Conference Agenda

Objectives

The work of principals across the globe has become increasingly challenging and complex, as they are expected to lead school improvement, manage a host of competing demands, and attend to the needs of diverse stakeholders. Using life history and narrative methods, this paper examines how women principals construct their life histories in relation to educational reform, highlighting their orientations toward leadership practice and development as influenced by multiple contexts and identities.

Perspective

Understanding the complexity of leaders’ professional lives of educators in the context of reform is enhanced by methodologies that capture the dynamics of educational change and center lived experiences and narratives. Life history methods provide a way to understand the co-construction of reform and offer insights on how leaders enact reform as individuals embedded in broader contexts (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998; Optlka, 2010; Scalan, 2012). This is especially important when studying the experiences of women principals, whose experience is shaped by gendered (and in some cases, racialized) identities (Lomotey, 2019; Santamaria et al., 2019). We build upon Smulyan’s (2000) theoretical framework, examining the interaction between agentic individuals, social-cultural systems, institutional contexts, and educational change in how women principals construct their leadership practice.

Methods

Using life history and narrative methods (Berger, 2008; Clandinin & Connelly, 1998; McAdams, 2008; Optlka, 2010; Scalan, 2012), this paper draws upon data from 16 semi-structured interviews with 8 women public school principals from the U.S., conducted during 2022-23. Adapting McAdam’s (2008) life history interview protocol, we focused on participants’ life histories in relation to educational reform and leadership experiences. Each interviewee participated in two 60-90 minutes semi-structured interviews. We used narrative analysis to understand principals’ significant professional moments, educational change memories, the role of identities, and perceptions of future work.

Results

Women principals’ leadership experiences were inextricably linked to institutional change that drove large reform movements as well as their community and school contexts. For example, shifts in curricular reform occurred simultaneously with shifts in broader contexts as evident in the new emphasis on social emotional learning and use of technology for teaching and learning due to the pandemic. The women principals negotiated multiple and sometimes conflicting demands within the educational system, as well as between their professional, personal, intersectional identities. They constructed their leadership practice by drawing on their most salient identities, which varied in emphasis along gender, race/ethnicity, class, and religious faith. Principals’ narratives carried strong themes of agency, with leadership orientations that highlighted their caring and collaborative and social justice orientations.

Significance

The findings have the potential to inform the field about how principals construct stories of their lives and work, and make decisions about school improvement through multiple periods of reform. The findings also have implications for supporting principal sustainability in the profession.

Connection to Conference Theme

The paper dovetails with the ICSEI sub-theme on leadership development (i.e., exploring the evolving research and evidence base for leadership education and capacity building) as well as the theme on ongoing system and school implications arising from the pandemic.

