Support for beginning principals: First hurdles are highest

Daresh, John C.

doi:10.1080/00405848609543220

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…After formal training is complete and the first job acquired, administrators report almost exclusively random and variable socialization, mostly unplanned and occurring at the school (Daresh, 1986;Duke, 1987 A fixed time requirement under which steps must be completed-such as 5 years of doctoral study or a 12-week instructional leadership course-tightens the control of the organization.…”

Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leader Succession and Socialization: A Synthesis

Hart

1991

Review of Educational Research

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Leader succession research presents intriguing evidence that leader succession affects school performance. Organizational socialization provides equally tantalizing evidence that leaders are shaped in their organizations. Socialization illuminates processes through which the outcomes of succession can be improved by successors and their superiors. The dynamic interactions among social and personal factors examined by socialization theories, however, are underemphasized by traditional succession frameworks. This omission leaves important gaps in knowledge about leader succession processes and outcomes. A synthesis of traditional succession and socialization research frameworks provides an enriched view of leader succession that can be applied to the study of principal succession, role change, and reform in schools. The literature in organizational socialization and professional socialization applicable to this synthesis is reviewed and compared with earlier succession reviews. Research issues raised by the socialization perspective are discussed.Leader succession, the process of replacing key officials in organizations, occurs frequently. Some estimate that principal turnover is as high as 7%-10% per year (Weindling & Earley, 1987). Others report that a manager will change leadership assignments six to eight times in a career (Gabarro, 1987). In addition to the impending succession of principals (Baltzell & Dentler, 1983; Miskel & Cosgrove, 1985), new opportunities for teacher leadership make leader succession an important force in the social dynamics of schools (Hart, 1990a). Succession is a "disruptive event [that] changes the line of communication, realigns relationships of power, affects decisionmaking, and generally disturbs the equilibrium of normal activities" (Miskel & Cosgrove, 1985, p. 88).The social nature of succession receives uneven attention in research, but this has not always been the case. The earliest succession studies (Gouldner, 1954;Grusky, 1960Grusky, , 1963Grusky, , 1969 revealed how groups interpret leader succession using metaphors such as ritual scapegoating and the Rebecca myth (the idealization of the predecessor-drawn from the Daphne Du Maurier novel, Rebecca). More recently, phrases like status degradation (Gephart, 1978) illuminate the social processes leading to succession. Some scholars go so far as to insist that the major function of leaders is to interpret the symbolic domain of organizations (Pfeffer, 1978(Pfeffer, , 1981. According to the symbolic purists, leaders have no substantive function.In schools, too, researchers examine the symbolic and cultural dimension of succession. Firestone (1989; Firestone & Bader, in press) found that the current enthusiasm for cultural leadership as a solution to school problems may not be warranted. His study of the cultural politics of superintendent succession revealed leaders vulnerable to the influence of powerful social forces. Roberts (in press-a) concluded after studying succession in 12 high schools that cultural leadership was none...

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Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leader Succession and Socialization: A Synthesis

Hart

1991

Review of Educational Research

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“…As Daresh (1986) claims, new heads are "rarely able to appreciate the complexities of their first principalships during their first years on the job." Even internally promoted heads often found the experience of taking over a familiar organization challenging: "I feel that I was plunged in at the deep end when I took over, despite the fact that I knew the school from the inside."…”

Section: School Leader Succession and Role Socializationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Exploring the Landscape of Primary School Leadership and Management Problems

Dunning

2009

European Education

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this article considers the problematic nature of primary headship. it reviews evidence of some of the most significant problems encountered by new and experienced heads derived from two sources: the uK dimension of a european questionnaire survey undertaken in the mid 1990s and more recent reports gained from interviews with serving school leaders. the article uses the evidence base afforded by these sources to identify a set of selected theory bases from which it constructs an original, pluralist conceptual framework, which it sets alongside a synthesized typology of organizational problems. it then presents its conceptual framework as a heuristic capable of clarifying the nature of school leadership and management problems faced by primary heads. thereafter, it indicates how the model might be used to help heads analyze and address many of the problems they experience. the article draws on empirical data collected in the uK but argues that the conceptualization it offers is also relevant to school leaders in other national contexts.

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“…If, using these findings on the problems and attitudes of new principals, the training, induction, and supervision of first-year principals can be significantly improved, then &dquo;the first, perhaps highest, hurdle in school administration-the beginning experience-might be viewed as a 'step in the right direction' rather than as a false step&dquo; (Daresh, 1986).…”

Section: Is It Worth the Effort?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This &dquo;hands-off&dquo; approach to the induction and supervision of principals runs contrary to the recent emphasis on the principal's role in effective schools, which suggests that the rise or fall of schools can be traced, at least partially, to the quality of the principal's leadership (Lipham, 1981). Daresh (1986), prefacing his study of new principals, cites two conclusions of effective schools research: first, that principals are a key component of productive schools and, second, that principals' day-to-day management behavior can greatly inhibit their ability to effect change in the organization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%