Re-examining the Principalship in times of Change: Conceptualising Principal Agency

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Internal and External Forces Shaping Principal Leadership

Abstract

This study explores how school principals conceptualize and enact agency in the context of education reform. Drawing on life history and narrative interviews with 15 principals, it examines how leadership is shaped by personal histories, relational dynamics, and systemic conditions. The findings reveal agency as a temporally embedded, relational, and contextually mediated practice, exercised through reflective decision-making, strategic adaptation, and values-driven leadership. Principals navigate complex policy environments while maintaining a commitment to their communities and professional identities. The study contributes a novel framework for understanding principal agency and has significance for leadership theory, policy, and practice, particularly in systems marked by hierarchical governance, reform intensity, and shifting socio-political landscapes.

Author

• Paul Campbell, The University of Hong Kong