There is a growing consensus among scholars and practitioners that newly appointed headteachers can be considered a »vulnerable« group of headteachers due to their lack of experience and feeling of isolation (compare e.g. Catagay & Gumus 2021, Lokman et al 2017). Also, many of them have not yet become members of the (in)formal networks which could help them reduce stress and build leadership capacity. In addition, research on the effectiveness of diverse approaches on the professional and career development of headteachers shows that traditional (mass, frontal) forms can no longer meet the needs of the individual in a rapidly changing time and environment and that individual, group and team forms of headteacher support need to be strengthened (compare, for example, Earley 2020, Bainbridge et al 2019). Recently, coaching has been suggested by many scholars to be a viable form of support for novice headteachers as it (amongst other things) strengthens mental resilience and improve their well-being (see van Nieuwerburgh et al 2020, Lofthouse & Whiteside 2019, Forde et al 2012). The contribution focuses on the inquiry of coaching for newly-appointed headteachers, which was first implemented by the Slovenian National School for Leadership in Education (NSLE) at the National Education Institute during the covid-19 epidemic and has so far involved more than 50 headteachers. The coaching »packages« in a form of 5 or 7 one-hour coaching sessions in a row once or every second week are regularly (each year) undertaken by two trained and licenced coaches employed at the Slovenian NSLE. The paper outlines the implementation of coaching and presents the effects and impacts on leadership that we have monitored and evaluated over the years. The coaching experience was researched using a questionnaire for the coachees and an evaluative discussion (focus group) with the coaches. The article focuses on the presentation of the execution of the coaching process, the emerging themes/challenges of the coachees, perceived benefits, valuable aspects and impact of the coaching experience, beliefs regarding the most beneficial attributes of a coach and potential solutions related to future regular headteachers' coaching support at the Slovenian NSLE. The research found that the themes/challenges discussed by the headteachers with the coachees can be organized in 6 main areas, i.e. human resource management, organisation of work, pedagogical leadership, well-being, cooperation with various stakeholders and general management. The perceived benefits were identified and grouped into effects related to headteachers' well-being and personal growth (e.g. building resilience, figthting workload, more energy, personal satisfaction, sense of control, gained self-confidence) and enhanced leadership practice and skills (e.g. better decision making, clarity in direction, better delegation of tasks, new ideas, bigger picute, development of listening skills). Based on the research data, it can be argued that this form of support is highly useful to headteachers, improves the quality of leadership, and also has a significant impact on the resilience of headteachers. In the future, it would be beneficial to consider this kind of support to be offered to experienced headteachers as well.

The role of district leaders across contexts is to provide multi-dimensional support for teaching and learning. One of the dimensions through which the support is transmitted is the circuit managers, whose role as principal supervisors is to work collaboratively with principals and educators in schools to give management and professional support and help schools achieve excellence in learning and teaching, among other things. These district leaders are recently realised as “anchors and drivers of district-wide transformation” (Honig & Rainey, 2019, p. 17).

Recent studies have highlighted the significance of circuit managers in school improvement (Bantwini & Moorosi, 2018; Mthembu, 2018). Moreover, although good evidence exists on the value of instructional leadership at the school level (for example, see Leithwood & Seashore-Louis, 2012), there needs to be more coherent evidence on instructional leaders at the circuit managers and advances in their practice. This is despite recent evidence confirming that these professionals are essential for effective system leadership and reform and play a key role in taking effective education interventions to scale (see, for example, Honig & Rainey, 2019). While this is the case, South African studies suggest they are the weakest link (Bantwini & Moorosi, 2018).

The paper reports findings from an ongoing project that examines district leadership’s capacity to support principals in effectively leading teaching and learning. The paper focuses on the circuit management sub-directorate in a thriving rural district in KwaZulu-Natal to understand the influence of this sub-directorate on learner performance in schools.

We (authors) positioned ourselves within the interpretivism paradigm to engage with the first-hand experiences of circuit managers. In keeping with this paradigmatic positioning, the narrative inquiry, a research methodology that allows researchers to engage narratively with people’s lived experiences, was adopted to engage circuit managers in this study. Also, narrative ways of generating and analysing data were used.

The study revealed that circuit management has a strong influence on improving performance in schools. Four significant practices through which the participating circuit managers influence learner practices. Firstly, they direct intervention initiatives to all grades while not losing sight of grade 12. Secondly, they have direct involvement in monitoring learners’ work. Thirdly, they expose principals to learning opportunities. Lastly, they recognise and reward good performance. Considering these findings, we conclude that the participating circuit managers adopted an approach of working through and with principals to influence learner performance in schools.

Based upon competency models of school leadership and improvement in Canada and Australia, the Diocese of Down and Connor (Northern Ireland) designed a Self-Reflective Framework to enhance the ethos and mission of faith-based schools.

Since its implementation in 2014, this Self-Reflective Framework seeks to engage school Principals and practitioners in assessing and developing their own school in embedding the following areas:

(i) School Mission

(ii) Religious Education

(iii) Catholic Leadership

(iv) Learning and Teaching

(v) Inclusion and Diversity

(vi) Social Justice and Respect for the Environment

(vii) Partnership and Community Outreach

This paper examines the effectiveness of this self-reflective framework in taking forward school development in faith-based schools.

