used to give interviewees the opportunity to show their understanding of how these linkages were actually developing and what impact they were having on students’ learning and teachers’ work.

Criterion 10: Extra-curricular activities

The data on the reasons for restructuring the schools also referred to benefits that were expected to flow from the greater critical mass including the possibility of students’ involvement in extra-curricular activities which required large numbers of students and could therefore be done in the new structure whereas they could not have been viable with the smaller numbers in the typical comprehensive high school acting in isolation. This criterion was used to test this speculation. Additionally, incorporating in the Dynamics Paradigm real life activities in which students participate in their lives outside school enabled the research to shed some light on students’ sense of self- concept and personal identity.

Criterion 11: Principals’ roles and leadership dynamics

The data implied that the merger of comprehensive high schools which were restructured into a multi-campus college brought to an end the autonomous independence which principals had been accustomed to in the orthodox, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structure. In the new structure, collegial interactions and interdependent leadership practices were to replace the isolated structural-cultural dynamics of the old leadership model. This criterion was included in the Dynamics

Paradigm to test interviewees’ understanding of how the new structural dynamics were really impacting on leadership and management practices in the new structure. Besides, this criterion was also used to gain an understanding of how leadership was impacting on the structural-cultural dynamics in each of the four colleges studied.

Criterion 12: Students’ outcomes

The data strongly speculated that students’ outcomes would be improved in the new structure. Apart from enrolments, retention rates and subject choice covered in criterions 1 and 2, the data speculated that there would be improvements in the HSC and

School Certificate results. Arising out of this, the data further speculated that there would be an uplifting of the public image of the schools. It was speculated further, that this would also satisfy the public media which tend to use these outcomes as indicators of “successful” or “failing” schools. This criterion was used accordingly, to investigate realised outcomes in both the middle school and the senior campus as evidenced by

HSC results, SC results, ELLA and SNAP tests results. The inclusion of these literacy and numeracy outcomes in the middle schools was an innovation of this thesis because emphasis in existing literature tends to be on HSC results and not on middle school outcomes.

Criterion 13: Teachers’ outcomes

The data (e.g. Livermore, 1990) speculated that the merger of comprehensive high schools involved in the establishment of a multi-campus college, would boost collegiality among teaching staff. It was suggested that the integration would offer teachers in the participating schools greater opportunity for professional communication, planning and sharing of resource and expertise. It was also speculated that the new structural dynamics would facilitate staff mobility between middle school campuses and their senior campus. This criterion targeted teachers’ understanding of the impact of the new structural dynamics on selected outcomes such as communication, staff transfers and general staff mobility among the campuses of one college.

Criterion 14: Community perceptions, assumptions and beliefs

It was reasonable to assume that parents and other stakeholders in the areas where previously, autonomous years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools had been reframed and amalgamated into a multi-campus college, would have a perception or a point of view about how the changes that had been introduced were meeting their assumptions and beliefs. The inclusion of this criterion enabled the Dynamics Paradigm to investigate interviewees’ views on whether their named expectations, assumptions or beliefs about the new model were being realised or not, within their college community.

Criterion 15: Community involvement/reaction/response to the new model

The data referred to various levels of consultation with parents and the community to involve them in some of the restructuring processes (e.g. parents to select the students’ uniform). The question that this criterion targeted was interviewees’ understanding of how they and their community had reacted at the initial introduction of the new structures and how they were responding to it at the time of the study.

Criterion 16: Comparison of new structure with old structure

The data (See for instance Table 3.5-2) compared the new and the old structure with regard to cohort configuration. That in Table 3.5-1 shows the enrolments in the new structures. This criterion was used to give interviewees the opportunity to indicate their position on how, in their personal opinion, the new structural dynamics overall, compare with those of the traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model.

3.6.3 Conclusion

The data from which the above criteria were derived, implied that behind the statistics shown in Table 3.5-1 (page 84), and within the new and rapidly created cohort structures illustrated in Table 3.5-2 (page 86), lay a great deal of organisational

100 restructuring of previously autonomous schools which had different structural-cultural dynamics to integrate them into the multi-campus college model with new structural- cultural dynamics. Those structural-cultural dynamics involved changes in the way people in the colleges interacted with one another within the newly created school structures. However, to date, as discussed in the literature review above (chapter 2), there was neither theory nor readily available, comprehensive information specifically about those structural-cultural dynamics. This lent weight not only to the importance of this research but also to the need for a theoretical framework in which the data can be studied. That framework is provided by this thesis in the Dynamics Paradigm designed and elucidated in the following chapter.

Moreover, each multi-campus college establishment scenario had its own unique structural and cultural dynamics and as can be seen in Table 3.5-2 (page 86) for instance, there was no common cohort organisational structure that was developed. It was also noteworthy, that the only three colleges that were configured with middle schools of years 7 – 9 cohorts and a senior campus of years 10 – 12 were all Country- based colleges. This raised questions for this research regarding the impact of these structural dynamics on the cultural dynamics involving students in the Country based colleges. The questions ranged from the impact of the new model on students’ enrolments and retention rates to reasons for the apparent popularity of this model in the

Country areas.

A discussion of the structural and cultural pattern of each college illustrated in

Table 3.5-2, raised additional questions on the 16 dynamics criteria when comparisons were made between the cohorts that these schools had before they were restructured and those they ended up with following their restructuring into multi-campus college sites.

With the assistance of Table 3.5-2, the data showed that 16 high schools lost 2 cohorts each in the restructuring, 5 lost 4 cohorts and 7 lost 3 cohorts each. Four new campuses were created and Dubbo High School was moved to brand new buildings as the senior

101 campus in the north of Dubbo. Three of the newly created campuses were senior campuses with 2 cohorts each and one was a middle school campus with 4 cohorts comprising years 7 – 10 at Tuncurry in the Central District. On balancing this equation therefore, the net impact of the restructuring in terms of cohort configuration was a net loss of 63 cohorts emanating from a total loss of 73 cohorts and a total gain of 10 cohorts. The dynamics that the analysis highlighted was the need for the present study to investigate how this re-configuration of the cohorts had impacted on the 16 structural and cultural dynamics outlined above for the individual colleges in the case study.

Although as can be seen in Table 3.5-2 (page 86) there was no uniform pattern to the restructuring of individual schools, in the main some years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools were ‘folded’ into years 7 – 10 middle school campuses, others had to shed their years 7 – 10 cohorts and become the senior high school campuses with only years

11 – 12. Apart from the restructuring of existing schools, some new sites were constructed to form new campuses for the new model. What was common in all the schools that were restructured into a multi-campus college was that no school was left as an autonomous, ‘stand-alone’ secondary high school.

Thus, the restructuring had replaced the autonomy of individual schools with cooperative coalitions of integrated clusters of schools on different sites, and new structural and cultural dynamics were subsequently set into motion. An understanding of the nature of those dynamics was at the heart of the second central research question for this thesis, which, as explained at the start of this section (See page 93) was targeted by the 16 dynamics criteria outlined above. These criteria are thus the core variables of the Dynamics Paradigm which, as already stated above, was especially designed to provide a theoretical framework for studying change in an educational institution, and then specifically tailored to the analysis of the data gathered on the structural and cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges that were case studied. The

Dynamics Paradigm is discussed in detail in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER 4

THE DYNAMICS PARADIGM FOR ANALYSING THE STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN AN EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION

4.1 Introduction: The need for a new Paradigm

The insights drawn from the literature on the dynamics of structural and cultural organisational change, reviewed in chapter 2, led to the view that structure, as the undergirding framework of the definition and arrangement of roles and responsibilities in any organisation is important in designing a school, but it is not the only consideration. The literature indicated that changing the structure is important, but for school reform to be effective it is essential, not simply to re-structure, but to consciously re-culture the values, beliefs, norms and practices of participants in the school community. The conclusion from the literature is that reculturing of a school should not only consider the desired new structure. Rather, a clear understanding of the interplay of the forces within the ‘force-field’ (see literature review page 24) among the subsystems of the schools involved, both internal and external to the school, is needed and something like a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) situation analysis should be properly conducted to match the expected cultural outcomes to the proposed structures that can offer opportunities and help in the delivery of those outcomes to students, teachers, principals, parents and the community at large.

The review then went on to show that Pace’s organisational dynamics model offers insights into the critical elements for change and performance improvement in a business organisation. As discussed in section 2.3 (See page 38 – 53 in chapter 2), and illustrated again in Figure 4-1 in this chapter to refocus this discussion, Pace labelled those elements as the Work Systems, Work Perceptions, Work Goals, Work Dynamism,

Work Outcomes and Feedback.

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Figure 4-1: Pace’s model of organisational dynamism

Work Work Work Work Work

Systems Perceptions Goals Dynamism Outcomes

1. Potential

2. Excel Performance Organisational 3. New Ways Productivity Structure 4. Opportunities ENERGY Quality Work itself Opportunity 5. Initiative

6. Influence Innovation

Worker Environment 7. Contribute Devoted

8. Meaningful Profit Management Fulfilment 9. Significant to

Practices 10. Unique Goal Organisational Expectation 11. Personal

guidelines 12. Aspiration Accomplish-

13. Do more ment

14. Optimistic

15. Proud

16. Envision Future

Climate

Feedback

Source: Reproduced from Pace, R. W. (2002). Organisational dynamism. Page 5. London: Quorum Books.

Note: The elements are colour-coded to clarify their correlation to those in the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108. This Figure was presented earlier in section 2.3 as Figure 2.3.1 on page 39. It is included here to refocus the discussion in this section.

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According to Pace, there is an inextricable interconnectedness between the structural and cultural dynamics among these elements which makes them as interdependent as the various organs and systems in a living organism. Hence, dynamism or vitality is needed to coordinate and to energise all the elements of the organisation towards high level performance which leads to the attainment of the natural work outcomes. In a business organisation, this is characterised as the maximisation of

“productivity, quality and profit”, Pace (2002, p.5),

However, the summary of secondary data on the background factors that were critical in the restructuring of some comprehensive high schools in New South Wales into multi-campus colleges and on the structures that emerged, (See chapter 3) implied that Pace’s model needed to be redesigned to provide an effective theoretical construct for interpreting the change dynamics in an educational organisation. This redesign involved eight major changes resulting in the new Dynamics Paradigm which is presented in this chapter. Each of these changes is now discussed.

1) The main reason why a new Paradigm was developed was to transform Pace’s model from the domain of business production to an educational change Paradigm. Whereas in the former, as shown in the Outcomes block in Figure 4-1, outcomes are measured in terms of physical products whose quantity and quality influence profit maximisation, in the latter reforms focus on making a value added difference (e.g. Dinham, 1995; Fullan,

2000; Silins and Mulford, 2002) in human capacity. That value added is delivered through the provision of a public good, namely education, rather than a pecuniary commodity.

2) The new Paradigm needed to place the student as the primary focus of educational change (Fullan, 2001). This is significantly different from Pace’s model where pivotal focus is on “work itself” (Pace, 2000, p.5).

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3) The new Paradigm redefines the workplace in terms of the individual –the student, teacher, principal or parent – and the aggregate structural-cultural dynamics as perceived by participants in an educational organisation, thereby enabling the study of interactions and tensions incumbent among organisational members within an educational institution implementing change.

4) The new Paradigm was needed to investigate, not only the theoretical perspectives implied in the literature review in chapter 2, but more specifically, to address both the background factors and the structural-cultural dynamics on the changes which are made to the structures of schools undergoing major structural reforms. The new model was also to investigate how those reforms impact on the cultural dynamics in a newly structured school.

5) As evident in the Work System block in Figure 4-1, Pace’s model does not go far enough regarding historical aspects of an organisation. Granted, his model includes a discussion of the “climate and environment” as well as “management practices” (Pace,

2002, p.5), but it does not explicitly deal with the historical context of an organisation.

One may argue that it is not uncommon for an industrial site or a business organisation to be established from scratch and then, over time, grow and expand to maturity and a post-maturity phase. However, the restructuring of an educational institution involves working with a history. Elements of that history need to be well understood and given due consideration in the reframing and reculturing strategies of such an institution.

6) Pace’s model, developed for an industrial business setting, was not specific enough to reflect the conditions particular to the structures and cultural dynamics in an educational setting. As illustrated in the Work Perceptions, Work Goals and Work Dynamics blocks in Figure 4-1, the interactions among these elements and between them and the Work

System block are not directly relating to the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics involved in the restructuring of a school.

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7) Apart from lacking specificity to educational change, Pace’s model was not comprehensive enough to encompass the wide range of variables in the force-field for change in an educational organisation. Such change, as evidenced by the historical data discussed in chapter 3, is associated with a wide range of key structural-cultural dynamics variables which need to be investigated in order to understand the meaning of change in an educational setting.

8) Finally, the Work Goals elements, which Pace discusses outside the Work Systems block, needed to be transferred to the latter. As discussed in section 4.3.1, this change not only clarifies the analysis of variables in this element of the Dynamics Paradigm, but more importantly, makes the Dynamics Paradigm more consistent with strategic planning for organisational change in an educational setting.

Therefore a new model – a new cognitive lens – based on the theory reviewed in chapter 2 and on the empirical data from chapter 3 was needed, so as to focus and to synthesise the knowledge gained from these two areas to the critical conditions involving dynamic change in an educational organisation. This is achieved in the present chapter through the transformation of Pace’s business model into this thesis’

Dynamics Paradigm for extending an understanding of structural and cultural dynamics in an educational organisation.

The Dynamics Paradigm is not intended to predict relationships between structural and cultural dynamics in a given school setting or any other educational organisation but rather to serve as a foundation on which to analyse the nature of the multiple realities in the organisational life of an educational institution undergoing change. This foundation is needed because, as Scott (1999, p.xi) warns, “there is much talk about what must change in education, but when people get to work to put these desired developments into practice (the cultural dynamics), they often find themselves quite unsure how to proceed”. Hampden-Turner (1992, p. 167) also counsels that:

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The world simply can’t be made sense of, facts can’t be organised, unless you have a mental model to begin with. (And that) You can’t begin to learn without some concept that gives you expectations.

The design of the Dynamics Paradigm and its mapping to the data analysed in this thesis is detailed in the following sections of this chapter.

4.2 Overview of the Dynamics Paradigm for reframing an educational organisation

The starting point in designing the new Dynamics Paradigm for analysing the structural and cultural dynamics in an educational institution was to examine each of the six elements of Pace’s model discussed in detail in chapter 2 and reiterated in Figure 4-1

(See page 103), then discuss its strengths and weaknesses and then proceed to show how it was improved by the new design.

As shown in the new Dynamics Paradigm, Figure 4-2, by using Pace’s six elements as the building blocks of the Dynamics Paradigm, this thesis ensured that its theoretical framework was based on well established theory. However, the elements were made more precisely attuned to the contexts in an educational setting and in particular to those in a multi-campus college phenomenon. Additionally, the variables in each of the elements were made much more comprehensive in the Dynamics Paradigm and relevant to the dynamics of educational change than those in Pace’s model.

The Dynamics Paradigm was designed to contribute to advancement in understanding change in any educational institution. Its reliance on the contextual data obtained from the history of restructuring many comprehensive high schools in New

South Wales DET schools to establish multi-campus colleges guarantees that its primary purpose was maintained and its relevance to conditions experienced in educational organisations undergoing reform upheld.

As can be seen through a comparison of the elements and the variables in Pace’s model with those in the Dynamics Paradigm, (See Figures 4-1, page 103 and Figure 4-2,

FIGURE 4-2: Dynamics Paradigm for analysing structural-cultural dynamics in reframing an educational organisation

Changes in the Interplay of new Interplay of new Impacts of the new structural- HUMAN AND PHYSICAL structural-cultural structural-cultural cultural dynamics on the INFRASTRUCTURE dynamics in the dynamics in the RESULTS OF HUMAN (ELEMENT 1 ) H U M A N SEARCH FOR ENTERPRISE INTERACTIONS EXCELLENCE (ELEMENT 4 ) (E L E M E N T 2 ) (E L E M E N T 3 )

Outcomes from the new structural- 1.1: Background factors to consider in the decision to Interactions within the Interactions in the cultural dynamics involving: reframe an educational organisation structural-cultural dynamics structural-cultural 4.1 Principals and Leadership involving: dynamics involving: For example: Historical enrolments, retention dynamics (Dynamics criterion 11)

rates, curriculum on offer, subject choice, HSC, SC 2.1 Enrolments, retention 3.1 Resource 4.2: Students’ outcomes dynamics results, school reputation, public image, resources, rates, curriculum breadth, availability and use (Dynamics criterion 12)

protocols subject choice dynamics (Dynamics criterion 7) 4.3 Teachers’ outcomes’ dynamics 1.2: Vision: (Dynamics criteria 1 and 2) (Dynamics criterion 13) For example: Origin of the reframing vision, how it 3.2 Info-Technology. 4.4: Community perceptions, was shared at the establishment phase of the 2.2 Learning and teaching (Dynamics criterion 8) environment dynamics assumptions and beliefs dynamics restructuring. The strategic goals, plans and 3.3 Linkages with (Dynamics criterion 14) mission, organisational leadership and structure (Dynamics criteria 3 and 4) TAFE and University. Stakeholders’ (principal, teachers, parents, public) 4.5 Community involvement in the 2.3 Decision-making and (Dynamics criterion 9) schools’ dynamics (Criterion 15) /officials perception. Minister & Departmental policy school choice given one sex or 4.6 Interviewees’ comparison of new 1.3: Variety of models: co-education dynamics 3.4 Access to extra- with the traditional model’s For example: Investigation of a range of models (Dynamics criteria 5 and 6) curricular activities which could be introduced (Dynamics criterion 10) structural-cultural dynamics. (Dynamics criterion 16)

5.1 Stakeholders’ satisfaction 5.4 Quality assurance of the educational reform 5.7 Sustainability of the reforms 5.2 Vision realisation 5.5 Strategic goals accomplishment 5.8 Community perceptions 5.3 Internal and external appreciation of the new changes 5.6 Recognition of academic and non-academic outcomes 5.9 Community comparisons

THE FEEDBACK (ELEMENT 5 )

109 page 108), the new design introducing the 8 changes outlined above, offers four clear strengths over Pace’s model. Firstly, it enables the study of the dynamics of educational change to investigate historical, background variables critical in the decision to introduce the needed reform, such as the restructuring of selected comprehensive high schools into a multi-campus college. As shown in the Human and Physical

Infrastructure element of the Dynamics Paradigm, (subdivisions 1.1 – 1.3), these variables include data on students’ enrolments and retention rates in the old structure, cohort configurations that have existed in each school prior to the restructuring, whether the school had been a single sex or a co-educational site, the origin of the restructuring vision and how well the vision had been shared.

Secondly, the new Paradigm incorporates in elements 2 – 4, data that specifically targets the details on the structural-cultural dynamics observed in schools undergoing reform. This is a very significant innovation because it creates opportunity for the Dynamics Paradigm to analyse the interplay of the new structural-cultural dynamics within the Human Interactions element (Number 2 in Paradigm, replacing

Pace’s Work Perceptions), the Search for Excellence element (Number 3, replacing

Pace’s Work Dynamism) and an evaluation of the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on educational, academic and non-academic outcomes in the Results of

Human Enterprise element (Number 4, substituting for Pace’s Outcomes element), of the institution implementing change.

Thirdly, the new Paradigm transfers Pace’s natural Work Goals to the Human and Physical Infrastructure (element number 1), where, as will be explained below, they fit more clearly and more appropriately. This change also clarifies the analysis of data.

Fourthly, as discussed in the following subsection, the variables built into the

Dynamics Paradigm are far more diverse than those in Paces’s model and represent deeper meaning specific to structural and cultural dynamics in an educational organisation. This transformation ensures that the variables analysed in the new

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Dynamics Paradigm are relevant to the meaning of change as perceived by participants

within the educational organisation undergoing change.

Thus designed, and no longer based on variables and outcomes in a business

organisation, this study’s Dynamics Paradigm was specifically relevant to the structural

and cultural dynamics in an educational organisation. In this research, it is used to

investigate the multiple realities in the structural-cultural dynamics of change as

reconstructed by interviewees in four multi-campus colleges.

As shown in Dynamics Paradigm 4-2, (See page 108), the five elements of the

new Paradigm are identified in five primary building blocks which replace Pace’s six

elements. Table 4.1 highlights this correlation.

Table 4.1: Correlation of elements of new Dynamics Paradigm to those in Paces’s model

ID New Dynamics Paradigm elements Pace’s model

HUMAN AND PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE WORK 1 Dynamics in this element are investigated in the variables SYSTEM shown in subdivisions 1.1 – 1.3 of the Dynamics Paradigm. and WORK GOALS

HUMAN INTERACTIONS WORK 2 The interplay of new structural-cultural dynamics in this PERCEPTIONS element are analysed in the data on variables shown in subdivisions 2.1 – 2.3 of the Dynamics Paradigm (Page 108).

SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE WORK 3 The interplay of new structural-cultural dynamics in this DYNAMISM

element are analysed in the variables shown in subdivisions 3.1 – 3.4 of the Dynamics Paradigm.

RESULTS OF HUMAN ENTERPRISE 4 WORK The impacts of the new structural-cultural dynamics on this element in the newly reframed educational institution are OUTCOMES analysed in subdivisions 4.1 – 4.6 of the Paradigm.

5 FEEDBACK Feedback dynamics are evaluated in subdivisions FEEDBACK 5.1 to 5.9 of the Dynamics Paradigm.

Note: The 5 colour codes shown in this Table are used to clarify correlation of elements of the Dynamics Paradigm to those in Pace’s model (page 103). These colour codes are maintained throughout the thesis to clarify data mapping for analysis using the Dynamics Paradigm.

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The location of the first four of the five elements of the Dynamics Paradigm in the top part of the Paradigm, makes it possible to generate interactional links from these basic elements of the Paradigm towards the centre of the Paradigm where the key variables or research questions that need to be investigated in each element when implementing educational change are located in the four corresponding rectangles. This adaptation in the design of the Paradigm makes it possible to show how the structural- cultural dynamics postulated in theory on educational change find meaning in the actual research questions raised in the reframing and reculturing of an educational organisation.

Each of the questions investigated in the four elements provides feedback about the structural and cultural dynamics in a reframing, reculturing educational institution.

Accordingly, the Feedback element (5), is located across these four building blocks as shown in the Paradigm in the lower part of Figure 4-2 (page 108). This design makes it possible to construct vertical links which represent iterative interactions between the central building blocks, which contain the focal variables of the Paradigm and the

Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm. The 3 internal, horizontal links in the

Paradigm, as well as the 10 forward and backward vertical links help to reinforce the interactive nature of the structural-cultural dynamics analysed in the different elements of the Paradigm.

This new Dynamics Paradigm represents the key factors relevant to the central research questions regarding the structural-cultural dynamics in educational change in a reframing, reculturing organisation. It represents the different elements in separate blocks even though in the daily operations of an educational organisation there is contiguous interaction and multi-faceted interplay of relationships among these elements. The vertical and horizontal links among the blocks partly address this dynamic but it is not possible in a two dimensional orientation to depict all the structural-cultural dynamics in a changing educational institution. Nevertheless, there is

112 a holistic representation of how the interactions and tensions among these different elements of an educational organisation take place.

The rest of this chapter details the designing of the new Dynamics Paradigm to make it focus specifically on the study of the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi- campus college. It also highlights the significance of the new design. In addition it explains the dynamics criteria built into the Paradigm to make it specific to the contextual contingencies in the data from the four colleges studied and explains why the criteria were included as the core variables in the Dynamics Paradigm.

4.3 Designing the new Dynamics Paradigm to focus on data analysis in this thesis

4.3.1 The Human and Physical Infrastructure (Element 1)

As shown in the Dynamics Paradigm in Figure 4-2, the Human and Physical

Infrastructure (element 1) was used to investigate interviewees’ understanding of the background issues that were critical in the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools in their area into a multi-campus college. As illustrated in block 1 of the

Paradigm (See page 108), these issues targeted the first central research question of the thesis, whose variables are represented in subdivision 1.1 in the Paradigm, and its two subsidiary questions, whose variables are represented in subdivisions 1.2 and 1.3 in the

Paradigm. The general wording of the variables investigated in subdivisions 1.1 – 1.3, makes them applicable to the study of the historical factors critical in the restructuring of any educational institution.

As shown in Table 4.1, this element was based on Pace’s Work System and

Work Goals elements. However, whereas Pace put the worker as the prime focus in the organisation – quite a reasonable expectation in the industrial work place – the

Dynamics Paradigm puts student outcomes as the key focus of the structural and cultural dynamics in an educational setting, such as the multi-campus colleges studied.

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Also analysed within this element, are views of students, teachers, principals, leadership team members, parents, the Minister of Education and those of Departmental officials whose background data informs the analysis in this element.

This design of the Dynamics Paradigm to “put students’ academic and non- academic outcomes first” was arrived at as a result of the literature reviewed in chapter

2 which makes it clear that improving students’ academic and non-academic outcomes is the priority consideration in school reform. Dinham (1995, p. 70) for instance, referred to whether “any proposed change will facilitate or hinder pupil achievement and well being (as) the acid test” for effective school change. (See also Dinham’s 1995 work reviewed on page 47 above). The literature that agreed with students’ outcomes’ priority in school reform asserted that making a difference in students’ lives was the moral purpose of educational change (Fullan, 2000, p.4 and 2003, p.11) and it “is the basic rationale for teaching in post-modern society” (Fullan, 2000, p.8). Silins and

Mulford (2002, p. 431) also say that “the primary goal of educational reform is improved student learning”. Stoll and Fink (2001, p. 124) advise that the criterion in any meaningful school reform ought to be “the paradigm shift in education, from planning based on teacher intentions to planning directed towards pupil outcomes”. This prioritisation in the design of the Dynamics Paradigm is therefore significant because it attributes to the student the primacy of focus he/she rightly deserves in any planned change as suggested by leaders in this field.

Accordingly, in the application of the Dynamics Paradigm to analysis of data in the present thesis, the Human and Physical Infrastructure element was used to analyse, from a historical perspective, data on the structural and cultural dynamics which had been experienced in the comprehensive high schools before they were restructured as found in the secondary data discussed in chapter 3. This data enabled the Dynamics

Paradigm to target (in subdivision 1.1), historical aspects on students’ enrolments and their retention rates. It also targeted curriculum breadth and depth on offer in the senior

114 cohorts in each high school. Additionally, it incorporated data on subject choices available to students as contained in the operational timetable line/blocks in the old, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structures before they were restructured and amalgamated. Also discussed in this element were issues of HSC and School Certificate results of students in a historical perspective, as well as the importance attached to whether the high school was a single sex or co-educational environment.

This inclusion of historical data in the Dynamics Paradigm is important because it incorporates in the analysis of educational change the recognition that each of the educational institutions implementing change, like any other organisation, has a past – a history – of which it is part and from which certain values, beliefs and norms had been cultured. These need to be understood and addressed in the strategies for educational reform to ensure that such valued attributes are recultured in the new changes. This modification emphasises the fact that in considerations of changes to aspects of the

Human and Physical Infrastructure of an educational institution such as a multi-campus college, a kind of SWOT analysis, (See page 102), is needed so that an evaluative assessment of the current situation can be made to provide planning ideas for the reform that may be needed to improve the educational outcomes.

In applying the Dynamics Paradigm to multi-campus college data, the questions investigated in this element enabled the research to gain first hand information from interviewees in the multi-campus colleges about their understanding of the reasons for the reforms that the DET had introduced, resulting into the change to the structure of their years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools into different cohort configurations and to integration of the schools so as to establish the multi-campus college in their area.

Secondly, the data generated by the questions directly put to interviewees, enabled the thesis to compare and to triangulate interviewees’ arguments with the reasons found in the historic, secondary data from the DET and Ministerial sources discussed earlier in chapter 3.

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The second alteration in this element relates to change of its name from ‘Work

System’ in Pace’s model, to ‘Human and Physical Infrastructure’ in the Dynamics

Paradigm. This change, though apparently simple, is a beneficial change for the textuality of analysis because the Dynamics Paradigm then highlights the fact that the

‘Work System’ comprises the Human and Physical elements of the organisation. In applying the Dynamics Paradigm to an analysis of the data in the present thesis, this clarification enabled the Dynamics Paradigm to refer to the entire entity of a multi- campus college as the ‘Work System’ on the understanding that all its human and physical attributes are the focus of analysis.

A third change in element 1 was the inclusion of organisational vision in the education change Paradigm, (See subdivision 1.2 of the Paradigm). When this change was applied in the case study of each multi-campus college site, this element targeted not only issues of leadership and organisational structure but also made it possible for the analysis to investigate interviewees’ understanding of the vision for the new structures, its origin and how it was shared.

Fourthly, and more importantly from the model development perspective, the goals that were set in reconfiguring the new structures were examined in this element,

(See subdivision 1.2). This change was made because it is quite common for schools to integrate their desired goals within their vision and strategic plan. A well developed strategic plan articulates not only the vision of the proposed school change but also how the desired goals will be achieved so as to lead to the realisation of the vision in the long run. Thus, it is common for goals to be linked to vision statements of educational institutions.

In this regard, the Dynamics Paradigm was made quite representative of the multiple realities within a school situation. Besides, the treatment of goals in this element enabled the Dynamics Paradigm to reduce the number of elements to five

116 elements rather than the six that comprise Pace’s model. This also added clarification to the analysis of data on educational change within the Dynamics Paradigm.

Additionally, as part of applying the Dynamics Paradigm to the study of the background factors that were critical in the restructuring of comprehensive high schools, this element (in subdivision 1.1), was also used to analyse observations made during the visits to each of the 4 colleges regarding the organisational, physical and human resource endowment in each of the colleges. Also using this element, data on the changes in organisational structures such as guidelines including intercampus protocols, resource sharing and timetables was analysed. Subdivision 1.2 of this element was used to investigate interviewees’ understanding of how the worker (the principals and teachers) in the comprehensive high schools had been involved in the decision to restructure their high schools. Questions were also asked about leadership and management practices in the old structure.

Furthermore, parents’ views on the historical aspects of their schools were also investigated in this element (subdivision 1.2). The role that was played by the Minister of Education and by DET officials and principals in the different areas where the schools were restructured was also investigated in this element using data from interviews with the Minister, a District Superintendent and principals in each site.

Also, as part of studying the background factors, questions were asked regarding interviewees’ understanding of why a variety of models had been introduced in the different locations rather than one model for all locales. As shown in the Dynamics

Paradigm, that data was analysed in subdivision 1.3.

4.3.2 The Human Interactions (Element 2)

As illustrated in the Dynamics Paradigm in Figure 4-2, Pace’s Work Perceptions element (See Figure 4-1 on page 103), was replaced in the Dynamics Paradigm by the

Human Interactions element (2). Within this element emphasis is placed on

117 organisational members’ understanding of how their Work System is performing, on their perception of opportunities offered to them by the Work System, how fulfilled members feel and their expectations of their working environment. These variables needed to be broadened so that they would target interviewees’ understanding of human interactions involving 6 structural-cultural dynamics derived from the data on restructuring of comprehensive high schools given in chapter 3. The 6 dynamics variables targeted sub-questions 1 – 6 of the second central research question as illustrated in element 2, subdivisions 2.1 – 2.3 in Figure 4-2.

The effect of this modification was to custom-design the Dynamics Paradigm to the question, “What are interviewees’ understandings of how the structural and cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college interplay with selected human interactions in their college?” As can be seen in Figure 4-2, subdivisions 2.1 – 2.3, the dynamics criteria for the 6 selected human interactions raised from the research data were, as shown in subdivision 2.1, enrolments and retention rates (1), curriculum breadth and subject choice (2); in subdivision 2.2, learning environment (3) and teaching environment (4), and in subdivision 2.3, participation in decision-making (5), and significance of whether the high school site was a single sex or a co-educational campus in students’ choice of campus at which to study (6).

The data gathered on these 6 dynamics from the four colleges was categorised into three themes for a comprehensive analysis. Accordingly, as illustrated in the

Paradigm in subdivision 2.1, the first thematic questions investigated structural-cultural dynamics criteria on the impact of the new structural and cultural dynamics on students’ enrolments, retention rates, curriculum breadth and subject choice (i.e. dynamics criteria

1 and 2). The second thematic questions, incorporated in subdivision 2.2, investigated people’s understanding of the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on the learning and teaching environment in the college (i.e. dynamics criteria 3 and 4). The third theme, represented in subdivision 2.3, investigated interviewees’ understanding of

118 the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their participation in decision- making at their college, and on students’ views about the significance of gender definition in a given campus to their choice of campus where to study (i.e. dynamics criteria 5 and 6).

4.3.3 The Search for Excellence (Element 3)

Two new changes were performed on this element to enhance the analytical capacity of the Dynamics Paradigm when applied to change in an educational setting.

Firstly, Pace’s Dynamism element was re-named the “Search for Excellence” (element number 3) of the Dynamics Paradigm. Secondly, as shown in subdivisions 3.1 – 3.4 in the Paradigm (See page 108), four multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics criteria were introduced into the Paradigm. These two innovations were undertaken to serve two purposes. The first, served to champion the ‘Search for Excellence’ as the driving force for dynamism in educational change seeking to excel in making a positive difference to the lives of students regardless of their background (Fullan, 2000, p.4).

The second one was used to further fit the Dynamics Paradigm to the dynamics (criteria

7 – 10) found in the data from the four multi-campus colleges as the prime variables in this element of the Dynamics Paradigm.

Thus designed, this element was well suited to an examination of new ways of doing things in a school as well as teamwork within an educational organisation. Thus, in the present thesis, as illustrated in subdivisions 3.1 – 3.4 of element 3 in the

Dynamics Paradigm, this element was used to investigate, in subdivision 3.1, interviewees’ understanding of the impact of new structural-cultural dynamics on resource availability and utilisation (i.e. dynamics criterion 7) in their educational organisation, access to information technology and modern equipment in subdivision

3.2, (dynamics criterion 8), linkages within each schools’ cluster and couplings with

TAFE, University and vocational education and training (dynamics criterion 9) in

119 subdivision 3.3, as well as interviewees’ participation in extra-curricular activities

(dynamics criterion 10) in subdivision 3.4 in Figure 4-2.

In the application of the Dynamics Paradigm in this thesis, collaboration and teamwork, which are key aspects of vitality in implementing change in an educational organisation, were examined by an analysis of data on questions regarding the multi- campus college’s internal linkages as well as its external couplings with TAFE,

University and vocational education and training institutions. The drive to do more and voluntary willingness to participate in organisational life were also analysed in the

Search for Excellence element using interview data on interviewees’ participation in extra-curricular activities.

4.3.4 The Results of Human Enterprise (Element 4)

As shown in Figure 4-1 ( page 103 and discussed earlier in chapter 2; see section

2.3.5 on page 52), Pace’s Outcomes elements are defined in terms of organisational productivity and improvements in the quality of goods and services resulting from innovations which lead to profit maximisation (Pace, 2002, p.5). This emphasis by Pace, of maximisation of physical productivity of organisational resources for profit maximisation, clearly demarcates the primary focus of the cognitive lens provided by this thesis’ new Paradigm from that of Pace’s model. Whereas the old model seeks to excel in maximising outcomes in dollar terms, the new Paradigm seeks for excellence in an educational human enterprise by making non-monetary, positive differences measured in academic and non-academic outcomes for the members of an educational institution.

This focal point of the new cognitive lens (the Dynamics Paradigm), is supported by strong evidence in the literature reviewed in chapter 2 (including Dinham,

1995; Fullan, 2000; Mulford, Silins and Leithwood, 2004), that educational change should be driven by the goal of improving students’ outcomes. This innovation in the

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Dynamics Paradigm is therefore educationally significant and appropriately named the

“Results of Human Enterprise” (element 4) in the Dynamics Paradigm.

In applying the Dynamics Paradigm to the analysis of data in this thesis, the

Dynamics Paradigm incorporated outcomes’ data on the variables from the multi- campus college scenarios studied into element 4. This enabled the thesis to really focus this layer of the new cognitive lens on both the academic and non-academic outcomes interviewees acknowledged and reported as realised in their educational Human

Enterprise.

Accordingly, as shown in subdivisions 4.1 – 4.6 of the Dynamics Paradigm (See

Figure 4-2, page 108), data on interviewees’ responses to the last 6 of the 16 dynamics questions (See criteria 11 - 16 in section 3.6.2 of chapter 3), was analysed in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm.

As illustrated in the top section of element 4, that data related to the realised outcomes as understood by interviewees within the multi-campus colleges. In subdivision 4.1, the analysis targeted interviewees’ understanding of the impact of the structural and cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college on principals’ roles and leadership dynamics (dynamics criterion 11). In subdivision 4.2, students’ outcomes dynamics (12) were investigated. In subdivision 4.3, teachers’ outcomes dynamics (13) were studied. Subdivision 4.4 examined community perceptions, assumptions and beliefs (14) about their new college. Interviewees’ views about multi-campus college community’s involvement (15) were studied in subdivision 4.5 and interviewees’ comparisons of the new structural dynamics with the traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structure (16) were analysed in subdivision 4.6. The number in the above parentheses refers to the identifying dynamics criterion as obtained from the multi-campus college restructuring data defined and discussed in chapter 3 (See section 3.6.2).

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Using these criteria the thesis applied the Results of Human Enterprise element to target interviewees’ understanding of aspects of their school as a place of work, improved productivity and quality as well as sharing and cooperation from an educational perspective. Thus the educational change Dynamics Paradigm enabled the thesis to investigate principals’ and teachers’ interpretation of whether the structural- cultural dynamics in their college made it a better place in which to work when compared to the old comprehensive high school, and students’ views as to whether the reframed, integrated college was a better place for them to study in.

Accordingly, as illustrated in element 4, data on principals’ and teachers’ views about outcomes in the dynamics in the new colleges was analysed in this element. So was the interview data on middle school students’ academic outcomes as measured by literacy tests (ELLA), numeracy tests (SNAP) and the School Certificate results. In the senior cohorts, students’ outcomes as indicated by HSC results were used to gain an understanding of the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their academic outcomes.

This element was also used to analyse data on improvements in students’ non- academic outcomes in their structural-cultural dynamics as represented, for instance, by students’ understanding of their empowerment and involvement in student governance.

Data on students’ understanding of self-concept and personal identity as well as their participation in decisions such as designing their school uniform was also analysed in the Results of Human Enterprise element. Data on changes in students’ attitudes was also analysed in this part of the Dynamics Paradigm.

Additionally, this element was used to analyse data that was particular to teachers’ outcomes. The data relating to their understanding of the impact of the new model on their career paths, professional development and opportunity for promotion was analysed in this element. Also analysed in this element was the data from interviewees about community perceptions about the structural-cultural dynamics of

122 their new model and in particular how parents compared the new model with the old years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school model.

4.3.5 The Feedback (Element 5)

The Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm is designed to be used to investigate whether the activities in the structural and cultural dynamics within an educational organisation in which change has occurred are on target in terms of meeting the educational outcomes for which the educational institution was reframed, established and recultured.

As illustrated in subdivisions 5.1 – 5.9 in the Dynamics Paradigm (See page

108), this element enables evaluation of an educational organisation in terms of stakeholders’ satisfaction (5.1 in Figure 4-2), educational vision realisation (5.2), internal and external appreciation of the new changes by internal and external stakeholders of the educational institution involved (5.3), quality assurance provided by the educational change (5.4), accomplishment of long-term educational goals by the educational institution (5.5), educational community recognition of academic and non- academic outcomes (5.6), sustainability of the reforms introduced by the educational change (5.7) community views of the perceived impact of the new educational changes on the image of public education in the locality and State in which the changes are introduced (5.8), and community perceptions of how the new model compares with the orthodox comprehensive high school model (5.9).

In the application of the Dynamics Paradigm to the analysis of data from the four colleges studied, the Feedback element was used to shed light on the overall (big picture) dynamics discovered about the meaning of educational change from comprehensive high schools to an integrated multi-campus college as perceived by interviewees. The analysis highlighted interviewees’ views regarding their satisfaction with the new structural-cultural dynamics of the colleges, the gains in students’

123 outcomes, leadership dynamics, gains and losses in teachers’ outcomes and gains for the locality where the colleges are situated as well as the gains for public education in New

South Wales.

Interviewees’ understanding as to whether the restructuring of their comprehensive high schools had led to the realisation of the vision and strategic goals presented to them at the restructuring phase was analysed. Interviewees’ appreciation of the critical factors that influenced the decision to restructure their comprehensive high schools was examined. Findings on interviewees’ recognition of the achievements of the multi-campus college model and what was or was not working within the new structural-cultural dynamics regarding academic and non-academic outcomes was analysed in this element. The study’s findings on interviewees’ understandings on the sustainability of the educational reforms which established the multi-campus colleges and their consideration of the significance of the imposition of the moratorium on further establishment of the colleges was also analysed in the Feedback element.

As illustrated in its application to the data from the four multi-campus colleges studied, the Feedback element of the new Dynamics Paradigm creates an opportunity for research to evaluate the performance of an educational organisation following its reframing and reculturing to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of that change.

Such “feedback” is considered useful because, as Silins and Mulford (2002, p. 429) say, it “supports active inquiry”.

4.4 Synthesis of mapping the Dynamics Paradigm to chapters 6 to 10 of the thesis

As stated in the introduction to this chapter, the Dynamics Paradigm was designed mainly so serve two purposes. The first was to provide a cognitive map which makes an incremental contribution to the study of the dynamics of change in an educational setting generally. The second was to provide a cognitive lens which would assist to focus the analysis of data from the multi-campus colleges and thereby extend

124 our understanding of the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in the colleges studied. This section synthesises how the Dynamics Paradigm was tested using data from four case studies as mapped in Figure 4-3.

Whereas the Dynamics Paradigm can be used to study the interplay of structural and cultural dynamics among core variables in the five elements of any educational organisation, it was used in this thesis to study the dynamics of educational change involving the interplay of contextual, background factors as well as the 16 structural and cultural dynamics which are the prime variables within a multi-campus college as defined in chapter 3, (See section 3.6.2). Figure 4-3 helps to crystallise the structural and cultural dynamics variables of the multi-campus colleges which were investigated in each of the five elements of the Dynamics Paradigm.

In Figure 4-3, the columns are numbered 1 to 4 in the bottom row to facilitate allocation of and reference to data in each of the elements of the Dynamics Paradigm.

Column 1 illustrates the 5 elements. Column 2, element 1, shows the background factors which were investigated to gain an understanding of the critical factors which influenced the decision to restructure and integrate comprehensive high schools. This column (2) also shows how the 16 structural-cultural dynamics variables were allocated to each of elements 2, 3 and 4 in the Dynamics Paradigm. Column 3, not simply identifies the 16 dynamics variables numerically, but more importantly, enables the correlation of these dynamics variables to the 40 questions in the research instruments as shown in the quantitative questionnaires in Appendix 5.3-2 and 5.3-3 as well as in the interview guides in Appendix 5.3-4. This point is discussed more fully in the methodology chapter 5. Column 4, illustrates the different thesis chapters in which data in the different elements of the Paradigm was analysed. The colour-coding is also used to visually clarify the allocation of variables to the different elements of the Dynamics

Paradigm.

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Figure 4-3: Mapping of the Dynamics Paradigm to data in thesis chapters 6 - 10

Dynamics Variables targeted by thesis questions or the background Paradigm and structural-cultural dynamics criteria

Element

Thesis Chapter No Dynamics Reference

The student The teacher The The principal, deputy, leadership team Human The campus, the college site and Parents Physical DET officials and policies Infrastructure Minister of Education Other community members 6 ( Element 1 ) Organisational structure Leadership structure Old enrolments and retention rates Cohort configurations Background factors One sex or co-education in campus Guidelines and protocols; documents and artifacts Vision origin and sharing; goals and mission Environment: internal and external; resources, image Interviewees’ understanding of new model’s structural-cultural interplay involving: Enrolments, retention rates, 1 Human Curriculum breadth, subject choice. 2 Interactions Learning environment 3 Teaching environment ( Element 2 ) 4 Decision-making 5 One sex or co-educational campus 6 7 Search Resource availability and utilisation 7 For Access to information technology and to Excellence Modern equipment 8

( Element 3 ) Links with TAFE and University 9 Extra-curricular activities 10 Principals’ outcomes and Results Leadership dynamics 11 Of ELLA, SNAP, SC, HSC results Human Student governance, attitudes 12 Enterprise Other students’ outcomes 8 Teachers’ outcomes 13 ( Element 4 ) Community perceptions, assumptions and beliefs 14 Community involvement 15 Comparisons of the new model with the old model 16 Multi-campus college stakeholders’ satisfaction The Multi-campus college vision realisation Feedback Multi-campus college internal and external stakeholders appreciation 9 Quality assurance of multi-campus college educational change and (Element 5 ) Multi-campus college strategic goals realisation 10 Multi-campus college recognition of academic & non-ac. outcomes Sustainability of multi-campus college reforms Community perceptions and comparisons of model for education 1 2 3 4 Columns are numbered 1 to 4 in the above row for quick reference

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Like “every map is bounded” (Bolman and Deal, 2003, p. 12), so were the variables shown in column 2 of Figure 4-3 used to set the analytical boundary for the

Dynamics Paradigm data. Any data on the interplay of variables within this boundary was seen as helping to deepen the knowledge on the meaning that interviewees make of how their historical factors and the changes in the structures of their schools impact on how, why and on what they do – the cultural dynamics – and was included in the analysis. In the application of this Dynamics Paradigm to other contextual educational settings, the versatility of the Paradigm allows the inclusion of additional historical as well as structural-cultural variables in the five basic elements of the Dynamics Paradigm shown in column 1.

In view of the assertions made earlier that structure and culture are very closely entwined (e.g. Pace, 2002; Fullan, 2004; and Stanford, 2005), the background factors shown in column 2 element 1, as well as the dynamics variables shown in column 2, elements 2 – 4, whose interplay and impacts are analysed in the Dynamics Paradigm, fall into three interrelated categories. These categories, in accordance with the definitions of multi-campus college ‘structural dynamics’ and ‘cultural dynamics’ presented in the introduction to this thesis in sections 1.4.3 and 1.4.4 (See pages 12 and

13) in chapter 1, are characterised as ‘structural dynamics’, ‘cultural dynamics’ or

‘structural-cultural’ dynamics in the data analysis.

4.5 Conclusion

The Dynamics Paradigm offers a powerful cognitive lens to investigate profoundly, into the meaning of the dynamics of change in an educational setting.

Informed by the literature reviewed in chapter 2 and by the historical background data identified in chapter 3, the inclusion of both structural and cultural dynamics in the

Dynamics Paradigm empowers this cognitive lens to investigate deeply into the interplay of the structural and cultural dynamics in an educational institution.

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The variables within its 5 elements encompass a wide array of layers of structural-cultural dynamics variables which need to be investigated in an attempt to extend an understanding of the meaning that people in an educational institution undergoing change make of the dynamics of their contextual phenomenon. Thus, the model has the potential to benefit research into the dynamics of change in a wide variety of educational organisations.

In the application of this Dynamics Paradigm to specific contextual settings in educational change involving the establishment of multi-campus colleges, the incorporation of the wide range of variables within the 5 elements of the Dynamics

Paradigm enabled the thesis to focus its analysis on the disintegration of the traditional, isolative, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structural dynamics and their replacement by reconfiguration of the cohorts in those schools and integration of different campuses into one college cluster of schools.

The inclusion of both historical, background variables and the 16 dynamics criteria variables operationalises the Dynamics Paradigm to investigate how the hierarchical autonomy of the old comprehensive high school model had been replaced by laterally and vertically coordinated collegial coalitions of campuses that are loosely or tightly coupled for mutual interdependence in the delivery of secondary schooling in the new structural-cultural dynamics.

Thus designed, the Dynamics Paradigm creates the opportunity for this thesis, not only to examine the relationships among the background, historic factors and the 16 structural-cultural dynamics variables of the 5 elements using real life data, obtained from the four multi-campus colleges case studied for this thesis, thereby shedding new light on an understanding of the multiple realities in a multi-campus college as reconstructed by students, teachers, principals and parents in a multi-campus college learning community, but also offers a powerful cognitive lens for extending our

128 understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in any given educational change situation.

As mapped in Figure 4-3, the results of the analysis discussed in chapters 6 – 10 using this Paradigm reveal that the Dynamics Paradigm allows a comprehensive analysis of a wide range of the structural and cultural dynamics in an educational setting such as a multi-campus college. In particular, the design of the Dynamics Paradigm based on secondary data from chapter 3 on the restructuring of comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges, reflecting the background factors and on primary data on the 16 structural-cultural dynamics carefully delineated above, moves the new

Dynamics Paradigm for educational change from the realm of theory to one of customised, naturalistic empiricism. Before proceeding to apply the Dynamics

Paradigm to the data analysis and conclusions presented in chapters 6 – 10 of this thesis, the research design and methodological aspects of this study are discussed in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER 5

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY OF THESIS

5.1 Introduction

The review of literature on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in organisations presented in chapter 2, and the data on the restructuring of some high schools to establish multi-campus colleges in New South Wales (discussed in chapter 3), suggested that an increased understanding of the relationship between the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college would benefit from an investigation of the human interactions and interrelationships within such a college depicted in the Dynamics Paradigm designed and discussed in the previous chapter.

Distinguished educational researchers such as Lincoln and Guba (1985), Merriam

(1988; 2001), Denzin and Lincoln (1998a-c, 2000), Schwandt (1997) as well as Scott and Usher (1996 and 2004) recommend that a research methodology that is best suited to the study of subjects in their natural surroundings, is case study inquiry. Accordingly this research was designed as a comparative case study as detailed in this chapter. The chapter is presented as follows:

Firstly, the preparatory phase of the research including ethical issues and gaining access into the four multi-campus colleges studied is briefly outlined. Secondly, the reasons why case study research which used both qualitative and quantitative research instruments was the appropriate methodology are given. Thirdly, the epistemology and ontology of this methodology and its related “trustworthiness criteria of validity, reliability and objectivity” (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p. 290) are discussed. Fourthly, the sample design and the data collection process as well as the instruments and analytical tools used in this research are described. Finally, the assumptions and limitations of the study are discussed.

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5.2 Research preparation, ethics and protocols

5.2.1 Preparation for this research

The research proposal for this project went through four stages that were necessary for its approval. Firstly, permission was sought and gained from both the

School of Education and Early Childhood Studies (SEECS) and the Human Research

Ethics Committee (HREC) of the University of Western Sydney. Secondly, the project sought and gained approval by the New South Wales DET, Strategic Research Division.

Thirdly, permission was sought and obtained from each principal of the multi-campus colleges studied. Finally, consent was sought and gained from each individual who was invited to participate in the study. That included principals, teachers, parents and students. The letters written in respect of the above are given in Appendix 5-2. The following subsection summarises the ethical considerations for the research and the steps that were taken to gain access into each research site.

5.2.2 Ethical considerations

Following faculty approval, the research proposal was forwarded to the Human

Research Ethics Committee of the UWS and then to the DET, Strategic Research

Division for their clearance and approval. Both these authorities approved the research because it fully met the specific ethical and legal criteria as contained in the ethics protocols of the University (UWS, 2001), in the DET (SERAP, 2001) and in the

Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health (CDHSH, 1995). These included minimisation of harm, or risk of harm, from research procedures, integrity, and respect for persons, beneficence, justice, informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, data security and legal criteria.

For instance, throughout the data gathering process the procedures followed and the data gathered were open to scrutiny because interviewees witnessed the recording or the note-taking of what they said. The micro-tape recorder used to record the interviews

131 was not hidden but quite overt, in open view to the interviewees. These processes were openly carried out and had the prior, explicit consent of the interviewees. The transcripts when typed were sent to the colleges for respondent validation as suggested by Merriam (2001, p. 204) before the data was used in the final analysis. All fieldwork was fully documented in the field-notebook for the project.

