The Need for Principal Renewal: The Promise of Sustaining Principals Through Principal-to-Principal Reflective Practice

by Eleanor Drago-Severson — 2012

Background/Context: Given the challenging complexity of the modern principalship—including high-stakes testing, standards-based reform, increased accountability, and severe budget cuts—practitioners and scholars emphasize the urgency of supporting principals’ stress-relief and renewal.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This nationwide study offers insights into how a group of principals renew themselves and prevent burnout, crucial for 21st-century school leaders. This article focuses on how 25 principals supported their own renewal and their yearning to engage in reflective practice with colleagues as a support to their own revitalization, growth, and learning.

Research Design: Eighty-nine hours of qualitative interviews with a diverse sample of 25 public and private (independent) and Catholic school principals who served in schools with varying levels of financial resources (i.e., high, medium, and low) were conducted, in addition to analyzing field notes and approximately 60 documents. Interviews for the encompassing research study—an investigation of developmentally based principal leadership practices employed to support adult learning—concerned a variety of topics, including principals’ practices for supporting teacher learning and how principals themselves supported their own renewal.

Data Collection and Analysis: All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Two researchers coded interviews, documents, and field notes for central concepts (theoretical and emic codes were employed). Thematic matrices were developed, and narrative summaries were created. A grounded theory approach was employed, and important literatures informed analysis. Matrices displayed confirming and disconfirming instances of themes, and two researchers conferred on alternative interpretations.

Findings: Findings reveal that these principals (1) employed a variety of strategies for self-renewal given the complex challenges of their leadership work in the 21st century and (2) expressed a desire for engaging in ongoing reflective practice with colleagues as a to support their own development, sustainability, and renewal. All also expressed that although they were fulfilled by their jobs, the scope seemed vast and overwhelming. Whether they served in high, low, or medium financial resource schools and whether they served in public, independent, or Catholic schools, they emphasized that they needed to develop more effective and frequent strategies for self-renewal.

Conclusions/Recommendations: These school leaders explained that they yearn for regular, ongoing opportunities to reflect with colleagues and fellow principals on the challenges of leadership, emphasizing that this type of ongoing collegial reflection would help them to more effectively exercise leadership, avoid burnout, and renew themselves. Although all these principals spontaneously voiced the desire to engage in collegial reflection, only 3 were doing so on a regular basis. This research suggests the importance of supporting and retaining principals by using reflection and collegial support for renewal, with serious implications for education policy and school district practices. 

Improvement requires fundamental changes in the way public schools and school systems are designed and in the ways they are led. It will require change in the values and norms that shape how teachers and principals think about the purposes of their work, changes in how we think about who leaders are, where they are, and what they do, and changes in the knowledge and skill requirements of work in schools. In short, we must fundamentally redesign schools as places where both adults and young people learn. (Elmore, 2000, p. 35)

Many have argued that the principalship is one of the most difficult, complex, and challenging jobs in the nation (Battle, 2010; City, Elmore, Fiarman, & Teitel, 2009; Hoffman & Johnston, 2005; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Wagner et al., 2006). In light of this, scholars and practitioners alike maintain that we must find better ways to support principals in their daunting work (Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). This will enhance principals’ abilities to manage the demands of their work and to better support teachers’ growth and learning (Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; LaPointe & Davis, 2006). It is not surprising that schools around the world anticipate a principal shortage at a time when the work of schools is becoming more complex (Arnold, 2005; Battle; Drago-Severson, 2009; Murphy, 2006; Normore, 2007).

For example, principals have the difficult task of leading in an atmosphere of high-stakes standards-based reform, increased accountability, and severe budget cuts (Donaldson, 2008; Elmore, 2004; Fullan, 2009; Shoho, Barnett, & Tooms, 2010). Teacher shortages, turnover, and an increasingly diverse student population are among other crucial issues that principals face. In addition, research shows that the complexities of principals’ work can lead to excessive stress and eventually burnout (Battle, 2010; Donaldson, 2008; Friedman, 2002; Fullan, 2009; Normore, 2007; Whitaker, 1996). Thus, there is an urgent call for effective ways of helping principals combat stress.  How do principals recharge given the complex challenges of their job? How do principals support and sustain themselves in their challenging work? These were the questions that guided this inquiry.

