Learners, initiators, servants: The self-images of victorian principals in the 1990s

Abstract

The professional self-images of principals are integrally related to how they perceive and exercise leadership in specific school settings. This study of a balanced sample of male and female leaders from a cross-section of Victorian schools in the late 1990s reveals that there are key variations related to sectorial identity, level and scale of school, institutional histories and even student gender. It supports the development of nuanced theories about leadership and gender that combat essentialist stereotypes which have dominated in past discourse. It also combats simplistic claims based on school level, sector and student gender. The findings carry implications for principal selection and development which require fine-grained discernment by practitioners and theorists in the future.

WITHDRAWN: Reimagining the Principal

“…The role as a principal is therefore not only that of a 'technical manager' listening to the national voice, but also a role related to local leadership, in all a role which includes listening to multiple voices. The context, both national and local, is a key variable of principal´s professional self-images (Busher 2005;Collard 2004). Taking the program and working as a principal simultaneously effects principals' professional identity.…”

Media Education Goes Professional?

“…Professional self-image relates to both personal identity and working roles in specific contexts, and is considered to influence professional attitudes, values, positions, and actions (Collard, 2004;Niskala & Hurme, 2014). Professional self-image is also viewed as the sum of subjective and inter-subjective attitudes affected by past professional experience and context.…”

“…Professional self-image is also viewed as the sum of subjective and inter-subjective attitudes affected by past professional experience and context. Studies related to media education have underscored the significance of professional self-image for work processes and professional objectives, for instance in education and management (Collard, 2004), and in journalism (Volek & Jirák, 2007).…”

Leading for quality: questions about quality and leadership in Australia

“…The following analysis of the relationship between education policy and leadership is based on an understanding that leadership is not achieved in a social vacuum but can be understood only in the context of its wider cultural setting (see also Ball 1994;Gunter 2001;Bell and Rowley 2002;Collard 2004;Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond 2004). That is, the school leadershipsociety relation defines what it is to be an educational leader (Grace 2000).…”