Devorah Eden and Rachel Hertz‐Lazarowitz
This case study explored the way principals in Israel organized a forum and assumed roles beyond their educational responsibility. This occurred as an unexpected result of a…
Abstract
This case study explored the way principals in Israel organized a forum and assumed roles beyond their educational responsibility. This occurred as an unexpected result of a state‐wide project that was initiated and operated by the Ministry of Education. The aim of the project was to strengthen local educational systems by developing local educational leaderships and by improving scholastic achievements. Participant observation, interviews, and reading of documents and newspapers revealed that the principals changed their role in a three‐phase process. First, the project unintentionally raised principals’ awareness of the social‐political nature of their work. Second, principals organized into an interest group that cooperated with other community groups. Third, they sought to revitalize their respective communities, beyond their educational leadership. They extended their turf from school to community, and their role from school leadership to community avant‐garde.
School principals face the paradox of leadership in modern bureaucracies. They operate in a tightly regulated system yet are required to bring teachers to voluntary innovative…
Abstract
School principals face the paradox of leadership in modern bureaucracies. They operate in a tightly regulated system yet are required to bring teachers to voluntary innovative extracurricular activities. A case‐study research in a senior school in Israel, consisting of interviews, unobtrusive observation and document readings, yielded two findings. One revealed that leaders resolve the conflict by mobilizing teachers through three strategies of shaping teachers’ behavior and cognition causing them to redefine their work needs, yet some opposition exists. The second finding was that leaders are successful if they combine transactional and transformational leadership styles in a way that is sensible to the led.