As Blaydes (2002) emphasized, “Principals have the power, the ability, and the compassion to make the world a better place, but only if they have learned how to sustain their well-being” (p. 52). This sentiment has been echoed by other scholars and practitioners more recently, and calls for urgent attention (Battle, 2010; Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). Yet, educational reforms of the last decade have not adequately addressed the need for principal renewal, despite the greater stress on principals created by the new accountability atmosphere (Battle; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). There is a need for explicit policies that support principal renewal. This research illuminates some of the renewal strategies principals use and highlights reflective practice as a support to their well-being and even more effective leadership. Indeed, regardless of school type (public, independent, Catholic), school location, and school financial resource level, all these principals yearned for ongoing reflective practice with colleagues as a way to renew themselves and as a path to more effectively exercising leadership. With the demands of leading schools in the 21st century, the majority of these principals expressed that they struggled to carve out “enough time” to renew themselves. Even in the schools with higher levels of financial resources that enabled principals to take sabbaticals, carving out time to engage in self-renewal was challenging.

District policy makers must understand how to allocate time and resources to support and retain principals in their leadership work, and they must prioritize it. As Richard Elmore (2000) emphasized in the opening passage, retaining principals will require continual learning across levels of the system and fundamental changes in the system itself. One essential change is to prioritize and secure time and resources for all adults, including principals, to engage in reflective practice with colleagues. This is one important way to ensure continual learning across levels of the system (Murnane & Willet, 2012).

Scholars and practitioners argue that to effectively manage work, cope with the stress of the principalship, and avoid burnout (Battle, 2010; Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Fullan, 2009), principals must renew and restore themselves. Blaydes (2002) defined renewal as the ability to “replenish the personal resources necessary to continue to be able to give to others” (p. 54). Both Blaydes and Oplatka (2003), among others (e.g., Argyris & Schön, 1974, 1978; Mezirow, 2000; Murphy, 2006; Lori, McClelland, & Stewart; 2010; Normore, 2007; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004), highlighted the importance of carving out time for reflection and the reevaluation of practices. Reflection on practice creates opportunities to examine situations through a new lens.

Leading at this particular historic moment requires that principals attend to what Harvard psychiatrist Ronald Heifetz (1994) referred to as “adaptive challenges.” He defined these as problems for which there are no known solutions and that require the acquisition of new knowledge, new tools, and new internal developmental capacities “to solve the problem in the act of working on it” (Wagner et al., 2006, p. 10). For example, in addition to facing the kinds of challenges and complexities noted earlier, principals must adapt from having largely managerial roles to being architects of collaborative learning organizations and adult developers. Without the tools or supports to meet these sizeable challenges, many principals experience burnout or excessive stress and leave their professions for more supportive environments (Ackerman & Mackenzie, 2007; Battle, 2010; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Moller & Pankake, 2006). Development of effective support models for principal renewal and development can make the difference. Although principals may need support in fulfilling technical aspects of their work (e.g., budgets, technology, schedules, personnel), new demands (e.g., accountability, standards-based reform, external mandates) mean that some of the challenges are adaptive as well.

To meet these pressing challenges, principals will need to develop even greater internal capacities in order to manage the tremendous amounts of complexity and ambiguity inherent in adaptive challenges. In addition, they will need to learn new approaches to address these challenges—in the process of working on them. Such processes require ongoingsupport, as opposed to training on specific topics and the acquisition of discrete skills only. Further, although experts can externally provide some supports, many must come as leaders work on the ground through the exercise ofleadership. As their role changes dramatically, one way to facilitate the support of principals is to shape collaborative learning communities for principals in which they can share their dilemmas and learn from others (Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; City et al., 2009; Fullan, 2003, 2005, 2009; Normore, 2007). These contexts create opportunities for  principals to consider their own and others’ leadership experiences and challenges through shared reflective practice. This research highlights the ways in which a group of 25 principals renew themselves and their belief that reflective practice groups—with principal colleagues—could more effectively sustain them and help them grow to better manage the complexity inherent in their complex and noble work. These principals stressed the importance of renewal through reflective practice with colleagues, who can support them as they work their way through, and more effectively manage, adaptive challenges. Engaging with peers in what they call “conversation” is what they long for.

