How School Principals Form Their Professional Identity: Leadership Practice in Challenging Circumstances

• In Event: Leadership During Challenging Times

Abstract

This qualitative research aims to explore how principals' professional identity is constructed in their everyday leadership practice in China. Although identity is a popular topic in contemporary organization studies (Sveningsson and Alvesson 2003), principals' identity is still under-researched. The qualitative research method was used via five face-to-face focus group interviews with 46 principals. Results show that despite tensions and challenges the headteachers faced, they harbored a strong sense of moral responsibility as their primary professional identity, implementing leadership-claiming practices in the face of stakeholders, social and cultural contexts. The headteachers tried to create a “small culture” with leadership teams and regulations at schools and lead their schools to succeed. In the process of leadership practices, adaptive professional identities were developed.

Author

• Fei He, Peking University