Principals’ and teachers’ views of spirituality in principal leadership in three primary schools

Abstract

This article discusses key findings from my doctoral research involving a qualitative case study inquiring into the lived experiences of spirituality in principal leadership and its influence on teachers and their teaching within three public primary school contexts in New Zealand. Spirituality is understood in this article as a complex and controversial human phenomenon, the meaning of which may be shaped and re-shaped by diverse perspectives and experiences. It includes personal, social-cultural and transcendent connectedness, meaning making about life and living, and a desire for greater authenticity, resulting in consistency between people’s beliefs, moral-values, attitudes and their actions. The three principal participants believed their personal meanings of spirituality were intentionally and yet appropriately interwoven into a range of professional tasks, linked to characteristics of servant, transformational, moral and relational leadership styles, and contributed to their sense of resilience in the job. Most teacher participants perceived spirituality in their principal’s leadership as influential through the quality of their professional character, competence and conduct. Most teacher participants attributed positive effects on their professional attitudes and practice. However, there was some ambivalence and uncertainty associated with the phenomenon of spirituality and difficulty attributing influence to an integral dimension of the person who leads. The article concludes with several implications for school leaders and teachers.

Keywords

influence leadership principal spirituality teachers

Introduction

In this section I discuss a selection of the literature I reviewed to provide an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon of spirituality, its relevance to education and principal leadership, and some of the challenges with researching it.

According to White and MacDougall (2001: 41), ‘Studies have shown that about 95% of humans have a spiritual belief system.’ Spirituality refers to a person’s spiritual life or the lived reality of their spiritual belief system. In the literature spirituality is recognized as a controversial and contested individual and social phenomenon owing to its elusive nature and people’s diverse perspectives (Waaijman, 2002). It is complex because people’s meaning making of spirituality is shaped by personal agency interwoven with social, cultural, economic and, in many cases, religious life experiences. Spirituality reflects people’s world-views and values for living (Palmer, 1998). These beliefs and values may be informed by sacred and philosophical writings, family teaching and ancestral oratory, as well as people’s pre-suppositions about the origin and meaning of life (Lincoln and Guba, 2000). More importantly, people’s inner spirituality may be observed and understood by the way people live.

In our pluralistic society spirituality interconnects with many different world-views. While some world-views may be highly personalized, others may be collectively understood within a cultural framework such as the Maori concepts of hauora, whanaungatanga and kotahitanga. For many people spirituality may be understood through a philosophical framework such as humanism or scientific intelligent design (Gitt, 1997; Kurtz, 1973; Meyer, 2009). Inclusively and concisely defining the breadth of beliefs, values and behaviour associated with spirituality is therefore problematic. What do you leave in and what do you marginalize or leave out?

Wright (2000: 7), suggests a working definition as, ‘our concern for the ultimate meaning and purpose in life’. Teasdale (2001) conceptualizes spirituality as a personal commitment to a process of inner development that ultimately realizes the interconnectedness between self, others, the earth, cosmos and the mystical. Alexander (2001: 4), suggests spirituality be defined in response to several interrelated existential questions: (1) the identity question; (2) the community question; (3) the moral question; (4) the question of meaning and purpose – what is the meaning of life, its ethical vision or higher purpose?; and (5) the question of transcendence – what is worthy of ultimate commitment, loyalty, worship or devotion? Elkins et al. (1988) provide a useful conceptual framework that includes nine dimensions, these being transcendence, meaning and purpose, mission in life, sacredness of life, material versus spiritual values, altruism, idealism, awareness of the tragic and the fruits of spirituality.

Difficulties with defining spirituality also pose problems measuring the phenomenon. These challenges provide support for sceptics such as Hertzberg (2000), who suggest spirituality is academically backward and Brown and Furlong (1996), who refer to spirituality as a weasel word, vague and elusive of definition. However others are more optimistic, such as English et al. (2003: 124), who cite evidence that:

Environments that promote spirituality through learning are characterized by flexibility, creativity, newness, engagement, reflectiveness, and places where teacher and student stories of meaning-making are honoured.

Tisdell (2001: 2), an American professor of education and an educational researcher, also offers a more optimistic perspective claiming:

Spirituality is one of the ways people construct knowledge and meaning. It works in consort with the affective, the rational or cognitive, and the unconscious and symbolic domains. To ignore it, particularly in how it relates to teaching for personal and social transformation, is to ignore an important aspect of human experience and avenue of learning and meaning-making.

