President of the CCEAM – Anusha Naidoo

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance
Johannesburg
South Africa 
Website: http://www.mgslg.co.za/

 

 

As you all know by now, I have stepped into the role of the President of the CCEAM as a result of the untimely death of Zandile Kunene, on the 11th of February this year.

The Executive of the CCEAM rallied around immediately and we held an emergency meeting on 6 March in Johannesburg. The meeting was attended by all members of the Executive, with Dr Barbara Vann of BELMAS and Jenny Lewis of ACEL flying in to South Africa especially for the meeting. Professor Petros Pashiardis (the Immediate Past President) and Dr Andreas Tsiakkiros of Cyprus joined us via a teleconference link up.

At that meeting, Dr Tsiakkiros, who should have stepped into the role according to the Constitution as the elected Vice-President, stepped down as he felt that it would not be in the CCEAM’s best interest to have a separate secretariat and presidency, especially in the light of the difficult circumstances facing the CCEAM. The Executive then elected me to the role, until an election with the full CCEAM board can be held at the conference in Australia in September. The CCEAM executive, and myself, would like to place on record their thanks and appreciation to Dr Tsiakkiros for his understanding of the delicacy of the situation and for his willingness to place the needs of the organisation before himself.

The Executive has been extremely supportive and we are working very hard to achieve a number of important goals. We are proceeding carefully and thoroughly with preparations for the Board meeting on September 25 and 26 and for all of the decisions that we need to take then.  The members of the Executive have all taken on areas of responsibility. This is a valuable support and is essential so that together we can achieve more.
The CCEAM has kept in close contact with the Commonwealth Foundation and we are assured of their support.

I appeal to all affiliates to make an effort to send your representative to the Board meeting, so that you can take part in the proceedings and have the voice of your affiliate heard.

Rest assured that the CCEAM Executive  is working hard to maintain the normal CCEAM functions, improve our suite of offerings to the affiliates and individual members, and also to expand the footprint of the CCEAM by supporting affiliates and also developing new contacts and welcoming new affiliates into our organisation.

I look forward to meeting many Board members and individual CCEAM members at the Board meeting and Conference in September.

In the meantime, I would very much like to appeal to all our CCEAM members to focus on the deep ‘matter and meaning’ of our organisation – that is, how can we improve the way in which we lead, administer and mange our educational institutions? Are we finding new and better ways of doing things? Are we focusing on our learners? Do we acknowledge that teaching and learning is the core reason for our work? Let us not lose sight of the reason for our existence.
Anusha Naidu 

Professor Petros Pashiardis, Cyprus

Immediate past President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management, Dr. Petros Pashiardis is a Professor of Educational Leadership and the Academic Head of the “Studies in Education” Program with the Open University of Cyprus. He studied Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin as a Fulbright Scholar from 1987 to1990, where he received his Doctorate in Educational Administration.

Petros has also worked at the University of Cyprus as an Associate Professor of Educational Administration. Before joining the University of Cyprus he worked as a school teacher, an Education Consultant with the Texas Association of School Boards and an Assistant Professor with the University of Texas-Permian Basin where he was heavily involved in research and teaching on the School Principalship, on Strategic Planning in Education as well as other Educational Leadership issues.

In his role as vice president for publications for the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management, Petros edited a book entitled International Perspectives in Educational Leadership,(2001). Most recently, he co-edited the International Handbook on the Preparation and Development of School Leaders (2008) together with Jacky Lumby and Gary Crow.

Petros has worked or lectured in many countries including Malta, Great Britain, India, New Zealand, Greece, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States. He has been a Visiting Associate Research Scientist with the Texas A & M University for a number of years. He has been invited as keynote speaker during the conferences of CCEAM affiliates, such as Kenya, The Seychelles, Cyprus, Malta, India, and South Africa. As of March, 2010, Petros is a member of the Commonwealth Foundation’s Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) from 2010 to 2012.

Authoring or co-authoring over 80 articles on aspects of leaders and leadership, Petros has researched the role of Principal in Cyprus. With several books to his name, in Greek and in English, he has published with his wife on the Effective Schools Movement. These interests have become increasingly international in recent years. 

 

 

Dr Andreas Tsiakkiros, Cyprus

Dr Andreas TSIAKKIROS initially studied at the Pedagogical Academy and then received his B.A. degree in Primary Education from the University of Cyprus. From 1995 until 1997 he studied at the University of Nottingham, where he was awarded an M.A. degree in Educational Management. From 1999 he was a postgraduate student at the University of Cyprus in the programme of Educational Management and Curriculum Development. In June 2006 he was awarded his Ph.D. in Educational Management from the University of Cyprus.

