| Traditional graduate level courses for aspiring or practicing school administrators are designed around distinct subjects areas. School law, personnel administration, contract negotiations, school finance, organizational theory and school supervision are commonly offered in most all university curricula. Critics of this approach point out that such separations depict administration as a series of discreet subject areas to be studied and mastered.; Furthermore, the manner in which the information is presented to the learners is primarily in a lecture format that emphasizes one way communication from professor to passive students. The evaluation of student success in such courses is most often determined through written tests or papers. Educational leaders demonstrate their effectiveness in an active manner that primarily requires high verbal skills and effective inter-personal communication. It appears as though traditional education is not the most effective way to prepare future school leaders.; Problem-based learning has been described as a promising approach to professional development of educational leaders. This approach to learning is problem-centered and requires the learners to draw upon knowledge from many subject areas in an integrated manner, and work through a collaborative group process to obtain a successful solution to the real-life problem.; The purpose of this study was to establish a problem-based learning exercise that would be utilized by graduate level students in the field of educational administration to help them respond to the problem of establishing an effective building-wide behavior management system for a middle or junior high school. This PBL would engage students in learning about characteristics of early adolescents (transcescents), individual behavior management theories, the role of the administrator in effective schools, and the collaborative problem-solving process.; The results of the study indicate that students who completed the PBL in their graduate course recognized the problem as one they will face in their administrative future. They acknowledged that their involvement in the PBL helped them better understand adolescent needs, behavior management theories and collaborative problem-solving skills. After completing the PBL, some individuals reported that they felt better prepared for an administrative position and more confident in their abilities. Some individuals shared that they had already utilized the experience during interview situations for administrative positions. Respondents stated that the PBL process was a more relevant way to learn. |