Interviewees were given assurance that all the information gathered would remain confidential and was to be used only for this project. Guarantee was given that their names would not be revealed. Furthermore, to ensure that no one else other than the researcher had access to the data, throughout the data collection process and analysis, it was securely locked in a safe cabinet. Anonymity of interviewees, their colleges and campuses was further assured through the use of pseudonyms and codenames as shown in section 5.5.1. As the data was coded and analysed, extra care was taken to protect individual sources.

Thus the research was designed and conducted in full compliance with the criteria prescribed in the protocols of the Human Research Ethics Committee of UWS and of the New South Wales DET Strategic Research Directorate (SERAP, 2001).

However, in granting their approval, the DET Strategic Research Division made it clear that it did not constitute permission for the conduct of the research in any of the schools of interest. That had to be sought personally as explained in the next subsection.

5.2.3 Strategies employed to gain entry into each multi-campus college studied

Negotiations to gain access to the multi-campus colleges were very carefully designed and conducted. Because of the sensitive nature of the research, which was focusing on peoples’ behaviour in each college studied, the way people were initially contacted and communicated with throughout the data collection and analysis was crucial to this study’s success.

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First, each of the schools of interest was contacted by telephone to get the name of the current college principal (where applicable) and campus principals to make sure that the letters seeking access were addressed correctly by title and name. Second, the

Chair of the supervisory panel for this thesis wrote a letter on behalf of the researcher to the principals to seek their permission for the researcher to be allowed access to each college targeted. That letter was countersigned by the researcher and is shown in

Appendix 5.2-1.

Additionally, the research proposal was discussed with the Local Member in

State Parliament (the Hon. John Aquilina), who at the time of the study was the Hon.

Speaker in New South Wales Parliament. Previously he had been the Minister of

Education and a strong proponent of the restructuring that established the multi-campus colleges. (The restructuring took place during his jurisdiction). Structural and cultural dynamics of the multi-campus colleges were an area in which the Minister was himself obviously interested. Very kindly, the Hon. Speaker offered, not only to talk to the principals about the research, but also to write letters of introduction to each one of the principals in the schools of interest to this study. This interaction provided a kind of

“informal sponsorship” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, p. 60) which had a catalytic effect on gaining access to all the campuses targeted. Furthermore, the Hon. Speaker agreed to be interviewed for this research. Moreover, he provided additional documentation regarding the establishment of multi-campus colleges and some information on outcomes which had just been made available to him outside of general circulation. So this was a most effective strategy to gain access into the different multi- campus colleges and to more illuminating data that was not in public domains.

After access to each site had been secured from the principal, caution was exercised on actual entry into each campus to avoid any possible infringements with the

‘gatekeepers’ and not to disrupt interviewees’ daily routines without prior arrangement.

Accordingly, interview schedules were drawn up and followed strictly. While in each

133 site, sensitivity was exercised and at the beginning of each interview the “purely scientific interest” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, p. 67) in the dynamics of the college was made very clear and anonymity re-assured. The aim was to give each interviewee a clear purpose of the research and to build a trusting relationship and rapport so that he/she would be encouraged to volunteer data that was reliable and thus strengthen the validity of the data (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998b, pp. 39 – 40).

5.3 Suitability of case study methodology using both qualitative and quantitative research instruments

In an explanation of what a case study in social research methodology is and what it involves Hammersley (1992, p. 183) says that “case study involves the investigation of a relatively small number of naturally occurring (rather than researcher- created) cases”. Likewise, Merriam (1988, pp. 6 – 7) defines:

Case studies as forms of descriptive, non-experimental research, undertaken when description and explanation are sought, when it is not possible or feasible to manipulate the potential causes of behaviour, and when variables are not easily identified or are too embedded in the phenomenon to be extracted for study, and the aim is to examine contemporary events or phenomena when the relevant behaviours cannot be manipulated.

Guided by these definitions the present thesis carefully considered the objectives of the study, the structural and cultural dynamics modelled in the Dynamics Paradigm above, accessibility (in view of the fact that a total of 37 campuses are now in multi- campus college structures), the benefits and trade-offs of this methodology, (See

Hammersley, 1992, pp. 184 – 196), as well as the time and financial resources available for this project, and accordingly selected case study methodology for this research.

Apart from this overview, a detailed discussion of the reasons why case study research was the appropriate methodology for this thesis is given in the following subsection.

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5.3.1 Reasons why case study methodology was chosen for this thesis

Firstly, the details represented in the different elements of the Dynamics

Paradigm discussed in the above chapter (See column 1 and 2 in Figure 4-3, page 125) indicated that in each multi-campus college a wide range of variables would have to be investigated. This called for selection of a few cases rather than a large survey of all the colleges in the State, not only to keep the research to a manageable size but more importantly, to gain sufficient detail on each college studied so as to be able to conduct a comparative case study and provide a “rich, thick description” (Lincoln and Guba,

1985, p. 41 and Merriam, 2001, p. 29) of the structural and cultural dynamics among the interviewees in the multi-campus colleges phenomena studied.

Secondly, as discussed in chapter 3, the data on the restructuring of high schools to establish multi-campus colleges and on the structures that emerged (See Table 3.5.2 on page 86), suggested clearly that the macro and micro-contexts of each multi-campus college were unique. As Vinson (2002, p. 11) put it, “multi-campus colleges are not organised in identical ways”. Insights gained from such data led to the decision to study each multi-campus college as a unit in its own right.

Thirdly, preliminary data gathered in phase one of the research from the

Minister who had been responsible for the introduction of multi-campus colleges in

New South Wales emphasised that “each college evolved differently and in response to local circumstances and needs which were unique” (Aquilina, 2004). This led to the belief that the best way to gain an understanding of the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college phenomenon was to conduct an in- depth investigation in a few selected multi-campus college sites, taking each as a ‘case’ thus employing case study methodology.

Fourthly, in opting for case study methodology this research also drew support from Sturman (1997, p.61) who suggests that “the best methodology to understand a case and to explain why things happen as they do is the case study methodology”.

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Fifthly, the use of case study methodology enabled the adoption of a non- experimental, naturalistic approach which involved the study of principals, staff and students in their natural surroundings as much as this was possible. In this regard, the methodology had the support of Lincoln and Guba (1985, pp. 41 – 42) who propose that:

Case study is the preferred methodology in a naturalist inquiry because it is more adaptable to description of the multiple realities encountered at any given site; because it is adaptable to demonstrating the investigator’s interaction with the site and consequent biases that may result (reflexivity); because it provides the basis for both individual naturalistic generalisations and transferability to other sites (thick description); because it is suited to a demonstration of mutually shaping influences present; and because it can picture the value positions of investigator, substantive theory and methodological paradigm, and local contextual values.

Additionally, in conducting investigations in each multi-campus college as a

‘case study’, the present research sought to benefit from the following five, well founded strengths and opportunities offered by case study methodology which Lincoln and Guba (1985, pp. 359 -360) put in the following way:

(1) The case study provides a grounded assessment of context. It represents an unparalleled means for communicating contextual information that is grounded in the particular setting that was studied.

(2) The case study provides the “thick description” so necessary for judgements of transferability.

(3) The case study is an effective vehicle for demonstrating the interplay between inquirer and respondents.

(4) The case study builds on the researcher’s tacit knowledge, presenting a holistic and lifelike description that is like those that the readers of the case study report normally encounter in their experiencing the world, rather than being mere symbolic abstractions of such. Readers (of a case study report) thus receive a measure of vicarious experience.

(5) The case study is the primary vehicle for and is best suited to emic inquiry. That is that, the naturalistic inquirer tends toward a reconstruction of the respondents’ constructions (emic) while positivistic inquirers tend toward a construction that they bring to the inquiry a priori (etic).

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Thus, although with regard to point 2 in the above list the present research did not spend as much time as an ethnographic researcher would to improve on access to data that would be typical of “thick description”, the position was taken that one practical way to gain knowledge about a multi-campus college situation, “grounded in the particular setting that was studied” (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p. 360), was to frame a

‘case’ of it and study the ‘case’ as a process. This decision was in full agreement with

Schwandt (1997), and sought to capitalise on the strengths and opportunities offered by case study research. In this regard the methodology chosen for this thesis was also in concert with Denzin and Lincoln (2000) who say that a naturalistic methodology that examines a situational process well is the case study methodology. To take full advantage of case study methodology, although most of the data was collected using qualitative instruments as discussed in section 5.3.2.2, one short questionnaire for teachers and another for students were used. The reasons why this twin instrumentation was utilised are discussed in the next subsection.

5.3.2 Rationale for and the use of both qualitative and quantitative instruments

5.3.2.1 Rationale for the twin instrumentation approach

As stated above, the collection of data in each multi-campus college used both qualitative and quantitative research instruments and so this strategy deserves some explanation. The complementary nature of both these types of instruments was discussed earlier in section 1.1 (See page 3 and 4) with a clear picture emerging from that discussion that the use of both these instruments in a case study is appropriate for examination of social phenomena such as the interactions among interviewees in a multi-campus college. This section strengthens that position with additional literature.

Such literature includes Scott and Usher (2004, p.90) who recommend:

that we should move beyond the duality inherent in the distinction between quantitative and qualitative instruments and adopt an approach whereby the use of quantitative data and forms of measurement should be encouraged in order to compliment the central core of qualitative analysis.

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Lincoln and Guba (1985, p. 198), who also say that “indeed there are many opportunities for the naturalistic investigator to utilise both quantitative and qualitative data”, are another supportive example. Guba (1987, p.31) explicitly stated that “one can use both quantitative and qualitative techniques in combination”. Merriam (1988, p. 68) says that “quantitative data from surveys or other instruments can be used to support findings from qualitative data”. Denzin and Lincoln (2000, pp. 443-443) recommend the use of:

both qualitative and quantitative procedures as a means of triangulation to clarify meaning and to verify observations and interpretation, and to identify different ways the phenomenon is being seen.

Similarly, Merriam (2001, p. 204) says that both these types of research instruments can be used “to confirm the emerging findings” in a research. Thus, the decision to use both these types of research instruments was based on the consensus in the literature that qualitative and quantitative research instruments can be used in combination to effectively conduct a case study inquiry.

The use of qualitative research instruments was appropriate in this case study because the key concern of the thesis was an understanding of the multi-campus college phenomenon studied from the insider’s (the emic) perspective rather than the outsider’s

(the etic) point of view. Qualitative research instruments were therefore appropriate, because, as Merriam (2001, pp.6 – 7) says, the focus when using qualitative research instruments is the participants’ perspectives and not the researcher’s. Similarly, as

Denzin and Lincoln (1998b) note, unlike positivistic orientations the emphasis in a study that uses qualitative research instruments, is on discovery, insight and interpretation. Therefore, the use of qualitative research instruments in this study demonstrated, in the words of Denzin and Lincoln (2000, p. xvi), “the avowed humanistic commitment to study the social world from the perspectives of the

138 interacting individuals” namely principals, teachers, students and parents in a multi- campus college.

Moreover, given the paucity of data on structural and cultural dynamics in multi- campus colleges as discussed in chapter 1 and 3, this study was exploratory in nature and interpretivist in approach. As Miles and Huberman (1994, p.35) pointed out, the interpretivist approach recognises that in an exploratory, descriptive study the dynamics of a social setting are largely unknown and is therefore well suited to examining such situations. Additionally, the interpretivist approach was well suited to the present research because, in a situation of understanding phenomena, as was indeed the case in each multi-campus college case studied for this thesis, “highly inductive, loosely designed studies (such as the multiple case studies based on open-ended interviews for this thesis), make good sense” (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p.17).

However, apart from the wide range of qualitative research instruments discussed and illustrated in the next subsection, this case study also used two questionnaires to gather a lot of data on general aspects of the structural and cultural dynamics in the colleges in preparation for the in-depth qualitative data collection which, as detailed below, was done using interview techniques, perusal of documents and observation.

5.3.2.2 The qualitative and quantitative research instruments used

Figure 5.3.2 illustrates the variety of research instruments used in the case study of each multi-campus college. It also shows the phase of the case study during which the instruments were used. This section briefly explains the use of those instruments in the data gathering process.

The two structured questionnaires that were used comprised one for teachers and the other for students. Both questionnaires are given in Appendices 5.3-1 and 5.3-2

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Figure 5.3-2: The variety of research instruments used in the case study

Research Phase Qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments and Methodological and Methodology techniques used, when and how used orientation used

‹ Dialogue with elite personnel in the DET and Ministry of ° Qualitative Education, New South Wales Government

Phase One ‹ Open-ended interviews with college principals and their ° Qualitative deputies. ‹ Structured questionnaires pilot tested with six teachers in a ° Quantitative Preliminary multi-campus college investigations ‹ Examination of documents and historical records from the ° Qualitative and pilot survey DET and the colleges

‹ Open-ended interviews or re-interviewing the principals ° Qualitative and their deputies to question, clarify emerging perceptions Phase Two about the multi-campus college model. ‹ ° Focus group discussions with staff teams, P & C Qualitative representatives and students’ representatives. The main Case ‹ Structured questionnaires for invited staff and students to ° Quantitative Study target key issues of the multi-campus college model. of the selected ‹ Open-ended interviews with volunteering staff, students Colleges, and parents. ° Qualitative conducted over ‹ Examination of school documents, historical records, ten weeks, artefacts and empirical materials supplied. ° Qualitative embedded in the ‹ Personal observations of school environment, infrastructure Colleges and simply listening when people talked. ° Qualitative surveyed between ‹ Theoretical sampling and further open-ended interviews to fill in any gaps evident in data from Phase One on matters ° Qualitative April and August emerging on the relationship between the structural and 2004 cultural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges surveyed.

Phase Three ‹ Checking with people in the colleges whether the ° Qualitative interpretations of data collected were to the best of their The Inductive knowledge truthful and valid. ‹ ° Phase. Build raw data base, collate, summarise, encode from Qualitative interview transcripts, field notes and documents. Themes, coding ‹ Build and describe emerging abstractions, insights, ° Qualitative and detailed hunches, hypotheses about the colleges. analysis and ‹ Analyse structured questionnaire data ° Quantitative interpretation of ‹ Develop concepts about the relationship between the survey data structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college ° Qualitative using model. Computer ‹ Develop images of the meaning of life in the colleges Assisted studied. ° Qualitative

Qualitative Data ‹ Develop an intuitive understanding of case study of each ° Analysis System college surveyed. Qualitative ‹ Develop a model or theory to explain the studied (NVivo) relationships between structural and cultural dynamics of ° Qualitative the multi-campus college model.

140 respectively. Each of the questionnaires was purposely designed to ask teachers and students 40 questions on their understanding of the relationship between the multi- campus college structure of their college and the cultural dynamics in it. The 40 questions targeted the background factors and the 16 structural and cultural dynamics sub-questions or dynamics criteria outlined earlier (See section 3.6.2, page 93).

Although only 16 cultural dynamics were targeted, the questionnaires contained 40 questions because each dynamics criterion was targeted by more than one question.

Appendix 5.3-3 shows the correlation between the 16 dynamics criteria and the 40 questions in each of the questionnaires.

The qualitative data was personally gathered through open-ended interviews, documents and observation as illustrated in Figure 5.3-2. Even though the interviews were open-ended, a short list of questions (See Interview Guides in Appendix 5.3-4), was written down to start the dialogue and to help focus the discussion on the central research questions as recommended by Miles and Huberman (1994). The guiding questions were purposely designed to target the background factors and the 16 structural and cultural dynamics of the study. This helped to ensure that the core issues about the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in the colleges were not overlooked. In total, seven lists were drawn comprising one for the Minister, the district superintendent, college principals or their deputies, campus principals or their assistants, head teachers or teachers, students’ group or the SRC, and a parents’ group or P & C.

In each interview, a general funnelling technique was followed such that the questions started with the rather general questions, such as, “Tell me about the vision of this college”, to more specific questions which focused on personal feelings and considerations about the new model such as: “How do you find the new structure’s impact on your work as a principal?” This interview technique helped to establish sensitivity in the interview process and assisted in enhancing rapport and authentic communication (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998b, p.39) with the interviewees.

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The interviews varied in duration, with many of them lasting much longer than scheduled because of the interviewees’ obvious interest and enthusiasm to keep on volunteering additional information. The appreciation of the research was evidenced among all participating principals by comments such as “your research has helped us to focus attention to things we wouldn’t have”. This comment appeared to be valid because it was repeated by principals and some teachers across the four colleges. There was no need to ask many questions because the interviewees were very forthcoming with information once the dialogue was started.

Apart from one principal who had been appointed to one of the colleges in its second year, all the principals had been in the participating high schools at the time of the restructuring. They therefore had first hand/insider information on the restructuring process of their schools as it unfolded. They also therefore had leadership experience in both the old and new structure.

The same or similar questions were used across the four case studies so as to test respondent validity (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, p.227- 228) and credibility of the data. For instance, the background question, “Tell me why the comprehensive high schools in this area were restructured to establish this college?” was first put to the

Minister who had been responsible for the establishment of the colleges. It was then asked to the respective schools’ district superintendent and then to each of the participating college principals, the campus principals, deputy principals, teachers, students and parents across the four colleges. This interview strategy enabled the research to examine each issue or structural-cultural dynamics criterion from different angles by triangulating data from different interviewees and different sites and increased the credibility of the data and its relevance in the research text.

Apart from the interviews a substantial amount of data was collected from documents which comprised both “formal or official and informal ones” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, p. 159). They were supplied by key decision makers in the

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Strategic Research Division of the DET (Brock, 2002), other DET (2004) personnel, the former Minister for Education, one District Superintendent, and the two college principals in the Country based colleges that have that position and by the deputy college principal in one of them and the campus principals.

The documents included “inside written accounts – documents generated for other purposes” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, pp. 158 – 159) – but which contained information useful to the present case study. For instance background data discussing establishment issues and considerations was contained in such documents.

Data on vision, mission and goals statements, on organisational structures, guidelines and protocols which are important aspects of the Human and Physical Infrastructure element of the Dynamics Paradigm was also provided in documents.

The informal documents contained personal accounts of principals and parents as well as newspaper articles about the colleges. Although these documents contained a lot of information on the establishment of the colleges, including the problems and reactions which principals, parents and the DET officials experienced during and following the restructuring of the high schools, they were used with caution because, as

Hammersley and Atkinson (2004, p. 165) warn, the accounts in such documents are often “partial and reflect the interests and perspectives of their authors”. Additional information was also available from physical artifacts such as honour boards and foundation plaques.

Observation was used to gather visual data such as physical layout and apparent condition of the school’s buildings, resource endowment such as the provision of science laboratories, computer laboratories, computer networks and with internet access and library facilities. This enabled the study to compare physical resource availability in the middle and senior school campuses and across campuses in each school’s cluster.

The data from the observations was also tested with interview data.

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Two meetings of the management committees in two of the colleges were also observed to gain some experience of how the principals (four of them at each meeting) within the cluster campuses of one college communicate and interact at such a meeting.

Attendance of those meetings also provided the opportunity to discuss the research strategy for those colleges with all the principals and a chance for principals to ask any questions about the research.

One meeting between a P & C and their principals was attended so as to observe encounters between parents and their principals from the different campuses. Members of the P & C were then interviewed. Additionally, two SRC lunch meetings (one middle school and the other senior campus), were also observed before group interviews. There was also communication by three e-mails which sourced data from three DET senior personnel. Before the sample design in which these instruments were used is explained, the next section discusses the epistemological and ontological viewpoints of the research as well as the trustworthiness criteria applied in this case study.

5.4 Epistemology, ontology and criteria applied in the study

5.4.1 Epistemological and ontological dimensions of the case study

The epistemological dimension of any research study is concerned with the

“way of knowing or how we know things about the world” (Ezzy, 2002, p.20).

Schwandt (1997, p. 39) defines epistemology as “the study of the nature of knowledge and justification”. Consideration of the epistemological dimension of a research project raises questions of how we know the world, relationships that exist between the inquirer and the subject, and what is going on in the world that is the situation studied.

Epistemological assumptions, such as the relationship between the observer and the observed and the type of reactivity which is accepted, are important considerations in research methodology because they serve as a basis for legitimate knowledge claims

144 that a study makes in its findings. The epistemological principles set the context for the debate within which different research actors select their versions of the world.

In contrast, Schwandt (1997, p. 90) says that “ontology is concerned with understanding the kind of things that constitute the world; of the real nature of what is,

… for example, the study of reality of everyday life”. Thus, the ontological dimension is concerned with the nature of reality of what is studied. As Denzin and Lincoln (1998a, p.25) explain, “ontology asks questions like what kind of being is the human being?

And, what is the nature of the situation being studied?”

In an explication of the epistemological and ontological viewpoints of a research

Scott and Usher (1996, p.11) provide the following passage:

Epistemology (italics in original passage), is concerned with what distinguishes different kinds of knowledge claims – specifically with what the criteria are that allow distinctions between ‘knowledge’ and ‘non-knowledge’ to be made.

Ontology, on the other hand, is about what exists, what is the nature of the world, what is reality. Epistemological and ontological claims are related since claims about what exists in the world imply claims about how what exists may be known.

In the present research the focus of epistemological and ontological considerations is how the case study provides an appropriate methodology for an understanding of the perspectives (i.e. how we can know) of the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college – (the epistemological dimension) – and ultimately, the meaning that people in each multi-campus college make of what it is really like to lead, teach, study or be a parent of a student in a multi-campus college – (the ontological dimension).

In their discussion of the epistemological and ontological assumptions that undergird case study methodology, Guba and Lincoln (1981) say that case study methodology operates within a naturalistic perspective whose epistemology assumes that there is interaction between the inquirer and the subject of his/her inquiry, and an

145 ontology which assumes that reality in the situation being studied is “multiple, divergent and with inter-related elements” (Scott and Usher, 2004, p.94). While acknowledging that we cannot fully know reality, although we can make judgements about it, Scott and

Usher (2004, p. 96) advise that these assumptions are important because of their implications about the relationship between the researcher’s values, conceptualisations, knowledge frameworks and his/her construction of knowledge in the case study.

Generally, these assumptions associate the researcher with the different ways by which he/she can gain some understanding of some aspects of the nature of reality in his/her research setting (the epistemological dimension), and the different ideas the researcher holds about the nature of reality in the research phenomenon (the ontological dimension).

The implication of the epistemological assumption that “the inquirer and his/her subject interact” (Scott and Usher, 2004, p.94) is that in the case study of each multi- campus college the researcher could interact with the interviewees in the colleges and share some of their experiences as he asked questions to gain an understanding of the meaning that the interviewees make of the structural and cultural dynamics in their multi-campus college situation. This assumption also “means that both the values of the researcher and the values of those being researched are central to the act of research”

(Scott and Usher, 2004, p. 96).

The ontological assumption about the multiple nature of reality implies that in each multi-campus college studied, the researcher would seek to comprehend the activities, processes and behaviours that constitute the structural and cultural dynamics as known by the interviewees in each college. The aim of the case study was accordingly, in the words of Scott and Usher (2004, p.87), an “attempt to capture the lived reality of such settings”.

Working with this ontological assumption, the descriptions that emerged in the real-life settings of one multi-campus college case were complemented by an

146 examination of those emerging from the other three cases which seemed to have similar properties and of a similar nature. As more and more data was gathered, and as the research process moved from one site to the next, the database became more extensive and provided a lot of useful detail on the findings in the colleges. By using the same questions in each of the four case studies (See questionnaires and interview guides in

Appendix 5.3), data was gathered on the general descriptions of aspects of reality in the structural and cultural dynamics across the four multi-campus colleges studied.

Following Merriam’s (2001, p.4) explanation of the ontological assumption of multiple realities, it can be asserted that in the present case study multiple realities were socially constructed by the individual interviewees in each college case. The structural and cultural dynamics in each multi-campus college Work System were considered to be a process in which the interactions among the participants were the lived experience.

This case study’s understanding of the meaning of the process or experience of interviewees in each multi-campus college studied therefore constitutes the knowledge which was gained from an inductive analysis of the data collected from each of the four colleges studied. As such, the case study was not out to test theory or to set up experiments but rather, to gain an understanding of the lived experience of learning, leading, teaching or parenting in a multi-campus college from the perspective of the interviewees within each college.

Moreover, Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.39) point to several beliefs which are held when conducting a case study involving humans in their natural surroundings whose ontological implications are illustrated in the following passage. In:

research in the natural setting or context of the entity for which study is proposed – (as indeed was the case with the present research) – naturalist ontology suggests that realities are wholes that cannot be understood in isolation from their contexts, (and there is) the belief that the very act of observation influences what is seen, and so the research interaction should take place within the entity in-context for fullest understanding, (there is) the belief that context is crucial in deciding whether or not a finding may have meaning in some other context as well, and contextual value structures are at least partly determinative of what will be found.

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Following this ontological perspective, the present case study placed much emphasis on investigating the contextual differences in each of the four multi-campus colleges studied and how these impact on the structural and cultural dynamics in each case. The contextual differences uncovered among the four colleges are highlighted in

Table 6.4-1 (See page 209) and discussed in section 6.4 of chapter 6. The impact of those contextual differences on the dynamics in the colleges is then discussed in detail in chapters 7 – 10.

Because of this case study’s assumption of the presence of multiple realities in each multi-campus college, the case study did not rely simply on a priori, non human data gathering instruments (the two questionnaires), but in the main relied on the self and other humans as the primary data gathering instruments, involving interviews, and observation so as to maintain the flexibility necessary to investigate the variety of realities constructed in each college.

Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.40) further say that “often the nuances of multiple realities can be appreciated only through utilisation of tacit knowledge”. Accordingly, during interviews in each college, not only was propositional knowledge of the interviewees recorded but also their body language and the way they expressed themselves and their feelings, were noted and recorded in the field notes so as to gain a more informed understanding of the meanings that the interviewees made of their multi- campus college phenomenon.

Furthermore, the reliance on interviews for the collection of most of the data in this case study was also cognisant of the multiple realities in each college and, as suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.40), the interview technique was “more sensitive to, and adaptable to, the many mutually shaping influences and value patterns encountered” in each college.

To increase the likelihood that most of the multiple realities in each multi- campus college were investigated by the present case study, purposive sampling was

148 used such that the colleges studied included two from the five metropolitan colleges and two from the six Country based colleges. This strategy of sampling was followed so that this case study would maximise the researcher’s ability to gather data that accurately reflects the local conditions in each multi-campus college as well as the mutual shapings and local values, which Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.40) say are a plausible methodology for possible transferability in the data.

Also consistent with the multiple realities assumption of this case study’s ontological view, was the inductive (rather than deductive) analysis of the data from each college studied. This process was followed because as Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.

40), again say it:

is more likely to identify the multiple realities to be found in data; because such analysis is more likely to make the investigator-respondent interaction explicit, recognisable and accountable; because this process is more likely to describe fully the setting and make decisions about transferability to other settings easier.

Furthermore, even though a useful conceptualisation of the interactions among the structural and cultural dynamics within the elements of each multi-campus college was provided in this thesis’ Dynamics Paradigm (See section 4.2 and 4.3 above), this thesis’ findings were grounded in the data collected from the four colleges. This approach reflected commitment to the ontological assumption that “no a priori theory could possibly encompass the multiple realities that are likely to be encountered”

(Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p.41) in this case study of human interactions. It was also consistent with the ontological view point that given “the many multiple realities, … what emerges (in the case study) as a function of the interaction between inquirer and phenomenon is largely unpredictable in advance” (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p. 40).

In addition, the case study relied mainly on interview data because this approach provided the opportunity to negotiate meanings and interpretations with the principals,

149 teachers, students and parents that were interviewed in each multi-campus college case, in an attempt to gain an understanding of the interviewees’ construction of reality which the case study sought to reconstruct for this thesis.

Shaped by the epistemological and ontological positions discussed in this section, the case study followed a multiple case strategy which made it possible to compare data from one or more of the four cases and this comparison further made it possible to test validity and reliability of the data as additional sites were investigated across the four colleges. The validity and reliability trustworthiness criteria of this case study are the subject of discussion in the following subsection.

5.4.2 Criteria applied in the case study of the four multi-campus colleges

Based on the ethical criteria discussed in section 5.2.2 of this chapter and guided by the epistemological and ontological view points discussed above, the case study aimed at producing valid and reliable knowledge about the relationships which exist among the subsystems of each multi-campus college. The question this subsection addresses is that of which Hammersley (1998, p.62) says: “the most important question that needs to be asked is, how do we know that this research produced knowledge that is of public relevance?” Put more specifically, how do we know that the results presented and discussed in chapter 6 – 10 of this thesis are trustworthy?

In Merriam’s (2001, p. 198) answer to a similar question, she says that the results of a research “are trustworthy to the extent there has been some accounting for their validity and reliability”. It is therefore important at this juncture, to discuss issues pertinent to validity and reliability as they apply in this case study which, as already discussed (See section 5.3), was designed as a naturalistic, non-experimental inquiry.

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5.4.2.1 Validity considerations in the present case study

Hammersley (1998, p.62) defines validity as “the extent to which an account accurately represents the phenomena to which it refers”. In distinguishing between internal and external validity, Scott and Usher (2004, p. 54) define internal validity as the extent to which “researchers can be sure that the effects they ascribe to the interventions in (a phenomenon), are in fact caused by those interventions and not by others”. In contrast, the external validity criterion is used to assess “whether the findings can be generalised to a larger population” (Scott and Usher, 2004, p. 54). Hammersley

(1998, p. 62) further says that research findings need to be assessed not only as valid but also as relevant in terms of values shared by different stakeholders. In the present research, data was gathered from four of the eleven multi-campus colleges. Application of the external validity criterion enabled the analysis to make comparisons of the findings, evaluate their relevance and make inferences about the meaning of the data among the sites. This criterion also made it possible to make some generalisations across the colleges studied.

Because the present research was designed as a case study its validity considerations were assessed in accordance with Merriam’s (2001, p.199) advice that in a case study,

assessing the validity … of qualitative data involves examining its component parts (by asking three questions, namely): Were the interviews reliably and validly constructed? Was the content of documents properly analysed? Do the conclusions of the case study rest upon data and make sense?

In answer to these questions the strategies that were followed to enhance validity included: triangulation, member checks, participatory or collaborative modes of research, clarification of this research’s assumptions and theoretical orientation, conceptualisation of the research and documented interpretation. How these strategies were implemented is briefly outlined in the following paragraphs.

151 a) Triangulation in the present research

Methods triangulation involved the use of interview, observation and document analysis. Qualitative data was triangulated with quantitative data. Data from one college was triangulated with that from another college. Within each college, data from one interviewee was triangulated with that from another. Across the campuses, data from different interviewees was cross checked and compared. Data on each of the 16 core dynamics criteria was triangulated across the four colleges studied.

Moreover, there was interviewee triangulation involving what Hammersley and

Atkinson (2004, p. 230) call “respondent validation: the checking of inferences drawn from one set of data sources by collecting data from others”. For instance, the questions asked to one principal were then asked to another principal and the responses analysed and compared. Those asked to different teachers in one and in other sites were compared within each site and across the sites. As Hammersley and Atkinson (2004, p.

230) further say, this kind of data source triangulation, through “respondent validation enables a comparison of accounts of different interviewees differentially located in the setting but relating to the same phenomenon” and in this study helped to enrich the discussion of the data as presented in the research text in chapters 6 – 10.

Besides, as mentioned in section 1.2, but particularly as detailed in section 5.5, this case study was based on a multi-site sample design which, once again contributed to the trustworthiness strategies as recommended by Merriam (2001).

b) Use of member checks

Member checks were performed by sending the transcribed interview data back to interviewees in each of the four colleges to have it validated before it was used for analysis and comparisons.

152 c) Use of observation strategies

Observations were not long-term as in an ethnographical study (Hammersley,

1992), but they were conducted over the full duration of the research in each site. These observations covered encounters between different interviewees, such as all the campus principals of one college among themselves or with their college principal. Another example consisted of encounters between members of the P & C and their principals.

d) Participatory and collaborative modes of research

Participatory or collaborative research was involved because some of the interviewees were included in many stages of the research as it progressed from preparation, to gaining entry, to initial data gathering, extensive data gathering, analysis and interpretation of the findings. An example of this collaborative mode was the involvement of the Minister of Education in several meetings and interviews consistent with the stages named above. Repeat visits to each of the principals also enhanced the participatory nature of this case study.

e) Clarification of assumptions and theoretical orientation of the research

The assumptions that undergird this research are made explicit in section 5.7 of this chapter. As well, the theoretical basis for this research, epitomised in the Dynamics

Paradigm (See chapter 4) is very detailed and succinct. The epistemological and ontological assumptions of this case study and their implications were discussed at length (See section 5.4.1). The detailed discussion of the methodology followed in this thesis (including this section), as well as the detailed presentation and discussion of data in chapters 6 – 9 also contribute to the audit trail for this thesis.

153 f) Detailed conceptualisation of the research, data gathering and interpretation

Moreover, the comparisons and detailed analysis of the data from different respondents and sites enabled an inductive analysis which contributed to meaningful reconstruction of the multiple realities uncovered in the structural and cultural dynamics of the colleges studied. Typicality of the most significant experiences and dynamics in the multi-campus college phenomenon was well elucidated in the presentation and discussion of the synergy in the cumulative human effects discussed in chapter 7 and analysed in chapter 9 with an illustration in Figure 9-2 on page 310.

This study’s conceptualisation was discussed at length in both the Dynamics

Paradigm in chapter 4 and in section 5.3 of this chapter where it was shown that the present research was carefully designed as a case study of the human interactions among interviewees in the multi-campus colleges studied. The careful design and implementation of this case study involving interview, observation and document analysis appears to have contributed to the validity of the data.

5.4.2.2 Reliability considerations in the present study

Reliability, according to Hammersley (1998, p. 60), “is the extent to which people’s perspectives and/or behaviour and context are accurately captured”. To paraphrase Burns (2000, p. 336), the key reliability criterion is the question whether

“the data which I have obtained on situation A, is an accurate indication of the real life experiences occurring in that situation”. In other words, are the findings of the research accurate? In regards to the present case study, reliability of data refers to the extent to which the data collected from each of the multi-campus college sites accurately reconstructs the real life experiences of interviewees in the sites studied as reconstructed through their understanding of the multi-campus college phenomenon.

Following Merriam’s (2001, pp. 206 – 207) recommendation, to improve reliability of data in this thesis the theory on which the analysis is based is detailed in

154 chapters 2 and 4 and the data is triangulated both from qualitative and quantitative research instruments, among interviewees in one site and across campuses. Besides the detailed description of how data was collected and analysed and the findings arrived at which is given in this thesis also enables an independent reader to follow the trail of this research. This helps to authenticate the findings of this study.

5.4.2.3 Validity and reliability consideration in the quantitative data

The quantitative data used in this thesis was gathered with two short questionnaires each comprising 40 questions for teachers and students. Although there was no need to subject the data to rigorous statistical analysis, in accordance with

Hammersley (2002), the following strategies were used to enhance its validity and relevance.

To ensure that the data was relevant, Hammersley’s (2002, p.73) two essential conditions of “importance of data to topic (and) significant contribution of data to what is taken by researchers to be established knowledge” were applied in designing and implementation of the quantitative questionnaires. Firstly, as illustrated in Appendix

5.3-3 which correlates the research questions to the questionnaires, the 40 questions in each questionnaire were tailor-designed to target the 16 dynamics criteria that were investigated. This improved the relevance of the data gathered to the structural-cultural dynamics investigated in this study. Hence the data was central to the topic of the thesis.

Secondly, the questions were distributed across the five elements of the Dynamics

Paradigm so that the data generated by the questionnaires was relevant to the respective element of the Paradigm (This is also illustrated in the correlation Table in Appendix

5.3-3). This ensured that the data made a significant contribution to an understanding of respondents’ views on the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on their lived experiences in the colleges.

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Following Hammersley’s (2002, p. 69) advice that data “is valid if it represents accurately those features of the phenomena that it is intended to describe or explain”, firstly, the same questions were asked to all participants in each college and then across the four colleges. This enhanced assessment of validity of the data. Secondly, the questions targeted understandings of both teachers and students, thereby creating opportunity for respondent triangulation to augment validity. Thirdly, in each college, more of the older students who had been in the colleges longer than the younger students who had just joined the colleges were sampled. For example 50 students from year 12, 40 from year 11, 30 from year 10, 20 from year 9 and so on (See section 5.6 of this chapter). This improved the reliability of the data. Finally, the questionnaires were pilot tested, and after fine tuning, they were then used in the main survey. This improved, not only relevance of the data, but also its importance to the research topic and its potential contribution to new data.

Before the sample design of the research is discussed, the issues of reflexivity and textuality which also relate to assessment of research findings are briefly discussed in the following subsection.

5.4.3 Reflexivity and textuality considerations in this thesis

The role of the researcher in the research process is reflected through reflexivity.

The social researcher is heavily involved in the research process as he/she gathers and analyses the data. Awareness of reflexivity creates opportunity for the researcher to step back and to exercise caution so as to examine the data without contamination. It is important to include a discussion of self reflexivity and textuality in this case study because both these characteristics of social research were important considerations in the design and conduct of this research and in putting together the final text – the PhD thesis.

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5.4.3.1 Reflexivity in this study

Hammersley and Atkinson (2004, p. 16) explain that:

Reflexivity implies that the orientation of researchers will be shaped by their socio-historical locations, including the values and interests that these locations confer upon them. What this represents is a rejection of the idea that social research is, or can be, carried out in some autonomous realm that is insulated from the wider society and from the particular biography of the researcher, in such a way that its findings can be unaffected by social processes and personal characteristics, and an undermining of the naïve forms of realism which assume that knowledge must be based on some absolutely secure foundation.

Informed by this explanation it is recognised that reflexivity was an important consideration in this research because it drew attention to the fact that there would be actions and interactions while participating in the social phenomenon in each multi- campus college site to gather the data. This would have an impact on the products of that reactivity and participation. Its recognition alerts the study to the fact that during research, “the activity of the knower influences what is known” (Scott and Usher, 1996, p. 35), and more importantly, that therefore it is necessary to exercise caution so as to minimise possible contamination of the data and instead use reflexivity to capitalise on the benefits and opportunities provided by the interaction with the interviewees in each multi-campus college. Careful utilisation of reflexivity empowered this thesis with justification for making inferences about meaning in a multi-campus college phenomenon based on how individual interviewees expressed themselves rather than simple extrapolation from interviewee data of what they said.

Following Scott and Usher’s (1996) suggestion, reflexivity was not regarded as a problem to this research. Rather it was considered to be a resource which helped the research to gain a better understanding of the multiple realities reconstructed in the interaction with the interviewees in each of the colleges. Thus, using reflexivity as a positive resource, reflexivity helped the study “to recognise that we ourselves are part of rather than apart from the world constructed through research” (Scott and Usher, 1996,

157 p. 35). This recognition was beneficial to the conduct of this research as a social practice because it created an opportunity to look deeper into each of the colleges phenomena studied and try to gain an understanding of “the place of power, discourse and text, which in a sense go ‘beyond’ the personal dimension of social research” (Scott and Usher, 1996, p. 35).

In agreement with Scott and Usher (1996), Hammersley and Atkinson (2004, p.19) also recommend that reflexivity should be appreciated as a resource rather than a problem in research. They advise that if we accept that reflexivity can have a positive influence on research and “abandon the idea that the social character of research can be standardised out or avoided by becoming a ‘fly on the wall’, … the role of the researcher as active participant in the research process becomes clear. He or she is the research instrument par excellence.” They recommend that:

In order to understand the effects of the researcher and research procedures, we need to compare data in which the level and direction of reactivity vary… The fact that the researcher may influence the context becomes central to the analysis. Indeed, it can be exploited for all it is worth. Different research strategies can be explored … and full advantage should be taken of any opportunities. … And this way the image of the researcher is brought into parallel with that of the people studied, as actively making sense of the world, yet without undermining the commitment of research to realism (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2004, p. 19).

Following these recommendations, the reflections on data that had been collected at every interview in each college were written down in the field-note book while they were still vivid in the mind. Additionally, commentary was made on observations that had been noted in each multi-campus college site. This commentary was in most cases written down. At times, as was the case in a short break between interviews, the commentary was tape-recorded for writing down on return from the field.

Using reflexivity as a resource as recommended by the above leaders in this field, notes were made on personal understanding of how the interviews had developed

158 and on the apparent relationship, confidence or rapport that had developed with the interviewees. This was important because of its implications on validity of the data.

Reflections on personal reactions to interviewees’ responses to the questions posed at the interviews also added to the comments that were made during the write-up of the transcripts. As data on the micro-tapes was played back and transcribed, there was reflection on the meaning of what each interviewee was “really” saying during the dialogue. Such reflection in some instances led to an improvement in the way the interview questions had been worded or put to the interviewee. They also led to sorting out the interview data regarding its making sense, reliability and validity. Where, on reflection, it appeared that certain data was doubtful; it was followed up in subsequent interviewing so that it was either accepted or rejected for its value.

Reflection on how interviewees were or had reacted to similar questions led to noting issues that were to be followed up with the next interviewee or in the next college campus.

During the reflexivity, some issues that were emerging as significant to the different interviewees were followed up in subsequent interviews so that these were elaborated, clarified and validated.

Reflective remarks were made alongside of the interview text as the interview data was being transcribed to comment on recollections about what the interviewee had said. These remarks were quite helpful in pointing to dynamics on which interviewees had expressed strong opinion or about which their body language had conveyed a particular message (e.g. frustration anger, approval or disapproval). These remarks also strengthened the coding procedures employed for NVivo qualitative software.

At several points, as the data was being transcribed from the audiotapes, reflective annotations were added. Similarly, during an observation of a meeting (e.g.

SRC students with their teachers or P & C members with their principals), reflective

159 remarks indicating personal feelings, perceptions or interpretations regarding the encounter that was going on were made.

Thus, using reflexivity as a resource rather than an encumbrance, reflective comments were used to improve an understanding of what had been said, to improve interview guide questions, to refine data, to improve interpretation of data and analysis, to shape own perceptions, to clarify points and to improve reliability and validity of data for this thesis.

5.4.3.2 Textuality of this thesis

Related to the issue of self reflexivity in social research is the idea of textuality which addresses the matter of how the research findings in the multi-campus colleges studied are represented or reported by this thesis – the research text. Scott and Usher

(1996, p. 32) say that textuality refers to “the question of how educational research as a practice of writing constructs reality”. In regard to the present thesis, textuality refers to how the findings in the data from interviews, observation and documents, and questionnaires used in this research have their meaning materialised or reconstructed into the professional text form for the purpose of this thesis. Its focus is the process of

“authoring” the thesis (Dunleavy, 2003, p.135).

Textuality is important because the way the written text is carried out reconstructs reality. Thus, in the recent words of Podolny, Khurma and Hill-Popper

(2005, p.18), this thesis’ text, like language, “does not passively ‘reflect’ or ‘construct’ some pre-existing reality. It constructs reality in text”.

Scott and Usher (1996) explain that writing research results in education, needs to follow the textual practices which are accepted in education. They advise that,

“because in education there is always an intertwining of theory and practice, its writing cannot slip free from practice to live within a timeless, decontextualised world of general theoretical knowledge” (Scott and Usher, 1996, p. 33).

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The text presented in this thesis provides in one document a body of data and ideas which reflect an intertwining of organisational change theory and practice of teaching in the structural and cultural dynamics found in the four multi-campus college structures at the time of this research. The text is thus set within the boundaries of organisational behaviour theory and it is written in a manner of format and style which complies with the accepted characteristics in form and content of writing which make the text unique and acceptable in the knowledge-producing community.

The text is in a way a coherent reflection on the multi-stage journey that has culminated in this thesis and a depiction of the major authoring stages of this journey as represented in the text of the different chapters. It represents an exposure to the educational community, the arguments and knowledge claims made about the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, so that these can be considered and debated by others.

The preparation of this thesis recognises that there is no ‘one best way’ of saying something. Nevertheless, as a professional text, and in accordance with Scott and Usher

(1996, p.34), this thesis is written such that its textuality shows that “it is a set of activities legitimated by a relevant community” which sets boundaries for inclusion and rules for exclusion of some data, activities and interpretation. However, caution needed to be exercised so that in the inclusions into and exclusions from the research text, biases were not introduced. Consultations with the supervisory team helped to ensure that the textuality of the thesis is a viable text designed to produce data which makes an incremental contribution to knowledge that is socially validated. This created opportunity for some data and activities to be considered appropriate and to function as criteria for validating the knowledge claims made in this thesis, while others were, as

Scott and Usher (1996, p.34) advise “ruled out of order and excluded” from the text of the thesis.

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In conclusion to this section, it appears that the consensus that emerges from the debate on criteria for testing the trustworthiness of research data is that different research perspectives make different kinds of knowledge claims, and the criteria as to what counts as significant knowledge vary from one to another. In the present case study of the structural and cultural dynamics among the human interactions of interviewees in their natural school settings, the knowledge claims presented in chapters

6 – 10 of this thesis were based on a non-experimental, naturalistic, knower-known interactive perspective epistemology and a multiple constructed realities ontology as discussed in section 5.4.1 of this chapter and were guided by an awareness and application of the trustworthiness criteria as discussed in this chapter. The purposive selection of the colleges included in the four case studies is discussed in the following section.

5.5 Selection of the cases and the sample design

The data available on multi-campus colleges as discussed in chapter 3 showed that of the eleven multi-campus colleges now in existence in New South Wales, five are based in the Sydney metropolitan area and the other six are Country based.

Additionally, in their approval of the research, the Strategic Research Division of the

DET had suggested that the research should include several colleges. Accordingly, it was decided to undertake purposeful sampling as recommended by Merriam (2001, pp.

62 – 63) and, as well, follow Miles and Huberman’s (1994, p.29) multiple-case sampling design which “looks at a range of similar and contrasting cases (and in so doing) adds confidence to findings” and is detailed in the following subsection.

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5.5.1 A purposive, multiple-case sampling design for the four multi-campus colleges’ case study

To choose which colleges were to be included in the sample, three criteria were used. These were longevity of establishment, typicality of structural design and location in urban or rural area of New South Wales.

In consideration of these criteria, the sample illustrated in Figure 5.5.1, was

Figure 5.5-1: A multiple-case sample design for the multi-campus colleges’ sample

Schools Area College in sample Code 1 Campus Code1

Metro-A1 Sydney Metropolitan Area Metro-A2 Multi-Campus College A Metro-A3 Sydney 2 Metro-A College1 Metro-A4 Metropolitan Area Metro-B1

Sydney Metropolitan Area Metro-B2 [ Five in total ] Multi-Campus College B Metro-B3 1 2 Metro-B College Metro-B4 Country based Multi-Campus College Country-A1 Country Area Country-A2 Country-A College1 Country-A32 [ Six in total ]

Country based Country-B1 Multi-Campus College Country-B2 Country-B32 1 Country-B College

Source: Designed after Miles and Huberman’s (1994, p. 29). Multiple-case strategy.

Note1: Colleges and campuses sampled were referenced by pseudonyms to protect their identity. Note2: Metro-A4, B4 and Country-A3 and B3 are the respective senior campuses. ======

designed to include the very first college that had been established in the State,

(longevity criterion). This college was also one of three colleges structured as years 7 –

10, years 11 – 12. Included in the sample was also one college structured with years 7 –

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9 and years 10 – 12 cohorts, thus meeting the structural design criterion. As well, two of these colleges were from the five metropolitan multi-campus colleges and two from the six Country based colleges, thus fulfilling the locality criterion. As required by the ethics protocols of both the UWS and the DET, to ensure anonymity of the schools in the sample as much as possible, rather than use the schools’ names, the sample was drawn up using the sampling codes or pseudonyms shown in Figure 5.5-1.

The multiple-case sampling strategy was chosen because it has many advantages which the present research was able to capitalise on. For instance, in explaining the advantages of multiple-case sampling Miles and Huberman (1994) say that using this sampling strategy, “by looking at a range of similar and contrasting cases, we can understand a single-case finding, grounding it by specifying how and where and, if possible, why it carries on as it does” (p.29). This suited both the research question and theoretical framework of this thesis perfectly because it was consistent with the stated objective to investigate the relationship between the (how, the where and the why of the) structural-cultural dynamics within the multi-campus colleges.

In complementing Miles and Huberman’s stated advantages of the multiple-case sampling design, Yin (1991) suggests that this strategy can strengthen the precision, the validity and the stability of the findings because it follows a kind of replication strategy.

“If a finding holds in one setting and, given its profile, also holds in a comparable setting but does not in a contrasting case, the finding is more robust” (Miles and

Huberman (1994, p.29). Additionally, these authors say that with multiple-case studies we are generalising from one case to the next on the basis of a match to the underlying theory, not to a larger universe and the choice of cases is made on conceptual grounds, not on representative grounds. Furthermore, Miles and Huberman explain that in such a design:

Each case is unique. But because case study researchers examine intact settings in such loving detail, they know all too well that each setting has a few properties it shares with some others, and some properties it shares

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with no others. The multiple-case sampling gives us confidence that our emerging theory is generic, because we have seen it work out – and not work out – in predictable ways (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p.29).

In the case of the present research, as indicated earlier, the historical information discussed in chapter 3 had shown that each multi-campus college scenario was unique.

However, the dimensions of their uniqueness remained largely speculative. Besides, this thesis was keen to investigate commonalities or whatever properties of structural and cultural dynamics the multi-campus colleges might share in accordance with the

Dynamics Paradigm discussed in chapter 4. Data containing commonalities of meaning would enhance external validity of the findings.

5.5.2 Interviewees, dynamics criteria and codenames in the multi-campus colleges

In accordance with the Dynamics Paradigm developed for this thesis in chapter

4, each college was the Human and Physical Infrastructure System. Therefore, each college was the scene of the study and unit of analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p.61). The interviewees were the people represented in the Dynamics Paradigm and clearly mapped in Figure 4-3, System 1 and column 2. (See page 125). As listed there, they included students, teachers, principals, deputies, other members of the leadership team and parents. Other people, documents and artifacts of interest to the research are listed in the Paradigm and also mapped in Figure 4-3 without duplication here.

In each setting the first interviewee was the principal, followed by his/her deputy. From this top level, the research followed a ‘top-down’ interview technique as advised by Wilkinson and Birmingham (2003, p.52) so that next, assistant principals, head teachers, classroom teachers, and then students were interviewed. Parents were not scheduled into this hierarchy. They were interviewed whenever they indicated the time that was the most convenient for them to be interviewed.

As shown in the Dynamics Paradigm (page 108), the Human and Physical

Infrastructure System included interviewees who were located outside a single case

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sample. These included, for instance, the relevant Minister and DET personnel. Those

were interviewed following appointments made with their offices.

In each site interviewees were asked questions to gain an understanding of their

holistic involvement and adaptation to the structural and cultural dynamics of their new

Work System. The questions targeted the two central research questions of the thesis,

(See section 1.3, pages 5 – 9), using background data criteria and 16 core structural-

cultural dynamics criteria discussed in section 3.6.2 and illustrated and defined in Table

5.5.2 for convenient reference in this chapter.