In the New Zealand educational context, recognition of the importance of the spiritual dimension to life and children’s development has been recorded in a number of influential reports and curriculum documents. For example in the New Zealand Department of Education (1929: 65), Syllabus of Instruction for Public Schools it states:

There still survives in schools a great deal of the old-fashioned formalism that regards education more as a mechanical process than as a means of securing for every child the fullest possible spiritual, mental and physical development.

In the Report of the Committee on Health and Social Education (1977), also known as the Johnson Report, there is a section called, ‘Moral, spiritual and values education’ (1977: 32–37). It endorsed the many submissions it received which emphasized, ‘the dangerous lack of basic values within our society’ (1977: 32). The report’s non-partisan, inclusive writing style acknowledged non-Christian, Christian and Maori perspectives. It also stated, ‘society expects positive leadership from its schools’ in terms of education in values and recommended the ‘fostering of a non-sectarian spiritual dimension in New Zealand state education be accepted’ (1977: 37). The reports elaborates on this by explaining:

The schools we seek to encourage will foster a pride in heritage, in the growth of self-identity, and in seeking purpose and meaning in life … ultimate concerns … who am I? Why am I here? Where have I come from? Where am I going? … While we see these as being deeply religious questions, we prefer in this context to use the word spiritual as more accurately describing the type of school involvement we envisage. (1977: 35)

The report stated the committee’s views and aspirations that teachers of all subjects would be able to incorporate some of this dimension in their teaching because ‘a spiritual dimension … is part of being human’ (1977: 35). This section of the Johnson Report concluded with the statement, ‘We affirm that education in the dimension of morality, values and spirituality is essential to the total growth of each person’ (1977: 37). The significance of this last comment is that spirituality was understood as related to, but not equivalent to values or morality.

Following the New Zealand Curriculum Framework (1993), a substantive revision of all curriculum learning areas for the compulsory school sector was progressively rolled out over the following decade. The document, Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1999), referred to spiritual well-being as an interconnected component to overall health. It also used the term hauora, a Maori cultural perspective of well-being. Importantly, this curriculum document defined hauora broadly comprising:

The values and beliefs that determine the way people live, the search for meanings and purpose in life, and personal identity and self-awareness. For some individuals and communities, spiritual well-being is linked to a particular religion; for others it is not. (Ministry of Education, 1999: 31)

During the past decade spirituality has received renewed interest in New Zealand and overseas by academic writers especially from humanistic, non-religious, values-based interpretations (Gibbs, 2006). A growing number of academic writers believe that spirituality is a timely, overlooked and important topic given the troubled world in which we live. For example, Shields et al. (2005: 15) say:

If we ignore the issues of spirituality, we are abrogating our responsibilities as educational leaders to provide the spiritual care that constitutes one of the essential moral rights of an individual who comes to our public education system.

And within the New Zealand context, Fraser (2005: 64), says:

These are exciting times in secular education. Acknowledging spirituality is a huge step towards extending what it means to be human. It reveals a dimension that has existed over time, but has been neglected and avoided in secular Western education.

Not only has the topic of spirituality been recognized as important to educators and to children’s educational development and well-being, but spirituality in organizations and workplace leadership have become popular themes in recent years (Fry, 2003; Giacolone and Jurkiewicz, 2003; West-Burnham, 2003). Various claims are made regarding the utility of modelling values and behaviours attributed to spirituality in organizational leadership to improve inter-personal relationships, ethical actions, employee empowerment, staff motivation and retention (Moore and Casper, 2006; Winters Moore, 2008). Some have gone further to develop a holistic organizational model of spiritual leadership in the workplace Fairholm (2000). However, there are concerns over the use of spirituality in the workplace that it may be used as a managerial tool to raise production and exploit worker’s good will with no extra costs, and if not handled in appropriate ways, lead to prejudice and sectarian disharmony (Fry and Matherly, 2006).