Although it is very difficult for principals to find time to reflect, carving out time for reflection on practice and its complexities is essential (Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Fullan, 2003, 2005, 2009; Normore, 2007). In Blaydes’s (2002) words, “To regain control of their lives, principals need built-in reflection time to evaluate, mediate, and contemplate” (p. 55). The principals in this study vocalized the same need for reflection that Blaydes views as crucial to their success. However, they emphasized the need to reflect with colleagues rather than independently.

Supporting renewal helps principals meet leadership challenges and can reduce the incidence of burnout in the principalship (Battle, 2010; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Sparks, 2004; Supovitz & Poglinco, 2001). Data for this research were collected prior to our current No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era of increased testing and accountability. However, principals today face even more stress and greater demands in their work—and the changes since 2001 have only exponentially increased the palpable and urgent need to attend to principal renewal. Reflecting on thinking and practice in the company of colleagues can be an important source of renewal for principals.

From 1999 through 2004, through a nationwide Spencer-funded study consisting of qualitative interviews, field visits, and document analysis, I examined how 25 U.S. school leaders in different contexts understood the practices they used to support teacher learning and support their own renewal. In this article, I focus only on how these principals supported their own renewal and what they felt they needed to be better supported in order to thrive in their leadership. As we know, principals have the privilege and responsibility of supporting the learning and growth of teachers—but for them to do this, they must also support their own renewal and learning (Donaldson, 2008; Drago-Severson, 2009; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). Accordingly, this article describes the renewal strategies and needs of a group of principals in answer to the following research question: How do principals renew themselves and learn in light of the new and complex challenges they face? Drawing primarily from the study’s interviews, this article describes the principals’ effective practices for self-renewal as a means to better leadership, sustainability, and growth, and illuminates their deep need for regular reflection with colleagues.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Researchers and practitioners have long recognized that the principal is one key to school improvement (Barth, 1990; Howe, 1993; Wagner, 2007) and that leadership supportive of adult development makes schools better places of learning for children (Darling-Hammond, 2003; Darling-Hammond & Sclan, 1996; Donaldson, 2006, 2008). In fact, supporting adult learning and development has been linked to increases in student achievement (Donaldson, 2008; Guskey, 1999). Supporting principals so that they can grow and better support their own and their teachers’ growth is also a key to improvement (Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Moller & Pankake, 2006; Wagner; Wagner et al., 2006). Yet, how do principals care for themselves and their renewal while caring for the learning of others?

Three literatures informed this investigation: (1) the principal’s role in teachers’ learning, (2) principal learning and renewal, and (3) reflective practice as a support to adult learning.

THE PRINCIPAL’S ROLE IN SUPPORTING TEACHER LEARNING

The leadership literature suggests that principals can support teacher learning in three important ways. First, they can create a developmentally oriented culture (Donaldson, 2006, 2008; Evans, 1996; Levine, 1989; Peterson & Deal, 1998; Sarason, 1995). They can also build relationships among teachers (Arnold, 2005; Barth, 1990, 2006; Bolman & Deal, 1995; Moller & Pankake, 2006). Finally, principals can emphasize teacher learning in their schools (Ackerman & Mackenzie, 2007; City et al., 2009; DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2008; Elmore, 2004; Hawley & Valli, 1999; Johnson, 1996; Johnson et al., 2001, 2004). However, the question of how principals implement specific leadership practices to build school cultures that support teacher growth is only beginning to be addressed (City et al.; Donaldson, 2001, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Lieberman & Miller, 2001; Moller & Pankake; Mizell, 2006).

