Mapping Principal Preparation in Alberta, Canada

Yıl 2010, Sayı: 1, 75 - 96, 23.07.2016

Charles F Webber Shelleyann Scott

Öz

This research project investigates the effectiveness of principal preparation programs for early-career principals using the question How useful are principal preparation programs to novice principals? This paper maps the formal and informal principal preparation opportunities available in Alberta, Canada. The analysis was part of the International Study of Principal Preparation designed to explore leadership development in 13 countries. The social, political, and economic context of Alberta is outlined to provide a backdrop for the education system in which principals’ practice. The study employed a mixed-methods design comprised of three stages: mapping of principal preparation programming using a range of information sources, case studies of school principals in the first three years of their appointments, and a questionnaire administered to a sample of early-career principals in each country represented by the ISPP research team. This article reports the first stage mapping of principal preparation programming in Alberta, Canada. Principal preparation in Alberta is described in terms of its intended audience, content, structure, deliverers, delivery modes, credentials, and pedagogy. Leadership development opportunities that are described include non-credit in-service, graduate certificates and graduate diplomas, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees. Informal programs may be powerful but variable in terms of rigor. The laddering from graduate certificate-graduate diploma-master’s degree may provide an articulation pathway that more traditional programs preclude. Formal programs may link local, national, and international evidence more strongly than their informal counterparts. The mapping of principal preparation in Alberta, Canada, suggests that leadership development has evolved over the history of the province and nation and, therefore, so must leadership development programming. The mapping also suggests that principal preparation should attend more to the needs of all citizens in Alberta, not just the majority. There is a need for ongoing cross-cultural examinations of leadership development and its impact on principals’ identities and professional practices. The authors caution against “credential creep” in that more certificates, diplomas, and degrees do not necessarily mean better leadership without adequate attention to the social, political, and economic environments in which leaders practice. Also, the potential benefits of inter-institutional collaboration among organizations and across cultures should be explored in future studies. Finally, the authors do not suggest a one-size-fits-all model for leadership development but, rather, they offer a set of insights intended to inform other professional developers.

