Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile

This article identifies the main problems experienced by two groups of Chilean school principals in a succession process. Problems reported by novice public school principals (n=94) were compared to those reported by their more experienced peers (n=120). Data were gathered through an online survey...

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Main Authors: Montecinos, Carmen, Bush, Tony, Aravena, Felipe
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51155/
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author Montecinos, Carmen
Bush, Tony
Aravena, Felipe
author_facet Montecinos, Carmen
Bush, Tony
Aravena, Felipe
author_sort Montecinos, Carmen
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This article identifies the main problems experienced by two groups of Chilean school principals in a succession process. Problems reported by novice public school principals (n=94) were compared to those reported by their more experienced peers (n=120). Data were gathered through an online survey and eight in-depth interviews. Findings showed that groups did not differ in their overall pattern of responses when problems were categorised at the system level (45%), interactions with people (33%), at the school and territory levels (15%), and within themselves (7%). Differences were observed when comparing the extent to which each group reported problems managing up (interactions with the municipal department of education and Ministry of Education) and managing down (initiating changes in the school's culture and structures). For novice principals, managing up was more challenging and for experienced principals managing down was more pressing. The high frequency and types of problems reported at the system level indicate the need to align policy reforms addressing leadership practices at intermediate and school levels. The findings also suggest guidelines for the professional development programs that extend beyond normative practices for effective school leadership, by also responding to country specific social and organisational structures.
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spelling nottingham-511552020-05-04T19:36:21Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51155/ Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile Montecinos, Carmen Bush, Tony Aravena, Felipe This article identifies the main problems experienced by two groups of Chilean school principals in a succession process. Problems reported by novice public school principals (n=94) were compared to those reported by their more experienced peers (n=120). Data were gathered through an online survey and eight in-depth interviews. Findings showed that groups did not differ in their overall pattern of responses when problems were categorised at the system level (45%), interactions with people (33%), at the school and territory levels (15%), and within themselves (7%). Differences were observed when comparing the extent to which each group reported problems managing up (interactions with the municipal department of education and Ministry of Education) and managing down (initiating changes in the school's culture and structures). For novice principals, managing up was more challenging and for experienced principals managing down was more pressing. The high frequency and types of problems reported at the system level indicate the need to align policy reforms addressing leadership practices at intermediate and school levels. The findings also suggest guidelines for the professional development programs that extend beyond normative practices for effective school leadership, by also responding to country specific social and organisational structures. Elsevier 2018-05-14 Article PeerReviewed Montecinos, Carmen, Bush, Tony and Aravena, Felipe (2018) Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile. International Journal of Educational Development, 62 . pp. 201-208. ISSN 0738-0593 novice school principals experienced school principals school leadership school management educational policies principal succession https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059317305126 doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.04.004 doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.04.004
spellingShingle novice school principals
experienced school principals
school leadership
school management
educational policies
principal succession
Montecinos, Carmen
Bush, Tony
Aravena, Felipe
Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title_full Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title_fullStr Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title_full_unstemmed Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title_short Moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in Chile
title_sort moving the school forward: problems reported by novice and experienced principals during a succession process in chile
topic novice school principals
experienced school principals
school leadership
school management
educational policies
principal succession
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51155/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51155/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51155/