Table 5.5-2: Definition of Codenames used for the structural-cultural dynamics criteria for the research

Codename Definition or description of structural-cultural dynamics criteria

Background factors: reasons for the new model, origin of vision, and Criteria reference reference Criteria BFACTO variety of models 1 ENRRET Enrolment numbers and retention rates

2 CURCHO Curriculum breadth and subject choice 3 LEARNI Learning environment 4 TENVIR Teaching environment 5 VIMVAL Sharing vision, decision making, values 6 GENDER Students’ opinion on significance of one sex or co-education in campus 7 RESEQP Resources and equipment availability and utilisation 8 TECHNO Access to modern technology (e.g: computing with Internet access) 9 LINKAG Linkages with TAFE and University 10 EXTRAC Extra-curricular activities (availability and involvement) 11 LEADER Principals’ roles, leadership team and management practices 12 STUOUT Students’ academic and non-academic outcomes 13 TEAOUT Teachers’ outcomes 14 ASUBEL Community perceptions, assumptions and beliefs 15 COMINV Community involvement 16 VSCOMP Comparisons of new dynamics versus old comprehensive model

Source: 1) Six letters Codenames in column 2, and definitions in column 3 are “operational” following Miles and Huberman (1994, pp. 65-67). 2) The research questions for this thesis (pages 5 – 9). 3) The Dynamics Paradigm for this thesis developed in chapter 4, (See page 108). 4) The schools’ restructuring data discussed in chapter 3. Note: The colour coding corresponds to the different major elements of the Dynamics Paradigm in which these criteria were investigated (See page 108 and 125).

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As discussed in chapter 3 and 4, these criteria were developed from the literature in chapter 2 and the background data which was available on the colleges as discussed in chapter 3 above. The critical background factors are shown in element 1 of the

Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 and again mapped in column 2 of Figure 4-3 on page

125. The 16 core dynamics are shown in elements 2, 3 and 4 of the Paradigm (page 108) and again mapped in column 2 and numbered respectively in column 3 of Figure 4-3

(see p. 125). Column 4 in Figure 4-3 shows the thesis chapters in which data on the background factors and the 16 structural-cultural dynamics variables was analysed.

The definitional codes shown in Table 5.5-2 were used in the data analysis but not in the discussion so as to keep the discussion more reader friendly. The questionnaires and interview guides that targeted these criteria are given in Appendix

5.3 and discussed in this chapter. As explained earlier (See section 5.3.2.2), because the background factors and the 16 dynamics were each targeted by several questions, (as shown in Appendix 5.3-3), the questionnaires contain 40 questions. Appendix 5.3-3 summarises the correlation between the 16 dynamics criteria and the 40 questions.

The use of these criteria helped the research to remain focused on the central research questions and to investigate various aspects of the structural and cultural dynamics in each case which were consistent with the Dynamics Paradigm for this thesis. These dynamics criteria made it possible to practically pay attention to the important aspects in each Work System emphasising, for instance, what people did and how they did it, what they said and how they interrelated with one another and how their interactions gave meaning to the relationships in the structural-cultural dynamics of their college.

These dynamics criteria were very helpful in focusing the research as to what to observe, whom to talk with and what to ask. However, as the interviews unfolded, flexibility was exercised so as to be able to shift and reframe questions as new leads of importance came up during the discussions. Areas investigated were broadened and

167 questions asked so that current interviewees could clarify points raised by earlier interviewees to reinforce emerging trends. Additional evidence was gathered on emerging themes or to qualify or refute existing information. For instance, a point raised by one college principal about one dynamic such as ability of the multi-campus college model to cater for higher enrolments and retention rates, was repeatedly investigated in subsequent interviews with other interviewees to reinforce, qualify or refute this claim.

So were the claims on each of the other 16 structural and cultural dynamics variables.

By moving from one sampled case on to the other three which had similar and contrasting characteristics, the multiple-case sampling design gave the research the opportunity to strengthen the credibility of the data, and as well, gave the thesis an understanding of the unique conditions under which the findings would hold as suggested by Merriam (2001) and Miles and Huberman (1994).

The multiple-case design had the added advantage that the results of the study could be both highly general through a conceptual test and revision of the theoretical

Dynamics Paradigm for this thesis and yet highly particular with regard to how the findings play out in specific college campus contextual contingencies. Furthermore, the design enabled some triangulation of data from different interviewees and different colleges about the dynamics. Each structural-cultural dynamic appeared to have been looked at from different bearings or different research lenses. This contributed to the credibility of the data and to “thick description, so necessary for judgement of transferability” (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p.359).

5.6 Sample size, coding and analytical tools

5.6.1 Sample size for quantitative data

In gathering quantitative primary data from each of the multi-campus colleges, twenty teachers from each campus were invited to complete the structured questionnaire. As illustrated in Table 5.6-1, the questionnaire was issued to a total of

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Table 5.6-1: Sample design for teachers’ questionnaire administration

College Campus Total per Campus Total per College

Metro-A1 20 Metro-A2 20 Metro-A Metro-A3 20 Metro-A4 20 80 Metro-B1 20 Metro-B2 20 Metro-B Metro-B3 20 Metro-B4 20 80 Country-A1 20 Country-A Country-A2 20 Country-A3 20 60 Country-B1 20 Country-B Country-B2 20 Country-B3 20 60

Total number of teachers surveyed 280

280 teachers in the four colleges. A similar questionnaire was administered to students in the four colleges. The students’ questionnaire was administered to ten students in years 7 and 8, twenty in year 9, thirty in year 10, forty in year 11 and 50 in year 12, as shown in Table 5.6-2.

Thus, a total of 1030 students were sampled. As shown in Table 5.6-2, the sample was designed such that on each campus more of the older students were surveyed (e.g. 30 year 10 students) than the younger students (e.g. 10 in year 7). This design was based on the assumption that those students, who had been in the college for a longer time, probably had a more informed understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in their college than those who had just come into the new model.

Both the teachers’ and the students’ questionnaires were designed using the

“Likert-scale ranking” (Wilkinson and Birmingham, 2003, p.22) which is discussed in the next subsection. The questionnaires, made 40 statements which targeted the structural-cultural dynamics enumerated above and gave the respondents a scale of four possible responses to each statement ranging from the perception measure ‘strongly

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Table 5.6-2: Students’ sample size and design

Campus College College College Campus Year Total Total

7 8 9 10 11 12 Metro-A1 10 10 20 30 - - 70 Metro-A2 10 10 20 30 - - 70

Metro-A3 10 10 20 30 - - 70

Metro Metro A Metro-A4 - - - - 40 50 90 300

Metro-B1 10 10 20 30 - - 70

Metro-B2 10 10 20 30 - - 70 Metro-B3 10 10 20 30 - - 70 300 Metro Metro B Metro-B4 - - - - 40 50 90

Country-A1 10 10 20 - - - 40

Country-A2 10 10 20 - - - 40 Country-a Country-A3 - - - 30 40 50 120 200

Country-B1 10 10 20 30 - - 70

Country-B2 10 10 20 30 - - 70 230

Country-B Country-B3 - - - - 40 50 90

Total number of students surveyed 1030

disagree’ through to the exact opposite measure ‘strongly agree’ which were analysed as explained in the next subsection.

Aware that when designing a questionnaire it is easy to overlook mistakes and ambiguities in the question layout and construction (Wilkinson and Birmingham, 2003, p.19), the questionnaires were pilot tested with eight teachers and 12 students in one of the multi-campus colleges, to minimise the possibility of defects and enhance relevance and reliability of data. The teachers were asked to comment on the suitability and clarity of the questions and to time themselves as they completed the questionnaire. The pilot testing provided re-assurance that the questions were relevant and that the questionnaire could be done within approximately ten minutes.

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5.6.2 Quantitative data coding and analytical tools

The data gathered in the students’ and teachers’ questionnaires was coded for analysis according to the elements of the Dynamics Paradigm (See Dynamics data mapping per chapter in Figure 4-3, page 125) as well as the background criteria and the

16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria delineated earlier (See Table 5.5-2, p. 165).

Thus the data was relevant to the assumptions and questions which had been raised in the literature about the relationship between structural and the cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college and in relation to the conceptual Paradigm of the structural and cultural dynamics in an educational setting as conceptualised in chapter 4.

Analysis of the quantitative data was carried out by using a computer-based spreadsheet Ms-Excel and the Likert-scale analytical tool which was used to determine respondents’ average perception to given statements following Wilkinson and

Birmingham (2003, pp. 20 – 21). As stated above, the quantitative questionnaires contained 40 statements which the participants were asked to agree or disagree with, ranging from the perception measure ‘strongly disagree’ through to ‘strongly agree’.

The responses were coded according to the background factors as well as the 16 structural-cultural dynamics investigated in the thesis (See page 125). They were then aggregated and the mean score on each of the structural-cultural dynamics criteria was calculated using Excel spread sheet. The Likert-scale analytical tool was then used to rank the mean scores on a scale varying from 1: strongly disagree, 2: disagree, 3: agree and 4: strongly agree as recommended by Wilkinson and Birmingham (2003, p. 22).

The Likert-scale scale analytical tool was used because it made it possible to give each response a numerical value and to obtain an average score for each statement in the questionnaire. As indicated in the above paragraph, the most positive statement

(strongly agree) was given the highest score of 4 and the most negative statement

(strongly disagree) was given the lowest numerical value 1 in a manner consistent with

171 the Likert-scale ranking analytical tool (Wilkinson and Birmingham, 2003, p.22). The results of the analysis are presented and discussed in chapters 6 to 10 of this thesis.

5.6.3 Qualitative data sample size, coding and analytical tools

As illustrated in Figure 5.6-3, a total of 133 respondents including the relevant

Minister, 1 district superintendent, 21 principals including their deputies, 40 teachers some of whom were head teachers, 50 students some of whom were members of their

SRC, 14 parents and two journalists participated in the qualitative study. All interviews were personal interviews except those indicated with an asterisk which were conducted in groups.

Figure 5.6-3: Sample size and design for the qualitative data gathered

Count Case Study Interviewees Number Totals

Former Minister of Education 1 All Colleges District Superintendent 1 5 DET Senior Personnel 3# College Principal/Deputy 1 Metro-A College Campus Principals 4 Head teachers / teachers 8* 30 Students 8* Parents 8* District Superintendent 1 Campus Principals 4 Metro-B College Head teachers / teachers 14 24 Students 6* College Principal 1 Country-A College Deputy College Principal 1 Campus Principals 3 Deputy Campus Principals 2 55 Head teachers / teachers 12 Students 30* Parents 4 Local Newspaper journalists 2 College Principal 1 Country-B College Campus Principals 3 Campus Deputy Principal 1 19 Head teachers / teachers 6 Students 6* Parents 2*

Total participants 133

Note: *: All interviews were personal except those marked with an asterisk. #: Communication was by e-mail and data was sent to the researcher

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All the data collected was managed and information overload avoided by coding it according to the background factors and the 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria,

(Refer to Table 5.5-2, page 165), which corresponded to the Dynamics Paradigm designed in chapter 4 for this thesis and the research questions of the thesis. The coding started as soon as the data from the first interview was being transcribed. The transcribed data was then entered into the personal computer as a Word document. The data was then coded and analysed with the assistance of the “qualitative software package called

NVivo” (QSRNvivo, 2003), as recommended by Bazeley and Richards (2003, pp. 3 – 5).

The coded data was then carefully grouped into themes which fitted into the Human and

Physical Infrastructure element, the Human Interactions element, the Search for

Excellence element, the Results of Human Enterprise element and the Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm. The data was then analysed inductively as recommended by

Lincoln and Guba (1985, pp. 202 – 203) to understand what the voices were really saying.

Although the data was categorised into the elements of the theoretical construct for the thesis, its analysis kept the relations between the different parts intact as suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994, p.56). The particular type of analysis followed what Miles and Huberman (1994) characterise as iterative, relational qualitative data analysis. This technique was chosen because as Wilkinson and

Birmingham (2003, p.76) explain it “identifies themes or issues to explore the relationships between them. It looks for richness of data, describing its uniqueness, similarities and complexities”. This enabled an in-depth analysis of the findings in the data on the structural-cultural dynamics in each of the subsystems of the multi-campus college Work System as recommended by Merriam (2001, p. 211).

The interview data that was concurrent with the dynamics criteria was transcribed ad verbatim. This analytical technique was adopted because it helped to maintain the voice of the interviewees, to demonstrate authenticity and validity of the

173 data (Merriam, 1988, p.xv) and to construct a holistic, intensive, well informed description and interpretation of each colleges’ phenomenon as represented in the interviewees’ own words as recommended by Guba and Lincoln (1981, p.119) as well as Merriam (1988, p11). This enabled the analysis of the data to be, not only a detailed account of the impact of the structural change on the cultural dynamics in each multi- campus college, but also to be particularistic, heuristic and inductive as proposed by

Lincoln and Guba (1985), Merriam (2001) as well as Scott and Usher (2004). The analysis was particularistic because it focused on the particular situation or phenomenon in each college site (Merriam, 2001, p. 29); it was heuristic because it gave details which explained why and what happened in each case and thus illuminated an understanding of the phenomenon of study (Merriam, 2001, p. 30). The analysis was also inductive because it used the specific, raw units of data collected from each research site which provided for meaning to emerge from the raw data and the subsuming categories (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, pp. 202 – 203).

This analytical approach enabled the thesis to link the research questions to the empirical data that had been gathered and was being analysed within the Dynamics

Paradigm. This enabled the data analysis process to be interactive and holistic as suggested by Merriam (2001, p.148) because, having noted participants’ responses to the research questions in terms of the dynamics criteria in the quantitative data, their views were further examined and triangulated with the interview, qualitative data to further test authenticity and reliability of the data as recommended by Merriam (2001, pp. 121 – 122). Such instrument triangulation as a means of increasing validity of results in qualitative data is strongly advocated by leaders in qualitative data analysis such as Lincoln and Guba (1985), Merriam (1988), Denzin and Lincoln (2000), and

Ezzy (2002).

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5.7 Assumptions and limitations of the study

5.7.1 The assumptions that influenced the conduct of this research

The first assumption which influenced the conduct of this research was that the views about the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools which were contained in data sourced from documents internal to the Ministry of Education and the DET was most likely to be significantly different from that sourced from primary sources, external to the former. This assumption was informed by Hammersley and Atkinson

(2004, p. 165) who suggest that documents data ought to be treated with caution because it could reflect the self-interest of the authors.

This was an important assumption because it led the research to investigate interviewees’ own understanding of what the critical factors were in the decision to restructure their high schools. This question was investigated in the primary research even though Ministerial and DET document data reviewed in chapter 3 had given some reasons for the restructuring. This strategy was followed so as to enable the research to compare data from these different sources and thereby provide a means of “data source triangulation” (Miles and Huberman, 1994) which enhances validation.

The second underlying assumption was both epistemological and ontological in nature. The research assumed that ‘truth’ about the meaning of change in the comprehensive high schools restructured into a multi-campus college, could be gained through the researcher’s interaction with interviewees. This interaction was further assumed to create opportunity for the interviewees to reconstruct the multiple realities experienced by students, teachers, principals and parents in a multi-campus college.

This assumption was important for this thesis because it provided the philosophical basis for the case study interview methodology which was followed to gather most of the data for this thesis.

The third assumption was that the present research was fundamentally exploratory in nature. This assumption was made because, although in chapter 4 the

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Dynamics Paradigm for this thesis was developed to help make sense of the field research data as recommended by researchers such as Maxwell (1996), Denzin and

Lincoln (2000) and Merriam (2001), the data summarised in chapter 3 showed that there was a dearth of information on the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college. Therefore, this assumption led to the belief, that it was best for the research to put aside any preconceptions of the Dynamics Paradigm and instead really listen to the data that was gathered from the people who were interviewed in each multi-campus college.

Because of this premise carried to the research design, the research nets cast into each multi-campus college assumed that the parameters or the structural-cultural dynamics in each site were largely unknown which, according to Miles and Huberman

(1994), was a reasonable assumption to make in an exploratory research such as this one. These authors also suggested that a study in an exploratory area, such as the present one was, “does not have to prove anything. It is good enough for the study to produce descriptions, comparisons and frameworks that lead to some data-grounded and theoretically-grounded hypotheses that could inform future studies” (p. 35).

Another key assumption of this thesis was that the campuses that comprise each of the multi-campus colleges that were to be studied operated in a “loosely coupled system”. This assumption was made on the basis of, firstly, a theoretical consideration and secondly, on a practical dimension. From a theoretical perspective, the assumption was based on Pace’s (2002, p.27) conceptualisation of a of Work System in which he says that for the elements of a Work System “to be loosely coupled means that a change in one element of the system may affect other elements, as implied by the idea of interdependence, though the effect may not be evident right away”.

From a practical, methodological point of view for the conduct of this research, this appeared to be a realistic assumption given the geographical separation of the campuses that comprise one college. This assumption influenced the design of interview

176 questions so as to target the structural-cultural dynamics criteria (See section 3.6.2) implicit in the “loose couplings” in both a horizontal as well as a vertical perspective.

Horizontally, the middle school campuses are assumed to interact with one another.

Vertically, the middle school campuses interact with the senior campus of which they are the feeder schools. Moreover, the senior campus is also assumed to have “loose couplings” with TAFE and University with which it is co-located in one site and with which it shares educational facilities. Following these assumptions, questions were framed so as to target the dynamics variables (See dynamics criterion number 10 in

Dynamics mapping in Figure 4-3 on page 125), involved in these linkages.

Moreover, Pace (2002, p.28) suggests that “loosely coupled systems are better able to cope with unexpected challenges and disruptions and also tend to be more responsive to changes in their environment”. Working with this assumption enabled the present study to cast the research net widely so as to capture as much interaction

(couplings) as possible among principals, teachers, students and parents across the different campuses of each college so as to gain an understanding of the structural and cultural dynamics involved in those “loose couplings” or “tight couplings” and how they were coping with the challenges of change.

The fifth assumption of the study – and one that has considerable support in the literature – (e.g. Schein, 1992; Mulford, 1994; 2003; Evans, 1996; Scott, 1999; Marks et al., 2000; Fullan, 2001a; 2001b, 2004; Silins and Mulford, 2001; 2002; Mulford, Silins and Leithwood, 2004), was that multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics need learning leaders not managers. This assumption arose out of educational literature such as that cited above, some of which explicitly “concluded that change cannot be

‘managed’. It can be understood, and perhaps led, but it cannot be fully controlled”

(Fullan, 2004, p.42). This is also in agreement with Jaffe and Scott (1999, p. 169) who say that “leaders who let go of control, and do not try to manage every aspect of the process, will succeed more fully than those who do not”. This assumption was also

177 informed by Beare (2003, p. 109) who quotes Senge (1999) as saying, “forget your tired old ideas about leadership. The organisations that will truly excel in the future will be those that discover how to tap people’s capacity to learn at all levels”.

Additionally, a learning leader (Marks et al., 2000) was characterised by Silins and Mulford (2001, p.9) following Schein (1992) as “fostering a learning culture in the organisation, detecting dysfunctionality and promoting transformation” – attributes which appear most desirable in the principalship of a newly structured multi-campus college. Moreover, in a discussion on ‘Shaping Tomorrow’s Schools’, in answer to the question: “what would I do next if I were in, or thinking about, a position of leadership in a school?” Mulford’s (1994, p.23) response included the suggestion that: “I would give people opportunities and hold them and myself accountable for attaining shared outcomes”. Furthermore, Mulford (2003, p.2) explicitly says that:

one of the most consistent findings from studies of effective school leadership is that authority to lead need not be located in the person of the leader but can be dispersed within the school between and among people.

Moreover, learning leaders can be expected to exercise “transformational practices” which Silins and Mulford (2002, p. 430) say are indicated by “a move away from a leadership paradigm based on power and control to one based on the ability to act with others and to enable others to act”. As Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004, p.1) further say, “schools moving from competitive, top-down forms of power to more collective and facilitative forms,… are finding greater success” at educational reforms.

Such a paradigm shift also appears to be consistent with the current understanding of the role of a school principal as a change agent, (Dinham et al., 1995, p.36), who empowers staff to participate in improved outcomes-yielding activities rather than tries to manage whatever change happens at his/her school.

This assumption was useful from a methodological stance for this thesis because it focused the research on improvements in the 16 structural-cultural dynamics for this

178 study. This assumption steered the research along this path, because the essence of restructuring the DET comprehensive high schools to establish multi-campus colleges was the improvement of school practices and educational outcomes in those colleges.

This is a logical expectation because “no matter what your specific change objectives are, the overarching goal is always (italics emphasis in original text), to move towards a higher performing work system. Or else why bother”? (Evans and Schaefer,

2001, p.7). This sounds like a great idea. However, as Fullan points out, having a good idea is not enough. “The leader who has some of the best ideas around but can’t get anyone to buy into them may be dead right” (Fullan, 2004, p.48). This is where effective leadership can make a difference by introducing strong transforming change processes which help good ideas to become embedded (Fullan, 2004, p.42) as the cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college and hopefully increase its capacity to engage students, teachers and parents among improved relationships which facilitate

“organisational learning” (Mulford, Silins and Leithwood, 2004, p.5) and further help their school to move towards becoming:

a learning organisation … (where there is) a trusting and collaborative climate, a shared and monitored mission, taking initiative and risks, and ongoing, relevant professional development (Mulford, 2003, p.12).

Assumption number 6 was that leadership in a multi-campus college, because of the complicated vertical and horizontal coordination needed among the campuses, geographically separated but structurally integrated into one college, would play an even greater role than in a typical comprehensive high school located on one site.

Methodologically, this assumption created the awareness of the need to investigate the role of principals and their leadership teams in the establishment of their multi-campus colleges and in the formation of the structural-cultural dynamics currently existing or in the process of emerging within their colleges. Questions were therefore designed to target leadership dynamics in each of the multi-campus colleges case studied.

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5.7.2 Limitations of the thesis

Culture, Schein (1997) admonishes, takes time to evolve. This may mean that some of the structural-cultural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges studied were inconspicuous during the time of the research because all the colleges studied are in the early phases of establishment. Awareness of this limitation provides impetus for further research into these colleges as they mature.

A second limitation of the research was that neither the literature, nor secondary data or interview data clearly distinguished between structural and cultural aspects of the multi-campus college phenomenon. This was understandable because distinguished leaders in the field of reframing organisations such as Fullan (2001a-b, 2003, 2004),

Silins and Mulford (2001), Silins and Mulford (2002), Mulford, Silins and Leithwood

(2004) and Stanford (2005), counsel that there is a very close interconnectedness between the structural and cultural dynamics in an organisation which makes it extremely difficult to isolate the effects of one from those of the other. The literature that defined organisational “culture” as “the deep structure of the organisation” (Jaffe and Scott, 1999, p. 5), also clearly illustrates the blurred boundary between structural and cultural aspects of a school. Because of this limitation, as discussed earlier (See section 1.4.1 on page 9 and chapter 4, page 126), where the relationships appeared intertwined beyond distinction, the composite term structural-cultural dynamics was used in the analysis of data in this thesis.

Another limitation relates to the role of leadership in a multi-campus college. No doubt, as indicated above in the discussion of assumption number 5 (See page 178), leadership was presumed to play an even greater role in a multi-campus college than in a traditional comprehensive high school located on one site. However, the study acknowledges that the thesis was not a study of the role of leadership in a multi-campus college. Aware of this limitation, therefore, as much as the role of leadership was an

180 important dimension, it was only dealt with as one of the many important aspects of the structural-cultural dynamics investigated in the present thesis.

A further limitation of the research was the scope of the thesis. The research investigated the structural-cultural dynamics in only four out of the eleven multi- campus colleges in the State. The limited number of schools studied tends to limit the external validity of the findings. A more inclusive study would have helped to shed some light on the other colleges as well. That would enable similarities and contrasts in management practices and outcomes to be uncovered. Moreover, the present thesis does not compare students’ outcomes in the multi-campus colleges with those of students in other public schools outside the multi-campus colleges cluster schools. Such a comparison would, for instance, enable an evaluation of outcomes in multi-campus colleges with those in an equally resourced, traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school.

However, it was felt that focusing on a few cases and studying them intensely would yield more relevant and reliable data on the structural-cultural dynamics in those colleges and make a greater incremental contribution to knowledge and to a more informed understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in the multi-campus college way of delivering secondary schooling.

The fifth limitation that the research faced concerned the present researcher’s reflexivity. This arose because, apart from previous practice in a leadership role in the establishment of a multi-campus college, I continued to teach in one of these colleges over the duration of this research. This sometimes had the effect of constraining interpretation of data as extra caution was needed to guard against contamination of data from the colleges studied with personal reflections of experience in my own multi- campus college. In the words of Senge (1999, p. 127), there was the challenge “of being able to step back far enough” from my own multi-campus college situation, “to see the forest for the trees” in the research phenomena.

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An additional limitation that was experienced during the interviews was the very strong positions taken by some of the interviewees in the leadership positions in the colleges vis-a-vis those of non executive teachers. Some of the responses of the former appeared to reflect very subjective views which necessitated more frequent questioning and re-testing of the data across the sites and interviewees before respondent validation was achieved.

A different limitation was the obvious ‘over-enthusiasm’ with which some interviewees responded to the lead-in questions of the interviews and tended to talk

‘non-stop’. This called for an interviewing technique which listened for the perspectives of the interviewee but also cautiously managed the process so as to progress along the questions that had been prepared to guide the interview towards the 16 structural- cultural dynamics of the research. While the careful management of the interview process decreased the impact of this limitation, nevertheless some of the data was rather

‘off topic’. Besides, this tended to prolong the duration of such interviews. Additionally, it extended the production of the transcripts and the data analysis.

5.8 Conclusion

Informed by the literature on the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in an organisation which was discussed in chapter 2, and by the secondary data on multi-campus college establishment discussed in chapter 3, and by the wide range of variables in the Dynamics Paradigm presented in chapter 4, the decision to design the research as a case study inquiry created opportunity for the thesis to take advantage of the interactive epistemological assumptions as well as the multiple realities ontological assumptions that undergird this case study.

Through an application of both qualitative and quantitative research instruments, in a multiple-site sample design, the research benefited significantly from strengths of methodological and analytical tools triangulation as well as locational triangulation

182 across the sites in order to validate data and to gain a more informed understanding of the multiple realities reconstructed by interviewees in the structural and cultural dynamics in each of the four multi-campus colleges studied.

The results are presented and discussed in the following three chapters (6, 7 and

8), and analysed and discussed in chapter 9 before the thesis is concluded in chapter 10.

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CHAPTER 6

RESULTS, PART ONE INTERVIEWEES’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE BACKGROUND FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS TO ESTABLISH THE FOUR MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED

6.1 Introduction: A restatement of the research questions to focus the data analysis

This is the first of three chapters all of which present and analyse the data from across the four multi-campus colleges investigated to answer the research questions for this thesis. As stated earlier (See page 5), the thesis was guided by two central questions, firstly: Why were some of the comprehensive high schools in New South

Wales restructured into multi-campus colleges? And secondly: What is the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college following such restructuring?

As explained in chapter 1, these questions arose out of the literature reviewed in chapter 2 and the background data for this research which detailed in chapter 3 how the

DET had restructured some of its comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges. Interpreted within the postulates of the Dynamics Paradigm designed and discussed in chapter 4, the restructuring had changed, not only the structural dynamics in the “Human and Physical Infrastructure” of the campuses, but also in their “Human

Interactions”, in the “Search for Excellence element” as well as the “Results of Human

Enterprise” (See Dynamics Paradigm, p.108).

As the research was informed by the literature and secondary data discussed in the respective chapters above, the two central research questions were expounded with subsidiary questions so as to enable the thesis to focus on the salient aspects of the colleges’ background issues as well as the core structural-cultural dynamics identified by the 16 dynamics criteria discussed in section 3.6.2 and incorporated in the Dynamics

Paradigm on page 108.

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The subsidiary questions from the first central research question were:

1.1 What are interviewees’ understandings of why the DET restructured some of its

autonomous year 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools and integrated them to

established the multi-campus college in their area?

1.2 What are interviewees’ understandings of whose vision it was and how it was shared

at the establishment phase of the restructuring?

1.3 What are interviewees’ understandings of why a variety of models was introduced?

As illustrated in the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 (subdivisions 1.1 – 1.3), these three questions are investigated in the Human Infrastructure element of the

Dynamics Paradigm. The findings are reported in the present chapter (See Dynamics mapping to data in Figure 4-3, on page 125). The 16 subsidiary questions for the second central research question, first stated in section 1.3 (page 5) and represented in the central blocks 2.1 – 4.6 of the Dynamics Paradigm (page 108), are clearly mapped in columns 2 and 3 of Figure 4-3. As illustrated, they are answered in chapters 7 and 8.

6.2 Interviewees’ understanding of reasons why their comprehensive high schools

had been restructured and the four multi-campus colleges established

6.2.1 Factors regarded as the key reasons for the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools

An analysis of interviewees’ responses to the question: “Tell me why the comprehensive high schools in this area were restructured to establish this college?” found that interviewees believed that there was no single factor in the DET’s decision to restructure the high schools into the four multi-campus colleges studied. Rather it was a set of circumstances which the interviewees described in a variety of ways relevant to the background structural and cultural dynamics using terms such as “curriculum, enrolments, retention rates, local need, dilapidated buildings, economic rationalisation, politics, need for education of the 21st century, vision and demography”. There was

185 frequent concurrence in the interview data across the four colleges and therefore, it was possible to categorise all the responses into six subsuming themes, namely: curriculum, opportunity, contingency, efficiency, policy or politics and demonstration effects and then analyse the data in the following subsections, in respect of these themes.

6.2.1.1 Curriculum reasons for restructuring the comprehensive high schools

Interview data analysed in the Human and Physical Infrastructure element of the

Dynamics Paradigm showed that one of the most widely shared views was the firm belief among the interviewees that the participating schools needed to be restructured because they were no longer meeting the curriculum needs of the diverse numbers of students in those high schools. Interviewees believed that this was so since the curriculum these high schools could offer was restricted because of the low enrolments at those schools. As a result, students had a limited subject choice. Thus, even though the HSC curriculum had been widened with new subjects, the reality in those schools was that students could not take them due to the fact that the comprehensive high school structure did not have the student numbers to justify conducting classes in certain subjects. The following comment from the Minister of Education supported this finding:

the comprehensive high school model wasn’t meeting the needs of all the students and so this was having a huge impact on enrolments and retention rates in year 11 and 12. When the HSC was revised we deliberately broadened its scope and introduced new subjects. But the problem that these schools had was that because they had low enrolments there would be a large number of students who would not be able to do certain subjects simply because they could not be offered to the small number of students (Minister of Education, 28/04/04).

In three sites where enrolment numbers had been low before the restructuring, interviewees said that it was common to have several classes in each high school with less than four students enrolled in subjects such as physics, economics and agriculture which normally attract low candidature. In such situations it became very difficult for

186 the autonomous comprehensive high school structures to sustain such small class sizes and in many cases, “the individual schools simply couldn’t offer them” (Principal,

Country-A2). This suggests that the existing structure of such comprehensive high schools restricted students’ subject choice.

As illustrated further in a subsequent interview, the inability of individual high school structures to offer the subjects that students wished to study was seen as “a weakness of the comprehensive high school model which warranted very, very serious consideration for restructuring” (District Superintendent, Metro-A area) because it was no longer meeting the curriculum needs of the wide diversity of the HSC candidature in the schools.

In concurrence with this view it was also said that the old comprehensive high school structure needed to be changed because the participating schools were dealing with a much more diverse candidature, with different academic levels and interests because many students now stayed on into year 11 and 12 even after the compulsory education level. Accordingly, a model that could not cater for that cultural diversity and did not, for instance, include opportunity for large numbers of students to do vocational education and training, was perceived as unable to meet the curriculum needs of students and therefore construed to be ineffective.

The restructuring of such comprehensive high schools into a multi-campus college structure was seen as a solution to the limited curriculum problem because through a reconfiguration of the cohorts and an integration of several nearby high schools into a cluster of middle schools and a senior high school, enrolment numbers throughout those schools could be boosted and a broader curriculum could then be offered in the senior campus to HSC students. This was well articulated by an interviewee who said:

the real reason we went this way was because the new structure allowed us to aggregate the numbers from the three high schools in year 11 and 12 in this town. The aggregation gave us the critical mass which then could

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be given a wide range of academic courses, TVET courses; courses which I believe meet the educational needs of all the students (Parent, Ex Principal, Country-A).

This reasoning was given by parents, principals and teachers in all the four colleges. It was therefore possible to triangulate interview data across the four sites. The triangulation revealed a high concurrence in the interview data from different sites. This finding confirmed one of Livermore’s (1990) main reasons for proposing the establishment of Mt. Rogers multi-campus college in the ACT, Canberra.

A number of interviewees extended the curriculum argument to the need to specialise in either middle school or senior school pedagogy. For instance, a founding member of one of the sites (Metro-A) said that he didn’t believe that teachers could address middle school and senior school years simultaneously, and be able to meet the curriculum needs of both groups because in his view, it was far too demanding.

Accordingly, he had advocated the restructuring of the Metro-A high schools so that instead of what he called ‘de-skilling teachers’ by getting them to teach right across the years 7 – 12 cohorts, the new structure would encourage ‘deep skilling’ of teachers by making them specialists in either middle school or senior school pedagogy.

As the analysis of teachers’ outcomes in chapter 8 shows, some interviewees were of the view that this expectation was being realised. To the extent that this was happening, it indicated that the re-structuring of comprehensive high schools needs to be facilitated by a re-culturing of teachers within those schools if it is to be effective.

This finding was consistent with leading educational change thought which postulates that while changing the “structure does make a difference, in achieving success, the main point is reculturing” (Fullan, 2001b, pp. 43 – 44).

Supporting the curriculum reason for restructuring was interviewees’ data which suggested that the reason they had accepted the DET’s new model was because they

188 saw it as a way of improving secondary education in their area. For example, an interviewee who supported this reason said:

A new structure was needed in terms of secondary education in town. The issue for us was about improvement, about doing things better. The vision was about providing education that was appropriate in the 21st century. So the structure of secondary education needed to change by amalgamating the three high schools in town, build up large numbers and offer a better, more meaningful education (Principal, Country-A).

A comparative analysis of interview data from different interviewees and sites showed that interviewees thought that the new model would represent improvement in secondary schooling delivery because they believed that where they had three comprehensive high schools such as those that formed Country-B multi-campus college, by combining them together on a collegial basis, and making two of them years 7 – 10 feeder schools, they would then make one senior school, the years 11 – 12 school. The integration of students in the feeder schools would then give them a large number of students who would make it more feasible for the senior high school to offer both a wide range of subjects as well as a wider range of levels within subjects. This way, it was argued, the new structure would be able to provide better educational opportunities in terms of curriculum and they would also enable those students to realise better outcomes such as band 5 and 6 in the HSC results and better University Admission

Indices (UAI). This was expected to occur because the students would be doing subjects of their own interest and choice, thereby improving the dynamism within the cultural dynamics of their college, leading to the achievement of superior outcomes.

A subsidiary argument to the curriculum reason suggested that following the establishment of the multi-campus college structural dynamics, there is a need to change the cultural dynamics in the school’s area. In Country-B College, for instance, an interviewee gave the following explanation which supported this finding:

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For some time there had been the feeling that if you came to one of these schools you were already classed as somebody who wasn’t going to achieve particularly well. These schools were achieving poor HSC results. And so by restructuring them we wanted to give everyone a chance to have another go at becoming a success in their secondary education (Principal, Country-B).

In essence, this ‘poor HSC results-cum-low expectations argument’ suggested that the structure needed to change to help change the cultural dynamics which had formed among parents, teachers and students in the Human and Physical Infrastructure element of the college. This finding, which was corroborated in another site where it was said that the restructuring was needed to help mitigate the negative publicity whipped up by the press about some comprehensive high schools in the area which ‘had failed students’ who had achieved poor results in a recent HSC examination (The Daily

Telegraph, 01/1996), suggested, once again, that there was a view that changing the structure of a comprehensive high school would make a difference. This is because the changed structure would provide opportunities to change the cultural dynamics within the multi-campus college Work System.

The data showed that interviewees considered that in its decision to restructure some of its comprehensive high schools into multi-campus college structures, the DET believed that the introduction of the new structural dynamics in those schools would have an important role to play in positively changing the cultural dynamics in those

Work Systems. However, it needs to be pointed out, that such change “often meets with resistance” (Stanford, 2005, p.238) from the established relationships and forces. Indeed

Mintzberg (1979, p. 67) warns that “to tamper with these forces is often to invite strong resistance”. This warning served to inform the present thesis that, therefore, restructuring of comprehensive high schools to establish a multi-campus college needs to be particularly well led because, unlike the orthodox comprehensive high school, it involves many more layers of participants and stakeholders.

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The interpretation of the interview data which advanced the curriculum breadth argument for the restructuring of the high schools fitted into the Human and Physical

Infrastructure element of the Dynamics Paradigm quite logically. This was because interviewees’ aggregate arguments reflected the conviction that there had been experienced negative outcomes for students in the old structural dynamics in which education was being delivered. Subsequently, interviewees went on to explain, there was therefore the need to change to a new Human and Physical Infrastructure, whose structural dynamics would provide for better cultural dynamics by way of a broader curriculum for students in the new multi-campus college structure.

6.2.1.2 ‘Seizing the opportunity’ as the reason for restructuring comprehensive high schools

In Metro-A college, which was the only site where curriculum considerations were not given as the major reason for restructuring the high schools, it was said that their schools were restructured into the multi-campus college model mainly because an opportunity had arisen in the area. In that situation, the opportunity which interviewees described as ‘too good to miss’ was the fact that a site that had been a campus of one of the Universities in New South Wales was being vacated and the University had put it up for sale. Interviewees said that the DET saw this as an opportunity to acquire the site and set up a senior campus in situ, taking occupation of the relatively high information technology that was available in the infrastructure.

Accordingly, at a cost of $15 million (DET, 2004), the DET purchased the site and subsequently reframed the three, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools in the area into years 7 – 10 campuses which then served as feeder schools for the senior campus on the newly acquired site, which became Metro-A4. This reason was given credence not only because the information was first hand from the Minister of the New

South Wales Government who had made this decision, but also because of the high

191 concurrence of independent narratives that corroborated one another. To give one example of many, a key interviewee said: “This college was formed because the (name of site) became vacated by the (name of University) and so the government seized the opportunity to set up a senior school there” (Principal, Metro-A-2).

In corroborating this position another insider interviewee who had been involved in the setting up of Metro-A college said:

For us, whatever we did was not driven by necessity but opportunity. Our schools, unlike elsewhere where collegiates were considered, were not struggling with enrolments. We had successful schools with substantial enrolments and some waiting lists. However, the (named University) wanted to sell the site and a review which was set up to look into this matter recommended that it be used as the senior campus which was part of a secondary collegiate, and that it should have a TAFE and a University.

So I brought together different community groups and I said, given that we now have this site what will we do with it? And so we considered a lot of alternatives and in the end decided on a collegiate with the new site as its senior campus (District Superintendent, Metro-A area).

Additional interview data that validated the ‘opportunity’ reason for restructuring said that for them, the new model had not been introduced to increase enrolments because their high schools “were already stretching at the seams with the numbers that they had in them” (Deputy, Metro-A). According to him the primary reason why their schools had been restructured was to seize the opportunity offered by the vacant site in the area. However, as the analysis of enrolment dynamics in the next chapter shows, even those high schools which had large enrolments before the restructuring took place, appear to have increased their enrolments and retention rates following the new structural dynamics. Therefore, it could be said, that in so far as student enrolments and retention rates were concerned, all the high schools that were restructured experienced improved outcomes.

Moreover, even though the trigger for the establishment of Metro-A college was the opportunity that was created by a University campus that had become vacant, there was also the view that in ‘seizing the opportunity’ the DET was also neutralising a

192 possible threat which could have faced their comprehensive high schools in the area if the University site had been sold to the private sector. There was speculation among some interviewees in the Metro-A college that if the site had been sold to the private sector, a selective high school would have been set up and this could have attracted many students who otherwise would have gone to the existing comprehensive high schools. It was feared that such competition from the private sector would have worsened the drift of students away from public education.

It thus appears that in changing the structural dynamics among the three high schools to establish Metro-A multi-campus college, the DET pursued a quadrilogy of mutually interdependent cultural dynamics. Firstly, they seized the opportunity.

Secondly, they warded off the threat from an interested private school. Thirdly, they advanced their political agenda to give public education a higher profile and fourthly, they put in place structural dynamics designed to stem the drift of students from public to private school as discussed further in section 6.2.1.5.

6.2.1.3 Contingency as the reason for restructuring high schools

One reason that was given by principals, DET and Ministerial interviewees was that the existing local high school structure needed to change to meet local needs. The interviewees who advanced this reason gave the understanding that the structural dynamics inherent in the traditional comprehensive high school model were not the most appropriate under their specific set of local conditions and cultural dynamics.

Accordingly, they argued that the local demographic, social and political factors in their cultural dynamics had been the reason for the restructuring of the traditional, isolated comprehensive high schools into their integrated multi-campus college structure.

Consistent with Yukl’s (1998, p.265) concept of ‘contingency’, this term was used in the data analysis to embrace these locational or situational factors.

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For instance, one key interviewee said “there was no ‘one model fits all’. Where we established these colleges was in areas where there was a particular perception of special needs in the area. Those needs differed from place to place. So our aim was to come up with solutions which were specific to those particular locations” (Minister,

28/04/04). In most locations student enrolments and retention rates were low and the new model offered promise to redress the local circumstances responsible for that situation.

This reason was well evidenced, for instance, by the cultural dynamics in the situation around the comprehensive high schools which were restructured in the establishment of Metro-B multi-campus college. Interviewees (Principals, Metro-B1 and Metro-B4) said that in their situation the New South Wales government had already agreed to build a new comprehensive high school in the area to meet projected population growth. However, the DET realised that one of the comprehensive high schools in the area where the DET wanted to build a new high school was actually having large enrolments and good retention rates because of new subdivisions in the area. So they felt that in their situation, there was no need to build another comprehensive high school there.

However, they noted at the same time, that two other comprehensive high schools in the area faced a real threat of closure because their enrolments had dropped dramatically. So instead of building another years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, they decided to build a years 11 – 12 senior school, and then restructure the three closest comprehensive high schools into years 7 – 10 middle schools to be feeder schools into the new senior campus. And so it was from a consideration of the cultural dynamics in their situation (i.e. contingency), that the structural dynamics of the three high schools in the area were changed with the establishment of new structural dynamics in the name of Metro-B collegiate.

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Interviewees showed that ‘contingency’ was not an isolated reason in the restructuring of the high schools but rather universal across the four colleges. For instance, in an interview which contained first-hand information on the restructuring of their schools it was submitted that:

I didn’t want to sort of put one strait-jacket over all the colleges. I thought that it was better if we let the structure of each college evolve as a local thing based on local needs. So the structure is part of the unique or individual response to the needs per locality that dictated what was going to happen in that area. Each college structure responded to specific need in a specific location (Minister, 28/04/04).

Outside Ministerial sources there was a strong concurrence among interviewees that ‘contingency’ was a major reason in the restructuring of each of the sites. For instance, an interviewee said that “the college arose out of the need to have a new school in our area because (name of) comprehensive high school was very old and dilapidated and needed to be replaced” (Principal, Country-A). So in their situation, the high school that badly needed to be rebuilt was the trigger for the introduction of the new structural dynamics in the form of Country-A multi-campus college, comprising a new senior site at Country-A3 and two middle feeder schools, namely Country-A1 and

Country-A2. These campuses were structured, curiously, with years 7 – 9 middle school cohorts, and years 10 – 12 cohorts in the senior campus.

As discussed in the next chapter, this structure, which was unique to the Country based multi-campus colleges, was inspired by a consideration of cultural dynamics among Aboriginal parents and students in the main town around those schools. There was an understanding, that those cultural dynamics were affecting enrolments and retention rates of Aboriginal students in those areas. This finding lent further support to

‘contingency’ as the reason for restructuring. It was found that the new structural dynamics thus set up had a significantly positive impact on the cultural dynamics of students in the area, especially of Aboriginal background. Those structural-cultural dynamics are detailed in the next chapter.

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6.2.1.4 Efficiency reasons for the restructuring of comprehensive high schools

The high cost that some comprehensive high schools were facing in their delivery of HSC courses was another reason that was given for the restructuring of three out of the four colleges studied. It was explained that because these schools had very low candidatures in years 11 and 12, some classes would have 4, or 3 or even 2 students doing a subject. These schools could not group students to have economies of scale through large class numbers because they were autonomous entities. Additionally, they could not provide up-to-date equipment, information technology and other resources for use by the few students in the isolated, autonomous sites. This was repeated and clarified in several interviews such as one which said: “we used to have say 3 physics classes across the three schools in our town, each with 6 kids. So that made it economically difficult to sustain such low numbers” (College Deputy, Country-A).

This argument was also clarified further by interviewees’ data from other sites where it was said, for instance, that:

the problem for us was that the schools had low enrolments. So it became very expensive and indeed prohibitive to be able to offer the range of subjects that students wanted. So at one end, we couldn’t offer vocational subjects; and at the academic end of the spectrum, we would have sometimes 2 or 3 or 4 students in a particular level of subject. This was economically prohibitive and so those subjects simply weren’t offered (Principals Metro-B and Country-B).

There was also supporting evidence among several interviewees who explained that one of the reasons they had restructured their three years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools was that by taking years 11 and 12 off them this would leave room to build up their numbers to six classes in each cohort of the middle schools. On their year 10 graduation, the three schools would each be sending over 200 students to the new senior high school thus enabling a realisation of economies of scale for the college both in the middle schools and in the senior campus (Principal and Deputy, Metro-A). These interviewees’ reasons were consistent with those given earlier in the ACT, where

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Livermore (1990, p.8) had suggested that the establishment of Mt. Rogers Multi-

Campus College, would enable the participating schools to “become more efficient because they would be able to share resources, equipment, facilities and materials”.

Interviewees who gave the efficiency reason for restructuring reflected a sense of optimism in their apparent expectation that the new structural dynamics created with the establishment of a multi-campus college would lead to economic gains structurally and culturally, not only in the newly created senior campus but also in the middle school cohorts.

Additionally, it was found that in the multi-campus college sites which are situated conjointly with TAFE and University campuses, their location had been deliberately designed to give the new structures a more efficient use of resources through structural couplings and sharing of joint facilities and in utilising what interviewees saw as “unique opportunities that link secondary, TVET and tertiary education and thereby provide ‘The Smarter Way to Learn’, and gaining access to state of the art technology and to superior computing resources such as intranet networks and the internet” (Teacher, Metro-B).

6.2.1.5 Policy, politics and other practical reasons for restructuring the high schools into multi-campus colleges

A number of interviewees said that they believed that the multi-campus college in their area had been established primarily because the New South Wales government had made a political decision to do so. This was supported by evidence from other interviewees who also expressed the view that the government or the DET had an agenda to restructure the schools involved. For example one interviewee said that “this college was formed because the government didn’t want … private school to get the site and so it passed an Act in Parliament to acquire the site” (Principal, Metro-A).

Ministerial sources confirmed this view when they reported that “we had a campus there

197 which the (name of University) tried to sell. An Act was put to Parliament to stop it and we turned it into Metro-A4 to set up a major attraction to public education” (Minister,

28/04/04). The interviewees had interpreted the passing of the Act as Ministerial pursuit of a political agenda to partly keep education facilities in public hands, partly stem the drift of students to private schools while at the same time being expedient.

Further investigation in the Metro-A amalgam of schools revealed a duplication of the argument that the college had been established to prevent a (name of) private school owning the site. The data showed that there was an understanding among interviewees that if the site had been sold to private education, the three years 7 – 12 public comprehensive high schools in the area would have continued to exist, but only with very limited candidature and curriculum. The reason for this cultural dynamic was attributed to the fact that the private high school would have competed for their students and thus diminished their students’ intake. Interviewees explained that therefore “the

DET had acted to prevent that situation developing” (Deputy, Metro-A1, and Principal,

Metro-A2).

There was also the belief among interviewees across the four sites that their multi-campus college was established as part of the New South Wales government agenda to fight the drift of students to the non-government sector. The feeling, as articulated in one of the sites, was that the structural dynamics created by “the new model would make public education more attractive than the traditional comprehensive high schools in the area and would therefore encourage students back into the public system” (Principal, Metro-A4). As discussed in the next chapter, the establishment of

Metro-A college had helped to reduce the drift of students from the participating public schools cluster to the private schools in the area.

Apart from the ‘fighting the drift reason’, additional evidence suggested that following negative publicity by the press about poor performance in the HSC by some

198 students in some comprehensive high schools, the restructuring was undertaken by the

DET as “part of rebuilding the image of public education in the area” (Minister,

28/04/04).

This cultural dynamic was expected to flow from the new structural dynamics in a rather indirect way. It would take effect over time because, although government policy gave every student a right to attend their local high school, if the new model succeeded in attracting large enrolments a situation could be reached in due course, whereby the senior campus would be full; and so the only way to get into the new high school would be to enrol early in one of the middle schools. This way the new model’s structural dynamics were seen as having three advantages. Firstly, they were part of the government’s plan to give students guaranteed entry into the senior school where they would have a much wider range of choices in subjects. Secondly, this would provide better enticement for students to start year 7 in the feeder schools so that they would gain access to the senior campus. Thirdly, retention rates in the years 7 – 9/10 middle school campuses would be high. An interviewee who was well informed regarding the

Ministerial and government restructuring policies concluded that this, therefore, “would be a great plus for public education” (Minister, 28/04/04).

Also consistent with government policy relating to the new structures was the view that the DET wanted to create additional choice for secondary school students within the departmental schools. For example, it was pointed out by an interviewee that whereas there was choice between public and private schools, there wasn’t any among public schools. Accordingly, the new structures were advocated because the DET believed that they would help to introduce some kind of choice within the public education system in that they would offer a variety of educational opportunities which could be provided in different structures, as contrasted between the multi-campus college structure and the traditional comprehensive high school structure.

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This view however was not shared by all interviewees across the four colleges.

For instance, some parents said that once the comprehensive high schools in their area had been re-configured into the multi-campus college structure, they were left with no choice as to where to send their secondary school students because other comprehensive high schools were simply too far away for them to consider. So for those parents, the introduction of the multi-campus college structure reduced rather than increased school choice. This, for instance, was one of the main reasons why parents who had been used to sending their children to a single sex school (e.g. boys only such as Metro-A1 or girls only such as Metro-A3) were very reluctant to accept the new model which meant that now all students in year 11 and 12 could only go to one, co-educational campus, namely

Metro-A4. It was said that parents of students in the single sex comprehensive high schools had opposed the idea of the new model because they believed that their teenage girls and boys would perform better in year 11 and 12 on their own rather than in co- education in the new senior campus. There was an understanding that parents feared that their children could be distracted from academic work through socialising in the new environment.

There was also the view that the establishment of their multi-campus college was part of government’s commitment not to close schools that were struggling with low enrolments but instead to re-configure them because this would revitalise education in the area. Concurrent data said, for instance that “the issue for us was to retain kids in government schools” (Principal, Country-A), and that “the restructuring was part of the political agenda” (Principal, Metro-B).

The view that politics played an important part in the restructuring of high schools to establish the multi-campus colleges studied was expressed not only among principals but by parents and teachers as well. The different interviewees said, for instance:

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once the New South Wales Government took ownership of this site, they made a decision that something had to be done with it. So it was fait accompli that this college was going to happen. They had to do something with the site. (Teacher, Metro-A).

(Name of private college) was coming in here and the Labour Government didn’t want to be seen to be supporting a private institution in this area. So the decision to form this college was purely political. No doubt about that. (Parent, Metro-A).

This model was introduced by (name of Minister) who was a great fan of the model and since he’s gone no more are being established (Teacher, Country-A). The whole thing was so politically driven. (Teacher, Country-B). This whole restructuring thing was political. (Parent, Country-A).

