Title: How participants understand complexity theory through a school leadership programme in Singapore

Authors: Pak Tee Ng

Addresses: Policy and Leadership Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University 1, Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616, Republic of Singapore

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a research into how the participants understand complexity theory through the leaders in education programme (LEP) in Singapore. The LEP is a six-month full time programme for specially selected vice-principals and ministry officers in Singapore to prepare them for school leadership. The LEP is designed with reference to complexity theory and part of its aim is to equip the participants with an understanding of complexity theory. The research showed that the participants found complexity theory to be |something familiar|, but the theory had more power in description than in prediction. Even so, they were able to generate insights into the application of complexity in school situation and discern the application of complexity theory in the design of the LEP.

Keywords: Singapore; school leadership; complexity theory; social constructivism; knowledge construction; leaders in education; schools.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCLM.2011.042551

International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management, 2011 Vol.1 No.3, pp.301 - 313

Published online: 22 Oct 2014 *

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