Critical incident effects on principals

Abstract

The effect of critical incidents on school principals has been marginally investigated. Principal leadership has many pleasures, but it is often replete with problematic circumstances. The skilled school-based leader requires rationality and diplomacy to manage conflict successfully. This study examined the perceived effects of a critical incident, the closure of their school, on the professional and personal lives of principals. The investigation employed a narrative analysis approach in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. Narratives from two superintendents and six principals generated the evidence used to study the professional and personal complications associated with a principal living through a school closure. The investigation generated understandings of the impact of this critical event. Principals were aware of their precarious position of having dual allegiances to both district and school community. The emotionally-charged environment manifested professional and personal concerns, anxieties and resultant health concerns in the life of the school leader. The study provides publics affected by a school closure with understandings and knowledge regarding communication issues and approaches in closure considerations. Principals benefit from both enhanced discourse and administrative practices. School districts profit from in-depth perspectives and improved preparedness for critical events.

Keywords

principal critical incident school closure health leadership communication

Introduction

Whilst instructional strategies, effective learning environments and school culture are extensively researched topics, there is a paucity of research regarding educational leadership and critical incidents. The principal is the key agent for generating an ethical and positive school community culture and the consequent effective learning environment (Fullan, 2005; Hargreaves and Fink, 2006; Leithwood et al., 2008; Sergiovanni, 2006, 2009; Strike, 2007). However, declining interest is being shown in educational leadership positions (Cooper et al., 2006). For the welfare of the principals, effective education, and succession management, understanding the effect of critical incidents on educational leadership is required. The understanding achieved would assist in sustaining current leadership and prepare all management levels for dealing with difficult and confrontational circumstances.

Studies of school closure revealed some repeated topics. Finances, educational programming, community and consultation were predominant (Egelund and Laustsen, 2006; Mercer v. Greater Victoria School District, 2003; Rural School and Community Trust, 2003; Valencia, 1984; Witham, 2000). The social and emotional costs for students and the community have also been investigated (Witten et al., 2001). Intermixed was the passionate and angry atmosphere that principals were required to operate within.

Providing leadership in an intense work milieu is stressful and has potential for deleterious effects. Limited research emerged demonstrating how critical incidents impact an educational leader (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002; Maslin-Ostrowski and Ackerman, 1998; Trider, 1999). For the sake of effective learning, and for professional and compassionate reasons, it is important to understand how a critical event such as school closure impacts on the professional and personal life of a school principal.

Purpose

Previous closure studies disclose minimal connections between school closure and a school leader. Administrator history, principal tenure and ethnographic factors were a few that were touched upon (Egelund and Laustsen, 2006; Goddard, 1997). Many questions remained. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a critical incident on the professional and personal life of a school principal. For this study a critical event is defined as an interruption in the expected behaviours and developments in one’s life that produces strong emotions and a need to ‘make sense’ of the situation (Weick, 1995; WorksafeBC, 2002).

It is intended that after experiencing closure of their schools, principals will move to another position to provide ongoing educational leadership. It is thus important for educational systems to understand the critical incident experience to help ensure a leader’s attitude and abilities are maintained in order to continue creating effective learning environments.

The school leader holds a prominent role in a school closure because they are the pivot around which many relationships and communication revolve. An analysis of six closure processes in four British Columbia school districts offered the opportunity to generate further understanding of educational leadership. These deeper understandings provide additional capital for school districts and individuals to maintain and enhance principal leadership in difficult educational circumstances, and to support ethical community relationships and effective learning environments. This investigation developed that capital for the professional management of conflict in the educational setting and for the sensitive handling of principals as they encounter critical incidents.

Significance of the study

Schools and the educational system have many diverse goals. The principal is relied upon to possess the skills to create the environment to allow these goals to come to fruition (Hargreaves and Fink, 2006; Sergiovanni, 2009; Strike, 2007). A critical incident such as school closure creates a negative ethos and a potentially toxic setting in which the principal must operate. School-based leaders establish the reserve for senior management positions. Effective educational leadership can be maintained by caring for the welfare of the principal (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2004; Hargreaves and Fink, 2006).

