Abstract
Principal succession is the systematic and continuous process of the replacement of school principals. The study of principal succession should not only be restricted to the selection and appointment of new principals to replace the outgoing principals but also involve looking into the transition phase when new principals take over the reins from the out-going principal and the leadership development of these new principals after taking over the rein. The importance of principal leadership for school development and student achievement is the reason for the study of principal succession. However, there is a lack of research on the process of principal succession in China, which, to a large extent, restricts the systematic, scientific, and standardised work of principal succession.The main purpose of this study is to identify, understand and describe the trajectory pathways of teachers’ growth into principals in the Chinese context. This study demonstrates that the stages of selection, socialisation and professional development are interlinked and need to be investigated in the process of succession to principalship, and highlights the importance of studying these three stages as a continuum. This study is exploratory and therefore adopts a qualitative approach with the use of semi-structured interviews. This study is based on high school, so the interviews are from the high school context. Through face-to-face communication with principals and senior teachers, in-depth information in a natural setting to study principals’ views on the succession process is used. The data were obtained from 45 respondents, including 10 high school principals, 10 vice-principals, 10 middle leaders, 10 teachers, and five Education Bureau officers. The interview data were analysed using manual coding through thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is understood as using themes. The implication of this study is that it creates a new model for principal succession in the form of a roadmap which shows what should be done and best practices, or responses, at each stage, from selection to socialisation to development, for policymakers and novice principals. What is important is identification of suitable candidates should start from the very beginning when they are still teachers. This is inevitable as principals are selected from the pool of teachers and this study recommended that principal succession should be studied in a continuum.
| Date of Award | 15 Oct 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Ashley Ng (Supervisor) & Tony Bush (Supervisor) |