It begins with an examination of the competency models of leadership and development that provided the foundations for the development of the Self-Reflective Framework. Particular attention is given to how this process of self-reflection compares and contrasts with earlier inspectorial models of school development in faith-based schools.

The paper continues by outlining the structures of accountability within the self-reflective framework and considers how this relational approach provides new opportunities for engagement with schools as they take personal ownership of self-identified areas for development.

This research draws upon qualitative data gathered from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with practitioners in schools, school boards of management, educational trustees and diocesan support services to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of this new model of school improvement.

The research demonstrates how this Self-Reflective Framework not only provides a particularly useful model in taking forward school improvement and its implications for existent support structures for faith-based schools and institutions. The research also demonstrates how this self-reflective and relational approach towards staff development provides a viable and more effective alternative to inspectorial models that facilitates collaborative styles of leadership.

Objectives

Literacy coaches play leadership roles through managing literacy programs, organizing professional development activities, and helping school leaders (Ferguson, 2013). In the Chinese context, literacy coaches are called jiaoyanyuan and are considered as teacher mentors and teacher researchers (Zhang & Yuan, 2019). Diener (2009) believed that it is essential to learn about people’s work-related well-being, however, there has been a lack of research about literacy coaches’ well-being. This gap is significant because literacy coaches can contribute to teaching and school improvement significantly. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the well-being of literacy coaches in the Chinese school context.

Research questions

The main research questions of this research are:

How do Chinese literacy coaches perceive their own well-being?

What are the factors affecting these literacy coaches’ well-being?

How do Chinese literacy coaches deal with challenges to their well-being in different career stages?

Theoretical framework

Well-being has been studied through a combination of subjective theories and objective theories, which have suggested that individuals’ well-being is the objective part of subjective life experiences. In the six-factor model of psychological well-being proposed by Ryff (1989), individuals’ well-being is measured by grades in six aspects, including “autonomy,” “environmental mastery,” “personal growth,” “positive relations with others,” “purpose in life,” and “self-acceptance” (Ryff & Singer, 2006). Literacy coaches’ well-being is influenced by many internal factors like their attitude toward their job and external factors like school culture. Literacy coaches’ subjective well-being may be influenced by their goals in their jobs. The six-factor model of psychological well-being is a great model for uncovering the subjective and objective factors that may influence individuals’ well-being. This study will also take account of career stage using the four career stages scholars have outlined: exploration phase, establishment phase, maintenance phase, and disengagement phase (Savickas, 2002).

Methods and data sources

Semi-structured interviews were used to answer the research questions. Eight well-experienced literacy coaches were selected through the snowball method. Each interview lasted for 45–90 minutes. Comparative analysis was used to conduct the data analysis.

Findings

According to the data analysis, literacy coaches have three career stages including the exploration phase, establishment phase, and maintenance phase. In these three stages, happiness is the main factor that affects teacher professional development and school improvement. Working pressure, income, and social relationships were identified as the three main factors that affect the literacy coaches’ well-being. This study also identified the strategies literacy coaches use to deal with challenges to their well-being such as exercising and talking with peers.

Significance

This research may contribute to knowledge about teacher leaders’ professional growth in the workplace. In addition, studies about literacy coaches’ well-being may provide implications for district leaders, policymakers, principals, and teachers by pointing out how to effectively collaborate with literacy coaches. Moreover, research about literacy coaches’ well-being is beneficial for school improvement.

Connection to the conference theme

Through this exploration, evidence can be offered to schools and education bureaus to help literacy coaches’ have a better emotional state, which will benefit school effectiveness and improvement.

Background and Framework

Women have populated the majority of the educational workforce, yet men have assumed a disproportional amount educational leadership roles (Bailes & Guthery, 2020; Tallerico & Blount, 2004; White, 2023). Women working as educational leaders are not only under-represented, but also earn lower salaries than their male counterparts (Grissom et al., 2021; Loder, 2005; Pounder, 1988; Sanchez & Thornton, 2010). To help eliminate gender employment and salary gaps, research needs to identify factors that may be contributing to these disproportionalities.

Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to examine individual-, school-, and district-level factors that may be related to the salaries of principals. Specific research questions examined if factors at all examined levels contributed to principal salary and the gap between men and women school leaders.

Methods and Data Sources

The data analyzed in this paper come from one state in the United States. We analyzed datasets published by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the year 2021-2022 which included demographic and salary information for individuals identified as principals. In our hierarchical regression models, we included annual salary as the outcome variable. The first model included only individual characteristics. The second model added school-level characteristics and the third model added district-level characteristics. The final sample included only principals leading schools identified as traditional public schools.

Results

Women accounted for 42% of the sampled principals. Among the 1,112 principals who identified as female, 70% worked at the primary level. In contrast, 47% of the 1,518 principals who identified as male worked at the primary level. Approximately 14% of both women and men principals held a doctoral degree. However, women principals averaged more years of experience than their male counterparts, as well as held posts in schools with fewer students.

The results of the hierarchical regression models returned several significant and meaningful results. First, the results indicated that male principals were consistently and significantly paid more than their female counterparts. After including school and district characteristics, the gender discrepancy in principal salary increased to an average pay differential of $3,121 (p < .01). Second, results indicated a positive association between school enrollment and salary, $10.53 (p < .01). With women principals leading schools with approximately 100 fewer students than men, women would average an additional $990 less than their male counterparts. Third, the number of women principals employed by an LEA has a negative association of $931.00 (p < .01) on the average annual salary of their colleagues.

Educational Importance and Conference Theme Connection

Based on these results, educational governing bodies should advocate for more equitable hiring and compensation practices. Such practices might include more formal training on how to select school leaders, as well as increased public data reporting and monitoring. This study connects with the conference theme of ensuring quality professional education for enhanced school effectiveness and improvement. The underrepresentation of female principals, as well as the pay gap, artificially limits the size and quality of the effective principal labor pool.

Introduction

This paper reports on the ways in which teaching principals in rural schools in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, Canada enact instructional leadership within the five leadership domains conceptualized by Robinson, Lloyd, and Rowe (2008). Although participants suggested that they were “not where they wanted to be” in their efforts to enact instructional leadership, their actions demonstrate exemplary practice in this regard. The primary research question that guided this study was “In what ways do the dual roles of teaching principals (administration and teaching) impact the way in which teaching principals conceptualize and enact instructional leadership?” Further, we were interested in the ways that remaining engaged in teaching duties informed principals understanding of instructional leadership and in their sense of self efficacy as instructional leaders.

Methodology

This phase of our study employed the qualitative approach (Merriam, 2009) of interpretive description. We conducted school observational visits and face-to- face semi-structured interviews with 10 principals from rural schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Participants worked in school configurations that included elementary/middle schools, high schools, and K-12 composite schools. Enrollments ranged between 40-170 students, staffed by 4.75-9 full time teaching equivalents and 1-4 full- time support staff equivalents. The only selection criterion for participants was that the principal must have at least 20% of his/her work assignment as a teaching assignment. The respondents held teaching responsibilities between 20%-70% of their full-time load. Seven of the 10 participants were in their first three years of the role. Interviews lasted between 60 to 90 minutes, were digitally audio-recorded, and then transcribed. The transcripts of the interviews were coded for themes and categorized for conceptual patterns (Stake, 2000) related to the five leadership practice dimensions of instructional leadership (Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008).

