Matthew J. Meyer

Principal succession and its impact on teacher morale

Our detailed study of two secondary schools in Nova Scotia which had experienced regular principal succession examined succession and its impact on teacher morale. We found that the process of principal succession and the new principal’s practices have the potential to change a school culture and both positively and negatively affect teacher and institutional morale. Our findings suggest that several factors influence the degree to which morale is affected during principal succession: informal leaders, experience level of staff and the degree to which the principal is considered to be an integral part of the school. We suggest that if attention is paid to these factors new principals can influence their successful entry into their new school.

Trust and Its Role in Principal Succession: A Preliminary Examination of a Continuum of Trust*

ABSTRACT Trust is a critical factor in determining whether principal-teacher working relationships are positive or negative. This article begins to explore the concept of trust and its development in twelve Canadian secondary schools that experienced frequent principal turnover in a period of eight years. The authors found that the development of trust between principals and teachers could be described as a four phase continuum that begins at the time of a principals entry. Perceived ability (knowledge, skills, competence and consistency), the degree to which interpersonal relations develop, and the rate of principal turnover influence whether trust between principals and teachers progresses along the continuum or becomes stalled. The four types of trust along this continuum are Role, Practice, Integrative and Correlative.

Health education and interactive drama Findings from a service learning project

Objective: Within Canada, health education is generally taught by teachers who are subject generalists, or subject specialists within other disciplines, with little-to-no formal teacher training in health education. Without teacher training related to curriculum and instruction in health education, teachers are effectively required to adapt their developing pedagogies to unique health contexts. This article highlights findings from a recent study in which pre-service physical education (PE) teachers implemented interactive drama (ID) as a pedagogical practice to engage adolescent students (aged 13–16 years) in meaningful learning opportunities related to particular health education curricular outcomes. Design: The study was part of a Service Learning Project (SLP) within a secondary physical education curriculum and instruction course at Atlantic Canada University. 1 During the SLP, pre-service PE teachers (n = 21) engaged adolescent students (n = 162) in ID presentations and discussions. After completion of the SLP, pre-service PE teachers shared their perspectives of ID as a pedagogical practice capable of meaningfully engaging themselves and their students within health education. Setting: Atlantic Canada University has a population of approximately 5,000 students, the majority of whom come from Atlantic and Eastern Canada. The SLP occurred at Melmerby School, 2 a P-12 school with a student population of approximately 500 students. Method: Applying case study methodology, the researchers examined pre-service PE teachers’ written responses to a post-SLP survey. These data were collected so as to gain an in-depth understanding of ID as a perceived appropriate pedagogical practice for health education. Results: Three primary themes were identified through the data analysis. These were: enabling teachers; engaging students; and real-life connections. Conclusion: ID can be a beneficial pedagogical practice for health education; it has the potential to benefit both pre-service PE teachers and their adolescent students.

Trust During Transition: Strategic Leadership and Trust Development During Principal Succession

With an ever-increasing number of administrator turnovers and retirements the need for strategic leadership and trust development on the part of succeeding principals to develop and sustain organizational learning and school improvement initiatives is paramount. This chapter addresses how one principal faced with the consolidation of three schools successfully developed trust and utilized specific leadership goals and strategies to develop a positive and cohesive school culture aimed at increasing teacher effectiveness and student achievement. While attending to trust criteria focused on ability and interpersonal skills the principal explicitly communicated and reinforced the congruence of his actions, policies, and values (APV) to help his staff quickly progress to ‘integrative’ levels of trust along the trust continuum. Working to purposefully develop the ‘strategic architecture’ of the school including relationships, culture, learning and resources, the principal’s goals and associated practices addressed the technical, intellectual, socio-emotional and socio-political dimensions of teachers’ work as identified by Bascia and Hargreaves.

Illustrating Issues of Power and Control The Use of a Dramatic Scenario in Administration Training

This article seeks to demonstrate the possibilities of the dramatic scenario as an approach to the examination of fundamental educational administration concepts with graduate students. It draws upon a piece of theatre as representation (TAR)—‘The Icarus Selection Committee’—a scenario which was written specifically by the author to enable the examination of conflicts related to internal power and control issues of a school principal-selection committee. Students who participated in this exercise reflected afterwards on the complexity of administration and their affective response to this teaching tool.

Principal Turnover and the Impact on Teacher–Principal Relationships: Mitigating Emerging Values Issues

Much research focuses on the leadership values/ethics of leadership but strangely, very little values/ethics research focuses on school principal succession and its implications. For the past 3 years, our research, sponsored by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada , has studied the impact of rapid principal succession on teachers in twelve schools in six Nova Scotia n school boards. Our research has revealed that the negotiation and elucidation of the values constructs between the new principal and the teachers influences trust, morale, and teachers’ sense of efficacy. These have strong personal and professional implications (positively and negatively) for teachers and their work before, during and after principal succession events. This chapter is an initial examination of the decision-making process through which teachers and principals appear to come to understand each others’ values and values constructs.

The School District and the Development of Trust in New Principals: Policies and Actions that Influence Succession

Administrator turnover is an important event in the life of a school as principals provide direction for the school and have the potential to affect its culture. This chapter builds on earlier findings concerning the establishment of trust in a new principal’s administration. In this chapter, we explore the external factors by focusing on the role that school districts play in creating a policy and procedural environment that affects the development of trust between teachers and principals, particularly in schools that have experienced rapid turnover in principals. Practices used by different principals in order to build relationships may be able to provide greater insight into the process of succession. Furthermore, teachers who frequently experience leadership succession events would likely have insights and opinions about the patterns of succession processes. We were interested in whether some processes and practices were more successful than others in fostering trust in the new administrator.

Arts-Inspired Performance Assessment Considerations for Educational Leaders

Assessment in the visual and performance arts has always been a challenge in its attempt to balance content, performance, and participation for students. This chapter focuses on some of these issues employing the drama constituency as the medium for discussion. Some rubrics and curriculum content are discussed from both Canada and the United States.