Traditionally, the most frequent way in which teachers have been supported in their learning and development is through professional development—or, what is increasingly being called professional learning—programs. Historically, however, teachers, principals, and researchers have recognized that more time needs to be devoted to such programs and learning opportunities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2001; Donaldson, 2008; Little 2001; Meier, 2002; Renyi, 1996; Roy, 2005). This remains true today in relationship to the needed infusion of professional learning communities in schools (DuFour et al., 2008; Hord & Sommers, 2008). In addition, many scholars and practitioners note that current professional development/learning models and programs operate on divergent assumptions about and expectations for how teacher growth is defined and can be supported within schools (Cochran-Smith, 2006; Cochran-Smith & Lytle; Drago-Severson, 1994, 1996, 2004b, 2009). Furthermore, scholars have recently discovered, to their dismay, that the principles that underlie models of professional learning—for example, professional learning communities—are often translated into practice differently than was originally intended (DuFour et al.; Hord & Sommers). More specifically, scholars have noticed that sometimes emphasis is placed on what teachers are doing when engaging in professional learning communities, as opposed to what they are learning (W. A. Sommers, personal communication, 2010).

Conversely, research highlights the need to attend to people’s meaning-making, the teacher as a developing person, and context as a factor in growth (Donaldson, 2008; Drago-Severson, 2007; Johnson et al., 2004; Kegan, 2000). This is especially important because scholars and practitioners have emphasized that many professional learning programs focus on important knowledge and discrete skills without also supporting and challenging teachers’ growth by focusing on how teachers themselves can grow internal capacities (City et al., 2009; Donaldson, 2008; Hord & Sommers, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2001, 2009). The same is needed for supporting principals’ development and their renewal (Battle, 2010; Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Donaldson, 2008). Assisting principals in finding ways to sustain themselves in their complex leadership work can also help address the challenge of supporting teacher development within schools (Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Oplatka, 2003). Caring for their own development and finding ways to renew themselves can provide principals with greater internal resources and capacities for supporting other adults’ development (Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). Thus, examining the practices that principals employ to renew and sustain themselves can offer insight to other leaders as they work to support adults’ learning and development in schools (Ackerman & Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002; Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Desforges, 2006; Donaldson, 2008; Fullan, 2009; Perkins, 2003), especially those who must first come to see themselves as developers of teachers.

Furthermore, this research extends prior work by illuminating the strategies that principals used to support their own renewal and to tackle adaptive challenges. This work also points to the principals’ expressed desire to engage in reflective practice with principal colleagues as a form of renewal. Twenty-four of the 25 principals in this research spontaneously expressed that participation in reflective practice groups would help them lead more effectively, sustain themselves, and better manage the complexities and daunting challenges of their leadership work. Creating forums for principals’ learning and growth could help principals develop their own leadership and personal capacities to better support the growth of other adults in their schools and to build human capacity.

PRINCIPALS’ LEARNING AND RENEWAL

 Put simply and complexly, we need greater knowledge about how to support principals’ learning, development, and renewal. How can we help principals grow and renew themselves? What practices help them to better manage the complexities of their leadership challenges? Following is a brief summary of what research has taught us about these questions.

