School principals' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in the city of Rzeszów and Atlanta area (original) (raw)
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School Principals' Self-Perceptions of Their Roles and Responsibilities in Six Countries
New Waves Educational Research & Development, 2019
The purpose of this study is to examine if school principals’ roles and responsibilities in China, Ghana, Hungary, Turkey, Poland and the United States are significantly different from one another. This study adopts a survey design which provides a quantitative or qualitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from school principals in these six countries by using a researcher designed survey questionnaire. The quantitative data derived from principals’ responses were analyzed by country and by total average according to the subsets of character, professional knowledge, professional skill, administrative style, administrative duties, personnel management, and student affairs management. The principals’ roles and responsibilities of the six countries were compared by using Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Answers to the three open-ended questions provide qualitative data for analysis. Emerging themes and patterns were observed among the principals’ responses. Results of data analysis show that principals of the six countries confront many similar problems in their daily school functions. The unique political infrastructures of their locations determine how they address these problems to meet the individual demands of their own societies. Understanding of common challenges and emerging roles of principals in changing social and political settings provide educational leaders of these countries the opportunities to share their unique experiences and success stories.
South African Journal of Education
One of the reasons attributed to the continuous decline in student performance and low educational outcomes in public schools is the poor leadership displayed by many principals. Despite the fact that there are no stringent criteria for the appointment of school principals or prerequisite qualifications, principals do have the potential to lead and manage efficient and successful schools. In this paper, I argue that principals can develop exemplary leadership practices when subjected to sound training and professional development programmes. The Department of Education and Higher Education institutions have emphasised the importance of formal qualifications for enhancing career development programmes for practicing and aspiring principals in South Africa. Using questionnaires, I explore the perceptions of teachers and school management team (SMT) members of the leadership qualities exhibited by principals who acquired the professional qualification referred to as the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management (ACESLM). Findings revealed that leadership development for principals is crucial for school improvement because of active teaching and learning. Leadership capacity requires principals to participate with relevant stakeholders skilfully, and where there is high leadership capacity, instructional leadership develops into sound leadership practices.
High school principals as leaders: styles and sources of power
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the characteristics of leadership (style adopted, sources of power exercised and factors affecting leadership) of high school principals in Greece. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 235 school principals were surveyed using questionnaires. These questionnaires assessed how often they adopted specific practices while managing their school, in relevance to their educational, managerial and administrative duties. Thus, the researchers were able to assess the leadership style of the principals (transactional or transformational) and the sources of power exercised (reward, punishment, expertise, example and information). Findings – The majority of school principals in Greece prefer the transformational leadership style instead of the transactional one and they frequently exercise the power of information. There is a strong positive link between the transformational leadership style and the tendency to exercise the power of information. Furthermore, it is shown that the leadership skills grow with the educational/ managerial work experience of a school principal. Research limitations/implications – The researchers explored the notion of leadership within the context of a centralized educational system, where most critical decisions are taken by central educational administration (e.g. the Greek Ministry of Education). The findings reveal that being a transformational leader in this educational context is not due to the personal characteristics of the school manager (e.g. age, sex, studies). This fact provides insight on issues related to the recruitment/ selection and training/development of school managers. Originality/value – Taking into consideration the fact that there is currently a strong debate in Greece on whether school staff should be evaluated or not (and under what kind of criteria), these findings could be very useful to central education authorities as well as the whole educational community. Furthermore, they contribute toward a better understanding on school principals; what their personal characteristics are (education, work experience), what their leadership style is, how they manage their schools and what obstacles they face. Therefore, it is hoped that in the future, better processes could be followed on recruiting, evaluating and promoting managerial staff within school units.