Initially, he has taught in primary schools for eight years. During the past few years he has taught at a private college of tertiary education, at a private university and at the University of Cyprus postgraduate courses on educational management. Since the academic year 2007-2008, he is coordinator and Associate Tutor in one of the thematic units at the Open University of Cyprus. He also teaches at the Pedagogical Institute for the in-service training course for Assistant Principals of Secondary General and Technical Education.

He is now on secondment at the Primary Education Director’s Office at the Ministry of Education and Culture holding the post of Assistant Principal. He is the representative of the Ministry in the cluster "Key Competences/curricular reform" of the European Union. He is the Treasurer of the Cyprus Educational Administration Society (CEAS) and Vice President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM). During the years 2005-2008, he was the Business Manager of the CCEAM and Editor of its Newsletter. In September 2008, he was awarded the title Fellow of the CCEAM.

His research interests are in strategic planning, continuous professional development of teachers, teacher evaluation, programme evaluation and occupational stress of teachers. He is reviewer in a number of scientific journals and has been a research associate in a three-year European programme that was funded by the European Union. He presented his work in international conferences that were organised in Cyprus and abroad, while his articles have been accepted for publication in various Greek and foreign scientific journals. At the same time, with two other colleagues, he has edited a book and has also cooperated with the Open University of Cyprus for the preparation of its educational material.

 

 

Dr Barbara Vann, United Kingdom

Qualifications

Masters in Education, University of Leicester. 1995
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Tasmania 2005
 
Contact details
head@penair.cornwall.sch.uk
Barbara.Vann@btinternet.com
0044 7973782369
 
Personal information

Barbara has three sons and seven grandchildren. She lives and works in Cornwall where she is a Deputy Lieutenant, responsible for representing Queen Elizabeth II at official ceremonies, including Citizenship. She is a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum, the Hall for Cornwall, Duchy Health Charity and is a Governor of Truro and Penwith College.
 
Present role

Barbara is Headteacher of Penair School in Truro.
 
Notable achievements: local, national and international
Contribution to national organisations such as BELMAS, ACEL, EMASA etc

Penair is a Science College, an International School, a Training School and a Leading Edge School. It has 1200 students aged 11-16 and was judged as outstanding in 2006 and 2009. It is a lead school for the education of Gifted and Talented (G&T) students.
 
A Fellow of CCEAM, Barbara is a vice president and past Chair of the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS). She is a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT).

Barbara is a member of the national board advising the UK Government on policy for the education of G&T students.

In Cornwall, Barbara is a member of the executive of the Cornish Association of Secondary Headteachers and Chairs the Cornish education Forum. 
 
Current areas of interest in teaching, research, publications, consultancy etc

Penair  is a lead school for developments in Assessment for Learning and G&T education. Over the last three years Barbara has been developing an integrated approach to intraprofessional leadership: education, health and social services.

Publishing frequently on Leadership and Management, Barbara has presented at conferences and led workshops, most recently in Australia, New Zealand and at national conferences in UK.

 

 

Jenny Lewis, Australia

Dip.Ed; B.Ed; M.Ed; FACE; FACEL; AFAIM; AFSAE

Jenny has served schools and their students for twenty five years, and as principal led staff and community at Noumea Primary School to create an innovative approach to professional learning, school and pedagogical reform.  As a result the school received national and state awards for assessment, literacy, numeracy, knowledge management, school leadership and the integration of mathematics and technology. 

Jenny is a past president and a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), and has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of ACEL.  She has been awarded the national Nganakarrawa Award for outstanding leadership and was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.  She is the 2006 recipient of the Wyndham Medal awarded by the Australian College of Educators (ACE), is a 2009 Fellow of ACE, and is the 2007 recipient of the NSW Professional Teaching Council Exceptional Service Award.  She has recently been awarded Associate Fellowships of the Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Society of Association Executives.  She has been identified as one of the top one hundred most creative and innovative people in Australia by the Bulletin Magazine and is co-chair of the International Microsoft Partners in Learning Advisory Board.  She is Executive Officer of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement and an Executive Board Member of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management. 

She holds postgraduate qualifications in Educational Leadership, publishes regularly in education journals and is asked to present at national and international conferences on the areas of evidence based leadership and building professional learning communities.

 

 

Dr Muavia Gallie, South Africa

Muavia was born and educated in the Western Cape; he held his first teaching posts in the Western Cape, finally serving as the principal of Arcadia High School.

As the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, as well as a Swedish Government bursary, Muavia studied at Indiana and finally at Bristol University, obtaining an Advanced Diploma in Education (Indiana) and an M.Ed (Bristol). Muavia’s professional and academic qualifications culminated in a Phd from the University of Pretoria which looked at performance appraisal in dysfunctional schools.

Presently Muavia is an Executive Board member of the CCEAM.

