Leadership Development Practices of School-Based Administrators: The Impact of Trust and Humility
Date
2019-03-26
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Abstract
How school principals support assistant principals aspiring to the role of the principal is of critical importance in educational leadership. The purpose of this case study was to investigate how principals within one urban school district identify leadership potential and nurture the growth of assistant principals aspiring to the principalship. The rationale for examining this topic was to explore how principals understand their role in leadership development within a public-school setting. Supporting the development of aspiring leaders within a school setting is of great importance for the future of school leadership, especially in the Canadian province of Alberta where this study was conducted. The Alberta School Leadership Framework (Alberta Education, 2010) indicated that 49% of school leaders would reach the average retirement age of 57 years in 2015 and that 32% of new school leaders relinquished their role within three years. The study used qualitative case study methodology involving semi-structured interviews with six principals to gather data on how they were supported when they were assistant principals and how they have subsequently supported others in developing their leadership ability. The use of case study was based on the theoretical perspective of interpretivism that “looks for culturally-derived and historically-situated interpretations of the social-life world” (Crotty, 2015, p. 67). The guiding research questions for this case study focused on how principals identify and nurture potential leadership ability in others and how they mentor assistant principals who aspire to the principalship. The findings of this inquiry revealed trust and humility as common themes shared among the six participating principals. The majority of research investigating trust and humility in schools has focused on the interaction of school principals and teachers rather than the unique working relationship between principals and assistant principals. This inquiry provides insight into the beliefs and practices of current principals and the manner in which trust and humility influence the interaction between principals and assistant principals engaged in leadership development. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge related to leadership development with a focus on the relationship between the school principal and assistant principal.
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mentoring, principal preparation, trust, humility, leadership development
Citation
Bushell, R. J. (2019). Leadership development practices of school-based administrators: The impact of trust and humility (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.