Findings

The findings of the study are organized around teaching principals’ senses of guilt in not achieving their vision of being an instructional leader, as well as evidence in their actions of the five leadership practice dimensions: establishing goals and expectations; planning, coordinating, and evaluating teaching and the curriculum; promoting and participating in teacher learning and development; resourcing strategically; and, ensuring an orderly and supportive environment. The teaching principals in our study are highly cognizant of, and focus their efforts on, building relational trust with staff, parents, and students in their local rural communities, and they integrate their leadership knowledge to solve the complex problems found in these schools. Teaching principals have integrated these leadership capabilities in their enactment of instructional leadership in a plethora of ways—they simply have not been recognizing it as such. School districts and teachers’ associations must change the nature of the discourse around instructional leadership so that teaching principals do not measure their efficacy as instructional leaders based only on their ability to visit classrooms. The constitution of the role of the teaching principalship must be reconceptualized to make recommendations on optimal parameters within which instructional leadership expectations are realistically manageable.

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to improve understanding about school leaders’ capacity to directly influence student outcomes. To achieve this purpose, the study focused on assistant principals (APs) and students at risk of dropping out of school (SARDOs). Specifically, the study exploited the random assignment of SARDOs to a mentoring intervention conducted by APs to study the effect of leaders to prevent dropping out.

Background and Framework

Several areas of research informed the framework for the development, implementation, and study of this intervention. Overall, the intervention relied on the framework of high reliability organizations (Orton & Weick, 1990), with a focus on school implementation (Stringfield et al., 2008 & 2012). The development of the intervention relied on evidence from the dropout literature to accurately and reliably identify SARDOs (Bowers et al., 2013; Dynarski et al., 2008). Expanding on evidence about the influence of school leaders (Silva et al., 2011) and mentoring (McDaniel & Yarbrough, 2016; Robertson, 2016), the intervention used APs to mentor SARDOs.

Research Questions

The study included two research questions:

1. Do differences in academic outcomes, as measured by grade point average (GPA) and on-track status, exist between SARDOs who experienced the mentoring intervention and those in the control condition?

2. Do differences in non-academic outcomes, as measured by attendance and office discipline referrals (ODRs) exist between SARDOs who experienced the mentoring intervention and those in the control condition?

Methods and Data Sources

The study examined the effectiveness of a year-long mentoring intervention in a suburban secondary school. The research design exploited the random assignment of 75 SARDOs to one of three AP mentors. Given the random assignment, we used analysis of variance to examine differences in two academic and two non-academic measures between the intervention and control groups. Academic factors included the students’ GPA and course completion. Non-academic factors included students’ attendance and ODRs.

Results

Analyses indicated that the entire sample exhibited improvement in GPA and ODRs, but also poorer rates of attendance. However, the analyses did not reveal statistically significant differences in the overall sample between SARDOs in the intervention and control groups. Further subgroup analysis did reveal positive effects of the intervention for historically marginalized students, including students identifying as economically disadvantaged and from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Educational Importance

This research contributes important findings to discussions of theory, practice, and policy. First, the study provides insights about how school leaders can help ensure students graduate from secondary school. Second, the implementation in a suburban school context expands the current research, which examined mostly urban contexts.

Conference Theme Connection

This research presentation connects to the conference theme in multiple ways. First, the work included school leaders attempting to learn how to lead a more effective school by developing and evaluating a pilot intervention. Second, the school leaders involved with the intervention leveraged existing research evidence and local data to develop, implement, and evaluate the innovation. Finally, the efforts to assist SARDOs demonstrated the school leaders’ and authors’ commitment to promoting equitable and just schools.

The area of trauma-informed positive education (TIPE) is a recently emerging field in educational studies, though there is a paucity of literature that considers the convergence of TIPE and professional learning, especially in different global contexts. Schools serving communities contending with educational inequity have many students identified as trauma-affected with significant unmet learning and social emotional needs. However, as research continues to track students made more vulnerable due to COVID-19 health concerns, and other COVID-related associated family instability and violence, inadequate education provision of online and distance learning, and lack of access to technology, there is now even greater priority placed on the development and practice application of trauma-informed education for all students (Berger & Reupert, 2020).