Within the voices of interviewees who identified ‘politics’ as the reason for the restructuring of their comprehensive high schools, there appeared to be an expression of a sense of helplessness and a lack of opportunity to participate in or to influence the restructuring decision. Teachers and parents appeared to be regretful of the fact that they had been excluded from the decision. This point is unpacked further in the next section of this chapter.

There was also evidence from another interviewee, (Principal, Metro-B), that demographical data gathered by departmental statisticians had led the DET and the

Government to believe that the area needed a new secondary high school. However, rather than build a new years 7 – 12 school, politicians felt that it would be better to build a new years 11 – 12 high school and fold the three comprehensive high schools in the area into feeder schools for the new high school. This would enable schools in the area to provide superior resources to cope with the large numbers of students that the demographers had predicted for the area.

6.2.1.6 Demonstration effects as the reason for restructuring the comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges

A number of interviewees said that the decision to establish three of the four colleges had been influenced by the structural and cultural dynamics which were seen as

201 innovations and opportunities that had been realised, for instance at Morwell in

Victoria, where Kurnai Multi-Campus College had been established by Dr. Jack Howe in 1987 as discussed earlier in chapter 3. The most convincing evidence on this reasoning came from an interviewee who had been a key decision maker in one of the high schools before it was restructured and had actually participated in the campaigns to restructure it into a multi-campus college. The interviewee said that he and several other people had contacted Dr. Jack Howe at Kurnai College and had been very impressed by what he was doing at Morwell. In his own words about Dr. Howe, the interviewee said:

He was a visionary and he had done marvellous things over there with a multi-campus college; and we said this model could work for us too. So I spoke to (key decision makers) and we ran with the model. That’s where the model came from (Parent, Ex Principal, Country-A).

This suggestion that the Kurnai model had been influential in the restructuring decision was also confirmed by another interviewee from a different site (Principal,

Metro-A) who indicated that they made variations on the Victorian model in designing theirs.

The evidence for the ‘demonstration effects’ from other multi-campus and senior college situations, such as those in the ACT and Victoria, mounted as interviewees from other sites (e.g: Metro-B1, Metro-B3 and Country-A) admitted that they had looked at a number of models to get some ideas about how they were to structure theirs.

For instance, an interviewee concluded that having gone to Victoria where they had visited Kurnai College, they “decided that the preferred model was this collegiate structure” (Principal, Metro-B), which was similar to the Kurnai College structure.

In conclusion, there was consensus among interviewees from across the four colleges, that while there were differences in the local circumstances of their comprehensive high schools, the reasons their schools had been restructured were to do with providing a broader curriculum to give students a better subject choice, to improve students’ outcomes through a more efficient use of resources taking into consideration

202 the contextual differences in the Human and Physical Infrastructure of the schools involved. However, the extent to which parents and teachers in the schools restructured had been involved in the original vision for the new structural-cultural dynamics, appeared to be a subject for considerable debate as discussed in the following section.

As part of an attempt to understand the background factors and their impacts on the structural and cultural dynamics in the Human and Physical Infrastructure of the four colleges studied (See Dynamics Paradigm, p.108), and in particular to gain an understanding as to whether the original restructuring vision had been shared, participants’ views were sought regarding how they had been involved in the important decision to restructure their comprehensive high schools into the new multi-campus colleges.

In the analysis, teachers’ responses to the quantitative questionnaire statement that, “Before this school was made into a multi-campus structure, teachers were consulted for their views on the decision”, were analysed using the Likert-scale analytical tool discussed earlier, in chapter 5. The Likert-scale mean score of their perceptions was 1.44. The Likert-scale ranking interpretation of this statistic is that the participants strongly disagreed with this statement.

This finding meant that teachers held the view that they had not been meaningfully involved in the decision to restructure the Human and Physical

Infrastructure of their comprehensive high schools to establish the multi-campus college in their area and appeared to support the data presented in section 6.2 which indicated that the decision was part of government policy. The use of peoples’ involvement in

203 decision making as an indication of their interpretation of opportunity to share in the vision was consistent with the postulates of the Dynamics Paradigm.

Interpreted within the Dynamics Paradigm, the apparent ‘non-involvement’ of teachers in meaningful restructuring decisions would mean that the new structural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges were founded on weak social capital or human infrastructure because teachers had not been engaged effectively as agents of change in this process. The DET had initiated new structural dynamics but appears to have overlooked the Dynamics Paradigm’s proposition (See chapter 4) that if the changes in an educational setting are to have sustainable impacts on the cultural dynamics in the new Human and Physical Infrastructure, we need to place students and teachers at the centre of the organisation in order to underline the moral purpose of educational change, which aims at enhancing opportunities for the re-culturing of a positive school culture.

Fullan (2001a, p.18) agrees, for instance when he says that “a teacher cannot sustain change if he or she is working in a negative school culture”. In concert with

Pace (2002) and Fullan (2001a), other scholars of school improvement agree that

“nothing is more toxic to the development of a community of learners … than to put them in a position of only implementing the grand ideas of others, with which they may not agree” (Barth, 1990, p.150). Securing agreement of teachers in educational change decisions is vital because, as Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004, p.3) say:

Teachers (as well as their students and middle managers and principals) are the people most responsible for the long-term improvement of schools and the children in them. … Their actions, or inactions, help determine the fate of what happens in schools, including attempts at reform.

These leaders in the field further advise that “it is important that staff are actively and collectively participating in school and feel that their contributions are valued” (Mulford et al. 2004, p.6). Evans (1996) also supports this position.

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The apparent ‘non-involvement’ of teachers in such an important structural dynamics decision also appears to conflict with Pace’s “primary justification” for the establishment of a Work System which is “to promote the actualisation of individual potential of the people in the Work System” (Pace, 2002, pp.29-30).

The data suggesting that teachers had not been involved in the decision to restructure their schools provided an understanding of participants’ position on the important decision to restructure their high schools which was revealed for the first time, and therefore new knowledge in educational research literature on multi-campus college background factors.

When interviewees were asked to tell their understanding of how the vision of their college came about, several of their responses were concurrent with the Likert- scale determination discussed above. For instance, one interviewee said that a

Ministerial review of the situation surrounding the high schools in their area had

“recommended that the site be used as the senior campus of part of a secondary collegiate comprising three middle schools. So in some sense, the decision came from

‘top-down’” (District Superintendent, Metro-A). It appeared to be the case, that the decision had been made at Ministerial or departmental level and then it was handed down to people in the schools.

Another interviewee who commented on teachers’ involvement in the decision to restructure their years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school said, “from our point of view at the junior school I was at, you had either to get on board or get out. (Teacher,

Metro-A).

That interviewee conveyed a clear understanding of teachers’ lack of involvement or opportunity to influence the restructuring decision. According to Pace

(2002, p.6) where such opportunity is not provided in the Work System, optimism about workers’ role in the organisation is diminished. Moreover, Marris (1975, p. 121) says that for educational reform to be assimilated by organisational members, its meaning

205 needs to be shared”. This might explain why, in the analysis of data on the cultural dynamics that immediately followed the new structural dynamics, it was found that there had been resistance to the implementation of the decision. This finding was supported by a key interviewee, who said for instance; that “in every one of those multi- campus colleges created, it was always a struggle as we ran into substantial industrial opposition which caused a lot of frustration” (Minister, 28/04/04). Furthermore, as discussed earlier, there was clear evidence that it was not only teachers and their federation that were opposed to the decision to restructure the schools but some parents too were opposed to it.

Although, as will be discussed in chapter 8, parents’ views had become more positive over time, none of the interviewees in the four colleges admitted to having initiated the decision to restructure their respective high schools into the multi-campus college model. In all the sites, interviewees either directly said it was the Minister of

Education or the DET or implicitly pointed to the DET with explanations such as “from some quarter, came the decision that these three schools in town be amalgamated into two middle schools and one senior campus. … so they prepared a lot of arguments and actually determined the structure of it” (Deputy, Country-A). It was understood that

‘they’ referred to high ranking officials of the DET.

Across the four colleges, there was convergence of interviewees’ consideration that the vision for the introduction of the multi-campus college in their area had neither been a shared one nor a welcome one at the time of its inception. People had not welcomed the idea because they felt that they had not had a say in the decision. Others were against it because of ‘fear of the unknown’ syndrome. Their negative views were represented in the following interview data from across the four colleges:

The teachers were told, here it is; if you don’t like it we’ll give you a priority transfer. But the priority transfer wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. (Teacher, Metro-A). (The priority transfer wasn’t worth the paper it was written on because): they promised people priority transfers,

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but there were just no vacancies to match peoples’ subject needs; so the transfers couldn’t happen (Teacher, Country-A).

A decision was made and we had no say in the matter (Teacher, Country-B). People didn’t like it; particularly at (name of site) where many parents thought it was a retrograde step. (Principal, Metro-A). It was a decision of the politicians in this area (Principal, Metro-B). The parents in this area were dead against the restructure (Parent, Metro-A).

May be it was for fear of the unknown or change, but people here didn’t like it at all (Parent, Country-B).I don’t know of anyone who was for it. Nearly all staff were against it. The parents were definitely against it. The boys’ parents didn’t want their sons to mix in with girls. The community in this village was definitely against it (Teacher, Metro-A). The boys’ parents wanted their sons in a single sex school because they believed that their academic outcomes were better in single sex schools. (Principal, Metro-A).

In conclusion, it was quite clear that there was the understanding, that teachers and parents had not been meaningfully consulted as to whether the restructuring should take place or not. Thus the data tended to validate the view that the vision for the establishment of these four multi-campus colleges came from the Ministerial level because of their conviction of the curriculum, opportunity, contingency, efficiency, politics, demography and demonstration reasons discussed earlier, and had not been a shared vision. Nevertheless, the restructuring decision had been implemented resulting in new structural dynamics which impacted significantly on the teachers’ cultural dynamics as detailed in the next chapter.

In all fairness to the Ministerial and DET decision makers, it needs to be pointed out (and as discussed in greater detail in chapter 8), that following the initial restructuring decision which was made at the top levels in the Ministry and DET, an envisioning process had been followed. During that process “there were numerous meetings with principals and parents” (Minister, 28/04/04, and Principals in all colleges) to plan the establishment phase of the new model. As detailed in chapter 8, the principals were then given the responsibility to design the particular model structure and to implement the establishment of their new college. Moreover, some literature such as

Fraatz (1988), Hargreaves and Hopkins (1994), Levine (1994), Scott (1999) as well as

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Stoll and Fink (2001) suggests that it might not be desirable or pragmatic to involve all organisational members in all change decisions, especially in the early stages of decision-making, because of the possibility of arousing far too much resistance to the proposed changes. Scott (1999, p.6) in fact asserts that “it is a myth (to suggest that) a proposed change will only work if everyone it affects has approved of it”.

Nevertheless, the structural dynamics created with the establishment of the multi-campus college structure had continued to cause concern within the cultural dynamics in the colleges to the extent that following representation of some of the participants by the New South Wales Teachers’ Federation, “they have put an embargo on the establishment of any more of these colleges” (Principal, Metro-A). Further interviews concurred (Teachers, Country-A and B) that there was a felt need for the

Department of Education and other researchers to investigate the value of these colleges before consideration was given to the establishment of new ones. An analysis of the impacts of the new structural dynamics on the cultural dynamics experienced by students, teachers, principals and parents in the new colleges, is the subject of detailed discussion in the next two chapters.

6.4 Focus question 1.3: Interviewees’ reasons why a variety of structural dynamics models were introduced

The historical data reviewed in chapter 3 had shown that no two multi-campus colleges were structured in the same way. That data however, did not explain why or how they were different. So interviewees in each college were asked to, “Tell me about the structure of your college and why it was structured this way?” Relevant documents were also examined for answers to this question.

From the interview and documents data obtained from the four colleges, it became quite clear that multi-campus colleges are not structural-culturally homogeneous. They are rather heterogeneous in their profiles. Five contextual

208 differences were identified among the structural dynamics of the colleges as illustrated in Table 6.4-1. The analysis found that the main reason why the four colleges had been structured differently could be characterised as structural-cultural “contingency” because the interviewees’ and documents’ data was unanimous in its persistent submission that “each model was structured to meet local need”. For instance, a key decision-maker in the restructuring said, “I thought that it was better if we allowed the structure of each college to evolve as a local thing based on local needs” (Minister,

28/04/04).

Thus, as a result of ‘responding to the different local needs’, different structural dynamics and contextual differences had arisen in the colleges’ cohort configurations, gender composition, leadership structure, human and physical infrastructure and in institutional linkages as illustrated in Table 6.4-1 and were impacting on the cultural dynamics in each college as analysed in chapter 6 – 9.

For instance, as shown in Table 6.4-1, whereas 3 of the colleges were structured with middle school cohorts comprising years 7 – 10 which feed into a years 11 – 12 senior campus, the fourth college was structured with middle school cohorts comprising years 7 – 9 to feed into a senior campus consisting of years 10 – 12. The interviewees explained that while the former cohort structure was the most preferred structure among the colleges because it did not split the secondary school stages, the reason why the latter was chosen was to meet local student characteristics resident in the area of the college; thus confirming that ‘contingency’ had been a key factor in the structural design of each college.

It became apparent that the structural dynamics illustrated in the cohort configurations of Country-A college were deliberately chosen to meet certain cultural dynamics which appeared to be resident in the locale of this particular Country based college. For instance, interview data indicated that the college was located in an area

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Table 6.4-1: The key contextual differences in the Work System or Human and Physical Infrastructure among the four colleges studied

College by Pseudonym Contextual Descriptor Metro-A Metro-B Country-A Country-B

Cohort Configuration Year 7 – 9 No No Yes No Year 7 – 10 Yes Yes No Yes Year 10 – 12 No No Yes No Year 11 – 12 Yes Yes No Yes

Gender Composition

All campuses co-educational No Yes Yes Yes Some Unisex campuses Yes No No No

Leadership structure Overarching College Principal No No Yes Yes Overarching College Deputy in Admin Unit No No Yes No Rotating Coordinating College Deputy Yes No No No Non Rotating College Deputy at one site No Yes No No Campus Principal who is a Rotating Coordinating College Principal Yes No No No

Campus Principals rotate among sites No No Yes No

Human and Physical Infrastructure Average Cohort by size Middle school 152 149 201 238 Average cohort size Senior Campus 457 325 283 284 Average distance between campuses 5.5 km 5.75 km 6.7 km 6.0 km Round trip across all campuses 22 km 23 km 20 km 18 km

Institutional Linkages Part of elaborate Education Precinct No Yes No No Has access to University campus Yes Yes Yes Yes University services campus Yes No No No TAFE services campus Yes No No No Has access to TAFE Yes Yes Yes Yes

Source: Analysis of structural dynamics indicated in document and interview data from the four colleges studied.

210 where many students especially of Aboriginal background used to drop out of school after year 9 when they turned 15. “So, the (founding fathers) of this college felt that if they separated the year 10 from the senior campus this would worsen the drop out rate because the end of year 10 would be seen as a natural exit point” (Principal, Country-

A). Accordingly, it was decided to put year 10 on the same campus with year 11 and 12 in the hope that this would encourage students to stay beyond year 10 and into years 11 and 12.

The following Deputy Principal’s comment was typical of those from both the metropolitan and Country based colleges:

The decision there was based on the needs of that area. They were losing many young kids especially of Aboriginal background who were leaving after year 9 and would never return. And so they thought that by giving them experience of the senior campus while they were still in year 10 they would keep them in town and encourage them to stay for their HSC (Deputy, Metro-A).

Such data gave a good indication of the close relationship that exists between structural dynamics in a multi-campus college and the cultural dynamics resident in the locale where it is established. This is why the Human and Physical Infrastructure element of the Dynamics Paradigm used for this thesis (See page 108), included considerations of the external environment of each college.

The interviewees commonly held the view that the structural dynamics set up in the new structure of their multi-campus college were aimed at impacting on the behavioural patterns of some members within their group community. Consider, for example, the following comment:

the rationale was that we lost a lot of kids at the end of year 9, a lot of Aboriginal kids. They became very disengaged; they were turning 15; and they didn’t come back after year 9. And we decided to make junior secondary 7, 8 and 9; give kids a new environment in which to work and hopefully that might help with one of the factors that we wanted to target, that’s the number of kids leaving school (Principal, Country-A).

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As detailed in the next chapter, differential cohort configurations and concomitant structural dynamics between the old and the new model are associated with a variety of cultural dynamics an understanding of which is central to the present thesis.

Similarly, for ‘contingency’ reasons, the newly formed colleges had the gender composition illustrated in Table 6.4-1 because the comprehensive high schools from which they were established had these gender definitions and so, as was affirmed by an interviewee, “we decided to retain that gender composition” (Principal, Metro-A4).

Another key figure said: “How we structured our model was really up to us; according to our local needs” (District Superintendent, Metro-A). Other interviewees also emphasised that “we decided on the structure that we were reasonably comfortable with” (Principal, Metro-B) and “every restructuring decision was made based on the needs of the people in the local area” (Principal, Metro-A), and “the principals met and decided on this structure because it meets our local needs quite well” (Principal,

Country-B).

It was found that ‘contingency’ was again the basis for the differential leadership structures shown in Table 6.4-1. Interviewees in the different sites repeatedly said that for them, the leadership structure they had was the one they were happy with. In each site, the DET had, at least at the establishment stage, left it to the participating principals in the respective school clusters, to determine the leadership structure that suited them. Some of the colleges had tried to put some pressure on others, to develop a uniform leadership structure. This had failed because as one interviewee said, “in spite of pressure from elsewhere for us to adopt another structure, this is what suits us here”

(Principal, Metro-B).

Contextual differences predominated the structural dynamics of the four colleges. In those colleges which have a college principal, there was a strong feeling that for their particular model he was the necessary “synergy for their structure to work well together” (Principal, Country-A). And “this position is essential for this college to

212 run as one organisation” (Principal, Country-B). This was in strong contrast to data from the other two metropolitan sites which don’t have a college principal and where there was a strong expression of the need for individual campus principal autonomy with “no one telling a principal what to do” (Principals, Metro-B1, B2, B3 and B4).

“Each one of us is a first among equals” (Principals, Metro-B). “We are autonomous but interdependent” (Principal, Metro-A4). “We are each very autonomous strong leaders”

(Principal, Metro-A2). The impact of these structural dynamics on leadership cultural dynamics is analysed in detail in chapter 8.

6.5 Conclusion

This chapter has shown that interviewees had an understanding that six broad categories of factors had influenced the restructuring of the high schools to establish the four colleges studied. There was no single factor that was the central reason in all situations. However, each situation had a ‘trigger factor’. In one, it was a site that had become vacant. In another it was because the buildings of one of the high schools were very old and needed to be replaced altogether. In a third the political agenda of both the

State and Local Governments had designated a high school for the area. Additionally, interviewees believed that the DET was keen to‘re-badge’ the comprehensive high schools in the area to mitigate the negative publicity that had been attributed to some of the schools in that area following disappointing HSC results. In the fourth, a couple of the schools faced closure because they had falling enrolments. In all the areas, there had been some concern about falling student enrolments and declining retention rates.

Throughout the four colleges the decision to restructure the existing high schools had been initiated at Ministerial level and was not a shared vision. In all the sites, this had been the subject of considerable debate and is speculated to have contributed to the present moratorium on further establishment of multi-campus colleges by the DET.

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There was mounting evidence to show that, following the initial restructuring decision, there had been much consultation, especially between the principals and parents in each of the sites, about how to integrate their schools in setting up the colleges. In all the four colleges studied ‘contingency’ was allowed to be the key determinant of the particular model of the multi-campus college structure that was set up. This resulted in contextual heterogeneity rather than homogeneity among the concomitant structural dynamics within the four multi-campus colleges studied. The impact of the structural dynamics on the cultural dynamics in each of the four colleges is the focus of detailed analysis in the next three chapters.

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CHAPTER 7 RESULTS, PART TWO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN THE “HUMAN INTERACTIONS” AND “SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE” ELEMENTS IN THE FOUR MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED

7.1 Introduction

Situated within the Human Interactions element, the Search for Excellence element and the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm (See

Figure 4-2, page 108), this and the next chapter answer the second central question of the thesis namely: What is the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college?

As illustrated in Figure 1-3 (page 8), this question was subdivided into 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria or sub-questions. Those criteria were discussed in detail in chapter 3, section 3.6.2, shown in blocks 2 to 4 of the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 and illustrated further in Figure 4-3 (page 125) and again in Table 5.5-2 (page

165) and are therefore not repeated here. This chapter presents data on the relationships discovered in the first 10 of those core structural-cultural dynamics, namely:

1) students’ enrolments and retention rates,

2) curriculum breadth and subject choice,

3) learning environment,

4) teaching environment,

5) decision-making,

6) one sex or co-educational campus,

7) resource availability and utilisation,

8) access to information technology and to modern equipment,

9) links with TAFE and University,

10) extra-curricular activities.

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Relationships involving dynamics 1 – 6 in each of the four colleges studied are analysed within the Human Interactions element of the Dynamics Paradigm. Those involving dynamics 7 – 10 are analysed in the human Search for Excellence element.

7.2 Analysis of impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on the Human Interactions element in the four colleges studied

The interview data regarding the first 6 structural-cultural dynamics in the

Human Interactions element was categorised into three thematic groups namely:

a) Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on enrolments, retention rates, curriculum

and subject choice dynamics, (i.e. dynamics criteria 1 and 2).

b) Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on learning and teaching environments

dynamics, (i.e. dynamics criteria 3 and 4).

c) Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on teachers’ participation in decision

making and on students’ choice of campus dynamics given that the campus is a

one sex or co-educational campus, (i.e. dynamics criteria 5 and 6).

The results of the analysis are discussed here on the basis of these three thematic categories.

7.2.1 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on enrolments, retention rates, curriculum and subject choice dynamics, (dynamics criteria 1 and 2)

An application of the Likert-scale analytical tool to investigate teachers’ views about the impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on the enrolments, retention rates, curriculum breadth and subject choice at their college showed that the Likert-scale mean score for teachers’ perception of the impact of structural dynamics on students’ enrolments and retention rates was 2.83 and that for curriculum and subject choice was 3.51. The first statistic means that teachers on average ‘agreed’ with the statement that the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics encourage higher enrolments and retention rates at their college. The second

216 co-efficient denotes that teachers on average, ‘strongly agreed’ with the statement that the multi-campus college structural dynamics give students a broader HSC curriculum and a wider subject choice. The first result was obtained from 78.04% (n = 161) of the respondents and the second from 96.14% of the respondents. Thus the analysis found that the very positively correlated structural dynamics-broad curriculum relationship was not only the highest in the Likert-Scale ranking but also the most broadly shared view among the teachers.

Whereas there was support in Ministerial and DET documents for the claim that the multi-campus college structure encourages higher enrolments and retention rates, there had been no evidence provided to substantiate the existence of and the reason for this relationship. This finding was also supported by the enrolment and retention rates data discussed in section 7.2.1.1 below. Therefore this finding provided evidence on teachers’ views, which validated the claim of the Ministerial and DET officials who had envisaged this relationship in their curriculum reasons for the restructuring of the comprehensive high schools. It also verified Livermore’s (1990) prediction that a similar outcome could be expected at Mt. Roger’s multi-campus college which was proposed for the ACT.

In the interviews that followed these findings, principals, teachers, students and parents were asked to “Tell me about this new structure”, and “How does it impact on enrolments, retention rates, curriculum breadth and subject choice?” In all the four case studies there was a very explicit expression of the view that the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics were having a positive impact on their enrolments, retention rates, breadth of curriculum and subject choice dynamics. The interviewees in the different sites spoke in strong support of the new structural-cultural dynamics, saying, that they had improved the cultural dynamics in the Human Interactions element of their college. Evidence of such strong support included the following from interviewees at Metro-A college.

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The numbers here are actually going through the roof because we are able to offer a breadth of curriculum that the individual high schools could not offer (Deputy, Metro-A). Our experience has been that the model is a real draw for us. The fact is that students here can get the subjects they want and in the faculties they want (Principal, Metro-A4).

These claims were supported by student enrolment data such as that presented and discussed below (See section 7.2.1.1). Similar to the interviewees at Metro-A college, those at Metro-B also expressed the view that the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college had significantly improved the cultural dynamics at their college through increased enrolments and retention rates. They attributed this cultural dynamic outcome mainly to the fact that the new structural-cultural dynamics had enabled the college to offer a broader range of courses. For instance, one of many interviewees who confirmed that the new structural-cultural dynamics had improved their cultural dynamics, said:

The impact of the new model on the curriculum we are able to offer has been absolutely fantastic. We offer some 63 courses including TVET framework on top of the traditional subjects. The retention rates in the structure are up. All our retention rates have increased because of the large number of courses we have here (Principal, Metro-B4).

Outside the metropolitan based colleges, interviewees in the Country based colleges also expressed the view that the needs of the students in their college, (i.e. cultural dynamics), particularly in the senior campus, were met better by the new structural-cultural dynamics within the Human Interaction element of their new college.

Like those in the metropolitan colleges, interviewees in the Country based colleges said that the critical mass of students in the new structural-cultural dynamics meant that they could offer a breadth of curriculum which was not possible in the old structural dynamics, thereby improving the cultural dynamics in their new college. Interviewees that expressed this argument said, for instance:

In terms of curriculum breadth, the new model has had an absolutely massive impact. The expansion in the courses that we offer as you can

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see in this Table has been absolutely massive (Deputy, Country-A). The advantage I see of the model is the broader curriculum offered to students on the senior campus (Teacher, Country-A2).

Some interviewees said that the new structural-cultural dynamics of their college had enabled them not only to maintain much higher retention rates across the cohorts in their college from years 7 – 10 right through to years 11 and 12, but they were now attracting students from other schools in the area. In particular, interviewees pointed out that parents who had lost confidence in their schools under the old comprehensive high school structural-cultural dynamics were now showing support for the new model. As a result, the apparent retention rates were in some instances greater than 100%, thereby showing a positive impact on the cultural dynamics in their new Work System. An interviewee who articulated this evidence said:

In 2001, there were a number of parents who sent their children to other schools but we have clawed that back now, and we now have a much higher enrolment rate than the three former high schools had.

I think the main attraction is the breadth of the curriculum. Students are coming to us because we can provide a course of study which their local school can’t provide (Principal, Country-B).The model has a positive impact on enrolments. We realise retention rates here of over 100%; up to 110% in year 11 (Deputy, Country-B3).

Students, like their principals, also acknowledged the large student enrolments at their colleges and in the main expressed positive views about them. They put their comments in the following terms:

This school is huge. It’s like students from three different schools all come here. We are a 1000 (another student says: Over a 1000), and its huge (Students A and B, Metro-A4).

The numbers here are so large you don’t even know people here. I mean, you get to the end of term one and you don’t even know all year 12s, let alone the whole school (Student C, Metro-A4).

Even students who would go to other schools now come here because this school is a good school. It has Legal Studies, Business, Physics, TAFE; all courses are offered here and that attracts everybody. (Students, Country-A3).

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7.2.1.1 Reasons why the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics have greater potential for higher enrolments, greater retention rates, broader curriculum and greater subject choice cultural dynamics

In each of the four colleges interviewees were asked to “Explain why and how the structural-cultural dynamics of their college had led to the greater enrolment, retention rates, curriculum breadth and subject choice they were experiencing?” The explanations of this relationship from the four colleges had striking similarity. The experience found at Metro-A college is used in this section to elucidate some of the reasons for these structural-cultural dynamics with the assistance of several Tables starting with Table 7.2-1.

Table 7.2-1: Illustration of the higher enrolments and greater retention rates which allow a broader curriculum choice in a multi-campus college compared to those in the traditional comprehensive high school

Old structure New structure Enrolment High School or new College Student Student Improvement Campus Enrolment Enrolment Index (2000)1 (2002)2 (2002/2000)3 Year 11 Metro-A-1 138 Metro-A-2 141 Metro-A-3 106 Total Year 11 385 Metro-A-4 Senior Campus ---- 477 123.90

Year 12 Metro-A-1 113 Metro-A-2 108 Metro-A-3 77 Total Year 12 298 Metro-A-4 Senior Campus --- 409 137.25

Note on legend:

1. Last year as autonomous comprehensive high school 2. First year as fully fledged multi-campus college. 3. Enrolment in 2002/2000 x 100/1

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In the first column of Table 7.2-1, the pseudonyms of the new campuses correspond to the old high schools while they each stood alone. The second column shows the enrolments in the old structure in each of the high schools for both year 11 and 12 in 2000, the last year they each stood as an autonomous comprehensive high school. For example the high school that became Metro-A1 campus had a total enrolment in year 11 of 138 students and 113 in year 12. The stand alone high schools had a total enrolment of 385 students in year 11 and 298 in year 12. Column 3 shows the total enrolment of students in the amalgamated year 11 and 12 cohorts of the new structure in 2002 when the new structure was fully operational. Column 4 uses the percentage increase in the year 11 and 12 enrolments respectively to compare the year

11 and 12 total enrolments in the new structural dynamics with the totals that had existed in each high school before it became part of the new Work System.

An analysis and interpretation of these numbers enabled the research to shed some light on why the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics have potential to attract and to hold larger student numbers and, as well, offer a much wider curriculum within the cultural dynamics. For instance, while Metro-A1 stood alone in

2000, it had only 138 students in year 11 and 113 in year 12. This relatively low enrolment limited the number of sustainable classes it could constitute to offer HSC courses. For simplification of interpretation, if we assume that a sustainable class for an

HSC course comprises 20 students, then the enrolment data for Metro-A1 high school would restrict its class groups to 7 classes (138/20) in year 11 and to only 6 (113/20) in year 12. Similarly, class sizes would be restricted by the low enrolments at Metro-A2 and A3.

When the new structural-cultural dynamics were introduced, the year 11 and 12 cohorts from the three high schools were amalgamated into one senior campus and this triggered a series of cultural dynamics in response to the structural changes. Firstly, apart from the aggregation of students as the initial response, “there was also the

221 attraction of the ‘new school’” (Deputy College Principal, Metro-A), and the enrolments rose in 2002 by 23.90% in year 11 to 477 and by 37.25% in year 12 to 409. This now meant that there was, in one locale, a critical mass of students with whom many more classes could be formed in each of the year cohorts. As a result, the new cultural dynamics impacted on the structural dynamics and enabled the college operations to programme and timetable students such that they could pursue a more diverse curriculum. This led to improvement in the operational relationships in the new cultural dynamics and gave greater satisfaction to participants in the new college.

For instance, if the same assumption of a class formation formula of 20 students per course was used, then 24 classes could be formed in year 11 in the new structure compared to 7 in the old Metro-A1 year 11 and 21 classes in year 12 compared to

Metro-A1 in year 12 before the merger. In each year, the new structural-cultural dynamics would enable an increase in the classes that could be formed and an even larger number of subjects that could be offered within the cultural dynamics as illustrated in Figure 7.2-1, including access to vocational and TVET courses.

Figure 7.2-1 is an extract from Metro-A senior campus time-table blocks for

2003 and of the corresponding data for Metro-A1 in 2000. The Figure contrasts the very broad curriculum which could be offered in year 12 in 2003 within the new structural- cultural dynamics and the different lines on which the subjects were offered compared to the narrow choices that were available in the old structural-cultural dynamics. The comparison shows for instance, that whereas the new structure could offer 53 subjects at

2Units level, Metro-A1, while it stood alone, could only offer 23, 2Units subjects. It is noteworthy too, that whereas English was offered only on Line 1 in the old structure, it was being offered on all the six lines in the new structure and in a variety of academic levels. Examples of time-tables from the other colleges which are given in Appendix

7-2 also show a much broader subject choice available in the new structural dynamics of

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Figure 7.2-1: An illustration of ‘curriculum breadth’ offered at Metro-A in the old comprehensive high schools and in the new multi-campus college structure

Courses offered Courses offered in the new multi-campus college structure in the old structure LINE 1 LINE 1 LINE 3 LINE 5 English Ancient History Ancient History Business Studies Biology Biology Chemistry LINE 2 Business Studies Business Studies English Advanced Maths 2U Chinese Community Family Stud English Extension Maths 3U Drama Design & Technology ESL English Maths in Soc Economics Economics English Standard English Advanced ESL English Engineering Studies LINE 3 English Standard English Standard Food Technology General Science Info Processes & Tech Geography Info Processes & Tech Physics Industrial Technology Japanese Beginners Japanese Beginners Furnishings Legal Studies Maths Extension Legal Studies Industrial Tech Drawing Maths Extension Maths General Maths Advanced Visual Arts Maths General Maths Advanced Maths Extension Business Studies Maths Advanced Modern Greek Begin’s Maths General Modern Greek PDHPE PDHPE Continue’ LINE 4 Modern History Physics Physics Business Studies Physics Senior Science TAFE Design Industrial Tech Wood Society & Culture VET Info Technology Visual Arts Chemistry Visual Arts VET Tourism VET Info Technology Engineering Science VET Business Services 4U VET Info Techno PDHPE VET Hospitality Legal Studies Maths General LINE 6 Accounting LINE 5 LINE 2 LINE 4 Business Studies Geography Ancient History Ancient History Ceramics 1Unit Modern History Biology Biology Sport, Recreation 1U Ancient History Business Studies Business Studies Studies in Religion 1U Music Chemistry Chinese Chemistry Computer Studies 2U Dance Economics English Advanced Drama Earth & Environ Science English ESL LINE 6 English Advanced English Standard English Standard Biology English Standard English Advanced Engineering Studies Economics English ESL Geography Info Processes & Techno Maths Extension Info Processes & Techno Italian Beginners LINE 6-A Maths General Maths General Legal Studies Automotive 1U Maths Advanced Modern History Maths General Maths 3U Modern History Music Maths Advanced PDHPE Software DD Music LINE 6-B Physics TAFE Child Studies PDHPE Photography 1U Software DD Visual Arts Senior Science Computing Studies 1U TAFE Photography VET Construction TAFE Music Indust. General Studies 1U VET Construction VET Info Tech TAFE Photography VET Info Tech VET Hospitality VET Retail VET Info Technology VET Hospitality 4U VET Info Techno VET Tourism Total Subjects = 23 TOTAL SUBJECTS IN NEW STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS = 53

Source: Time Tables reproduced with permission of Metro-A College.

223 their multi-campus college thereby confirming that the cultural dynamics were also impacting on the structural dynamics in the colleges. Additionally, the greater subject choice impacted on the cultural dynamics by making the structural dynamics of the new

Work System more attractive to students and parents.

It was noteworthy, that the DET had anticipated that as a result of the amalgamation of the high schools involved in the establishment of each multi-campus college, the cultural dynamics of the larger student numbers might be associated with greater discipline problems. Accordingly, an additional head teacher had been appointed to attend to the welfare needs of students. Interviewees said that their welfare head teachers were attending to many more students than in the old comprehensive high school mainly because of the larger critical mass of students. This was further evidence that the cultural dynamics in the new model had led to changes in the organisational structural dynamics at the college. There was evidence that student welfare issues were impacting on the cultural dynamics evolving in the Human Interactions element of their new college.

When students were asked the question, “Tell me some of your likes and dislikes about this new structure of your college?” and “How do you feel and operate in this new environment?” their responses indicated that they were very happy about the fact that they had a wide range of subjects to choose from. Their responses from across the colleges included the following:

We like it very much because we get to choose whatever we want. You come into this school and you can choose pretty anything. In other schools you’ve to choose from a selected few subjects. Here, just about everybody gets their subject choice (Students, Metro-A4). We like how we get to choose whatever subject we want (Student, Country-A3). Students in the senior campus have a big range of subjects to choose for their HSC (Student, Country-B1).

This finding was consistent with several interviews in different sites where it was said that in the old structural dynamics, the small cohort size meant that in some cases three or four students wanted to take a subject like economics or physics or

224 ancient history but it was too uneconomical to staff such small classes and consequently, such subjects would simply not run. The interviewees went on to say that, that problem had in the main been alleviated with the introduction of the new structural- cultural dynamics. As one of many examples of interviews that confirmed this finding an interviewee said, “all our schools offered a limited curriculum because of a small number of kids. And now kids virtually get all choices, and they get what they want in the senior campus” (Deputy, Metro-A).

An additional finding of this analysis which had not been brought to light in earlier research and is illustrated in Table 7.2-2, was that apart from these multi-campus

Table 7.2-2: Illustration of impact of the new structural dynamics on student enrolments per cohort in the middle school campuses as evidenced by data from Metro-A3

Cohort size by year Total Year 7 8 9 10

2000 147 150 144 149 590

2002 177 180 145 177 679

Enrolment 120.41 120.00 100.69 118.79 115.08

improvement Index

Source: Analysis using Document Data supplied by the District Superintendent (13/05/2004)

colleges’ structural-cultural dynamics’ ability to provide a wider subject choice in the senior campus as shown above, they also contributed to larger enrolments in the middle school campuses of the participating schools cluster. That dynamic is explained briefly as follows:

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Table 7.2-2 shows the enrolments in Metro-A3 cohorts in its last year as a traditional comprehensive high school (2000) and in its first year (2002) under the new structural dynamics. The Table shows that whereas the school had 590 students in years

7 – 10 in 2000, in 2002 it was able to increase its enrolment by 15.08% to 679. This occurred because the school enrolled more students in each of the middle school years 7 to 10 cohorts. The reason why this structural-cultural dynamic exists is because the structure also gives the middle schools greater capacity to enrol more students to fill the vacancies left in the structure by the permanent departure of year 11 and 12 cohorts. As discussed in chapter 8, the larger student numbers also impact on the cultural dynamics.

An examination of the data for each of the high schools in the Metro-A cluster, showed that the enrolment dynamic which had been experienced at Metro-A3 was reflected at the other campuses as illustrated in Table 7.2-3. The Table shows that since the formation of the new structural-cultural dynamics, the total student enrolments in the new structure each year have exceeded those in the last year of the old structure by between 14.77% (in 2004) and 17.08% (in 2002). The first year (2002) when Metro-A first operated as a new structure witnessed the highest rise in total enrolment (17.08%).

It was speculated (Deputy College Principal, Metro-A), that this was partly due to the attraction of the ‘new school syndrome’. This speculation was reinforced by information from an interviewee in another site who said “and so a lot of kids came to the senior campus in that first year because they wanted to see what it would be like”

(Principal, Country-A). Another possible reason for the marked increase in the enrolments in the first year of the college was the aggressive selling of the new “super college” (Principal, Metro-B), which had been undertaken by some of the DET officials.

In support of this reasoning a key interviewee said:

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Table 7.2-3: Comparison of total enrolments in the old and new structural dynamics of Metro-A College

Old structure1 New structure Mean

Year cohort Total enrolment Total enrolment in all Growth in all cluster cluster Index comprehensive high school campuses Per high schools cohort2 2000 2000 2002 2003 2004 =100

7 391 487 476 425 118.33

8 403 488 481 472 119.19

9 405 414 480 457 111.19

10 454 460 417 462 98.31

11 385 477 452 456 119.91

12 298 409 419 409 138.37

Total in the College 2336 2735 2725 2681 116.18 Enrolment Improvement Index 100.00 117.08 116.65 114.77 Whole College

Note: 1: This is the last year that the participating schools stood alone as comprehensive high schools.

Note 2: Mean of enrolments in [2002 to 2004/2000 x 100/1]

Source: District Office Document: Enrolment Time Series; Metro-A College; pre and post multi-campus college formation (13/05/04).

======

I did very broad consultations starting from October when I was given the responsibility for the establishment of (Metro-A) College. So I went around speaking to people about the potential of the 7 to 10 and the new senior campus and gave compelling data which showed that we needed to transform what we were doing. So I gave very powerful arguments about improving what was happening in these high schools (District Superintendent, Metro-A).

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The most noticeable increase was in year 12 enrolments which had increased by 40.60% from 298 in 2000 to 419 in 2003. On average, year 12 enrolments between 2002 and

2004 increased by 38.37% over the same enrolments in the last year that the Metro-A cluster schools stood alone.

Thus this analysis provided evidence for the first time which validated not only the Ministerial and DET’s claim as well as Livermore’s prediction that the multi- campus college structural-cultural dynamics have higher enrolments, retention rates and offer a wider subject choice than the traditional comprehensive high school model but also provided a plausible explanation for the reasons why the structural dynamics of the new model have cultural dynamics which lead to such outcomes. The dynamics were triggered by the structural amalgamation of the senior cohorts. This then triggered subsequent dynamics beyond the senior campus in what was identified, for the first time in this thesis, as the cumulative human effects associated with the restructuring of comprehensive high schools to establish the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi- campus college.

As a result of these gains in the human interactions, the new structural-cultural dynamics led to increased enrolments not only in the senior cohorts of years 11 and 12 but right across the cohorts of the middle schools as well. For instance, correlated to the average increase of 29.14% in the students’ enrolment in year 11 and 12 over the 2002 –

2004 period at Metro-A4, was an 11.76% increase in the average enrolment levels per cohort in years 7 – 10 at Metro-A1, Metro-A2 and Metro-A3 as illustrated in Table 7.2-

3. This finding made it reasonable to propose that the structural-cultural dynamics concurrent with the establishment of a multi-campus college appear to have amplified, cumulative effects not only on students’ enrolments, retention rates and curriculum breadth in the senior campuses involved but also in the feeder middle schools and primary schools.

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This proposal was validated by several interviewees who said that the new structural-cultural dynamics were having a positive impact on retention rates from the primary feeder schools into the multi-campus college. This finding supported the cumulative human effects argument in this thesis because the increases in the enrolments and retention rates which were most significant in the senior campus of the multi-campus college had a flow-on-effect not only in the middle schools of the college as shown in Table 7.2-3, but also in the primary schools which were not a direct component of the multi-campus college. Moreover, the positive cumulative benefits included ‘pull effects’ whereby students in non-cluster high schools, including private schools, were drawn towards enrolment into the new structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college because they offered a broader curriculum and a greater subject choice to students. An example of many interviewees that supported this premise said:

the retention from year 6 into our year 7 has remarkably increased since the formation of the college. As the Table shows, the apparent retention rates from year 6 to 7 have risen, as you can see we are looking at retention rates of 101%. So that means we are getting kids from elsewhere” (Deputy, Country-A).

Additional evidence was provided by several other interviewees. One of them referred to the fact that their college was attracting more students from year 6 to year 7 as evidence that they were attracting more students that would have gone to private schools had it not been for their college (Principal, Country-A).This was corroborated in another site where an interviewee said that they were also experiencing increased retention rates between year 6 and 7. This was happening because parents were realising that the way to get their children into the senior campus was to get them into the middle schools within the multi-campus college cluster. Parents interviewed said that people feared that if they didn’t do this, there was the real possibility that there would be no vacancy for them at the senior campus where priority had to be given to students from

229 the cluster’s feeder schools (Parents, Metro-A4). In another site, the senior campus was enrolling students from the private sector and the reason why this was happening was because the college had a good reputation and the senior campus offered a broad curriculum (Principal, Metro-B4). And yet in another site the Principal said, “since the college’s formation, we have increased our retention rates from year 6 to year 7 by 87%

(Country-B). The convergence of such interview evidence increased the validity of the positively cumulative structural-cultural gains discovered in this analysis.

7.2.2 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on learning and teaching environment dynamics, (dynamics criteria 3 and 4)

To investigate teachers’ and students’ understanding of the impact of the multi- campus college structural-cultural dynamics on the learning and teaching environment,

(dynamics criteria 3 and 4) within their college, teachers were asked to show their differential levels of agreement or disagreement with the statements that:

i) Students’ attitude towards school in the structure is more positive than it was

in the old comprehensive high school.

ii) Teachers in the college know each other well.

Students’ statements were that:

i) There is a friendly atmosphere at this campus of the multi-campus college.

ii) The atmosphere at this campus is stimulating to hard work.

iii) Students at this campus appear highly motivated to work hard.

The Likert-scale mean score ranking for the first of the teachers’ statements was

2.59 from 61.09% of respondents (n = 161). Thus the research found a positive correlation between the multi-campus college structural dynamics and the cultural dynamic of teachers’ acknowledgement of a more positive students’ attitude within the structure. This relationship was interpreted to mean that on average, there was the

230 understanding among teachers that students’ attitude towards school in the new structural-cultural dynamics was more positive than it had been in the old, comprehensive high school structural-cultural dynamics.

However, on the second statement, teachers’ responses had a Likert-scale mean ranking of 2.02 from 72.67% of those that responded to this statement. Thus, the analysis found that teachers negatively correlated their college’s structural dynamics with their cultural dynamic of knowledge of each other within the college structure.

This negative finding, if interpreted in Silins and Mulford’s (2002, p. 428) terms to be indicative of the existence of “isolation and balkanisation of staff” in those colleges, could accordingly be characterised as “impediment to change and collective learning required for continual improvement” of the multi-campus colleges studied.

Students’ average responses to their three statements had Likert-scale mean rankings of 2.84, 2.64 and 2.50 respectively, indicating positively affirmative responses.

These statistics were respectively obtained from 84.69%, 72.50% and 64.58% of the students’ sample (n = 780) and were therefore derived from quite a large proportion of the students who responded to the questionnaire.

This analysis seems to suggest that whereas both teachers and students in the four colleges positively correlated the multi-campus structural dynamics of their colleges to a learning environment in which students were more positive towards their studies and appeared to be highly motivated to work hard, the same degree of positiveness was not found regarding teachers’ knowledge of each other. The research found that on average, 72.67% of teachers from across the four colleges disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that they knew each other well. The analysis thus concluded that in general, there was the understanding among teachers in the four colleges that teachers on the different campuses of one college did not know each other well.

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The negative result on this statement was not difficult to understand because of three findings of the present study. Firstly, the geographical separation of the sites meant that even within one college a round trip across the three or four campuses within the cluster involved a distance which varied between 18km and 23 km. In peak hour traffic these distances required a substantial amount of time to cover. This cultural dynamic had discouraged structural dynamics in the timetabling of teachers to travel from campus to campus.

Secondly, the relative degree of autonomy with which each campus conducted its own programmes especially at Metro-A and Metro-B, meant that there was not much interface in the cultural dynamics among staff in the different campuses. Two interviewees who most categorically supported this finding said: “I think there just isn’t enough interaction in general among us all. We have entrenched cultures in each campus such that we don’t run as a college” (Principal, Metro-A2). At Metro-B the second interviewee that agreed with this said: “I don’t think we do identify as a collegiate. We are really four separate sites who do completely separate things from one another. We are a collegiate in name only” (Principal, Metro-B3).

Thirdly, the cohort configuration into year 7 – 9/10 in the middle schools in one site and the corresponding year 10/11 – 12 in the senior campus in another site, appeared to have created structural-cultural divisions of ‘them there’ and ‘us here’ among the interviewees in the campuses. As discussed in chapter 8, these divisions required protocols which would help to bridge this structural-cultural divide. However, those protocols were either non-existent or not yet fully developed.

These findings on the learning and teaching environment in the multi-campus college structural dynamics are important in an understanding of cultural dynamics because the way a person perceives his/her environment governs his/her attitude and the way he/she reacts. For example “perception of a positive environment brings about greater sensitivity and more, optimism and opportunities” (Pace, 2002, p.147). Peoples’

232 positive perceptions to their work environment influence their preparedness and willingness to “do better, move ahead, work free and want more” (Pace, 2002, p.50).

Accordingly, to gain a further understanding of the relationship between structural- cultural dynamics and the learning and teaching environments in the colleges, interviewees were asked the question: “How is the multi-campus college structure impacting on the learning and teaching environment here?” This question gave teachers and students the opportunity to express their understanding of what it is really like to teach or learn in their multi-campus college as discussed below.

Interviewees’ responses to this question were consistent with those in the Likert- scale analysis presented above. Whereas in the main, there was concurrence of interview responses with the Likert-scale ranking which positively correlated the learning environment’s cultural dynamics with the multi-campus college structural dynamics, the analysis found less affirmative interviews regarding teachers’ views about the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on their teaching environment. For example, several teachers said that they believed that students had a better learning environment at the senior campus of their college and that in fact students had also modified their behaviour because they were now in a more adult learning environment which allowed them to, and they were actually acting, in a more mature manner (e.g.

Teacher, Metro-A4).

Like their teachers, students spoke very positively of the learning environment created by the new structural-cultural dynamics of their colleges. This was evident particularly in the interviews held at the senior campus of each college but was also supported by interviews in the middle schools as illustrated for instance in these three interview segments from three different campuses:

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This school lets kids take whatever subjects they want. Students’ opinions are respected (Students, Metro-A4).

We like the range of subjects offered at this campus. It is quieter here because you don’t have junior kids running around. So we can focus well on our HSC studies (Student, Country-A3).

We like it this way because, when you have year 12, the teachers focus on them and we are just sort of extras that don’t really matter (Students, Country-B2).

Apart from teachers’ and students’ affirmations of the learning environment provided by their multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics as referenced above, parents too expressed their consideration that the new structural-cultural dynamics were providing a better learning environment for their children. For instance, they referred to the fact that it gave them more freedom and that they were treated as more adults. For example one of many parent interviewees said:

I think they are maturing more than children that are in a 7 – 12 school because now when they are addressed by the principal say at an assembly, there are no 13 to 15 year olds. So here the children are spoken to as adults (Parent, Metro-A).

The submission that students in the multi-campus college like it because the structural-cultural dynamics offer a more adult environment was a recurrent theme among all interviewees in the senior campuses. It was said, for instance, that students like it because they are able to have more freedom. The interviewees added that students liked the idea that teachers were there as facilitators and that students found the senior campus a respectful environment. It was pointed out in one of the senior sites, for instance, that the structural-cultural dynamics set up enabled students “to be happy in a learning environment as young adults” (Principal, Metro-B4). The teachers interviewed at Metro-B4 where this response was obtained, also acknowledged the development at their campus, of the ‘young adults’ cultural dynamic pointed out by their principal, as a positive cultural dynamic at their college.

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This was not surprising since all students in the senior campuses were aged at least 16 years old with some year 12 aged 18. However, a surprising finding was the fact that even in the middle school campuses, interviewees confirmed that steps had been taken since the establishment of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics, to improve the level of maturity among their students and to enhance the learning environment in the middle schools. An example for each of these measures was contained in the following two interviews from different principals:

One of the focuses of the college has been to give kids more say with governance. The leadership is now with year 9. We are trying to develop a more adult learning environment (Principal, Country-A).

Let me give you an example; in a 7 – 12 time-table, most schools start by putting year 12 and 11 on first and year 7 at the bottom. Now, that doesn’t happen. In many ways we are putting year 7 first because we are setting up team-teaching. So we are meeting the needs of middle school better (Principal, Metro-B2).

These interviews demonstrated further that the structural change which the DET had introduced into the four multi-campus colleges studied was having a positive impact on the cultural dynamics in the new model.

Students interviewed in both the middle school campuses and the senior campuses appeared to be aware of the shift in focus towards the middle school years in the new structural-cultural dynamics compared to the old comprehensive high school structural-cultural dynamics. Students said that in the new structural-cultural dynamics, they were no longer regarded as ‘extras’ to be attended to after the senior cohorts had been catered for. Students said, for instance, “Now we are the focus, because year 11 and 12 are not here” (Student, Country-B1).

As shown in the above interviews, it would appear that the structural-cultural dynamics of the new multi-campus college structure, provided an opportunity for the creation of a better and more adult learning environment not only on the senior campuses as was widely acclaimed throughout all the sites, but even in the middle

235 school sites where for instance, year 9 or year 10 were now the ‘senior’ students who were being given a greater role in the governance of their campus. It was also said that students in year 10, really believed that they would do better if they got their choice of subjects. This belief was so strong such that “parents even move house, move schools to get those subjects for their kids. And we are offering that” (Principal, Metro-A4).