Many of the characteristics linked to spirituality are identified in the field of educational leadership literature (Fenwick 2005; Leithwood et al., 1999; Southworth, 2002) but under terms such as relationality (Dyer, 2001), care (Duignan and Bindi, 1997), moral leadership (Sergiovanni, 1992) and authentic leadership (Cashman, 1998). Rossow and Warner (2000: 24) identified from research literature in the USA, three broad requisites for instructional leadership, namely ‘personal, functional and contextual requisites’. The last requisite is described as having a well-reasoned philosophy, high moral purpose, a collaborative leadership style and educational values. The recently published Best Evidence Synthesis on school leadership and student outcomes (Robinson et al., 2009), also provides a good example. This synthesis involved a comprehensive analysis of 134 New Zealand and international research studies and reviews. In the report there are a number of important educational leadership themes identified such as relational trust, integrity and modelling qualities of leadership. Each of these themes shares common ground with discourse on spirituality yet in the report itself, the term spirituality is not referred to.

However, there is a growing body of research literature that is explicitly exploring spirituality within educational leadership from a range of methodological and theoretical positions (Conrad et al., 2006; Flintham, 2003; Malone and Fry, 2003; Ramirez, 2009; Walker and McPhail, 2009; Wellman et al., 2009; Woods, 2007). For example, the mixed methods approach adopted by Woods (2007), included data from 244 primary, middle and secondary school headteachers within three local education authorities in England. In her study she (2007: 135) examined:

The importance of spiritual experience as a phenomenon which enables leaders to be better resourced internally and find deeper meaning, and to provide evidence of the significance and influence of spiritual experience for educational leadership in schools.

Notwithstanding spirituality research continues to be criticized for its lack of an agreed conceptual definition and the tools to measure it (Benefiel, 2005; Giacolone et al., 2003), However, Forniciari and Lund-Dean (2001: 335) suggest spirituality ought not to be limited to the requirements of positivism. They:

Challenge spirituality in organizations researchers to consider evidence about the phenomenon of spirituality at work, based on non-positivist ways of knowing … ethnomethodological techniques, qualitative techniques, and tradition-based stories, as more appropriate research methods than positivist methods.

Furthermore Shields et al. (2005: 8) argue against the hegemonic influence of positivism by saying:

Eliminating all reference to belief systems results in an epistemology focused so narrowly on empiricism that it eliminates and marginalizes other, valid ways of knowing … those who make sense of the world through epistemologies that are grounded in spirituality are often reduced to shame and silence, marginalized by the ‘truth’ of a different epistemological frame of reference.

Informed by this review of literature, I chose the term ‘spirituality in principal leadership’ because it allowed me to research the diverse personal spirituality perspectives people might have and how they integrate those beliefs into their preferred leadership practice. The literature review also showed there was a gap in the research. To the best of my knowledge no case studies had been conducted in New Zealand or overseas, into the lived experience of spirituality of state primary school principals which also included teachers’ voice. I was particularly interested in the influence, if any, of spirituality in principal leadership on teachers and their teaching based on my professional background as a teacher and my current involvement as a lecturer in pre-service primary teacher education.

Research Process

Recognizing the complex and contested nature of spirituality I decided to inquire into spirituality in principal leadership through a qualitative, interpretive, constructivist paradigm with several applied phenomenological perspectives. As a constructivist, interpretive methodology, phenomenology is concerned with the question of, ‘how individuals make sense of the world around them’ (Bryman, 2001: 13) or their life-world (van Manen, 1997). According to Giles (2008: 61), phenomenology is an endeavour of:

letting something be seen from itself, to establish a renewed contact with the original experience, prior to theorizing about it, and to bring to light the meanings woven into the fabric of the experience because this enables understanding of human life.

Informed by my literature review I realized that in New Zealand’s pluralistic society, a concise and widely acceptable definition of human spirituality would not be possible. Furthermore, because I was interested in the meanings participants ascribed to their spirituality in their professional school contexts, including their beliefs, feelings and thoughts that shaped behaviour, I intentionally chose an open position regarding the definition of spirituality. In doing so I avoided trying to homogenize diverse perspectives into some form of artificial uniformity. Linclon and Guba (2000: 169, 185) propose:

We stand on the threshold of a history marked by multivocality, contested meanings, paradigmatic controversies and new textural forms … We may also be entering an age of greater spirituality within research efforts … sacred spaces become authoritative sites for human inquiry.

The research design included a singular, multiple-site case study involving three principals and three teachers from each of the principals’ schools. To recruit the principals and teachers I sent letters of invitation to a semi-random sample of 30 state primary schools (with student rolls in excess of 100) within three regions of the North Island. The sample did not include religious special character schools, kura kaupapa Maori schools or intermediate schools because I wanted to inquire into the meaning of spirituality within secular state primary school organizations.