Kaynakça

• Alberta Education. (2009). The principal quality practice guideline: Promoting successful school leadership in Alberta. Edmonton: Author.
• Alberta Teachers’ Association. (nd). Teacher Qualifications Service (TQS). Retrieved from http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Salary%20and%20Benefit/Pages/Teacher%20 Salary%20Qualifications.aspx
• Brockington, R. (2009). Summary public school indicators for the provinces and territories, 2000/2001 to 2006/2007. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-m/81-595-m2009078-eng.pdf
• Canadian Education Association. (2007). Public education in Canada: Facts, trends, and attitudes. Retrieved from http://www.cea-ace.ca/media/en/CEA-ACE_ PubEd.07_E_FinalWEB.pdf
• Cheung, R.M., & Walker, A. (2006). Inner worlds and outer limits: The formation of beginning school principals in Hong Kong. Journal of Educational Administration, 44(4), 389-407.
• Clarke, S., Wildy, H., & Pepper, C. (2007). Connecting preparation with reality: Primary principals’ experiences of their first year out in Western Australia. Leading and Managing, 13(1), 81-90.
• Council of Ministers of Education (nd). Education in Canada. Retrieved from http:// www.cmec.ca/pages/canadawide.aspx#02
• Cowie, M., & Crawford, M. (2009). Headteacher preparation programmes in England and Scotland: Do they make a difference for the first-year head? School Leadership and Management, 29(1), 5-21.
• Cowie, M., & Crawford, M. (2008). “Being” a new principal in Scotland, Journal of Educational Administration 46(6), 676-689.
• Cowie, M, & Crawford, M. (2007). Principal preparation – still an act of faith? School Leadership and Management, 27(2), 129-146.
• Cowie, M., Crawford, M., & Turan, S. (2007, April). Principal preparation in England, Scotland and Turkey. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago IL.
• Crossley, M., Bray, M., & Packer, S. (2009). Education in the small states of the Commonwealth: Towards and beyond global goals and targets. The Round Table, 98(405), 731-751.
• Fullan, M. (2007). Change theory as a force for school improvement. In J. Burger, C.F. Webber, & P. Klinck (Eds.). Intelligent leadership (pp. 27-39), Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
• Gall, M., Gall, J.P., & Borg, W.R. (2010). Applying educational research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
• Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E., & Airasian, P. (2009). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
• Government of Alberta. (2010a). Alberta’s official immigration website: Alberta’s education system. Retrieved from http://www.alberta-canada.com/immigration/ living/educationalsystem.html
• Government of Alberta. (2010b). Education: Role of school boards. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/admin/role.aspx
• Government of Alberta. (2010c). Industry and economy. Retrieved from http://alberta. ca/home/181.cfm
• Government of Alberta. (2010d). National and international testing. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/admin/testing/nationaltesting.aspx
• Government of Alberta. (2010e). Post-secondary institutions. Retrieved from http:// www.advancededucation.gov.ab.ca/post-secondary/institutions/public.aspx
• Government of Alberta. (2010f). Teacher certification in Alberta. Retrieved from http:// education.alberta.ca/teachers/certification.aspx
• Government of Alberta. (2009a, December). Alberta demographic spotlight. Retrieved from http://www.finance.alberta.ca/aboutalberta/demographic_ spotlights/2009_1221_International_Migration_Spotlight_Final.pdf
• Government of Alberta. (2009b). 2009 population list. Retrieved from http://www. municipalaffairs.alberta.ca/documents/LGS/2009pop.pdf
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. (2009). First Nations in Alberta. Retrieved from http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/scr/ab/fn/pubs/fna/fna-eng.pdf
• International Study of Principal Preparation. (2010). Focus of the study. Retrieved from http://people.ucalgary.ca/~cwebber/ISPP/focus.htm
• Leithwood, K. (2007), What we know about educational leadership, in J. Burger, C.F.
• Webber, and P. Klinck (Eds), Intelligent leadership: Constructs for thinking education leaders, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 41-66.
• Leithwood, K., Seashore Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How leadership influences student learning. New York NY: The Wallace Foundation. Levine, A. (2005). Educating school leaders. Washington, DC: Education Schools Project. Available online: http://www.edschools.org/pdf/Final313.pdf
• Macpherson, R. (2009). How secondary principals view New Zealand’s leadership preparation and succession strategies: Systematic professionalisation or amateurism through serial incompetence? Leading and Managing, 15(2), 44- 58.
• Mills, G.E. (2011). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
• Mulford, B. (2004). Congruence between the democratic purposes of schools and school principal training in Australia. Journal of Educational Administration, 42(6), 625-639.
• Murphy, J. (2008). The place of leadership in turnaround schools: Insights from organizational recovery in the public and private sectors. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(1), 74-98.
• Nelson, S.W., de la Colina, M.G., & Boone, M.D. (2008). Lifeworld or systemsworld: What guides novice principals? Journal of Educational Administration 46(6), 690-701.
• Onguko, B., Abdalla, M., & Webber, C.F. (2010). Walking in unfamiliar territory: Headteachers’ preparation and experiences in their first year in Tanzania. Manuscript submitted for publication.
• Onguko, B., Abdalla, M., & Webber, C.F. (2008). Mapping principal preparation in Kenya and Tanzania, Journal of Educational Administration 46(6): 715-726.
• Ottmann, J. (2009). Canada’s First Nations people: Ethnicity and leadership. AS-eDUC Journal, 6(2), 100-116.Alberta School Act: Revised Statutes of Alberta 2000. Chapter S-3 (2009).
• Robertson, J.M., & Webber, C.F. (2002). Boundary-breaking leadership: A must for tomorrow’s learning communities. In K. Leithwood & P. Hallinger (Eds.) Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration (pp. 519 – 556). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• Scott, S., & Rarieya, J. (2010). Professional development of school leaders: Crosscultural comparisons from Canada and East Africa. Manuscript submitted for publication.
• Scott, S., & Webber, C.F. (submitted). Entrepreneurialism for Canadian principals: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• Scott, S., & Webber, C.F. (2008). Evidence-based leadership development: The 4L framework. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(6), 762-776.
• Shah, S. (2006). Leading multiethnic schools: A new understanding of Muslim youth identity. Educational Management, Administration, & Leadership, 34(2), 215- 237.
• Slater, C.L. Boone, M., Nelson, S., De La Colina, M., Garcia, E., Grimaldo, L., Rico, G., Rodríguez, S., Sirios, D., Womack, D., Garcia, J.M., & Arriaga, R. (2007). El Escalafón y el Doble Turno: An international perspective on school director preparation. Journal for Educational Research and Policy Studies, 6(2), 60-90.
• Slater, C.L., Garcia, J.M., & Gorosave, G.L. (2008). Challenges of a successful first-year principal in Mexico, Journal of Educational Administration 46(6), 702-714. Statistics Canada. (2009). Quarterly demographic estimates. Retrieved from http://www. statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090929/t090929b2-eng.htm
• Steffy, B.E., Wolfe, M.P., Pasch, S.H. and Enz, B.J. (2000), The model and its application, in Steffy, B.E., Wolfe, M.P, Pasch, S.H. and Enz, B.J. (Eds), Life cycle of the career teacher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Kappa Delta Pi and Corwin Press.
• Turan, S. (2000). John Dewey’s report of 1924 and his recommendations on the Turkish educational system revisited. History of Education, 29(6), 543-555.
• University of Alberta School of Business. (2010). Alberta’s largest export numbers are to NAFTA members: Report. Retrieved from http://www. business.ualberta.ca/People/Media/MediaReleasesAndStories/2010/01/ AlbertasLargestExportNumbersAreToNAFTAMemberReport.aspx
• Walker, A. & Dimmock, C. (2004) The international role of the NCSL: Tourist, colporteur or confrere? Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 32(3), pp. 269-287.
• Webber, C.F., Aitken, N., Lupart, J., & Scott, S. (2009, May). The Alberta Student Assessment Study Final Report. Report to Alberta Education, Edmonton, Alberta.
• Webber, C.F. & Robertson, J.M. (2003). Developing an international partnership for tomorrow’s educational leaders. International Studies in Educational Administration, 31(1), 15-32.
• Webber, C.F., & Scott, S. (2009). Leadership development in support of inclusive education in Ukraine. Leading and Managing, 15(2), 88-103.
• Wildy, H., & Clarke, S. (2008). Principals on L-plates: Rear view mirror reflections, Journal of Educational Administration 46(6), 727-738.
• Youngs, P., & King, M.B. (2002). Principal leadership for professional development to build school capacity. Educational Administration Quarterly, 38(5), 643-670.