School and district management positions are generating less interest from school-based and central office administrators. Vacancies due to retirements are being filled by less-experienced people (Cooper et al., 2006; Hargreaves and Fink, 2006; Olson, 2008). In a time when administrative reserves are waning, the educational system needs to retain, maintain and enhance the leadership capacity that districts already have in place. Research is also increasingly focusing on the emotional side of leadership (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2004; Hargreaves and Fink, 2006). The story of a principal’s lived experience during the closure of a school, an emotional journey, allows for the exploration and greater understanding of principal leadership and the management of critical incidents.

Educational systems are characterized by change and tension. However, principals are advantageously situated for establishing and proliferating the health and quality of schools. Succession difficulty compels districts to keep current educational leaders positively engaged and motivated, in order to create healthy cultures and high-performing learning communities. Realizing that school closures generate controversy, districts need to be cognizant of the principal’s circumstances. This perceptiveness will help districts manage conflict and mitigate adverse effects on the personal well-being and professional ability of administrators.

School communities, boards, district managers and school principals will find the information from this study beneficial. In times when school closures and program reconfigurations are prevalent, meaningful insight and suggestions for practice hold significant value. All constituents involved profit from enhanced insight and knowledge concerning communication practices, potential contentious junctures, and approaches and attitudes regarding challenging discourse.

Specifically for districts, this investigation reveals barriers to effective discourse, ideas for school closure policy development and related process, and suggestions for assisting principals through a difficult career experience. The study provides principals with awareness of their positioning between two opposing positions, suggestions for resolving a professional dilemma, preparedness for difficult professional incidents and personal pressures, and specific strategies for successfully maneuvering through a critical event. Epistemologically, the data from the professional narratives exposed deep attributes of effective school-based leadership practice.

Theoretical framework

The literature review examined areas such as previous school closure findings, policy and communication, principal leadership and critical incidents. The literature displayed the complexities of principal positioning and succession problems, an emotion-laden atmosphere surrounding closure considerations, a critical incident on the welfare of educational leaders, and consultative discourse.

In a closure process, principals experience a professional dilemma regarding their allegiance and accountability. This principalship dilemma has connection to the work of Hanhimaki and Tirri (2009), where they identified for teachers, four potential areas of professional dilemma, one being school community. In a further study concerning teacher dilemmas, Shapira-Lishchinsky (2011) recognized school climate, loyalty and family agenda as sources for ethical and professional dilemmas. In school closure the principal also has concerns regarding loyalty, community and climate. The school community expects loyalty and voice from its leader. In addition, management requires school leaders to support and carry out the business of the Board. It is a precarious precipice for principals: their desire to speak out and support the school community in keeping the school open is restrained by the obligation to the district. Lashway (1996) wrote that principals:

Having moral obligations to society, to the profession, to the school board, and to the students, they find that it is often not clear what is right or wrong, or what one ought to do, or which perspective is right in moral terms. (Lashway, 1996: 1)

Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski investigated critical incidents and the emotional impact on educational leaders. They coined the term ‘wounded leader’ as critical incidents could result in ‘loss of essential spirit’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 19), ‘a disorienting’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 15), ‘the endemic and chronic tension’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 16), and ‘loss of control, powerlessness’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: xii). They recognized that ‘the stakes are high because such emotional health…will potentially lead to sustained and effective leadership of schools” (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 311).

A theory that illuminated communicative practice, the existence of divergent communities and intentions, and understanding the emergence and nature of conflicts was proposed by Jürgen Habermas (Habermas, 1987). Habermas puts forth the interplay of two worlds, the system, and the lifeworld. These are useful for observing the interactions between the school district, the Board and the school community. The Board of Education, being a government sanctioned authority, represents the system world. The community (students, parents, staff and municipality) represents the lifeworld, society. Conceptualizing these two worlds as distinct operational environs exposes the compromised positioning of the school principal between the two.

Each world has an alignment to a representative communication style. The system is a goal-oriented body, sanctioned by the government, with a predominant focus on instrumental action. The lifeworld, the many people that comprise the school community, have common understandings of societal structures. In discourse and transitional situations they strive for relationship-based communicative action that optimally results in understanding and consensus (Calhoun, 1992; Eriksen and Weigard, 2004; Finlayson, 2005; Habermas, 1987).

The instrumental action of the Board operates within the structures that are established either by itself or by the government. The strategic instrumental actions are oriented towards preselected goals. Claims of being a legitimate authority and working for the common good of society reinforce the Board’s approach. The communicative approach of the lifeworld is oriented towards involvement and reflection, as consensus of understanding is strived for amongst all the actors. The public supports this approach to discourse with claims of validity and democracy. The two worlds, in reaching a decision or consensus, display opposing intents, styles and language. Tension and conflict resulting from the two opposing communication styles should be anticipated by all actors in the community and school district.

