Losing your head: Are principals attached to their school?

Abstract

This article explores the effects on former principals who have undergone involuntary job dissolution. It draws upon a study of 10 former principals who have experienced involuntary job dissolution in England and Australia; however, none of the participants were dismissed. Hour-long, one-to-one interviews were conducted with each participant and key emergent themes analysed. There was a high level of congruence between data from the two countries and key findings were effects on former principals’ physical and emotional health, self-belief, professional identity and finances, plus a sense of loss of power. The effects of these job losses were significant and long-lasting. The analysis positions these results within the established literature on job loss, particularly with regard to Bowlby’s attachment theory. The manner of departure appears to carry substantial meaning and there are implications here for the management of school principals. Attachment theory suggests people undergo physical and emotional loss when separated from loved ones. The participants displayed a sense of grief akin to loss of a significant other. The authors put forward the concept that principalship involves attachment to the school institution as in a love relationship.