Purpose: Despite occasional claims for the coexistence of transformational leadership and instructional leadership in schools, the literature is dominated by views supporting an "either/or" orientation. This is especially true in the wake of recent findings that instructional leadership has a greater impact on student learning. This…

New vice-principals (VPs) inevitably experience high levels of uncertainty when assuming the position, and undergo a process of socialisation, involving engaging with both professional and relational sources of support in schools, to adjust to their changing role. Drawing on socialisation theories, this exploratory study proposes that novice VPs…

In discussions on the contribution of leadership in improving schools, transformational leadership and instructional leadership are, more often than not, portrayed as disparate practices. The former argues for developing teacher collaborative capacity in schools, whereas the latter advocates establishing controlling measures on teaching quality;…

This paper attempts to address the principal shortage issue from the concept of fit perceived by job applicants. It links vice-principals' perception of suitability for principalship to their conception of how well they can match with the selection criteria set out by school hiring bodies. Based on evidence collected from aspiring principals in…

This article reports a study designed to examine the mediating effect of vice-principals' job satisfaction on the relation between their responsibility roles and career aspirations. Based on a Hong Kong data set, the study confirmed that responsibilities had both a direct effect and an indirect effect on career aspiration; the latter was mediated…

A discrepancy exists between the ideal and the actual roles played by vice-principals (VPs). This gap between roles influences the level of job satisfaction, which, in turn, affects their desire for a principalship. This study used a questionnaire survey of about 300 Hong Kong VPs to examine the core responsibility dimensions pertaining to their…

Purpose: This article reports on a study designed to uncover the factors aspiring secondary school principals consider important when deciding whether to apply for a specific post. The aspiring principals involved in the study had all confirmed their desire to be a principal; about half were already vice-principals. Methods: Evidence for the study…

Purpose: This study attempts to link four groups of contextual factors to vice principals' desire for principalship using regression analysis. Relevant items representing context are grouped under professional, school, demographic, and motivational factors. The findings aim to provide greater understanding of the desire, or lack thereof, of vice…

This article details a large-scale study of vice-principals in Hong Kong secondary schools. The study aimed to examine the core competency areas that pertain to the work of vice-principals and the way in which vice-principals perceive these areas to relate to school success. It also examined the factors that affect their level of job satisfaction,…