THE IMPACT OF DISTRICT CONDITIONS ON PRINCIPALS' EXPERIENTIALLY ACQUIRED ...

206 Pages·1998·10.67 MB·English

THE IMPACT OF DISTRICT CONDITIONS ON PRINCIPALS'
EXPERIENTIALLY ACQUIRED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
George Augustus Coffin
A thesis subrnhed in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Phiiosophy
Department of Theory and Policy Studies
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
O Copyright by George Augustus Coffin 1997
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TBE IMPACT OF DISTRICT CONDITIONS ON PRINCIPALS'
EXPEFUENTIALLY-ACQmD PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Doctor of Philosophy
George Augustiis Coffin
The Department of Theory and Policy Studies
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education / University of Toronto
The evolving nature of school leadership places some responsibility on school boards to ensure that
principals learn the new dimensions of the role. This study addresses the question: How is the
leaming of school leaders innuenced by organizational conditions in their districts. Three research
questions were posed:
1. Mat processes do school leaders use for their professional leaming?
2. What school district conditions foster or inhibit school leaders' leaming processes?
3. How should school districts be designed to create the conditions which help school
leaders Iearn effective leadership practices?
The foundations of an understanding of leaming among school principals is drawn from the
literature on principalship preparation, learning h m e xperience, adult leaming and organizational
leaming. The latter provides a set of conditions, namely: culture, strategy, environment, vision,
leadership, and policy and resources, which provide a h e w o r k for assessing system effects on
principals' leaniing.
Primary data sources for this qualitative study were interviews with twenty principals, (divided
evenly by gender), chosen h mth ree school systems in south-central Ontario. The systems are
large' have access to research centres and professionai develo prnent schools, and have demonst rat ed
commitment to site-based management. InteMew questions were focused on the processes by
which principals leamed to meet challenges or solve non-routine problems in their schools.
Interview data were corroborated and supplemented by inte~ewwsi th central office staff and data
from school board documents. InteMew texts were analysed for links principals made between
district conditions and their leaming.
Chapter four describes principals' leaming from board-situated and community-situated sources.
Board-situated sources accounted for 55% of al1 Iearning processes with the more freqriently
referenced being various forms of assistance and support from central office staff, followed closely
by board-sponsored inservice education. Cornmunity-situated sources accounted for 14.9% of al1
references, with 'contact with parents' being the most likely source.
Chapter five describes leamhg processes originating in the school, through professional associations
and with the individual principal. At school principals leamed most kequently f'iom experiences
where they engaged with their staffs in planning for improvements. The contribution of professional
associations to their leaming was mainly in the form of regular meetings and professional
development conferences. The data reveal that principals attribute only a srnall portion of their
leaming to activities that are personaiiy initiated. Principals also gave evidence of their leaming
being irnpeded b y insensitive leaders, adversarial relationship s, declining resources and p ractices that
contradicted policy.
More than two-thirds of principals' references to learning were linked to six district conditions:
structure, policy/resources, processes, leadership, culture and strategy. Principals' leamhg was
facilitated through principals' meetings and by collaborative mechanisms within hierarchical
infrastructures. The support of professional staff and access to resources to acquire additional
howledge and skiUs ranked high with principals. Frequent links were made to cultural aspects of
boards as in widely accepted noms of collaboration and a beliefin the need to lem continuously.
Three board strategies focusing on professional development, the improvement of instruction, and
distributive leadership were noted by principals as contributing to their leaming.
A profile of the characteristics of school districts which enabled principals' learning provides
guidelines for re-designing school districts away from centralized control to renewal through
system-wide leaming. To complement the extant research base on organizational leaming in school
systems, further research may be directed towards leaming arnong central office staff
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Doctoral study invokes paradoxical emotions and experiences. It is trying yet pleasureable; tiring
yet refieshing; disciplinhg yet liberating. One lems to cope with these complexities with the help
of farnily, fiiends, colleagues, professionals and associates to whom a kind word of gratitude is
owed.
To my wife, Marlene, who maintained hearth and home in Newfoundland in my absence, 1 have to
admit it was more difficult for the one who remained than for the one who lefi. For allowing me
the fieedom to pursue a dream without resentment on your part or causing remorse on mine, I will
always be grateful. My love and thanks go to you. Our children, Alison, Richard and Danny also
endorsed this venture and gave me the emotional support that only a father knows. My thanks to
them is well deserved. Also thanks to my three brothers and two sisters and their families for dways
being a family that stays together.
Drs. Ken Leithwood, Ed. Hickcox and Steve Anderson, like the North Star to sailors, guided the
course of the thesis fiom conception through multiple drafls to completion. The finished product
mirrors the work of their hands as it does mine. Dn. Paul Begley, John Davis, Richard Townsend,
Steve Lawton, David Corson and Professor Ma& Zuker, through their courses, dso played
siguficant parts in the unfoiding drama of thesis production. Thanks to al1 of you, I am pleased with
what we have created. A special thanks is reserved for the staff of The Centre for Leadership
Development with whom 1 had the privilege of working and the pleasure of their acquaintence.