Muavia’s career has been characterized by his activism. He has served as a union representative and is on the board of several organizations serving educational needs. Amongst the posts that he has held, are those as Director of SACE (South African Council for Educators) and a member of a ministerial task team looking at the supply and demand of educators. He has also lectured on different courses at the universities of the Western Cape and Pretoria, while currently serving on the M.Ed advisory board of the University of Stellenbosch. At the University of the Witwatersand, he helped to conceptualise and lead an innovative and successful  programme for school principals. Currently, he is the President of EMASA, the Education Management Association of South Africa, which is affiliated to the CCEAM.

Muavia’s recent contribution to the Co-Lead research project was regarded as invaluable by the Commonwealth Secretariat.  He is doing extensive work in turning around dysfunctional schools in South Africa, of which the preliminary results are very pleasing.  Muavia is a man of strong opinions, particularly concerning values and accountability in education.

Advocate Alison Bengston-Mali, South Africa

 

Advocate Alison Bengtson-Mali was born in Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal and commenced her career in education as a Mathematics teacher. Completion of a Masters Diploma in Human Resource Management as well as an LLB complement her professional and educational qualifications. She was admitted as an advocate in 2007.

Alison’s particular interest is the teaching of mathematics and she has served in various roles which provided support, learning materials and development materials for teachers. Her strengths in leadership and management led to her secondment into the Education Training and Provisioning Unit and she was duly appointed as District Education Coordinator in 2000. As a DEC, Alison coordinated the activities of the unit which comprised of development, management and support to School Management teams (SMT). She managed the human and material resources at both primary and secondary schools and a cluster allocated to her. She established systems, procedures and processes to promote stakeholder participation through representative structures.

Her current role is as the District Director for the Gauteng East District Office of the Gauteng Department of Education. She is particularly concerned with the provision of quality education for all learners, and this is evident in the quality of leadership she demonstrates in her day to day interaction with teaching and learning programmes.

Alison is not only a reader but a life long learner. She shares her beliefs with Vince Lombardi that “the quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavours”.

Ms Arlene Walsh, South Africa

Business Manager

Arlene Walsh has served as the Business Manager of the CCEAM since April 2009, as well as supporting Zandile Kunene, the CCEAM President until her death on 10 February 2010 .

Arlene’s qualifications include a BA from the University of South Africa, an H.Dip. Ed (p.g.) from the University of the Witwatersrand, BA Hons (cum laude) from  the Rand Afrikaans University , an MA in English (University of South Africa) and an MSc (Strategic Planning ) from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Arlene is currently completing her DBA at Heriot- Watt University.

While at RAU, and teaching English in the Faculty of Arts, Arlene designed and implemented writer’s workshops for the Congress of South African Writers (COSAW). She was also instrumental in running the English content and methodology stream for a large scale teacher upgrade programme, where under qualified teachers (many being ex-MK cadres) from a large squatter community outside Johannesburg were bussed into the university in the afternoons, to receive training in subject content and teaching methodology. This programme resulted in several large cohorts of inadequately qualified teachers receiving a recognised teaching qualification. Also, school holidays were used to teachers throughout the country who were acquiring qualifications through distance learning.

An excursion into the NGO world resulted in extensive work (together with Zandile Kunene) on large scale governance, school and district leadership programmes. Arlene’s focus was on the preparation  of the materials used in the programmes, including an accredited and practice based Advanced Certificate in Education for ‘buddy groups’ of school principals and deputies. (These were accredited by the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Natal, and University of Cape Town.)

Arlene’s speciality is in educational materials development projects for business, the sector education training authorities and for educational institutions. This work consolidates experience in teaching, at school and university, devising and implementing teacher, school and district development programmes, and a stint as the deputy CEO of a private higher education institution servicing education, government and business. Amongst the work completed are case studies on child friendly schools for Unicef and a large materials development project for the International Organization for Migration on trafficking in persons.

Her international work involves a leadership project with the Network of Black Professionals in the United Kingdom and work in a collaborative FET project  between eight UK and eight South African colleges. She also participated in the Co-LEAD review project with the Commonwealth Foundation

 

 

 

  

National Affiliates’ Representatives

Jenny Lewis	Australia
Dr Neville Highett	Australia
Ms Maureen Yard	Barbados
Mandi Manga Obase	Cameroon
Ken Brien	Canada
Yiannis Savvides	Cyprus
Georgia Pashiardis	Cyprus
Brother P. J. George	Fiji
Dr Hemlata Talesra	India
Wanjiku Khamasi	Kenya
Dr Christopher Bezzina	Malta
Prof Ray Aula	Namibia
Godwin Owoicho Akpa	Nigeria
Dr Annie Henry	New Zealand
Mr Trevor Birney	Papua New Guinea
Mr Jean Alcindor	Seychelles
Vacant	South Africa
Mr Sam K. Busulwa	Uganda
Vacant	United Kingdom
Dr Tony Bush	United Kingdom