The district and the school community spend most of their time operating somewhat unmindful to the workings of the other group. For limited times, they may work in partnership on such areas as school improvement documents, budget, or staffing issues. However, on exceptional occasions, such as school closure, Boards attempt to work intensely with the school community. Unlike the other joint-tasks, closure is a highly emotional circumstance with serious consequences for individuals and community. This sporadic but penetrating intrusion into the school community may create a feeling of colonization and a perception of an outside authority dominating their public space. This creates feelings of distrust.

Closure consultations are dynamic and demonstrate a recursive property similar to what Giddens (1984) expresses. Structures are established for interaction, but actions can alter these as the process proceeds, in that:

We should not conceive of the structures of domination built into social institutions as in some way grinding out ‘docile bodies’.…But all forms of dependence offer some resources whereby those who are subordinate can influence the activities of their superiors. (Giddens, 1984: 16)

This is often the case in a closure process where there is much intense interplay between the authoritative body and the public. The actions of both the district and the community alter the structures by which the closure consideration is conducted, thereby modifying future actions. The system establishes the rules for public participation and the public then closely assesses the policy and process. They participate and, through this participation, request adjustments. A powerful community voice can alter the proceedings of the district. Commonly, districts often amend the guidelines for meetings, time lines and manner of public input. The principals are also directed by district instructions to participate in controlled ways to assist with meetings and communication sharing.

‘Walking in two worlds’ is an Aboriginal phrase that represents the school leader’s predicament. A principal operates in both the system and lifeworld. While satisfying system objectives, principals spend most of their time in the school community, building relationships and working independently. The district management and the school community are seldom uncertain of their obligations, with each group viewing themselves solidly in their respective worlds. The principal in a school closure process is in the unique and untenable position of balancing the expectations of both the district and community.

Similar to the precepts in Giddens’ (1984) Structuration Theory the principals have the ability to be a participant, but feel some agency restriction due to the boundaries that district expectations for administrators hold. They can act and have a voice, but are also constrained by their legal obligations and the professional deportment of their management position. Also, their ontological security is altered, due to the disturbance in the routinization of their daily work and expectations. Principals would need to rely on their reflexivity and experience in order to make behavioural adjustments in the shifting situations they encounter in a school closure.

Pathologies may result when colonization of the lifeworld occurs and where a person’s normal expectations are disturbed (Finlayson, 2005; Habermas, 1987). Habermas states that ‘disturbances in reproduction are manifested in their own proper domains of culture, society, and personality as loss of meaning, anomie, and mental illness (psychopathology)’ (Habermas, 1987: 142). ‘This tendency for the system to colonize the lifeworld leads to greater fragility and to disequilibrium or instability” is the view also put forth by Finlayson (2005: 56). A life disturbance can result in pathologies such as ‘withdrawal, alienation’, ‘crisis in orientation and education’ (Habermas, 1987: 143), ‘demoralization’, and ‘feelings of helplessness’ (Finlayson, 2005: 57).

A critical incident such as the closing of one’s school is synonymous with a lifeworld disturbance. The prevailing lifeworld of the principal is the school community, consisting of many interactions and personal relationships. When a school leader loses their school, there could be occurrences and degrees of the pathologies described above. Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski (2002, 2004) found such detrimental effects in their work on critical incidents and educational leaders.

Albert Bandura’s (Bandura, 1997) ideas regarding self-efficacy are another means for interpreting a school leader’s reaction to a school closure, helping with the deduction of how feelings and efficacy of principals were affected by a critical event, contributed to related responses and manifested negative or positive attitudes. Bandura (1997) and Evans (1989) describe how self-efficacy affects choices and actions, motivation, thinking and vulnerability. People become more active and engaged when they believe they can handle a situation. Avoidance occurs if it is believed the situation is beyond their capability. High efficacy results in greater levels of effort to persevere in difficult situations. With low self-efficacy, a person develops a negative situational guide. Principal narratives display efficacy levels, as depicted by their approach and attitude to the closure, and the positive or negative impacts it has.

