The principalship : a study of prescriptions, practices and perceptions within a Christian school context.

The Principalship occupies a unique and defining position that influences the shape of schooling. It is the role of the school principal that has great significance for determining the quality of the education that students receive, and for securing the best outcomes from the educational enterprise in modern society. This portfolio of research explored a deeper understanding of the role of the principal via a three part investigation of the prescriptions, practices and perceptions of the principalship. In Section One, a study of the literature on the principalship was used to define the prescriptions, as a theoretical basis for understanding the principalship. Observation and personal journals were used in Section Two, to document and subsequently analyse 338 hours of day-to-day principalship practice, in five Christian schools. Section Three focussed on perception as a powerful dynamic in the field of social discourse, which has particular relevance for principalship interactions. Perceptions of the principalship from staff, parent, student and board members, in the five Christian schools, were analysed from a total of 840 survey responses. Previous studies, in the area of perceptions of the principalship, have undertaken to identify congruence in the various interest-group's perceptions of the principalship. In contrast, this study examined the perceptions of the principalship in relation to principalship prescriptions in the literature and principalship practice in the field study. The analysis of data was focussed on the nature and extent of variance and congruence between the perceptions of the principalship and the prescriptions, on the one hand, and actual practices, on the other. The results of this study established that there was variance in the prescription, practice and perception data of the principalship. Idealized concepts of the principalship, concerning curriculum and visionary leadership, were challenged by principalship practice which was overwhelmingly administrative. While patterns of perceptual congruence were identified in prescriptions of personal qualities and professional skills for the principalship, there was considerable variance in the perceptions of what the principal actually did. The perceptual variances identified were relevant not only to existing principalship practice, as regards expectations and performance assessment, but also, to the recruitment of future principalship candidates and the development of training strategies for pre-service programs.Thesis (D.Ed.)--School of Education, 2006