Exploring a New Cocktail Mix: School Principals’ Epistemological Beliefs, Context, and Leadership Practices

• In Event: Educational Leadership: Research as Praxis for the Public Good

Abstract

Purpose:

The main goal of this study was to explore the interelations between the leadership styles school principals adopt when leading their schools, their epistemological worldviews, and their beliefs about the contextual and governance structures in which they operate.
Theoretical framework:

Recent research has identified school leadership to be a vital component in the effectiveness of school organizations (Brauckmann, & Pashiardis, 2011; Gronn & Ribbins, 2003; Lashway, 2003; Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005). School principals’ leadership styles are likely being influenced by their epistemological beliefs, namely beliefs about the nature and acquisition of knowledge (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Schommer, 1990). Further, principals’ leadership styles are likely being influenced by their beliefs about the policy environments and organisational arrangements in which they operate. However, little research has been undertaken to explore the relationships between the aforementioned three factors and their respective interactions.

Method:

To achieve this goal we developed and validated three structured questionnaires which assess principals’ leadership styles, epistemological beliefs, and beliefs about the contextual and educational governance structures, respectively. The three questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 283 primary and secondary education principals. Qualitative data collection was also conducted using a sub-sample of 30 primary and 25 secondary school principals, to enhance the validity of the questionnaire data. The qualitative data collection involved a think-aloud task which allowed for the observation of principals’ spontaneous thoughts when encountering a realistic situation.

Data Analyses:

The data for each of the quantitative questionnaires was analyzed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis to identify their underlying structures and to evaluate their items’ reliability. Then, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test different theoretical models depicting various relationships between the identified constructs of the questionnaires. Principals’ responses to the think-aloud tasks were coded based on a coding scheme developed from the constructs extracted from the quantitative analysis. The frequency of responses for each think-aloud category were analyzed using Cluster Analysis to explore the degree to which the relations among the three constructs corresponds to the relations identified in the SEM models.

Results:

The findings showed very few interrelations among the three constructs, suggesting their independence. Among those relations, the most interesting pertained to the entrepreneurial leadership style and its relation to better school climate and relativist personal epistemology.




Significance of the study:

These findings contribute to our understanding of how principals’ leadership styles relate to their epistemological worldviews and to their beliefs about contextual factors and organizational arrangements. Furthermore, the findings provide insight into how different factors influence, and are being influenced by, the ways principals decide to lead their schools. From a policy point of view, we expect that these findings will directly inform the design of evidence-based, school leadership training programs that take into consideration important factors that affect how principals decide to lead their schools. This would lead to the upgrading of the quality of the training of the school leaders for their work.

Authors

• Petros A. Pashiardis, The Open University of Cyprus

• Panayiota Kendeou, NEAPOLIS UNIVERSITY PAFOS

• Athena Michaelidou, The Open University of Cyprus

• Eleni Lytras, Open University of Cyprus