International Study Of Principal Preparation Research Articles

Frameworks for principal preparation and leadership development

The International Study of Principal Preparation has made major contributions to research on novice principals across the world. The network has carried out cross-cultural research on novice principals in 15 countries on five continents since 2004. ISPP employed a mixed methods research design. The first stage was qualitative and carried out through case studies and in-depth interviews. The second stage included narrative accounts of new principals. The third stage of the study employed a survey to gauge principals’ challenges. The chief question of the study was: How can principal preparation programs be useful to novice principals? In spite of cultural differences and economic development of the countries studied, the challenges faced by novice school principals had more commonalities than differences. They included feelings of professional isolation and loneliness, the style of the previous principal, management of time, multiple tasks, and priorities, the school budget (Liang, 2011), ineffective staff, implementation of new government initiatives, and problems with school buildings and site management. Two principal preparation frameworks are presented based on the findings. They highlight the importance of context over standardization. Recommendations are made in the areas of policy, practice, and research. Formal principal preparation programs should be expanded to both developed and developing countries. Beyond basic instruction on management issues, the ISPP frameworks argue for the development of a conscious identity as a professional and an entrepreneur who is rooted in place. These roles are important, but they must be understood within the broader social, political, and economic forces that are affecting their students. Principals need to be in a position to help teachers guide students to learn to be critical of the status quo and become agents of change for a more just community.

Principal preparation in Kenya, South Africa, and Canada

Purpose– The International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP) informs principal preparation in relation to change in schools. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approach– The three-stage ISPP study utilized a mixed-methodological approach. Data were gathered in Kenya, South Africa, and Alberta, Canada utilizing a survey instrument that contained items that focussed on: problematic leadership responsibilities, prior leadership development experiences, and perceived adequacy of leadership preparation experiences.Findings– Leadership preparation in Kenya and South Africa was relatively unstructured, compared to structured university-based leadership preparation in Alberta. The assumption in Kenya and South Africa was that classroom teaching was adequate preparation, while Alberta respondents perceived teaching and leadership as discrete knowledge sets. Content of preparation experiences in Kenya and South Africa was mainly about teaching and learning, while in Alberta it was more about instructional leadership. Kenyan principals felt prepared for the principalship. Alberta principals stated that they were ill prepared to deal with day-to-day responsibilities. Senior South African principals felt they were not prepared for school improvement while younger principals felt they were adequately prepared.Practical implications– Findings suggest that providers utilize cross-cultural partnerships that incorporate technology-mediated dialogue and action research. Cross-cultural learning should be considered co-learning. Preparation should include partnerships between western institutions and informal groups of principals in settings such as Kenya and South Africa. The study informs policymakers, researchers, and school leaders.Originality/value– The cross-cultural comparisons in this paper inform understandings of the principalship in relation to organizational change in schools.

Novice head teachers in Scotland: competing expectations

This article examines how novice principals reflect on the adequacy or otherwise of their preparation. It looks at data drawn from the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), and in particular a questionnaire of principals up to three years in post, in Scotland. The principals find much about their preparation has helped them gain confidence as a novice principal, but were unprepared for the isolation of being a principal. The article also draws on previous research to ask whether aspects of preparation can never really prepare principals for the reality of school life.

Leading a small remote school: in the face of a culture of acceptance

This article presents a case study of one very small school in a remote location of Western Australia. The study is part of a larger programme, International Study of Principal Preparation, investigating the challenges facing novice principals in the first 3 years of appointment and the extent to which they felt they were adequately prepared to deal with the challenges they faced. The international study, of which this is part, involves cross-cultural comparisons of the experiences of novice principals in 13 different countries. The research described in this article addresses the question: What are the distinctive challenges facing leaders of small schools in bringing about changes to school cultures to improve student learning achievements? Two theoretical constructs were used as the lens through which to examine the culture of this small and isolated school: a culture of acceptance and a culture of inquiry. Using an interpretivist approach, data from interviews and observations were constructed into narrative accounts. These accounts demonstrate how the culture of this small remote school can be characterised as having low expectations of student learning low; staffing profiles that were likely to limit the potential of students to achieve at an national age-equivalent level; fragmented parent engagement with student learning and little evidence of innovative practice to challenge the culture of acceptance of low student achievement. The study indicates that close attention to processes devoted to the professional formation of school leaders is vital to promoting a culture of inquiry rather than one of acceptance for informing school improvement.

Bridging Theory and Practice in Headship Preparation

This article draws on research undertaken in Scotland as part of an International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP). The study is designed to address the question ‘How useful are principal preparation programmes to novice headteachers?’ Drawing on the research data from Scotland, the authors examine how novice headteachers navigate the complex area of practice by integrating personal and professional knowledge over time. They also identify key questions for future study.

Fit for purpose? Western Australian insights into the efficacy of principal preparation

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight what principals consider their most severe challenges in the first three years of appointment and the extent to which they believe they were adequately prepared to meet these challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports on the initial Western Australian findings of a survey developed for Phase Three of the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP). The survey was designed as a common instrument across international contexts to investigate those aspects of principals' work perceived to be most challenging in the early years in the position and the extent to which principals believe they were prepared for these challenges. The survey was administered to 45 novice principals in Western Australia.FindingsThe preliminary results of the survey have yielded some insights that draw attention to what principals regard as their main challenges and the extent to which they felt prepared to deal with them.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is a little small for some of the analyses and results need to be treated with caution.Practical implicationsThe insights derived from responses to the survey have clear implications for the efficacy of role preparation and development.Originality/valueThe paper helps to clarify those aspects of the work of novice primary principals which they find most problematic, relative to other aspects and the extent to which they felt prepared to deal with them.