The comments above were repeated in all the sites so that the analysis showed that the conviction that the structural-cultural dynamics had created a better learning environment was held broadly among the interviewees. This conclusion was reached because the interviewees who supported this finding were not only principals and teachers in the colleges, but also students and parents from across the four case studies.

However, whereas all interviewees were very positive about the better learning environment created for students by the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi- campus college, quite a number expressed concerns regarding the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on the teachers and the teaching environment created for them by the new model. While admitting that it is very difficult to separate these two environments, interviewees appeared to be able to make the distinction. The major differences in students’ and teachers’ outcomes are discussed at length in chapter 8.

Nonetheless teachers from the senior campuses, for instance, referred to the stress caused by the constant exposure to senior students on a day to day basis without the respite that one gets when they move from teaching a senior class to a junior class in a year 7 – 12 school. Reference was also made throughout the four colleges about what interviewees characterised as the constant high demands of year 11 and year 12 assessments and marking. There was an understanding that this, among other challenges, left teachers in the senior campuses, little opportunity to interact with one another and to develop meaningful professional exchange.

Additionally, other interviewees, especially from the middle school campuses expressed the view that there was an imbalance in the workload between teachers in the

236 middle schools and those in the senior campus such that in the middle schools there were very tired teachers in term 4 because they did not get the same face-to-face respite that the teachers on the senior campus have when the year 12 students leave early in term 4. In contrast, because of the new structural-cultural dynamics, in the middle schools, teachers said that it was ‘full on’, with all years 7 – 9/10 on board to the end of the year and that this was very physically and mentally draining.

Thus, the new structural dynamics, had changed the cultural dynamics of the school year such that teachers in the senior campus had more relief from face to face dealings with students in term 4 than they used to have in a year 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, but teachers in the middle school campuses had their full teaching load all year because they didn’t lose any students to the HSC in term 4. Additionally, the new structural dynamics had changed the cultural dynamics in the middle school campuses because teachers there, in spite of the fact that students in year 9 and 10 had taken on leadership roles and there was increased student governance, had to deal with more discipline management issues than their colleagues in the ‘young adult’ environment in the senior campuses.

Another factor that was understood to be having a negative impact on the teaching environment in the colleges was the inability of teachers in the middle schools to teach senior classes in year 11 and 12. This factor was tendered by several interviewees. One of many examples of such submissions from middle school teachers said: “I miss the opportunity to teach seniors. I think it is an infringement on my professional development and working conditions” (Teacher, Country-A1). Across the four colleges, teachers and some principals in the middle school campuses expressed a sense of loss because there was the lack of access to senior students. They regretted the fact that there was a lack of opportunity to teach HSC students and all the kudos that comes with the HSC marking and all the celebrations associated with good HSC results.

This was regarded as a “big loss” such that people “were still in mourning over the loss

237 of senior classes and showing regret that they could no longer teach year 11 and 12”

(Principal, Metro-A2). Unfortunately, there appeared to be no protocols within the colleges to address this deficiency in the structural-cultural dynamics of the model. As discussed in chapter 8, and consistent with Fullan’s (2001b. p.44) advice, such protocols are vital as a necessary ingredient of the re-culturing process that needs to be part of or to follow the re-structuring dynamics so as to develop meaningful relationships within these colleges.

Apart from the feeling of regret, some interviewees argued that the senior cohorts had been taken away from them and now there was the sense that they were being forced to work together in some kind of an unnatural alliance. Another negative view that was expressed in the four colleges about the teaching environment was that there was a lack of communication among staff on the different campuses as well as fragmentation among teaching staff on the different campuses. This deficiency within the new structural-cultural dynamics was unfortunate because effective communication is a solid foundation on which to build organisational learning and effective cultural dynamics in an organisation (Pace, 2002, p.117). Fullan (2004, pp.100-101) also agrees that communication “must be actively developed and reinforced in building relational trust necessary for effective change” in the re-culturing of a school.

The debate about beneficiaries and disadvantaged stakeholders was very predominant in the interviews about the learning and teaching environments in each college. For example it was pointed out in one site that:

A comment that was made to me by one teacher the other day was that the college is very good for kids but not for teachers. Maybe he says it is not so good for teachers because he is teaching juniors and misses out on teaching seniors; but he can see the benefits of the structure for the kids (Principal, Country-A).

It became clear that interviewees were making a distinction between the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on students which they predominantly

238 understood to be positive and that on teachers which they said that it had significant negative consequences. Such interviewees included comments such as: “there are clear benefits for the kids but a true criticism of the model’s impact on teachers is that it restricts their access to senior classes” (Principal, Country-A). This argument was widely held across the campuses and was acknowledged as a real problem. For instance, an interviewee admitted that:

We all saw advantages for students in the model but recognised that the prime disadvantage would be the inability of teachers to teach in a 7 – 12 environment and that became a very big industrial issue (Principal, Metro-B4).

Interviewees also expressed some concern about the potential impact of the new model on their career paths and access to promotional positions as discussed in chapter 8

(section 8.4.2).

7.2.3 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on teachers’ participation in decision making and on students’ choice of campus at which to study, given one sex or co-education in a particular campus, (dynamics criteria 5 and 6)

To investigate the first part of this relationship teachers were asked to agree or disagree with the statement that: “All staff in the structure share in major decision making at their campus”. The Likert-scale mean score for their responses was 2.11.

This score means that on average, 71.97% of all the teachers that participated in the survey across the four colleges disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement. This was interpreted to mean that there was an understanding among most of the teachers that when major decisions were being made in their colleges, they were not meaningfully involved.

If this interpretation is valid then it may represent a regrettable dynamic because

Silins and Mulford (2002, p. 428) say that “non-participatory decision-making processes” were (among other factors), recognised as some of the “impediments to change and the collective learning required for continual improvement” in schools.

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Moreover, in an earlier publication these authors asserted that “participatory decision- making and teacher empowerment promote organisational learning” (Silins and

Mulford, 2000). Furthermore, in their study of Australian secondary schools, Silins et al. (2000) showed that “the extent to which teachers participate in all aspects of the school’s functioning, including decision-making …(was one of the) four dimensions that characterise high schools as learning organisations” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p.429). This view is also shared by Jaffe and Scott (1999, p. iii) who say that “people are more committed when they have input into decisions and share in planning change”.

Thus, the belief by teachers that there was a lack of “participatory decision making” appears to be a significant challenge within the dynamics of the colleges studied and one that needs urgent attention.

The second part of this subsection was investigated with a question which asked students for their opinion on whether, given a choice, they would choose a single sex campus over a co-educational campus. This question was included in the questionnaire because preliminary interview data indicated that in two of the campuses in Metro-A, parents had expressed their reluctance to send their children to a co-educational senior campus at the establishment of this new model. Those were mainly parents whose children were either in the boys’ or girls’ single sex comprehensive high schools that became Metro-A1 and Metro-A3 in the new structural dynamics respectively. It was said that those parents were used to the single sex schools and feared that their children would be distracted if they went into a co-educational senior campus. This question was therefore an attempt to gain students’ position on this structural-cultural dynamic.

There was an overwhelming negative response to this statement as indicated by the Likert-scale mean ranking of students’ responses which was 1.37. Of the 780 students that responded to this statement, 89.90% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. This was interpreted to mean that students implicitly demonstrated a high preference for a co-educational campus. This result therefore showed that students’

240 consideration of the importance of campus gender in their choice of campus at which to conduct their high school studies was different from that which their parents had expressed at the time the vision of the multi-campus college structure was sold to them.

As discussed in greater detail in chapter 8, not only were parents’ fears never realised but students from the single sex high schools did not have difficulties in adjusting to the structural-cultural dynamics of their new co-educational environment.

When students were asked to, “Tell me; if you had a choice between studying in a single sex campus or a co-educational one, which one would you choose”? they explicitly said that they preferred a co-educational environment for the campus at which to study. Two of many examples of their preference for a co-educational campus over a single sex campus contained the following responses:

Co-ed of course! Boys and girls together. That’s what society is like. So boys and girls together are good (Students, Metro-A4).

Boys and girls together is better. It is better this way. It is much better having boys and girls together (Students, Country-A1)

As can be seen in the respective parenthesis after the quotes, these interviewees were located in a metropolitan college and a Country based college respectively. They also represented the views of students in the senior cohorts in years 11 and 12 at Metro-

A4 and in the middle school cohorts at Country-A1. The interviewees were therefore quite representative of students’ preference across the four colleges. The concurrence of these responses lent greater credibility to this finding.

7.3 Analysis of impact of structural-cultural dynamics on the Search for Excellence cultural dynamics in the four colleges studied

As pointed out in the Dynamics Paradigm, in the Search for Excellence element of an organisation, as people seek to excel, “their behaviour takes on a direction and they devote resources and energy towards the achievement of organisational goals”

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(pace, 2002, p. 7). Accordingly, this section reports the findings of the investigation of the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus colleges studied on dynamics criteria or sub-questions number 7 to 10 as shown in subdivisions 3.1 – 3.4 in the Dynamics Paradigm (Figure 4-2, page 108).

Those dynamics are, resource availability in each of the four multi-campus colleges and how the resources were allocated to and are being used in the different campuses within each cluster of the participating schools (dynamics criterion 7), what access the interviewees have to resources such as new information technology

(dynamics criterion 8), the linkages that the colleges have to TAFE, TVET and

University (dynamics criterion 9) and the access that students have to extra-curricular activities (dynamics criterion 10). Therefore, this section addresses the dynamics criteria or sub-questions 7 – 10 situated within the Search for Excellence element of the

Dynamics Paradigm.

7.3.1 Impact of structural-cultural dynamics on resource availability, access to technology and resource utilisation cultural dynamics, (dynamics criteria 7 and 8)

To investigate participants’ evaluation of the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college on resource allocation and utilisation in their college compared to the old model, and in particular, on their access to computing technology, teachers were asked to respond to the following statements:

i) Our school has better facilities since becoming a multi-campus college.

ii) Resources are now used in a better way than they were before the high

school became part of the collegiate.

iii) Our school has better access to new technology e.g. computing, since it was

restructured.

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In the Likert-scale analysis of these structural-cultural dynamics, the scores of all teachers’ mean response in respect of these three statements were positive, with average scores of 2.69, 2.51 and 2.69 respectively. The numbers of teachers who agreed or strongly agreed with these statements were 71.88%, 55.07% and 72.00% respectively. These results showed that teachers in the four colleges associated the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college with the availability of better facilities, a more efficient use of resources and better access to computing facilities including intranet networks across the campuses and the world-wide-web internet access.

When teachers and students interviewees were asked to, “Tell me how resources are used at this college and how they are shared among the campuses of the college”? their responses were all in support of the view that the colleges were well resourced, that resources were being used efficiently and in particular, the colleges had access to what some interviewees characterised as ‘cutting edge technology’ in the form of intranet networks and internet access via the world-wide-web.

As a result of these structural dynamics, teachers’ and students’ cultural dynamics had changed because, for instance, the improved access to computing facilities had made it possible for teachers to use the internet as an effective teaching tool which students could use during a lesson to search for information on the topic that was being taught. Teachers said that their students found such work interesting and that many of them were showing that they were gifted and talented in dealing with internet search, world-wide-web technology. Thus, the cultural dynamics were also having an impact on the structural dynamics involving lesson preparation and delivery strategies.

For example, a teacher could now book his/her class into one of the computer laboratories and conduct a lesson based on internet search by students.

Apart from the new computing technology, the new structural dynamics had provided new buildings and extensive refurbishment of existing buildings and modern

243 equipment throughout the four colleges which were having significant impacts on the cultural dynamics emerging in the colleges. For instance, both Metro-B4 and Country-

A3 had been set up as entirely new sites to house the newly formed senior campuses of

Metro-A and Country-A colleges respectively. Metro-A4 had been set up in what interviewees characterised as “state of the art buildings” that had been purchased from the University at a substantial cost to the state government. Furthermore, Country-A’s cluster schools at Country-A1 and Country-A2 had been upgraded as part of the restructuring. Country-B was undertaking an extensive building programme especially at its Country-B3 senior campus. Teachers said that as a result of the new facilities provided, they were finding it more practical and more convenient to conduct their lessons.

Thus, at each of the four colleges, there was evidence of either major repairs or new physical infrastructural and technological facilities that had been or were in the process of being constructed at the time of the study. In particular, these new structural dynamics were being introduced in direct response to and so as to cope with the emerging cultural dynamics. Teachers were conducting their classes using new equipment and information technology, and the new technology was facilitating their

“Search for Excellence” in the delivery of their lessons within their new college.

As a result of such interactions in the structural-cultural dynamics in the colleges, new cultural dynamics had emerged and given the colleges greater efficiencies in the sharing and joint utilisation of the resources made available by the new structures.

For instance, interviewees that confirmed this finding said:

The senior campus moved into new buildings, refitted at a cost of $15 million, with state of the art technology, equipment and air-conditioned refit (Principal, Metro-A).We also share resources across our campuses; for example the senior campus had a lot of surplus equipment that didn’t fit their PDHPE programme and they offered it to the middle schools where we are finding it, very, very useful for our middle school curriculum (Principal, Metro-A3).

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These two interviewees illustrated further that the new structural-cultural dynamics of their colleges were having a positive impact on the cultural dynamics within and among the participating schools cluster. Additionally, as a result of the amalgamation of the high schools, coupled with the establishment of a central administration unit in each of the two Country based colleges, (Country-A and B), the structural dynamics had led to cultural dynamics which created substantial savings in labour and money among the participating cluster schools. This was well articulated by an interviewee who acknowledged that:

We’ve been able to develop economies of scale. For example, all the staffing for the campus is done by the college administration unit. The amount of work this has taken off me is immeasurable (Principal, Country-A2).

Moreover, teachers and students, like the principals quoted above, also strongly acknowledged that there was an enriched resource endowment at their college as a result of the new structural-cultural dynamics. For example, asked to, “Tell me what you like about this school?” students at the senior campus of Metro-A college said, “I like our school. We have lots of facilities; like new computers, theatres and the gallery”

(Students, Metro-A4). At Country-A1, middle school students spoke very highly of their computer laboratories and the fact that they had access to the internet. They said for instance, “our computer labs are mad. … We can access the internet and can write e- mail” (Students, Country-A1). Similar interviews were recorded from students at each of the other colleges.

In the main, the interviews showed that students across the four colleges were of the consensus that the new structural dynamics of their multi-campus college had provided better facilities for their learning. Their strong endorsement of the computing facilities to which they had access suggested that students’ attitude towards school was being positively influenced by the new structural-cultural dynamics. For instance, in the words of one of the students, “School is now fun, (because) surfing on the net is cool”

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(Student, Country-A3). There was an understanding among students that the opportunities provided in their new structure enabled them to be more involved in their learning and that they were not only happier in their new colleges, but they were also achieving better performance in their classwork and homework. This point is discussed further in chapter 8.

It needs to be said, however, that whereas overall the different campuses were said to be well resourced, there was evidence that differential levels of resource supply existed among the colleges even at some of the campuses within one college cluster. For instance, some interviewees in the middle schools (e.g: Metro-A2) said that they did not have the same amount of resources as the senior campus (Metro-A4) did. Within the same cluster of schools it was said that “this site has lots more space than some of the other sites. We are well resourced” (Principal, Metro-A3).

This apparent inequality in resource allocation was supported by an interviewee from a Country based site, who said that whereas in one of the campuses (Country-A2), they had spent time and built up resources in their (named) faculty such that they believed that they were better resourced than the senior campus, in their other middle school site they were so poorly resourced that for instance, they “still have stoves measuring in Fahrenheit” (Teacher, Country-A2). It thus appeared that the consideration of adequacy of resource supply varied not only with individuals but also from campus to campus even within one college, and this had an impact on teacher’s level of satisfaction with the particular campus at which they taught.

It appeared that the understanding among some interviewees that there were inequalities in resource endowment and utilisation across the structural dynamics of campuses, could have negative impacts on the cultural dynamics within the colleges by causing tension among staff who regarded themselves as the ‘have not’ campus compared to their colleagues on the ‘haves’ campus.

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7.3.2 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on linkages with TAFE, University, vocational education and extra-curricular opportunities cultural dynamics, (dynamics criteria 9 and 10)

As discussed in chapter 6, one of the selling points of the multi-campus college model to participants in the four colleges was the promise that the senior campus of the new model would have increased access to TAFE and University courses through linkages that would be developed in the new structural dynamics. This section, therefore, sought to shed some light on what couplings had been established between the colleges and the tertiary institutions and how the cultural dynamics of the ‘young adult culture’ in the high schools were interacting with the cultural dynamics of the

‘adults’ culture’ of TAFE and University.

To investigate teachers’ understanding of the impact of the multi-campus college structural dynamics on joint resource utilisation through their association with

TAFE and University, teachers were asked to agree or disagree with the statement that,

“The multi-campus college structure has access to better facilities through links with

TAFE and University”. Students were asked for their opinion on how the structural dynamics of their college had impacted on their cultural dynamics involving extra- curricular activities such as debating and their ability to communicate with other people in a statement which said that, “The multi-campus college teaches me how to communicate with other people”.

The Likert-scale mean score testing the teachers’ structural-cultural dynamics on the statement about linkages with tertiary institutions was 2.69 and that for students on extra-curricular cultural dynamics was 2.83. Thus, on average, participants agreed with each of these two statements. Each of these findings is important in the study of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics in its own right. The first is important because, if valid it implies that the structural-cultural dynamics that were

247 created with the establishment of these multi-campus colleges have potential to increase students’ awareness of and participation in tertiary education.

This is a particularly significant structural-cultural dynamic both in the metropolitan areas and the rural areas where the four colleges studied are located because these were areas where there was a low rate of post-secondary education

(Principal, Metro-B4), and these were schools where there was the conviction within the community, that if a student went to one of those schools he/she would be seen as an automatic failure (Principal, Country-B).

Moreover, interviews and documents in these colleges showed that the number of students who were achieving marks in the top bands of the HSC had increased since the new colleges entered students for the HSC examination. Besides, the number of students who had completed year 12 and continued their studies into University had also increased significantly. For instance, it was publicly acknowledged that “(named

Country-A) College has achieved outstanding results …(and) students go the distance and complete year 11 and 12 at higher rates” (Daily Liberal, 3/2004). Therefore, this finding is significant because it validates Ministerial and the DET’s assumption at the time of establishing these colleges that the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics could have linkages which could improve students’ performance and access to tertiary education.

The second finding is important because it serves to highlight an aspect of secondary education within the structural-cultural dynamics of the four multi-campus colleges, which does not appear to have been addressed in most of the earlier literature on dynamics in a multi-campus college, namely that the structural-cultural dynamics created opportunities not only for the broader and richer curriculum that was acknowledged by all participants as discussed earlier, but they also provided a more holistic education of the young adult as an individual being prepared for cooperation and communication with the broader community in which they live.

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Some interviewees pointed out that because many students in year 12 could now more easily attend TAFE, because the new structural dynamics, such as the timetable, enabled them to do so, a considerable number of year 12 students were leaving the high schools and taking TAFE courses without completing their HSC. While this provided students with increased choice, it appeared that the successes of the former were to some degree at the expense of the latter. However, students who were not enrolling at

HSC or University because they opted for the TAFE alternative, were not seen as ‘drop outs’ from the education system because many of them succeeded in gaining a trade qualification at TAFE.

In the interviews across the four colleges, interviewees acknowledged the greatly improved and increased access they had developed with TAFE, vocational education and University. For instance document data showed that Metro-A4 had developed very close linkages with both TAFE and University such that subjects of these tertiary institutions were now included in the campus’ general timetable. As a result of these linkages, a new cultural dynamic had emerged at Metro-A4 such that

TAFE teachers actually went to the site to deliver their courses rather than students travelling to TAFE. This was referenced several times by different interviewees in that cluster as a ‘great linkage’ and “a strength which could not have been achieved in the same way in the old comprehensive 7 – 12 model” (Teacher, Metro-A4 and Principals,

Metro-A3 and A4) because the timetable did not allow it. This was additional evidence that the new cultural dynamics were impacting on the structural dynamics in these colleges and were being accepted as the new “way we do things around here: the new culture” (Barker and Coy, 2004, p. 72).

It was evident that this structural dynamic had brought about significant improvements in the cultural dynamics at the college which enabled many more students to undertake TAFE courses as well as vocational education and training in

249 much more diverse fields. For example an interviewee at one of the senior campuses said:

Previously, we could only offer 2 vocational classes. Now because we have TAFE on-site we have the biggest TVET classes in the State with 84 students doing VET courses and 204 students studying TAFE courses on site (Principal, Metro-A4).

There was, however, some evidence of cultural differences between high school teachers whose remuneration is determined on an annual salary basis and TAFE teachers, whose pay is determined on an hourly basis. Interviewees said that while teachers were happy to attend after hours activities such as parent teacher nights, the same could not be expected from TAFE teachers who work under different award conditions. However, these differences did not appear to create problems within the operational cultural dynamics of the colleges.

At the other colleges too, there was corroborative evidence that indicated that the structural dynamics within the multi-campus college model had enabled closer and beneficial cultural dynamics involving linkages with tertiary institutions as represented for instance by an interviewee who said:

We have many students doing TAFE work and a few doing University work. Because we manage this process very well there hasn’t been any problems (Principal, Metro-B4).

There was also evidence which suggested that the new structural-cultural dynamics in the colleges were providing boys and girls opportunities for their multi- skilling in different pathways of their own choice. It was pointed out for instance, that the structural-cultural dynamics provided courses in which boys and girls were free to participate. An interviewee that illustrated this consideration said:

We did launch a special programme last year working with TAFE. Some students went off and learnt how to drive tractors and how to ride bikes. Others went off and did personal development and courses in hair dressing. Others chose to learn interview techniques (Deputy, Country-A2).

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As a result of the new structural dynamics, not only did students gain increased access to TAFE, vocational education and training and entry into University after their year 12 HSC, but there were in place structural-cultural dynamics which enabled significantly more students in year 11 and 12 to start on their undergraduate programmes while simultaneously engaged in their HSC studies. This meant that the new structural-cultural dynamics were not only giving students in the high school an increased probability to enter into University studies, but were enabling students to have the equivalent of an early entry into University studies and an early commencement of their degree work.

At each of the four colleges studied, some students were enrolled in degree courses while still at the high schools. For example an interviewee explained that “we have four students enrolled at the (name of University) who are in year 12 here”

(Principal, Metro-A4). At another site the senior campus principal said: “it is really great that the University campus is just next door. And we have six students from here who are actually doing their first course at the University” (Principal, Country-A3).

Interviewees at Metro-B4 and Country-B3 concurred with this finding thus indicating that these linkages were being experienced at a substantial level throughout the cultural dynamics of the four multi-campus colleges studied. It was also interesting to learn from both year 12 teachers and year 12 students that the students who were involved in these dynamics were coping quite well both with their HSC courses and their undergraduate programmes at the University.

Interviewees at all levels in the colleges spoke very positively and with high regard for these cultural dynamics. For example students in one of the colleges said,

“now, even if you decide not to go for the HSC, there are a lot more opportunities for you to go to TAFE and to do VET courses” (Student, Country-A4). A parent in another site said: “it is really great that while they are still here, our kids can start on their

University studies. So that even before they’ve finished here, they already have a foot in

251 the door at the University. That’s really great” (Parent, Metro-A). Whereas this practice wasn’t a new dynamic, it was now involving a significantly larger number of students than under the traditional comprehensive high school model and parents were clearly appreciative of the increased opportunity.

Another cultural dynamic that was identified as part of the linkages with tertiary institutions was the realisation that the increased access to tertiary studies, especially the vocational education and training programmes, had actually saved some students from dropping out of school without a skill or qualification. For instance it was pointed out that “because we offer so many TVET courses we have more and more students who I believe would have left and probably ended up in untrained jobs; now they come here and graduate with Level 2 Certificate in TAFE subjects” (Principal, Metro-A4). This finding was a clear indication that the structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college model were making a positive difference in the lives of students in their “Search for Excellence” through their education in the new college.

On extra-curricular activities, there was a strong conviction in each site that much was being done to involve students from the different campuses of one college in as many joint extra-curricular activities as possible. Interviewees said that extra- curricular activities such as football, athletics, the stage band, drama and rock- eisteddfod, were a major area for their collaboration because they “provided the students from the different campuses of one college with an opportunity to do things together as one college. This was at a level far greater than when the high schools operated autonomously” (Principal, Country-A).

Interviewees said that students were encouraged not only to participate in activities involving their peers from their college but that on each campus there were significant attempts to encourage students to get involved in activities outside the colleges. This was the case not only with the senior students but also in the middle schools as well. For example at Metro-A1 and A4 it was noted that they had a system of

252 prefecture whereby students who, among other things, got involved in community service were recognised with a prestigious “prefect passport” and testimonial which acknowledged their contribution to the college and community at large. At Metro-A2 and A3 it was said that “we try to get our students involved in everything happening”

(Principals, Metro-A2 and A3), and several examples were given of the types of activities that students were encouraged to participate in. At all the different campuses of Country-A and B colleges there were also several examples of extra-curricular activities which brought together students from across the campuses to perform together. These included “the college band, and participation in the (name of regional) football competition involving schools from (names of school districts), debating and art exhibition and an earth studies’ competition at which the winning students from our college (Country-B college), had been invited to visit Japan” (Principal, Country-B).

The offer of a visit to Japan was regarded by students, teachers and principals as an appreciation of the structural-cultural dynamics at their multi-campus college and encouragement to them to even do better. Such dynamics can energise teachers and students for greater involvement and commitment to move to higher order activities which can lead to improved outcomes. This was therefore important in several respects because, firstly as Pace (2002, p.151) points out, the realisation that their work is appreciated:

arouses enthusiasm among people in the Work System …and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. By showing sincere appreciation, peoples’ natural energy and enthusiasm can be released.

As pointed out by Carnegie (1970, p.97) the ability to arouse enthusiasm among people is one of the greatest cultural dynamics in a Work System.

Secondly, this was not only a great achievement for the individual students but had also boosted teachers’ morale and increased students’ satisfaction and excitement

253 about the cultural dynamics at their school. As Pace (2002, p.151) points out, the cultural dynamics that arouse a sociably enthusiastic operating system help to establish a foundation for the revitalisation of the people in such a Work System. It could therefore be inferred that the extra-curricular cultural dynamics evidenced at Country-B

College had the likelihood to enhance more positive interactions among the students, teachers and principals within the college’s structural-cultural dynamics. Not only did they lift students’ self concept and confidence, but they also uplifted the image of the school and the reputation of the new structural-cultural dynamics at that college.

The involvement in these extra-curricular activities was reported equally strongly at the senior campuses and the middle school campuses of the four colleges.

For example, it was pointed out at Metro-B1 that “the SRC runs a local radio station during their lunch break” (Principal, Metro-B1). At Metro-B2 the Principal said that year 10 captains had gone to meet the Governor General with year 11 and 12 students from comprehensive high schools in the State. This example was a significant finding particularly because it served to show that whereas such roles were previously the preserve of year 11 or 12 while this school was an autonomous comprehensive high school, now they were being fulfilled by year 10 students who were presently the

‘newly found leaders’ in the school.

Moreover, the students involved in the radio broadcasts were demonstrating gifts and talents that were normally not shown in the classrooms of the old comprehensive high schools and this exposure had boosted those students’ confidence. The students were also enjoying popularity and respect not only among their peers in the years 7 – 10 campus at Metro-B1, but throughout Metro-B College as a whole. What is more, the community was also aware of the students’ broadcasts and therefore this structural- cultural dynamic was helping to project a good image not only for the campus and college, but also for New South Wales public education.

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As a further illustration of how the new structural-cultural dynamics had enabled students in the middle school campuses to assume leadership roles which had been played by year 12 students in the old comprehensive high school structural-cultural dynamics, both in the schools and in the wider community, one of the principals pointed out that:

two of my kids got up at the Women’s Forum on the Women’s International Day for women in the Pacific and were asked to give a talk; and they gave a talk in front of several hundred year 12 private school and State school kids. That’s an opportunity year 10s wouldn’t have in a comprehensive 7 – 12 (Principal, Metro-B2).

Thus, the establishment of the multi-campus college structural dynamics in these four colleges, by bringing students together from what used to be separate, autonomous high schools, and getting them involved in joint extra-curricular activities, had created cultural dynamics which offered opportunities for greater student involvement, not only in school governance but also in extra-curricular activities both at middle school level and senior campus level at a level much greater than what had existed before the schools were amalgamated. These structural-cultural dynamics were particularly significant at middle school level, because year 9 and year 10 students had now taken on extra-curricular roles and responsibilities which had been normally reserved for year

11 and 12 students in the traditional year 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structural- cultural dynamics. These dynamics appear to be great outcomes for these colleges when one considers Silins and Mulford’s (2002, p443) finding that “students are increasing their capacity for learning when they voice their opinions in class, participate in decision making and goal setting and participate in extra-curricular activities”.

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7.4 Conclusion

In examining the impact of the multi-campus college structural dynamics on the

Human Interactions and the Search for Excellence cultural dynamics in the four colleges studied, ten cultural dynamics were identified as being impacted upon by the new multi- campus college structural dynamics. The cultural dynamics were also impacting upon the structural dynamics in the colleges. In most cases, the structural and cultural dynamics were mutually beneficial.

The positive cultural dynamics were being experienced with regard to enrolments and retention rates, breadth of curriculum and subject choice, students’ learning environment, resource availability and utilisation, access to new technology, linkages with tertiary institutions and vocational education as well as extra-curricular activities. These positive cultural dynamics had encouraged structural dynamics, such as changes in time tabling schedules, which made it possible for students to take greater advantage of the opportunities offered by the new model to improve their outcomes.

The structural-cultural dynamics which had been introduced with the establishment of the new model were, in all the four case studies, associated with cumulative effects which led to new synergies in enrolments, retention rates, and curriculum breadth as well as subject choice in the multi-campus colleges. These improvements were being realised not only in the senior campuses, but also in the middle feeder schools and even further in the transition from primary 6 to year 7.

The new structural-cultural dynamics had increased students’ opportunities to engage in University studies while still at high school. This led to the conclusion that such cultural dynamics could have great demonstration effects and far reaching positive spin-offs in the school districts where these colleges are located. This was particularly the case because, as discussed earlier, these were areas where advancement to post- secondary education had not been seen as the normal student progression in the communities where these four colleges were established. It may therefore be inferred

256 from this analysis that changing the structural dynamics in these school communities could lead to collateral changes in the cultural dynamics in those areas.

Negative cultural dynamics had been reported regarding the impact of the structural dynamics on resource distribution across the campuses and on teachers’ work and working conditions. Teachers did not know each other well and they had not participated meaningfully in decision making in the day to day running of their campuses.

Students had very clear and strong convictions about the impacts of the structural dynamics of their college on the selected cultural dynamics in their colleges.

They correlated the structural dynamics positively to the cultural dynamics involving curriculum breadth and subject choice, learning environment, resource availability, access to computing, student leadership and extra-curricular activities.

Contrary to parental opinion expressed at the establishment phase of two of the multi-campus colleges studied, students strongly disagreed with the suggestion that a single sex campus would be preferred for their place where to study. Overwhelmingly

(90%; n = 780) students very strongly disagreed with the statement that a single sex campus would be their preferred campus of choice.

The finding of a dichotomous response among interviewees about the impact of the new structural dynamics on their cultural dynamics as tested with regard to students’ learning environment and teachers’ working environment led to the postulation that the structural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges studied had predominantly positive impacts on the cultural dynamics of students but less so with those involving teachers’ work and working conditions. It is further proposed that just as the structural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges have impacts on the cultural dynamics, so too, do the cultural dynamics impact upon the structural dynamics in those colleges. Because of the importance of these relationships and a profound intention of the present thesis to improve an understanding of these relationships, an investigation of these proposals

257 forms a major part of the analysis of the impact of, and interactions among, the multi- campus colleges’ structural-cultural dynamics on the Results of Human Enterprise element in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER 8

RESULTS, PART THREE

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN THE “RESULTS OF HUMAN ENTERPRISE” ELEMENT IN THE FOUR MULTI-CAMPUS COLLEGES STUDIED

8.1 Introduction

In chapter seven, 10 of the 16 sub-questions on the structural-cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges studied were analysed. This chapter analyses sub- questions 11 – 16 thus completing the presentation and analysis of data on the structural-cultural dynamics investigated in this thesis. As illustrated in subdivisions 4.1

– 4.6 of the Dynamics Paradigm in Figure 4-2 on pages 108, the remaining six sub- questions 11 – 16, addressed the impact of the multi-campus college’s structural dynamics on the “Results of Human Enterprise” within the college. As discussed in chapter 4, this element is concerned with organisational members’ understanding of how structural-cultural dynamics in their educational institution enable them to realise both academic and non-academic outcomes.

With this focus in mind, the six questions used to investigate the structural- cultural dynamics in this element sought to gain an understanding of interviewees’ evaluation of the impact of the structural dynamics of their multi-campus college on six cultural dynamics involving, (See subdivisions 4.1 – 4.6, page 108):

1) principals’ management practices and leadership roles,

2) students’ outcomes,

3) teachers’ outcomes,

4) participants’ assumptions and beliefs,

5) community responses to the new model and

6) participants’ comparisons of the new model with the old comprehensive

high school structural dynamics.

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Such comparisons were pursued so as to provide an understanding of interviewees’ feelings as to whether the structural dynamics of their new college offered an improved educational setting than the structural dynamics of the traditional, years 7 –

12 comprehensive high school.

8.2 Categorisation of the cultural dynamics investigated within the Results of Human Enterprise cultural dynamics according to commonality of interview data

Based on interviewees’ responses to the questions on the above six cultural dynamics and on the basis of commonality, the responses were categorised into three subsuming themes, namely:

a) Impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on college and

campus principals’ management practices and leadership dynamics, (dynamics

criterion 11).

b) Impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on students’

and teachers’ outcomes, (dynamics criteria 12 and 13).

c) Impact of the multi-campus college structural dynamics on community

perceptions and beliefs and how they compare with the traditional

comprehensive high school’s structural and cultural dynamics, (dynamics

criteria 14 – 16).

In the following subsections the findings of the study are discussed within the framework of these three broad themes.

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8.3 Impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on principals’ management practices and leadership dynamics in the four colleges studied, (dynamics criterion 11)

Principals are the leaders of the multi-campus college Work System and of the school communities where the colleges were established. To use Fullan’s (2001b, p.9) language, their role is to “mobilise people’s commitment to putting their energy into actions designed to improve things”. With effective leadership dynamics, “more good things happen and fewer bad things happen”. Thus, it has been said that “culture and leadership are two sides of the same coin” (Schein, 1997, p.15).

More recently Schein said that “leadership and culture are so conceptually intertwined that one could argue that the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture” (Schein, 2005, p.361). As Silins and Mulford (2002, p.

442), like Ogawa and Bossert (1995) assert, “in schools functioning as learning organisations, leadership becomes a systemic characteristic or organisational quality”.

They further add that “leadership and learning are probably inextricably linked in a school committed to continual improvement” (Silins and Mulford, 2002, p. 442).

Therefore, an analysis of the impact of the new structural dynamics on principals’ management practices and leadership dynamics, as well as the principals’ impact on the structural and cultural dynamics in their multi-campus college, was central to the main argument of the present thesis.

With the above citations in mind and drawing on the Dynamics Paradigm developed in chapter 4, and in agreement with Pace (2002, p.33), the analysis was influenced by the assumption that the cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college cannot be understood clearly without understanding the functions of leadership in the college. Accordingly, a large section of this chapter was assigned to an analysis of interviews which were held with the multi-campus college principals who were interviewed to gain an understanding of principals’ views of the impacts of the

261 structural dynamics on their management practices and leadership dynamics, and how their practices and roles in turn impacted on the structural and cultural dynamics which were emerging in their colleges. The results are presented in the following discussion.

8.3.1 Principals’ impacts on the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus colleges

As one would expect, in spite of the fact that the initial decision to restructure their schools had been made at Ministerial and DET level and the principals had been given little or no say in it (as discussed in chapter 6), principals were the people charged with the responsibility of making the structural and cultural dynamics of their new

Work System work. The DET had handed to them the concept of restructuring their schools to establish the multi-campus college to sell to the community with the assistance of the respective Schools District Superintendents. For example a principal said that:

when I realised that the senior school was going ahead, I sat with the District Superintendent (by name) and he then called a principals’ meeting in 1998 and the principals of the three schools, myself and (name of Minister of Education) started discussions of how the model would be implemented (Principal, Metro-B4).

Interview data that confirmed the key role played by the principals in the implementation of the DET’s decision to restructure the high schools was universal across the four colleges. In the case of Metro-B for instance, there was evidence that at the establishment phase of the college, one of the campus principals (Metro-B4) had acted as the educational leader in the community and had worked very hard to cultivate a working relationship with all the different stakeholders, including parents, teachers and the local community at large. Principals in that school’s cluster were unanimous that they had exerted a tremendous amount of impact on how the structural dynamics of their new model were to be implemented. This was clearly evidenced in another principal’s interview with the comment that:

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They were the ones who then did the research as to the best structure for them, who worked closely with the (name of) District Superintendent and made the decision on how to implement the new model (Principal, Metro-B1).

The principals’ role at the establishment phase involved a litany of management

practices and leadership dynamics which could best be characterised as envisionment of the multi-campus college structural dynamics. A summary of data from the college principals and their deputies (Country-A and B), and from the campus principals (all colleges studied), showed that their main roles included the following:

‹ Determining the cohort configuration for their college such as years 7 – 9 or 7 – 10 in the middle schools and the corresponding years 10 – 12 or 11 – 12 respectively in the senior campus, ‹ Determining the organisational leadership structure, for instance as to whether they would have an over-arching permanent college principal, a rotating college principal or no college principal at all but a college deputy principal, ‹ Convincing the community of their schools that the new structural dynamics would be good for their children and would create opportunities for better educational opportunities and outcomes, ‹ Convincing the parents who had been used to single sex schools that a co- educational environment would not adversely affect their daughters and sons either socially or academically, ‹ Convincing parents that the young adult cultures of the senior campus students could interact with the adult cultures of the TAFE and University students without deleterious impacts on their children, ‹ Convincing the Teachers’ Federation that the structural dynamics within the new model were not just a cost-saving measure by the DET, ‹ Convincing the Teachers’ Federation that the structural dynamics within the new model would not adversely affect their members, ‹ Convincing teachers that their professional development and career paths would not be adversely affected by the new structural dynamics, ‹ Setting up protocols for the coordination of teachers’ travel between campuses and for their transfers from middle schools to senior school in a process commonly referred to as ‘the rotation’, which will be examined in detail further on in this chapter,

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‹ Determining the processes of phasing out the senior cohorts without too much disruption to students’ HSC and year 10 programmes as the senior cohorts of the high schools were folded, ‹ Deciding which teachers were to stay in the middle school campuses and who would ‘go up’ to the new senior campus, ‹ Interfacing the senior campus with TAFE and University and other tertiary institutions including vocational education and training, ‹ Deciding on whether they would enrol students from other public schools that were not in the multi-campus college cluster.

For example, all principals across the different school sites said that they had looked for a way in which they could establish the new model and make it viable without making it difficult for other schools in the area to survive. Principals had feared that if they had enrolled students from the neighbouring years 7 – 12 public high schools who might have been attracted by the cultural dynamics of the new model such as the richer curriculum choice discussed earlier in chapter 6, they could have reduced those schools’ enrolments, rendered them marginalised and perhaps no longer viable.

One of many examples of interviewees who supported that consideration said:

it was a policy of the college not to bleed the surrounding schools. The college wasn’t to take kids from (name of three) public 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools because they were small schools and they were fearful that when the college was established they would lose kids to us (Deputy, Country-A).

The envisioning processes had involved many meetings which the principals and the District Superintendents convened to tell people what was about to happen. In most cases, as was evident at Metro-A (District Superintendent, Metro-A), the idea was first discussed between the District Superintendent and a few of the principals and then the rest of the principals in the participating schools’ cluster were involved. Meetings involving the three or four participating principals were chaired by the District

Superintendent. Some of those meetings were attended by the Teachers’ Federation representative as well as the P & C representatives from each of the participating high

264 schools. School community meetings were then called and these were attended by parents, teachers and other stakeholders from the community such as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, TAFE and University.

The number and mood of meetings varied a lot but all principals indicated that the process was very exhausting and involved numerous meetings. The following interview data from one of the metropolitan campuses gives some indication of the role played by the principals at such meetings, and the mood of some of those meetings:

We had a series of meetings, first with staff and then with (name of District Superintendent). We had a public meeting in each of the four communities of the college and talked about the decision which had been made and we tried to crystal ball some ramifications of the whole thing. The meeting was well attended, and people expressed their views. Staff would always have major issues. Some said it was disgraceful and walked out in defiance, but it was not confrontational with people who were upbeat and shooting off rockets. (Principal, Metro-B1).

From one of the Country based campuses, data which also highlighted the crucial role played by the principals in the design of the new structural dynamics of their college, and the enthusiasm with which they conducted the envisionment processes said:

We started with an enormous consultation phase where the three principals (by name) met with the (name of) District Superintendent to discuss the establishment processes. We then visited every feeder primary school and spoke to every group of parents and any group that possibly wanted to hear us. Sometimes there were five people at other times there would be fifty. We didn’t mind. We just went and spoke at those public meetings. (Principal, Country-B2).

Following the public meetings a project officer was appointed to oversee the restructuring processes in some cases such as Country-A. In other situations such as

Metro-B, the principal at Metro-B1 was assigned that role while his deputy assumed the role of the principal. The former went on to be appointed the principal of the senior campus at Metro-B4 while the latter was confirmed as the campus principal at Metro-

B1. In this case the implementation of the new structural dynamics directly impacted on the leadership dynamics and resulted in acceleration in gaining a promotion.

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At Metro-A the participating principals headed the restructuring dynamics but thirteen committees were set up to plan the changing of other things such as the college uniform. Data from across the different sites pointed to the vital role played by the participating principals in the design of the structural dynamics of their multi-campus college.

8.3.2 Principals’ evaluation of impact of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on their management practices and leadership dynamics

While the principals, in the main, expressed a strong commitment to the objectives and aspirations of their multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics, their interpretation of how the structural dynamics of the model impacted on the cultural dynamics that directly related to their management practices and leadership roles, and indirectly on the outcomes of their students and teachers within their new Work System was very diverse across a broad spectrum. At one end were the majority of principals who held very positive views of the benefits of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their leadership role. At the opposite end were a small number of principals who held very negative views about the impact of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their roles. Between these two ends were a few principals whose positions were characterised as ‘sitting-on-the-fence’. The examples used in the following discussion were selected as representative data of the broad spectrum of principals’ positions on these dynamics.

8.3.2.1 Most positive impacts of structural dynamics on leadership-cultural dynamics

Examples of principals who held very positive views on the impact of the new model on their leadership dynamics said that they were very happy with the new structural dynamics because they had created opportunities for them to interact with their colleagues in the cluster schools and to share in decisions and to gain mutual

266 support in a manner which was not possible in the traditional comprehensive high school model. Supporting interviewees said for instance:

I find the model wonderful. We meet very regularly and it is very nice to have support. And it is that close interaction with three other colleagues that makes us say, gee aren’t we lucky that we can do this, compared to our other colleagues that are out there in stand alone situations who have to make a special effort to contact their peers. It is very lonely at the top, but this model helps us to work together (Principal, Metro-B2).

Such highly positive data was obtained from both the metropolitan colleges as well as the Country based colleges. For example an interviewee from one of the

Country based colleges who was equally praiseworthy of the impact of the structural dynamics of the multi-campus college on the cultural dynamics of the management practices and leadership dynamics in the college said that she loved the new model because the structural dynamics enabled the principals to work as a team and to have ready access to managerial assistance from their peers who knew what they were doing and shared a common interest for the successful operation of the schools in their area.

An interviewee that was in agreement with this reasoning said, for instance:

I find it absolutely fantastic. It has made my work immeasurably easier. From being on your own to make important decisions by yourself to working as a team. Now if anything happens I have automatically a college principal and two campus principals whom to ask. The amount of work it has taken off me is immeasurable (Principal, Country-A2).

Interview data from several principals who agreed with such positive comments included one from a principal who said that he was very happy with the new structural- cultural dynamics because they gave him “the opportunity to coordinate teachers’ professional learning across the three schools” (Principal, Country-A). Additionally, the principal said that the new structural-cultural dynamics were great for his leadership role because they created a valid reason for him to get teachers of the middle school years to talk with those who taught senior classes (Principal, Country-A). One principal said that she was happy with the new model and wouldn’t change a thing about its

267 structural-cultural dynamics because they enabled the principals of the participating schools to develop a degree of independence, with which they had “become comfortable as leaders in their our own environments” (Principal, Metro-A3) while at the same time collaborating as a team.

The high convergence of such interview data led to the deduction that the structural dynamics of the colleges which the principals had been the key agents in setting up during the establishment phase of the multi-campus college, were now being regarded by the principals as having a positive impact on their management and leadership dynamics and on the cultural dynamics of their colleges as a whole.

8.3.2.2 Less positive impacts of structural dynamics on leadership-cultural dynamics

The main concern in the data that reflected less positive leadership dynamics experienced by principals related to their consideration that the new structural dynamics had increased their workload as evidenced, for instance, by the additional meetings they had to attend as a result of the processes within the new model. Interviews that supported this finding said, for instance that, “the change in structure affects my role as principal because it has put in another layer of hierarchy: another layer of meetings. It has put in an extra management structure” (Principal, Metro-A2).

This view was shared by several of the principals who also said that “the structure adds another layer of bureaucracy and another layer of authority” (Principal,

Metro-A1). Concurrent data said: “I think the model has given us another two layers of administration, the college layer; and the coordinating college principal has to deal with state-wide colleges” (Principal, Metro-A2). Yet another one said “I think the structure has given us an added layer in the administration of things. We have a college meeting: so I go to a meeting I wouldn’t have; and this is an extra layer that I wouldn’t have in the old structure” (Principal, Metro-A3).

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The creation of additional layers of meetings which principals had to attend without an increased allowance in time for those meetings could be interpreted to have the potential for inhibitory effects on the outcomes in those colleges because there is evidence to suggest that “in the area of school improvement,… educational reforms were found to be counter-productive to learning when demands for adoption of innovations were coupled with inadequate time for reflection and rest” (Silins and

Mulford, 2002, pp. 425 – 426).

Some principals in the middle school campuses also commented on the fact that their work had become busier partly because they were dealing with many more students, partly because those students were on average of a lower age bracket and also because of disciplinary problems. At Country-B2 for instance, it was pointed out that whereas the average cohort size had been 120 students in the old structure, in the new model it was 240. This had made the corridors noisier and as well created discipline management problems because of some disruptive students. As a result, the principal had to conduct a lot more interviewing of the students involved. This problem was also cited in the metropolitan middle school campuses where it was said for instance that,

“with 950, years 7 – 10 kids, it is a pretty noisy place during lunch time” (Principal,

Metro-B1). This was supported further by teachers who said that, “the sheer number of kids makes it difficult to know them, to attend to their individual problems and it is a very noisy place” (Teacher, Country-A1). Teachers also said that because of the large number of students, it had become difficult to know students individually and rather impartial relationships were developing within the structural-cultural dynamics.

Moreover, some of the principals in the years 11 – 12 senior campuses said that because they had the students for only two years, it was more difficult for them to know all their students.

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8.3.2.3 Most negative impact of structural-cultural dynamics on leadership dynamics

In the four sites, the most negative comments of principals related to the impact of the structural dynamics on their ability to provide for choice of place of work for their teachers under the provisions of the process that was commonly referred to as ‘the rotation’. It is therefore important to explain this management practice and its implications on leadership dynamics as well as its acknowledged impact on teachers’ cultural dynamics involving their professional career paths.

Documents provided by the colleges indicated that there was a memorandum of understanding which had been worked out between the DET and the New South Wales

Teachers Federation which stipulated, among other things, that after three years of the establishment of each multi-campus college, there was to be a rotation of 30% of head teachers and 40% of classroom teachers from the senior campus into the middle school campuses and their positions filled by teachers from the middle school campuses. This was to be an on-going arrangement such that in principle after a teacher had taught in one of the middle school campuses for three years, he/she could demand to be transferred into the senior campus and his place would be filled by the corresponding teacher from the senior campus: hence the term ‘rotation’.

In practical terms, this principle implied that teachers in the middle school campuses who had taught there for three years could force teachers who had taught in the senior campus for three years, out of the senior campus and back into the middle school campuses. A similar rotation was stipulated for head teachers but at a lower rate of 30%.

A strict implementation of this structural-cultural dynamic required the college principal or the co-ordinating principal to notify 40% of teachers who had taught in the senior campus for three years that their positions were subject to the rotation into one of the middle school campuses of their college. Whether they would actually be asked to

270 rotate or not, he/she couldn’t say, because it wasn’t sure whether there would be demand expressed by middle school teachers or not. Neither could he/she say to which campus the rotation would be into, because it could be any of the three or four participating cluster campuses.

A detailed explanation of how it was implemented in one of the colleges helps to illustrate not only how it was meant to work, but also its complications. In that college, the college principal had written to 38 of the teachers in the senior campus in term 3, notifying them that their positions were up for rotation into any of the two middle school campuses of the college. He then wrote to teachers who had taught in the middle schools for 3 years advising them of the opportunity for rotation into the senior campus and inviting them to apply. In response to this, only two teachers from one of the middle school campuses applied to be rotated into the senior campus. The college principal then sat with the senior campus principal to identify two teachers that matched the applicants’ subjects and wrote to them to advise them that they were to transfer into the middle school campus. He also wrote to the two applicants to advise them of the success of their application. However, while one of the two teachers nominated in the senior campus transferred out of the multi-campus college, and the second accepted the rotation, the two applicants from the middle school campuses withdrew their applications and chose not to rotate.

The above example is detailed here so as to illustrate some of the mechanics and the complexities of the implementation of this structural-cultural dynamic. In this scenario, 38 teachers had been made anxious about their possible campus of work for the next three years, only two had been asked to rotate, and in the end, the college lost one long serving teacher and no one else moved. Even when this process was made demand-driven to decrease the number of people on the senior campus that would be written to, it was still ominous for teachers in the senior campus to feel that 40% of

271 them could be transferred to any of the other campuses without having a choice about the matter.

The requirement of 40% of teachers and 30% of executives to be transferred at the end of one year (and possibly every year) from the senior campus into the middle school campuses was evaluated by principals as “disruptive, poorly thought out, divisive, unworkable”. It was one which could nullify the great cultural dynamics that students were realising from the structural dynamics of the multi-campus college Work

System. Like their principals, teachers were equally critical of the impact of this cultural dynamic on their work and working conditions as discussed in section 8.4.2.

8.3.2.4 Differences in the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on leadership dynamics

The impact of the structural dynamics of the multi-campus college on the management practices and the leadership dynamics at each of the sites differed a great deal among the four colleges. For example, in the structural dynamics at Metro-A, the leadership dynamics involved a rotation of the leadership role among the sites such that each of the four campus principals was to have a turn at being the college principal for three years while simultaneously remaining the campus principal of his/her own school.

The campus principals themselves were not required to rotate but they stayed at their own campus where it was said that “the coordinating principal wears two hats: a campus principal and a college principal at the same time” (Deputy, Metro-A). This new structural-cultural dynamics clearly increased the role of the principal and introduced responsibilities which principals in the traditional comprehensive high school did not have.

