Beyond the black stump: dilemmas and tensions facing new principals in remote NSW

This paper reports on a current research project that examines the experiences and issues that are of concern to principals of isolated central schools in one Australian state.

This ongoing project examines the principals’ perceptions about some of the outcomes claimed for school management reforms. The study is based on a state-wide survey of central school principals in New South Wales and 12 case studies of these principals.

Findings to date suggest that principals’ concerns include: matching mandates from state office with quality teaching in their schools, fostering parent awareness of the value of quality education, difficulties in finding and securing trained teachers in secondary specialist areas and providing in-school professional development for both newly trained teachers and teachers teaching additional subjects outside their area of training. Principals also were concerned that teachers needed professional development to provide for students coming from poor and declining rural communities. Principals experienced professional, personal and social isolation in dealing with these issues.

Herzberg’s multi-dimensional scales for satisfiers and dissatisfiers (1968) were used to explain the apparent paradoxes of principals having high dissatisfactions in many areas and yet remaining satisfied and committed to their schools and principalships.