Quality assurance in the principalship : Tasmanian principals' institute

This paper is presented as the final component of an Educational Doctorate Course undertaken by Robert Bonfield. The author is currently principal at Huonville Primary School, Tasmania, Australia. This paper undertakes to assess the quality of the professional development provided to principals in Tasmania by the Tasmanian Principals Institute (T.P.I.) during the period 1999 to 2002. During this time the T.P.I. was involved in pre accreditation, accreditation (of principalship competencies) and ongoing professional development to principals of state schools in Tasmania. This case study explores the quality of professional development provided against a framework model developed by the author. The framework model was derived from an extensive analysis of both national and international professional development program descriptions, feedback and research. The model attempts to synthesise the key components of the design and delivery of professional development to principals. A broad selection of participants were interviewed to provide the core of the case study data. The case study data strongly supported the model developed from the literature review. Several findings challenged the model and lead to proposed extensions to the model, particularly in the areas of content (holistic versus competency based), access (distance and travel time), personal profiles of participants, family support, spaced learning structures, school based teams, I.C.T. support, flexible entry procedures, and mentoring.