ABSTRACT
Given the widely held belief that public schooling is suspended in a state of mediocrity, many reformers have turned their attention to the pivotal role played by principals in school improvement. Recent reforms of a radical nature have caused the roles and responsibilities of these school leaders vastly to increase in number and complexity (Murphy, 1994). After noting how wholesale changes in their roles may afford Australian principals unprecedented opportunities for self-fulfilment, Caldwell cautions, ‘A welter of requirements on industrial matters and expectations for accountability may make the whole a thankless and overwhelming nightmare’ (Caldwell, 1992, p. 18). Similarly, from his study of school heads in England and Wales, Weindling (1992, p. 75) concludes, ‘But it is not just a change of emphasis; it is also a change of intensity. … There was even a danger that eventually, “many or all heads will reach saturation point and schools will collapse with exhaustion”.’ To complicate matters further, these added tasks have resulted in a great deal of role ambiguity (Bredeson, 1989; Murphy, 1990).
