Negotiating Incomplete Autonomy: Portraits from Three School Principals

Autor/inn/en	Kim, Taeyeon; Weiner, Jennie
Titel	Negotiating Incomplete Autonomy: Portraits from Three School Principals
Quelle	In: Educational Administration Quarterly, 58 (2022) 3, S.487-521 (35 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Kim, Taeyeon) ORCID (Weiner, Jennie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-161X
DOI	10.1177/0013161X221080374
Schlagwörter	Principals; Institutional Autonomy; School Administration; Administrator Attitudes; Professional Autonomy; Urban Schools; Suburban Schools; Rural Schools; Preschool Education; Kindergarten; Elementary Secondary Education; Work Environment; Decision Making; Conflict; School Districts; Educational Policy; Instructional Leadership; Educational Improvement + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Principal; Schulleiter; Institutionelle Autonomie; Berufsfreiheit; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Suburban area; Outskirts; Suburb; Vorort; Vorstadt; Rural area; Rural areas; Ländlicher Raum; Schulen; Pre-school education; Vorschulerziehung; Arbeitsmilieu; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Konflikt; School district; Schulbezirk; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Instruction; Leadership; Bildung; Erziehung; Führung; Teaching improvement; Unterrichtsentwicklung
Abstract	Purpose: This study builds on research scrutinizing school autonomy in policy and school governance by shifting the focus from a formal structural view of autonomy to examining how principals negotiate autonomy in their daily work. Drawing on multiple dimensions of autonomy and street-level bureaucracy, this study examined how principals, as both professionals and bureaucrats, work to expand and strategize their autonomy in practice. Research Methods/Approach: We used portraiture to document and interpret the experience and perspectives of three principals at urban, suburban, and rural PK-12 traditional public schools in the Midwest of US during the 2018-2019 school year. Findings: Principals faced a "bounded" or "partial" autonomy in which they had to constantly negotiate their individual autonomy (e.g., how they spent their time on any given day) with institutional autonomy (e.g., the demands of the role via external expectations). The findings show the ways participants utilized institutional autonomy to support individual autonomy and dealt with the boundaries of their autonomy. While these strategies gave them a bit more "control" over decision-making, they also often resulted in overwork and/or conflict with district priorities. Implications for Research and Practice: Detailed portraits offer key insights for rethinking school autonomy with multiple dimensions intersected in leadership practice. Findings yield knowledge regarding how to best support districts and school leaders in creating greater alignment between institutional and individual demands, thus increasing the likelihood that autonomy, as an improvement strategy, can be effective. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01