I also triangulated the research methods using semi-structured interviews, supported by overt non-participant observations and principal reflective journaling. These methods of data gathering were applied three times across a one year period. The journaling was another way of gathering rich descriptive data (Neil et al., 2001), by helping the principals record and process their understanding of spirituality independently of myself as researcher, and at the end of the their school days while experiences were fresh in their minds. It also allowed another avenue for me to enter into their life-world and understand how they integrated their personal meanings of spirituality into professional practice.

The data from the interview transcripts, observational notes and reflective journal entries were repeatedly analysed for key words, themes and critical incidences that brought to light the interwoven aspects of spirituality in the principals’ leadership. This inductive and reflexive method of analysis extended across the year of fieldwork and resulted in four key themes and seventeen sub-themes being identified.

The school demographics varied. Their school populations ranged between 200–500 pupils. Two schools went from class year levels 1–6 and one school went from class year levels 1–8 and included a Maori bilingual unit. The school communities had varying socio-economic levels and were located in suburban and rural settings. Two of the principals had been established in their school institutions for more than five years. One of the principals was recently appointed (within the last 12 months). This principal was in a transitional phase of building leadership influence within the school and its wider community. The principals included one woman and two men, all with experience of principal leadership at other schools prior to the school context being reported on in this research.

As my chosen interpretive constructivist methodology implicitly recognizes the subjective nature of my inquiry it is important to identify the ways the research process satisfies the need for academic rigour and integrity. The trustworthiness (Bryman, 2001; Denzin and Lincoln, 2000) of this research has been assured in several ways. First, the credibility (Creswell, 2003) of the case study is assured through the triangulation of the research design and methods, checking the accuracy of the data with participants, the inclusion of negative and discrepant findings, extending the fieldwork across a four-term year, gathering rich descriptions of the phenomenon, and participating in regular research supervision meetings to discuss and evaluate the research process.

Second, the dependability of the research is supported in that it complied with the rigorous auditing process through the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Third, the issue of confirmability and the minimization of allowing the researcher’s views or values to significantly distort the findings is affirmed through my open stance on the definition of spirituality, the invitational semi-random process of participant recruitment, and the inclusion of phenomenological perspectives in my methodology. I intentionally sought out participants’ meanings of spirituality in principal leadership and not someone else’s theoretical framework.

Finally, the authenticity of the research is affirmed in that the diverse participants’ views on spirituality are acknowledged fairly and transparently. ‘Qualitative researchers do not claim there is only one way of interpreting an event. There is not one correct interpretation’ (Janesick, 2000: 393). My analysis of the data was carefully and reflexively considered and critiqued by my supervisors. Although qualitative research is not generalizable and transferable to other sites, the findings of this research are presented in a trustworthy and accessible manner for readers to determine for themselves if they are applicable to other situations or theoretical propositions that they may have in mind.

Findings

My first research question was, ‘What does the phenomenon of spirituality mean to participants?’

Participant’s personal ontologies or frameworks around which they described and made sense of spirituality varied and yet they shared many common practical educational values and behaviours which they connected to their spiritual belief systems. One of the principals described spirituality from a non-theistic, values-based perspective. Two of the principals explained their understanding of spirituality through non-materialistic, supernatural and theistic epistemologies. Each of the principals described their understanding of spirituality based on perceptual evidence derived through experience and perceptual evidence derived intuitively from their innate consciousness. Two of the principals incorporated references to religious disciplines and sacred text (in this case Christian faith perspectives and teaching from the Bible).

The teacher participants’ ethnicities included one Maori, two Maori/NZ European, one English and five NZ Europeans. They described spirituality in diverse ways, for example, through syncretic Maori/European cultural and cosmological views, non-religious, religious, agnostic and theistic perspectives. None used the term humanistic. One of the teachers described spirituality as the antithesis of materialsm and hedonism. Another teacher described spirituality around a personal philosophy of life. Some of the teachers were uncertain about their understanding of spirituality, recognizing it as a topic seldom discussed in public, something that was deeply personal and private.

All participants, both principals and teachers, described spirituality as having an internalized dimension in terms of beliefs, values and attitudes and an externalized application pertaining to socially and morally responsible behaviour. All participants describing their sense-making of spirituality in terms of it being an innate human dimension and something socially constructed, being shaped and re-shaped through family and personal life experiences. All participants were able to apply their understanding of spirituality to their purpose and passion underpinning their professional practice either of principal leadership or teaching. None of the participants believed their personal perspectives of spirituality were irrelevant or unconnected to their workplace lives. Spirituality was also connected with existential questions about the origin of life, one’s identity and purpose in life. These findings were summarized as a theme, ‘Making sense of life and making sense of living.’

