Teaching Principals' Stories

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Jenkins, Kathy
Reitano, Paul
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Lorraine Graham, Judith Miller

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2015
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Abstract

The role of a teaching principal (TP) in small rural and/or remote schools in New South Wales is not easy. Their professional lives are hectic, challenging and require a great deal of knowledge and a multitude of skills in order for them to fulfil their positions effectively. The research about TPs that has been undertaken to date has tended to focus on the trials they face in their everyday professional and personal lives within their rural contexts. Overall, research concerning TPs has been lacking, especially in relation to how they successfully manage their work. Accordingly, the Bush Tracks Research Group conducted semi-structured interviews with teaching principals in Bush Tracks 1 and 2. Interviews for Bush Tracks 1 (BT1) were carried out at school sites, while interviews for Bush Tracks 2 (BT2) were undertaken at a central meeting place for both the TPs and the researchers. These interviews were completed prior to a follow-up ‘shadowing day’ in each principal’s school. Chapter 3 has a detailed description of the methodology employed in these studies. In this chapter, the focus is on the narratives of four teaching principals. These stories from the experiences of teaching principals illustrate vividly how constructive relationships with parents and school communities underpin their effective school leadership. This chapter begins by outlining the general context of the ‘teaching principalship’ in NSW and the wider Australian context. It then discusses the nature and complexity of teaching principals’ roles and concludes with narrative excerpts that focus on how teaching principals can work to develop the kind of positive relationships with their school communities that facilitate productive school outcomes.

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Bush Tracks: The opportunities and challenges of rural teaching and leadership

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Humanities and social sciences curriculum and pedagogy (excl. economics, business and management)

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