The materiai sadices implicit in forgoing an income were attenuated by generous financial support
fiom the Ministry of Education for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and aiso from the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Thank you for paying the rent.
1a lways knew it takes special people to be principals and it was my privilege and honour to have
met twenty of them through my research in three school systems in Ontario. 1 am indeed grateful
to them for giving of their precious tirne and to the supe~sorfso r permission to conduct research
in their schools.
Encounters with Fnends who were fellow students and staff of the former Department of
Educational Administration were one of the more joyfbl experiences coming out of this program
of study. 1 am indeed grateful for the cornraderie and fellowship we shared.
Lastly and most importantly, this thesis honours my mother, Stella, and recently deceased father,
Abel, because as every tacher knows, the seeds of educational success are sown very early in life.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................ iv
1 TheProblem ......................................................... 1
Latroduction ........................................................ 1
TheProblem ....................................................... 3
Signincance of the Study .............................................. 4
Definitions ......................................................... 6
Limitations ......................................................... 7
Delimitations ....................................................... 8
2 Review of Literature / Conceptual Frarnework .............................. 9
Review of Literature ................................................. 9
Formal Approaches to the Development of School Leadership ............ 9
Approaches to Authentic Leamùig ................................ 14
Organizational Leaming ........................................ 20
The Nature of Principals' Work .................................. 25
Summary ................................................... 28
3 ResearchDesign ..................................................... 31
Overview ......................................................... 31
Thesample ....................................................... 32
Data Collection .................................................... 39
Anaiysis .......................................................... 41
Reporting ......................................................... 44
4 Board and Community Sources of Principals' Learning ...................... 45
Board-situated Learning Processes ...................................... 45
Assistance/SupponlDirectionf rom Central Office Staff ................ 45
Board-sponsored InseMce ...................................... 50
Formal Associations with Other Principals .......................... 52
Board Policies and Documents ................................... 55
SeMng on System Sub-cornmittees ............................... 56
InformalNetworking .......................................... 57
Modellinghfentoring .......................................... 59
Inter-school V~sitatiodCol~aboration. ............................. 60
Summaty ................................................... 60
Discussion .................................................. 63
Comrnunity-situated Leaming Processes ................................. 70
Contacts with Parents .......................................... 71
ConferenceslWorkshopdResearch ................................ 72
MinistrylGovemment Communications ............................. 72
Sharing the Experiences of Others ................................ 73
The Religious Presence ......................................... 73
TheMedia .................................................. 74
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Discussion .................................................. 75
5 Other Sources of Principals' Leaming ................................... 79
School-situated Leaming Processes ..................................... 79
School-based Plannuig ......................................... 80
Observing the Workplace ....................................... 82
Opporhmities for Staff Development .............................. 82
Administrative Teamwork ...................................... 83
Experience .................................................. 84
Experimenting with Communications Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Summary and Discussion ............................................. 85
Sumrnary ................................................... 85
Discussion .................................................. 86
Federation/Professionai Associations-based Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Meetings and Conferences ...................................... 88
Liaison with the Board ......................................... 90
Literature ................................................... 91
Summary ................................................... 91
Self-situated Leaming Processes ....................................... 92
Independent Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Formai StudyResearch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Persona1 Networks ............................................ 94
ReflectionPrayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Community Leadership ......................................... 95
Summary and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
sumrnary ................................................... 95
Discussion .................................................. 96
Irnpediments to Leaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Leadership .................................................. 97
Culhire ..................................................... 99
Resources .................................................. 100
Processes .................................................. 100
Summary and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Summary .................................................. 101
Discussion ................................................. 102
Cornparkons: Board, Gender, School Level, and Board Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Board ..................................................... 103
vii
Gender .................................................... 105
SchoolLevel ............................................... 105
BoardType ................................................ 106
Surnrnary .................................................. 106
6 Principals' Learning and District Conditions ............................. 108
Links to Structure ................................................. 108
Links to Policy and Resources ........................................ 113
Links to Processes/Actions ........................................... 117
Links to Leadership ................................................ 119
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Communications ............................................. 122
Motivation ................................................. 123
Modelling .................................................. 124
Vision/goals ................................................ 125
Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Shared Goal Seîting .......................................... 126
Links to Culture ................................................... 127
Links to Strategy .................................................. 132
Surnmq and Discussion ............................................ 134
Surnmary .................................................. 134
Discussion ................................................. 135
7 Conclusions ........................................................ 145
Surnmary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Relationship of Results to Previous Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Implications ...................................................... 160
Implications for Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Implications for Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
AppendixA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
AppendixB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
AppendixC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
AppendixD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
AppendixE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191