This article is based on a qualitative multi case study carried out in southwestern Kenya along the border areas of Nyanza and Rift Valley province. The purpose of the research was to examine the challenges public secondary school principals faced in their leadership roles and suggest efforts they might adopt to minimize the effects of these challenges. Data was drawn from interviews with six secondary school principals, document analysis as well as participant observation. Findings indicated that principals of public secondary school are faced with challenges associated with overdependence, uncertainty and vulnerability.

Abaya, JO (2011) How Secondary School Principals Build Trust in Kenyan Secondary Schools. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Agezo, C, Christian, G (2002) The impact of economic environment on primary school attendance: a case study of Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. Journal of Educational Management 4(1): 137143.
Google Scholar
Aloo, JO, Simatwa, EM, Nyang’ori, RA (2011) Impact of the school based teacher recruitment policy on the distribution and retention of teachers in public secondary schools in Kenya: a case study of Nyando District. Educational Research (ISSN: 2141–5161) 2(3): 10061020.
Google Scholar
Anderson, G, Anderson, G.J (1998) Fundamentals of Educational Research: 2nd Edn. London: Falmer Press
Google Scholar
Ariko, CO, Simatwa, EM (2011) Factors influencing secondary school teacher transfer requests in Suba District, Kenya: analytical assessment. Educational Research (ISSN: 2141–5161) 2(7): 12701280.
Google Scholar
Barber, M (1998) ‘The Dark Side of the Moon: imagining an end to failure in urban education’ in Stoll, L., Myers, K., (eds.) No Quick Fixes: perspectives on schools in difficulty, London, Falmer Press, 1733.
Google Scholar
Bryman, A, Gillingwater, D, McGuinness, I (1996) Leadership and organizational transformation. International Journal of Public Administration 19(6): 849872.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Bush, K, Saltarelli, D (2000) The Two Faces of Education in Ethnic Conflict. Florence: Innocenti Research Centre.
Google Scholar
Bush, T, Heystek, J (2006) School leadership and management in South Africa: principals’ perceptions. International Studies in Educational Administration 34(3): 6376.
Google Scholar
Bush, T, Oduro, GK (2006) New principals in Africa: preparation, induction and practice. Journal of Educational Administration 44(4): 359375.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Boyd, C (2001) Phenomenology the method. In: Munhall, PL (ed) Nursing Research: A Qualitative Perspective, 3rd edn. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett,.93122.
Google Scholar
Casanova, U (1996) Parent involvement: a call for prudence. Educational Researcher 25(8): 3032, 46.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
Cawelti, G (1999). Improving Achievement. American School Board Journal 186(7): 3437.
Google Scholar
Chapman, C (2002a) Ofsted and School Improvement: teachers’ perceptions of the inspection process in schools facing challenging circumstances. School Leadership & Management 22(3): 257272.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Chapman, C (2002b) Schools in Urban and Challenging Contexts. School Leadership & Management 22(3): 239241.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Chapman, C (2002c) Schools in Urban and Challenging Contexts. School Leadership & Management, 22(3), 239241.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Chapman, C, Harris, A (2004) Improving schools in difficult and challenging contexts: strategies for improvement. Educational Research 46(3): 219228. (doi: 10.1080/0013188042000277296)
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Clarke, P, Reynolds, D, Harris, A (2005) Challenging the challenged: developing an improvement programme for schools facing extremely challenging circumstances, in Clarke, P (ed) Improving Schools in Difficulty. London: Continuum.
Google Scholar
Creswell, JW, Miller, D (2000) Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory into Practice 39(3): 12430.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Crowson, RL (1998) Community empowerment and the public schools: can educational professionalism survive? Peabody Journal of Education 73(1): 5668.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Day, C, Harris, A, Hadfield, M (2001) Grounding knowledge of schools in stakeholder realities: A multi-perspective study of effective school leaders. School Leadership & Management 21(1): 1942.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Day, C, Harris, A, Hadfield, M, Tolley, H (2000) Leading schools in times of change: McGraw-Hill International.
Google Scholar
Deal, TE, Peterson, KD (1999) Shaping School Culture: The Heart of Leadership. Washington, DC: ERIC.
Google Scholar
DiPaola, M, Tschannen-Moran, M (2003) The principalship at a crossroads: a study of the conditions and concerns of principals. NASSP Bulletin 87(634): 4365.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
DiPaola, M, Walther-Thomas, C (2003) ‘Principals and special education: The critical role of school leaders’ (COPSSE Document No. IB-7E). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education.
