“From whence shall they come?” Attracting the new generation of school leaders

The research problem underpinning this study concerns the paucity of applications for the principalship in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Townsville, North Queensland. Deputy principals, assistants to the principal religious education and assistant principals in the Diocese of Townsville are reluctant to apply for the principalship. Initiatives to address this challenge have been unsuccessful. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to explore why few deputy principals, assistants to the principal religious education and assistant principals are applying for principal positions in the Diocese of Townsville. The following specific research questions were generated from a synthesis of the literature. These questions focus the conduct of this study: 1. How do principals, members of school leadership teams and Townsville Catholic Education Office (TCEO) personnel understand the role of a Catholic school principal? 2. Why are deputy principals, assistants to the principal – religious education and assistant principals deterred from applying for the principalship? 3. How can potential applicants be prepared to undertake the principalship in a Catholic school? An epistemological framework of constructionism underpins this study as it explores the meaning constructed through the experiences of school leaders. An interpretivist design is adopted, with Symbolic Interactionism providing the particular interpretivist lens. Case study is the methodology chosen to orchestrate the data gathering strategies of focus group interviews, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews and surveys. - (Abstract)