Gender and School Leadership in Taiwan Within the Context of Political Change
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Gender and School Leadership in Taiwan within the Context of Political Change by I-RuCHEN Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Institute of Education, University of London December 2002 This work is a copyright and all rights are reserved. Abstract The political democratisation in Taiwan which started in the 1980s had an enormous impact on educational leadership in schools in the 1990s. Democratisation was imported into school leadership as the state of reform and change reached education. Moreover, gender also became an important issue as the number of women principals increased in Taiwan. This research uses case studies of eleven junior high schools in Northern Taiwan to explore the values and vision of Taiwanese men and women principals in a time of change. It examines how they engaged in change and how their staff perceived their efforts; and also how they tried to adapt or resist democratic practices in their schools. It looks at the ways in which 'democracy' was borrowed and interpreted in the school context. The thesis reviews related theories about gender and school leadership in the West to see what insight they give in the Taiwanese context. In addition, related critiques about the influence of traditional Chinese culture and the impact of politics on school principals in Taiwan are examined. The central research finding is that although men and women principals in Taiwan share similar vision and values about educational reform, other members of school staff perceive significant gender differences in the way principals have responded to the changes of democratisation. Staff generally show a preference to work with men rather than women principals. The thesis argues that the ill-defined principalship, together with the top-down process of 'democratisation' initiated by principals in schools, has created a paradox that makes principalship in Taiwan a very challenging task. For many newly arrived women principals, who did not fit the traditional image of 'male' principals, their aspiration to work hard and to make a difference to schools often creates unexpected resistance. ii Acknowledgements I was extremely fortunate to have had supervision from Professor Diana Leonard and Anne Gold. They have patiently led me, a beginner in women studies and also a foreign student who is not in good command of English, through this journey of researching men and women school principals in Taiwan, and have provided me with much encouragement, mentoring, guidance, support and invaluable advice throughout my doctoral studies. I would also like to express my deepest thanks to the Professor Sophia Wen, Professor Yuti Lin, and Professor Chienfu Lin from the National Taiwan Normal University and Dr. Fu Mulong from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, who have reviewed my research questions for me in order to fit in the Taiwanese context and kindly advised and assisted me greatly in collecting data and arranging school visits during my stay in Taiwan in 1998-9. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all participants in the eleven schools in Taiwan who spared their valuable time to share their life stories and experiences at work in schools in Taiwan. Without their invaluable contributions, this thesis would not have been possible. Also thanks to my friends whom I met in London during the course of my study: Elisabeth, Cristina, Yiasemina, Thomas, Michael, Ricardo, Kostas, Katya, Angel and my late friend, Katalin. Conversations with you all have always been of great inspiration and enjoyment to me. Finally, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents who have great faith in me in completing this thesis. iii TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ............................................................................................. .ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................ .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. .iv APPENDIX ............................................................................................ .ix LIST OF DIAGRAMS ...................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................... xi GLOSSARy ............................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................... 1 1.1 Writing about women and researching gender. .............................................. 1 1.1.1 Writing about women ................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Researching gender ................................................................... 3 1.2 Different systems and different leadership .................................................. 5 1.2.1 Different systems ......................................................................5 1.2.2 Cultural differences ................................................................... 6 1.3 Being a woman teacher in a Taiwanese school ............................................ 8 1.3.1 My educational background ............ '" ........................................... 8 1.3.2 Being trained as a teacher .......................................................... 10 1.3.3 Becoming a teacher. ..... '" ......................................................... 12 1.3.4 The job as a teacher. ................................................................. 13 1.3.5 How my background affects my perceptions .................................... 14 1.4 The structure of the thesis ................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2 TAIWANESE SCHOOLS ....................................... 21 2.1 The history of Taiwan: political change and the path to democracy .................. 22 2.1.1 The history of Taiwan ... '" ............ '" .......................... , .............. 23 2.1.2 The pursuit of democracy and the consequences of democratization in Taiwan ..........................................................................................26 2.2 The educational system in Taiwan .......................................................... 30 iv 2.2.1 The borrowed system .................................... '" ........................ 31 2.2.2 Schools in Taiwan ................................................................... 33 2.2.3 Centralised educational administration .......................................... 38 2.2.4 The roles of principals and managers in Taiwan ............................... ..42 2.3 The cultural influence from Confucianism .............................................. .48 2.3.1 The main features of Confucianism ...............................................50 2.3.2 The impacts of Confucian values on people's behaviour. ...................... 61 2.4 The growing interests in democracy and the compatibility of Chinese culture and democratization ............................................................................... 69 2.4.1 Growing interests in democracy ................................................... 69 2.4.2 The compatibility of Chinese culture and democratization ....................72 2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 76 CHAPTER 3 WOMEN IN TAIWAN ........................................... 78 3.1 The changing economic and cultural positions of Taiwanese women ................ 79 3.1.1 Confucianism and women ........................................................... 79 3.1.2 Women's work and lives in contemporary Taiwan .............................. 83 3.2 Effects of the national political situation and the women's movement. ............... 90 3.3 Women and education in Taiwan ................................ '" ....................... 101 3.3.1 Women and education ... '" ...................................................... 101 3.3.2 Women as teachers in Taiwan ..................................................... 104 3.3.3 Women managers who conform to traditional expectations ....... '" ........ 108 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................... 114 CHAPTER 4 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND G~ND~It .............................................................................. 115 4.1 The changing focus of management and leadership theories .......................... 116 4.2 Women and managementlleadership theories ........................................... 119 4.2.1 The stereotype and a male model of management.. ........................... 119 4.2.2 Debates on differences in leadership styles ..................................... 124 4.2.3 Managementlleadership theories and feminism ................................. 128 v 4.3 A move from management to leadership ................................................. 130 4.3.1 Distinguishing management and leadership .................................... 130 4.3.2 Conditions of change ............................ : .................................. 133 4.3.3 The advantages of transformational leadership ................................ 134 4.4 Feminism and the concept of leadership ................................................. 137 4.5 School leadership in the 1990s in Taiwan ............................................... 140 4.5.1 Cultural differences