PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP: BLENDING THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE WITH THE CURRENT FOCUS ON COMPETENCIES IN THE ALBERTA CONTEXT

This study was designed to explore the impact of the standards movement on the principalship in the province of Alberta, Canada. In 2009 the minister of education approved a set of practice guidelines for school leaders. The Guidelines list seven practice standards called leadership competencies. In 2012 a review was conducted to see how these leadership competencies were being articulated in the policies and procedures of the province’s English speaking publicly funded school jurisdictions. Fourteen of the 46 jurisdictions reviewed had policies or procedures that were consistent with the Guidelines mandate. This lack of acceptance of the Guideline as formal policy presents itself as a worrisome finding and indicates a lack of penetration from the provincial to the school jurisdiction level