This review provides a synthesis of research from the past decade on beginning principals and the professional supports they access to cope with role-related demands. The synthesis is based on empirical research studies conducted from the perspectives of beginning principals and contributes to the knowledge base on principal wellbeing and…

For much of the past half-century, scholars from various parts of the world have studied the early stages of school principals' careers. This article presents the results of a review of research on novice principals (NPs) regarding its current status, intellectual structure and conceptual structure. The review conducted bibliometric and content…

Transition from teacher to principal involves both a technocratic response based on 'yearning for certainty' that requisite leadership skills will be learned, and a critically-reflexive approach to adopting a new professional identity (Crow and Møller 2017. "Professional Identities of School Leaders across International Contexts: An…

School leaders in Queensland, Australia, are working in a rapidly shifting policy landscape, expected to work towards system-defined improvement measures involving increasingly higher external accountabilities. This article analyses a group of long-term case studies of the effects of school improvement expectations on principals since the…

This review aims at providing a synthesis of the scholarship that has sought to expand the understanding of the early career stage of principalship by documenting the experiences and tasks of new principals (NPs) in the first three years in the post, and their personal and organizational determinants. The synthesis is based on empirical research…

Purpose: This paper aims to highlight what principals consider their most severe challenges in the first three years of appointment and the extent to which they believe they were adequately prepared to meet these challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports on the initial Western Australian findings of a survey developed for Phase…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the literature on beginning the principalship by identifying and illustrating key challenges that novice principals encounter in their first year for which they would benefit from improved preparation. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a synthesis of a decade of research focusing on the principal…

This paper examines the complex matter of initial principal preparation in a context where traditionally beginning principals have learned their role from experience, on the job. Using data from both novice and experienced primary principals it was found that while what was needed in the job was agreed upon--how to deal with place, with people,…

Purpose: The paper aims to provide insights into the work of beginning principals in their first year through the experiences of one beginning principal during his first year in post. Design/methodology/approach: In order to illuminate the problems of beginning principals the paper sets out to answer the personal question: "What can I say…

This paper proceeds from the basis that leadership can only be understood in context and by viewing it from the inside. In particular, it argues that the contextual complexity of small school leadership warrants attention from researchers, policy makers and system administrators and describes the nature of this complexity as depicted in the…

This article is concerned with the nature of novice teaching principals' interactions in Queensland rural communities. Stories selected from case accounts are used to provide insights into the teaching principals' interrelationship with the community. The article concludes with a discussion of some implications for practice suggested by these…

Findings of a study of beginning principals and their roles as managers are presented in this paper. Interviews were conducted with 12 new primary and secondary principals in Victoria, Australia as part of a longitudinal study from 1989 to 1993. This paper focuses on interview data collected during the first year of the study. Drawing from…