In the structural dynamics at Country-A, the leadership dynamics involved one college principal and a college deputy who were housed in an administration centre, away from any of the campuses. These two leaders were not supposed to rotate but their

272 campus principals were supposed to rotate from site to site every three years. Because within the structural dynamics in this particular college their cultural dynamics put emphasis on staff rotation among the campuses as discussed above, the rotation of campus principals was considered a desirable cultural dynamic because it was “good for the teachers; because they can see that it is not only they that are asked to rotate.

That principals too, rotate” (Principal, Country-A).

In a third set of structural dynamics, the leadership dynamics involved a non- rotating college principal located in an administration centre similar to the above structural-leadership dynamics, but without a deputy. Unlike in model 2 above, in the structural dynamics in model 3, their cultural dynamics did not require the campus principals to rotate across the sites. However, the campus principals met weekly to discuss issues that were considered to be common to the college as a whole across the three campuses.

In the structural dynamics of the fourth multi-campus college, the leadership dynamics in practice did not provide for one designated as the college principal. Instead, a college deputy principal coordinated the activities of the campus principals across the sites. In their structural dynamics, there was an understanding that each campus principal’s leadership dynamics required autonomy as a paramount consideration.

Interviewees who reflected the need for such autonomous leadership dynamics said that

“we deliberately structured ours this way because we didn’t want to have a ‘big boss’ above us. There is no one responsible to tell a principal what to do in their campus”

(Principals, Metro-A and B).

Interview data strongly reinforced the finding that within the structural dynamics of the metropolitan multi-campus colleges, the leadership cultural dynamics exhibited a high level of independence and autonomy in the management and leadership practices in use. For instance, it was said “we believed very strongly, that it would not be a good thing to have somebody over the top of a principal. We didn’t want a ‘Super Principal’”

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(Principal, Metro-B4). A supporting interviewee from another campus within the same schools’ cluster said:

We were very keen right from the start to ensure that we keep our identity. We still are very keen for each one of us to maintain each of the sites as an individual site with its own characteristics (Principal, Metro-B1).

The above comments led to the deduction that the two metropolitan colleges appeared to espouse cultural dynamics which reflected the principle of “Unity without

Uniformity”. To clarify this dichotomy Young and Hester (2004) say:

Unity without Uniformity is about being of one mind, united in what we do and aspiring to make a significant difference (but recognising our) increasing diversity. … it requires self-evaluation as well as seeking common goals within the organisation. We need to work from the bottom up – self-definition first, then the organisation (p. 2004, p.1).

This was in stark contrast to the Country based sites where the leadership dynamics placed emphasis on interdependence rather than autonomy. An interviewee who supported this observation said for instance, “We have developed in the college a real sense of the college belongs to us and with that in mind there are many things that we’ve been doing together” (Principal, Country-A). Another principal said, “We don’t see ourselves as three different schools. We really see ourselves as one school”

(Principal, Country-A3). A similar emphasis on ‘doing things together’ was found at

Country-B college as well, where it was said for instance, “we have a strong feeling of being one college; certainly in the eyes of the community and students and overwhelmingly in the eyes of the staff. We have built the perception that they are all working together” (Principal, Country-B).

This difference in the fundamental approach to their management practices and leadership dynamics was similar among the metropolitan-based colleges and among the

Country based colleges. The former preferred managerial practices and leadership dynamics which were based on campus autonomy as the basis for collaboration. The

274 latter preferred management practices and leadership dynamics which called for greater interdependence among the campuses as the basis for their cultural dynamics.

Additionally, the former did not have an overarching college principal in their leadership dynamics whereas the latter did.

It appeared that this philosophical difference in the principals’ approaches to their management practices and leadership dynamics was having a noticeable impact on the kind of cultural dynamics that were emerging within each college cluster. For instance, at Metro-B3 where there was no college principal it was said that; “We operate as separate schools; so for us there is no different requirement in leadership; because really we don’t function as one college” (Principal, Metro-B3).

In contrast, at Country-A which had a college principal, there was the belief across the campuses that they were working together and that they exercised caution in their management practices so that what was done in one site took into consideration the potential impacts of that event on the participating schools in their cluster. An example of an interview that metaphorically supported this finding said for instance that, “you can’t go off and row your boat the way you like. Your boat makes waves that affect other boats” (Principal, Country-A2). Similarly another interviewee said: “We need to be aware of one another. For example, if someone from the junior campus is organising a dance, they need to be aware that people from the other campuses need to be involved in it” (Principal, Country-A).

The colleges that had a college principal also categorically expressed the view that having a college principal within their organisational structural dynamics was a great cultural dynamic within their structure. For instance, in both the Country based colleges that had a college principal there was the understanding that without the college principal to coordinate the college as a whole, each principal would just go back to doing things the way they had done in the traditional comprehensive high schools

275 where each one autonomously exercised their management practices. Examples of data that showed this argument said, for instance:

the challenge is going to be, to be able to keep the one college ethos going; because once you take the thread away, people will then fall back into concentrating on what they were doing on their own. I think without a college principal the potential is there for it to be left adrift (Principal, Country-B).

Similar views from Country-A confirmed this finding in a dialogue which pointed out that the college principal was the synergy for their cultural dynamics and sustenance for their structural dynamics. The understanding there was, that “this college could not continue to exist as one without the coordination provided by the college principal” (Deputy, Country-A).

Based on the findings exemplified by the data quoted in this section, it was observed that the management practices and leadership dynamics in the two metropolitan colleges studied, reflected emerging cultural dynamics based on autonomy and independence whereas those in the two Country based colleges studied, depicted an evolution of cultural dynamics which emphasised interdependence and collaboration.

While it was well beyond the scope of this thesis to delve into the factors causing these two distinct approaches, they were pointed out in this section because they are important leadership dynamics and warrant attention in future research.

In the quantitative data the Likert-scale mean score to the statement put to teachers that, “The leadership role of each member of the leadership team is very clear to staff” was an affirmative 2.50. That ranking meant that in spite of the presence of many principals and deputy principals within the multi-campus college structural dynamics, teachers were nevertheless clear about the leadership roles of each one of them. This could be a reflection of the quality of leadership in those colleges. However, this finding is important because it influences teachers’ ability to have direction and controls used to maintain collectivity in their college. It affects their propensity to move

276 toward goal accomplishment within their school. Moreover, it affects their ability to plan ahead, to seek help and to advance their professional career paths as they seek to excel in the human enterprise at their school.

8.3.2.5 Commonality of ‘teething problems’ in leadership dynamics

In the cultural dynamics of both the metropolitan and Country based colleges, there was a feeling common among the principals that more could be done to increase closer collegiality across their campuses. It was said in more than one site for instance, that they had not reached the level of starting to talk as one college yet and that the present research had raised questions which provided them with an opportunity to talk about important things they could be doing together but which might not have come up at all were it not for this study. In another site, the current cultural dynamics were compared to a marriage that was yet to be consummated or to an infant that was yet to walk (Principal, Metro-A4).

Another cultural dynamic common in the interviews from the principals across the four colleges was the deep seated conviction among the principals that their cultural dynamics reflected strong, personal leadership but they were prepared to collaborate for the good of their college. It was emphasised, however, that people didn’t want other people to tell them what to do in their campus. It was suggested that New South Wales principals are taught to be autonomous leaders of their school communities and so the multi-campus college’s structural dynamics tend to challenge peoples’ past experience in which the management practices and leadership dynamics of principals in an autonomous years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools reflected autonomous decision- making and ‘management by self for self rather than with other for the other’.

All principals recognised that for their model to work, the principals needed to believe that it was a good model and that it could work. They said that they needed to see the value of each campus and they had to talk college rather than campus. There

277 appeared to be consensus among the principals that the success of the colleges was going to depend on cooperation, shared vision and ownership among the principals.

Principals emphasised that it was essential for the principals who worked in the multi- campus college to have a very clearly articulated educational philosophy and one which was in concert with that of the other principals.

While there was diversity in the problems that principals had faced at the establishment phase of their colleges, the following six were quite commonly shared.

Firstly, there had been a re-structuring without a corresponding re-culturing in the structural-cultural dynamics. This was mainly because the DET had provided neither the time nor other resources including finances, to transform the schools from the old comprehensive high school structures to the new model. One of many illustrations of this deficiency was the fact that all principals said that the staffing formula should have been changed to allow for the fact that the middle school campuses no longer had access to the staffing benefit that schools get for their year 11 and 12 cohorts. Principals complained that there appeared to be a false assumption by the DET that all schools were equal and the same. This assumption had made the DET unaware of or irresponsive to the particular needs of these new colleges during their establishment. For example, some of the colleges that felt they needed an administration unit were denied funding for it.

Secondly, principals faced concern from the Teachers Federation regarding the possible impacts of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their members’ working conditions. It was feared that the staff rotation dynamics discussed later in section 8.4.2 might cause some difficulties.

Thirdly, principals had experienced failure by the DET to meet community expectations with regard to what they had promised as part of the restructuring package.

For instance, the building programmes at many campuses were behind schedule. Some

278 parents had transferred their students from some of the campuses where construction was a daily and prolonged experience.

Fourthly, there had been no uniform approach as to how the mergers of the high schools were to take place. For instance, some middle schools held on to their senior students longer than others. Some folded schools had no teacher allowed into the newly structured senior campus while others had some choice. Thus the principals felt that there had been no consistent restructuring protocol advised to them by the DET at the establishment phase.

Fifthly, several of the principals said that when the model started there had been a lot of negativity about it within the community. The reasons for the negativity varied but in the main they included fear of the unknown, not wishing to change, not wishing to have senior students in a co-educational school, differences in history and differences in the ethnic background of some students and parents. Some people had opposed the model because they considered the changes to be ‘playing politics’ and didn’t want their schools to be involved.

Finally, a problem that principals faced, both at the establishment phase and currently, was that of staff rotation which is discussed at length in section 8.4.2.

8.4 Impact of the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics on students’ and teachers’ outcomes, and comparisons with the traditional years 7-12 comprehensive high school structure (dynamics criteria 12 and 13)

In the quantitative data, students were asked to show their understanding of the impact of the multi-campus college structural dynamics on their outcomes by agreeing or disagreeing with the statements that:

i) The structure of this college helps me to achieve greater maturity, ii) There is a general sense of satisfaction among students at this college, iii) This school has taught me to respect others,

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iv) Students at this college expect to do very well in the School Certificate and/or HSC examination.

The Likert-scale mean scores were respectively: 2.89, 2.68, 2.81 and 2.84 from

86.08%, 75.17%, 80.31% and 61.32% of the students who responded to these statements respectively. Accordingly, the analysis concluded that on average, students in the four colleges studied acknowledged that the structural dynamics of their multi- campus college had a positive influence on the cultural dynamics in those colleges.

This finding is important because if it is valid, then certain assumptions from this thesis’ theoretical construct can be inferred about students’ participation in the activities in their colleges that constitute what life is really like in their particular multi- campus college structural-cultural dynamics. For instance, given that students believed that the structural dynamics of their college offered them a general sense of satisfaction then it would be reasonable to expect that “they would be likely to experience happiness” (Pace, 2002, p.64) and if they associated their structural dynamics with greater respect for others and for themselves then, indirectly, “their striving to maintain such respect could make them more willing to complete their work as instructed” (Pace,

2002, p.64) by their teachers. It would therefore be reasonable to expect that in their behaviour, those students who exhibited a desire and a willingness to complete their work as instructed, would also harbour a willingness to seize “the opportunities provided for them (by the multi-campus college’s structural dynamics) to strive to satisfy and improve their outcomes” (Pace, 2002, p.65). This finding also appears to be consistent with Munns’ (1998, pp. 184-185) research which found that “there are inextricable connections between behaviour and learning (and that therefore) behaviour and learning should be addressed as interdependent issues”. This might partly explain the positive correlation which the analysis found between students’ acknowledgement of a respectful Work System (Likert-scale mean score 2.81), and their expectation to do very well in their School Certificate and HSC outcomes (Likert-scale mean score 2.84).

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In the teachers’ quantitative data the analysis investigated teachers’ understanding of the impact of their multi-campus college structural dynamics on 10 cultural dynamics in response to the following statements:

1) There is a general sense of satisfaction among teachers in the structure. 2) The multi-campus college structure enables teachers to teach both junior and senior classes. 3) Teachers in the multi-campus college structure are happy to transfer from one campus to another within the structure. 4) Teachers in the multi-campus college structure can easily transfer from one campus to another within the structure. 5) Teachers working in the multi-campus college structure share in important decision-making. 6) The multi-campus college structure gives teachers a feeling of being one community. 7) Staff morale in the multi-campus college structure is very high. 8) The multi-campus college structure is a more effective education model for high school students than the traditional comprehensive high school structure. 9) Our multi-campus college structure has a better reputation than the comprehensive high school had. 10) The multi-campus college structure encourages students to complete their HSC.

The Likert-scale mean score rankings of teachers’ responses to these cultural dynamics statements are summarised in Table 8-4 and discussed below.

In examining the results of the analysis using the Likert-scale analytical tool, it was found that, as shown in Table 8-4, of the 10 structural-cultural dynamics investigated, 4 had positive responses and 6 had negative perceptions. It was rather surprising to find that of the four which had positive mean rankings [2.83 – 2.51], all but one related to teachers’ understanding of the impact of the multi-campus college’s structural dynamics on students’ outcomes but the 6 cultural dynamics which had negative mean rankings [2.21 – 1.81], all related to teachers’ perception of the impact of

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Table 8-4: Summary of impact of multi-campus college structural dynamics on selected cultural dynamics in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm for the four colleges studied.

Cultural dynamics investigated Likert- Rank Scale Meaning POSITIVE STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS Mean Score Multi-campus college structure encourages students to 1 complete the Higher School Certificate 2.83 Agree

There is a general sense of satisfaction among teachers 2 working in the structure 2.66 Agree Our multi-campus college structure has a better 3 reputation than the comprehensive high school had 2.52 Agree

The multi-campus college structure is a more effective 4 education model for high school students 2.51 Agree

NEGATIVE STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS Teachers in the multi-campus college structure are 5 happy to transfer from one campus to another within the 2.21 Disagree structure

Teachers working in the multi-campus college structure 6 share in important decision-making 2.11 Disagree

Teachers in the multi-campus college structure can 7 easily transfer from one campus to another within the 2.10 Disagree structure

The multi-campus college structure gives teachers a 8 feeling of being one college community 2.04 Disagree

Staff morale in the structure is very high 2.03 Disagree 9

10 The multi-campus college structure enables teachers to teach both junior and senior classes 1.81 Disagree

Note: Likert-Scale Score Legend:

1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree; 4 = Strongly Agree

Source: Wilkinson, D. and Birmingham, P. (2003). Using research instruments: A guide for researchers. Pp.12 - 22

282 their multi-campus college’s structural dynamics on teachers’ outcomes within their college structure. This finding led to the proposition that in respect of the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics analysed in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the

Dynamics Paradigm, the structural dynamics in these four multi-campus colleges have predominantly positive cultural dynamics for students’ outcomes but relatively negative cultural dynamics for teachers’ outcomes within the structure.

This deduction was made because, as illustrated in Table 8-4, and with reference to the respective Likert-scale mean scores shown in parentheses below, the analysis found that teachers held the view that their multi-campus college structural dynamics encouraged students within the structure to complete their HSC (2.83), had a better reputation than the old comprehensive structure (2.52) and were overall a more effective education model for high school students (2.51). As indicated by the Likert-scale mean score co-efficients given in the corresponding parenthesis, teachers agreed with all these statements which positively correlated their students’ cultural dynamics outcomes to the structural dynamics created by the multi-campus college structural dynamics.

However, when teachers were asked for their understanding of the impact of the structural dynamics of their multi-campus college on the cultural dynamics which directly related to their work and working conditions, their responses were on average, that teachers in the college were neither happy to transfer from campus to campus within the college (2.21), nor could they actually easily transfer (2.10). Additionally, the analysis showed that teachers were of the view that they were not given much opportunity to share in important decision-making within their college structure (2.11).

Besides, teachers on different campuses within one college did not feel as though they belonged to one college (2.04). It was therefore no wonder to find that teachers on average disagreed with the statement that their morale was very high (2.03).

Furthermore, it was found that the most negative structural-cultural dynamic among teachers was their conviction that the possibility for them to teach both junior and senior

283 classes within the multi-campus college structural dynamics was not a feasible option

(1.81). This finding was powerful because it was broadly shared by 78.75% of the teachers from across the four colleges and thus contributed to the validity of the dichotomy of the structural-cultural dynamics suggested in this part of the analysis.

This analysis is significant because it implies the existence in these colleges, of some level of “isolation and balkanisation of staff” as well as “non-participatory decision-making processes” which Silins and Mulford (2001, p.8), like Lee and Smith

(1997) as well as Leithwood et al. (1998), identified as some of the conditions which contribute to difficulties that arise when attempts are being made to introduce change for “collective learning (and) for continual improvement” of schools (Silins and

Mulford, 2001, p.8). Where such staff isolation and balkanisation exist, it is difficult for shared knowledge and intention to occur and for collaborative activity to develop among organisational members so as to enhance the capacity for organisational learning

(Marks and Louis, 1999).

The dichotomous nature of this finding was not only challenging and indeed intriguing, but very important in terms of understanding the meaning that participants in a multi-campus college structure made of the structural dynamics of their college and what it really means to work in a multi-campus college structure and what life is really like for one to teach in a multi-campus college.

In the qualitative data, when teachers’ and principals’ responses to the question,

“How has the structure impacted on teachers’ work and working conditions?” were analysed, it was found that this was a question that both teachers and principals were very keen to talk about as many of the interviews were very detailed. In the main the interviews could be analysed under either a positive structural-cultural dynamics category or a negative structural-cultural dynamics category. Exhibits of interview data which were found to be synchronous with these categories are cited in the following subsections.

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8.4.1 Positive impacts of the structural-cultural dynamics on students’ and teachers’ cultural dynamics

The data in each of these two categories was subdivided further into interviewees’ views held in middle schools and those in senior campuses. These subdivisions are used in the following discussion.

8.4.1.1 Positive impacts in the middle school campuses. a) Better focus on middle school curriculum.

Both principals and teachers in the four colleges expressed the view that in the middle school campuses, they were now able to focus on middle school curriculum without the constraints imposed by HSC requirements. This enabled them to attend to detail and to particular needs of the years 7 – 10 students. Moreover, they could exercise greater flexibility and experimentation with their classes because they were not regimented by HSC protocols. For instance, excursions could be fitted in or assemblies called on short notice without fear of encroaching on HSC assessment tasks.

Secondly, it was said that the middle schools were putting emphasis on their year 10 (or year 9 in Country-A) as their senior students. It was explained that the structural dynamics had enabled them to do this because they were separate from year

11 and 12 and so their top year had become the main focus. As a result, teachers were going to great lengths to prepare for and to care for their year 10 classes just as much as teachers would have cared for their year 12 classes. It was emphasised that that kind of focus would not have been possible in the 7 – 12 structural dynamics simply because year 12 needed the added attention.

Some of the interviewees explained that while their schools were years 7 – 12 schools, teachers of year 11 and 12 spent a lot more time worrying about these years and this did not leave them much time to worry about the lower years, especially year 7.

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In contrast, because there were no years 11 – 12 students in the new structural dynamics, teachers were now able to focus on the learning needs of the years 7 – 10 with a lot more intensity than when they had years 7 – 12 cohorts. All the campuses’ resources were now being devoted to years 7 – 10 rather than spreading them thinly across the years 7 – 12 cohorts. Besides, not having year 11 and 12 meant that the time that was previously used for assessments and to address year 11 and 12 curriculum issues at school assemblies was now available for the years 7 – 10 who were now the prime focus. Therefore, interviewees argued, that school assemblies were more targeted to the curriculum and discipline needs of the middle school years and were more relevant.

Students, like their principals and teachers, were also of the conviction that the new structural dynamics had enabled them to become the focus in their campuses. For instance, a year 10 student said “because the year 12 are doing the HSC, teachers focus on them more and not so much focus on us. Now with no year 12 here, there is more focus on us and we get all the attention (Student, Country-B1). Concurrent data from a student in a senior campus said, “In a 7 – 12, the year 7 – 10 are neglected and 11 and

12 get all the attention. But now, the 7 – 10 are also the focus because we are not there and they get the opportunities to excel too” (Student, Metro-A4). This data supported the DET’s third reason for the introduction of these colleges which, as discussed in section 3.4.1, held that the multi-campus college model provides age appropriate structures (see page 69).

The argument that there was greater attention to the senior cohorts and less on years 7 – 10 in the old structural dynamics was partly blamed on the newspapers which were keen to publish schools’ HSC results every year with no mention of how a school had performed at the other levels. Middle school results were never mentioned. This was seen as putting pressure on teachers to devote most of their attention to the HSC students because they were the point of reference for public judgement of their

286 outcomes. In contrast, with the new structural dynamics which separated the year 7 – 10 from year 11 and 12, the middle schools were now able to focus on their cohorts without the undue pressure from the press. Some of the data that supported this finding said “In this place, we have developed a focus on the 7 – 10 with emphasis on year 10 as our senior kids” (Principal, Metro-B1). Similarly, it was said at Mero-B3 that “we focus on year 10 because we don’t have year 12” (Principal, Metro-B3).

b) Development of specialist teachers

Related to the above point of putting emphasis on middle school curriculum were recurrent comments from interviewees across all campuses that the new structural dynamics had enabled their teachers to develop their expertise in the teaching of year 7

– 10. Principals and teachers alike said that teachers were becoming specialised as middle school curriculum experts in their subjects as opposed to spreading their skills across the year 7 – 12 curriculum. For instance, at Country-B2, teachers were working in teams whereby one teacher taught a few subjects across several classes. This enabled teachers to specialise in those subjects and to develop greater depth and expertise.

Besides, the teachers involved in this arrangement which was popularly called “team- teaching” met regularly and discussed material and issues that were relevant to their years’ curriculum and so there was mutual support in their professional development.

Similar practices were reported to have been introduced at some of the other campuses such as Metro-A3 and Country-A1.

It was said that such specialisation by the teachers had been made possible because the new structural dynamics gave them the freedom to focus on middle school curriculum without allocating their time and other resources to the teaching of HSC subjects. Principals and teachers therefore felt that they could hone their skills on their students and develop a level of expertise which had not been feasible in the 7 – 12 structural dynamics. For example, one teacher now concentrated on the teaching of

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History and Geography only and another teacher only on English for middle school years and did not have to prepare HSC subjects. It may reasonably be inferred that such practice would enable these teachers, to gain “recognition from others” and to “self- growth and the mastery of both subject content and teaching skills” which Dinham

(1995, pp. 65 – 66) found to be “also sources of satisfaction” for teachers.

c) Better quality teaching and learning

Principals, teachers and students said that the years 7 – 10 students were getting more work because teachers were giving it to them since they did not have year 11 and

12. Teachers were now focusing on their classroom planning and delivery only to these years and they did not have assessment tasks, senior homework to mark and reports to write. So it was commonly believed as illustrated by the following data “that there is better quality of teaching and learning taking place in the new structure because staff are not stretched over three stages of learning from year 7 to 12” (Principal, Metro-A3).

d) Better academic outcomes

Positive comments within the middle school campuses also referred to significant improvements in the literacy outcomes as measured by the English Language and Literacy Assessment (ELLA) and the Secondary Numeracy Assessment

Programmes (SNAP) in year 7 and in the School Certificate. For instance, in one of the campuses where less than satisfactory School Certificate results had been given as one of the reasons that triggered the restructuring of their school, it was pointed out that the new structural dynamics had enabled them to improve not only their ELLA and SNAP results but also their year 10 results. College documents contained data which supported the claim that “for the first time ever, (name of) this campus had achieved above the

State average in a number of subjects” (Principal, Country-B2).

This had been possible, it was argued, because the new structural dynamics had enabled teachers in that campus to focus on year 7 and year 10 curriculum in a much

288 more intensive way than they had been able to do in the old structural dynamics. The reasons given for their ability to do this in the new structural dynamics were that they did not have year 12 to worry about and secondly, they had changed their teaching practices to pay special attention to the needs of year 7. This finding was a good example of how the cultural dynamics evident in this campus were the result of the structural dynamics which had been created by the multi-campus college structure.

Additionally, the discovery of such improvement in students’ outcomes was significant, not only from a students’ and parents’ perspective, but also from the teachers’ viewpoint, because research results show that “the greatest source of satisfaction (for teachers is) clearly, pupil achievement, and thus teacher accomplishment” (Dinham,

1995, p. 65). As Fullan (2003, p.11) reports, Lortie (1975) found that:

5,000 of the 6,000 teachers (he studied) identified ‘psychic rewards’ as the source of greatest motivation and satisfaction among teachers. These psychic rewards – the times I reached a student or group of students and they have learned – were valued as a source of great gratification.

The conviction that there had occurred improvements in students’ outcomes in the middle schools was not an isolated finding. Rather, this claim was corroborated by interview data across all the campuses. Supporting data included for instance, the submission that “last year, the School Certificate results were very, very good. This was because we are now focusing on the middle school kids” (Principal, Metro-A2). These improvements at middle school level were well acknowledged even by principals from the senior campuses. Additionally, they were seen as benefiting the senior campuses as well. For instance, with a display of data of increased enrolments and impressive students’ grades, a principal in a senior campus said, “I believe that we are very successful here. We wouldn’t have this wonderful year 11 and 12 school without successful year 7 – 10 schools” (Principal, Metro-B4). From such affirmative comments made by the principals, one could infer that the realised pupil achievement was “the

289 greatest source of satisfaction” (Dinham, 1995, p. 65), not only for teachers as asserted above, but for principals as well.

e) Better student leadership and improved behaviour

It was widely acknowledged among the four colleges, that students on their transition from primary to secondary school, experienced a difficult transition from being leaders in year six, to being at the ‘bottom of the pecking order’ in the secondary school. It was said that the structural dynamics of the new multi-campus college model had helped to address this anomaly because by separating the senior years from the middle school years, their younger students in the middle schools could play the leadership roles. This was consistent with outcomes in the ACT (Livermore, 1990).

For instance, all principals in the middle school campuses said that their students had embraced, very well, the leadership roles which had been carried out previously by year 11 and 12. This claim was made both in the 7 – 9 structures and in the 7 – 10 structures. For instance, data from the former that supported this finding said:

I am so proud of the year 9 in their leadership roles. In the old structure they never got a chance to do that. If you had come when we were a 7 – 12, you wouldn’t have interviewed them; you would have interviewed 11 and 12 (Principal, Country-A2).

A principal from the latter said:

I am absolutely impressed with our year 10 who are now our student leaders. They are assertive, responsible and prepared to do the same things that year 11 and 12 used to do in the 7 – 12. I believe they are actually maturing a lot (Principal, Metro-A3).

Corroborative data from across the middle school campuses of the four colleges emphasised the point repeatedly, that student governance in the new structural dynamics was unprecedented in the old structural dynamics. There was a striking convergence of submissions that the new structural dynamics in the middle school campuses had actually provided for better student leadership opportunities. Many of such submissions

290 described their students’ leadership in superlative terms such as, “we have had some wonderful things with year 7 – 9 student leadership. They are actually fantastic”

(Principal, Country-A). It was said by principals and teachers alike that the students in the middle schools had risen to the challenge of leadership.

Like their principals and teachers, students in both the middle school campuses and the senior campuses acknowledged the fact that year 9 and 10 students were now the student leaders in the middle schools and that this was a great thing for the students to be able to play such roles at a relatively younger age. Students in these years were now the older students and the new structural dynamics had given them a chance to be seen and to be heard. Students said for instance: “we now have our own leaders. We don’t need year 11 and 12. We have a say in what happens here” (Students, Country-

A2). This view among middle school students was shared by senior students who said for instance:

Before, you would finish year 6 as captain and would have to wait until year 11 before you could be a leaders again. Now you have year 9 as the leaders at their school and I think that’s great (Student, Country-A3).

As the data from different interviewees and campuses on this cultural dynamic was triangulated, it was clear that the new structural dynamics in the middle school campuses of the multi-campus colleges studied, had created opportunities for students to play leadership roles at an earlier age and, as shown in the interview data quoted above, the students had responded very well. This is a significant outcome especially when one considers Silins and Mulford’s (2002, p.443) results of analysis which showed, among other things, that

students who are successful at school identify with school and become emotionally involved with school life. Engaged students perceive schoolwork as making a useful contribution to their present and later life.

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This point resonates well with Fullan’s (2000, p.4) “moral purpose for education to make a positive difference in the lives of students”. Moreover, from the teachers’ point of view, this dynamic is also significant because research on what gives teachers satisfaction found that, among other things, “changing pupil behaviour and attitudes were also significant sources of satisfaction” for teachers (Dinham, 1995, p.65).

f) Better discipline protocol implementation

It was said that in the years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school structural dynamics it had been difficult to have differential codes of conduct which allowed the young adults of year 11 and 12 the freedom they need and others to meet the discipline needs of years 7 – 10. As a result, the same protocols applied to all students from 12 years old in year 7 to 18 years old in year 12. Consequently, there was potential for conflict or confusion in the implementation of the rules because some codes of conduct that suited the discipline needs of students in the junior years did not suit the expected codes of behaviour for year 11 and 12. By contrast, in the new structural dynamics, the young students in year 7 – 10 were separated from the young adults in years 11 and 12 and therefore more appropriate codes of conduct could be more effectively implemented with the more homogeneous groups. This dynamic had also been experienced among some of the secondary schools in Canberra, ACT, prior to the establishment of senior colleges in the Territory. For instance, surveys found that “many senior students in

Canberra resented being treated as children when, in fact, they were approaching

‘adulthood’” (March, 1996, p.5).

g) Improved expectations and greater responsibility

Several interviewees said that since the establishment of the new structural dynamics, teachers’ expectations of their year 10 students had risen because this was their benchmark. They put greater efforts into teaching year 10 because that was all they had to show for their results of human enterprise. It was also said that students’

292 expectation too had risen because they were being given greater opportunity to do more of the things that used to be done by year 11 and 12. For example, teachers said that they were telling their year 9/10 students that they were the ‘seniors’ in the school and were to conduct themselves accordingly. Additionally, year 9 and 10 students were now organising and speaking at school assemblies whereas previously this was done by year

12 students.

h) Better transition

In the colleges where team-teaching had been introduced, as discussed earlier, students in year 7 and 8 were taught with special strategies which allowed them to make a smooth transition from primary school to the first two years of senior schooling.

Teachers said that those strategies had enabled students to settle into the middle school cultural dynamics more comfortably. This approach also allowed teachers to begin putting emphasis on School Certificate programmes in year 9 and 10. For instance, a principal said that this arrangement allowed:

a greater emphasis on the different educational needs of these different age groups. With the younger kids in year 7 and 8 we can now focus on transition into secondary education whereas with year 9 and 10 we can focus more on preparation for the more rigorous senior studies. So years 9 and 10 are good preparatory years (Principal, Country-B).

This was judged by principals and teachers in these campuses as helping students in upper middle school to become more independent learners by the time they graduated into year 11.

8.4.1.2 Positive impacts on students’ outcomes in the senior campuses

a) Improved behaviour, greater freedom and respect

It was said that students in the senior campuses had modified their behaviour because the new structural dynamics had placed them in a more adult environment. This view was widely expressed across the four colleges and was shared by all stakeholders

293 including principals, teachers, students and parents. For instance, students said that they felt that in the new structural dynamics they had been given greater freedom and respect and they in turn were more respectful and wanted to show that they deserved to be treated as young adults rather than ‘young kids’. In agreement with this view a principal said:

we have created a culture of mutual respect. Students and teachers call each other on a first name basis. Students like that and they respect it. They probably find it easier to interact and respect the (first name of) teacher than Mr. (surname of) teacher (Principal, Metro-B4).

While the use of first names among teachers and students was not a common practice among the other campuses, it was seen as one of the cultural dynamics which were contributing to the mutual respect in the more mature learning environment at

Metro-B4 campus. This dynamic was similar to that reported in the ACT (Livermore,

1990). This finding also has significant repercussions because of Munns’ (1998, p. 178) finding that “it is apparent that there is a significant connection between issues of behaviour and issues of learning”. Although Munns’ (1998, p.172) finding was among

Aboriginal students at the school he pseudonymed ‘Greytown’, it is quite likely that it holds true for any other students.

b) Greater academic competition and better outcomes

Students in the senior campuses shared the understanding that because of the larger cohort sizes, it looked like students were practically from three different schools; each of which contributed to the senior campus. Some of the students interviewed said that now they had a chance to compete with a much wider range of abilities within each cohort. Students accordingly expressed the view that if they did well within such a large group of students at their college, they would do well at State level in the HSC. Students said for instance: “with the 500 or so students in year 12 here, you can see what you are

294 up against. With this many students, if you come in the top 10% you are doing really well” (Student, Metro-A4).

Additionally, students in the senior campuses said that the new structural- cultural dynamics were encouraging them to work towards their HSC because there were many more students to work along with and this provided good competition. It was said that when class sizes were small, sometimes with as few as 3 students, there was little competition among such classes if any. In class work and in assessment tasks, therefore, students strived for their own results without an opportunity to compare how they rated with other students doing the same subject. Students said that such a situation lacked the competition to challenge and to motivate them.

Furthermore, students in the senior campuses expressed a linking dynamic between their subjects’ choice and realised outcomes when they said for instance:

I enjoy the subjects I am doing because I got to choose them. So I believe I am going to do well in the HSC because I like what I am doing (Student, Metro-A4).

We do well here because we get to choose our courses. Students will do well in exams because they selected the subjects they want. It is not like somebody said; you have to take that subject (Student, Country-A3).

This link was also attested to, by parents who indicated to principals that they were prepared to ‘move houses’ if the move would enable their children to be enrolled into schools where the children would be able to study subjects of their own choosing

(Principal, Metro-A).

Principals and teachers in the senior campuses said that their students were achieving very good results in the HSC with many of them attaining results in band 5 and 6. Many students had achieved University Admission Indices (UAI) higher than 90.

These results represented significant improvements on those gained by students in the high schools that formed the respective multi-campus colleges. The press which had previously reported “schools that had failed students” (The Daily Telegraph, 01/1996),

295 was now writing positive comments such as: “The number of students in the senior campus has more than tripled…. (Name of) College has achieved outstanding results”

(The Daily Liberal, 01/2003).

c) Better model for students of Aboriginal ethnicity

An exciting finding in the middle school campuses at Country-A1 and Country-

A2 but more particularly in the senior campus at Country-A3 was that the new structural-cultural dynamics were having a direct and significantly positive impact on the enrolments and retention rates in the college especially for students of Aboriginal background. For instance, interviewees were very exuberant about the fact that the year

12 graduating cohort of 2003 had witnessed “the largest number of Aboriginal kids anywhere in the State of New South Wales” (Deputy, Country-A). This was an exciting finding because the time series data of enrolment numbers and retention rates of

Aboriginal students were very poor prior to the establishment of the new structural dynamics.

The new structural-cultural dynamics were having a positive impact for several reasons. Firstly, because this college was structured with years 7 – 9 in the middle school campus and years 10 – 12 on the senior campus it was helping higher retention both in the middle school campuses and the senior campus. This was so because, whereas in the old model, graduation at the end of year 10 marked the end of compulsory education in NSW and subsequently many students of Aboriginal ethnic background did not return after year 10, now year 10 was no longer seen as a natural exit point from school because it was part of the new senior campus and this gave students the feeling that they were already ‘seniors’ and so they might as well stay the course and complete their HSC. As a result of the new structural-cultural dynamics, 24

Aboriginal students had graduated from the college in 2003. This was referenced

296 several times by principals, teachers and parents in this college as “a record in the State” and regarded as a “great achievement” (Country-A).

The success of Aboriginal students in the senior campus appeared to be having a demonstration effect in the middle school campuses at Country-A college because both the enrolment and retention rates data showed an increase. An interviewee who expressed her belief that the new structural-cultural dynamics were having very positive impacts on the school’s success with Aboriginal students said:

The model has proved a great win for us with Aboriginal kids. Now many of them are seeing many more of their relatives complete the HSC and they are saying they can do it too. Last year 24 Aboriginal kids got their HSC. These were kids from families where no one, no one, (emphasis by interviewee), had ever completed year 10, let alone the HSC (Principal, Country-A2)

d) Offers some students a ‘fresh’ start

Both teachers and students said that for some students who had earned themselves some kind of reputation as ‘trouble makers, under-achievers’ or who were characterised by some other negative stigma, the movement form the middle school into the senior campus gave them an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. They were to work with new teachers and therefore had an opportunity to leave their ‘baggage’ behind and show teachers in their new learning environment some or a more positive attitude to school work. Additionally, parents said, “our kids do better here because they are in a new environment and in which they are doing the subjects they really want. The subject choice is so very important for kids and us as parents” (Parents, Metro-A4).

e) Better model for more meaningful relationships

In the senior campus of the Country based college which was structured comprising years 10 – 12 cohort configurations, it was said that the structural dynamics provided for more meaningful relationships to develop among the students and staff on the senior campus because students were there for three rather than the two years in the

297 colleges that were structured on a years 7 – 10 and 11 – 12 cohort basis. It was said that because of the longer duration of students, a school culture could more easily develop among the year 10 – 12 students because students were there long enough to assimilate the values espoused by members of the campus. Additionally, it was said that having year 10 students on the senior campus gave them a year on the senior campus during which they could prepare themselves for the more adult learning attitudes called for in year 11 and 12.

The outcome of more meaningful relationships among students in the senior campus was also discussed from a social rather than an academic dimension. It was said that the co-educational environment in the senior campus enabled the young adults aged

16 to 18 to interact with each other in more meaningful relationships without the curious eyes of the ‘junior kids’. The co-educational environment created by the structural dynamics was accordingly valued because, as was pointed out by a year 12 student, “we can relate to each other better because we are going through the same growth phases. We understand the stresses of each other better and we don’t want little year 7s to stress us, on top of our own stuff” (Student, Metro-A4).

f) Development of expert teachers and professional teams

Just as middle school teachers could now specialise as discussed earlier, so did many teachers in the senior campuses say that because the new structural dynamics meant that all their teaching was now directed to year 11 and 12 only, they could specialise in their subjects and become expert in delivering their subject content to year

11 and 12. For instance, there were specialist teachers who taught only English, Maths,

Economics or Business Studies to year 11 and 12 only. The new structural dynamics enabled them to do this because they were no longer required to teach the middle school years and there were large numbers of students enrolled in each of these subjects.

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Apart from allowing teachers on the senior campus to specialise in their subjects, the new structural dynamics enabled larger faculties to be formed because of the large cohort sizes typical of the multi-campus college structural dynamics discussed earlier (chapter 6). Teachers said that this gave them the opportunity to meet as a faculty and to share resources and their expertise and thereby enhance each other’s professional development. For example, teachers in the HSIE faculty in one of the senior campuses met at least once every month to discuss teaching strategies they were using and to share resources (Country-A).

8.4.2 Negative impacts of the multi-campus colleges’ structural dynamics on teachers’ cultural dynamics

By far, the most negative impact of the new structural dynamics on teachers’ cultural dynamics was the rotation of teachers which was discussed earlier from the principals’ perspective. In this section, it is discussed from the teachers’ perspective.

Across the four colleges, and both in the middle school and senior campuses, teachers expressed their concerns about the rotation because of the reasons summarised here.

a) Uncertainty about place of work

Teachers in either the middle school campuses or the senior campuses of each college were never certain as to whether they were going to be asked to participate in the rotation or when that would be. This uncertainty existed in the senior campus because after any teacher has taught there for three years, they are eligible to be rotated into one of the participating middle school campuses; in a dynamic that was derogatorily referred as the ‘tap on the shoulder’. Whether an eligible teacher actually received the tap on the shoulder depended firstly on the wishes of teachers in the two or three middle school campuses for his position, secondly on whether there was an exact subject match and thirdly on nomination by his/her campus principal.

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This meant that whereas in principle, all teachers who had taught in a senior campus for three years were eligible for the tap on the shoulder, only those teachers whose positions were preferred and matched by their colleagues in the middle schools would be actually asked to rotate. This raises issues of equity in the workplace where for instance, nine teachers who had been in the senior campus for three years would be eligible to rotate and only one was tapped on the shoulder.

b) Inability of teachers to choose their place of work.

A dynamic that caused anxiety and frustration was the inability of teachers in the senior campus to choose a campus within their college at which to work. This dynamic existed because the teacher on the senior campus was expected to move into the middle school campus where his rotating teacher with the matching teaching skills came from.

Thus, for instance, a teacher that had rotated into the senior campus of Metro-A from

Metro-A1, could after three years in the senior campus, be rotated into Metro-A2 or

Metro-A3 depending on where his/her matching rotation teacher came from. The teacher in the senior campus would have no choice in the matter except to transfer into the consigned campus or to transfer out of that college into a comprehensive high school. This was perceived by some teachers as some kind of forced transfer.

c) Lack of rotational reciprocity

According to the memorandum of understanding negotiated by the Teachers

Federation and the DET, teachers in the middle school campuses could initiate the rotation but teachers in the senior campus could not. It appeared that there had been the assumption that whereas teachers in the middle school campuses would be eager to gain access to the senior campuses, the reverse would not be the case.

In reality, there were some teachers in the senior campuses, who felt that the constant exposure to senior students without a break was very intellectually demanding

300 and the marking of assessment task was also very physically tedious. Consequently, some teachers said that they didn’t mind spending some time in the middle school campuses where pressures were of a different kind. Those teachers actually said that it was unfair that teachers in the middle school campuses could force them out of the senior campus but they could not do likewise to their colleagues in the middle school campuses.

d) Impractical short-term rotation dynamics

Aware of the impracticability of the annual rotation at the 30/40 percent rule described earlier, all the colleges studied had examined possibilities of arranging for teachers to travel from their middle school campuses to teach in their senior campus on a day basis. This would mean for instance, that a teacher could teach in the middle school campus in the morning but on the senior campus in the afternoon. In all sites, this had proved unworkable on a large scale mainly because of the distances and times that were involved in such a mini-rotation. There was a very strong belief among the colleges that such a mini-rotation was impracticable as represented in the following of many such interviews:

Inter-campus travel is absolutely not an option. It would be a nightmare to do some hours here and some hours there. How could you do some days here and some days there. You would have no place of work. You don’t belong here or there (Teachers, Metro-A4).

e) Lack of continuity in programming and implementation

Several teachers expressed a strong feeling that they dedicated their efforts to the development of programmes and teaching resources in their faculty. Accordingly, they went on to say that the threat of the rotation, might discourage teachers who were expecting the tap on the shoulder, from developing programmes which they might not have the opportunity to implement.

301 f) Anger at lack of access to the senior cohorts

Those teachers who had not been given the choice to teach senior cohorts had become “very, very angry” at the establishment phase. An example of where this had happened on a large scale was at one of the Country based colleges where one of the high schools needed to be rebuilt because it was in a very bad state of disrepair. What happened in that case was that all the teachers from that site were relocated into the new senior site. This left little or no room for teachers from the other participating campuses to have the opportunity to teach at the new senior campus even if they had been teaching senior classes prior to the amalgamation of the schools into the new structural dynamics.

In the other Country based college studied, the approach wasn’t very different.

There, whereas Country-B1, B2 and B3 had each been years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools at the time of restructuring them into a multi-campus college, Country-B3 was made the senior campus and kept all its teachers. Country-B1 and B2 were folded into years 7 – 10 campuses and kept their teachers as well. This meant that while Country-

B1 and B2 sent their senior students into Country-B3, none of the teachers who had taught year 11 and year 12 classes in these two schools in the old structure got to teach senior classes in the new structure. So those “teachers felt that something had been taken away from them” (Principal, Country-B). Similarly, in the metropolitan based colleges interviewees said that because some teachers who wanted to get into the senior campus did not, “there was a real sense of loss. A sense of grieving over the loss of seniors” (Deputy, Metro-A).

Moreover, in the college where all teachers from one high school were moved into the senior camps en-masse, that high school had taken their banners, honour boards and other such artifacts with them. The display of these cultural elements in the new senior campus tended to give people in the other campuses (the middle school

302 campuses), the perception that the old school which now occupied the new campus had usurped ownership of the campus.

Teachers who wanted to and didn’t get into the senior campuses were angry because they believed that they were missing out on the intellectual challenge and interaction with the senior students. This feeling was universally held across all sites and led, for instance, to the suggestion that there was a sense of grieving and moaning among the middle school campuses that their senior students and all the kudos that comes with the teaching of seniors had been taken away from them. Some interviewees referred to those who had been moved into the senior campus as “the chosen” and to those who weren’t, as “the forgotten”.

g) De-skilling and career paths concerns

Both principals and teachers expressed the fear that the new structural dynamics could have adverse effects to teachers’ professional careers through ‘locking them into’ the middle school campuses only or the senior campuses only. This fear was very real because the rotation which could have prevented this dynamic from occurring was not practical. Teachers said, for instance, that they feared that on moving out of a multi- campus college campus in which they had taught only juniors or only seniors, their employment opportunities and promotion chances would be curtailed because principals in the comprehensive, years 7 – 12 high schools were most likely to give preference to teachers who had accumulated experience in teaching all the cohorts from years 7 – 12 over those who had only taught in either grades. For example an interviewee said:

This is my third year here and next year I hope to move to the senior campus. I will then spend two years there and leave the college because I believe that if I spend many years teaching only seniors or juniors, I will not be competitive for promotional positions in the 7 - 12 comprehensive high schools, because they require people who have had experience in that kind of environment and here, in this college we don’t (Teacher, Country-A).

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Additionally, the New South Wales Board of Studies had prescribed that teachers who had not taught senior classes in year 11 and 12 for three years would not be allowed to mark the HSC. Teachers said that if this requirement were strictly enforced it would deny them access to some of the best professional development any high school teacher in New South Wales could have. Thus, apart from having a negative impact on teachers’ incomes, this ruling would also be detrimental to their professional career development.

8.5 Impact of the new model on community perceptions and beliefs, and how the new dynamics compare with the traditional comprehensive high school dynamics, (dynamics criteria 14, 15 and 16)

This part of the analysis focuses on what peoples’ assumptions where a multi- campus college had been established were like at the time of the establishment of the colleges and whether there had been any change in their views about the model since its establishment. It also discusses what interviewees said when they were asked to directly compare certain aspects of the new structural-cultural dynamics with the orthodox comprehensive high school dynamics.

In the quantitative data, students’ responses to the statement that, “Given a choice I would choose a multi-campus college structure over the traditional comprehensive high school” had an affirmative Likert-scale mean score of 3.02 from a total of 86.50% of the students who responded to this statement. As shown by the

Likert-scale mean scores given in the following parentheses, the analysis also found that students additionally agreed with the statements that the multi-campus college structural dynamics were more helpful to them in achieving their goals than the comprehensive high school would have been (2.99), and that the new structural dynamics gave them a greater opportunity to interact with other students (2.79) than the traditional comprehensive high school. Thus when asked to compare the structural dynamics of the

304 multi-campus college with those of the old comprehensive high school structure, students agreed that the structural dynamics of their multi-campus colleges had more positive impacts on their cultural dynamics than a comprehensive high school would.

As shown by the Likert-scale mean rankings given in parenthesis below, teachers, like their students, agreed with the statements that the multi-campus college structural dynamics were more encouraging to students to complete their HSC studies than a comprehensive high school structure (2.83) and that they provided a more effective education model than the traditional comprehensive high school structure

(2.50). The first response was on average held by 78.04% of the teachers and the second by 71.35% of all the teachers from across the four colleges.

When these positive statistics were compared with the interview data from the four colleges there was a striking concurrence of affirmative data. Principals, teachers, students and parents categorically compared the cultural dynamics of their multi- campus colleges with those which they had witnessed in the old comprehensive high school structural dynamics and expressed a clear preference for the structural and cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college structure. For instance, a parent said:

I was one of the people who initially opposed the merger. We had been associated with the high schools for years and we didn’t want to see them merged. All my kids had gone through the girls’ school and we didn’t want our girls with boys in their senior years. But when I saw that it was going ahead anyway, I decided to get involved on the committee so as to have a say.

And as I have seen the whole thing unfold, I am converted. I am amazed. It is much better than the old school. In many ways it is better. Whether it is retail studies, or languages or drama; this school now has it. And that was never the case. The kids love the subjects and the way they are treated with respect. And now they dress and act like they are more mature. (Parent, Metro-A).

The preference of the new structural dynamics and their impacts on the cultural dynamics in the colleges was demonstrated both in the metropolitan school communities as represented by the above quote as well as the Country based colleges’

305 communities. For example having interviewed the researcher about the present study, the editor of a district newspaper volunteered the following information:

At first there were some concerns about the new school because people were scared of having a “Super College” and they didn’t know what they were in for. People were also opposed to the senior campus because they feared that it would put people of different (named) racial groups together and there would be fights.

But since the establishment of the college, I have heard nothing but praise for the college. We have positive feedback from a wide cross-section of the community and they love the college. Comments have been overwhelmingly positive (Editor, Daily Liberal, 20/2004).

8.6 Conclusion

In this chapter, the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics

Paradigm (page 108), was used to investigate principals’, teachers’, students’ and parents’ understanding of the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics of their new multi-campus colleges on the leadership and other selected cultural dynamics in those schools. The analysis offered important data because, as was repeatedly reported by the interviewees, since the establishment of these colleges, little or no qualitative data had been gathered to gain an understanding of the interplay of these structural-cultural dynamics in their colleges.

The data showed that principals, as one would expect, had played a leading role in the envisioning process for the new model and in the implementation of its establishment. In the main, all the principals expressed a strong commitment to the objectives of the multi-campus college model and gave several examples of positive impacts of the new structural-cultural dynamics on their leadership roles and management practices. There were instances, however, when the structural-cultural dynamics of the new model appeared to create an additional layer of meetings and responsibilities for the principals.

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While the factors responsible were beyond the scope of this thesis, there was evidence of a greater emphasis on campus autonomy in the coordination of the structural-cultural dynamics of the two metropolitan based colleges studied but more reliance on vertical and lateral coordination which led to greater unity and interdependence among the two Country based colleges.

All principals, both in the middle school campuses and the senior campuses, and in both the metropolitan and Country based colleges, expressed the need to improve the structural-cultural dynamics of the rotation process of their teachers so as to enable them to have access to all cohorts from years 7 through to year 12.

Data from both teachers and students showed that they believed that the structural-cultural dynamics of the new model was having a positive influence on students’ outcomes. However, teachers had a genuine concern about the possible long term effects of the model on their promotion and career paths, especially if the rotation process was not very satisfactory.

Both students and teachers expressed the understanding that the new structural- cultural dynamics of their college were better able to assist the students in achieving their educational goals than a traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school would. Teachers, like their students, were of the conviction, that the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics were more encouraging to students to complete their HSC studies. In particular, the college that had been designed with years 7 – 9 cohorts in the middle school campus and years 10 – 12 in the senior campus appeared to have achieved the stated goal of raising the enrolment and retention rates of students of

Aboriginal background.

In the middle school campuses, the new structural-cultural dynamics had allowed teachers to focus more on years 7 – 9/10 curriculums and there was evidence of improved outcomes as measured by ELLA, SNAP and School Certificate results. In the

307 senior campuses, improved outcomes were evidenced by a large number of students who had achieved top HSC bands including band 6 and 5 and high UAIs.

In making comparisons of the structural-cultural dynamics of the new model with those experienced in the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools, principals, teachers, students and parents clearly preferred those of their multi-campus college which they believed were superior because they provided opportunity for improved outcomes for students. In particular, there had been a reversal of perception among parents who had been very negative about the idea of the new model, who in their own words were now “converted because the model is much better especially with regard to the range of subject choices children now have” and they had “nothing but praise for the model”.