Common aspects of school closure were evident in studies. Some dynamic attributes related to this investigation were the multiple communities involved in school closure, those being the district or Board, the school community, the public-at-large, the students and the employees; the prominence of policy, process, and natural justice; that school closure is a critical incidents and is a difficult circumstance for an educational leader; the sense of disconnect and the pathological responses that may be associated with experiencing a life disturbance; and the necessity of dealing with confrontation and dilemmas.

Study design and methodology

A narrative analysis approach is used when there is negligible research to draw upon and the events have already taken place. Researchers find narrative analysis useful for investigating the lived experience (Lapan and Quartaroli, 2009, Richards, 2005). It is best to talk to the person to gain understanding of a person’s experience (Seidman, 2006) and semi-structured interviews allows the researcher to delve into situations more deeply in order to illuminate similarities and differences (Charmaz, 2006).

Selection process

Non-random participant selection occurred as a sample was sought from a specific context to gain understanding of that explicit experience. Research sites were identified from the public list of closed schools in British Columbia. This also achieved identification of related superintendent contacts. Superintendents and principals were contacted until two superintendents and six principals agreed to participate. All participants had experienced school closure within a seven-year retroactive period and were still employed in similar leadership positions.

Data analysis

Semi-structured interviews were organized around four areas of inquiry: interviewee background, closure process and principal involvement, implications for the principal, and suggestions and reflections. The data analysis was iterative until saturation, comprising repeated systematic analysis of the information to generate commonalities and concepts. The narratives underwent repetitive coding and interpretation. The repeated comparison of conceptualized knowledge from the subjects allowed the construction of knowledge on how the critical incident affected the principal.

An open-ended, bottom-up approach to coding took place. Forty-four code applications related to ‘descriptive’, ‘topic’ and ‘analytical’ types emerged (Richards, 2005: 128), with strong assessment of ‘analytical’ being performed to generate understanding. Two external education researchers did independent reading of the evidence, and member checking occurred to assist with internal validity (Charmaz, 2006; Richards, 2005).

Transcription of interviews took place immediately. The data were coded and organized as categories. Repeated word and phrase occurrence was conducted within and amongst the narratives. Topics related to the research questions were grouped into specific concepts. Concept webbing and a concept occurrence matrix was used. Themes that materialized were: principal positioning, allegiance, and communication; the personal and professional concerns of the principal; and school closure as a critical incident.

Findings

Principal positioning, allegiance, and communication

Issues related to trust, communication and principal positioning became obvious: these were consultation authenticity and mistrust within the community, the affective and instrumental language of the principals, and the principal balancing service to two communities.

With the system controlling the consultative process, some participants in the closure consultations found ‘there is a feeling of betrayal’ (P1)¹ and ‘some right away say, “It’s a done deal” and they are very cynical’ (P2). Comments pointed out the difficulty the system encountered in developing trust and gaining a legitimate acceptance of the closure decision by the school community.

There needs to be more conversations, because those consultations are not conversations. Many of my parents felt that they were not heard. There was a definite feeling that even though we were going through the process, the decision had already been made. (P1)

There is always that element of those who thought there was some kind of conspiracy happening. There is going to be that feeling, as much as we are trying to be transparent. But, there was always that underlying belief for some, ‘Yes, there is conspiracy. Yes they are just going to do this’ (P4).

A ubiquitous tension existed for principals as they juggled to realize their dual commitments to the district and the school community. Principals were aware of the delicate positioning, but reflected and recognized their primary responsibility was to the school district. Five of the six principals repeatedly commented on this dual allegiance:

My role as a principal was to walk that line and it was more double-edged, because I was there to support the teachers and the parents and try to keep, and to be an agent of the Board. So, I couldn’t be on anybody’s [side], I couldn’t appear to be on anybody’s side. While I support the Board and the decisions they make, I was feeling the pain of the teachers and the anger of the parents. (P1)

It was ‘walking the tight rope’. At times, I think in formal circumstances, my allegiance was 100% to the Board. At times, at PAC meetings, my allegiance of a different sort was to the PAC…On one hand, it was right to keep the school open and the community together and people valued a small school. On the other hand, it was right to close the school. It was for the greater good of the district; kids’ needs could be met in other places. (P2)

Their stories illustrated that principals, as a result of holding the school leadership position, felt a close affiliation with the publics that they were serving. They were cognizant that these feelings for the lifeworld allegiances were in opposition to their legal obligation. Professionally and publicly, the principals knew they had to conduct the business of the Board.

