The challenge of perpetual motion: the willingness and desire of Irish primary school principals to juggle everything

Abstract

This paper presents a synopsis of selected findings from a co-constructed professional Doctorate in leadership in education. In Ireland, as elsewhere, primary school principals meet the challenges of teaching, community leadership and on-site management in an era of continual change. Formalised leadership acculturation processes are as yet relatively unformed in Ireland and school leadership at local level is arguably an embryonic concept. In most cases therefore, Irish principals meet leadership challenges with limited or no formal preparation. Against this backdrop, a diverse group of 31 primary school principals generated data from the self-observed minutae of researcher-driven diaries and from a colourful spectrum of personal reflections in follow-up semi-structured qualitative interviews. Coding in NVivo and the querying of emergent themes through conceptual frameworks provided detailed evidence of a myriad of daily activities. This paper offers an exploration, in narrative form and with supporting evidence, of principals’ experiences of the perpetual motion of administration, dealing with the unexpected and interacting with staff. The daily practicalities of school governance and community leadership demanded a considerable investment of time and personal interest, to the point that boundaries between principals’ personal and professional lives blurred significantly. Evidence pointed once more to a generally held understanding that life’s journey as a school principal is demanding but worthwhile.