Three myths about tenure are discussed: (1) that tenure is responsible for the increasing cost of education; (2) that the solution to increasing costs is to run a college like a business; and (3) that university presidents and administrators need flexibility to hire and fire professionals to achieve both cost containment and their new vision of…

This article urges academe to reconsider how it defines, rewards, and supports scholarship. Noting that only 10-15% of college professors publish regularly, it suggests that faculty are distanced from their work because of a discrepancy between what they want to do and perceived institutional expectations. A survey of professional development…

Summarizes a survey of 239 New Zealand elementary school educators. New Zealand's experience shows that national policymaking, which largely excludes school staff, still substantially influences everyday school operations. When site-based management occurs in a vacuum, devoid of interest, support, initiatives, and well-grounded information, school…

Literature on college faculty workload and productivity is reviewed from four perspectives: issues in defining and measuring workload and productivity; status of research on workload and productivity; legislation, policies, and related external activities at the state level; and explanations for a perceived decline in academic productivity.…

Findings from a study conducted with 203 suburban secondary and elementary teachers in Ohio reveal concerns about proficiency testing's effects on professional job environment, curriculum, student learning behavior and needs, and community relations. Economic and policy forces are de-professionalizing certain aspects of teachers' work. (Contains…

Describes U.S. teachers' heavy workloads, pointing out that they end up with only brief periods of time for class preparation, grading, and reviewing individual students' work. Describes one teacher's experiences, discusses why teachers have so little time for individual students, and examines how private schools and European schools work to…

Countless good ideas, research, and reforms (silver bullets) have yielded only modest improvement, suggesting problems of research (dogma, design, duration, and domain) and problems of distribution--expanded teacher responsibility. This article recommends revamping teacher education, remediating or firing incompetent teachers, and reducing class…

This article describes forms of educational leadership observed as part of an evaluation of the Transforming School Workforce Pilot Pathfinder Project in England commissioned by the UK Government. The 32 Pilot Schools made interventions in organizational practice in ways that required them to think differently about leadership. Changes in the…

This paper examines limited-term full-time faculty (LTFTs) in Canadian universities in 1991-1992 in response to the author's survey. It addresses the following issues: the faculty hierarchy, the characteristics of LTFTs, career paths, career aspirations and job prospects, barriers to achieving tenure-stream positions, workloads, perceptions of…

Teachers recruited to a cohort study in 1978 were interviewed to elicit their views on issues surrounding the education system and teaching profession. Qualitative data were derived from a semi-structured interview and quantitative data included a self-report measure of temperament and character. The findings highlight a "mismatch"…

Teaching an online course can be exciting, yet time-consuming to the point of infringing on an instructor's other responsibilities and personal time. Faculty typically put many hours into designing and administering an online course, especially the first semester it is offered. The author has heard many horror stories about the massive time…

This paper presents findings from the SiMERR National Survey concerning the need priorities of secondary ICT teachers for professional development, resources and student learning experiences. The findings--drawn from a survey of 237 secondary ICT teachers across Australia--provide an opportunity to compare the needs of teachers working in…

A stress management program was developed for the adult degree completion program admissions team at Warner Southern College, a four-year private liberal arts college. A relatively recent stress-inducing change was caused by an administrative decision to expand the program offerings from five sites to seven, using current staff. Derived from the…

This national study of colleges and universities examined 33 variables found to act as incentives to motivate faculty to engage in grant-related activities. A survey questionnaire was sent to 163 colleges and universities, and of these, 104 returned them. The results of a series of statistical analyses suggested that a small, but significant,…

This paper argues that the smaller teaching colleges or universities have, out of necessity, become models of maximum faculty productivity within a context of diminishing financial resources. Specifically, the paper responds to the question: How can faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions teach twelve or more hours a week and publish?…