"New heads on the block" : case studies of transition to primary headship

Abstract

This study contributes to an understanding of the process of transition to primary headship. It examines, from the perspectives of three headteachers, their experiences over the first year as they make the transition to the formal leadership position of headteacher. Their transition is documented through individual case studies in order to highlight the importance of context in school leadership, and analysed further to identify significant emerging themes across the case studies in greater depth. The enquiry has taken place at a time of increasing difficulty in recruitment to headship. As such it presents a relevant contemporary commentary of relevance to practitioners, researchers and policy makers. The study examines, through an interrogation of the literature, factors that influence transition to headship and the two key and inter-related dimensions of the enquiry : the nature of contemporary primary school headship, particularly in the context of school leadership, and the process of transition to headship. This reveals a job rich in complexity and challenge, with the transition of newcomers relatively under researched. Against the background of the literature review, a structure that adopts a grounded theory approach for the research is developed and explained. This qualitative interpretive stance traces the perspectives of the newly appointed headteachers through a total of 12 in-depth interviews. Each interview was reconstructed by the researcher and shared with participants for validation of interpretation to form the basis of the research data. This was then analysed in two stages, firstly to identify the main emerging themes for the case studies, and secondly to identify the main themes for the overall analysis: professional and organisational socialisation; school effectiveness and school improvement and the emotional dimension of headship. The study concludes by reflecting both upon the research findings and outcomes and the identification of the main professional implications of the enquiry.

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