Topic:

The topic focuses on the balance between leadership and management roles of successful principal leadership. The paper draws on case study evidence collected over a number of years and shows how successful principals explore the limits and potential of their role to make a difference to the lives and achievement of students and staff.

Research Question

The research question was ‘How do successful school principals balance their leadership and management roles effectively in order to make a real difference in their schools?’

Objectives:

1. Present a conceptual model, called the “Total Role Concept’ that distinguishes various leadership and management roles that encapsulate the role of the principal.

2. Verify the model by drawing on evidence from case studies from the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) data developed over the past decade.

3. Add new insights into how successful school principals balance their leadership and management roles and how they ‘dare to make a difference’ by exploring the potential of their leadership role and being innovative and creative.

4. Challenge school leaders to define and clarify their management and leadership roles in light of the model and research evidence to provide them with the knowledge and courage to explore the outer limits of their role.

 Framework

 The researchers propose a model called the ‘Total Role Concept’ which outlines the various leadership and management roles that principals use. The model is presented as concentric circles.  Each circle represents a particular level or aspect of the principal’s leadership and management role. The inner circle is the ‘core’ - the formal aspects of the principal’s role. The next circle is the ‘expected’ role- aspects of the role that are assumed and implicit in the role but not necessarily written down.  These two inner circles or levels represent management. The next  circle or level is the ‘augmented’ role – aspects of the role that are neither implicit or explicit but are important and worth doing. The outer circle is the potential role – initiatives and creative aspects of the role that would make a difference. These two outer circles represent leadership.

 The researchers draw on the examples from data collected as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) over the past decade that examined successful school principalship. The investigation identified the characteristics, processes and effects of successful school principalship in eight countries. Subsequently the project has been extended to another six countries. This paper use examples from this research to demonstrate how successful school principals explore the outer limits of their role and focus on the augmented and potential levels of their role in order to make a difference.

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