Managing ICT in large New Zealand secondary schools

Reviewing research on how ICT is managed in large secondary schools shows a significant gap in research in this area. The Review of Schools’ Operational Funding: ICT Resourcing Framework – Final Report describes a need for sound ICT management and strategic planning in schools yet no research was located to describe how this is actually achieved. This research explores how two large New Zealand secondary schools manage their ICT systems. Two schools of differing decile ratings are examined and those involved in managing their ICT were interviewed, along with teaching staff in both schools. Making extensive use of direct quotes from the interviews a picture of the management structures, strategic planning and ICT alignment in each school is built and then the two compared. The pictures developed in these two case studies show significant complexity in the functional management structures found and pose a number of observations and questions for further study. In particular, the roles of the Director of ICT and of the ICT Committee are examined.