Is a principal still a teacher? US women administrators' accounts of role conflict and role discontinuity

Tondra L. Loder, James P. Spillane

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

The authors examined 16 US women school administrators' experiences with role conflict and role discontinuity within their first one to five years of transitioning from teaching to administration. Findings from this theory-building, qualitative study indicate that this transition triggered role conflicts that emerged from the participants' movement from the relatively private and intimate domain of the classroom where they focused on instruction and students, to the public domain of the school and community where they shifted their focus to managerial and political responsibilities. In an effort to resolve this tension, the participants employed a cognitive strategy whereby they attempted to retain their identity as teachers. Study findings suggest that principal leadership programs should help aspirants develop strategies to cope with role conflict and role discontinuity. Alternative frameworks for conceptualizing school leadership (e.g. distributed leadership) may also help principals to manage these problems and challenges.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)263-279
Number of pages17
JournalSchool Leadership and Management
Volume25
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005

Funding

This research was supported by a Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, the Northwestern University School of Education & Education & Social Policy, Sibyl N. Heide Alumna Award, and grants from the Spencer Foundation (200000039) and the National Science Foundation (REC-9873583) to the Distributed Leadership Project (James P. Spillane, PI). An earlier draft of this manuscript was presented by the first author at the 2003 American Educational Research Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The authors would like to thank Gunhild O. Hagestad for her helpful comments on an earlier draft.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Strategy and Management

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