Secondary School Principals and Leadership Coaching

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of leadership coaching of secondary school principals. Twelve secondary principals who worked in Ontario along with five coaches who worked with secondary principals in Ontario schools were interviewed to solicit their ideas. The study was based on the main research question: How does leadership coaching as a professional development strategy support secondary principals? This was followed by three sub-questions: (1) How do secondary school principals describe their experience with leadership coaching? (2) How do coaches describe their experience with leadership coaching? (3) In the coaching process, to what extent do secondary principals and coaches believe that a change has occurred with secondary principalâ s leadership practices and beliefs? Most participants reported having a positive experience with coaching although some were hesitant with working with a coach initially. It was found that newer principals felt that coaching was more beneficially to support their work than more seasoned principals did as newer principals felt that the support of the coach helped with the steep learning curve. Some of the seasoned principals felt they were well-versed and confident in their work already. As well, a positive coaching relationship and a positive coachee disposition were key factors to ensure coaching success. It was found that coaching supported principals navigating through the challenges especially with resistive staff. It also helped with alleviating the loneliness of the job as it carried with it a social element for the principal. Changes to principal practices and beliefs were noted by most participants with a few participants indicated that no change resulted from the use of a coach. The study concludes with the notion that coaching is a good form of professional support for novice or seasoned principals should there be interest and quality coaching.Ed.D