Student satisfaction with an educational administration preparation program. A comparative perspective
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230610652042 |
| Pages | 159-169 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Author | Hana M. Kanan,Ahmad M. Baker |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Student satisfaction with an
educational administration
preparation program
A comparative perspective
Hana M. Kanan
Qatar Academy, Doha, Qatar
Ahmad M. Baker
Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the perceptions of graduates from an
educational administration program in terms of its effectiveness and impact on their lives and careers.
Design/methodology/approach – The perceptions of 23 graduates of a Master’s degree program
in educational administration in a developing university were examined in terms of personal
satisfaction, content, and impact. A qualitative analysis approach was used to interpret the data
generated by a four-part questionnaire distributed to the first three graduating cohorts in educational
administration.
Findings – Personal satisfaction was shown to be more related to interpersonal interaction than
academic content of the program of study. The findings also showed that criticism of educational
administration preparation programs in newly emerging systems is similar to the criticism levied at
similar programs in the west four decades ago. The findings are discussed within their relevance to the
construction of a global theory of educational administration preparation programs.
Research limitations/implications – Although the circumstances under which this study was
conducted (popular uprising, military violence, etc.) posed limitations on the rigor of its design (e.g.
sample size, return rate of questionnaires), it, none the less, offers a significant contribution to the
construction of administrative training theory.
Originality/value – This study bears significant ramifications and limitations to the construction of
the theory of preparing educational administrators in newly emerging systems.
Keywords Educational administration, Students,Education, Palestine
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Recent literature in the field of educational leadership demonstrates the limitations of
the traditional administrative preparation programs and criticizes them for being
grounded in behavioral psychology principles and positivistic, reductionist
sociological models (McCarthy, 1999; Mulkeen and Cambron-McCabe, 1994; Murphy
and Hallinger, 1987). Keedy (2005) showed cogently the historic rift between nineteenth
century positivism and twentieth century technical rationality that ultimately led to a
schism between the theoretici ans and practitioners in educat ional leadership
preparation programs. This sentiment was echoed early by Meyer (2003) who
criticized that university preparation of educational leadership programs failed to give
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
Student
satisfaction
159
Received May 2005
Revised October 2005
Accepted November 2005
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 44 No. 2, 2006
pp. 159-169
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/09578230610652042
To continue reading
Request your trial