The common themes and human effects in the data presented in this and the previous two chapters, and the key findings contained therein, are analysed and discussed in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER 9 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

9.1 Overview of analysis of the key findings among different stakeholders

This chapter concentrates on analysis of the key findings from across the four colleges studied. Using the five elements of the Dynamics Paradigm, it brings together the common themes identified in the previous three chapters thereby highlighting this study’s understanding of the interplay of the multiple realities in the structural-cultural dynamics of the colleges. The chapter also evaluates the significance of the Dynamics

Paradigm.

The analysis proceeds in four steps. Firstly, the significance of the decision to reconfigure the Human and Physical Infrastructure (element 1) of selected comprehensive high schools into the multi-campus college model is analysed

(subsection 9.2.1). Secondly, the findings on the interplay of the multiple realities in the

Human Interactions (element 2), the Search for Excellence (element 3) and the Results of Human Enterprise (element 4) are analysed (subsections 9.2.2 to 9.2.4 respectively).

Thirdly, the Feedback (element 5) is used in section 9.3 to provide an overall feedback on the human effects discovered in the study and on the analytical capacity of the

Dynamics Paradigm. For clarity of analysis, subsection 9.3.1 provides a summation of the cumulative, positive gains revealed in the multiple realities analysed in the above four elements of the Dynamics Paradigm. Those gains are captured with the proposal of the synergesis of multiplier effects in the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college. Subsection 9.3.2 concludes the analysis with an ex-post evaluation of the significance of the Dynamics Paradigm in analysing educational change in general, and within the multiple realities reconstructed in the structural- cultural dynamics of the four multi-campus colleges studied.

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Throughout the discussion in this chapter, insights are offered on what is new in this analysis, thus extending an understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, or what is an addition to existing knowledge.

9.2 Analysis of the key findings across the four colleges studied

Consistent with the presentation of data in chapters 6 to 8, in bringing together the common attributes of human experience among students, teachers, principals and parents in the multi-campus colleges studied, this analysis situates the discussion within the five elements of the Dynamics Paradigm as illustrated in Figure 9-2. The arrows on the right hand side of the Figure point to the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics that extend beyond each element of the Dynamics Paradigm among human interactions revealed in the iterative data analysed inductively.

9.2.1 Analysis of key findings in the Human and Physical Infrastructure element

The main themes identified in the Human and Physical Infrastructure (element

1) of the Dynamics Paradigm in chapter 6 are:

• The origin and nature of the restructuring vision

• The critical factors in the restructuring decision

• Contextual contingency in multi-campus college structural design.

As illustrated in Figure 9-2 (element 1), the vision for the establishment of the multi- campus colleges was Ministerial in its origin, although, as discussed in chapter 6, the vision appears to have been informed by the demonstration effects from other States and theory. The nature of the decision was so powerful that in spite of overt opposition from the majority of parents in the relevant locality to its implementation, the Minister and the DET went ahead with the introduction of the new model for New South Wales. It is important to highlight the origin and nature of this decision at the start of this analysis

310 Figure 9-2: Synthesis: Analysis of the key findings revealed by the Dynamics Paradigm

Dynamics Synthesis of the analysis of the key findings in the four colleges Paradigm Element

• Ministerial origin of the restructuring vision and policy.

HUMA N A ND • Strategic four policy aims: Reconfigure, integrate, collegiate and coordinate. CAL • PHYSI Ministry and DET were the positive impetus to unfreeze institutionalised structural- INFRA- cultural dynamics and create motivation for change in a ‘top-down’ strategy. • STRUCTURE Provision of a new human and physical infrastructure that creates opportunities for new pedagogy and culture to evolve. • Curriculum broadening; Locational opportunity creation; Contextual contingency; Element 1 • Economic efficiency as critical factors.

• Restructuring momentum curtailed by current moratorium. Sustainability questions.

• Integration and coordination of human interactions creates opportunity Interplay of the for pedagogical reculturing and new learning relationships.

new structural- • Excess capacity utilisation created, provides greater enrolment capacity.

• Innovative approach to secondary schooling delivery – a new culture and mindset. cultural dynamics in the • New and closer partnerships with TAFE, TVET and University are enabled. • Enrolments, retention rates, broader, deeper curriculum and greater subject choice. • Improved P6 to Year 7 transition HUMAN • INTERACTIONS Drift to private schools stemmed or reversed by belief in new opportunity to excel. • Cultivation of a more dynamic and more mature learning environment. • Dynamism in responsibility for learning and reflection in teaching, leading, parenting. Element 2 • ‘Specialist’ middle school and senior school pedagogies and teachers more effective. • Co-educational campus preference. • Interplay of the Human, physical and technological economies of scale in the college. • Abundant supply of additional resources especially ICT and modern equipment. new structural- • DET achieves economies of scale. cultural dynamics • Structured couplings with TAFE, TVET and University diversify curriculum. in the • Diversity in capacity to meet diverse students’ interests, abilities and pathways. • Interface between high school and University promotes post-compulsory education. SEARCH FOR • Interface also gives access to new, superior information communication technology. EXCELLENCE • Win/win primary outcomes for colleges, DET, public education and parents. • Excess capacity utilisation replaced by intensive resource utilisation. • Element 3 Delivery of gains in education and pluses in the financial budget-line. • Broader and more diversified access to extra-curricular activities.

• Centrality of principal leadership in designing, restructuring and reculturing success.

• Increased coordination, interdependence and collegiality for improved students’ results.

Interplay of the • Values, norms and beliefs intertwined with different leadership styles.

new structural- • Greater layers of leadership, principals and critical mass of people. • cultural dynamics Improved academic and non-academic outcomes in a better model. • in the A more adult and better learning environment is created.

• ATIVE MULTIPLIEREFFECTS IN HUMAN INTERACTIONS Augmented student engagement and governance by younger students occurs. • RESULTS OF Self-belief, self-concept and appraisal increase positive identity. • Aboriginal students’ engagement, participation, retention and success rise. HUMAN • Structural dynamics change the cultural dynamics among Aborigines. ENTERPRISE • CUMUL Opportunity for experimentation and creativity. • ‘Specialist’ middle school or senior school teachers. Element 4 • Management strategies and protocols targeted to relevant students’ group. • Parents converted and consider new model better. • Challenges to teachers’ work and career opportunities resulting into insecurities.

• Cumulative, multiplied effects in interplay of human interactions. FEEDBACK • Multiplier rounds amplify multiple realities in human effects. • Stakeholders’ satisfaction with the new structural-cultural dynamics. Element 5 • Public recognition, involvement and appreciation of new model. Multiplier • Positive affirmations re- improved outcomes by all interviewees. The new vision was not• a tinkeringMinisterial, at DETthe edgesand other of theoreticaleducational speculations change validated,in the and vision realised. • Dynamics Paradigm tested and validated as an effective cognitive lens.

311 because the resources that were provided to establish the multi-campus colleges and the human interactions that followed were predicated by this decision.

The new vision was not a tinkering at the edges of educational change in the

DET secondary school system. It represented a major policy initiative characterised by a departure from the orthodox delivery of secondary schooling in the State. This policy was driven by four aims to reconfigure, integrate, collegiate and coordinate the Human and Physical Infrastructure in the participating schools. This created a new human and physical infrastructure which offered opportunities for new structural-cultural dynamics to emerge.

The study found that the policy represented a challenge which had a broad and visionary dimension and took courage because it confronted well institutionalised value systems, norms and beliefs regarding the delivery of secondary schooling in New South

Wales. Each of the colleges restructured appeared to have had a long institutional memory and culture. It can therefore be deduced that it had the desire to “preserve its integrity, autonomy and identity” (Schein, 1997, p.298). The Ministerial vision and the concomitant provision of resources by the DET provided the positive forces that were needed to unfreeze the entrenched structural-cultural dynamics and to create the motivation for change to the new way – the multi-campus college structure and culture.

The data in chapter 6 shows that a large majority of the teachers believed that the restructuring vision had been ‘top-down’ with little consideration of their opinion.

This suggests that the new structural-cultural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges were established without the benefit of a shared vision (Schein, 1997, p.19). However, the literature on the issue of involvement of stakeholders in major decision-making appears divided.

For example, while some of the literature emphasises the need for placing the worker at the centre of the Work System and ensuring that he/she participates fully in the restructuring decisions (See for example Evans, 1996; Fullan, 2001a-b; Pace, 2002

312 and Mulford, Silins and Leithwood, 2004 discussed earlier), other literature suggests that sometimes it is prudent not to involve every one in the initial decision-making phases of the planned change otherwise you have to contend with far too many forces resisting the proposed change (Fraatz, 1988; Scott, 1999 and Stoll and Fink, 2001). For example in sharing this view Stoll and Fink (2001) say that:

It is neither manageable, possible nor a good use of teachers’ time for everyone to be involved in all the finer details of development planning (Stoll and Fink, 2001, p.67).

Likewise, Scott (1999, p.6) points out that the presumption that “a proposed change will only work if everyone it affects has approved of it; that is, a ‘bottom-up’ approach always works, … is a myth”.

Moreover, while admitting that the semblance of an imposed top-down strategy for reform tends to provoke resistance forces in the force-field (see literature review, page 24) of school restructuring (Fullan, 2001b, p.111), it may be argued, as submitted earlier, that a decision taken at Ministerial level, clearly setting out the goals to be pursued in setting up the new colleges inevitably provided a sense of vision, direction and purpose which were the driving forces needed at the initial establishment phase to arouse the needed motivation and momentum for change, and to lead to positive action.

As expected, this study’s findings showed that following the initial decision, the

DET then left it to principals to continue the process of unfreezing the old culture by communicating and articulating the new vision and convincing their school communities of the need for change.

In spite of the admission by many of the interviewees that they were initially opposed to the restructuring of their comprehensive high schools, there was a clear understanding among all interviewees of the critical reasons why the schools had been restructured. The most common theme among all interviewees was that their high schools had been restructured for curriculum reasons. This finding confirms the

313 speculations by Livermore (1990), the then incumbent Minister of Education (Aquilina,

1998) and the DET (1999), that the establishment of a multi-campus college would lead to increased enrolments and retention rates thereby enabling a broader curriculum to be offered. This thesis provides data which validates this speculation.

The second reason given by interviewees was ‘seizing the opportunity’. This had not been cited in earlier literature. In this case the DET had seen the site vacated by a

University as an opportunity to use the site as part of the restructuring infrastructure for a multi-campus college. The other reasons for restructuring were: contingency reasons, the economic efficiency argument, the policy and politics argument as well as the demonstration effects argument. The discovery of these reasons provides insights which help to substantiate earlier data as represented by Livermore (1990; 1991), Howe

(1991), Aquilina (1998) and the DET (1999).

In contrast to earlier data on multi-campus colleges in New South Wales, the present thesis provides primary data which shows a direct link between Ministerial policy which was deliberately followed to allow the structure of each college to be designed according to local needs and the different structural dynamics which emerged.

As a result of this policy, the contextual differences which prevailed in the locales of the four colleges influenced the structure which was designed for each college. This policy approach was significant because it led to differences in cohort configuration (including special regard to Aboriginal students), gender composition, leadership structure, human and physical infrastructure and institutional linkages. Indeed, the analysis shows that

‘contingency’ considerations were the most universal determinant of the particular structural dynamics which were set up at each of the four colleges.

This finding places ‘contingency’ at a very significant level in an understanding of the origin of the structural dynamics in each college. This finding is important because when the structural dynamics so formed are analysed in the Human

Interactions, the Search for Excellence and Results of Human Enterprise elements of the

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Dynamics Paradigm, there is evidence to suggest that they have a significant impact on the leadership and other cultural dynamics in each college. The analysis suggests that the evidence reflects adherence to contingency theory that “no one model fits all”

(Poole and Van de Ven, 2004, p.161).

It is also helpful in this analysis of the critical factors in reframing the Human and Physical Infrastructure of the comprehensive high schools, to point out that the establishment of multi-campus colleges was halted in 2004 by a moratorium that had been negotiated between the DET and the NSW Teachers Federation. This was to enable the DET to conduct an evaluation of the benefits of the multi-campus colleges before any further establishment of these colleges could take place.

This finding is significant because it points to the need for real, meaningful dialogue among the different stakeholders when reframing comprehensive high schools into a multi-campus college is being considered. It also suggests that there should be public debate about the present and future sustainability of multi-campus colleges.

Additionally, it provokes thought about the prospects for the establishment of additional multi-campus colleges in the future.

It remains to be seen whether the 11 multi-campus colleges will stand as the only representations of this new way of secondary school delivery in New South Wales.

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that the existing colleges would be reframed back into the orthodox, years 7 – 12 autonomous structure. Given the substantial resource supply that these colleges acquired as part of the restructuring strategy, there are equity issues that need to be explored, whether that is while the moratorium is still in place or after it is lifted.

These are issues in the Human and Physical Infrastructure element of schools which attract significant interest among principals and teachers currently in these colleges and among other stakeholders, including the Minister of Education, the DET and parents in the areas where these colleges are located or where future multi-campus

315 colleges could be established. Although these decisions are situated in the Human and

Physical Infrastructure (element 1) of the Dynamics Paradigm, they impact directly on the Human Interactions (element 2) of schools, on the Search for Excellence (element 3) and on the Results of Human Enterprise (element 4) whose analysis is discussed respectively in the following three subsections.

9.2.2 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Human Interactions element

The major themes analysed in the Human Interactions (element 2) of the

Dynamics paradigm in chapter 7 were the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics involving:

• Enrolments and retention rates

• Curriculum breadth and subject choice

• Learning environment

• Teaching environment

• Decision-making

• Campus gender considerations.

As illustrated in the Human Interactions (element 2) of the Dynamics Paradigm

(see Figure 9-2) the analysis of data from the four colleges studied shows that the interplay of the multiple realities reconstructed in the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, creates opportunity for new pedagogical reculturing and new learning relationships for students, teachers, principals and parents. These relationships emerge out of the integration of previously autonomous comprehensive high schools, collegiality among the newly framed campuses and coordination of the human interactions. This creates opportunity for the different stakeholders to improve the results of their human enterprise as they seek to excel in their outcomes. These relationships are cultivated in a new kind of learning community, characterised by

316 innovative openings which offer real opportunities for a new approach to secondary schooling delivery, with a new culture. They therefore need a new mindset to be understood, supported and recultured.

The analysis further shows a variety of ways in which the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics has an impact on the people involved in these human effects. For example, following the integration of comprehensive high schools into one multi-campus college, the total student enrolment in the senior campus becomes an aggregation of students much larger than any of the participating schools had in year 11 or 12 while they each stood as an autonomous comprehensive high school. The senior campus now has excess capacity utilisation because of the vacancies created by the removal of years 7 – 9/10 from this site. This capacity can be used to cater for greater student enrolments. Indeed this is what happened at all the colleges studied. Also as a result of integration, additional human interactions arise because couplings or linkages with TAFE and University, closer than those which had existed while the schools each stood alone, now develop as a result of new coordination and time-tabling protocols which create opportunity for collegial interactions to occur.

As summarised in Figure 9-2 (element 2), following the amalgamation of students in the senior campus of a multi-campus college, the high enrolments make it possible for the senior campus to offer a broader and deeper curriculum than either high school did while it operated on its own. It is the access to this broader and deeper curriculum at the senior campus which attracts additional enrolments because students realise the opportunity offered by the new structural-cultural dynamics to study subjects of their own choice. This situation leads to greater student engagement with their chosen courses and encourages real learning to occur.

Analysis of enrolments and retention rates in the years that followed the introduction of the multi-campus college model in the four case studies shows that enrolments rise at the senior campus because more courses become viable. These

317 enrolments are boosted further by students’ belief that they have an opportunity to excel if they enrol in subjects that interest them. This, of course, is subject to debate and is fertile ground for future research. Nevertheless, the data shows that it is a belief so highly prized by parents to the extent that they would be prepared to move their place of residence if this would enable their children to get into a school which would create this opportunity.

The analysis within the Human Interactions element also shows that enrolments in the feeder middle schools rise for several reasons. Firstly, they rise because students enrol in the middle schools since this is the way they can make sure they will get into the senior campus to study subjects of their own choice. Secondly, there is room for additional enrolments in those sites because the middle school campuses each have excess resources which give them greater capacity to enrol more students in each cohort to use up the empty classrooms previously occupied by years 10/11 and 12.

Along with the increases in enrolments there are increases in retention rates in the middle schools because students’ completion of year 9/10 in the feeder schools ensures guaranteed entry into the senior campus and to the opportunities it creates.

Another reason why enrolments in the middle schools increase is the improvement in the transition rates from the primary 6 feeder schools into year 7. These transition rates rise because that is the sure way that students can get into the middle school campuses and thence into the attractive senior campus.

A rather surprising finding was that students from other public schools not directly participating in the new structure were also attracted to the participating schools. This was noted both at primary school level and middle school level. The reason given for why this occurs is because it is through these schools that students from outside the multi-campus college system can eventually gain access to the senior campus.

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The study found that students from private schools in the community where a multi-campus college is located are also attracted to the schools integrated within the multi-campus college structure. As a result, the drift of students from the public schools in the area to the private schools is reduced. There is in fact a real possibility that this trend can be reversed. As a result of these enrolments originating from outside the feeder schools, the enrolments and retention rates in the middle schools rise further and as these students graduate into the senior campus, the student enrolment numbers in the latter grow even larger.

Another structural change which has significant human impacts within the

Human Interactions element of the Dynamics Paradigm is the separation of middle school age students from the young adults in years 11 and 12. This encourages the cultivation of a more dynamic and more mature learning environment, in which students have opportunity to move from adult control to self control. This way, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Consequently, there is greater dynamism and reflection in learning, teaching and leading. These structural-cultural dynamics result into greater satisfaction among participants in the Human Interactions element.

Also significant within the Human Interactions is the finding that teachers actually develop skills as ‘specialist senior teachers’ and hone their skills in the development and delivery of year 11 and year 12 curriculum. This leads to more effective teaching, improved learning and satisfaction for the stakeholders. Similarly, in the middle schools, teachers now have the opportunity to focus all their efforts on developing programmes and delivering lessons to middle school students without worrying about an external HSC examination. This creates opportunity for these teachers to skill themselves as ‘specialist middle school teachers’. Once again this creates the opportunity for improved teaching and learning to occur.

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Regarding teachers’ participation in decision-making within their multi-campus college, a significant proportion of the teachers said that they had not been meaningfully involved in the restructuring decision. Interviewees said that this had made teachers feel that they had been denied the opportunity to engage in deeper questioning as to why the restructuring was needed, how it would benefit students, how it would affect their work and career opportunities, and what impact it would have on the existing cultural dynamics in each of the participating schools and on the parental community. This point is analysed more fully in the teachers’ outcomes in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm.

All students interviewed expressed the view that studying in a co-educational campus was better for them than a single sex campus. The reason given for this view was that a co-educational environment prepared the students better for the real life experience in the workplace where men and women work together. This view was strongly held both among the younger students in the middle school campuses and among young adults in the senior campus of each college. The research found that the fears which some parents had expressed regarding possible deleterious impacts of the new co-educational environment on their children who had previously attended single sex schools had so far not materialised.

9.2.3 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Search for Excellence element

The major themes for analysis in the Search for Excellence (element 3) of the

Dynamics Paradigm arising out of the data in chapter 7 are:

• Resource availability and utilisation

• Access to new information communication technology and modern equipment

• Linkages with TAFE and University

• Extra-curricular activities.

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As illustrated in the Search for Excellence element of the Dynamics Paradigm in

Figure 9-2, the analysis shows that integration of comprehensive high schools and improved coordination in their search for excellence leads to increased use of human, physical and technological resources resulting in increased economies of scale. The structural-cultural dynamics created by the new model create opportunity for the utilisation of human and physical infrastructural resources on a shared basis among

HSC, TAFE, TVET and University students as well as staff. For example, where one canteen, assembly hall or classroom is shared on a rotation basis by these four partners, physical resource efficiencies are enhanced. In other situations TAFE teachers and

University lecturers visit the senior campus to teach or lecture. Human resource efficiencies flow from these couplings. Such couplings engender economies of scale across these sectors of education. Moreover, as analysed in element 1 above, the establishment of a multi-campus college in New South Wales was supported with an abundant supply of additional infrastructural resources. These resources are used efficiently because of the couplings created between a multi-campus college and the tertiary institutions with which it is affiliated. This way, the multi-campus college model enables more advanced resources to be used more efficiently and effectively.

Human and physical infrastructure efficiencies emerge as teachers and plant structures now provide for increased class sizes at more effective capacity levels in both the senior campus and the middle school campuses of a multi-campus college. New or closer partnerships with TAFE, TVET, Vocational Education and University are cultivated. As a result, subject choices at the senior campus become even more diversified including HSC, trade courses and undergraduate courses thereby enabling the senior campus to cater for an even more diverse range of students’ interests, abilities and pathways in a more effective manner.

The analysis found that the interfacing between cultural dynamics of relatively young HSC students with mature University students tends to give HSC students

321 opportunity for an early commencement of their undergraduate studies. This creates an environment for improving retention rates at high school. It also offers a situation for promoting a sense of responsibility and enhancing students’ opportunity for post- compulsory education. This interface may also give students in the senior campus access to new information communication technology far superior to what the autonomous comprehensive high schools had or could afford on their own.

As discussed earlier in the Human Interactions (element 2), each of the campuses integrated within a multi-campus college structure works with greater student enrolments and larger class sizes. As a result, each site and the college as a whole gains economies of scale in the Search for Excellence (element 3). At DET systems level, it can be inferred that through development and utilisation of the new structural-cultural dynamics in each college, the DET also realises economies of scale in resource utilisation. It appears reasonable to deduce from this analysis that the multi-campus college model represents “win/win primary outcomes” (Slaikeu, 1996, pp. 5 – 6) for the

DET, for public education and for the learning community where the college is located.

It may therefore be further deduced that the improved enrolments, retention rates as well as academic and non-academic outcomes which are revealed in this study are correlated to significant gains in both technical and economic efficiencies within the new structural-cultural dynamics of these colleges. Excess capacity utilisation which had been quite common in small class sizes in these schools before the restructuring, was replaced by more intensive use of classroom-space, more computer use, greater science laboratory equipment utilisation and of many other facilities.

The analysis thus suggests that the multi-campus college model creates opportunity for both educational and economic pluses. Structural-cultural dynamics which appear to deliver improved students’ outcomes and teachers’ performance while simultaneously achieving economic efficiency deserve much consideration in the search for dynamics suited to the establishment of schools of the future.

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The research also found that the integration of students has additional benefits for students and their schools with regard to their involvement in extra-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities such as sports, debating and rock-eisteddfod which require large numbers of students are facilitated by the larger critical mass of students from whom participants can be selected. This is significant because it creates opportunity for schools that could not raise a sporting team or another activity group on their own, to put together a team from the larger number of students in the multi- campus college.

9.2.4 Analysis of structural-cultural interplay in the Results of Human Enterprise element

The key findings for analysis in the Results of Human Enterprise (element 4) of the Dynamics Paradigm are:

• Leadership dynamics

• Students’ academic and non-academic outcomes

• Teachers’ outcomes

• Community perceptions, assumptions and beliefs

• Community involvement

• Comparisons of the new model with the old model.

These findings were contained in the data analysed in chapter 8. The synthesis of analysis in the Dynamics Paradigm in Figure 9-2 shows in the Results of Human

Enterprise (element 4), the role of the principal, as one would expect, was central to the restructuring process. Following increased coordination and integration of comprehensive high schools, as the schools mature, distinctive leadership styles begin to emerge. Increased coordination encourages the development of closer interdependence and collegiality.

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The research additionally found that the structural-cultural dynamics designed by principals with their school communities were also impacting on the principals’ management practices and leadership dynamics in a significant manner. The analysis leads to the deduction that the success or failure of organisational cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college will depend on the leadership team.

This finding of the centrality of leadership in the design and development of the structural-cultural dynamics found in the four multi-campus colleges studied, appears to be consistent with theories on structural change and cultural dynamics espoused by leaders in the field of organisational dynamics reviewed in this thesis (See, for instance

Scott, 1999; Silins and Mulford, 2002 and Fullan, 2004 discussed in chapter 2). The analysis leads to the deduction that leaders in a multi-campus college must stand for the beliefs and values that underpin the emerging cultural dynamics within the new structural-cultural dynamics of their college.

Another significant aspect of leadership that needs to be highlighted is that two types of cultural dynamics appeared to be emerging. The two metropolitan based colleges appeared to espouse the idea of having campuses with similar principles without looking alike, as consistent with the principle of “Unity without Uniformity”

(Young and Hester, 2004, p.1), discussed in chapter 8 (See subsection 8.3.2.4 especially page 271). In contrast, the two Country based colleges operated on cultural dynamics which appeared to place a higher premium on interdependence than the metropolitan based colleges did. (See for example data discussed on page 271 – 274). As part of those dynamics, both of the Country based colleges have an over-arching (‘super’) college principal who is seen as the essential synergy for their structural-cultural dynamics, founded on unity and a common identity.

The reasons why these philosophical differences exist between the metropolitan and Country based colleges are speculative in this discussion because their in-depth investigation falls well beyond what is feasible in the scope of this study. For example,

324 some of the interviewees said that under the traditional comprehensive high school located in one site, principals and their staff had been socialised to expect autonomy and independence. The data showed that this culture was challenged by the multi-campus college model because the latter puts pressure on the traditional, hierarchical forms of coordination since it calls for integration and for lateral as well as vertical coordination across the boundaries of each campus. However, many other dynamics could have been at play. It may be that they reflect differences in the nature of Country towns compared to large cities. Country towns are more bounded than metropolitan ones. Or perhaps, the differences exist because of longevity of the high schools which were restructured.

Geographical contingencies might have played a part as well. It could also be due to differences in personalities among the leaders in those colleges.

Irrespective of the different philosophical stance in the coordination of their structural-cultural dynamics, the study found that there was emerging appreciation among all principals, of the need for interdependence and for contribution to the college as a whole. Furthermore, each of the schools’ communities was very happy with its own model. The principals said that they would not consider changing their leadership structures because they believed that their structural-cultural dynamics were functioning very effectively. They however, expressed reservations about the additional layers of leadership and the critical mass of people they now have to deal with.

The analysis of data from across the four colleges studied further reveals that the structural-cultural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges had led to improved academic and non-academic outcomes for students. The outcomes universally identified by teachers, and also evident in document data, were greater enrolments, higher retention rates, a much broader curriculum and a wider subject choice for their students.

Overall, the overwhelming majority of teachers and of students agreed that their colleges were a better education model than their traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools had been. This was validated through a triangulation of interview data

325 from across the four colleges. Document data on students’ outcomes also positively corroborated the interview data.

Whereas previous literature had predicted gains in students’ results in the senior campus (Livermore, 1991), the data discovered by the present study indicated that the new structural-cultural dynamics also led to improved results in the middle schools.

Teachers in the middle schools did not have to prepare for the HSC and could therefore put all their time and effort into teaching the middle school years. This creates opportunity for teachers in middle schools to develop ‘specialist’ skills in middle school teaching, pedagogy and student management. Consequently, experimentation and creativity were enabled and encouraged by the new structural-cultural dynamics. As a result, there was opportunity for greater student engagement because specialist pedagogies and teaching strategies could be used to focus on middle schooling without exterior concerns about prioritising delivery of the HSC curriculum. This new approach creates opportunity for higher order human interactions in the search for excellence in the academic and non-academic outcomes realised in the college. The improvements were substantiated by the data which showed significant gains in the literacy (ELLA), numeracy (SNAP) and School Certificate outcomes in the middle school campuses of the four colleges studied.

Additionally, all interviewees said that the new structural-cultural dynamics created a more adult learning environment in their college. This had been speculated in the literature by Livermore (1990) and Howe (1991) with regard to the senior campus.

However, what the data of the present study revealed is that even in the middle school campuses, younger students were exhibiting greater maturity. As a result, the study found that year 9/10 students in the middle schools campuses were now exercising student governance which used to be the preserve of years 11 and 12 in the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school. This arguably raises self-belief, empowerment and self-esteem among middle school students. The absence of year 11 and 12 in the

326 new middle schools might give the younger students a sense of greater value, ownership of the campus and a sense of belonging to their school in a more homogeneous age group with which they can more easily identify. Student behavioural management strategies and protocols have opportunity to be more targeted to the relevant age brackets of either ‘middle school students only’ or ‘young adults only’. Therefore they can be more efficient and effective.

A particularly positive finding that needs to be highlighted is that the structural dynamics in a multi-campus college had led to remarkable increased participation and performance in the cultural dynamics, resulting in significantly improved enrolments, retention rates and completion of the HSC by Aboriginal students. The multi-campus colleges structured with years 7 – 9 cohorts in their middle schools and years 10 – 12 in the senior campus, seemed to engage Aboriginal students better than when those schools were years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools.

This cultural change had occurred among Aboriginal students since the establishment of Country-A college. That college had a high population of Aboriginal students, many of whom tended to leave school on turning 15 years old after year 10, thereby ‘dropping out’ of school. Interviewees said that following the special design of their cohorts which targeted the age when those students used to leave school, there had been a remarkable increase in the retention rates of Aboriginal students. Twenty four

Aboriginal students – the highest number ever to graduate for their HSC from one school in New South Wales – had graduated in the HSC in 2003 through Country-A college. It appears reasonable to conclude that the achievement and outcomes’ success rates of Aboriginal students were improved as a result of the opportunities created by the new structural-cultural dynamics.

The findings of positive outcomes analysed in this subsection are particularly significant because of three reasons. Firstly, the structural-cultural dynamics linking improvements in Aboriginal students’ outcomes with school structure appear to have no

327 parallel documentation in earlier literature on the meaning of educational change involving Aboriginal students. Secondly, the positive outcomes show that with regard to

Aboriginal students, (and presumably their parents or guardians as well), the new structural dynamics had changed the cultural dynamics in the area – an area, it needs to be added – where such positive educational difference was badly needed. What is more revealing, these findings reflect a change in the cultural dynamics in the community of students and parents, following the establishment of the multi-campus college in their area. These finding serve to make a contribution to an improved understanding of the impact of a multi-campus college on the learning community where it is established.

With regards to gains experienced by parents within the multi-campus college dynamics, a striking finding was the confession by some parents who at first had opposed the restructuring of their comprehensive high schools into the new model, that they were now “converted” and “amazed” at how much better the multi-campus college model was, compared to the old model. There had occurred a positive change in parents’ perceptions, attitude, expectations and beliefs about their schools so that many parents were now vying to send their children to the multi-campus college in their area.

Besides, parents with children in the senior campus were very happy about the structural-cultural dynamics in their campus. However, an arguable finding was that both students and their parents strongly believe that if students in the senior campus got the subjects of their choice, this would enable them to improve their chances of performing very well in the HSC. This finding extends further an understanding of the significance of the structural dynamics of the multi-campus college model on the cultural dynamics of students and parents within the learning community where the multi-campus college is established.

Overall, the analysis in the Results of Human Enterprise element leads to the conclusion that the interplay of the multiple realities in the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college results into improvements of students’ academic and non-

328 academic outcomes within the college, both in the senior campus and middle schools.

From this outcome, several deductions may be derived. Firstly, public image of secondary schooling may improve and become more positive. Secondly, chances for parental satisfaction and involvement in their school activities are enhanced. Thirdly, there is reason for community appreciation of the model, support and involvement to improve. Moreover, this situation creates opportunity for revitalisation of the educational role of DET secondary schools.

9.2.4.1 Analysis of negative outcomes in the structural-cultural dynamics in the Results of Human Enterprise element

Not withstanding the many gains discussed above, the analysis also uncovered some ‘losses’ within students’, teachers’ and parents’ dynamics in their multi-campus college. This section brings together those findings.

The research found that whereas the large enrolments, especially in the senior campus, appear to benefit students because they make it possible to offer a broader curriculum than could be offered in the autonomous comprehensive high schools, they make personal attention to students difficult. Because of the large student enrolments per cohort of the new model, especially in the senior campus (e.g. 450 in year 11), student individual needs, identity and attention is challenged. Some students who would be better learners as individuals or in small groups might feel disadvantaged and insecure. This could lead to the development of a culture that was less personal, and to rather impartial relationships among students and between students and their teachers.

Across the four colleges the data shows the presence of a dichotomous position among teachers that the new structural-cultural dynamics of their college were great for the students but not for the teachers. This dichotomy can be explained by five factors.

Firstly, at the establishment of the colleges not all teachers had been given an equal chance to transfer into the new senior campus. This situation had caused considerable

329 concern among teachers in the participating schools and its legacy was still current among interviewees. In the main, teachers in high schools from which no teacher was transferred to the newly created senior campus felt that they had been denied the opportunity to teach in the new school.

Although, obviously, this grieving was felt only among those teachers who had witnessed the restructuring, interviewees said that it had contributed to some kind of tensions among the cultural dynamics between teachers in the middle school campuses and those in the senior campus. It certainly made some teachers say that all staff had not been treated in the same way and that the restructuring had been a negative experience for them.

It is important to raise this point because, as discussed earlier (See page 203),

Fullan (2001a, p.18) reminds us that “a teacher cannot sustain change if he or she is working in a negative school culture”. Moreover, Mulford, Silins and Leithwood,

(2004, p.3) point out that the “actions or inactions of teachers (among those of others in a school – see page 203), help determine the fate of what happens in schools”.

Any substantial change inevitably involves uncertainty and anxiety, and “almost always means loss, incompetence, confusion, conflict and causes a kind of bereavement” (Evans, 1996, p.28 and 38). Nevertheless, it is important to recognise this phenomenon so that reform efforts can be directed at strategies which address peoples’ anxieties and concerns. The data showed that not much had been done to address teachers’ sense of loss and lack of equity in access to the senior campus. This finding therefore has important lessons for consideration in the establishment of multi-campus colleges in the future.

The second issue is the inability of teachers in the colleges studied to have access to the teaching of the entire year 7 – 12 cohorts. This is mainly due to the geographical separation of the sites which makes it practically impossible to coordinate travel from one middle school campus to the senior campus and vice versa, in time for

330 the lessons on either campus. The result is that teachers in these colleges, (with the exception of very few), teach either middle school students only or senior campus students only.

This segregation has several negative consequences on teachers’ work and possible career opportunities. The most negative impact of this lack of access to senior cohorts relates to teachers’ fears that if they teach only middle school years or only seniors, they could be disadvantaged later on if they applied for positions in a traditional

7 – 12 comprehensive high school.

The third concern is the issue of the staff rotation about which much was explained in chapter 8 (Refer to subsection 8.3.2.3, pages 269-271 and 8.4.2, pages 298

- 303). In summing up here, it is noted that this was the issue about which there was unanimous negative criticism from all interviewees. In its original formulation, principals and teachers were unhappy with it, and parents disliked it as did the students.

It would appear that the dynamics of the rotation were fundamentally flawed in four respects.

Firstly, if the requirement that after three years in the senior campus 30 percent of head teachers and 40 percent of classroom teachers should be transferred into the feeder middle schools was implemented, this would cause massive instability among the participating schools especially in the senior campus.

For instance, among other deficiencies, the movement of so many teachers after three years, and every year thereafter, would break teacher continuity and destroy the principle of sustainable improvement which is so important in maximising teachers’ effectiveness in the implementation of any meaningful school change (Fullan, 2001a, p115). Considering that this was supposed to be an on-going, annual rotation, one wonders whether it could be sustainable over the years.

Secondly, if instead of a massive movement of 40 per cent of the teachers the rotation was made random or left to the principal in the senior campus to determine who

331 was to be rotated back into the middle school campuses, this could be seen as unfair and unjust.

Thirdly, if this rotation was demand driven by teachers in the middle school campuses, this could reduce the number of teachers in the senior campus who would have to be notified that their time for rotation was up. However, this would still imply that their tenure of a teaching position on the senior campus depended on the wishes of teachers in the middle school campuses. The fourth flaw in the dynamics of the rotation is the implicit lack of choice of place of work by teachers.

Not withstanding the flaws evident in the dynamics of the rotation, there is a genuine need to ensure that teachers who were trained to teach years 7 – 12 have access to students in those cohorts, if they wish to do so. The rotation in its current formulation does not appear to be an effective or efficient channel for the realisation of that objective.

The fourth issue of concern for teachers about the impact of the new structural- cultural dynamics is the denial to them to access HSC marking if they have not taught year 11 or 12 for three years. This is a generic requirement by the Board of Studies which does not specifically target teachers in the multi-campus colleges but affects them directly because of the structural dynamics of their colleges. Interviewees saw this as a significant loss both financially and in terms of professional development.

The final negative finding in the Results of Human Enterprise element was that some teachers who have taught in the senior campus for more than three years, honing their skills on curriculum development and its delivery to years 11 and 12 students, feel challenged if asked to transfer to middle school campuses of their college. Similarly, other teachers who have taught in middle school campuses for more than three years also feel challenged if their access to teaching the full years 7 – 12 cohorts appears restricted by lack of teachers’ mobility across the campuses. This tends to lead to

332 insecurities in tenure and professional career paths development for teachers in these colleges. These dynamics could cause tensions among participants in one college.

It was noteworthy, however, that in spite of the concerns which teachers expressed about some aspects of the structural-cultural dynamics of their college, they, in the main, acknowledged the positive outcomes of the new model for their students and for the public image of their school.

Among parents in the community where comprehensive high schools had been reframed into a multi-campus college, a negative finding was that some parents felt that they have less school choice. This is because they now have reduced, or indeed, no access to a years 7 – 12 continuum in one autonomous site. Moreover, because the senior campus is always set up as a co-educational community, some parents, especially those who were used to a single sex years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, also feel that they have reduced school choice for their young adults’ maturing-cum-learning environment.

In sum, the analysis presented in the above four subsections (9.2.1 to 9.2.4), appears to adequately capture the social complexity of multiple realities in a multi- campus college and to represent an enhanced understanding of the concrete experience of life within the structural and cultural dynamics emanating from and associated with the establishment of a multi-campus college.

The analysis shows that the interactions in a multi-campus college have structural-cultural impacts which extend beyond the internal environment of one college to neighbouring schools, tertiary institutions within the relevant learning community and to other external stakeholders. Many of these dynamics have cumulative, multiplier effects which are analysed in the Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm in the following section.

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9.3 Feedback: Analysis of the structural-cultural multiplier effects and evaluation of the Dynamics Paradigm using the Feedback element

As illustrated in the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 and explained in section

4.3.5 (page 122) the Feedback element provided an opportunity for this study to review the relationships within the structural-cultural dynamics analysed in the other four elements of the Dynamics Paradigm so as to confirm whether or not the organisational goals were being realised and how they were being achieved. It was therefore used in this section to provide a summation of the overall (big picture) positive human effects experienced by participants in the colleges studied. Additionally, the Feedback element was also used to evaluate the analytical capacity of the Dynamics Paradigm as evidenced by the analysis of the data in this thesis. The following two subsections (9.3.1 and 9.3.2) present this analysis.

9.3.1 Feedback 1: Analysis of the structural-cultural multiplier effects discovered in the four multi-campus colleges studied

As discussed above (section 9.2), significant gains accrue in the human interactions among participants in a multi-campus college. In bringing together the cumulative effects across the elements of the Dynamics Paradigm, this analysis within the Feedback element leads the present thesis to the proposal that the multiple realities reconstructed in the structural dynamics associated with the establishment of a multi- campus college trigger a series of iterative synergesis which leads to amplified structural-cultural dynamics. This analysis names these positively cumulative dynamics: the multiplier effects of a multi-campus college and discusses them in this section with

Figure 9-3 illustrating the major components of the synergesis.

In Figure 9-3, the multiplier effects whose benefits extend beyond one campus and are experienced at the whole college level, or community level or DET system level are represented in zone 1. Those originating from or predominantly experienced in the

334 Figure 9-3: Feedback: Structural-cultural dynamics multiplier effects in a multi-campus college

STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS MULTIPLIER EFFECTS AT WHOLE COLLEGE-COMMUNITY-DET LEVEL [ZONE 1]

• New culture and leadership styles • Improved learning environment • Interdependency in new learning community • Positive difference in students’ lives • More positive parental perception • New skills, disposition and values • More positive public perception • Opportunity to seek better role in more • New education policy initiatives competitive, diverse society • • Variety in public education delivery Opportunity for more positive role and • Real opportunity for success image of public education

• DET systems efficiencies • Opportunity for revitalisation of public • Collegial coordination and interdependence education • Satisfaction • Opportunity for succes

STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS MULTIPLIER EFFECTS

IN THE SENIOR CAMPUS [ZONE 2] • • Cohort reconfiguration 7-12 to 10/11 – 12 ‘Specialist’ senior teaching • • Increased enrolments per cohort Greater extra-curricular opportunities • Increased enrolments capacity rounds • Human, technical, physical efficiencies

• Broader, deeper curriculum on offer • Horizontal integration • Greater subject choice, HSC, Trades, Univ • Forward and backward integration • Greater student engagement • More mature learning environment • Improved retention rates • Closer partnerships with TAFE and Univ • Greater Aboriginal students participation • Economies of scale • Improved HSC, T-Certificates, University • Dynamic, attractive learning environment

STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS MULTIPLIER EFFECTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS [ZONE 3]

• Reconfiguration 7 – 12 to 7 – 9/10 • Experimentation with new strategies • • Initial increased enrolments per cohort Greater student engagement opportunity • Increased enrolment rounds • Aboriginal students demonstration effect

• Increased retention opportunity • Opportunity for better ELLA and SNAP

• ‘Specialist’ middle school pedagogy • Younger students’ governance • • ‘Specialist’ teaching strategies Self-concept appraisal and empowerment • • Economies of scale opportunities Equality of opportunity • • Forward integration Extra-curricular opportunities increase

STRUCTURAL-CULTURAL DYNAMICS MULTIPLIER EFFECTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS [ZONE 4] PUBLIC FEEDER SCHOOLS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE NON-FEEDERS

• Better transition • Students’ transfers to • Higher enrolments multi-campus college • Higher retention schools Reversed Students’ drift

335 senior campus or middle schools are illustrated in zones 2 and 3 respectively. Others which involve primary schools in the locality of the multi-campus college are represented in zone 4. The arrows represent an attempt to capture and to demonstrate the iterative nature of the multiplier effects within and across the different zones.

These multiplier effects appear to be a kind of interacting alignments of dynamic forces within the human interactions in each multi-campus college. First noted in the analysis of the restructuring decision in Dynamics Paradigm element 1 in chapter 6, they consist of the positive interactive dynamism which amplifies the interplay of the multiple realities in the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college and intensifies the synergy in the human interactions of participants in the college, in their search for excellence. As illustrated in Figure 9-3, the existence of the synergesis of positive multiplier effects within the structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, its feeder primary schools, and non-feeder schools in the area and the learning community where the college is located is a great attribute of the multi-campus college model because it triggers and sets into dynamism in the multi-campus college’s educational setting, benefits or gains which have far reaching outcomes.

The multiplier effects proposal, perhaps more than any other feedback dynamic from the analysis in the Dynamics Paradigm, seems to have the greatest impact on an understanding of the core beneficial human effects experienced among participants within the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college.

As illustrated in Figure 9-3, the research suggests that the multiplier effects arise because the beneficial effects triggered by the reconfiguration of cohorts in the participating comprehensive high schools (in zone 2), generate rounds of additional benefits which cross the boundaries not only between the senior campus and the middle schools (zone 2 and 3), but also extend their ‘pull-effects’ into primary feeder schools in the learning community in the area (zone 4). They extend further, in zone 4, to students in non-feeder public primary schools as well as private schools. Moreover, they reach

336 out in zone 2, to tertiary institutions that are affiliated to the senior campus of each multi-campus college. Additionally, the benefits can be realised and may have an impact upon the public at large (zone 1) and of course upon the policy and budgetary issues at Ministerial and DET level also in zone 1.

This research suggests that at the heart of the multiplier effects proposal are four interrelated beliefs that are fundamental to an understanding of the cumulative gains from a multi-campus college’s structural-cultural dynamics. First, is the belief that action taken at a particular time in one element of the Dynamics Paradigm – and in one zone of a multi-campus college’s structural-cultural dynamics, such as zone 2 – may result into many more benefits not only in zone 2, but also in zones 1, 3 and 4. Second, those benefits arise not only at the time of the initial occurrence, but also in the future.

Third, emergent benefits tend to form a kind of alignment with past, present and future human interactions, thereby making them complementary to each other. Fourth, the benefits tend to recur not once but in multiple rounds.

Consequently, the analysis suggests that the multiplier effects have both a temporal and spatial dimension in the way the benefits emerge and evolve through the multiple realities in the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college.

Moreover, the recognition of the multiplier effects in both zone 1 and zone 4 of Figure

9-3 suggests that they are not restricted to the internal environment of a multi-campus college. Rather, they also extend to its external environment. And yet, from the external environment, the multi-campus college receives additional influences which can increase its opportunity to deliver improved outcomes to its participants.

This way, the multiplier effects are responsible for the amplification of the positive, beneficial human effects experienced by participants in the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college. Recognition of these multiplier effects appears missing in earlier research on educational change. Therefore the analysis opens up a new appreciation of the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a

337 multi-campus college thereby providing answers to the second central research question of this thesis.

In sum, as exemplified in Figure 9-3, the benefits which are amplified through multiplied rounds of human interactions include (see zones 2 and 3), increased enrolments and enrolment capacity, a broader and deeper curriculum, greater subject choice, greater student engagement, improved retention rates, greater Aboriginal students participation, retention and success, improved outcomes in the HSC, ELLA,

SNAP, Trade Certificates and undergraduate courses. They also include (again see zone

2 and 3), non-academic outcomes for students, younger students’ governance roles, development of specialist teaching skills, opportunity for experimentation with new middle school pedagogies and teaching methods and closer partnerships with tertiary institutions. Additionally, in zone 3, they include improvements in self-concept appraisal, student empowerment and recognition by students of equality of opportunity to achieve better outcomes. As well, they provide increased opportunity for extra- curricular activities. In zone 1, they create opportunity for increased human effects including a new culture and leadership styles, interdependency in a new learning community, more positive parental and public perception, new education policy initiatives and variety in public education delivery as well as technical and economic efficiencies in the utilisation of human and physical infrastructural resources. In zone 4, the multiplier effects tend to encourage better transition protocols for students as they leave primary school to commence their secondary schooling, higher enrolments and retention rates in the public schools. They also may help to stem the flow of students from public to private primary schools or to reverse this trend, with students transferring their enrolments from private, primary schools to those affiliated to the multi-campus college.

The analysis found that the positive effects resulting from the dynamics in these human interactions are cumulative because, at a later stage, or in another zone of the

338 multi-campus college dynamics, (in a different element of the Dynamics Paradigm), all the prior change mechanisms in the earlier rounds of change are still operational, but additional multiple realities emerge in subsequent rounds and contribute to the gains within the human interactions among the different stakeholders of the multi-campus college.

The genesis of the multiplier effects was first identified in the opportunities created by the restructuring of comprehensive high schools discussed in the Human and

Physical Infrastructure (element 1) of the Dynamics Paradigm in chapter 6 (see page

184). However, as illustrated by the overlapping, iterative arrows in Figure 9-2, the positive structural-cultural effects permeate all the elements of the Dynamics Paradigm.

These cumulative benefits were investigated in detail in the Human Interactions and

Search for Excellence elements of the Dynamics Paradigm in chapter 7, (see pages 215

– 254). Section 7.2.1.1 in particular, (see page 219 – 229), elucidated and illustrated

(with Tables and Figures on page 222, page 224 and page 226), how and why the interplay of the structural-cultural dynamics in the four multi-campus colleges studied had led to the cumulative synergesis of the positive human effects. As a result, this study has pointed to the existence of these multiplier effects which appear to be authentic. Moreover, they are well substantiated and validated in the data and deeply convincing. They are quite complex and multi-dimensional.

The analysis shows that the multiplier effects set in motion and gain dynamism from the establishment of a multi-campus college because of the initial restructuring of selected comprehensive high schools’ cohorts from years 7 – 12 into years 7 – 9/10 middle school campuses (zone 3) and a years 10/11 – 12 senior campus (zone 2). The subsequent amalgamation of students from the senior cohorts into the one senior campus, with the remaining middle schools serving as its feeder schools, triggers a series of new rounds of structural-cultural dynamics which have a synergesis of

339 multiplier effects within the dynamics of the multi-campus college and its learning community.

The multiplier effects reveal that through interdependence, the senior campus of a multi-campus college gains both horizontal integration linkages and vertical integrative linkages. As illustrated in zone 1 of Figure 9-3, analysed at whole college level, these linkages enable the campuses to offer students satisfaction about their studies because of the greater opportunities for success in secondary schooling which they create compared to those the participating schools offered when they each operated as an autonomous years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school. For example, horizontal integration occurs as cohorts from the participating schools merge to gain interdependence. This is best illustrated by the amalgamation of years 10/11 and 12 students from different high schools into one senior campus (zone 2). Further horizontal integration occurs as students from primary schools in the area drift back into feeder primary schools of the multi-campus college (zone 4).

As illustrated further in Figure 9-3, forward, vertically integrative dynamics are created through the loose couplings which develop between the senior campus and with

TAFE, Vocational Education Institutes and University (zone 2), where the multi- campus college is located. Backward, vertical integration dynamics arise from the couplings between the senior campus, its middle schools and primary schools in the area (zones 2, 3 and 4). This integration, coupled with collegial coordination, creates opportunities for improved outcomes across the participating schools as shown by the arrows in Figure 9-3. The improved outcomes may attract, each year, new rounds of additional enrolments, thereby multiplying the human effects.

The multiplier effects analysed in the Human Interactions element of the

Dynamics Paradigm confirmed the proposal that the benefits emanating from the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college are not restricted to the secondary schools within the multi-campus college but also trickle down to other

340 schools in the locality. For example, non-feeder primary schools in the area where the multi-campus college is located also experience the ‘pull-effect’ of the multi-campus college’s dynamics. This was evidenced by enrolment data and interviewee reports which showed that students had moved from the former to the latter. The ‘pull-effect’ leads to new rounds of enrolments, subjects that can be offered and attraction of the senior campus thereby amplifying the beneficial effects in the multiple realities within the human interactions.

Consequently, in analysing the aggregate human effects from across the four colleges, it may be deduced that the positive multiplier effects imply that the establishment of a multi-campus college enables the development of interdependence among schools, not only within the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics

(zones 2 and 3), but also involving other schools in the area, including private schools

(zone 4).

Also implied in the multiplier effects is that, given contingency contextual differences, selected comprehensive high schools which had operated autonomously, by abandoning a culture of relative independence and embracing a new culture of interdependent collegiality in a multi-campus college structure, offer students improved opportunity for success. This improvement in outcomes is more than those schools had previously offered as traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools. So, it is reasonable to conclude that the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college may create opportunities for the realised outcomes to be amplified in future rounds of human interactions among the stakeholders of the college.

The analysis further shows that the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi- campus college may be based on leadership style that is loosely coupled, with ‘Unity without Uniformity’ or on tight couplings where there is less departure from standard practices. However, in either case the collegial interdependence among the participating schools in a multi-campus college creates greater opportunity for more improved

341 outcomes for students than the respective comprehensive high schools had provided while they operated autonomously. Furthermore, the analysis shows that improved student outcomes had been realised in the four schools studied regardless of students’ background (e.g. Aboriginal, Anglo-Australian or otherwise). Moreover, the data analysed in the Search for Excellence and the Results of Human Enterprise elements of the Dynamics Paradigm showed that whether the multi-campus college was located in the urban areas or in the rural areas, it offered students a learning environment which they found to be catering for their personal subject choices better than a traditional comprehensive high school would. In addition, students in the middle schools said that, because there were no year 11 or 12 on their campuses, they now felt special and valued equally, unlike in the old model, in which students in the middle school years said that they felt neglected and sort of extra to be attended to after the needs of year 12 had been met. Therefore, the structural-cultural dynamics in the four colleges studied had made a demonstrable positive difference on students, as evidenced by students’ improved academic and non-academic outcomes.