Comments from principals displayed the fluid nature of their cognitive shifting between the two worlds. Instrumental language analogous with the system world was present, with common phrasing of ‘it was a clear-cut process’, ‘guidelines’, ‘support’ and ‘quick responsiveness’. Specific examples were ‘there were a lot of good structures in place and certainly as a principal that was helpful, advantageous’, and a ‘mechanical process’ (P2), ‘party line’ (P4), ‘top tier’, ‘agent’ and ‘third-level’ (P3). The affective lifeworld language of principals was also strongly represented, with ‘compassion’ (P2) and numerous references to the concepts of caring, emotion and relationships. P3 poetically articulated the awareness of the principals’ positioning in the two worlds, stating, ‘I listened to the community to understand, to give support. I took direction from the district as my employer. One was from the heart. The other was from the head’.

Concerns of the principal

Principals found themselves operating in a tense, working environment. The closure event developed matters and moments of unease in both the professional and personal aspects of the principal’s life. The concerns that surfaced in the closure experience indicated that principals maintained a sense of pride in their performance of responsibilities through a difficult event, were apprehensive about securing a job for themselves, were concerned about how the experience was affecting relationships with parents and staff, and were cognizant of working in an emotionally-charged setting.

All principals voiced a desire to act professionally, to attend to tasks diligently, so ‘when it comes right down to it and it is suddenly your school that it is happening to, you want to do a good job of it’ (P4). A strong sense of professionalism for both the managerial tasks and for the caring of students was evident: as one principal stated, ‘my role was to make sure that the day-to-day operations at the school continued. To make sure that the personalities were managed and that is the same thing that I do day-to-day in my school right now’ (P3). Further emphasizing this professionalism was manifested by one principal as, ‘for me, one of the biggest ones was my concern for the transition of my students’, (P1); and, for another:

I think other than shutting the building, probably the biggest thing was the staff, making sure that they were going to be treated appropriately…You know you show respect for everything, show respect for the building, show respect for the community, show respect for people…and in treating, treating staff with some respect, and treating them as humans, and trying to make the move for them as smooth as possible. (P6)

Emotionally and professionally, job security was a real concern, coupled with the related anxiety of not knowing. Rationally, principals anticipated being placed in a similar role. P6 ‘[I] asked the question on a regular basis, “Where was I going?” and on a regular basis I wasn’t told – no information was coming forward’. The uncertainty and apprehension of losing their career position were overt.

The biggest one was that I didn’t know what was going to happen to me…. No other principals had retired and it is a small district, so there wasn’t a school available for me and I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. (P1)

I wasn’t sure I would have a job at the end of it. I was brand new as a principal, so that was my first year and we were looking going from [X# to Y#] of schools. So, I thought, “Where am I going next year?” (P4)

Principals frequently expressed the importance of focusing on working relationships during the closure process. With some tenderness one mentioned that:

So a lot of – what’s the word? – as a French Immersion teacher might say, ‘assuaging’. What does that mean? Comforting people and supporting them…It is all the emotion that comes with it. So, you really do get to know people on a whole different level and you realize that how important the relationship piece is of your job. (P4)

Within the realm of relationships, for some principals the atmosphere surrounding the closure precipitated a feeling of isolation. This isolation could be positioned on the anomic continuum where feelings of alienation exist as a result of disturbances in the lifeworld’s social or moral normality. Feelings of alienation were expressed:

Sometimes it was very challenging and sometimes it was very isolating because obviously as the principal you are representing the Board, and being the only administrator, and being a teaching administrator when I was there, there were times that it was very challenging because people got to the point that the teachers and the parents began to bond together and so, there were times when I felt I was the evil outsider. (P5)

I was not seen as being on the right side of this issue, and because of the passion that they carried for the issue; some of the parents in the community took some of that out on me. (P3)

Incidents of anger and emotion were frequently evident in the narratives, having the highest occurrence of all coded topics. Even though all principals were optimistic and proud professionals, anger and emotion was an attribute that permeated the school setting. P2 commented, ‘I think sometimes it felt like things were out of control. Although I was supposed to be the one running the school, I had no control of what was happening at the school. People were upset and emotional’. Further illustrating this was:

And I really got to see anger, or solidarity, friendships, fear—fear, you know, that idea that it is a conspiracy; mistrust. Good people, good teachers, and these sides of them would come out because that challenge would be put in front of them. (P5)

School closure as a critical event

School closure was a critical event and generated strong emotions for the principals. The time of the actual decision proved to be significant, as well as moments of anger from parents. Principals commented on their respective degrees of attachment to the school. The health concern of the administrators connected with the closure also surfaced strongly.

