The Need for Principal Preparation in Mexico City

• In Event: Enhancing Leadership Development in the International Community

Abstract

Objectives
The purpose of this study was to find out the extent to which elementary school principals in Mexico City were prepared for their position. There were two questions. First, what problems did principals face in their first years in the position? Second, in what areas were they well prepared, and in what areas were they ill prepared?

Theoretical Framework
The principal is a key person in the integration between school effectiveness and school improvement. The role of principal reinforces the idea that school improvement must drive greater effectiveness. Murillo, Barrio and Pérez Albó (1999) combined the theoretical orientation of the school effectiveness movement with the practical orientation of school improvement. The union of these two currents is called improvement of school effectiveness (Muñoz-Repiso, Murillo, Barrio, et al., 2000).

Methods
This study examined issues of principal preparation by asking novice elementary participants to respond to questions about the relevance of their preparation program. The survey instrument was created through the collaborative efforts of the ISPP research team. Using data collected from multiple case studies of novice elementary principals, the researchers developed questions related to the type of preparation the principal had and the challenges principals experienced in their first three years in post.

Data Sources
A sample of 48 principals in their first years was selected from elementary schools across Mexico City. They were 33 females and 15 males who completed the survey about problems that they faced and preparation for the position.

Results and Conclusions
Most principals reported that the items surveyed were not significant challenges. Those that were considered challenges by at least 25% of the principals included: feeling credible as the principal, achieving a work-life balance, organizing time, managing the budget, adjusting to isolation, and working with parents.

Principals reported a lack of preparation across all areas surveyed. Feeling confident as the school’s leader was the area in which principals felt least prepared. Other areas included: developing community relationships, coping with public visibility, enhancing staff capacity, understanding the culture of the community, managing paperwork, initiating school improvement, and feeling credible as the principal.

Scholarly Significance
There was little variation for most Mexico City principals amongst items on school challenges that they faced, and they did not report any significant challenges in their first years. These reports contradict earlier qualitative studies in Mexico (Slater, Garcia, Gorosave, 2008; Slater, Boone, Alvarez, et al., 2005) and are quite different from studies using the same survey in Australia and Turkey (Clarke, Wildy, & Styles, 2011; Wildy, Clarke, Styles, & Beycioglu, 2010). The survey methodology may have led the principals to be less candid than other samples that participated in focus groups. There is also a possibility that Mexican principals used different standards to judge the significance of problems.

Authors

• Charles L. Slater, California State University - Long Beach

• Jose Maria Garduno Garcia, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México

• Gema L. Gorosave, Escuela Normal Estatal