Development of the Administrative Management Model for the English Program in Schools of the St. Gabriel's Foundation, Thailand

Abstract

The research objectives of this study were 1) To identify leadership characteristics used in English Program in schools within the St. Gabriel’s Foundation of Thailand, 2) To identify desirable leadership practices for the leaders of English Program in schools within the St. Gabriel’s Foundation of Thailand, and 3) To develop an Administrative Leadership Model for the leaders of English Program in schools within the St. Gabriel’s Foundation of Thailand. The study was limited to the English Program within the St. Gabriel’s Foundation schools of Thailand and used pre-selected quantitative analysis that would be specific to the research questions, measurable statistically, achievable in the time frame, and realistic with regard to recommendations for the leadership of the English program. The research outcome was primarily concerned with English Program’s currently operating in 8 schools under the governance of the St. Gabriel's Foundation of Thailand and within Ministry of Education regulation.

The conceptual framework of this study is based on the 5 theories of leadership: Trait Theory, Leadership Style Theory, Situational Leadership Theory, Transactional Leadership Theory, and Transformational Leadership Theory. The questionnaire was distributed to 205 foreign teachers to identify current leadership characteristics as well as desirable leadership characteristics for five characteristics: Communicative, Empathy, Creative, Confident, and Maturity. The data analysis was computed to find the frequency, percentage, mean, MDF, and ranking. Moreover the content analysis was analyzed for the open ended questions.

When the collected data interpretation and data analysis were achieved, the researcher used the document research as the grounds for developing an administrative leadership model for the English Program in schools of the St. Gabriel’s foundation, Thailand. The proposed model was developed and confirmed by a committee of experts using the connoisseurship model.

The findings supported the research objectives in  this study. To identify current and desirable leadership characteristics used in the English Program in schools of the St. Gabriel’s Foundation, Thailand. Although, the researcher concluded that the data identified particular characteristics as relative strengths because of their positions in the statistical rankings, the researcher was also able to conclude, that there was a gap in the perceptions of current leadership and desired leadership characteristics. The most significant statistical gap was communication between followers and leaders and the perceptions that current leaders do not, provide timely constructive feedback, or, do not discuss organizational policy changes with staff. The researcher also observed that leadership was perceived as not emphasizing the good qualities in others and leaders not spending time listening and advising staff. Other key findings were the perceived desires from followers for leadership to, encourage a more innovative working environment, initiate new ideas and good practices and be seen as more, quickly adapting to changes and challenges. Based on these findings, the Administrative Leadership Model was constructed for the leaders in English Program in 8 schools of the St. Gabriel’s Foundation, Thailand. The Administrative Leadership Model was developed from the higher ranked leadership characteristics and confirmed by a committee of experts using the connoisseurship model.