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Teaching principals in small rural schools: 'My cup overfloweth
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This paper presents the results of interviews with 12 Manitoba and Alberta rural teaching principals regarding their leadership practices in small schools. The overwhelming theme mentioned by these teaching principals was the joy and sense of purpose they found in the relationships they cultivated with children, staff, and community members because of the ‘advantages’ they had working in small schools. The paper details the small schools context within which teaching principals are working in these two provinces and outlines the role of reciprocal relationality that is central to their leadership efforts in small rural schools. Cet article présente les résultats d’entrevues auprès de douze directeurs-enseignants d’écoles rurales au Manitoba et en Alberta portant sur les pratiques de leadership dans les petites écoles. Le thème dominant qui en est ressorti est celui de la joie et le sentiment d’un but à atteindre qu’ils retiraient des rapports entretenus avec les enfants, le personnel et les membres de la communauté et qu’ils associaient aux « bienfaits » de travailler dans une petite école. L’article décrit en détail le contexte scolaire dans lequel travaillent les directeurs-enseignants dans ces deux provinces, et dresse un portrait du rôle de la relationnalité réciproque qui est au centre de leurs efforts comme dirigeants de petites écoles en milieu rural.
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Teaching principals face tensions between the need to be involved in community matters and maintaining an appropriate professional distance.
“In some cases, teaching principals face tensions between the need to be involved in community matters while trying to maintain an appropriate professional distance (Clarke et al., 2006; Wallin & Newton, 2014).”
From Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership (2025) · cites this paper as Wallin & Newton, 2014
The ‘Effective Leadership Means Caring For/About Teachers and Staff’ section says community involvement earns teaching principals trust and that community conflicts can spill into school. The Conclusion, however, favors visibility and relationality over appearing to be an ‘objective professional’; it does not describe maintaining professional distance as a need they must balance against involvement. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTeaching principals often struggle to find a balance between their personal and professional lives, and prioritize their work obligations at the expense of their personal lives and families.
“They often struggle to find a balance between their personal and professional lives, and prioritize their work obligations at the expense of their personal lives and families (Clarke & Stevens, 2009; Wallin & Newton, 2014).”
From Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership (2025) · cites this paper as Wallin & Newton, 2014
Teaching principals enjoyed being able to work closely with community members, parents, staff, and particularly students.
“Other studies found that teaching principals enjoyed being able to work closely with community members, parents, staff, and particularly students (Jutras et al., 2020; Wallin & Newton, 2014).”
From Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership (2025) · cites this paper as Wallin & Newton, 2014
Teaching principals consistently rate their experiences positively despite heavy workloads.
“Teaching principals consistently rate their experiences positively despite heavy workloads (Berndt & Fasciglione, 2015; Collins, 2004; Wallin & Newton, 2014; Wallin et al. 2019).”
From Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership (2025) · cites this paper as Wallin & Newton, 2014
Survey findings confirmed pilot study that many teaching principals take on much additional responsibility as means of offloading responsibilities for staff near burnout.
“Survey findings confirmed findings in our pilot study that indicated that many teaching principals take on much additional responsibility (extra-curricular, professional development planning, etcetera) as a means of offloading some of the responsibilities for staff members who are themselves coming close to burning out”
From Teaching Principals in Rural, Remote, and Northern Schools in Canada: An Empirical Analysis of Workload, Roles, and Instructional Leadership (2025) · cites this paper as Wallin & Newton, 2014
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wallin, D. C., & Newton, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Saskatchewan (CA)
- Venue
- Alberta Journal of Educational Research
- Publisher
- Alberta Journal of Educational Research
- Published
- 2015-11-20
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 708-725
- ISSN
- 0002-4805 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4399376265
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Alberta Journal of Educational Research (publishedVersion)
- Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary)
- Alberta Journal of Educational Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Education in Rural Contexts
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Leadership and Practices
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Keywords
- small rural schools, school leadership, leadership practices, teacher-student relationship, staff relationships, community relations, sense of purpose, Manitoba, Alberta
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