Recent Australian research
A study into the complexity of role of the Catholic Primary School Principal as a member of the Parish Community.
Australian Catholic Primary Principals' Association
www.acppa.catholic.edu.au/projects/index.html
The impetus for this research project was a growing concern about the role of
the primary principal in the parish. Given this concern, the Australian Catholic
Primary Principals Association (ACPPA) commissioned a national research
project to explore the role of the primary principal in the parish.
The Privilege and the Price: A Study of Principal Class Workload and its Impact on Health and Wellbeing
Department of Education and Training, Victoria. 2004
www.det.vic.gov.au/hrweb/ohs/health/prin.htm
A sixty-three page report plus appendices available to download from the website below. The Principal Class Workload Study Project was carried out during 2003. It was conducted in four stages: an international literature review; focus group interviews; a survey; and final report. It identified a number of issues influencing principal workload, and affecting their health and well-being.
Understanding principal class leadership aspirations: Policy and planning implications
Lacey, K. (2002) For Department of Education & Training School Leadership Development Unit, Victoria.
Download report from Sofweb
The results of this research were seminal in putting succession planning on the agenda in Australia schools and education systems and sectors.
The research was conducted to answer three key questions:
- What are the leadership aspirations of Victorian government school teachers?
- What are the factors that impact on leadership aspirations?
- What are the policy and planning implications of these factors?
Aspiring to the Principalship?
Gronn, P. and Lacey, K. (2004) Report from the Focus Group Interviews held June and July 2004, as part of the ARC Discovery Project 'Principal Aspirations and Recruitment amidst Leadership Disengagement' Monash University
This report summarises findings from phase one of a three phase research project exploring the career aspirations of teachers in government schools in Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. Phase one - focus group interviews, and phase two - a survey occurred in 2004. Phase three - one-to-one interviews with volunteers from the survey and principal class members who have recently resigned from the post will take place in 2005.
The Influence of Leadership in Producing Outstanding Schooling Outcomes In Junior Secondary Education
Professor Steve Dinham, University of New England. Paper presented to the British Educational Research Association (BERA) 2004 Conference, UMIST, Manchester, UK.
Dinham_JS_leaders.pdf
The Sussessful School Leadership Project (SSLP)
The University of Melbourne is part of the Successful School Leadership Project (SSLP). This is a unique four year multiple-perspective research project which is designed to identify the qualities, characteristics and competencies of successful school leadership in primary and secondary schools in different socio-economic circumstances across several countries (including: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Hong Kong (China), Norway, Sweden, and the USA).
www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/EPM/COLL/subjects/MSL/?index.shtml
Gurr, D., Drysdale, L., Di Natale, E., Ford, P., Hardy, R. & Swann, R. (2003). Successful School Leadership in Victoria: Three Case Studies, Leading and Managing, 9(1), pp. 18-37
This paper reports the three case studies of successful principals leading successful
schools in Victoria, Australia.
Mulford, B. and Johns, S. (2004) 'Successful School Principalship', Leading and Managing, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 45-76.
This paper first examines a number of recent overviews of and models developed from research on successful school leadership. It outlines the methodology and findings from case studies derived from the Tasmanian part of the ISSL project. Finally the paper presents a preliminary model for examining successful school leadership.
