With restructuring characterising many school systems throughout the world, and major change leaving few schools untouched, school leaders are facing major challenges. This study focuses on a group of Hong Kong principals who conceptualise some of their challenges as dilemmas. The paper draws on previous literature to highlight the importance of articulating principals' perceptions of dilemmas in their daily lives, and identifies typologies and categories of dilemmas. It notes that dilemma research to date is grounded in Western examples and cultural settings, and that dilemmas faced by principals in non-Western settings have been ignored. Analysing dilemma situations recounted by Hong Kong principals, we identify the sources, coping mechanisms and outcomes of their dilemmas and examine the relationships between these phenomena. Among our findings are that dilemmas are multifaceted and irresolvable situations, and that principals tend to rely on a narrow range of deeply embedded Chinese cultural values as coping strategies.
BegleyP. (1996). Cognitive perspectives on the nature and function of values in educational administration. In LeithwoodK.ChapmanJ.CorsonD.HallingerP.HartA. (Eds.), International handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 551–588). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Press.
2.
BegleyP.JohanssonO. (1997). Values and school administration: Preferences, ethics and conflicts. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, March, Chicago, IL.
3.
BegleyP.LeithwoodK. (1990). The influence of values on school administrator practices. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education. 3, 337–352.
4.
BerlakH.BerlakC. (1981). Dilemma of schooling, teaching and change. London: Methuen.
5.
BogdanR.C.BiklenS.K. (1992). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods (2nd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
6.
BondM. (1991). Cultural influences on modes of impression management: Implications for the culturally diverse organisation. In GiacaloneR.RosenfieldP. (Eds.), Applied impression management: How image-making affects managerial decisions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
7.
BondM. (1992). Beyond the Chinese face: Insights from psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8.
BondM. (Ed.). (1996). The handbook of Chinese psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
9.
Campbell-EvansG. (1993). A values perspective on school-based management. In DimmockC. (Ed.), School-based management and school effectiveness (pp. 92–113). London: Routledge.
10.
ChengK.M. (1995). The neglected dimension: Cultural comparison in educational administration. In WongK.C.ChengK.M. (Eds.), Educational leadership and change: An international perspective. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
11.
ChengK.M.WongK.C. (1996). School effectiveness in East Asia: Concepts, origins and implications. Journal of Educational Administration, 34(5), 32–49.
12.
CubanL. (1992, January). Managing dilemmas while building professional communities. Educational Research, pp. 4–11.
13.
CubanL. (1994) Reforming the practice of educational administration through managing dilemmas. Unpublished draft paper, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
14.
DimmockC. (1996). Dilemmas for school leaders and administrators in restructuring. In LeithwoodK.ChapmanJ.CorsonD.HallingerP.HartA. (Eds.), International handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 135–170). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Press.
15.
DimmockC. (1998). Restructuring Hong Kong's schools: The applicability of Western theories, policies and practices to an Asian culture. Educational Management and Administration, 26 (4), 363–377.
16.
DimmockC.O'DonoghueT. (1997). The edited topical life history approach: A new methodology to inform the study of school leadership. Leading and Managing, 3(1), 48–70.
17.
DimmockC.WalkerA. (1997). Hong Kong's change of sovereignty: School leader perceptions of the effects on educational policy and school administration. Comparative Education, 36 (2), 277–302.
DimmockC.WalkerA. (1998b). Towards comparative educational administration: The case for a cross-cultural, school-based approach. Journal of Educational Administration, 36(3–4), 379–401.
20.
DukeD. (1996) A normative perspective on organizational leadership. Paper presented at the Toronto Conference of values and Educational Leadership, Toronto, Canada, October 4.
21.
Education and Manpower Branch & Education Department. (1991). The school management initiative: Setting the framework for quality in Hong Kong schools. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
22.
Education Commission. (1996). Quality school education (consultation document) (Report No.7). Hong Kong: Author.
23.
Education Department. (1994). Report of the advisory committee on implementation of Target Oriented Curriculum. Hong Kong: Government Printer. (mimeo).
FirestoneW. (1993). Alternative arguments for generalising from data as applied to qualitative research. Educational Researcher, 22 (4), 16–23.
