Social, Emotional, and Practical Intelligence: How Principals Get Their Work Done

• In Event: 81.032 - MTCC Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: 81.032-2 - Utilizing Care to Improve Ethics in Leadership

Abstract

This qualitative study identifies practices and strategies that principals employ to meet their job expectations and adapt to the school reality in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The study integrates social, emotional, and practical intelligence into a unified framework to guide the inquiry. Eighteen school principals in Metro Vancouver participated in one-hour semi-structured interviews. The findings capture principals’ skills and competencies that pertain to their personal and social competencies, including self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management. The findings also identify knowledge and skills that are necessary to prepare principals for their work and highlight strategies they use to gain a sense of being in control at work in a complex and changing work environment.

Author

• Fei Wang, The University of British Columbia