Abstract:
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the nature of career developmental stages for secondary public school instructional leaders. The study had three sub-purposes: to examine the role instructional leaders perform throughout their careers to determine if there is an identifiable set of career developmental stages through which they progress, to offer an incipient description of these stages, and to identify and explicate implications these findings have for professional development decisions at the state and local levels. The participants in this study were part of a purposeful sample which the researcher identified as being secondary school instructional leaders who had served varying amounts of time in their careers in the field of education. There were sixteen participants, eight male and eight female. The participants were of varying ages and educational background. The data for this study were derived from interviews with each of the sixteen participants. Through the utilization of basic qualitative methods, the researcher conducted a thematic analysis of the data. This analysis allowed the researcher to organize the data into manageable strands. Through the theoretical framework of the study, the researcher coded the data in an attempt to connect the data to the research questions. There were six themes identified in the data analysis: (a) induction, (b) stabilization or establishment, (c) professional, (d) distinguished, (e) frustration, (f) professional development. The researcher did identify four distinct career developmental stages for secondary school instructional leaders. The researcher was also able to identify characteristics and descriptions associated with these career developmental stages. Additionally, the researcher was able to identify professional development opportunities which have proven to have been helpful to the participants in this study, as well as identified professional development needs which may be lacking. The findings in this study offer school districts in the state of Alabama a description of the career developmental stages which instructional leaders experience, as well as suggestions for appropriate professional development opportunities to meet their needs at each of the particular career developmental stages.