Google Scholar
Edmonds, R (1979) Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership 37(1): 1524.
Google Scholar | ISI
Elmore, RF (2000) Building a new structure for school leadership: Albert Shanker Institute Washington, DC.
Google Scholar
Fink, D, Brayman, C (2006) School leadership succession and the challenges of change. Educational Administration Quarterly 42(1): 6289.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Gray, J (2000a) Causing concern but improving: a review of schools’ experiences. London: DfEE London.
Google Scholar
Greig, A, Taylor, J (1999) Doing Research With Children. London: SAGE.
Google Scholar
Greenfield, WD (1995) Toward a theory of school administration: the centrality of leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly 31(1): 6185.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Gurr, D, Drysdale, L, Mulford, B (2006) Models of successful principal leadership. School Leadership and Management 26(4): 371395. (doi: 10.1080/13632430600886921).
Google Scholar | Crossref
Hammond, P (2004) Holocaust in Rwanda, Frontline Fellowship, Cape Town. Available at http://frontline.org.za/index.php?option=com_djcatalog2&view=item&id=19:hir&cid=1:resources-cat&Itemid=175 (accessed, 20 August 2014).
Google Scholar
Harber, C, Davies, L (1997) School Management and Effectiveness in Developing Countries. London: Cassell/Continuum Press.
Google Scholar
Harris, A (2002) Effective leadership in schools facing challenging contexts. School Leadership and Management 22(1): 1526.
Google Scholar
Harris, A, Chapman, C (2002) Leadership in schools facing challenging circumstances. Management in Education 16(1): 1013.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
Harris, A, Chapman, C, Muijs, D, Russ, J, Stoll, L (2006) Improving schools in challenging contexts: exploring the possible. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 17(4): 409424.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Hausman, CS, Crow, GM, Sperry, DJ (2000). Portrait of the “ideal principal”: Context and self. NASSP Bulletin, 84(617), 514.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
Herman, R, Aladjem, D, McMahon, P, Masem, E, Mulligan, I, O’Malley, A, Woodruff, D (1999) An Educators’ Guide to School Wide Reform. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service.
Google Scholar
Huho, JM, Mugalavai, EM (2010) The Effects of droughts on food security in Kenya. The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses 2(2): 6172.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Hycner, RH (1999) Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data. In: Bryman, A, Burgess, R (eds) Qualitative Research (Vol. 3). London: SAGE, 143164.
Google Scholar
Ibrahim, N (2011) Preparation and development of public secondary schools principals in Kenya. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 1(9): 291301.
Google Scholar
Johnson, BL, Fauske, JR (2000). Principals and the Political Economy of Environmental Enactment. Educational Administration Quarterly 2000; 36; 159, 36, 159
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Susu, DK (2011). Factors contributing to primary schools’ teacher turnover in Sigor Division, Bomet District, Kenya. Masters Thesis, Kenyatta University.
Google Scholar
Kitavi, MW, Van Der Westhuizen, PC (1997) Problems facing beginning principals in developing countries: a study of beginning principals in Kenya. International journal of educational development 17(3): 251263.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Kruger, D (1988) An Introduction to Phenomenological Psychology, 2nd edn. Cape Town: Juta.
Google Scholar
Leithwood, K, Day, C, Sammons, P, Hopkins, D, Harris, A (2006). Successful school leadership. What it is and how influences pupil learning. London: Department of Education and Skills.
Google Scholar
Leithwood, K (2005). Understanding successful principal leadership: progress on a broken front. Journal of Educational Administration, 43(6), 619629.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Leithwood, K, Harris, A, Hopkins, D (2008). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. School Leadership and Management 28(1): 2742 (doi: 10.1080/13632430701800060).
Google Scholar | Crossref
Leithwood, K, Riehl, C (2003) What We Know About Successful School Leadership. Nottingham: National College for School Leadership.
Google Scholar
Louis, KS, Miles, MB (1990) Improving The Urban High School: What Works and Why. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Google Scholar
Mars Group (2008) Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence: Internally Displaced Persons. Nairobi: Mars Group Org.
Google Scholar
Miles, MB, Huberman, AM (1984) Qualitative Data Analysis, A Sourcebook of New Methods. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
Google Scholar
Morgan, W (1963) The ‘white highlands’ of Kenya. The Geographical Journal 129(2): 140155.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Muijs, D, Harris, A, Chapman, C, Stoll, L, Russ, J (2004) Improving schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas – a review of research evidence. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 15(2): 149175 (doi: 10.1076/sesi.15.2.149.30433).
