The Experiences of Teacher-Assistant Principals in Catholic Elementary Schools: Boundary Spanners and Player Managers

The perceptions of primary education head teachers, deputy head teachers and teachers on the role of deputy head teachers

“…There are similarities with Beltramo's (2014) study, in terms of deputy head teachers' positive experiences as they, themselves, feel satisfied and effective in their role, the feeling of joy derives from their "right" way of working, through offering valuable help to the head teacher and support to the teachers, a fact that is recognised by all members of the school community. Certainly, they also experience negative feelings, such as frustration and regret, because of their increased administrative responsibilities, resulting in intense stress and exhaustion, a fact which is confirmed by the interviewees.…”

“…What is more, Matthews and Crow (2003) argued that teachers, who assumed office duties in the schools in which they had already taught, are not accepted by the Teacher Association, while Beltramo (2014) argues that the governing authority is in conflict with the teaching majority. Petrides et al (2014), argue that deputy heads' negative feelings stem from a lack of guidance and, above all, from a lack of other teachers' support, and are, therefore, isolated and strongly desirous of abandoning the position.…”

“…However, Beltramo (2014) underlines that the governing authority of the school is in conflict with the teachers' majority, and Hilliard and Newsome (2013) highlight the need to build trust and cooperative relationships with each other, in order to be able to resolve the problems of the school more easily. Matthews and Crow (2003) claim that the relationship of the deputy head teacher with teachers may have positive and negative aspects.…”

A Case of Teacher–Assistant Principals

“…Often, HTLs are also asked to work closely with principals in analyzing data and reporting on teachers' use of this data in their instructional plans (Cobb & McClain, 2006). Similarly, in small schools such as upstart charters (e.g., Grubb & Flessa, 2006), Catholic schools (e.g., Beltramo, 2014), and rural schools (e.g., Ewington et al, 2008), budget constraints paired with new instructional policies have forced principals to turn to classroom teachers to take on concurrent instructional leadership and/or management tasks in addition to their normal teaching duties.…”

“…The investigation reported here aims to address this gap in the literature by presenting a multisite case study of two individuals whose position represents one example of this re-emergent model of teacher leadershipthe teacher-assistant principal (cf. Beltramo, 2014). As teacher-assistant principals (teacher-APs), the focal participants served concurrently as full-time classroom teachers and assistant principals in two respective schools from the urban Catholic sector, where budget constraints have made this position fairly common.…”