School principals have unique identities that influence capacity to manage change. This New Zealand study explores professional identity in educational leadership and addresses a lesser researched area of identity transformation in longer-serving principals. Principals were asked how they perceived themselves as changing or changed as they led their schools through complex change processes. This article references the insights and perceptions of the most experienced of the participating principals. Findings suggest that longer-serving principals continue to transform their professional identities as they manage emotions, make decisions, access professional learning and interact with others.
BarnettBGO’MahonyGR (2006) Developing a culture of reflection: Implications for school improvement. Reflective Practice7(4): 499–523.
2.
BarthRS (2001) Learning By Heart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
BaumeisterRF (1986) Identity: Cultural Change and the Struggle for Self. New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
BeattyBR (2000) The emotions of educational leadership: Breaking the silence. International Journal of Leadership in Education3(4): 331–357.
5.
BegleyP (2001) In pursuit of authentic school leadership practices. International Journal of Leadership in Education4(4): 353–365.
6.
BlackmoreJ (2004) Leading as emotional management work in high risk times: The counterintuitive impulses of performativity and passion. School Leadership & Management24(4): 439–459.
7.
BrookfieldS (1994) Tales from the dark side: A phenomenology of adult critical reflection. International Journal of Lifelong Education13(3): 203–216.
8.
Browne-FerrignoT (2003) Becoming a principal: Role conception, initial socialisation, role-identity transformation, purposeful engagement. Education Administration Quarterly39(4): 468–503.
9.
BurkePJStetsJE (2009) Identity Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.
BusherH (2005) Being a middle leader: Exploring professional identities. School Leadership & Management25(2): 137–153.
11.
CreswellJW (2007) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
12.
CrowGM (2006) Complexity and the beginning principal in the United States: Perspectives on socialisation. Journal of Educational Administration44(4): 310–325.
13.
CrowGMHausmanCSScribnerJP (2002) Reshaping the role of the school principal. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education101(1): 189–210.
14.
DayC (2005) Sustaining success in challenging contexts: Leadership in English schools. Journal of Educational Administration43(6): 573–583.
15.
DayC (2014) Resilient principals in challenging schools: The courage and costs of conviction. Teachers & Teaching: Theory and Practice20(5): 638–654.
16.
DayCElliotBKingtonA (2005) Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education21(5): 563–577.
17.
FraenkelJWallenN (2009) How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, pp.420–438.
18.
GraceG (1995) School Leadership: Beyond Education Management. London and Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
19.
GronnP (1993) Psychobiography on the couch: Character, biography, and the comparative study of leaders. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science29(3): 343–358.
20.
GunterHRibbinsP (2003) Challenging orthodoxy in school leadership studies: Knowers, knowing and knowledge. School Leadership & Management23(2): 129–147.
21.
GuskeyTYoonKS (2009) What works in professional development?Phi Delta Kappan90(7): 495–500.
22.
HallV (1996) Dancing on the Ceiling: A Study of Women Managers in Education. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
23.
KornivesSRLongerbeamSDOwenJEOsteenOOwenJE (2006) A leadership identity development model: Applications from a grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development47(4): 401–418.
24.
LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (2010) Distributed leadership according to the evidence. Educational Management Administration & Leadership38(1): 138–140.
25.
LingardBHayesDMillsMChristieP. (2003) Leading Learning: Making Hope Practical in Schools. Berkshire: Open University Press.
26.
MaykutPMorehouseR (1994) Beginning Qualitative Research: A Philosophical and Practical Guide. London: Falmer Press, pp.126–149.
27.
NotmanRHenryA (2011) Building and sustaining successful school leadership in New Zealand. Leadership and Policy in Schools10(4): 375–394.
28.
RaynerS (2014) Playing by the rules? The professional values of head teachers tested by changing policy context. Management in Education28(2): 38–43.
29.
RhodesCBrundettM (2009) Leadership development and school improvement. Educational Review61(4): 361–374.
30.
RibbinsPGronnP (2000) Researching principals: Context and culture in the study of leadership in schools. Asia Pacific Journal of Education20(2): 34–45.
31.
RobinsonVHohepaMLloydC (2009) School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why. Wellington: Crown.
32.
RyanJ (2007) Dialogue, identity, and inclusion: Administrators as mediators in diverse school contexts. Journal of School Leadership17: 337–370.
33.
ScribnerSPCrowGM (2012) Employing professional identities: Case study of a high school principal in a reform setting. Leadership and Policy in Schools11(3): 243–274.
34.
SergiovanniTJ (1992) Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
35.
SergiovanniTJ (2004) Collaborative cultures and communities of practice. Principal Leadership5(1): 48–52.
36.
SouthworthG (2004) Primary School Leadership in Context: Leading Small, Medium and Large Sized Schools. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
37.
SouthworthG (2009) Learning-centred leadership. In: DaviesB (ed.) The Essentials of School Leadership. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications, pp.65–92.
38.
StevensonH (2006) Moving towards, into and through principalship: Developing a framework for researching the career trajectories of school leaders. Journal of Educational Administration44(4): 408–420.
39.
SugrueC (2005) Being principal: Leadership inside out. In: SugrueC (ed.) Passionate Principalship: Learning From the Life Histories of School Leaders. London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer, pp.135–157.
40.
ThomsonP (2004) Severed heads and compliant bodies? A speculation about principal identities. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education25(1): 43–59.
41.
ThomsonP (2009) School Leadership: Heads on the Block?London and New York: Routledge.
42.
WengerE (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
