Out With the Old, In With the New:

Principal Succession at Liberty High

Danny L. Talbot
Wasatch ( Utah ) School District

Abstract

Marie Boden, a 28-year veteran of many teaching and administrative assignments, starts her first high school principalship at Liberty High.  With no formal transition plan in place, Marie enters her assignment and experiences more failures than successes.  Gradually, she develops a successful role as principal.  The case explores her succession experience from a socialization perspective.  The appendices offer a visual and narrative socialization model that prospective administrators can use to better understand their own administrative succession experiences.  The case may be useful to courses in the principalship, organizational theory, leadership, and personnel.
 

Introduction

This case describes the role learning experiences of Marie, a newly assigned high school principal.  Although principal succession experiences are often seen as singular events, Marie's case illustrates that principal assignments can be viewed as ongoing processes that involve the beliefs and expectations of the new principal, as well as the school's organizational needs and expectations. Because almost all new administrators begin their roles as a successor, it is important that prospective school leaders understand leadership succession.

Marie's experiences leading up to her appointment and her first years as principal are summarized in the case presentation. The appendices offer a brief visual and narrative overview of socialization as a framework for understanding succession events. The case may be useful to courses in the principalship, leadership, organizational theory, and personnel.
 

The Principal's Context

In 1995, Marie Boden was working as a high school assistant principal.  Marie was 54 years old and had 28 years of experience in the district.  She started her career as a teacher, and quickly became a counselor, a role in which she was often cast as a "peacemaker" between staff and students.  Moving into administration during her tenth year, Marie was seen as an effective leader by her peers.  Her first administrative job had been an assistant principal at a junior high.  She later moved to the same job at a different junior high, and five years later took her current job as assistant principal at the high school.  During her years in the high school, she completed her doctorate in education at a local university.

When it was announced that Bill Young, the principal at neighboring Liberty High, was being transferred to a district job, Marie began to let people in the district know that she would be interested in the principal's job at Liberty .  She called the superintendent and the director of high schools and talked to them about the possibility of taking over Bill's job.  She and the superintendent had worked together as teachers many years ago.  The superintendent was encouraging.  "I think its time for you to move to the high school principalship," he said.  "But, you know I can't promise anything."

Marie visited with other high school principals about their jobs and lobbied them to support her appointment at Liberty .  Marie believed it was time for change and also recognized that the increase in salary, which would accompany the move to the high school, would be beneficial to her as she neared retirement.  Well liked by colleagues and staff, Marie received good support from those around her to pursue the Liberty job.  She had made few enemies over the years.  Marie learned to employ her sense of humor as an assistant principal, and had a knack for staying away from volatile issues.  When cornered with a tough choice, Marie deferred to the principal.  She often said, "You know I would do it, but the Big Guy won't agree," pointing secretively to the principal's office.

In April 1995, Marie Boden was named principal at Liberty High School . Plans called for her to take over the school on July 1 of that year.  Throughout the months following her appointment, Marie anxiously awaited for her chance to lead a high school.  She began to spend a day or two per week at her new assignment.  Her first few visits to the school were mostly spent meeting people and trying to get an idea of the physical plant.  Marie's reputation as a gregarious and affable administrator preceded her.  Staff members were generally accepting of the new principal but were unwilling to give her a "ten-year contract" as one teacher reported.  "We'll wait and see if she's this nice in May," said one long time teacher. " These principals, its always out with the old and in with the new."

When school finally started in late August, Marie looked forward to each day.  Fun loving by nature, she genuinely enjoyed meeting the new staff and students at the school.  She carried small candy bars in her pocket and often passed them out to teachers and students as she made passing conversation. Skeptical students called her "The Easter Rabbit" behind her back.  Students were not used to seeing the previous principal in the hallways.  With her joking manner, and candy bar tactic, few students took Marie seriously. Similarly, harried teachers quickly tired of her continuing efforts at small talk.  Staff members questioned her ability to make decisions and provide leadership in tough situations, because she seldom focused on substantive issues.

By midyear, teachers began to say they did not know where they stood with Principal Boden.  She was always joking, and unwilling to debate hard questions. Her well-known friendship with the superintendent was seen by some as the main reason for her new appointment.  Parents questioned whether she could handle the rigors of the high school principal's job.  Some questioned her ability to focus on the needs of the high school.

