2012 UCEA Convention

The Work of School Leaders: Global Similarities, Local Differences. Katina Pollock, The University of Western Ontario; Donna Swapp, University of Western Ontario
This paper compares emerging trends in the work of school leaders in the United States, Canada and Sweden. This research is informed by the International Successful School Principalship Project focus group of practising administrators at the 2011 Boston conference. Participants described their work, preparation and challenges. Critical issues impacting school administrators’ work were highlighted as well as the ways in which school leadership plays out similarly across international perspectives, and yet differently within local contexts.

Dare to Make a Difference: Successful Principals Who Explore the Potential of their Role. Lawrie Drysdale, University of Melbourne; David Gurr, University of Melbourne; Helen Goode, University of Melbourne
This paper explores how successful school This paper explores how successful school principals ‘dare to make a difference’ and enhance the lives and performance of members of their school communities by exploring the boundaries of their role. The paper outlines a model called ‘The Total Role Concept’ that attempts to balance the leadership and management roles of school principals. Findings indicate that sucessful principals explore the boundaries of their role.

Principals’ interpretation of organizational context: Understanding principal self-efficacy and the nature of principal practice. Andrea Elaine Evans, University of Illinois at Chicago
This study explored principals’ interpretations of their organizational context and how those interpretations affected principal self-efficacy and the nature of principal practice. Interviews focused on principals’ interpretation of their school organizational context, self-efficacy, and leadership performance. This study found that while principals generally felt they had the knowledge and skills to perform effectively, they interpreted that the organizational context either provided opportunities or barriers for them, which shaped their leadership performance.

Using Experience Sampling Methodology to Build an Understanding of Educational Leaders’ Creative Problem Solving Process. Jen Katz-Buonincontro, Drexel University School of Education
The purpose of this paper session is to present research findings from a study using experience sampling methodology to build a formative understanding of educational leaders’ creative problem solving process (CPSP). When leaders were solving problems, they were challenged, experienced high levels of concentration and perceived the problem to be important. Solving problems was associated with
an upswing in cognitive effort but a downward spiral in believing one could be successful at creative problem solving.