Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2025.v15n1p182-213Keywords:
Teaching Principals, Rural School LeadershipAbstract
This paper reports on findings of a study that examined the role of teaching principals in rural, remote and northern schools in Canada. A teaching principal is a principal who has a “double load” or dual roles in teaching and administration. The objectives of this study are: 1) to describe the role of the teaching principal in northern, rural, and remote school districts in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; 2) to characterize the practices of teaching principals in rural, remote and northern school contexts in terms; and 3) to delineate implications of the above findings for leadership theory, practice and preparation. As part of a larger multi-methods study, we conducted a survey of 70 teaching principals in three Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan) related to school and community contexts, workloads, and leadership, administrative and teaching responsibilities. This paper reports on the findings of the survey that demonstrate:1) the difficulties teaching principals face with respect to balancing administrative, teaching, and personal responsibilities; 2) belief that holding a teaching role while serving as a principal improves leadership capabilities; and 3) instructional leadership practices for teaching principals may be significantly different from those identified in the literature on instructional leadership.
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