Four principals described the school closure as being highly significant. The nature of the closure event was found to be challenging, coupled with uncertainty, and incomparable to other events in their lives. Phrases such as ‘disaster’, ‘none other’, and ‘heart wrenching’ and ‘death’ occurred frequently in the narratives: typical comments made were ‘I think it is probably the situation that will have the most impact on my career” (P5); and, further:

I have been involved in starting a new school. I have been involved in bringing in new students. And, now, I have been involved in a school closure. I would suggest to you that it has got to be one of the very hardest, heart wrenching experiences for an on-site principal. In terms of the actual workload, in terms of the heart-tugging moments through the end of that, I do not think there is anything that replicates it. (P3)

P1 expressed the perspective on the closure by saying, ‘I think it is probably the biggest thing I have had to deal with professionally. I would say it has been the biggest thing I’ve had to deal with [in my life]’.

The most common analogy to the situation is its representation as an end, or a death. Only one of the six principals did not compare the incident using this type of language. There were nine analogies of death found in the narratives. ‘It is like a grief process. It is like having a, sounds dramatic, but it almost like when somebody is, has a terminal illness and you know for sure that they are not going to make it, right?’ (P4).

The critical event of school closure occurred over a period of months. However, the significantly harsh moments that surfaced from the data were the actual passing of the motion by the Board, and managing incidents with angry parents.

P4 emphasized the decision moment, saying, ‘So, when it finally came down to it, we really did not know until the night that the Trustees raised their hands at a board meeting for sure’. P6 also emphasized the decision moment by stating, ‘I think the critical event is going to a board meeting and walking across the parking lot with your wife, knowing both of you are unemployed based on decisions that night made by the Board’. Other principals stated similar emotionally difficult events in that ‘there were parents in tears, students in tears, teachers crying…There were days when you have very unhappy, abusive parents’ (P5); and, from another principal,

I guess parents were fairly vitriolic against anyone who represented the other side, and in their view I represented the other side because I was one of management’s representatives …So, there were a few stressful moments, a few issues that came up. I didn’t get my house egged or anything like that, but clearly I was not a very popular [person]. (P3)

A relationship materialized between length of the principal’s tenure at the building and the degree of emotional attachment. For the principals who lived through a school closure process in their first year there was a reduced emotional connection with the school community: as P4 reflected, ‘I did not take a lot of things personally, because I was really new. I thought, “This cannot possibly be my fault [laughter]. I wasn’t even here!” [laughter]”’ and later explained that, ‘What really worked for me, because I hadn’t been there for 15 years. I hadn’t those attachments with the families’ (P4). P6 expressed similar feelings:

Well, I did not have a lot of emotional attachment to the building. Again, being there for three quarters of the year when I found out about the decision. And I would suggest to you that helped tremendously because then, I would just have to take care of business.…It’s closure – means an end. (P6)

The longer the tenure of the principal at the school, the greater was the attachment to the school. Principals with more than one year at the school had established an emotional connection to the school community, such as P5, stating ‘this was my second year and it was a wonderful school, and I felt really connected to it’.

Critical events are stressful and have the potential to impair the person’s immune system function and thereby the health of the individual (Bandura, 1997; Evans, 1989). Amongst the six principals, notably, five related illness stories. P5 stated that, ‘the principal [at one of the schools] was ill a few times throughout the year’. Further characteristic of health concerns were that ‘the VP, who was new, there day-in and day-out, sort of the “nuts and bolts” guy, a nice guy. He was somewhat insulated. He, actually, during a major part of the closure, was off on medical leave’ (P3); and

I think your health takes a hit. It is totally stressful; it is emotional. It’s public. So, I think there were implications on my health as you went through it. It just hit me. So, I go over to the board office. I was in pieces. [Superintendent] was just great and I took a couple of days off; stayed home for a couple of days and came back recharged and got back at it again. (P1)

Discussion

This study provides knowledge regarding how principals were affected by the closure of their school. During this critical incident the principal felt torn in allegiance, had strong concerns professionally and personally but survived the pressures of this life disturbance. The narratives made visible the tense circumstances within the school closure event, itself characterized by anger, mistrust and uncertainty. Principals describe the closure as a matchless event in their life; yet, after it, the principals conveyed an increased strength and ability to lead educational communities.