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Murphy, J, Louis, KS (1994) Reshaping the Principalship: Insights from Transformational Reform Efforts. Washington, DC: ERIC.
Google Scholar
Ndegwa, SN (1997) Citizenship and ethnicity: An examination of two transition moments in Kenyan politics. American Political Science Review, 91(03), 599616.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Nicolaidou, M, Ainscow, M (2005) Understanding failing schools: perspectives from the inside. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 16(3): 229248.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Njeri, WJ (1996) Preparation of secondary school headteachers and implications on their administrative performance. A case study of Nairobi Province. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Nairobi: Kenyatta University.
Google Scholar
O’Connor, M, Hales, E, Davies, J, Tomlinson, S (1999) Hackney Downs: the School that Dared to Fight. London: Cassell.
Google Scholar
Oduro, GKT, Macbeath, J (2003) Traditions and tensions in leadership: the Ghanaian experience. Cambridge Journal of Education 33(3): 441455.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) (2002) The Curriculum In Successful Primary Schools. London: Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).
Google Scholar
Parkay, FW, Currie, GD, Rhodes, JW (1992) Professional socialization: a longitudinal study of first-time high school principals. Educational Administration Quarterly 28(1): 4375.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Patton, MQ (2005) Qualitative Research. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (Wiley).
Google Scholar | Crossref
Potter, D, Reynolds, D, Chapman, C (2002) School improvement for schools facing challenging circumstances: a review of research and practice. School Leadership & Management 22(3): 243256.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Purkey, SC, Smith, MS (1983) Effective schools: a review. The Elementary School Journal 83(4): 427452.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Reynolds, D, Hopkins, D, Potter, D, Chapman, C (2001) School improvement for schools facing challenging circumstances: A review of research and practice. London: Department of Education and Skills.
Google Scholar
Reynolds, D (1995) The problem of ineffective school: some evidence and some speculations. Paper presented at the School Effectiveness and School Improvement Seminal Series. Cambridge: Homerton College.
Google Scholar
Reynolds, D, Harris, A, Clarke, P, Harris, B, James, S (2006) Challenging the challenged: developing an improvement programme for schools facing exceptionally challenging circumstances. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 17(4): 425439.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Roe, WH, Drake, TL (1980) The Principalship. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Google Scholar
Schwandt, TA (1997) Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar
Seidman, I (1998) Interviewing As Qualitative Research: A Guide For Researchers In Education And The Social Sciences, 2nd edn. New York, NY: Teachers College.
Google Scholar
Stoll, L (2002) No quick fixes: Perspectives on schools in difficulty: Routledge.
Google Scholar
Stringfield, S, Ross, SM (1997) A ‘reflection’ at mile three of a marathon: the Memphis restructuring initiative in mid-stride. School Effectiveness and School Improvement: 8(1): 151161.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Weber, G (1971) Inner-City Children Can Be Taught To Read: Four Successful Schools. Washington, DC: Council for Basic Education.
Google Scholar
Welman, JC, Kruger, SJ (1999) Research Methodology For The Business And Administrative Sciences. Johannesburg: International Thompson.
Google Scholar
Wertz, F (1985) Method and findings in a phenomenological study of a complex life event: being criminally victimized. In: Giorgi, A (ed.) Phenomenology and Psychological Research. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Google Scholar
West, A, Ingram, D (2001) Making School Admissions Fairer?‘Quasi-Regulation’under New Labour. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 29(4), 459473.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
West, M, Ainscow, M, Stanford, J (2005) Sustaining improvement in schools in challenging circumstances: a study of successful practice. School Leadership & Management 25(1): 7793.
Google Scholar
Wildy, H, Clarke, S (2008) Principals on L-plates: rear view mirror reflections. Journal of Educational Administration 46(6): 727738.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Yulat, Y-M (1988) Education and national development: the continuing problem of misdiagnosis and irrelevant prescriptions. International journal of educational development 8(4): 315328.
Google Scholar | Crossref
View access options

My Account

Welcome
You do not have access to this content.



Chinese Institutions / 中国用户

Click the button below for the full-text content

请点击以下获取该全文

Institutional Access

does not have access to this content.

Purchase Content

24 hours online access to download content

Your Access Options


Purchase

EMA-article-ppv for $36.00