Browsing by Author "Broms, Mandi"

Leadership and management has been an interest of research for a long time, school princi-pals being no exception. However, there is a substantial need for research about manage-ment of human resources for principals. As previous research shows, this type of research is important as leadership affects work motivation, which in its turn affects work performance. To be able to develop the management of human resources of principals, it is important to understand how principals think around it. The aim of this study is to provide an insight of what the principals of this study thinks about leadership and what they value concerning ma-nagement of human resources. This study is a qualitative study, the methods are a mix of case study and qualitative content analysis. The data consists of six (n=6) interviews with Finnish principals, who work in comprehensive schools and/or upper secondary schools. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews consisting of basic questions regarding their work as principals and five fictional cases. The principals were asked to explain how they would act if the situ-ation would appear in their school. The data was analysed according to the principles of con-tent analysis. The conclusion of this study is that the principals interviewed describe their leadership of human resources as matters and values that can be divided into four themes: 1. Humane centered leadership, 2. Strong leadership, 3. Active leadership and 4. Restricted leadership. All six principals agreed on themes 1-3, but one of the principals did not speak of theme number 4. As a conclusion the principals of this study consider themselves as leaders that solve problems with discussions and empathy, but they use stronger leadership if the situat-ion requires. The principals actively try to create structures and prevent problems, but do not consider their leadership as perfect that can not be developed.