The second question was, ‘What might spirituality in principal leadership mean to participants?’ First, the three principals described their conscious, regular awareness of and passion to include spirituality into their professional lives. They conceded that sometimes this intentionality might operate at a sub-conscious level owing to the complexity and speed with which interactions and decision-making situations arose.

Second, the principals believed their spirituality was integrated into their practice. They did not separate spirituality from their leadership, which is illustrated in the following quote, ‘I couldn’t take spirituality out of my practice, because it’s so integral’ (YS, principal, 2:3). The principal participants described their spirituality as deeply embedded into their whole being, physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially; even in their hearts, out of which sprang their values and passion. Some participants described the integral nature of spirituality in terms of ‘it’s who you are’. One principal said, ‘I find it a little hard to separate them [good management skills and spirituality] because they are sort of intertwined with what I do (GT, principal, 1:5). As an integral dimension of leadership, spirituality was believed not only to o be part of the principals’ thinking about what they were doing, but also why they engaged in educational leadership. This finding was similar to Flintham’s (2003) research in England, which showed that headteachers could articulate a value system ‘underpinning’ their headship roles.

Third, the principals described how they brought their spirituality into their professional lives through a self-managed, critical reflective process. This filtering and fitting of personal meanings of spirituality into public professional practice assisted them to speak and act appropriately to relational and decision making situations that they faced on a daily basis. Guiding this internal dialogue was a desire to walk the talk, maintaining integrity between the values they espoused and their practice.

This cognitive and intuitive process, included trial and error, and making adjustments to practice in response to feedback from colleagues, and learning from mistakes in leadership. Some of the principals believed that the filtering and fitting of their spirituality was assisted by religious practices such as prayer or thinking about teachings in sacred text.

Filtering and fitting of spirituality was linked to their desire to maintain a cohesive, relational, and inclusive community. This process was illustrated in a range of contexts such as when the principals worked closely with colleagues through a management process involving a behaviourally disturbed student facing suspension, when participating in staff meeting involving Maori cultural practices, such as karakia (prayers), when mourning the death of a student within the school community, when presenting an end of year farewell speech to senior students, or discussing personal and professional matters one-on-one with a close colleague.

Fourth, the principals believed their spirituality was able to assist them with a range of practical tasks, the modelling of their leadership style and maintaining resilience in their busy and stressful jobs. The practical tasks included such things as the development and implementation of educational policy, evaluating the quality of teaching and learning, enhancing and sustaining school climate and culture, and the management of staff and students. The principals described their perception that spirituality was also linked with performing at ‘big’ events in the life of the school, maintaining self-control during confrontations and when feeling under-equipped for a particular task. One principal described how spirituality was an important part of the consultative process with the community by which the board of trustees developed the school charter document.

Having a strong values base is part of my spirituality and making sure that children are taught and know that even though home might be a pretty tough place, when they enter the school, it’s safe. We try and make it fun, we try and connect with all children, and teach those people … life skills … we’re trying to develop a society, that are basically good people. (BS, principal, 1:1)

The findings showed that spirituality was believed to contribute to each principal’s understanding and outworking of their sense of moral behaviour. Their high regard for life and care of others were believed to be informed by their spirituality. Not deceiving or lying in matters of school finances, not being judgmental and not blaspheming or swearing, were some of the moral behaviours described by principal participants which they believed characterized their leadership styles. While legally and professionally it was incumbent on the principals to behave honestly, for these principals their spirituality also affirmed the need to be honest and was believed to help them to be honest. Moral leadership was also linked to each principal’s intention to encourage the development of a moral organizational culture.

The principals and many of the teacher participants believed spirituality ‘in’ leadership contributed to school-wide improvements and more specifically to their involvement and success with turning around troubled students, facilitating their social re-integration into the school and reversing disengagement with learning. They linked this practice with the term transformational leadership.

