Why lead?: Using narrative to explore the motivations of those aspiring to be principals in high needs schools

2020

JPCC

PurposeIn this paper, we describe the impact of COVID-19 on principals and their work. Drawing on prior research undertaken prior to the onset of the pandemic, we describe how principals were already grappling with difficult tensions associated with their expertise, autonomy, normative orientation and rewards that may have real implications for their work moving forward and how, in the current context of uncertainty and change we believe the issue of principal professionalism requires our collective attention and action.Design/methodology/approachOver the last year, we undertook a multistate qualitative study of 17 school leaders to explore how principals working in traditional public schools conceptualize the principal profession and their role within it. Briefly, we found that the principalship is an “emergent profession” characterized by shared but individually determined knowledge and skills; a normative orientation of service; confused notions of external expectations and rewards and ongoing tensions among all of these elements.FindingsProfessionalism may be a surprising lever for improving the capacity of school leadership. Through our research, we identified that little is known about professionalism as it relates to the unique work of school leaders, but that understanding more about it could lead to greater knowledge of how to encourage and retain them. In the current context of uncertainty, chaos and change, the pressure on leaders to stay in the role and to succeed has never been greater. Thus, it is critical that principals have the capacity to exert professionalism over their work and to have greater say in elements of it, recognizing that some decisions must be made at district, state and federal levels.Originality/valueWhile many studies investigate how teachers of various backgrounds and in different contexts think about teaching as a profession (e.g. Anderson and Cohen, 2015; Stone-Johnson, 2014b; Torres and Weiner, 2018; Hall and McGinty, 2015), we had difficulty identifying studies focused on principals and using frameworks of professionalism to understand how these activities reflect larger shifts in the profession itself. This is despite the changing nature of principals' work, which, like the work of teachers, has been and continues to be largely influenced by the increasing role of neoliberal principles and policies in education. The public nature of the work of school leadership and the potential to support students, families and the communities in which they live brings in sharp focus the necessity of greater understanding of it during the COVID-19 crisis.

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Principal professionalism in the time of COVID-19

Stone-Johnson

2020

JPCC

“…Brian too intentionally facilitated sharing of responsibilities with teacher leaders for school-level decision-making (e.g., the use of institutional autonomy) as a means to avoid burnout and so he could dedicate more energy and time to “being a leader.” Here it is also worth mentioning that Brian, the only male principal, seemed to receive less pushback regarding his decision-making formally or informally granted. As such, and in keeping with research highlighting the gendered and racialized nature of leadership and the affordances and critiques doled out to leaders as a result (e.g., Weiner & Burton, 2016; Weiner & Holder, 2019), it seems that leader identity may be an important, though often overlooked, aspect of how autonomy is understood and implemented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…Here it is also worth mentioning that Brian, the only male principal, seemed to receive less pushback regarding his decisionmaking formally or informally granted. As such, and in keeping with research highlighting the gendered and racialized nature of leadership and the affordances and critiques doled out to leaders as a result (e.g., Weiner & Burton, 2016;Weiner & Holder, 2019), it seems that leader identity may be an important, though often overlooked, aspect of how autonomy is understood and implemented.…”

Section: Leveraging Dimensions Of Autonomymentioning

confidence: 74%

Negotiating Incomplete Autonomy: Portraits from Three School Principals

Kim

Educational Administration Quarterly

2022

Self Cite

Purpose: This study builds on research scrutinizing school autonomy in policy and school governance by shifting the focus from a formal structural view of autonomy to examining how principals negotiate autonomy in their daily work. Drawing on multiple dimensions of autonomy and street-level bureaucracy, this study examined how principals, as both professionals and bureaucrats, work to expand and strategize their autonomy in practice. Research Methods/Approach: We used portraiture to document and interpret the experience and perspectives of three principals at urban, suburban, and rural PK-12 traditional public schools in the Midwest of US during the 2018–2019 school year. Findings: Principals faced a “bounded” or “partial” autonomy in which they had to constantly negotiate their individual autonomy (e.g., how they spent their time on any given day) with institutional autonomy (e.g., the demands of the role via external expectations). The findings show the ways participants utilized institutional autonomy to support individual autonomy and dealt with the boundaries of their autonomy. While these strategies gave them a bit more “control” over decision-making, they also often resulted in overwork and/or conflict with district priorities. Implications for Research and Practice: Detailed portraits offer key insights for rethinking school autonomy with multiple dimensions intersected in leadership practice. Findings yield knowledge regarding how to best support districts and school leaders in creating greater alignment between institutional and individual demands, thus increasing the likelihood that autonomy, as an improvement strategy, can be effective.

“…Even so, research on why teachers pursue school leadership and principals' professional identity is sparse (e.g. Weiner and Holder, 2019;Cruz-Gonz alez et al, 2020) and often examines why many do not pursue the role (e.g. Loder and Spillane, 2005;Myung et al, 2011).…”

Section: Defining a Professionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theorizing school leadership as a profession: a qualitative exploration of the work of school leaders

Stone-Johnson

2022

JEA

Self Cite

PurposeIn response to the proliferation of neoliberal reforms and a “new professionalism” (Evetts, 2009, 2011), researchers argue that school leaders, like teachers, have experienced a form of “de-professionalization” (Keddie, 2017) and that the principalship may even be an “emergent profession” (Stone-Johnson and Weiner, 2020). Such framing assumes school leaders are indeed part of a profession. And yet, while research abounds regarding teaching as a profession (Ingersoll and Collins, 2018; Sachs, 2016; Torres and Weiner, 2018), no parallel literature exists about school leaders. Such information is critical to ensure educators receive the appropriate professional development and support (Sachs, 2016) and move the field forward and thus motivated the authors to ask how principals view their work and whether it can be seen as part of a discrete profession.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilized an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) drawing on qualitative interviews with sixteen elementary school principals in two US states.FindingsThe authors find administration, and specifically the principalship, exists adjacent to, but distinct from, teaching. Additionally, the authors find school leadership is an “emergent” profession, with aspects of the work that indicate leadership is a profession but others that do not.Originality/valueThis study extends early work (Stone-Johnson and Weiner, 2020) on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on principals' professionalism to shed light on the larger and more long-standing features of principals' work that support and hinder its development as a profession and the implications of such designation on attracting and retaining school leaders, as well as underscoring that because school leadership and teaching can be considered discrete professions, teachers need not leave their classroom to be true professionals.