Researchers maintain that principals receive too few resources to meet the expectations of outside stakeholders. Moreover, the emphasis on accountability, coupled with insufficient support, is a leading cause of the principal shortage crisis (Battle, 2010; Desforges, 2006; Donaldson, 2008; Fullan, 2009; Kelley & Peterson, 2002; Murphy, 2006). Researchers attribute the global shortage of principals to excessive stress, the new demands of leadership, the tendency to blame principals, and the difficulty of achieving a balanced life in this role (Battle; Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Houston, 1998). Excessive blame without time and energy to sustain a balanced life easily breeds anxiety (Boyatzis & McKee; Coleman & Perkins, 2004; Normore, 2007)—and principals are increasingly resigning because of this stress, inadequate training (Battle; Donaldson, 2008; Klempen & Richetti, 2001; Moller & Pankake, 2006), insufficient compensation, professional isolation, bureaucratic micromanagement, uncertainty related to role expectations, inadequate support (Arnold, 2005; Learning Forward, 2011, 2012), and the responsibility to inculcate youth with a knowledge base on which leaders cannot agree (Langer & Boris-Schacter, 2003; Wagner et al., 2006). To attend to these complex facets of principals’ work (Battle; Drago-Severson, 2009; Wagner, 2007; Wagner et al.) and better support principals, researchers and practitioners suggest that principals both receive and seek support. In fact, many have emphasized the importance of principal renewal and argued that it will prevent burnout and stagnation, enhance professional knowledge, and replenish energy (Battle; Donaldson, 2008; Oplatka, 2003).  

These issues highlight the need to better support principals and their efforts toward self-renewal. Research shows that supporting new and experienced principals by creating opportunities for reflection on practice is crucial to everyone in a school (Drago-Severson, 2004b, 2009, in press; Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1998; Normore, 2007). This is especially important and urgent in light of the increasing demands of leadership in the 21st century. Practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and principals themselves are searching for more effective ways to support school leaders (Ackerman & Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002; Battle, 2010; Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Tucker & Codding, 2002;Wagner, 2007).

More recently, given the urgent call to support principals’ renewal, growth, and sustainability, different programs have emerged to address this critical need. For example, some states offer training programs to support new principals. Other programs focus on teaching cognitive skills and decision-making as ways to support principals in their work (Klempen & Richetti, 2001; Sykes, 2002). Still other programs focus on coaching as a way to support principals (e.g., Learning Forward, 2012). Helping principals manage the complexity of their multiple roles as instructional, managerial, and visionary leaders is vital to supporting principals’ renewal and development (Donaldson, 2008). Yet, how do we better support principals in meeting challenges and caring for themselves while caring for the learning and development of others?

Again, this research expands prior work by showing that the principals in the study yearn not just for more private reflection time, but also for ongoing opportunities to engage in reflective practice groups with other principals. This article describes how they believed this form of renewal would help them to manage the complexities of work, sustain themselves, and lead more effectively. Although principals benefit from skill development and training, this research points to the need on the part of districts to invest more time and resources for reflective practice with fellow principals.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND ADULT LEARNING THEORY

Engaging in reflective practice has been identified as a tool for individual and organizational learning. Practitioners and theorists have identified reflective practice as a mechanism that supports both personal and professional learning and growth in teachers and administrators (Brookfield, 1995; Donaldson, 2008; Kegan & Lahey, 2009). Yet, how does reflective practice work in a group setting? Prior research in adult education suggests that adults learn from stepping back from the immediacy of their own experiences to gain new insight into their practice (Argyris & Schön, 1974, 1978; Arnold, 2005; Wagner et al., 2006). In other words, when adults engage in reflective practice, they have the chance to become aware of their own and others’ thinking and assumptions. This awareness can, in turn, clarify thinking and help with developing a better understanding of behaviors, leading to growth. The ultimate goal of reflective practice is, according to Jennifer York-Barr and her colleagues, increased student learning (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, & Montie, 2006).  Importantly, shared reflective practice over time can support principal learning and renewal as well (Byrne-Jiménez & Orr, 2007; Donaldson, 2008). Next, I discuss some of the fundamental principles of reflective practice and adult learning theory.

