INNOVATION IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION (JOURNAL OF MODERN THOUGHTS IN EDUCATION)
Year:2008 | Volume:3 | Issue:4 (12)|Papers Count:9

The purpose of the present research was to study the organizational learning in Islamic Azad University (IAU). Out of all IAU employees, 1622 were randomly selected. The research instrument was Watkins & Marsick’s Organizational Learning questionnaire. The results of the follow-up LSD test indicated that there was a significant difference in organizational learning among 12 zones of IAU (p£0.01, F=2.558). Among these 12 zones, organizational learning in zone 1 was higher than zones 2, 5, 7, 8,9,10, and 12, zone 2 was lower than 1 and higher than 7, zone 3 was higher than 5, 7, and 10, zone 4 higher than 7, zone 5 lower than 1 and 3, zone 6 was higher than 7 and 10, zone 7was lower than 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 12, zone 8 was lower than 1 and higher than 7, zone 9 was lower than 1, zone 10 was lower than 1, 3, and 6, zone 11 was higher than 7 and finally zone 12 was lower than 1 and higher than 7.

The purpose of this paper was to study the relationship between organizational climate and managerial style and its impact on primary school teachers. This study was specifically conducted to determine the type of organizational climate in primary schools, the kind of management in these schools, the relationship between organizational climate and the type of management, and the relationship between organizational climate together with the type of management and teachers’ demographic features. In this correlational descriptive research, Halpin and Croft’s Organizational Climate questionnaire and Lotan’s Management Style questionnaire were administered. Having selected the sample using stratified random sampling, the data were analyzed applying descriptive statistics indices, ANOVA, Chi Square test, Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation using SPSS software. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant relationship between state-run and private primary schools in Tehran regarding their organizational climate. Also, there was a significant relationship between girl and boy primary schools regarding their organizational climate. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between organizational climate and managerial styles (relationship-centered and task-centered) in these primary schools. It was also concluded that there was no significant relationship between the principals’ academic degrees, the type of school (state-run and private), and their managerial style. 72.97% of the schools had relationship-centered management and 75.68% had open organizational climate.

The main objective of the paper is to investigate the impact of teaching effective communication skills on improving self-esteem and reducing shyness among physically challenged in Tehran. In this pretest posttest experimental research, 120 physically challenged subjects in Tehran province were selected using simple random sampling method. They were randomly divided into two equal groups of control and experimental. Eyesnick Self-esteem test and Stanford Shyness Questionnaire were used to collect data. The members of the experimental group received a-two-hour-per-week instruction of effective communication skills for two months and half. The findings of the study, analyzed through ANCOVA, indicated that there was a significant difference between subjects’ performance in two groups regarding their self-esteem. That is, teaching effective communication skills can help to improve their self-esteem. Also, there was a significant difference between subjects’ performance in two groups regarding their shyness. That is, teaching effective communication skills can help to reduce their shyness.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the control pupil ideology and the pupil control behavior among students in junior high schools in Semnan Province. Out of all 1432 school principals, their deputies, and teachers of this province, 340 subjects, according to Morgan’s Table, were selected using stratified and cluster random sampling. Two questionnaires were administered: PCI questionnaire to check pupil control ideology and a researcher-made questionnaire to collect data on pupil control behavior. The results of the data analysis using t-test, one way ANOVA, Regression analysis, and Pearson’s coefficient of correlation indicated that custodial orientation in pupil control was more than the humanistic one among junior high school students in Semnan Province (p>0.05). Moreover, no significant relationship was observed between the pupil control ideology and behavior (p>0.05).

This study aimed at comparing high school principals’ and teachers’ opinions regarding the features of effective principals in the town of Lar. The features under study included their knowledge, behavior, morality, administration, personality, and religion. Out of all high school principals and teachers in the town, 25 principals and 75 teachers were selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire with the reliability index of about 94. They were then analyzed applying descriptive statistics methods (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics methods (Student’s t-test for two independent sample groups). The findings of the study indicated that there was only a significant difference between principals’ and teachers’ opinions in behavioral and moral features of effective principals. Regarding other features, no significant difference was traced. It was also proved that gender has no impact on principals’ and teachers’ opinions about features of effective principals.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors affecting the Islamic Azad University (IAU) faculty members’ orientation towards conducting research projects and achieve an analytic-theoretical pattern under the influence of giving and receiving theory, Parson’s Action theory, and Maslow’s theory. 320 IAU faculty members from all 12 zones were selected using stratified random sampling. The results of the study, using SPSS software, indicated that there was a relationship between independent and dependant variables. In other words, There was a relationship between the researcher’s orientation towards conducting research projects and certain factors such as his/her status, function of managers in research department, the type of their research interests, research facilities, subjective view of the managers in research department, and their social status. Moreover, the strongest orientation towards conducting research projects was among those studying in engineering courses and the researchers in basic sciences stand second. Also, there was a nine unit difference between the average levels of orientation among those conducting research within university and those outside university.

This paper aimed at studying the relationship between staff participation and organizational health in state-run boy high schools in Tehran. A researcher-made staff participation questionnaire and the Organizational Health Inventory were administered to 147 high school teachers. They were selected through stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics indices (such as frequency, percentile, and mean), Pearson coefficient of correlation, and Regression analysis were calculated. The findings showed that there was a significant positive relationship between staff participation and organizational health of the state-run boy high schools in Tehran. Furthermore, Regression analysis was used to predict organizational health in these high schools through the components of staff participation. The result indicated that two components of participation in change and participation in problem solving could be considered as the predictive variables in order to be used in the final regression equation to explain the variations in organizational health among state-run boy high schools in Tehran.

This paper aims at studying junior and senior high school teachers’ knowledge of the basics of curriculum development and learning principles in order to upgrading their knowledge and skills. In this field study, the population includes all junior and senior high school teachers in Behshahr in 2008-09 school year. 382 male and female teachers were selected applying simple random sampling. To collect data, a researcher-made test (comprising 40 multiple choice items) was used. The data were treated in two levels of descriptive statistics (using frequency tables, percentile, and mean) and inferential statistics (using x2 test and SPSS software). The major findings of the study indicated that junior and senior high school teachers’ knowledge of the basics of curriculum development and learning principles showed an average level with the mean index of 10.38 out of 20. Also, as the observed at 95% probability was higher than that in the table, the dispersion of the responses were real and there was a significant difference between the frequency of the observed and expected responses.