This article presents the findings of a study that examined how an elementary school faculty made sense of the succession of its principal. The findings suggest that teachers' sense-making was affected by two sets of factors previously identified by research in noneducational settings: a group norm and characteristics of the succession process. The findings also suggest that a general expectation of change and presuccession sense-making affected the manner in which teachers interpreted succession events. The findings of this study suggest several questions to guide future research.
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