As Donald Schön (1983) highlighted, “When a practitioner becomes a researcher into his own practice, he engages in a continuing process of self-education” (p. 299). Engaging in reflective practice can help all adults to develop deeper understanding of the influence of assumptions on thoughts and actions. Building on the work of Argyris and Schön (1974, 1978) and Schön (1987), Osterman and Kottkamp (2004) defined reflective practice as a method for developing a greater self-awareness about the nature and influence of leadership. They contended that dialogue and collaboration are essential to reflective practice and learning. As they stated, “As learners ask questions, challenge ideas, and process learning verbally, they clarify their thinking and deepen understanding” (p. 20). Collaborating with others creates an opportunity to share thinking and insights and to develop an understanding of one’s assumptions—all of which facilitate learning (Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Osterman & Kottkamp). Reflective practice, from these authors’ perspectives, is “about individuals working with others to critically examine their own practice to resolve important problems” (Osterman & Kottkamp, p. 21). Given the adaptive challenges that leaders face today, this type of professional development strategy could help sustain leaders, decrease isolation, improve leadership, and promote renewal. As Peterson (2002) noted when considering the professional development of principals, “Programs should support reflective practice and provide opportunities to work, discuss, and solve problems with peers” (p. 214). Furthermore, this type of reflection on practice needs “to engage the participants in thinking, reflection, analysis and practice with a strong component of coaching and feedback” (Peterson, p. 231). Scholars have noted that when principals engage in reflective practice, it positively influences school climate and teacher growth (Donaldson, 2008; Youngs & King, 2002).

More specifically, reflective practice is based on principles of adult learning. Next, I briefly highlight a few key principles of adult learning theories that shed light on how to best support principal renewal and learning through reflective practice. Major principles follow:

1)

Adults bring different life and educational experiences, needs, personalities, and learning preferences to their learning that shape their perspectives on learning and professional development experiences (Cranton 1996; Kolb, 1984; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999; Mezirow, 1991, 2000).

2)

Adults want to understand why they need to learn something; learning must be of value, whether it occurs informally or formally (i.e., related to their lives and work; Brookfield, 1987, 1995; Knowles, 1984; Marsick, 1998; K. Taylor, Marienau, & Fiddler, 2000).

3)

When creating opportunities to support adult learning, social context and culture must be considered (Brookfield, 1995; Lawler, 2003; E. W. Taylor, 1994).

4)

Adults learn experientially and approach learning as problem-solving (Knowles, 1984; Mezirow, 1991, 2000; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004).

Jack Mezirow (1975) broke new ground when he developed and introduced his transformative learning theory. In so doing, he established fundamental ideas about how transformative learning could take place in adulthood. Transformative learning, according to Mezirow (2000), is the process of transforming our taken-for-granted habits of mind and frames of reference, which do not adequately help us to make sense of a new experience, by making them more open, reflective, and integrated.  His theory, which has been expanded over the years (Mezirow, 2000), pivots on the importance of critically reflecting on our assumptions (i.e., the big truths that guide our behaviors and thinking—which we take for granted and rarely question unless they are purposefully brought to our attention), actions, and behaviors, and validating meaning-making by intentionally examining and evaluating reasoning.

One central feature of Mezirow’s theory that illuminates why reflective practice can support principal learning is his idea of “frame of reference.” This frame has cognitive and affective components that enable us to understand and interpret our experiences. From Mezirow’s (1991, 2000) perspective, frames of reference are transformed through the process of self-reflection in which we reconsider and question our beliefs and how we interpret experience. Like others (Brookfield, 1987, 1995; Cranton, 1994, 1996; Marsick, 1998), Mezirow (1991, 2000) emphasized the deep connection between self-examination and transformative learning. This can occur when principals gather in collegial reflective practice groups and can be an important form of self-renewal.

Critical reflection occurs when we invest time reflecting on the content of the problem, the process of problem solving, or the problem’s basis. Disorienting dilemmas, such as adaptive challenges, can be rich contexts or triggers for this type of reflection. This process enables us to consider alternative ways of thinking and to “generate beliefs and opinions that will prove more true or justified to guide action” (Mezirow, 2000, p. 8). This process requires time and intentionality as well as a willingness to examine how we know what we know and the values that produce and influence our perspectives (Mezirow, 1991, 2000). Adult learning theory can help us understand how principals experience reflective practice as a support to their learning.

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record Volume 114 Number 12, 2012, p. 1-56 http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 16717, Date Accessed: 7/25/2014 1:26:54 PM