Examining the Time Principals Dedicate to Interacting With Teachers and Other Educational Stakeholders

• In Event: Principal Leadership Practices, Student Learning, and Teacher Outcomes

Abstract

Objective. Leadership of an effective or improving school requires principals to prioritize the allocation of their limited time across competing demands and stakeholders. Prior studies have concentrated on the amount of time principals dedicate to instructional tasks (Grissom et al, 2013). Such focus on the content of principal activity has neglected examination of the time principals dedicate to interacting with teachers and other educational stakeholders (Spillane et al., 2008). The purpose of this study was to improve understanding of how principals interact with teachers and other school stakeholders to meet the responsibilities of leading a school.
Perspective. Principal time use studies have relied on the premise that a perpetual supply of demands requires principals to make choices about how to dedicate their finite amount of time (Goldring et al., 2008). From this premise, scholars have hypothesized that variation in principals’ dedication of time to activities results in differential educational outcomes (Sebastian et al., 2018). Specifically focusing on principal interactions, Spillane, Camburn, and Pareja (2007) explored the personnel with whom principals shared leadership activities and found variation in interactions between activities and schools
Data and Methods. Relying on Event Sampling Methodology (ESM), we collected time use data from a sample of five principals. Between the hours of 8AM and 8PM during 28 consecutive days of the first semester of the 2014-15 academic year, we used notifications from smartwatch technology to survey principals about their time use. When prompted, the principals responded to survey questions, which asked them to classify their activity, identify the activity’s participants, and briefly describe the activity.
In addition to calculating the frequency of principal activities with the seven types of educational stakeholders, we compared rates of teacher interactions with other educational stakeholders. We also examined the timing of when principals interacted with educational stakeholders, specifically analyzing interactions during instructional hours. Finally, we qualitatively examined activity descriptions to compare the opportunities, purpose, and content of principals’ interactions with teachers against interactions with other educational stakeholders.
Results. Of the 420 notifications that occurred during the course of the data collection, the five principals responded 332 times for a response rate of 79%. Although principals categorized their activities as instructional the least often, they reported interacting with teachers more than any other educational stakeholder. Examination of the timing of interactions revealed that principal activity during instructional hours most often involved educational stakeholders. In the majority of responses that principals categorized as instructional activity, they also reported interacting with teachers. Finally, analyses of activity descriptions revealed that principals often described engaging in specific types of activities with particular stakeholders, such as analyzing student data when interacting with teachers.
Significance. Findings from this study suggest that the majority of principal leadership practices involve educational stakeholders. When meeting with educational stakeholders, principals frequently interacted with teachers. Principals’ interactions with teachers primarily occurred during school hours and addressed instructional tasks. However, this focus on instructional interactions could inhibit teachers from providing input to principals about school policies and procedures.

Authors

• Craig Dennis Hochbein, Lehigh University

• Linda K. Mayger, The College of New Jersey

• Bridget V. Dever, Lehigh University