School Principals and Students With Special Education Needs: Case Studies From a National Canadian Study

• In Event: 66.067 - Intersectionalities in Leadership and Inclusive Education Research: Comparative Perspectives From Canada

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, school boards have supported teachers to adapt their teaching techniques to meet the wide variety of student needs in their classrooms (McCrimmon, 2015; Specht et al., 2016). Canadian and international equality rights conventions as encoded by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Section 15, Equality Rights) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28, Education Rights) address the issue of providing education on an equal basis for all students. Indeed, this is a basic premise of inclusive schools. Principals play central roles in developing healthy school environments that foster success of all students (Leithwood, Patten, & Jantzi, 2010). However, limited attention has been given in the scholarly literature to the role of school principals in addressing the needs of students with special education needs in inclusive schools (Cobb, 2014; Edmunds & Macmillan, 2010).

The purpose of this study is to identify the types of special education training that school principals in Canada engage in, as well as to explore the day-to-day issues and critical incidents that principals might experience when supporting students with special education needs. Critical incidents refer to significant framing moments in educator work experiences that lead to changes of practice and perspective (Yamamoto, Gardiner, & Tenuto, 2014); these incidents do not necessarily refer to negative experiences and may, indeed, incorporate asset-based perspectives (Scott, 2004). The study builds on the work of Cobb (2014) in examining the roles and responsibilities of principals in supporting students with special education needs. It also builds on a novel theoretical framework that considers how critical incidents shape the experiences and perspectives of school leaders (Yamamoto, Gardiner, & Tenuto, 2014).

The study involved a survey completed by 285 principals from across Canada. In-depth interviews were completed with 45 principals and five other educational stakeholders in diverse school boards to examine the related research questions. Six key themes emerged from the analysis of data, including: the importance of relationships, modelling desired behaviour, communication, principal isolation, limited preparation, and critical incidents. These themes are examined in light of literature contending that school leaders are central to the shaping of inclusive school cultures (Fullan, 2011).

This research offers a timely opportunity to not only examine the critical incidents that principals experience, but to also provide scholars and practitioners with a knowledge mobilization outcomes of case studies that can be used to assist principals in developing competencies to support inclusive schools (Dollarhide, Smith, & Lemberger, 2007). With its unique focus on the role of principals as central to research on inclusive school policy in Canada, this research will address the gap in the literature on inclusion and school leadership and provide insight into the shaping force of critical incidents in fostering principals’ competencies for supporting inclusive schools and classrooms. It further provides an important opportunity for comparative and international perspectives to foster inclusive school systems globally.

Authors

• Steve Sider, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Kimberly Maich, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Jeffrey W. H. MacCormack, University of Lethbridge