I guess in leadership I try and challenge people to do their own thinking and do their own leadership, to empower other people. I try to be quite transformational … I think a lot of my spirituality comes around social justice and support for other people, that I guess is where I fit my spirituality into my principal-ship. (YS, principal, 1:2)

Characteristics of relational leadership were also connected with spirituality in principal leadership. The dominant characteristic in this style is the centrality and importance placed on quality professional, caring relationships between the principal, staff, students and parents/caregivers. Spirituality in principal leadership did not guarantee quality professional relationships, but it was perceived by these principals and most teachers to contribute to their understanding of and effectiveness in leading relationally. Another finding was that personal meanings of spirituality were believed to contribute to the repairing and rebuilding of professional relationships that had been disaffected in some way through humility and being forgiving. Spirituality was believed by the three principals to assist with their ability to respond relationally to significant situations in other people’s lives, such as grief and loss through showing empathy and compassion. One of the teacher participants remarked, ‘Spirituality in principal leadership is not about perfection, but it is real, genuine’ (BS, teacher, Edward, 3:5).

Two of the principals included reference to servant leadership. They both made sense of this concept of serving in leadership through their religio-spiritual epistemology derived from sacred text. They explained that they felt a responsibility to serve their school community in a similar manner to a biblical role model, in the sense of a leader who is other-centred, seeking to lead with humility and promote the well-being of others.

Another common finding among the three principals was the belief that the integration of their spirituality perspectives helped them sustain positivity in the challenging and stressful role of principal leadership, by providing inner strength and a strong sense of purpose. For example, spirituality was believed to help them have a hope for the future, to see the potential in children, and to have a positive disposition in the face of significant educational and social challenges. One of the principals described how he maintained resilience through keeping fit playing sport and ensuring a ‘work–life balance’. Some of the principals engaged in transcendent perspectives of spirituality such as prayer and faith or spiritual disciplines reading of sacred text or sharing concerns with a trusted spiritual mentor, as a way to process and rebound from the pressures of the job.

It [spirituality] gives me strength at times when I’m wondering if I can continue … it’s not necessarily the world’s way, that you would approach that with … it’s not necessarily what other people expect you to do … I go home at the end of the day and sometimes I feel completely drained out but through prayer and being able to give these things to God I come back the next day afresh. (GT, principal, 3:3)

One teacher perceived that spirituality contributed to her principal’s ability to cope with stressful situations.

He celebrates different things … … not being negative … no, and you notice that right from his life, his family life and everything … what he does and what he belongs to … he’s a whole person, … I’ve seen him in there dealing with very irate parents … You’ve got to have some sort of spirituality to deal with situations like that, and to deal with them in the way that he does. I’ve never seen him get angry. (BS, teacher, Debbie, 2:3)

My third research question was, ‘By what means might spirituality in principal leadership be perceived as influential?

Teacher participants perceived the spirituality of their principals to be influential through the quality of their professional character, calibre and conduct. The principals’ integrity in modelling their values and beliefs consistently in the day to day life of the school, their quality care of staff and students especially during difficult times involving student behaviour management and staff problems, their professional competence across the multiple roles of leadership, and the appropriateness of their actions associated with spirituality were four key sub-themes derived from analysis of the data.

In all three school contexts, the degree to which teachers felt the presence of high quality leadership practice sustained over time, contributed to their sense of credibility and trust in their principals. Although each principal had their own personal spiritual belief systems, it was the appropriate application and outworking of those beliefs in professional life in the school that was influential.

Teachers described how they experienced this influence directly through contact with the principal and indirectly through their principals’ influence on the culture and climate within the school. For example two of the teachers said:

We would suss him out in a day if he had no integrity or he didn’t actually believe in what he was spouting … (GT, teacher, Bonny, 3:5)

I think that yeah that whole compassion, empathy, manaakitanga [caring for each other], looking after people, arohatanga [endearment, mercy], whanaungatanga [kinship, inter-relationships] because Steve builds that … that’s part of his spirituality … making people feel like you’ve got a family … (GT, teacher, Claire, 3:5)

We’re fortunate because he’s [Steve] been able to establish a very strong leadership … in which we’re quite united … it’s from his inner beliefs of how he wants the world to be and he’s taking the values of his home and how he wants his home to be and he’s trying to create that community within his school … once again it’s that being a good role model and walking the talk … and that’s made a huge difference over the last few years. (GT, teacher, Abbey, 2:5)

My final research question was, ‘What influence might spirituality in principal leadership have on teachers and their teaching? Teacher participants described variable influences from their perception and experience of spirituality in their principal’s leadership. The majority of the findings from the showed that spirituality when appropriately applied to specific school contexts, and accompanied by competent professional leadership was perceived to be positively influential in a range of practical ways. For example, many of the teacher participants perceived that the spirituality in their principals’ leadership contributed towards the climate and culture of the school through its emphasis on quality relationships, caring values and a hope for the future. This affected the teachers’ morale, sense of commitment and desire to remain at the school. Some teachers attributed the principal’s efforts to improve the quality of the teaching and learning within the school, to the principal’s spirituality. This was based on the teachers’ perception of the principal’s care toward the students.

