In this study, we examine how the Educational Leadership Program for Aspiring Principals (ELPAP) at the University of Pennsylvania uses a guided inquiry experience, the Focused Observation, to facilitate role conceptualization and identity development for pre-service leadership students. Focused Observations involve university faculty, current and former ELPAP students, and school and district leaders in critically examining current educational policies and practices in place at select visited schools and districts. Using qualitative data from current and former students and school and district staff, we explore how these Focused Observations facilitate professional socialization and foster students’ internalization of an identity as a change-oriented leader.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsJ.CoplandM. (2005). When learning counts: Rethinking licenses for school leaders. Report to the Wallace Foundation. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
2.
ArgyrisC. (1990). Overcoming organizational defenses.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
3.
ArredondoD.Lechner BrodyJ.ZimmermanD.MoffettC. (1995) Pushing the envelope in supervision. Educational Leadership, 53(3) 74–79.
4.
BakerW.CostaA.ShalitS. (1997). The norms of collaboration: Attaining communicative competence. In CostaA.LiebmannR. (Eds.), The process-centered school: Sustaining a renaissance community (pp. 119–142). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
5.
BarberM. (2002). From good to great: Large scale reform in England. Paper presented at the Futures of Education Conference, Zurich, Switzerland: University of Zurich.
6.
BourdieuP. (1985) The forms of social capital. In RichardsonJ. (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
7.
BoyatzisR.McKeeA. (2005). Resonant leadership.Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
8.
BrownJ.S.DuguidP (1991). Organizational learning and communities of practice: A unified view of working, learning and innovation. Organization Science, 2(1), 40–56.
9.
Browne-FerrignoT. (2003). Becoming a principal: Role conception, initial socialization, role identity transformation, and purposeful engagement. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(4), 468–503.
10.
CohenH. A. (1981). The nurse's quest for a professional identity.Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
11.
CostaA.KallickB. (2000). Habits of mind.Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
CrowG. (2006, Winter). UCEA Presidential address: Democracy and educational work in an age of complexity. University Council of Educational Administration Review, 47, 1–5.
14.
CrowG. (2006a), Complexity and the beginning principal in the United States: Perspectives on socialization. Journal of Educational Administration, 44(4), 310–25.
15.
CrowG.HausmanC.Paredes-ScribnerJ. (2002). Developing the role of the school principal. In StringfieldS.LandD. (Eds.), Yearbook of the national society for the study of education: Educating students at risk (pp. 189–210). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
16.
DareshJ.PlaykoM. (1994). Aspiring and practising principals’ perceptions of critical skills for beginning leaders. Journal of Educational Administration, 32(3), 35–45.
17.
DonaldsonG.MarnikG.MackenzieS.AckermanR. (2009). What makes or breaks a principal. Educational Leadership, 67(2), 8–14.
18.
DowneyC.FraseL. (2001). Participants manual for conducting walk-throughs with reflective practice to maximize student achievement (2nd ed.). Huxley, IA: Curriculum Management Services.
19.
DuToitD. (1995). A sociological analysis of the extent and influence of professional socialization on the development of a nursing identity among nursing students at two universities in Brisbane, Australia. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21(1), 164–171.
20.
ElmoreR.BurneyD. (1997). Investing in teacher learning: Staff development and instructional improvement in Community School District #2. New York, NY: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
21.
EvansR. (1991). Administrative insights: Educational administration as pedagogic practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
22.
FordD.BennettA. (1994). The changing principalship in Chicago. Education and Urban Society, 26(3), 238–247.
23.
FullanM. (1997). What's worth fighting for in the principalship.New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
GolemanD. (1995). Emotional intelligence.Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
26.
GreenfieldW. (1985). Developing an instructional role for the assistant principal. Education and Urban Society, 18, 85–92.
27.
HallingerP.HeckR. H. (1996). Reassessing the principal's role in school effectiveness: A review of empirical research, 1980–1995. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 5–44.
28.
HausmanC.CrowG.SperryD. (2000). Portrait of the “ideal” principal: Context and self. NASSP Bulletin, 6(17), 5–14.
29.