Marie grew anxious about her appointment.  She thought that perhaps she should have spent some time with Bill, her predecessor, before she took over.  However, Marie saw Bill only once after he handed her the keys and walked out. At a district golf tournament, Bill waved and asked how she was doing as he drove by in his cart.  "Fine," she said, but Bill was already gone.

The district office assigned another high school principal as a mentor for Marie, but she rarely heard from him. Marie felt stranded.  If these guys didn't want to help her, she would do it alone. Over time, Marie began to question her preparation for this position.  Yet, Boden felt she had a good background in education, and she told herself that the high school principalship was just a bigger version of the assistant's jobs that she knew so well.

Critics grew in number.  In the face of eroding support, Marie became defensive.  She angrily said that she should have been assigned to a high school years earlier.  She believed that she was passed over on two previous high school appointments because she was a woman. She knew that those in charge of making administrative assignments for the district were all males.  Marie perceived this group to believe that women were not tough enough to be good administrators.  She had heard through others that some central office people talked negatively about women principals.  Further, she remembered an "off the record" conversation in which one of Marie's superiors confirmed that in years gone by, some people in the central office felt Marie was not up to the rigors of the high school's head job. All of this made her less likely to seek help from her peers or mentors.  In addition, the district had no formal plan to aid principals during succession.  Marie was on her own.
 

The School's Organizational Context

No one explained to Marie that the school's staff and community worried about the lack of school discipline.  Bill, the former principal, was near retirement during his tenure at Liberty.  He defended his actions by saying he did not want to push discipline programs that "might land him in court" during the last few years of his career.  Consequently, many cases needing discipline went unnoticed or were quickly dismissed.  When Boden was asked by the Teacher Building Committee to tighten up on locker checks, student hall passes, and student attendance, she balked.  "I don't want the kids to hate me the first year I'm here," she said jokingly.

During this early time of her appointment, Marie built social relationships with several key staff members, many of whom were coaches. Although not from an athletic background herself, she was comfortable with these new friends. That she spent a great deal of time in the athletic department did not go unnoticed by staff members. They feared that Marie's focus might be on the athletic programs in the school, rather than on academic achievement.  Some referred to the new principal as a "wanna be coach."

Marie responded to this criticism with renewed attention to personal relationships with staff and students. This strategy had worked for her in earlier assignments.  She acted as though she could compensate for her lack of support by giving added attention to "being friendly" with  people.  When she found that she was still being criticized for her lack of leadership, Marie realized that she did not have a clear picture of the way the school should go.  Further, no one from the district had formally structured goals and objectives for her as principal.

Her previous administrative experiences helped Marie in some situations and failed her in others.  She began to believe that the high school principalship was not just a version of "being an A.P., but with a bigger office," as she was fond of saying.  Each day brought more challenges, but Marie was not one to give up.  She began to think about new ways to deal with school issues and her job.
 

Outcomes

Gradually, things improved.  Marie held regular meetings with staff and parents to discuss hard issues involving budgets and staffing.  A needs assessment was initiated by the school community council, and Marie was instrumental in seeing that it was used to guide school decisions.  Marie worked at understanding student needs and became a regular at student activities.  No longer the Easter Rabbit, students affectionately called her Dr. B.

By her third year, teachers reported that Marie's leadership skills were more evident.  Her ideas flowed more from a shared vision of the high school's needs. She worked hard to involve others in the decision making process. Marie became conversant with the master schedule and spent a great deal of time meeting and talking with departments about ways to improve the curriculum.  She broadened her relationships beyond the athletic department to include other teachers and staff.  Employing some of the discipline plans that usually worked in other assignments, she meshed ideas brought to her by teachers and parents into a more coherent discipline plan. Marie brought in staff development centered on student management, and she created an effective student citizenship program.

Comparisons with the previous principal became less frequent. Suspicion of Marie's ability gave way to tentative trust by students, parents, and staff.  Marie began to take ownership in students' achievements and activities.  She noted that the quality of her weekend was determined by how well the boys' and girls' basketball teams played on Friday night.  Marie was heard saying that "I can't believe my self concept is affected by the 11th grade's SAT scores!"  By her third year, after many false starts, Marie was functioning as a successful principal.
 

