How a Mature School Culture Prevents Principals From Being Leaders

• In Event: Leadership as the Negotiation of Autonomy and Control

Abstract

In Germany, the externally attributed role of principals has been reformed from “primus inter pares” among largely autonomous teachers, to someone leading school improvement. This new role, however, might be perceived as illegitimate in an evolved culture of extensive teacher autonomy, and therefore harder to implement. The paper analyses the extent to which this is true by juxtaposing “older” and “younger” schools as well as more and less progressive school types. Using quantitative data from 22 schools and 1,042 teachers, we analyzed the extent to which principals exerted the leadership practices expected in the “new” principal role. The results confirm that these new leadership practices were more pronounced in younger schools and in the more progressive school types.

Authors

• Hanna Bronnert-Härle, University of Duisburg-Essen

• Esther Dominique Klein, TU Dortmund University