The OCDQ: A Four Factor Solution for Australian Schools?

Thomas, Alan R.; Slater, Robert

doi:10.1108/eb009682

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Croft (1963) introduced his Oi-ganizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) in the early 1960s. Many studies have been completed since then using the OCDQ and modifications of this instrument (for example, Thomas and Slater, 1972). The studies have highlighted such dimensions as principal supportiveness, motivating teachers by example, social cohesiveness among teachers.…”

Section: School Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing School-Based Curriculum Development

Court¹,

Marsh²,

Day³

et al. 1992

Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation

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Over recent years a number of educators have contributed to the literature on school-based curriculum development (SBCD) providing conceptual frameworks for studying the myriad of actions and decisions that occur daily in school classrooms. In this chapter, the concept and practices of SBCD are systematically analyzed. After categorizing various types, SI3CD is reconceptualized in terms of several key variables and a set of developmental stages. To pinpoint issues for those undertaking SBCD activities, attention is given to ideal conditions and to recurring problems. Finally, special consideration is given to ways of evaluating SBCD projects, partly because of its valuable feedback to participants, but also because it is a means of demonstrating the viability of SBCD to policy-makers concerned about matters of accountability. 65 194 201 Chapter 8 Current and Future Issues The overwhelming feature of schooling over recent decades has been its politicization. Political activity occurs at all levels from politicians and bureaucrats to community and parent groups, to teachers and students. Each interest group endeavours to use its power to achieve certain ends. In this chapter general political issues with regard to education are examined in Australia. Canada, the UK and the USA fifflowed bv a more detailed analysis of specific, current issues such as the role of parents and students in decision-making, initiatives for teacher appraisal and school evaluation and professional development needs.

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Section: School Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing School-Based Curriculum Development

Court¹,

Marsh²,

Day³

et al. 1992

Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Halpin and Croft's (1963) measure of school climate, the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ), has been subjected to factor analysis by Australian workers (e.g. Thomas and Slater, 1972) in order to obtain a factor structure suited to Australian schools. The OCDQhas formed the basis for the development of some new factor-analytic school environment scales for use in secondary schools in Australia (Finlayson and Deer, 1979;Deer, 1980).…”

Section: Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (Iceq)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian Research on Classroom Environment: State of the Art

Fraser¹

1981

Australian Journal of Education

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International work involving the measurement and investigation of perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of school classrooms has firmly established classroom learning environment as a thriving field of study. Furthermore Australian educational researchers have made sizable and distinctive contributions to this research effort. This paper provides an overview of overseas work on the development and use of classroom environment instruments, reports normative and validation data from the use of new or modified scales among large Australian samples, and reviews the Australian research in the area. In particular, Australian research has involved predictive validity studies of outcome-environment relationships, use of environment perceptions as criterion variables, investigation of differences between student and teacher perceptions of actual and preferred environment, person-environment fit studies of relationships between student learning and actual-preferred congruence, and practical attempts to facilitate environmental change. Taken together, Australian studies provide much evidence which supports the validity of various classroom environment instruments, which attests to their usefulness as sources of both predictor and criterion variables for a variety of educational research purposes, and which suggests promising new directions for future research.

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“…The six climate types are named Open. Autonomous, Controlled, Familiar, Paternal and Closed. As part of a nation-wide project using a slightly modified version of the OCDQ, Thomas and Slater (1972) factor analysed data from over 700 respondents in a sample of 72 South Australian primary schools. Those selected were representative of all sizes of schools, and of urban, suburban and rural localities in the state.…”

Section: -66)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Innovative School: Some Organizational Characteristics

Thomas¹

1973

Australian Journal of Education

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between school innovativrness-the tendency of a school to adopt innovations before other schools-and organizational climate-often referred to as school " tone ", " feel ", " atmosphere " or I' climate ". Innovativeness in schools was measured by a combination of (i) initial rating by the Director of Primary Education ; (ii) rating by a panel of headmasters and inspectors ; (iii) completion of an " adoption scale " by participating headmasters indicating what innovations had been adopted (and when) in their schools during their respective terms of office; (iv) completion of a " change behaviour " instrument by teachers and (v) the completion of an adjectival check list by teachers.Preliminary analysis of these data enabled a clear demarcation to be made between nine more innovative schools and ten less innovative Schools. Organizational climate was measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ). This instrument measures four dimensions of climate: Supportiveness, Operations Emphasis, Intimacy and Disafllialion. Analysis of data revealed that (1) principal supportivcness in the more innovative schools was significantly greater than that in the less innovative schools ; (i) principal operations emphasis in the more innovative schools was significantly lower than that in the less innovative schools ; (iii) teacher intimacy in the more innovative schools was significantly higher than that in the less innovative schools and (iv) teacher disafiliation did not differ significantly between the two groups of schools.

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The OCDQ: A Four Factor Solution for Australian Schools?

Cited by 17 publications

References 2 publications

Reconceptualizing School-Based Curriculum Development

Reconceptualizing School-Based Curriculum Development

Australian Research on Classroom Environment: State of the Art

The Innovative School: Some Organizational Characteristics

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