Novice principals from Canada and South Africa share their experiences

In this subproject of the International Study of Principal Preparation that covers the pre-appointment preparation of principals, two groups of novice and relatively inexperienced principals were involved in discussions about their own pre-appointment preparation as principals. A group of Canadian and South African principals shared their views in telephone and online discussions. It emerged that although their contexts differed considerably, they agreed on many points, including the inadequacy of their own preparation to provide them with all the skills they wanted, their appreciation of informal preparation (such as mentoring) and an understanding of the significant role of values in their work. The crosscultural dialogue among the principals confirmed much of the standard view on principalship but showed, not surprisingly, that context is very important in the work of school leaders. That is, it is possible to speak of principals' pre-appointment preparation in general terms, but it is a construct that...

Preparing novice principals in Australia and Turkey: How similar are their needs?

Part of a 13-nation, cross-cultural study of the extent to which principals perceive their pre-appointment experiences had prepared them for the job, the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), this paper compares the responses of novice principals in Turkey and Western Australia. Using a survey based on data from case studies of principals in their first 3 years, the views of 50 Western Australian and 60 Turkish principals were examined in terms of the difficulty of the problems they faced and the extent to which they felt prepared for these problems. Responses were analysed by sex, qualification, age at appointment, school size, and school location. Respondents from both countries found that managing the budget and achieving work/life balance presented challenges for them while working with parents and acquiring adequate resources were not challenging. For Turkish respondents, building positive relationships with staff was more challenging than it was for the Australian respondents. Surprisingly respondents felt well prepared for the tasks they faced, with Australians, females, principals of small schools in rural and remote locations reporting significantly more positive views about their preparation than their counterparts.

Using cognitive interviews to pilot an international survey of principal preparation: A Western Australian perspective

This paper provides an example of the application of the cognitive interview, a qualitative tool for pre-testing a survey instrument to check its cognitive validity, that is, whether the items mean to respondents what they mean to the item designers. The instrument is the survey used in the final phase of the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP http://www.ucalgary.ca/~cwebber/ISPP/index.htm). This study involving researchers in 13 countries investigates those aspects of principals’ work perceived by them to be most challenging in their early years in the position and the extent to which principals believe they were prepared for these challenges. Both probing and think aloud approaches to the cognitive interview were used and revealed a small number of items requiring amendment.

Headteacher preparation programmes in England and Scotland: do they make a difference for the first-year head?

This article reports on part of the data from the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP) introduced in our previous article in School Leadership and Management. The purpose of the study is to consider the relationship between preparation for headship and the leadership and management practice of novice headteachers. In this article we take a narrative methodological approach and consider the experiences of a small group of relatively new primary school heads in England and in Scotland. The narratives suggest that preparation for headship helped to develop their professional identity, to broaden their outlook and to develop their confidence and self-belief. However, our analysis raises questions about how headship is conceptualised, the purpose of preparation programmes and the extent to which headteachers are free to act in principled and innovative ways, and about who is responsible for the design, development, delivery and accreditation of preparation programmes.

Challenges of a successful first‐year principal in Mexico

PurposeThis case study is an attempt to understand the experience of a school principal, Arnulfo. The research question is: what are the challenges of one first‐year school director in Baja California, Mexico?Design/methodology/approachArnulfo participated in an interview and five focus groups at the Ensenada State Normal School. He kept a journal of incidents completed during April‐July 2006. A team of three researchers helped to write the case study. One researcher collected the data and wrote a summary in Spanish. A second researcher organized the material and translated it into English. The third researcher criticized and reviewed the write‐up.FindingsArnulfo faced a variety of challenges, but the burden of paperwork was the most serious. It can be understood on a number of levels. Bolman and Deal's four frames to understand organizations and leadership help to explain the complexity in terms of structural, human resource, symbolic, and political. The political frame was Arnulfo's greatest strength. He advocated for the school, formed alliances with parents, and took action to get the support of others.Practical implicationsThe analysis, if confirmed by broader studies with larger samples, would lead to several recommendations for educational administration preparation. Principals need to know about the structural tasks of paperwork; maintain relationships with supervisors to assure adequate support; understand the symbolic culture in which they work, and become savvy in the ways of politics.Originality/valueThe International Study of Principal Preparation will compare findings and offer perspective on the extent to which these issues are representative of challenges that directors face in eight other countries.

Principal preparation – still an act of faith?

This article reports on the first stage of a study by a group of researchers involved or interested in principal (headship) preparation in Western Australia, Canada, England, Jamaica, Mexico, Scotland, South Africa, Turkey and the United States. The study, known as the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), discusses the background to the current policies in principal preparation, and examines the standards-led approach to principal preparation. This paper focuses on England and Scotland for comparative purposes, and asks how much we know about the effectiveness of current principal preparation.