Navigating the Principalship: Key Insights for New and Aspiring School Leaders

In Navigating the Principalship, James P. Spillane and Rebecca Lowenhaupt look at the major challenges of the principal position, examining how new principals adapt to the role, set an instructional agenda, and build cooperation and collaboration. They focus in particular on the dilemmas that mark the principalship—the inevitable, complicated conflicts that arise from a clash of worthwhile values and resist simple solutions, such as

- Addressing the demands of various internal and external stakeholders
- Accomplishing seemingly limitless tasks in limited time
- Sharing leadership duties while maintaining ultimate responsibility for the school and everyone in it
- Creating a safe space for teaching and learning while building bridges to the outside world
- Balancing work life and home life

Based on original research conducted with new principals in an urban environment, and rich with authentic voices discussing real conflicts and proven strategies, this book presents pragmatic ways to manage the most difficult parts of the job. Use it to spark both reflection and action and chart a course for effective, rewarding school leadership.

James P. Spillane is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change at the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. He has published extensively on issues of education policy, policy implementation, school reform, and school leadership.

Rebecca Lowenhaupt is an associate professor of educational leadership at Boston College's Lynch School of Education and Human Development. She teaches aspiring school and district leaders about teacher supervision, organizational theory, and research methods, and serves as an associate editor for the journal Educational Policy.