dc.description.abstract | The 1995 Ontario initiative that requires representatives of all school
stakeholder groups to participate in the new forum of community governance
known as school councils is based on the premise that decentralized school
administration is an improvement over traditional principal-based
management. This study addresses the experiences of seven elementary and
secondary women principals immersed in the implementation of school
councils. Grounded in a theoretical review of leadership, principalship,
leadership by women principals, and site based management, this study
examines how these school leaders exercise authority, communicate with
school stakeholders, adapt to an evolving practice of decision making within
the context of shared, school council directed administration, and to what
extent the presence of school councils is improving school leadership.
Not all early experiences are perceived as productive or even useful,
and in many cases forced collaboration among historically antagonistic
groups is counterproductive and demoralizing. Among the positive
experiences reported by women principals are the collaborative spirit uniting
stakeholders working toward a common goal, the opportunity for principals to
"finally" share the heavy burden of school administration, and the creation of
a leadership pool within which teachers, parents, students and administrators
can review complementary perspectives and direct their various expertise
toward the creation of a better learning environment.
Principals report difficulties in setting council priorities, in the failure
of orientation and training programs, in teachers' and principals' resentment
over increasing exposure to "well intentioned " parents, and in being required to share school governance with uninformed, inexperienced, and unskilled
colleagues. Although initial hardships appear to outweigh short run gains,
metamorphosis of the principalship into a collaborative, facilitative nexus of
power suggests that temporary disruptions to school routine and student
learning will ultimately be superseded by highly successful councils capable
of meeting the idiosyncratic needs of their student populations. | |