What do we know about novice school principals? A systematic review of existing international literature

TY - JOUR

T1 - What do we know about novice school principals?

T2 - A systematic review of existing international literature

AU - Kılınç, Ali Çağatay

AU - Gümüs, Sedat

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - For much of the past half-century, scholars from various parts of the world have studied the early stages of school principals’ careers. This article presents the results of a review of research on novice principals (NPs) regarding its current status, intellectual structure and conceptual structure. The review conducted bibliometric and content analysis of relevant articles accessed through Scopus. The findings primarily concerned patterns in the knowledge production related to novice school principals. Our findings indicate that this line of research is still in its infancy, but has been growing rapidly in recent years. Related studies have mostly focused on three broad areas: preparation and development of NPs; NPs’ socialization process and the challenges they face; and NPs’ role in school improvement. Most of the related studies are found to be lacking in terms of a solid theoretical grounding. The implications of the results for the related literature are discussed.

AB - For much of the past half-century, scholars from various parts of the world have studied the early stages of school principals’ careers. This article presents the results of a review of research on novice principals (NPs) regarding its current status, intellectual structure and conceptual structure. The review conducted bibliometric and content analysis of relevant articles accessed through Scopus. The findings primarily concerned patterns in the knowledge production related to novice school principals. Our findings indicate that this line of research is still in its infancy, but has been growing rapidly in recent years. Related studies have mostly focused on three broad areas: preparation and development of NPs; NPs’ socialization process and the challenges they face; and NPs’ role in school improvement. Most of the related studies are found to be lacking in terms of a solid theoretical grounding. The implications of the results for the related literature are discussed.

KW - Novice school principals

KW - mentorship

KW - principal preparation

KW - school improvement

KW - socialization

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85078998055

U2 - 10.1177/1741143219898483

DO - 10.1177/1741143219898483

M3 - Review

SN - 1741-1432

VL - 49

SP - 54

EP - 75

JO - Educational Management, Administration & Leadership

JF - Educational Management, Administration & Leadership

IS - 1

ER -