26.
GardnerH. (1995). Leading minds. New York: Basic Books.
27.
GlatterR. (1994). Managing dilemmas in education: The tightrope walk of strategic choice in more autonomous institutions. Paper presented at the 8th International Intervisitation Program in Educational Administration, Toronto, Canada and Buffalo, USA, May 15–27.
28.
GraceG. (1995). School leadership: Beyond educational management. London: Falmer Press.
29.
GreenfieldT.RibbinsP. (Eds.). (1993). Greenfield on educational administration: Towards a humane science. London: Routledge.
30.
HallingerP.HeckR. (1996). The principal's role in school effectiveness: An assessment of methodological progress, 1980–1995. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 5–44.
31.
HallingerP.LeithwoodK.MurphyJ. (Eds.). (1993). Cognitive perspectives on educational administration. New York: Teachers College Press.
32.
HartA.BredesonP.MarshL.ScribnerJ. (1997). Problem-solving errors of educational leaders. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, March, Chicago, IL.
33.
HaynesE.LicataJ. (1995). Creative insubordination of school principals and the legitimacy of the justifiable. Journal of Educational Administration, 33 (4), 21–35.
34.
HeckR.HallingerP. (1997). Epistemological frames and methods for the study of school leadership. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, March, Chicago, IL.
35.
HodgkinsonC. (1978). Towards a philosophy of administration. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
36.
HofstedeG.H. (1980). Cultures consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
37.
HofstedeG.H. (1991). Cultures and organisations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw Hill.
38.
HolmesB. (1965). Problems in education: A comparative approach. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
39.
KirkbrideP.TangS.WestwoodR. (1991). Chinese conflict preferences and negotiating behaviour: Cultural and psychological influences. Organisational Studies, 12, 365–86.
40.
LeithwoodK. (1995). Cognitive perspectives on school leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 5 (2), 115–135.
LeithwoodK.StagerM. (1991). Components of expertise in principals' problem solving. Educational Administration Quarterly, 25 (1), 126–161.
43.
LincolnY.GubaE. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
44.
MarshallC. (1991). School administrators ethical dilemmas. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April, Chicago, IL.
MurphyJ. (1994). Transformational change and the evolving role of the principal: Early empirical evidence. In MurphyJ.SeashoreLouis, K. (Eds.), Reshaping the principalship (pp. 20–55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
O'DonoghueT.AsplandT.BrookerR. (1993). Dilemmas in teachers' conceptions of the nature of their curriculum work: A Queensland case study. Curriculum Perspectives, 13 (3), 11–22.
48.
PattersonJ. (1992). Leadership for tomorrow's schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
49.
ReddingG. (1977). Some perceptions of psychological needs among managers in Southeast Asia. In PoortingaY. (Ed.), Basic problems in cross-cultural psychology. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
50.
SimonsH. (1982). Conversation piece: The practice of uttering, muttering, collecting, using and reporting talk for social and educational research. London: Grant McIntyre.
51.
SteinbachR.LeithwoodK.GleueK. (1996). Struggling to manage distributed leadership. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, March, New York City.
52.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
53.
TaylorS.BogdanR. (1984). Introduction to qualitative research methods — the search for meaning. New York: John Wiley.
54.
WalkerA. (1997). Shape, impression and blockage: A case of leadership and culture change. Educational Studies, 23 (1), 63–86.
55.
WalkerA.BridgesE.ChanB. (1996). Wisdom gained, wisdom given: Instituting PBL in a Chinese culture. Journal of Educational Administration, 34(5), 12–31.
56.
WalkerA.DimmockC. (1998). Hong Kong's return to mainland China: Education policy in times of uncertainty. Journal of Education Policy, 13(1), 3–25.
57.
WalkerA.QuongT. (1998). Valuing differences: Strategies for dealing with tensions of educational leadership in a global society. Peabody Journal of Education, 73(2), 81–105.
58.
WestwoodR. (Ed.). (1992). Organisational behaviour: Southeast Asian perspectives. Hong Kong: Longman.
59.
WinterR. (1982). Dilemma analysis: A contribution to methodology for action research. Cambridge Journal of Education, 12 (3), 166–173.
