Principal theories of practice : mapping the cognitive structure and effects of instructional leadership

Houchens, Gary

doi:10.18297/etd/639

Cited by 4 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(152 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The authors discuss a recent case study of successful school principals that mapped the principals' theories of practice of instructional leadership. The study illustrates the usefulness of the theory of practice framework for both research and improving professional practice (Houchens, 2008). Argyris and Schön's book, Theories in Practice (1974), explored the concept of organizational learning by articulating a rather elaborate framework that explained the cognitive structure and processes of problem solving that all people-not just professional practitioners-engage in.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…A recent doctoral dissertation (Houchens, 2008) used Argyris and Schön's theory of practice framework (1974) to explore the theories of practice for instructional leadership of four successful Kentucky school principals. The multi-case study used a naturalistic design based on interviews with principals and teachers, observations, and a principal selfreflective written exercise (Ruff & Shoho, 2005).…”

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The participant principals had occupied their current positions for at least five years and had presided over at least four years of steady academic improvements as measured by the state testing system. School principals ostensibly utilize a wide variety of theories of practice in their work, but Houchens (2008) chose to focus specifically on the principals' theories of practice of instructional leadership because it is within this capacity that principals directly and indirectly affect student achievement. DeBevoise (1982) offered an early definition of instructional leadership as "those actions that a principal takes, or delegates to others, to promote growth in student learning" (p. 14).…”

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on Keedy and Achilles's argument (1997) that principal theories of practice have their greatest impact in terms of their influence on the relationships among teachers, Houchens (2008) connected the cognitive maps of principal instructional leadership theories of practice to specific effects on teacher attitudes and behavior. Houchens used a visual model to map the underlying principal assumptions, specific theories of action, and teacher effects ( Figure 5).…”

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other key principal instructional leadership theories of practice included nurturing positive personal relationships with staff, promoting on-going professional learning, and providing feedback. Houchens (2008) found the principals' theories of practice led to eight effects on teachers. Many of these effects were common to three or more of the principals, and sometimes corresponded with multiple theories of action.…”

Section: Visual Representation For the Presentation Of Each Principalmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Theories of Practice: Understanding the Practice of Educational Leadership

Houchens¹,

Keedy²

2009

Journal of Thought

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Principal Theories Of Practice: An Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Visual Representation For the Presentation Of Each Principalmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Theories of Practice: Understanding the Practice of Educational Leadership

Houchens¹,

Keedy²

2009

Journal of Thought

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Enhancing instructional leadership through collaborative coaching: a multi-case study

Houchens

Stewart

Jennings³

2017

IJMCE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Executive coaching has become increasingly important for enhancing organizational leaders’ professional effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a growing body of research literature that examines how coaching techniques help school principals improve their instructional leadership. Design/methodology/approach Using a protocol based on a theories of practice framework (Argyris and Schön, 1974) to support principals in deepening their self-reflection, this study added the element of a guided peer-coaching component in a group setting. Findings Results confirmed the effectiveness of the coaching protocol for assisting principals in deepening their self-awareness and critical reflection regarding their leadership, including the way principals’ core assumptions about teaching and leadership shaped the outcomes of their problem-solving strategies. Perceptions of the peer-coaching element were mixed, however. While principals reported feeling affirmed by sharing their leadership challenges with others, and indicated that the group coaching experience contributed to their sense of professional community, there were limitations to principals’ willingness to challenge one another’s core assumptions. Originality/value This study builds on literature that cites theories of practice as a mechanism for enhancing professional effectiveness and represents a further iteration of recent research studies applying the concept to the work of school principals. Findings affirm that a coaching protocol based on theories of practice is well received by principals, serves to deepen self-reflection, and can, in limited cases, contribute to sweeping changes of thinking and practice congruent with the concept of double-loop learning.

show abstract

Understanding the Cognitive Structure and Process That Contribute on School Leaders Behavior

Roy

2022

Towards Excell.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Human behavior is the response of individual or group of human interaction with internal and external stimuli. Leadership is the process of influencing others and leader is the change initiator of an organization. Hence, this is quite apposite to understand the process and structure of their cognition, helpful in developing a script track in their mind and in removing the resistance of practicing the best leadership practices. By doing so, they will develop a pattern of behavior which will be considered as a benchmark of being effective leader. The objective of this paper is 1) To understand the concept of leadership behaviour and cognitive structure of the school principal. 2) To examine what cognitive process are involved in shaping leader behavior in respect to handling their job problems. 3) To examine what personnel factor/s account for leaders behaviour having a cognitive base. This paper has followed the systematic review method to achieve the above desired objectives. The findings highlighted that the comparative and logical reasoning cognitive structure plays important role to define leaders’ behaviour. The emerging behaviour such as collaborative, managerial, decision making, instructional, communication and supervision behaviour are present to define as effective leader. Lastly, the paper highlighted that experience is the major personnel factor with cognitive base which sharpening the cognitive function to define effective leaders’ behaviour.

show abstract

Principal theories of practice : mapping the cognitive structure and effects of instructional leadership

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Theories of Practice: Understanding the Practice of Educational Leadership

Theories of Practice: Understanding the Practice of Educational Leadership

Enhancing instructional leadership through collaborative coaching: a multi-case study

Understanding the Cognitive Structure and Process That Contribute on School Leaders Behavior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About