Administrative Passages

Within the educational system, the role of assistant principal is vital. This book comprehensively examines two areas which are core to educational leadership theory and practice: assistant principals and the passage from teaching to administration.

The transition from teacher to administrator is a critical period. While the study of effective schools consistently highlights the importance of administrators in helping students succeed, there is little information on how novices become effective administrators, what measures need to be taken to facilitate the transition, and how novices should be supported once they assume their new roles in order to realize their full potential. This book examines administrative leadership transitions through the lens of newly appointed assistant principals, helping readers see what works and what doesn't work in making an effective school administrator. It is written for university and school administrators and researchers in education administration and organizational leadership.

A comprehensive examination of the cognitive, emotional, and social challenges that novice assistant principals face in the passage from teaching to administration A critical look at the assistant principalship and the socialization impacts of this organizational role An integrated flow between new administrators' narratives and theories of change, socialization, and transition Practical recommendations for aspiring and new assistant principals, mentors, school districts, professional development providers, and regulatory bodies

Texte du rabat

Assistant principals are vital to school success. As one of the largest groups of frontline managers, they represent the face of school administration and they perform a complex range of leadership and managerial roles. As important as they are, little academic attention has been directed to the role of the assistant principal and the ways in which newcomers navigate the transition from teacher to effective administrator. This book addresses this gap by offering a perspective on administrative practice which is not normally discussed in traditional textbooks. It describes the socio-emotional journey from teaching to administration through the eyes of eight newly appointed secondary school assistant principals, and it introduces a change model which integrates literature and primary research.

The assistant principals' narratives open a new window onto the inner and outer world of schools, revealing an uncharted landscape of paradoxes and emotions. These stories also uncover hidden boundaries, rites, and rituals which operate beneath a veneer of order, control, and stability, and shape administrators' work lives in imperceptible ways. As the new assistant principals describe their dreams, disappointments, and accomplishments, they illustrate the complex challenges of leading and learning within shifting organizational contexts.

This book will be of interest to practitioners, policy makers, and theoreticians alike. It provides practical advice on surviving this career passage, and it identifies how institutional processes, policies, and practices can be improved to support this important leadership role.

This book offers terrific insights into the different challenges one faces in adjusting to the role of the Assistant Principal, and will provide readers with a rich array of strategies regarding the mental, emotional, social, and physical adjustments required for a successful transition.

ProfessorEmeritus William D. Greenfield, Jr., Portland State University, USA

Professor Armstrong provides a comprehensive review of vice principals' career transitions and introduces a compelling new model for understanding the journey from teacher to administrator. Theory is brought to life and readers gain fascinating insights into the challenges which new vice-principals - real people experience in the transition from teaching to administration.

Dr. Chris Spence, Director, Toronto District School Board, Canada

The few books currently available on the role of the assistant principal tend to be thin little survival guides aimed at practitioners working in the sink or swim environment of a new appointment. All the more reason to celebrate the publication of this substantial new book that skillfully addresses the craft knowledge and phenomenology of the transition from teaching to school administration roles, and does so in a scholarly manner integrating relevant theory and research within an inspired and memorable conceptual framework of epicycles. The outcome is nothing short of ground breaking. This is an important new addition to the literature on the processes of professional socialization.

Professor Paul Begley, Penn State University, USA

Contenu
Background.- Perspectives on Change, Transitions, and Passages.- Narrating the Administrative Passage.- The Individual Narratives.- Charting the Administrative Passage.- EntryExit: Crossing the Administrative Threshold.- ImmersionEmmersion: Ascending the Administrative Hierarchy.- DisintegrationReintegration: Shifting Perspectives Letting Go, Holding On, and Reframing.- TransformationRestabilization: Becoming and Being an Assistant Principal.- The Way Forward: Connecting Theory and Practice.- Reconceptualizing Assistant Principals' Leadership Transitions.