Principals successfully managed their participation with both the district and the school community. Strike (2007) discussed the dual obligation of principals and suggested that building a strong learning community was a primary responsibility. Nevertheless, Strike also pointed out the foremost requirement of the principal was to carry out the business of the school district. In an ethical dilemma, such as the closure of one’s school, Strike emphasized that the legal obligation to the employer would take precedence. In agreement with Strike’s findings, principals in this present study were aware of this dual obligation, realized their primary responsibility to the school district and could articulate their reasoning. The principals displayed a discursive consciousness in that they would use analogies and metaphors to provide the rational for their actions and opinions.

In daily demands, principals were continually using communicative action to build understanding, solutions and consensus. They also managed to adjust to the demands of the legislated authority. Their stories demonstrated an ability to shift between and understand both worlds they were working in. This ability aligns with the ideas of Schön (Smith, 2011), displaying the educator as an active reflector in the present and searching out what the person was feeling at the time. This reflexivity consciousness has much to do with ‘reflection-in-action to professional activity’ (Smith, 2011: 1).

Principals often used such terms as ‘walking the line’ and ‘balancing act’ as they operated to satisfy the expectations of both the district and their school community. The principals used affective language when dealing with the school and community and instrumental language for the interactions of the system. In addition to Habermas’ (1987) communication precepts materializing, some of his thoughts associated with life disequilibrium generating anxiety and a sense of isolation were evident.

The principals were positioned in a complex professional dilemma where they needed to support an apprehensive community while managing the business of closure for the school district. To assist in dealing with their complex professional dilemma and the tumult rooted in a closure, the principals displayed communication rationality that met the three validity attributes brought forward by Habermas (1987): truth (descriptive correctness); rightness (alignment with community values); and truthfulness (sincerity).

What was novel arising from this investigation was seeing how principals extended the validity attributes for communication rationality with their constituents. They provided attention to interpersonal relationships and managed appropriate reactions and actions relating to the circumstances presented to them. These two additional claims were not attainable for the district management because their intentions did not generate validity and were met with a lack of trust.

The attachment-tenure relationship for principals was comparable to Goddard’s (1997) findings in that the more experienced principals felt more stressed during closures and district reconfigurations. Administrator isolation was also a concern in these circumstances. The attachment level in relation to the tenure at the school was similar for staff as it was for administration. Schools with longer tenured staff experienced an amplified tension and stronger opposition.

In this study, the evidence of administrator health concerns and feelings of isolation were analogous to Goddard’s (1997) work and to the concerns brought forward by Habermas (1987) and Finlayson (2005) regarding possible pathologies when a person’s lifeworld is distressed. Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski also identified the negative impact of critical incidents of educational leaders when they coined the term ‘wounded leader’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002). With regard to this term, they identified characteristics such as ‘loss of essential spirit’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 19), ‘disorienting’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 15), and ‘the endemic and chronic tension’ (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002: 16). This feeling of a combination of tension and uncertainty was also expressed by the principals in this investigation.

Recognition of the potential shock that a school closure has on a principal is worthy by itself. To be understanding and empathetic with the principal throughout the closure year will offer substantial personal support. As Trider (1999) found, job security coupled with professional placement was the primary concern for the building principal of the closed school. Logically, they feel they will be employed, somewhere. Emotionally, they do not know if they will have a job and worry about their next placement until it is definitive. Insinuating that there will be a job somewhere in the district did not reduce this tension. It would be prudent for senior management to proactively make known the process for administrative positions during closures.

Numerous incidents were felt to be significant. However, when asked explicitly about the most crucial times, the most prevalent were the moment of the decision of the Board, successful student transitions and encounters with angry parents. Hearing the legal finality of the closure motion was intensely felt and three principals even remembered the actual date of it being passed. Amid the many negative stories, however, the principals recalled managing the student transitions successfully as being very rewarding work.

Throughout the critical incident all principals viewed their primary role as a caregiver to the children and staff. After emotion and anger, the importance of being a caregiver elicited the second highest number of comments by principals. Hanhimaki and Tirri (2009) also found that for teachers experiencing professional dilemmas, commitment, caring and respect were the important prevailing emotions.

