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PurposeThis case study is an attempt to understand the experience of a school principal, Arnulfo. The research question is: what are the challenges of one first‐year school director in Baja California, Mexico?Design/methodology/approachArnulfo participated in an interview and five focus groups at the Ensenada State Normal School. He kept a journal of incidents completed during April‐July 2006. A team of three researchers helped to write the case study. One researcher collected the data and wrote a summary in Spanish. A second researcher organized the material and translated it into English. The third researcher criticized and reviewed the write‐up.FindingsArnulfo faced a variety of challenges, but the burden of paperwork was the most serious. It can be understood on a number of levels. Bolman and Deal's four frames to understand organizations and leadership help to explain the complexity in terms of structural, human resource, symbolic, and political. The political frame was Arnulfo's greatest strength. He advocated for the school, formed alliances with parents, and took action to get the support of others.Practical implicationsThe analysis, if confirmed by broader studies with larger samples, would lead to several recommendations for educational administration preparation. Principals need to know about the structural tasks of paperwork; maintain relationships with supervisors to assure adequate support; understand the symbolic culture in which they work, and become savvy in the ways of politics.Originality/valueThe International Study of Principal Preparation will compare findings and offer perspective on the extent to which these issues are representative of challenges that directors face in eight other countries.

This article reviews recent literature in educational administration that supports the argument that leadership matters. School principals exert influence on teachers, who in turn affect student achievement. There is a need for an international approach both to replicate large studies and to use a narrative approach to study leaders in their historical and school context. Concepts and methods from adult development can provide an understanding of the role of the principal. Future research in educational administration should address the lives of principals expressed in their own voices.

The paper explores the different circumstances of newly appointed principals around the world. It is a literature review that examines articles from both English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. Being a novice principal is stressful and even traumatic. Principals appear to feel unprepared for their role. The problem most common to all countries is interpersonal conflict. Principals have to serve as a sort of buffer to reduce shock due to contact. They gain tacit knowledge and become more confident as they learn on the job, but they do not necessarily become instructional leaders. 1

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