My intuition is that having that spiritual base is one of the things that make our school really great, and that’s why I see it as the foundation I suppose. That’s underpinning their learning really. The way he treats people, the way he shows tolerance and respect, and the way he manages. (GT, teacher, Claire, 1:2)

The modelling of care by the principals encouraged the teachers to care likewise for the children in their classes. The effects of this aspect of spirituality in principal leadership were described by some teachers who said they endeavoured to make changes in their approaches to the management of difficult students and that they had become more aware of the holistic needs of children, not just reacting to their misbehaviour.

It has in the sense of looking outside the square when a student is extremely difficult … she is known to frequently to give that student a lot more leeway and care than principals I’ve known in the past … Where some students would have been stood down from the school, she has worked with me and we have sought ways to keep the child enrolled at school and that to me is a very strong way that she has influenced me with her spirituality because she’s basically going outside the school system to find a way and encouraged me. (YS, teacher, Georgette, 1:4)

A few teacher participants described a sense of ambivalence or uncertainty regarding the influence of spirituality upon their teaching practice. For example, one of the youngest female teachers said:

I’m not sure how much spirituality as such influences me in the classroom, or the spirituality of anyone else wouldn’t really influence me in the classroom but what it does do is give me the confidence to go and speak to other people about, or I’ll approach different people based on their strengths or feelings. (BS, teacher, Fiona, 1:2)

However, some of the teacher participants described a few situations whereby they believed inappropriate leadership actions which they identified with their principal’s spirituality ‘in’ leadership, disaffected either themselves or other staff. For example one situation involved a principal’s desire to fundraise for a charitable cause in a developing country through the school annual gala as a way of modelling to the students the value of thinking of others who are less fortunate. Although a laudable initiative, the way in which it was communicated disaffected the unity among the staff and resulted in the idea being dropped. Another incident involved the inclusion of Christian spiritual values in the school’s weekly newsletter, which one of the teachers described as needing to be edited or toned down in order to be more broadly acceptable within the school community.

Discussion

Participants’ descriptions of spirituality reflected New Zealand’s pluralistic society and the multiple perspectives. Participants’ knowing about spirituality was based around their mental processing of observable, measureable, life experiences (empirical evidence), as well as non-observable intuition and/or faith. Participants utilized a posteriori and a priori knowledge or justifications to support their meanings of spirituality. As one principal explained spirituality, ‘There’s a dimension to people that is more than what you can see’ (GT, principal, 1:1).

Participants’ broad meanings of spirituality did not conform to a simple definition. Rather their meanings reflected the multi-dimensional frameworks for describing spirituality discussed in the literature review by Alexander (2001), Elkins et al. (1988) and many of the assumptions held by Tisdell (2003). These broad meanings affirmed that spirituality is a complex and controversial human phenomenon, the meaning of which may be shaped and re-shaped by diverse perspectives and experiences. My findings also showed that participant’s attributed to spirituality personal, social and transcendent connectedness, self-identity and meaning making, and a desire to move towards greater authenticity (Gibbs, 2006; Palmer, 1998; Starratt, 2003). These characteristics were woven through the lived reality of the principals’ lives, through their beliefs, moral-values, attitudes and the quality of their actions.

The findings reinforced to me the value and appropriateness of my decision to use a constructionist paradigm in my research methodology focused on the lived experiences of spirituality by the participants (van Manen, 2002). A decision supported by Roehlkepartain’s (2007: 1) belief, that it is better to avoid a definition that is, ‘final or comprehensive, thus inviting continued dialogue and exploration’.

