Professional Identity as an Analytic Lens for Principal Learning in Contexts of Transformation

Abstract

Purpose: Many efforts for educational transformation involve fundamentally new visions of the principal's role. This article examines the potential of an analytic framework for understanding principal learning in such contexts. An adaptation of an analytic approach to studying teacher learning, the framework examines learning as individual professional identity development situated within shifts in local definitions of competence for the role of the principal. Research Approach: Grounded in a sociocultural perspective, the analytic framework is designed for analysis of (a) how individuals develop new professional identities, and (b) how such learning is situated in contexts of shifting, local narratives and expectations about professional roles, responsibilities, and competence. The use of the analytic framework is illustrated through qualitative analysis of a case of a district effort to support four elementary principals to develop fundamentally different leadership practice specific to participation in teacher professional development. Findings: Illustrative findings reveal the gradual and complex development of principal role identities specific to the emerging expectations for practice. For the first part of the year, principals demonstrated evidence of enacting new practice out of compliance. As the year progressed, the analysis indicated that principals began to identify with new expectations for practice and shift their underlying conceptions of student and teacher learning. Implications: The analytic framework has methodological implications for how principal learning for the transformation of practice is conceptualized, studied, and supported in local contexts.