Trying to maintain learning as a central focus and keeping the emotions of students, staff and parents balanced were felt to be perpetual obligations throughout. Most principals felt that the closure conditions resulted in losses to student performance.

Consistent with the literature, the optimistic outlook that the principals portrayed was analogous to two of the narrative types that Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski (Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski, 2002, 2004; Maslin-Ostrowski and Ackerman, 1998) chronicled in their studies regarding critical incidents in the lives of educational leaders. These researchers found that ‘restitution’ and ‘quest’ were two of three repeating narrative themes. Restitution narratives reflected a belief acknowledging the difficult circumstances, but with the expectation that life would return to normal. The ‘quest’ narrative was representative of hope and optimism. Within this present study, all principal narratives conveyed a sense of optimism and personal growth and four principals specifically commented on this.

The six principals displayed a resilient and positive outlook through their continued desire to be professionally engaged in educational initiatives beyond the school level. There was no indication that professional outlook was negatively affected by the critical incident. A profound sadness was evident in the principals, dramatically so in three of the interviews. Nevertheless, as emotionally challenging as the situation was, the principals’ professional outlook continued to be positive following the experience.

Suggestions for other principals, from those who experienced the critical event, were as follows: reflect and write; explain your position to the school community; be aware of the critical moments through the process; be mindful of the increased workload; find a colleague to connect with regarding the closure experience; and access material that describes and guides both the managerial and emotional demands of school closure.

Principals found support during the process of closure by reflecting on their educational philosophy. To self-support, it is recommended that educators reflect, discuss and write about core beliefs, values and principles. Doing this proactively would establish the personal and professional grounding needed to endure a critical event. Kouzes and Posner (2008) and Nash (2002) recommend equivalent advice for educational leaders to establish their grounding beliefs – their credo – for effective guidance and action. Giddens (1984) also recognizes that ‘to be “accountable” for one’s activities is both to explicate the reasons for them and to supply the normative grounds whereby they may be “justified”’ (Giddens, 1984: 30).

In relation to district communications, the following advice is offered:

maintain ongoing dialogue with the closure principals;

establish school viability as a routine, recurrent dialogue within the district;

provide clear criteria for when closure would be considered; and

district administrators, particularly superintendents, to have more of a presence at school sites during closure considerations.

There was a sense that these district approaches would help to reduce school-level tensions.

Suggestions concerning policy are, first, normalizing the discussion of school closure within the context of the whole district; and, second, implementing data points that trigger assessment of a school’s viability in a neutral manner. An inclusion of an annual public report on the capacity and cost of all district schools, with a threshold capacity trigger for closure consideration, may serve to reduce the sense of maltreatment that a sudden or random motion generates for a school community. These policy considerations would serve to neutralize school assessments and allow the public to witness and be acclimatized to demographic changes over a period of years.

Conclusion

This study revealed the harsh impact of a critical event on the life of a principal. When a principal’s school was closed it generated strong emotional responses, a tense working environment, insecurity and personal health concerns. The many analogies to a death experience were profound. The investigation generated valuable insight for the management of principals, school communities and for effective discourse. While being particular to the Canadian context, other similar international investigations may likely yield similar impacts.

This study sampled principals who survived the critical incident of their school closing and continued as building principals. It would be valuable to interview principals who went through this critical incident but who then took leave, retired early or returned to teaching. However, it is important to remember that school closure affects many people. Student performance after closure, in the short and long term, would be a topic worthy of examination. Parent efficacy is an area that would also be of interest, as would teacher participation and adjustment.

Legislated accountability and fiscal pressures persist for school districts. A complex task lies ahead for Boards as they try to manage successful communicative actions. These efforts must try to develop in others an understanding, and hopefully some acceptance, of their management demands, and decisions on programs, school closures, and reconfigurations. Public consultations need to be not merely seen as, but actually believed to be, cooperative and sincere over a longer period of time. These efforts to balance legislated accountability and dialogic democracy occur at a time when the general public and school communities have more direct access and an enhanced ability to mobilize and communicate their positions and expectations. It is likely that critical events and conflict will occur in some jurisdictions. Principals need to be aware of the dynamics within and the coping strategies for such tumult. Realizing this, and the pivotal influence of their positioning, principals may experience an increased influential role in district objectives, related discourse and managing critical incidents.

Footnotes

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Note

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