ERIC Number: EJ939542
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0957-8234
EISSN: N/A
Context Matters: Principals' Sensemaking of Teacher Hiring and On-the-Job Performance
Ingle, Kyle; Rutledge, Stacey; Bishop, Jennifer
Journal of Educational Administration, v49 n5 p579-610 2011
Purpose: School principals make sense of multiple messages, policies, and contexts within their school environments. The purpose of this paper is to examine specifically how school leaders make sense of hiring and subjective evaluation of on-the-job teacher performance. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study drew from 42 interviews with 21 principals from a mid-sized Florida school district. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews (one to two hours each) were conducted with the informants over two summers (2005-2006). The multi-year study allows the authors to assess the consistency across principal participants. Findings: Principals' personal beliefs, background, and experiences were found to shape their conceptions and preferences for teacher characteristics. School type (e.g. elementary, secondary, levels of poverty) also influenced principals' perceptions of and preferences for specific applicant and teacher characteristics. Principals in the sample, however, showed surprising consistency towards certain characteristics (caring, subject matter knowledge, strong teaching skills) and job fit (person-job). Sampled principals reported that each vacancy is different and is highly dependent on the position, team, and individuals. Regardless of the position or school setting, federal, state, and district mandates strongly influenced how principals made sense of the hiring process and on-the-job performance. Practical implications: The findings underscore the complexity of the human resource functions in education and raise important questions of how school leaders reconcile personal preferences and building-level needs with demands from the district, state, and federal levels. Originality/value: The authors' findings offer important insight into the complex conceptualizations that principals hold and the balances that must be struck in the face of policy and hiring constraints. How principals make sense of teacher quality, however, has not been examined. This study contributes to the extant research and makes a theoretical contribution to studies using a cognitive frame to understand school leadership. (Contains 5 tables and 13 notes.)
Descriptors: Caring, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Characteristics, Teacher Selection, Job Performance, Interviews, Teaching Skills, Human Resources, Principals, Administrator Role, Teacher Evaluation, School Districts, Administrator Attitudes, Experience, Institutional Characteristics, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Teacher Competencies, Educational Environment
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A