The Changing Role of the Principal
Presented by: Jarrett Dooley
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Looking backward helps us to move forward, so let’s first look at the…Traditional Management Theory
 Traditional = OLD
 OLD = Military?
 Does it?
Traditional Management Theory is:
 Suited to situations with linear conditions
o Linear = stable predictable environments; structured tasks; single solutions; easily measured
outcomes
 Bus schedules, purchasing books, planning conference times
 They can become nonlinear when they are messed up
 Non-Linear = dynamic environments; multiple and competing goals; unstructured tasks; competing
solutions; unclear and competing lines of authority
o Most interactions in schools are non linear!
 Suited to situations of practice that are highly structured
 Schools practice “pattern rationality”
o Pursuit of a pattern of outcomes. It reflects a concern for costs and benefits of one’s actions.
“No Free Lunch.”
 Suited to situations in which a routine level of competence and performance are necessary.
 For schools to excel, teachers and administrators need to be concerned with uniqueness and
“specialness” in their interactions with each other and students.
 The test of effective schools is to ensure that every student is successful in achieving high academic,
social and personal goals.
 Standardization is not the formula for extraordinary commitment and performance.
Limits of Traditional Management Theory
 Can and should it be applied to schools?
o Are schools linear and predictable? Is every situation linear?
 Not really! TMT is limited in the fact that it achieves minimums not maximums, since it is
grounded in a bureaucratic style of leadership, relying on rules, regulations and formal
expectations for someone to do something.
 Since TMT tends to be bureaucratic, in nature it is rooted in standardization and “routinization.”
 This leads to a One Size Fits All mentality.
o For the previously mentioned reasons, TMT and its one size fits all mentality is not appropriate
when it comes to leadership in schools.
“Those leaders that are most effective do not experience fewer problems, they just deal with them differently.”
This is the new theory and thinking in educational leadership. Throw out the one size fits all mentality, and
understand that leading a school involves more than one answer for the same problem.
What will you do differently?
How are you going to be creative and stand out as an effective leader at your school?
Jarrett Dooley: “the Changing Role of the Principal”
Revised: 1/28/2010
Mindscapes = simply means a theory of practice
 Each person operates under a theory or system of theories. Our mindscapes influence our perceptions,
our beliefs and our actions.
Sergiovanni’s 3 Mindscapes:
Mystics do not value theory or research. They believe they’re irrelevant to practice. They have no order to
educational environment, and view educational administration as a non-science; they feel practice is driven by the
principal’s knowledge
Neats hold the view that educational administration resembles an applied Science within which theory and
research are directly and linearly linked to practice. They have a “magic bullet” mindset that can fix anything, they
are organized and systematic, not rebellious, and are typically Conventional and conservative. Cookie Cutter?
Easily accepted because it is status quo, most teachers have worked under these leaders already.
Scruffies hold the view that education administration resembles a craft-like science within which theory and
research are only one source of knowledge, and this is what informs practice. They are aware that intuition must
be informed by theoretical knowledge on one hand and adept understandings of the situation on the other.
According to Sergiovanni, the task of the principal is to make sense of messy situations by increasing
understanding and discovering and communicating meanings. Their actions are rooted in theories of practice,
including a reflective one.
Why is the reflective practice so important?
 The use of informed intuition on the part of the principal is one component of reflective practice.
 When reflective practice is embraced, the principal becomes a student as well as a leader.
 Complex problems must be encountered with a reflective lens.
 In changing our mindscapes, we must utilize a "Reflective Practice that requires the principal to have a
healthy respect for, be well informed about, and use the best available theory and research and
accumulated practice wisdom."
Does that sound rather exhausting? Absolutely, because it is! In order to effectively utilize the reflective practice,
your knowledge of best practices and theory/research needs to be extensive. The accumulated practice wisdom
portion means that this process will be ongoing in nature, as you learn what works and what doesn’t.
Issues that we must deal with in changing our mindscapes and applying this new theory
School Structure
Traditional Rule: Schools are managerially tight but culturally loose.
The Alternative: Schools are managerially loose but culturally tight.
Strategic planning
Traditional Rule: Clarity, control, consensus are important to effective management and are achieved by detailed
planning.
The Alternative: Clarity, control, consensus are important to effective management and are achieved by planning
strategically.
Where to fit people into the improvement planning process
Traditional Rule: When it comes to fitting people in, first emphasize ends, then ways, then means.
The Alternative: When it comes to school improvement, first emphasize means, then ways, then ends.
Getting and maintaining compliance
Traditional Rule: To manage compliance identify and announce goals, use goals to develop work requirements,
use work requirements to develop compliance strategy and then observe involvement and commitment
consequences and correct as necessary.
Jarrett Dooley: “the Changing Role of the Principal”
Revised: 1/28/2010
The Alternative: To manage compliance, first establish your compliance strategy, develop complementary work
requirements, decide on a work strategy and evaluate.
Developing a motivational strategy
Traditional Rule: What gets rewarded gets done.
The Alternative: What is rewarding gets done, gets done well and gets done without close supervision or other
controls.
Sergiovanni’s 6 Control Strategies
Direct Supervision – fast food worker
Standardized Work Process – predictable jobs
Standardizing Outcomes – from the top down
Professional Socialization – medical profession
Purposing and Shared Values – the glue that bonds people together
Collegiality & Natural Interdependence – provide normative power, like the European Union, no material
incentives or physical force
The last three function as substitutes for leadership! When this occurs, issues of control take care of themselves!
Basic Principles of Organizing:
 Cooperation – organization structures enhance cooperation among teachers, thus counteracting teachers’
isolation
 Empowerment – organizational structures enhance empowerment among teachers, giving them a sense
of ownership and increasing their commitment and motivation to work.
 Responsibility – when teachers and other school professionals are provided with more responsibility, they
perceive their work to be more significant and important, and their success is more easily recognized.
 Accountability – teachers participate in setting local standards and norms and then are held accountable
for their decisions and achievements.
 Meaningfulness – when teachers find meaning in their own work, they feel intense intrinsic satisfaction.
 Ability-authority - authority to act is delegated-formally and informally-to those having the ability to act
effectively. Organizational structures promote authority based on ability.
Can you handle this new theory? Are okay with being a leader, a combination of neats+scruffies, that values the
reflective practice and can handle the new alternatives in changing our mindscapes, and that can integrate 3 of
sergiovannis control strategies, all while applying the basic principles of organizing?
Jarrett Dooley: “the Changing Role of the Principal”
Revised: 1/28/2010
Additional Resources for Extended Learning
Blasé, Joseph & Blasé, Jo. Principals’ Instructional Leadership an Teacher Development: Teachers’ Perspectives.
http://eaq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/35/3/349
Dooley, Jarrett. The Changing Role of the Principal. Presentation.
http://prezi.com/4b72rf-edti1/
Glasman, N. & Heck, R. The Changing Leadership Role of the Principal. Implications for Principal Assessment.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1492563
Stolp, Stephen. Leadership for School Culture.
http://cepm.uoregon.edu/publications/digests/digest091.html
Jarrett Dooley: “the Changing Role of the Principal”
Revised: 1/28/2010