US-China Education Review B, 2015
In social psychology, the term "person perception" refers to the different mental processes that people use to form impressions of other people. This term includes how they form these impressions, and the different conclusions they make about other people based upon their impressions. Person perception can be a very subjective process that can be influenced by the characteristics of the person being observed, the context of the situation, and people's own personal characteristics. Educational leadership increasingly gained importance in today's world, because it is recognized that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to school and student outcomes. There is also increasing recognition that schools require effective leaders and managers if they are to provide the best possible education for their learners. In order for students to have high-quality learning each year, schools must be highly functioning, which means that they must be led by effective principals. Studies note that the greatest impact on school success can be determined through the leadership practices of principals. The principals and school leaders who are implementing their roles and duties should be constantly reviewed and assessed for transparency in school, because their leadership has an impact on "teacher morale, job satisfaction, and motivation". Principals should have key skills related to communicating, facilitating, team-building, coaching, managing conflict, involving others in decision-making, and acting politically, also the development of technological advancement. This study aims to find the impact of school principals' leadership behavior on teachers and teachers' perceptions about the impact and the styles of their leadership. The survey is distributed in 10 public elementary schools in one region of Istanbul, Turkey. The sample consisted of 100 teachers; of which 64 were female teachers and 36 were male teachers. Questionnaire consisted of two parts: demographic information and questions about the perception of leadership behavior. The scale was developed by Demiray (2008) and validity and reliability tests proved that the questionnaire was reliable and valid. Analyses indicate that according to the teachers' perceptions, the important outcomes of the principals' leadership styles and behavior, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and coordination, were satisfying and effective some of the time. Furthermore, the results also provide evidence that the teachers believe they are not recognized for their achievements by their school principals. This case study will be the groundwork for a more comprehensive research about the teachers' expectations of educational leadership.
Correlation of Leadership with Professional Characteristics of Principals in Serbian Schools
e aim of this research is to connect leadership and pedagogical characteristics of school principals in Serbia. Techniques of interviewing and scaling, instruments in the form of questionnaire and attitude scale have been applied in this paper. Research sample included 75 principals and deputy principals. Data obtained are processed in statistical SPSS package (factor scores on extracted Promax dimensions, Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analysis) and point to a statistically signifi cant relationship between leadership and pedagogical characteristics of respondents
Global Social Sciences Review, 2019
The current study assessed the leadership roles of secondary school heads in Kohat division (SSHKD). The study used a quantitative research design for examining whether principals and teachers interpreted leadership roles differently and whether gender and age have any effect on leadership role of principals or not. A random sample of 60 secondary school principals and 120 Senior School Teachers (S.S.T) from 03 districts of Kohat Division participated in the study. It was found that both teachers and heads perceived that school heads perform their leadership roles effectively and efficiently. However, performing leadership roles by male and female heads viewed differently. Female principals viewed that they perform leadership roles efficiently as compare to their male counterparts. No significant differences were found in the perceptions of principals when compared regarding age. The study recommends preservice training programs for principals after their selection.
The Antecedents of Primary School Principals' Management and Leadership Behaviors
2012
This study explores the relationship between management and leadership behaviors of primary school principals from the perspective of personal and contextual variables. Although the school effectiveness literature has put much attention to school principals’ behavior outcomes, however, a few studies have investigated the background of principals’ behaviors. The sample of this study was consisted of 140 primary school principals, who were chosen randomly from three of the six educational districts in Israel. For the purposes of this piece of work two anonymous Likert-type questionnaires were used: the Instructional Leadership Inventory and the School Administrator Assessment Survey. Data analysis revealed that school principals’ management behaviors were mostly influenced by contextual factors whereas their leadership behaviors were mainly affected by personal factors. It was also found that the principals’ demographic variables had different effects upon their management and leaders...
Analysis Principals' Perception of Their Role as School Leader in Relation to School Effectiveness
A series of studies in the literature on educational leadership and school effectiveness have placed school leadership at the center of school effectiveness and school improvement. This research seeks to explore the perceptions of a small number of principals regarding their role in relation to school leadership and school effectiveness. Taking a qualitative approach, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the principals of A-accredited schools located on Lombok Island, Indonesia. The research was guided by three research questions: What is the perception of school principals’ on their role as school leaders and do how they undertake it in practice? How is school effectiveness understood by the principals? What is the relationship of their role to school effectiveness? Several limitations were faced in this study. The first is that socio-economic status (SES) was not considered, as it only examined principals from A-accredited schools and did not look into B and C-accredited schools as well. Furthermore, it did not include teachers, students and parents as participants who experience the effectiveness of the school. The research suggests that firstly, the interrelation between a principal’s perception and their role strongly influences effectiveness within the school. Secondly, it is suggested that efforts to create school effectiveness have been linked with ideas of democratic leadership, strong academic emphasis, and the strong involvement of teachers, staff and students within the school context, and the principals had a collegiate management style and shared responsibilities. These findings enable suggestions for improvement, and offer a recommendation to develop a national policy for principals which can also be used by the higher education institutions to develop training and a framework for principals to continue their professional development in Indonesia.