The data from the four colleges analysed in the Results of Human Enterprise element of the Dynamics Paradigm, (chapter 8), confirmed students’ conviction that the structural-cultural dynamics of their multi-campus college were offering students, both in the middle school and senior campus, an equal opportunity to excel within their new and improved learning environments. In a particularly significant way, the improved learning environments had created opportunity for Aboriginal students to engage more meaningfully. Through the multiplier effects, this was attracting more Aboriginal students to participate more successfully in post-compulsory schooling. As a consequence, this thesis found that across the four colleges studied, interviewees’ convictions about the structural-cultural dynamics in their colleges were consistent with

Fullan’s (2000, p.8) moral purpose of education to “make a positive difference in the lives of students regardless of their background”. It can therefore be deduced that these

342 dynamics may enable the participating students to equip themselves with some of the skills, disposition and values which can help them to seek their identity and role in the more competitive and more diverse society of the 21st century.

This is a particularly significant finding because it provides substantive evidence which confirms speculation (Howe, 1987; Livermore, 1990; Aquilina, 1998 and DET,

1999), that given certain contextual differences, several schools working collegially through coupled linkages of the new model, could offer students greater opportunity for success than the traditional, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school. It may also be deduced from this analysis that the multiplier effects of a multi-campus college create a wide range of opportunities for revitalisation of a positive image of public education in

New South Wales.

9.3.2 Feedback 2: Evaluation of the significance of the Dynamics Paradigm in analysing educational change in general, and in a multi-campus college in particular

As shown in chapters four, six to eight and in the analysis presented in this chapter, the Dynamics Paradigm is a powerful cognitive lens for a reconstruction and extension of knowledge of the multiple realities in an educational setting as understood by the interviewees whose real life experiences are studied. Its five elements offer analytical capacity to investigate deeply the structural and cultural dynamics among a wide range of variables in an educational institution undergoing reform. Therefore the

Paradigm offers a versatile theoretical framework through which penetrating insights about the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in an educational organisation can be gained.

The starting point in designing the new Dynamics Paradigm was to change

Pace’s business organisational dynamics model significantly so that students and other people in an educational setting became the primary focus of human interactions

343 initiating and implementing change. Unlike Pace’s model that puts priority on profit maximisation (see chapter 4), the Dynamics Paradigm puts priority on maximising students’ academic and non-academic outcomes. This design seems to widen the mindset of the analytical framework by focusing on human interactions that put students’ interests and outcomes first, and other considerations later.

When applied to the analysis of data from the four multi-campus colleges, the

Dynamics Paradigm made it possible to answer the two cardinal questions investigated in this thesis. Question one was effectively answered in the data analysed in the Human and Physical Infrastructure (element 1) in chapter 6. All parts of question two were answered in the data analysed in elements 2 to 4 of the Dynamics Paradigm in chapters

7 and 8. Feedback was analysed in the present chapter using element 5. Accordingly, the Paradigm appears to have been well tested and validated.

The use of the Dynamics Paradigm in the investigation of the research questions for this thesis, has led to the discovery of distinctive interplay of multiple realities in the structural and cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college which had not been reconstructed in earlier data. The analysis appears significant because it broadens an understanding of what it means to students, teachers, principals and parents, to restructure and to re-culture a multi-campus college.

In particular, the use of the Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm, through an analysis of the multiplier effects within the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, appears to constitute an extension because it moves the debate on restructuring comprehensive high schools past simple introduction of initial structural changes which can facilitate new cultural dynamics, to delineating the inner core human effects that accumulate benefits for participants in successive rounds of human interactions. This analysis appears noteworthy because it enables us to consider restructuring of comprehensive high schools as creating opportunity to trigger the synergesis of multipliable human effects which have potential to improve students’

344 outcomes. Such feedback serves to extend the mental model of multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics beyond cohort reconfiguration, integration, collegiality and coordination of interactions in today’s Human and Physical Infrastructure in the participating schools, to linking them intimately with unforeseen synergy in future rounds of human effects.

In its focus on the structural and cultural dynamics in the four colleges studied, the Dynamics Paradigm enabled this thesis to explore systematically, largely uncharted territory in educational change because there was little data in the public domain on this topic. Using the background data (Dynamics Paradigm element 1), and the 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria, (see Dynamics Paradigm elements 2 – 4 in Figure

4-2, page 108 and in Figure 9-2, page 310), and the Feedback (element 5) illustrated in

Figure 9-3, the Dynamics Paradigm theoretically identifies, within its five elements, the components of the multi-campus college Work System. The meaning of the Work

System is then reconstructed through interpretation of the data from the questionnaires, the interviews, observation and documents which were actually collected from the colleges (see questionnaires-Dynamics Paradigm elements correlation mapping in

Appendix 5.3-3). Therefore this analysis shows that the Dynamics Paradigm has potential to provide, not only a useful cognitive lens, but also a practical schema for shedding light on the multiple realities in a multi-campus college as understood and reconstructed by students, teachers, principals and parents overtime.

This approach not only tests the versatility and analytical capacity of the

Dynamics Paradigm but also appears to widen the knowledge base on dynamics in a multi-campus college. This is because it locates students, teachers and principals in the

Work System and using the five elements and the 16 dynamics criteria investigates the outcomes of their interactions within the lived experiences in the multi-campus college dynamics. This leads to an improved understanding of educational change involving relationships between structural and cultural dynamics – relationships whose multiplier

345 impacts extend beyond a multi-campus college’s internal environment and reach other schools, tertiary institutions, parents, the DET and the learning community at large.

These are relationships which appear to have little prior research or analysis. An understanding of these relationships could assist in the effective restructuring of new multi-campus colleges, in the reculturing of existing ones, and in the study of structural- cultural dynamics in other educational settings.

Based on the results of this analysis, the thesis concludes this study in the following chapter with suggestions for further research into multi-campus college dynamics, policy recommendations and possible applications of the findings in this thesis.

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CHAPTER 10

CONCLUSION OF THESIS

10.1 Introduction

This chapter concludes the thesis in five steps. The first tier crystallises how the two research questions investigated in this thesis were effectively answered, thereby fulfilling the objectives of the study. In the investigation of the cardinal questions many more questions arose out of the data from the colleges and from the analysis. However, those questions were beyond the scope of this study and could not be answered in this thesis. Accordingly, the second tier of this chapter outlines the new questions raised by this research and suggests 12 areas in which future research should be conducted. The third tier discusses policy implications of the findings in this thesis and makes 32 recommendations on policy options. The fourth tier suggests 11 possible applications of the thesis. Finally, the chapter states the conclusion to this formal research journey.

10.2 Conclusions on the research questions

In the introductory chapter to this thesis, section 1.3 posits two questions that are the central focus for this thesis. These questions are: Why were some of the comprehensive high schools in New South Wales restructured into multi-campus colleges? And secondly: What is the relationship between structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college following such restructuring?

The first question sought to gain insights into interviewees’ own understanding of the factors that were critical in the policy decision that restructured their comprehensive high schools into a multi-campus college. The second question provided opportunity for investigation into the interplay of the structural and cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college – an area about which little information was available.

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As shown in the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108 (Figure 4-2) and in the mapping of the data to the different elements of the Paradigm in Figure 4-3 (page 125), the first question was divided into three sub-questions. Those subsidiary questions were investigated in the data in the Human and Physical Infrastructure (element 1) of the

Dynamics Paradigm. The answers to the questions were found in the rich data presented in chapter 6 and analysed in chapter 9.

The second question was much broader and deeper than the first one. As posited in section 1.3 and illustrated further in the Dynamics Paradigm on page 108, the question was investigated using 16 structural-cultural dynamics an understanding of which was central to an appreciation of the multiple realities reconstructed by interviewees in the colleges studied. The interplay of structural-cultural dynamics numbered 1 – 6 were investigated in the Human Interactions (element 2) of the

Dynamics Paradigm and the results were presented in the first part of chapter 7. The interplay of structural-cultural dynamics numbered 7 – 10 was investigated in the

Search for Excellence (element 3) of the Dynamics Paradigm. The results were reported in the second part of chapter 7. Structural-cultural dynamics numbered 11 – 16 were investigated in the Results of Human Enterprise (element 4) of the Dynamics Paradigm and the results reported in chapter 8.

The data on the interplay of the structural and cultural dynamics analysed using the above 16 criteria, discussed in the chapters cited above and finally analysed in chapter 9, offers an informed and deep understanding of the relationships that develop between structure and culture in a multi-campus college following the restructuring and integration of the participating cluster of schools. This understanding extends knowledge on the meaning of change in these colleges and in effectively answering the second research question fulfils the objectives of this thesis.

However, although the findings of this study answered the questions posed for this research, they also raised many new ones. The investigation of those questions was

348 beyond the scope of this thesis and therefore needs further research. Those questions are discussed in the following section.

10.3 Questions and suggestions for future research

First, the Dynamics Paradigm designed in this thesis was found to be an effective mental map within which to analyse the structural-cultural dynamics in an educational institution. However, in applying the Paradigm to the specific data on the background factors and the steps that were taken to introduce the multi-campus colleges, some of the interviewee data pointed to a greater need to involve different stakeholders in creating the motivation for change. It appeared that the needed approach could be analysed using the “unfreezing, change, refreeze” dynamics theory (Schein,

1997, p. 298). The suitability of that model in a study of change dynamics in an educational setting in general or in multi-campus college dynamics needs further research.

Second, by applying the Dynamics Paradigm to address the structural-cultural dynamics in the multi-campus colleges studied, this thesis was able to examine critical aspects of the relationships between the structural and cultural dynamics within the colleges studied. As a concept, the ‘structural-cultural dynamics’ within the colleges need further research, especially as the colleges mature. Of particular relevance to this recommendation is the need to investigate what kind of horizontal or vertical coordination could be introduced to improve collegiality among teachers in the different campuses of one college, not only between the middle schools and the senior campus

(vertical), but also across the middle schools (horizontal) in one college.

Third, using the Feedback element of the Dynamics Paradigm, a significant discovery in chapter 9 was the synergesis of the multiplier process that results from the establishment of a multi-campus college. The analysis also cited connections or linkages between the senior campuses and TAFE and University. However, the possible

349 impacts of these couplings on the multiplier effects were not investigated. The multiplier process delineated in this thesis and the possible extensions of the multiplier effects to couplings with tertiary institutions needs further study which might reveal how the high schools could harness the resources and knowledge base of these institutions so as to develop and to maximise new learning opportunities and outcomes.

Fourth, this thesis showed that the structural, cultural and leadership dynamics in the colleges studied were intimately interrelated and mutually reinforcing. However, much research (such as that cited earlier, section 2.3.1 pages 43 – 45) places a very high premium on the role of principals in effective school change through building trust, and building a learning organisation as designers, stewards, teachers and perpetual learners themselves and as dynamic change agents responsible for the learning that takes place in their school. This role takes on an even greater significance because the data showed that there was need for greater lateral and vertical coordination necessitated by the complexities precipitated by the geographical separation of campuses of one college, the critical mass of people involved, and the multiplier effects in a multi-campus college phenomenon. Because of such great importance of the role of leadership in the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college, this could be the focus of future research.

Fifth, the analysis looked at the impact of the structural-cultural dynamics on students and teachers as though these were in different environments. In the real life experiences in each college, it is difficult to separate the learning environment from the teaching environment. Although interviewees were able to respond to questions pertaining to each of these, future research is needed to extend an understanding of what should be examined under the learning environment and under the teaching environment or under both of these and the interplay of these environments and the ability to deliver improved learning outcomes for students, teachers and principals.

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Sixth, interviewees, who, as a result of the multi-campus restructuring had not been able to continue teaching year 12 classes, bemoaned what they described as the loss of access to the more intellectually challenging and stimulating teaching of senior students. The separation had occurred up to six years ago but the regret lingered on. Yet, there appeared to be nothing in the operational protocols that would help ease or relieve people from that mindset. Further research needs to be conducted into the causes for such feelings and how best they could be addressed both at the initiation stage, following the establishment of a multi-campus college, and later as the colleges pass into maturity and post-maturity stages of their development.

Seventh, of the 11 multi-campus colleges, the only three that are structured with middle school cohorts of years 7 – 9 are all in Country areas. In one of these colleges that was included in the sample, the reasons for this structure were linked to issues facing Aboriginal students in their community. Besides, it was shown that this particular structure was actually having the desired impact on the retention rates of Aboriginal students who had been targeted by this structural design as explained earlier (see data presented on pages 208 – 210). Their attitude towards school had also been positively affected and they were interacting better with non-Aboriginal students especially in the senior campus. Their enrolments, retention rates and graduation numbers were also at record levels. These structural-cultural dynamics raise questions regarding the possible experience in the other two colleges which have a similar structure and which also appear to have a high proportion of Aboriginal students. It would be insightful to investigate whether this cohort configuration (years 7 – 9 middle school and 10 – 12 senior campus) has advantages over the more common structure among the colleges (i.e. years 7 – 10 and 11 – 12). This also raises questions about the needs of middle school years and how best they could be restructured and recultured. Related questions could also target the demographics and social strata that are resident in such communities.

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Eighth, the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college ensure that students in the middle school campuses are guaranteed entry into the senior campus of their schools’ cluster. Similarly, they guarantee that the senior campus has a sure supply of students from the feeder schools in its cluster. An interesting question that needs to be researched is how this situation is different from stand alone years 11 – 12 senior colleges which do not have specified feeder schools. Examples of such schools exist in the Australian Capital Territory (See for instance Anderson, Saltet and Vervoorn, 1980), in New South Wales such as Bankstown Senior College, Bradfield, Coffs Harbour,

Illawarra Senior colleges and St Mary’s Senior High School (See Polesel, Teese and

O’Brien, 2001) and in Tasmania such as Claremont College, Don College, Elizabeth,

Hellyer, Hobart, Launceston, Newstead and Rosny College (See DE Tasmania, 2005).

Ninth, the data showed that retention rates in all the multi-campus colleges had increased significantly and were much higher than the State average. It would be useful to compare such retention rates with those in other schools in the same district as the multi-campus colleges to analyse differential resource endowment and utilisation. This could be combined with a study of public funding of multi-campus colleges compared to that provided to other DET secondary schools. Such a study could shed some light on equity in the funding of public education.

Tenth, although all principals said that at the establishment phase of their multi- campus colleges efforts had been made to minimise the impact of their colleges on public schools in the area, there is every chance that the new structural-cultural dynamics of these colleges also generate ecological effects felt by other schools in the areas where they are established. Research is needed to study the organisational and ecological effects of a multi-campus college on other schools in the area.

Eleventh, to address teachers’ concerns about their work and working conditions created by the new structural-cultural dynamics peculiar to the multi-campus college model, further research needs to be undertaken into these issues to shed some more light

352 on how best they could be addressed to minimise or eliminate the negative impacts perceived by interviewees. As part of that research, teacher empowerment and staffing flexibility need to be investigated.

Finally, as these colleges mature in their new way of secondary school delivery, research is needed into the costs and benefits associated with this model. There needs to be an overall investigation into their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats they face both in the short and long run to evaluate the future success of these colleges and possibilities of opening new ones.

10.4 Policy implications and options recommended

In spite of the apparent success of the four multi-campus colleges studied, the fact that a moratorium had been imposed on the future establishment of these colleges in New South Wales suggests that policy questions hang over their future in this State.

For instance, there appears to be no certainty as to whether the 11 colleges now established will remain as the only multi-campus colleges in the State or whether they will revert to the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools. Neither is there indication as to whether the New South Wales DET will establish new multi-campus colleges. If a decision were taken to establish additional multi-campus colleges, it is not clear what model would be followed. Moreover, serious questions remain as to what could be done to ease or eliminate some of the challenges that the interviewees in these colleges raised and perhaps help to shift the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi- campus college towards becoming a more effective learning organisation in the 21st century. These policy questions are addressed in this section.

No doubt the restructuring of comprehensive high schools into multi-campus colleges creates some tensions and complexities in the school community involved.

However, the positive multiplier effects revealed in the analysis in this thesis show that given contextual contingency, the integration of selected comprehensive high schools

353 into a multi-campus college creates structural and cultural dynamics which seem to deliver to students greater opportunity for success. As a result, the multi-campus college model appears to have greater potential to make a positive difference in the lives of students. In certain locales, therefore, selected years 7 – 12 comprehensive high schools should consider turning away from the old, structural-cultural dynamics of total independence, to carefully reframed and recultured multi-campus colleges where greater interdependence and collegiality among the participating middle schools and the senior campus create possibilities for the development of a high performing learning organisation.

The colleges studied show significant success in attracting higher enrolments and higher retention rates, more positive students’ attitudes and better students’ outcomes, not only in the senior campus but in the middle schools as well, especially in areas where this had not been the case. For this reason, it is reasonable to recommend a paradigm shift in restructuring comprehensive high schools, from planning based on teacher intention to planning directed towards pupil outcomes. This recommendation is supported by leaders in educational change including Dinham (1995), Fullan (2000;

2001a), Stoll and Fink (2001), Silins and Mulford (2002) as well as Mulford, Silins and

Leithwood (2004) whose work was cited earlier.

Fullan (2000, p.8) for instance, highlights the importance of putting students’ outcomes first when he says, “the moral of education (i.e. to make a difference in the lives of students from all backgrounds …) is the basic rationale for teaching in postmodern society”. Similarly, Dinham (1995, p. 70) says that “the ‘acid test’ for any proposed change is whether it will facilitate or hinder pupil achievement and well- being”. Furthermore, in supporting this proposition Silins and Mulford (2002, p.431) say that “the primary goal of educational reform is improved student learning”. If we accept Fullan’s “basic rationale for teaching”, Dinham’s “acid test for proposed change”

Silins and Mulford’s “primary goal of educational reform” cited above, then it is

354 desirable to make this rationale the basis for the restructuring of some comprehensive high schools to establish multi-campus colleges in certain contextual contingencies.

Therefore, while acknowledging that teachers’ concerns need to be addressed to make the multi-campus college model more effective, it is recommended that improvements in students’ outcomes ought to be the utmost priority in restructuring and reculturing educational change such as the creation of a multi-campus college.

The benefits discovered among the structural-cultural dynamics of students, teachers, principals, parents and communities in the four colleges studied, as synthesised in the multiplier effects discussed above, show that given contextual contingencies, selected comprehensive high schools, through integration, and subsequent interdependent interaction and collegiality as one multi-campus college rather than independent and autonomous survival typical of the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, acquire capacity to give their students, both in the middle schools and in the senior campus greater opportunities for success at school. This success had been realised, not only in the metropolitan colleges (Metro-A and B), but also in the Country based colleges (Country-A and B). Furthermore, the success was being achieved by all students, in all the four colleges and in a particularly outstanding manner by Aboriginal students (at Country-A College) for whom the structural-cultural dynamics of the traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school had contributed to many other factors which led to alienation and apparent “places of failure”. Moreover, parents had also become quite positive about their new schools.

So, in the words of Fullan (2000, p. 8), the structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus colleges studied show greater potential “to make a difference to the lives of students regardless of their background” and contribute to the fulfilment of Fullan’s

(2001b, p. 3) “moral purpose (which) means acting with the intention of making a positive difference in the lives of customers and society as a whole” (Italics in original text).

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Consequently, it is recommended that in certain locales in New South Wales, the

DET should carefully consider selecting suitable years 7 - 12 comprehensive high schools and reframe them and reculture them into multi-campus colleges.

Location is emphasised in this recommendation because interviewees showed

(See Dynamics Paradigm data in subdivisions 1.1 and 1.3 and discussion in chapter 6, section 6.4) that contextual, contingency factors were, and need to be, the key considerations in the decision to reconfigure some comprehensive high schools into the multi-campus college cluster of schools. The data showed, therefore, that the multi- campus college model is not to be envisioned as ‘the one model for all situations’ in

New South Wales. It is therefore recommended that the practice of allowing local circumstances to dictate what particular structure is designed for a multi-campus college should be continued and any attempts for uniformity in structural design be resisted.

It is acknowledged that the Minister who championed the introduction of these colleges in New South Wales now holds a different parliamentary portfolio.

Nonetheless, it is recommended that a reversal of the decision should be out of consideration. This recommendation is based on four good reasons. Firstly, the findings of this research indicate that the multi-campus college model has the potential, in certain contexts, to provide continuing success for students of secondary schooling age in years

7 – 12 regardless of their background. Secondly, the initial establishment expenses of these colleges cost large amounts of taxpayers’ money. Thirdly, the colleges appear to be well accepted and highly regarded by people in the communities where they are located. Finally, they appear to be contributing to a high added value in the delivery of improved learning outcomes in secondary education in New South Wales. It would therefore be extremely unlikely for another Minister of Education to undo what has been done.

Given the success of the multi-campus colleges, as discussed with regard to the new structural-cultural dynamics and further illustrated in the multiplier effects

356 discussed above, it is further recommended that the DET and the Ministry of Education should offer certain schools, principals and parents incentives and resources to better understand and to accept the benefits of the structural-cultural dynamics of the multi- campus college model. To this end it is further recommended that the DET needs to educate the parents and the community, through public debate, about the possible benefits of the structural-cultural dynamics inherent in a multi-campus college.

Additionally, the DET needs to educate teachers and to provide professional development in schools proposed for restructuring into a multi-campus college about the processes involved and the benefits that could accrue from such integration.

The DET and the Ministerial agencies should encourage schools whose situation suggests that they would benefit their students, teachers and the community through integration and collegial interdependence than through autonomous operation, to consider the possible benefits of the amalgamation of their comprehensive high schools into the multi-campus college new way of secondary schooling delivery.

The multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics appear to be an effective model of secondary school delivery if the contextual circumstances in the local conditions in and around certain comprehensive high schools provide the imperative for this kind of reframing comprehensive high schools. The contingency, critical factors that constitute such imperatives appear to be interrelated comprising the following conditions. First, the existence of a number of year 7 – 12 schools that are experiencing low and declining student enrolments, especially in years 11 and 12. Second, a curriculum offering at those high schools which is very narrow in terms of the subjects that can economically be offered to students. Third, class sizes which are too small and therefore too expensive to staff. Fourth, students who are forced into a few subjects because of student numbers which don’t warrant many classes, or into courses whose outcomes students might not be able to achieve because of pedagogy. Fifth, average costs per student which are too high because of the low student numbers. Sixth,

357 demographical data and population trends which indicate that no increase in students of high school age is likely in the area. Finally, one of the high schools needs massive refurbishment or rebuilding.

All these seven factors do not have to be concurrent. However, each one of them is a reasonable trigger for the establishment of a multi-campus college because the existence of any one of these conditions leads to alienation among many students of high school age. It tends to exacerbate poor students’ outcomes both in the middle school years and in the HSC and, as was particularly noted among students in the

Country based colleges, to dropping out of high school and to a perception in the community that such schools “fail students” and students who go there are “failures”.

No doubt the data showed that restructuring of comprehensive high schools into the multi-campus college model faces some challenges, (see section 8.4.2, page 298 –

303), but Fullan’s (2000, p.5) advice that “Productive educational change at its core, is not the capacity to implement the latest policy, but rather the ability to survive the vicissitudes of planned and unplanned change while growing and developing”, should serve as a warning that such challenges are inevitable when implementing significant school change. His additional assertion that “the meaning of change will rarely be clear at the outset, and ambivalence will pervade the transition” (Fullan, 2001a p. 31), as well as his acceptance that “all real change involves passing through the zones of uncertainty, … the situation of being at sea, of being lost” (Fullan, 2001a, p. 31), suggests that success in the establishment of a multi-campus college rests on persistence and determination to seize opportunities which enable participants to learn and to survive through the stresses, uncertainties and confusion posed by these challenges. The multi-campus colleges studied seem to have moved beyond these uncertainties of the establishment phase into a stage of confidence and ability to improve outcomes for students.

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Furthermore, in Fullan’s admonishment that educational “change is a journey not a blueprint” Fullan (2000, pp. 21-22) also warns that “change is non-linear, but loaded with uncertainty. (And) “Problems are inevitable and you can’t learn without them”. Therefore, it may be argued and accordingly recommended, that the teacher rotation and any other problems in the multi-campus college dynamics, rather than cause excessive concern should provide lessons for principals, teachers and DET officials to learn from and to pursue even greater change with a mindset not only to restructure but indeed be more focused on reculturing certain high schools into the multi-campus college model and sustain such change.

It is further recommended that schools located in areas with a large number of

Aboriginal students should carefully study the structural-cultural dynamics of the model found by this study at Country-A College which is structured as a years 7 – 9 in the middle school campuses and a years 10 – 12 in the senior campus. This is recommended because the multi-campus college of this structure was reported as having created opportunities which were increasing the academic achievement and promoting positive attitudes and behaviours among Aboriginal students and parents in the area.

This recommendation should be given greater weight because the data presented in this thesis has shown that the structural-cultural dynamics within this Country preferred structure have made “a difference in the lives of students regardless of their background (i.e. the first ever 24 Aboriginal students to graduate in the HSC from one high school in New South Wales), and by so doing help produce greater capacity in society to cope with change” (Fullan, 2000, pp. 4-5). This, according to Fullan (2000, p.5) is “the moral purpose of education. … its pursuit must become all out and sustained”. This is particularly so because the data showed that the multi-campus college in the Country-A area had succeeded in situations where the traditional comprehensive high school model was being seen as a “failure” in terms of Aboriginal students’ enrolments, retention rates, attitude to school and HSC results. If schooling is

359 intended to provide access to economic, political and social opportunity for those who are so often denied such access, then the experience at Country-A college appears to contribute to the achievement of this goal and deserves to be vigorously pursued.

Another recommendation is that teachers should be given incentive and encouragement to arrange mutually agreed short-term mobility (e.g. location on one campus for a term on a swap basis), or longer term placement to experience the dynamics in the different campuses of one college. It is suggested, however, that the opportunities which the multi-campus college structural-cultural dynamics offer to students to be taught by teachers that are “expert” in their subjects and to teachers to develop improved effectiveness in teaching and in student management skills, should be fully supported and utilised.

Related to the above, four additional recommendations are made. Firstly, the

DET and the Ministry of Education should, in collaboration with Universities, commence a programme of training teachers for middle school (years 7 – 9/10), as specialists in the curriculum, methodology, instructional and classroom management competencies as well as welfare needs of students in the respective age bracket. There needs to be the recognition that the gap between specially trained “primary teachers” and teachers trained to teach “seniors” seems to leave the middle school years out of focus (in some kind of ‘black box’). Just as there are specially trained “primary teachers” research needs to be conducted into the possibility of specially trained

“middle school teachers” who would be specialists both in delivering the curriculum in years 7 – 9/10 and in the management of students’ issues specific to the 12 – 16 years of age. Perhaps, teachers so trained, while they would be very much in demand in any years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school, could also have a particular niche to fill in the middle school campuses within the structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus colleges.

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Secondly, partnerships should be developed between local Universities and multi-campus colleges, especially the senior campus, to coordinate the training of teachers for middle schools. Thirdly, training programmes for specialist teachers in years 11 – 12 education should be started. Fourthly, the requirement for a mandated rotation percentage of teachers should be abandoned.

As said earlier, the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college are very different from those of the orthodox, years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school and represent a new way of delivering secondary education. If this mindset is accepted, then it is reasonable to call for special planning and implementation strategies in the effective establishment and operation of a multi-campus college. Therefore, it is additionally recommended that the DET and the Ministry, should offer such schools and their communities the needed support and incentive to accept and to share the vision of the multi-campus college model as a way of revitalising comprehensive high schooling in

New South Wales and one which makes such schooling more accessible and positively meaningful to high school students regardless of their geographical location (urban or rural) and regardless of their background (Aboriginal or otherwise).

It is evident that there is no one strategy that would be a recipe for the successful implementation and operation of a new multi-campus college. However, Oakes et al.

(1999, p.242) warn, and Fullan (2001a, p. 35) agrees, that “educators often rush to adopt new structures and strategies without considering their deeper implications. … And then some people think that because they’ve changed the structure, they’re there”. Structural change in the establishment of a multi-campus college is no doubt important because it creates opportunity for improved structural dynamics, but while “structure does make a difference … it is not the main point in achieving success. Transforming the culture – changing the way we do things around here – is the main point. I call this reculturing”

(Fullan, 2001b, pp. 43-44). Therefore, rather than placing emphasis on restructuring of the identified high schools into a new structure, it is recommended that in the

361 establishment of a multi-campus college, emphasis ought to be placed on reculturing the cultural dynamics as well, among the participating principals and their leadership teams, among the teaching and support staff, students, parents and the wider community at large.

This reculturing process should start very early in the planning stage. The data for this thesis showed, that the involvement of parents and teachers among the planning teams in the decisions of things like change to school uniforms, school protocols and artefacts had been very effective in securing parental commitment and continued support from the community. Such community involvement combined with improved student outcomes had helped parents to become positive towards the dynamics of the new model and had also contributed to public image renewal for the schools in these areas.

Such reculturing is a slow process but it is recommended that the procedure must include the persistent encouragement of teachers to develop the conviction that they own the college in which the senior campus belongs to all of them, regardless of what campus they happen to be located at. As part of this conviction, it is further recommended that there should also be the commitment that teachers belong to the college and not to a campus. However, it is also recommended that teachers need to maintain the right to choose what campus at which to work. Implicit in this, is the additional recommendation that freedom of teachers’ mobility among campuses in one college should be encouraged but without forced transfers or compulsory rotation of teachers.

The interview data showed that there was no basis for fear of high levels of teacher instability within the structural-cultural dynamics at the four colleges. Any such fears were found to be unwarranted because, in each of the four colleges there were no large numbers of teachers in the middle schools who wished to be rotated into the senior campus. Neither was their evidence that teachers in the senior campus were

362 experiencing burn-out from constant exposure to the demands of the HSC and therefore badly needed respite by rotating them into the middle school campuses. On the contrary, very few teachers expressed the need to rotate either way. Implicit in this dynamics is the further recommendation that, therefore, staff rotation between the campuses could be based on teachers’ expressed need and on natural attrition. This would give teachers in both the middle school campuses as well as the senior campus, a sense of security of tenure and stability, while simultaneously meeting the demand for teacher mobility and flexibility.

What this means is that teachers within a multi-campus college cluster would be given priority to fill the vacancies left by those who transfer out of the college. These vacancies could be filled without external advertising thereby saving the DET some expense. Moreover, if the mindset of ‘one college’ were accepted, then it would be feasible for a teacher in one of the middle schools to spend a term or so, on the senior campus and then return to their own middle school campus. A reciprocal arrangement would enable a teacher from the senior campus to spend some time in one of the middle school campuses. The purpose of such arrangements would be to provide for an ongoing opportunity for teachers to have access to year 7 – 12 cohorts. The big difference between this recommendation and that mandated by the memorandum of understanding is that this mobility would not be driven by an automatic rotation after a pre-determined term of service or a forced rotation, but by natural attrition as people leave one campus.

It could thus also include mutually agreed inter-campus transfers and for agreed periods of time, such as a term or so.

This is not to suggest that all multi-campus colleges should be developing their structural-cultural dynamics in an identical fashion. On the contrary, it is recommended that each college should develop the model that best achieves the educational, moral imperative of maximising students’ outcomes, given their contextual particularities. It can’t be overemphasised that there is no one optimal path to be followed in the

363 reframing of comprehensive high schools and reculturing of all multi-campuses in all contingencies. Hence, it is also recommended that the strategies followed should allow for flexibility within the structural-cultural dynamics of a given college. For instance, the leadership structure of each college could be designed according to the wishes of the stakeholders in the high schools. This can allow for loose, collegial couplings in a

“Unity without Uniformity” model as that evidenced in the metropolitan based colleges or a more centrally coordinated, tightly coupled “Unity in identity and interdependence model” that was current in the Country based colleges. What works in one set of circumstances is what needs to be the focus of the reculturing efforts in that situation.

If it is accepted that given contextual contingencies the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college represent a new way of delivering secondary schooling to all pupils in an effective manner, then based on this new mindset it should be recognised that the establishment of a multi-campus college requires a staffing formula, financing arrangements, resourcing arrangements and leadership structures, different from those in a traditional years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school. The restructuring of a years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school into a years 7 – 9/10 middle school to establish a multi-campus college takes away from that school the greater staffing entitlement that is allowed to schools that have year 11 and 12. This means that the middle schools do not have the benefit of that funding/staffing and puts pressure on principals in the middle schools to increase the numbers of enrolments if they are to keep their teachers. This pressure did not exist while the schools had years 11 and 12.

Therefore, it is recommended that the possibility of a new staffing formula, particular to the conditions created by the new structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college phenomenon needs to be investigated.

A further recommendation is that teachers, whose skills and expertise have been restricted to middle school years or to the senior campus of a multi-campus college,

364 should not be discriminated against in the selection processes that follow their exit from the multi-campus college dynamics.

Again, in view of the recognition that the multi-campus college is a special kind of comprehensive high school, it is accordingly recommended that the DET should look for special leadership style and integrity (as suggested in this thesis, see page 176 – 178) for these colleges.

Furthermore, although the existing multi-campus colleges, as a new way of delivering secondary education appear to be enjoying considerable success, there appears to be limited dissemination of educational research on this way of delivering secondary education. However, given that the DET, as a result of this study, now have data-grounded evidence of the benefits that may be associated with the structural- cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college, it is recommended that the DET should promote the vision of these colleges and encourage research into these colleges. Now, the successes noted at these colleges can serve as exemplars whose demonstration effects could help the policy makers to actualise the vision and to establish additional multi-campus colleges. This will provide a way of secondary education which, through richer cooperation and collegial interdependence, has demonstrated possibilities to provide for the achievement of improved student outcomes and better community appreciation of public education in selected localities in New South Wales.

Finally, it is strongly recommended that the opportunities offered by the structural-cultural dynamics in a multi-campus college call for more private and public research into improved resourcing and re-culturing of the existing multi-campus colleges. Equally importantly, they call for further restructuring and reculturing of additional multi-campus colleges not only in some locales in New South Wales, but also in other States and Territories of the Australian Commonwealth, where careful situational assessment indicates that the school community would benefit from such reframing of certain comprehensive high schools.

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10.5 Applications of this thesis

This study’s findings appear to have value in a variety of both theoretical and practical applications. The first of these relates to the utilitarian value of the Dynamics

Paradigm developed in this thesis and which underpins the analysis of data in this study.

The Dynamics Paradigm shows itself to be a powerful, theoretical and practical framework which could be used more widely in research into relationships between structural and cultural dynamics not only in an educational setting, but also in other organisations in which major changes are contemplated.

As a theoretical construct, this thesis’ Dynamics Paradigm captures, within its five elements, the realistic and fundamental aspects of an organisation, including not only those within the physical infrastructure of the organisation but also in the human aspects both from within the organisation (internal environment) and from outside the organisation (the external environment). In a practical dimension, the background factors and the 16 dynamics criteria that the model uses to reconstruct the multiple realities experienced by interviewees in the multi-campus college phenomenon, capture the lived experiences of interviewees as perceived and interpreted by them.

Using the data from the four colleges studied, the Dynamics Paradigm has shown that it has sufficient sophistication to investigate a wide range of processes within a case study to increase an understanding of the meaning that people in those processes make of their situations. Because the model achieves this capacity while maintaining clarity of relationships among the elements and the 16 structural-cultural dynamics criteria, it has a high utilitarian value when change is contemplated within and outside school situations. An inclusion, into its elements, of different variables from school or non-educational contexts, would take further advantage of the analytical capacity of the Paradigm. To maximise its application, resources should be allocated to the creation of opportunities for principals and their leadership teams to meet and dialogue about how the different elements of their Work System interact and how they

366 could be managed to coordinate Feedback from each element represented in the

Dynamics Paradigm, so as to maximise the dynamism and synergy in their organisation to achieve their educational outcomes.

Secondly, the application of the Dynamics Paradigm in this thesis revealed the existence of a wide range of positive multiplier effects associated with the reframing and integration of comprehensive high schools into a multi-campus college. These multiplier effects provide a strong case for the continuation of the existing multi- campus colleges and good reason for the establishment of new ones. In the establishment of new multi-campus colleges, whether in New South Wales or in other

States domestically or internationally, the insights provided by this thesis have potential to inform the restructuring and reculturing processes and strategies about the opportunities inherent in the structural-cultural dynamics of a multi-campus college.

Thirdly, the design of the Dynamics Paradigm was based on a strong theoretical basis drawn from the literature reviewed in chapter 2 and from well established practical dimensions involving multi-case sampling methodology discussed in chapter 5. The strong theoretical basis for this thesis and its multi-case sampling methodology used suggest transferability and external validity of the results. Although the findings of this thesis are deeply grounded in the data gathered from the four colleges, their interpretation in terms of the elements of the Dynamics Paradigm provides a theoretical and empirical basis which could be used for generalisations at the analytical level.

A fourth application is that in the restructuring of high schools to establish a multi-campus college, finances, teachers, counsellors and other resources should be specifically set aside for the re-culturing of principals, teachers, students, parents and the community at large about the attributes of this new way of delivering secondary education. In particular, an application in this regard would require the authorities charged with the responsibility for the restructuring to set up procedures for ongoing interaction with each new college to continually review its management practices and

367 new challenges, perhaps unforeseen at the time of establishment and deal with them as they emerge as new variables in the elements of their organisation. Additionally, as such colleges grow and mature, their requirements would need to be continually identified, evaluated and adequately provided for.

A fifth application of this study could be research springing out of the importance of middle schooling identified in this thesis. Such research could specifically target the middle school cohorts to extend an understanding of how best their outcomes could be improved, given a higher profile and the public recognition they deserve. The results of such research could have far reaching implications on the training of teachers who would graduate with specialist skills attuned to the needs of students in years 7 – 9/10. For instance, teachers could be trained specifically targeted to the curriculum and welfare needs of teenagers within the 12 – 16 age bracket.

A sixth application is associated with the fact that most principals of schools, whether in the public, government sector, denominational institutional systemic schools or in the private sector, hold a Principals’ Conference (usually once a year). The findings of this thesis could provide useful deliberations and interesting comparisons among the college principals at such a forum and perhaps help the principals to deeply reflect on their important role as leaders and managers of the structural-cultural dynamics of their school’s Work System in their particular circumstances. This might lead to the conduct of management practices and leadership dynamics in a manner which might enable the principals to realise improvements in their colleges.

Directly related to the above application, the seventh application of this thesis arises out of principals’ expressed wish to have access to the results of this study. A common comment from several of them that appeared quite genuine as the interviews were being concluded, was the saying that “I will be interested to read your thesis when it is finished. You are focusing on many things that are important to us”. The thesis offers principals an opportunity to gain some insight into, not only how the other

368 colleges, outside their own schools’ cluster, are performing and could be great feedback for them, but also a chance to evaluate dynamics among the elements of their own college so as to develop well informed feedback.

Eighth, the 11 multi-campus colleges on whose data this thesis is based are all relatively new. Dissemination of results from this thesis would enable a wider audience of educationists, researchers and stakeholders to have access to data and findings presented and discussed in this thesis. It is possible that the findings in this thesis on the

4 colleges studied could have relevance, not only to the other 7 colleges about which little is known, but also to other institutions as well. A consideration of the findings in the thesis could inspire further research into the multi-campus college phenomenon and other restructuring scenarios.

Ninth, the findings in this study demonstrate the need for teachers to think seriously about their career paths. One could suggest that young teachers would be well advised to teach in a variety of schools to gain expertise at different levels. The middle school multi-campus sites could provide an ideal opportunity for new teachers to develop their practical expertise with middle school students for 3 to no more than 4 years and then transfer to another school where they could have access to senior cohorts. Career paths planning are more critical in a multi-campus college than in a normal years 7 – 12 comprehensive high school because mobility from middle school to senior campus was found to be very slow. It might therefore not be ideal career path planning, for beginning teachers to spend more than four years in one campus.

Tenth, this study’s findings are in concert with Mintzberg (1979), Evans (1996),

Fullan (2001b) and Pace (2002), that leadership is the glue that holds together the structural-cultural dynamics in an organisation. Upholding this position and recognising the unique reliance on cooperation across the campuses in one multi-campus college, there is need to establish explicit selection criteria which very clearly spell out the need for collegiality among the leadership in a multi-campus college. As exemplified by

369 leadership in the colleges studied, such leadership, apart from meeting the general educational leadership selection criteria such as “ability to demonstrate initiative taking, curriculum leadership and interactive forms of professional development” (Fullan and

Hargreaves, 1996, p.99), needs to demonstrate a commitment to collegiality and intensive collaboration with the other principals, their deputies and head teachers in their schools’ cluster. It is through such leadership qualities within a multi-campus college structure, that the benefits expected to flow from the couplings and interactions within the structural-cultural dynamics of this model become maximised.

Finally, this study concentrates on an understanding of the structural-cultural dynamics in the early years of the establishment of an educational organisation because, as said earlier, all the colleges studied are relatively new. However, the elements of the

Dynamics Paradigm have a high applicability and therefore as these colleges grow and mature over time, the Dynamics Paradigm could be used to further explore the evolving dynamics in an educational institution in its growth, maturity and post-maturity stages.

10.6 Conclusion

The aggregate findings from interviewees in the four colleges studied provide powerful and convincing evidence that given contextual contingencies, the structural- cultural dynamics created through integration and collegial coordination in a multi- campus college, provide opportunities for the new educational settings to make a positive difference to students’ academic and non-academic outcomes. These are achieved at a level which significantly transcends what the participating schools were achieving in their traditional, autonomous comprehensive high school structure. The opportunities are amplified through the key proposition of this thesis, namely, the synergesis of the multiplier effects.

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Organisational structural-cultural dynamics and their concomitant multiplier effects, however, are the very antithesis of constancy or stability. Therefore, although this conclusion brings this formal research journey to its logical end, it signifies the beginning of more research needed to test this proposal further, so that, as these colleges mature, their new dynamics may be better understood and recultured. Such an understanding could increase the effectiveness of the multi-campus college model in the delivery of improved outcomes to students both in today’s and in schools of the future.

The students interviewed were very enthusiastic about their new structural- cultural dynamics. Teachers and principals were sincerely committed to making their new colleges a success. Parents said they had been converted to appreciate the benefits of the model. The structural-cultural dynamics of the multi-campus college model are worthy of exploring more deeply. In them, may lie the propensity to revitalise the role of public education in future schools in New South Wales, elsewhere in Australia, and beyond.

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Teachers’ questionnaire

Theory and research show that teachers in a school form certain perceptions about their school and assumptions about how they will work, be challenged, consulted, recognised, rewarded, respected and developed during their tenure as employees. The following questionnaire states 40 such perceptions or assumptions. Next to each are four possible responses. Please circle one of the responses which most closely approximates your own response.

The responses are ranked as follows: 1 = I strongly disagree; 2 = I disagree; 3 = I agree; 4 = I strongly agree.

1. Most of the teachers at the different campuses of this Collegiate know each other well. 1 2 3 4 2. All teachers are able to communicate easily with the executive. 1 2 3 4 3. Teachers I know feel/have felt very happy to work at this school. 1 2 3 4 4. The physical environment of this campus is very good 1 2 3 4 5. Resources are allocated to all campuses of the Collegiate in a fair manner 1 2 3 4 6. The curriculum at this Collegiate gives students a wide choice of subjects. 1 2 3 4 7. Teachers can easily transfer from one campus to another to teach. 1 2 3 4 8. Teachers are happy to transfer from one campus to the other. 1 2 3 4 9. Teachers’ contribution is always recognised by the leadership team 1 2 3 4 10. The role of ach member of the leadership team is very clear to all staff 1 2 3 4 11. Staff admire the skills of all members of the leadership team 1 2 3 4 12. At this campus, the College applies a good discipline policy 1 2 3 4 13. Before this school was made part of the Collegiate, teachers were consulted for their views 1 2 3 4 14. Teachers who show ability have a good chance for promotion at this Collegiate. 1 2 3 4 15. Teaching at this Collegiate has helped me to grow professionally 1 2 3 4 16. The multi-campus structure of our Collegiate enables teachers to teach juniors and seniors 1 2 3 4 17. Staff have easy access to the facilities shared with the different partners of the College 1 2 3 4 18. Staff morale at this Collegiate is very high 1 2 3 4 19. Our students’ parents/care givers are very supportive of school policy. 1 2 3 4 20. There is a general sense of satisfaction among staff at this Collegiate 1 2 3 4 21. The organisational structure of the Collegiate enables it to function very well 1 2 3 4 22. Resources are better used now than before the school became part of a Collegiate. 1 2 3 4 23. I think that the multi-campus structure of the Collegiate encourages students to complete their 1 2 3 4 HSC rather than leave school earlier. 24. All staff share in major decision-making. 1 2 3 4 25. The leaders of the Collegiate work as a well coordinated team. 1 2 3 4 26. Teachers are very happy about the way we do things at this school. 1 2 3 4 27. The Collegiate offers teachers plenty of opportunities for professional development. 1 2 3 4 28. Many of the senior students stay at the Collegiate because there are no jobs to go to 1 2 3 4 29. All staff feel free to say to the executive “what is on their mind”. 1 2 3 4 30. Leaders appear to have a passion about what they do. 1 2 3 4 31. Our school has better facilities (e.g.library, labs) since it became part of the Collegiate 1 2 3 4 32. Most staff are excited about working at this Collegiate. 1 2 3 4 33. The executive’s attitude has helped me to build confidence in my abilities. 1 2 3 4 34. The Collegiate offers a lot of opportunities to teachers to show initiative. 1 2 3 4 35. I think our school has a better reputation than it had before becoming part of the Collegiate. 1 2 3 4 36. Given resources and power to change the multi-campus college structure of this Collegiate I would not change it. 1 2 3 4 37. Students’ attitude towards ‘school’ is more positive in this Collegiate than it was when the school was a stand alone high school. 1 2 3 4

38. Because we are part of a Collegiate, there is a greater feeling among staff on all the participating campuses of being a close community 1 2 3 4 39. The multi-campus collegiate model is a more effective way of providing secondary education than the traditional Years 7 – 12 high school model. 1 2 3 4 40. The concept of a multi-campus collegiate influenced my decision to apply for a job/stay teaching at this college 1 2 3 4

Please give the following basic information about yourself

Please indicate your gender by circling one of these ------F M

Please indicate the different Years you teach at this College ------7 8 9 10 11 12

Please indicate number of years you have taught at this school ------1 2 3 4 5 6

Under 5 – 10 10 Please indicate total numbers of years as a teacher 5 years years years +

In the space below, please make any comment you feel might be useful to this research

If it is O.K. for you to be interviewed, please indicate the telephone number you would like to be called on and the most convenient times ______

Thank you very much for participating in this study.

Teachers’ questionnaire

The responses are ranked as follows: 1 = I strongly disagree; 2 = I disagree; 3 = I agree; 4 = I strongly agree.

Please give the following basic information about yourself

Please indicate your gender by circling one of these ------F M

Please indicate the different Years you teach at this College ------7 8 9 10 11 12

Please indicate number of years you have taught at this school ------1 2 3 4 5 6

Under 5 – 10 10 Please indicate total numbers of years as a teacher 5 years years years +

In the space below, please make any comment you feel might be useful to this research

If it is O.K. for you to be interviewed, please indicate the telephone number you would like to be called on and the most convenient times ______

Thank you very much for participating in this study.

Students’ questionnaire

Studies have shown that students form certain ideas and assumptions about their school, teachers and expectations. This questionnaire states 40 such assumptions or perceptions. Next to each are four possible responses. They are short and should take you no more than 15 minutes to respond to. Please circle one of them which you feel most closely approximates your own response. There are no right or wrong answers.

Please make your choice of responses according to this ranking 1 = I strongly disagree; 2 = I disagree; 3 = I agree; 4 = I strongly agree.

1. There is a friendly atmosphere at this Campus of the Collegiate 1 2 3 4 2. Most of the students at this Campus know each other well. 1 2 3 4 3. I find most of the work we are given interesting 1 2 3 4 4. All students at our Campus know where to seek help when they need it. 1 2 3 4 5. This Collegiate helps me to achieve greater maturity 1 2 3 4 6. This Collegiate helps me to develop a wide range of interests 1 2 3 4 7. There is a general sense of satisfaction among students at this Collegiate 1 2 3 4 8. My teachers care about me as an individual 1 2 3 4 9. My teachers help me to work hard towards achieving my personal best. 1 2 3 4 10. Students at this campus show a very positive attitude towards their studies 1 2 3 4 11. Students at this Collegiate are offered a wide choice of subjects for their study 1 2 3 4 12. It is good that although we are one Collegiate, the seniors, Years 11-12, are on a 1 2 3 4 separate campus. 13. Teachers give students a say in what needs to happen at this school 1 2 3 4 14. This Campus of the Collegiate has a good discipline policy 1 2 3 4 15. This Campus of the Collegiate helps me to be a well informed person 1 2 3 4 16. The computing facilities at this Collegiate Campus are adequate 1 2 3 4 17. My parents/care givers are very supportive of teachers and school policy 1 2 3 4 18. Hard-working students are given special recognition 1 2 3 4 19. The leadership team cares about our well-being 1 2 3 4 20. This Campus of the Collegiate has an impressive library 1 2 3 4 21. The Collegiate offers good extra curricular activities 1 2 3 4 22. Most of the students on the different campuses of the Collegiate know each other well 1 2 3 4 23. Students I know, feel /have felt very happy to be studying at this Collegiate 1 2 3 4 24. I believe that this school will help me achieve my academic goals more than a normal Year 7 – 12 high school would. 1 2 3 4 25. The atmosphere at this Collegiate is very stimulating to hard work 1 2 3 4 26. Because we are part of a multi-campus collegiate there is a greater feeling among students of being a close community. 1 2 3 4 27. This school has taught me to have confidence in my abilities 1 2 3 4 28. This school has taught me to respect others 1 2 3 4 29. Given a choice between studying in this Collegiate and the usual Year 7 – 12 high school, I would definitely choose this Collegiate 1 2 3 4 30. I think that because we are a multi-campus collegiate, more students continue into year 1 2 3 4 11 after year 10 than would be the case if we were not a multi-campus collegiate 31. If I were offered a good job while in Years 10, 11 or 12, I would leave school. 1 2 3 4 32. I think that the multi-campus nature of our school gives me a greater chance to interact with other students than I would in a normal Years 7 – 12 high school. 1 2 3 4 33. I think that this school gives students a good preparation for a job after school 1 2 3 4 34. This school teaches me how to communicate well with other people 1 2 3 4 35. I think that a multi-campus college is a better school than a normal high school. 1 2 3 4 36. Students at this Campus expect to do very well in their School Certificate or HSC exam. 1 2 3 4

37. Students at this Collegiate Campus appear to be highly motivated to work hard. 1 2 3 4 38. Students on each of the campuses of the Collegiate feel that they are very much part of the one Years 7 – 12 multi-campus collegiate. 1 2 3 4 39. The idea that this is a multi-campus collegiate influenced my decision to come/stay at this school. 1 2 3 4 40. Given a choice between a single sex campus and a co-educational one, I would choose a single sex campus. 1 2 3 4

Please give the following basic information about yourself

Please indicate whether you are a girl or a boy (Circle your gender) ------F M

Please indicate the Year you are in (Circle one) ------7 8 9 10 11 12

Please indicate number of years you have studied at this College 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Please write any information about your college which you feel might be useful to this study in the box provided below:

Thank you very much for participating in this study.