The participants’ meanings of spirituality were profound, encompassing existential, philosophical, social, cultural, and religious understandings based on past and present experiences, and their aspirations for the future. Participants’ were also able to relate spirituality to their beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour for living relationally and responsibly in society and in their school contexts. Participants’ personal meanings of spirituality were socially constructed, shaped and re-shaped by interconnected personal, family, institutional, cultural and religious experiences. Furthermore, some of the participants found spirituality challenging to explain clearly and confidently. For these participants spirituality was something they were still trying to make sense of. These findings are similar to Tisdell’s (2003: 28) comment that, ‘Spirituality is an elusive topic. Different people define it in different ways, but all definitions somehow seem to be incomplete.’

Spirituality was understood by participants as something practical, and developmental, a work in progress (Teasdale, 2001). It was believed to be responsive to the vicissitudes of life, and in particular to their school workplace responsibilities. Some of the participants linked their personal meanings of spirituality to their passionate commitment and sense of purpose in their professional roles as teachers and principals. These findings suggested that spirituality in principal leadership could be developed and applied responsively to professional situations. These practical and developmental aspects to spirituality described by my participants were similar to the meanings of spirituality reported in the case studies by Conrad et al. (2006), Dixon (2002) and Ramirez (2009).

Sectarian and cultural diversity has been documented in New Zealand educational literature since the inauguration of the public education system in the latter part of the 19th century (Codd, 1980; Ewing, 1972; Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum, 1999; The Report of the Commission on Education in New Zealand, 1962; The Report of the Committee on Health and Social Education, 1977). Participants in my study did not report feelings of sectarian division. They were aware of the need to be inclusive and tolerant in their professional practice towards cultural and religious diversity. I believe these findings reflect not only their professionalism but also liberal changes to New Zealand’s society.

Implications

People involved in various aspects of educational leadership within primary schools might find it useful to reflect on their own meanings of spirituality and how their spirituality contributes to their professional beliefs, values, attitudes and practice. Spirituality may assist educational leaders to understand their school contexts from another perspective and assist them with a range of practical tasks, enact their preferred leadership style, and maintain personal resilience.

Another implication is that primary school principals and teachers might find it helpful to discuss their perceptions of how spirituality is present in the life of their schools. They might explore how their own perspectives of spirituality connect with the values of the school, the maintaining of caring relationships, and contribute to organizational effectiveness and school culture. Exploring the meanings of spirituality within public primary school contexts might help foster a greater awareness among staff to this dimension to people’s lives.

The final implication from this study is that public school leaders need to proceed cautiously when integrating their own spirituality into their practice and consult widely and inclusively when facilitating discussion about spirituality. Learning about spirituality and how to express spirituality appropriately within a public primary school context would be their focus, rather than promoting a particular view of spirituality. From a broader workplace perspective, there are two essential questions that need to be asked, ‘Whose interests are being served? And, is the organization trying to colonize the spirituality of the worker’ (English et al., 2003: 131).

Conclusion

This article reports on a qualitative case study into spirituality in principal leadership and its influence on teachers at three primary schools in New Zealand. Spirituality is widely recognized in literature as an important dimension to children’s educational development and well-being. It is also acknowledged as helpful to workplace organizations generally and a growing body of research suggests that it can be an influential dimension within educational leadership. Participants’ spiritual belief systems reflected New Zealand’s pluralistic society and yet they shared common understandings in terms of educational values and the quality of interpersonal relationships and conduct.

The principals believed their personal perspectives of spirituality to be intentionally, integrated, and applied into a range of leadership tasks, the modelling of preferred leadership style and to assist with remaining resilient in the job. Teacher participants perceived the spirituality in their principals’ leadership as influential through the quality of their character, competence and conduct. Most of the teacher participants were able to attribute positive emotional and practical effects to spirituality in principal leadership in terms of morale, professional attitudes, care of students and management practices. Some participants described ambivalent feelings towards spirituality and a few described negative effects which they believed were linked to inappropriate expressions of spirituality in principal leadership.

As with all qualitative research, the findings are highly contextualized and tentative; they are not generalizable to statistical populations. A larger, more diverse sample could produce different findings. Furthermore, the principals and teachers in my study found ascribing significance to spirituality difficult because the constructs of spirituality and influence are complex social phenomena, being perceived and understood in diverse ways. Additionally, the significance of a holistic ontological view of spirituality as an integral dimension of the person who leads is difficult to isolate as a singular, causal variable, apart from other characteristics and functions of leadership. Therefore, I believe that spirituality in principal leadership is not one form of leadership, but invites principals to integrate personal meanings of spirituality into their preferred leadership practice in appropriate ways for their own well-being and the well-being of everyone in their school community.

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