HeckR. H. (1995). Organizational and professional socialization: Its impact on the performance of new administrators. The Urban Review, 27(1), 31–49.
30.
HeifetzR.LaurieD. (1997, January/February). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 124–134.
31.
Interstate School Licensure Consortium. (1996). Standards for school leaders.Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.
32.
KelleyC.PetersonK. (2002). Transforming school leadership. Leadership, 30(3), 8–11.
33.
KrausC.CoreriroP. (1995). Challenging tradition: Re-examining the preparation of educational leaders for the workplace. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Salt Lake City, Utah.
LevineA. (2005). Educating school leaders.New York: The Education School Project.
36.
LevineD.LezotteL. (1990). Unusually effective schools: A review and analysis of research and practice.Madison, WI: National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development.
37.
LortieD. C. (1975). Schoolteacher.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
38.
LouisK.MarksH. (1998). Does professional community affect the classroom?: Teachers’ work and student experiences in a restructuring schools. American Journal of Education, 106(4), 532–575.
39.
MarksH.PrintyS. (2003). Principal leadership and school performance: An Integration of transformational and instructional leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(3), 370-.
40.
MarshD. (2000). Educational leadership for the twenty-first century: Integrating Three essential Perspectives. In (Ed.). Jossey-Bass reader in educational leadership.SanFranscisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
41.
MaxwellJ. A. (2004). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
42.
MertonR. (1957). Social theory and social structure.New York, NY: Free Press.
43.
MertonR.ReaderG.KendallP. (1957). The student physician.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
44.
MilsteinM.KruegerJ. (1997). Improving educational administration preparation programs: What we have learned over the past decade. Peabody Journal of Education, 72(2), 100–116.
45.
MooreW. (1970). The professions: Roles and rules.New York, NY: Russell Sage.
46.
MurphyJ. (1990). Principal instructional leadership. In LottoL.ThurstonP. (Eds.), Advances in educational administration: Changing perspectives on the school: Vol. I (pp. 163–200). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
47.
MurphyJ. (1999). Reconnecting teaching and school administration: A call for a unified profession. Paper presented at an annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.
48.
MurphyJ.LouisK. (1994). Reshaping the principalship: Insights from transformational leaders.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
49.
National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2002). Standards for advanced programs in educational leadership.Arlington, Virginia: NPBEA.
50.
Newmann, F. and Associates (1996). Authentic assessment.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
51.
NormoreA. (2003). Professional and organizational socialization processes of school administrators: A literature review. Paper presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
SarasonS.LorentzE. (1998). Crossing boundaries: Collaboration, coordination and redefinition of resources.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
57.
SchmokerM. (1999). Results: The key to continuous school improvement (2nd edition). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
58.
SchonD. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action.New York, NY: Basic Books.
59.
SergiovanniT. (1993). Organizations or communities: Changing the metaphor changes the theory. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, Georgia.
60.
SkrettaJ. (2007). Using walk-throughs to gather data for school improvement. Principal Leadership, 7(9), 16–23.
StoufferS.SuchmanE.DeVinneyL.StarS.WilliamsR.Jr. (1949). The American soldier: Adjustment during Army life: Vol. 1.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
64.
StrikeK.HallerE.SoltisJ. (2005). The Ethics of school administration.New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
65.
SupovitzJ.PoglincoS. (2001). Instructional leadership in a standards-based reform.Philadelphia, PA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
66.
StrikeK.A. (2007) Ethical leadership in schools: Creating community in an environment of accountability.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
67.
ThruppM.WillmottR. (2003). Education management in managerialist times: Beyond the textual apologists.Buckingham: Open University Press.
68.
Van MaanenJ.ScheinE. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 209–264.
69.
WigginsG.McTigheJ. (2005). Understanding by design.Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
70.
York-BarrJ.SommersW.GhereG.MontieJ. (2001). Reflective practice to improve schools: An action guide for educators.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
71.
YoungM. D.CrowG.OrrT.OgawaR.CreightonT. (2005). An educative look to educating school leaders. UCEA Review, 47(2), 1–5.
72.
ZieglerC. (2006). Walk-throughs provide stepped-up supervision. Journal of Staff Development, 27(4), 53–56.