Teaching Notes

Student Discussion Suggestions

• How might have Dr. Boden's first years been different had she maintained close contact with her mentor principal?  What advantages and disadvantages might come from working closely with a mentor principal?
• What traits would you like to see your mentor have?  In what areas would they likely have to help you as a new administrator?
• Should the district have been more involved in Marie's socialization?  If so, what actions should the district take?  What outcomes might these specific district actions have created at the school?
• If you were a district leader, what might Marie's professional experiences and training tell you about how Marie might act as a high school principal?
• Given your image of Marie, what parts of her role identity did she eventually give up?  What parts did she keep?
• Seeing yourself as a new administrator at Liberty High, how might you experience "role making" and "role taking?"  In other words, what kinds of things would you do or not do during your first few months, or even years, on the job?
• In evaluating yourself as a new administrator, what might be included under your professional socialization factors?  (Training, experiences, values, etc.)  Keeping in mind a school with which you are familiar, what elements might be described as organizational socialization factors for that particular school? (Goals, shared values, shared beliefs, etc.)

Conclusion

The current case study illustrates the socialization processes that a newly assigned high school principal experienced. Appendix 1 offers a visual image of constructs involved in this case. Appendix 2 gives a brief overview of socialization and role learning as a framework.  This model may help prospective school administrators build a conceptual framework useful during their initial placements and later assignments. Role taking, role making, socialization tactics, and professional and organizational socialization are all concepts that have real-life applications for new school leaders.  Hopefully, this case offers some beginning insight into ways in which new schools leaders may use these notions to create positive succession experiences.
 

Biographical Statement
Danny Talbot is Superintendent of Schools in Wasatch County School District, Utah.  He is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah.  His research interests include the principalship, the superintendency, school reform, and organizational change.

ERIC descriptors
Socialization
Principals
Role learning
Leader succession
Organizational change
 

Appendix 1
Framework for Exploring Principals' Socialization
 

1.  Succession takes place when:

experiences

2.  As a result:

3.  Lead to:
 

Appendix 2
Socialization as a Conceptual Framework

The following is a brief overview of socialization as a conceptual framework.  One way to frame Marie's case conceptually is to see her experiences as part of socialization, or role learning.  To cast some light on this model, the case takes the position that as Marie goes through her succession experience, she creates her role by blending her past experiences, values, and beliefs with the expectations of organizational players within the school.  When a new principal such as Marie evolves through these processes, she experiences role taking and role making (Hart, 1993).

Merton (1968) called socialization the process needed to gain the skills and dispositions necessary to learn a new role.  Similarly, Hart (1993) stated, "The experiences described as socialization are a common means of role learning" (p. 126).  Also, viewing these socialization processes in two categories is useful to this case:  (a) professional socialization and (b) organizational socialization (Hart, 1993; Schein, 1990).  (See Appendix 1.)

Professional socialization and organizational socialization differ in several important aspects.  First, professional socialization teaches a person the skills and dispositions necessary to belong to a particular profession such as school administration.  Principals' professional experiences, their formal and informal training, and associations with other principals are examples of professional socialization experiences (Duke, Isaacson, Sagor, & Schmuck, 1984; Greenfield, 1985).

On the other hand, organizational socialization focuses on learning the skills, knowledge, and dispositions for functioning in a particular social system such as a school (Parkay, Currie, & Rhodes, 1992; Schein, 1990).  As principals assume roles within a school, teachers and others hold site specific expectations for their behavior (Talbot & Crow, 1998).  School organization members reinforce certain behaviors of the principal and withhold positive reactions to others.  This affects the creation of the principal's role (Hart & Bredeson, 1996).

However, when principals learn new roles, as in the case of recently assigned administrators, roles form in response to professional, as well as organizational, factors (Bredeson, 1993; Brousseau, 1983; Crow & Glascock, 1995; Nicholson & West, 1988; Talbot & Crow, 1997; Van Maanen, 1988; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979).  For example, principals may develop an informal role model relationship with another principal.  As they begin to form their role, principals may divest themselves of some beliefs and values related to their personal histories and beliefs.  When this happens they experience role taking.  At the same time, as in Marie's case, few role incumbents or mentors may be available to newly assigned principals.  Without incumbents to rely on as role models, new experiences may alter principals' beliefs and values, allowing them to experience individualized disjunctive socialization.  When principals develop individualized responses to their new role, they engage in role making .

Principals' experience and training help shape their views of schooling (Talbot & Crow, 1999.)  Principals' backgrounds, beliefs, and values are professional socialization variables. The expectations of teachers, parents, students, and others, provide the organizational socialization contexts in which principals work. Marie's professional and organizational socialization experiences affected her role creation during her early years at the high school.  As Reichers (1987) noted, "Because individuals contribute to the meaning that arises in a setting, individuals and situations mutually determine each other" (p. 279).

References

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