Principals’ Reflections on Effectively Managing Their Schools: Cooperative Leadership and Its Role in Schools

Despite widespread and long-standing commitment to the notion of leadership across the teaching profession, it is unusual for the theory and practice of leadership to be taught as a subject in education. This study examined what factors the participants believed influenced their school management approach and how they defined their current leadership styles. This paper offers theoretically informed models of leadership which encompasses different purposes (assessment of self and the school system). Finding out the leadership styles of the principals helps them find ways to understand complex educational issues. Available literature points to the realization that there have been few studies that explore principals’ perceptions of the factors underpinning their successes and achievements. A qualitative research project was undertaken in Cyprus by using in- depth interviews. Data were collected from interviews. Journal entries were also analyzed for the benefit of the study. Microanalysis was used to analyze the data and cross case analysis was used to look for similarities and differences between the cases. Analysis was informed by movement between theoretical dimensions and emerging themes from participants’ discussions of their leadership experiences. This research has shown that the participants had similar goals with regard to their school management yet implemented it in different ways. This study illustrates implications for future research on the factors influencing school management.