A study of social and political acumen in dynamic educational  (Page 7/15)

Focus Group

The ten principals who participated in the face-to-face interviews were invited to participate in the focus group, which in the end was composed of five of these principals. I provided supper for the focus group and we ate as we talked. This helped to provide a convivial atmosphere for our meeting.

Topics for the focus group involved discussion statements about the role of social and political acumen in leadership and further development of the questions included in the survey and the face-to-face interviews. The focus group questions made a specific connection to each principal’s individual experiences. Questions also probed how leadership development programs might support leaders in their exercise of social and political acumen. There was also an opportunity, however, for open discussion about their perceptions of what social and political acumen contribute to dynamic leadership and leadership in general. The focus-group session lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes, and it was taped and transcribed.

Observational notes were made immediately after the focus group and summaries and charts were made from the transcript and the observation notes. As the moderator of the focus group, I had the opportunity to help guide the discussion. Krueger (1988) described this role as facilitating multiple interactions amongst the participants in the group. Through open-ended questions, individuals in the group were encouraged to communicate their opinions about their own exercise of social and political acumen. These questions also led to discussion about the role of social and political acumen in general in educational leadership.

Artifacts

In addition, artifacts regarding leadership, leadership requirements, and leadership development were gathered and analyzed from the two selected school districts. These included information for potential administrators; professional development plans for educational leaders, and the staffing descriptors and criteria for administrative applications. Content analysis of the artifacts was made through categorizing, coding, and identifying specific characteristics (Cresswell, 1998).

Results from the Research

Three hundred schools from two school districts were involved in the research study. Nomination forms were sent to the staff and school council of each school. From these schools, a total of 35 principals were nominated as dynamic leaders. These nominated principals were then sent a letter explaining the research study and their nomination. They also received a letter of informed consent that asked them to agree to participate in the study and respond to the survey. Thirty surveys were returned completed. From the 35 principals nominated, every fourth one was requested to participate in a face-to-face interview. This group of eight consisted of five elementary principals, two junior high principals, and one senior high principal. From the group of junior high and senior high principals remaining, two were randomly chosen to increase representation beyond the elementary level. This resulted in two additional senior high principals being included in the group. All 10 principals agreed to participate in face-to-face interviews, and the 10 principals interviewed were invited to participate in a focus group. All were willing to participate, but because of time commitments, only 5 of the 10 principals finally participated in the focus group. In addition, artifacts from the two school districts that related to the principal’s role were reviewed in relation to the exercise of social and political acumen.