International case studies of leadership in practice provide an overview of the 'lived experience' of new primary school Principals in different contexts. New primary leaders face significant challenges worldwide and this book brings together the range of those experiences and challenges for the first time. It includes interviews with primary school leaders in the early years of leadership in 13 different countries. Each chapter begins with an introduction by the researcher to the Principal and their local context before the Principal's own description of their experience as a new leader. The leaders discuss how they prepared for principalship, their experiences in the first year, the extent to which the job meets with their expectations and their hopes and fears for the future. The first and last chapters provide a comparative overview, exploring new principals' perceptions of key influences on schools and their communities, their reactions to the multiple, heightened and often conflicting expectations, pressures and challenges they encounter and the implications for principal preparation internationally.
The voices of Principals from around the world provide a vivid and authentic picture of new school leaders in different contexts at the beginning of the 21st Century.