| Summary: | This study focused on how first-year elementary vice-principals understood the
dynamics of school leadership and administration from a micropolitical perspective in
schools that supported shared decision-making between administrators and teachers.
The research focused on the tasks and responsibilities of vice-principals and the
relationships of the vice-principals with the school principals and the teaching staff.
Furthermore, the study focused on how vice-principals and teachers exercised power
in schools. A multiple case study approach was utilized. It consisted of observing three
first-year elementary vice-principals in their schools for one school year. The schools
were in one district. Data collection strategies included interviews, direct observations,
participant observations, and document analysis. The vice-principals were observed
one day per week for four to seven hours during most visits. Participant observations
included interactions of the vice-principals with the principal, teachers, students, and
school support staff. The vice-principals participated in four formal interviews and
engaged in informal conversations with the researcher during the school visitations.
School principals, teachers, other first-year vice-principals, two assistant
superintendents, and the coordinator of the leadership program were interviewed.
Administrator and teacher contracts, accreditation reports, faculty meeting minutes,
district handbooks, and policy manuals provided background information for this
study.
The study generated several key findings about how vice-principals understand
the dynamics of school leadership and administration: (a) vice-principals who were
enrolling teachers (classroom teachers) faced more challenges and demands than those
who were not enrolling teachers; (b) vice-principals received little training or
mentoring during their first year; (c) vice-principals were expected to learn about
administration through their experiences and by making mistakes; (d) vice-principals
had few opportunities to engage in critical conversations and analyze their role as
novice school leaders and administrators; (e) the vice-principals' relationships with
teachers and principals changed when they became administrators; (f) teachers and
administrators used different types of power to affect the actions of others; and (g) the
vice-principals grappled with using positional authority, facilitative power, coercive
power, and influence in their relationships with the teachers.
Based on these findings, five general recommendations are suggested. First,
the teaching workload of enrolling vice-principals needs to be reduced. They are
overwhelmed and stressed with their dual roles of administrative and teaching
responsibilities; consequently, the learning of their students in their classrooms
suffers. Second, vice-principals need systematic training and information on the skills,
functions, and knowledge necessary to perform their jobs. Third, the vice-principals
need to be mentored, receive feedback, and engage in critical conversations about their
roles as school leaders; this needs to occur in supportive environments. The provincial
administrators' association could coordinator the mentor program. Fourth, it is
problematic for principals to mentor the vice-principals because they supervise and
evaluate the vice-principals. Fifth, the vice-principals need to understand the processes
of successful shared decision-making. Last, vice-principals need to understand when
and how to use the different types of powers that they possess as administrators. === Education, Faculty of === Educational Studies (EDST), Department of === Graduate
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