This paper will focus on how two schools (a secondary school in Australia and a primary school in the Republic of Ireland) have led professional learning in TIPE and its whole school implementation. The two schools are at different stages of the TIPE journey with one having first implemented TIPE in 2019 while the other is still undertaking the initial TIPE professional learning and starting to implement practices in the classroom, providing an interesting cross-contextual insight.

Teachers often interpret resistant student behaviour as a ‘choice’ the student is making to assert themselves in the classroom. However, trauma-informed perspectives prompt teachers to reflect on the impacts of trauma on learning and the underlying causes of student behaviour. TIPE helps to guide school practice so that leaders and teachers understand the impacts of adverse childhood experiences. This then enables leaders and teachers to proactively work towards effective interventions (in learning, behaviour and socially) in the classroom and across the school to embed whole-school strategies to support the learning and growth of their students.

We will draw on interviews and existing school data (student wellbeing and staff surveys) from 2019-2023 for the Australian school and 2021-2023 for the Irish school. We will present insights as to how leaders actively supporting professional learning in TIPE have brought about significant changes to the learning and social environments of the schools. We draw heavily on interviews with the school leaders to fully understand and make sense of their role in this process of research-informed leadership of school change.

While both schools have had similar initial professional learning in TIPE, there have been differences in continued professional learning and TIPE’s implementation in the classroom and school. We will discuss the impact of setting up TIPE teams to collaboratively lead its implementation, the development on whole school non-punitive responses for behaviour management, the development of a TIPE instructional model to guide teachers in their pedagogical practice, and considerations of quality professional learning, including ongoing professional learning and coaching. The approach we describe has led to students reporting increases in connectedness, inclusion and student voice and agency while both teachers and students report increases in effective teaching time and an orderly classroom environment. Based on these observations, we reflect on policy, practice and research implications for TIPE and quality professional education.

This paper explores the strategies employed by German-speaking cantons in Switzerland to redesign their school system in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. CRPD Article 24 requires signatory states to ensure “an inclusive education system at all levels.” However, Switzerland ratified a slightly different wording in 2014, replacing “inclusive” with “integrative.” This means that children with disabilities in Swiss schools are granted equal access to high-quality and free education in the primary and secondary schools in their community – but not necessarily in the same classrooms.

The research presented aims to identify similarities and differences in the cantonal approaches to the integration of children with ‘special educational needs’ in regular schools and to assess how inclusive these approaches are. This analysis forms part of a larger mixed-methods study on the development and management of integrative schools in Switzerland. It consists of a document analysis examining official programmes, conceptual frameworks, and websites published by the 20 German-speaking cantons that outline their implementation of ‘integrative support’ and ‘integrated special education’. Statements of purpose and reasons given in support of their approach were analysed based on the four understandings of inclusion put forth by Piezunka et al. (2017), and objectives were captured using the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2002). Measures were recorded inductively, and their (planned) implementation was coded as inclusive or segregated, consistent with the terminology laid out by the UN (CRPD General comment No. 4, 2016).

The analysis reveals that compliance with the law and enhanced academic performance are the most frequent reasons given in support of educating children with ‘special educational needs’ in regular schools. Only a small minority of cantons prioritise social participation over academic performance. Objectives focus heavily on cooperation, coordination, and individualised teaching, while broader, less academically focused approaches to inclusivity, such as tackling all forms of discrimination, stigmatisation, and bullying, receive little to no attention. The results show great variety among the 20 cantons, with some striving to provide not just integrated support within the school but inclusive, needs-based support in the classroom. However, all cantons still maintain at least some measures of temporary segregation and thus fall short of providing a fully inclusive classroom setting that is equally accessible to all.

The findings can inform the political debate surrounding special education and highlight areas in which the professional education of teachers, head teachers, and school administrators can be adapted to promote not only integration but also diversity, belonging, and inclusion. The study sheds light on the manifold approaches to integrated education in Switzerland and identifies cantons whose strategy reaches beyond the legally required minimum. If successful, they might serve as models to help Switzerland fulfil its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to learn alongside their peers, be part of their local community, and grow up to fully participate in society.