The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ ETHICAL DECISIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL CONTEXTS IN PAKISTAN AND UNITED STATES A Dissertation in Educational Leadership and Comparative and International Education by Mehnaz Jehan Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015
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The Pennsylvania State University
The Graduate School
College of Education
HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ ETHICAL DECISIONS: A COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL CONTEXTS IN PAKISTAN
AND UNITED STATES
A Dissertation in
Educational Leadership
and
Comparative and International Education
by
Mehnaz Jehan
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
December 2015
ii
The dissertation of Mehnaz Jehan was reviewed and approved* by the following:
Roger Shouse
Associate Professor of Education
Chair of the Committee
Dissertation Advisor
Jacqueline A. Stefkovich
Professor of Education
Education Policy Studies
Ladislaus M. Semali
Associate Professor of ED (ADTED)
Learning and Performance Systems
James F. Nolan JR.
Harmanowics Professor of Education
Curriculum and Instructions
Kai A. Schafft
Assc. Professor of Education/Rural Sociology
Chair of Graduate Program
* Signatures are on file in the Graduate School.
iii
Abstract
Ethics in educational leadership and comparative educational research place particular emphasis
on exploring contextual realities to develop a comprehensive and holistic understanding of
leadership concepts to improve leadership practices. In this regard, this study aimed at explaining
socio-cultural and structural contexts that shape high school principals’ ethical decision-making
in Pakistan and the United States. The study is comprised of a comprehensive literature review as
well as primary data collection from Pakistan.
I employed qualitative paradigm to achieve the purpose of this study. In depth and semi-
structured interviews provided the main strategy to seek principals’ experiences with ethical
challenges in Pakistan. Furthermore, phenomenological underpinnings informed and guided my
interview strategies. I have not engaged in a formal phenomenological investigation, which
required adapting methods and substantial knowledge of phenomenological philosophy.
Dilemma analysis, a widely used strategy to study ethics in educational leadership, provided
ways of seeking principals’ experiences with ethical challenges and decision-making at two
stages. At the first stage, I shared with the principals two dilemmas depicting real situations in
the context of Pakistan for their comments. At the second stage, I employed “Real life,
respondent generated dilemmas” in an hour and half long semi-structured interviews to help
them think of at least three critical challenges or issues they experienced in their professional
lives.
Findings reveal that the high school principals in Pakistan work in varied environments
and are pulled in different directions. Each direction has its own conflicting demands creating
dilemmas for them. Moreover, the socio-cultural and structural forces impact at various levels
and color principals’ decisions. Since this study takes an initiative of highlighting a need to
iv
understand ethical dimensions of educational leadership in the context of Pakistan, it was limited
in scope. Hence, the study recommends investigating the concept of ethics in depth, focusing on
ethics relative to women in leadership practices, as well as differences in ethical leadership
between private and public school principals.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. VII
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................. VIII
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... IX
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND CONTEXT OF THE STUDY .................................................................................... 2
PURPOSE AND QUESTIONS.......................................................................................................................................... 6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................................................................... 7
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................................................. 7
RELIGIOUS CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................... 11
SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT OF PAKISTAN .............................................................................................................. 16
ETHICAL AND MORAL NORMS ................................................................................................................................. 17
IMPACT OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT ON SCHOOLING ......................................................................................... 19
Structural/ School Context .................................................................................................................................. 29
Values, beliefs, and ethical decision-making ...................................................................................................... 34
COMPARATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ETHICS ........................................................................................................... 38
SECTION II ............................................................................................................................................................... 40
High School Principals’ Responsibilities in Pakistan and United States: Review of Prior Studies ................... 40
SECTION III .............................................................................................................................................................. 56
Comparative Analysis of High School Principals’ Responsibilities: Highlights from the Review of Prior Studies
RE STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM .......................................................................................................... 63
RESEARCH STRATEGY .............................................................................................................................................. 63
Data collection My primary data came in two phases. ....................................................................................... 64
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Analysis of primary data ..................................................................................................................................... 72
Delimitations of the study ................................................................................................................................... 80
Researcher’s role ................................................................................................................................................ 80
SECTION I ................................................................................................................................................................. 82
A portrayal of principals’ daily administrative lives .......................................................................................... 82
Geselschaft vs. Gemeinschaft: Intense pull between organizational bureaucracy and “organic” demands ..... 98
Pressure of culture/ religious mores: “Unwritten Rules” ................................................................................ 102
Intensity of potential of threats to survival ....................................................................................................... 105
“A tussle between emotional and professional aspects of working as a principal” ......................................... 108
SECTION II ............................................................................................................................................................. 110
Principals’ responses to the researchers’ vignettes .......................................................................................... 110
SECTION III ............................................................................................................................................................ 118
Synthesis of data from phase I & II ................................................................................................................... 118
Global context ................................................................................................................................................... 125
SECTION II ............................................................................................................................................................. 128
Comparative analysis of socio-cultural and structural contexts ....................................................................... 128
SECTION III ............................................................................................................................................................ 131
APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................................................................... 142
TWO TIER INTERVIEW FORMAT: VIGNETTES & PROTOCOL .............................................................. 142
APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................................................... 145
INFORMED CONSENT FORM ............................................................................................................................ 145
vii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Map of Pakistan ………………………………………………………..........................9
The findings by Spillane (2007) also revealed that principals spent 55.2 % of time either
leading instructional and curriculum activities alone or co-leading with other professionals such
as classroom teachers, other professional staff, subject area specialists, teacher leaders, and
assistant principals (p.113). Moreover, the findings by Horng et. al. (2010) based on a single
day’s observation reveal that principals
spent only a little over 10 percent of the day on instruction- related tasks, roughly equally
split between tasks related to day-to-day instruction, such as conducting classroom
observations, and those related to the broader instructional program, like implementing
professional development for teachers (p.5190).
The principals played a decisive role in improving teaching and learning environment in
the school by “creating positive school cultures and supporting teachers’ professional and (often)
51
personal developments by actively responded [sic] to their constituents’ needs on a daily basis”
(Jacobson, 2005, p.613). The principals in Jacobson’s (2005) study promoted a learning
environment by “de-privatizing practices, modeling and mentoring and collaborative structures”
(p.616).
According to Spillane et.al. (2007) principals also spent 63.4% of their time in
performing administrative duties including “managing budget resources, personnel, scheduling,
the campus, students, and engaging school improvement planning” (p. 107). These findings are
supported by Horng et. al. (2010) who found, based on a single day’s observation, that the
administrative activities captured 30 percent of the school day including management issues like
as student discipline and fulfilling compliance requirements. The principals spent “over a fifth of
the day” on organizational management tasks including, managing budgets and staff, and hiring
personnel. However, there is no real consensus among researchers regarding how principals
spend their time.
Moreover, principals’ roles are central and of the utmost importance to hiring qualified
teachers (Rutledge 2010, Kersten 2008). Kersten‘s study (2008) revealed that 57.9%
responsibility for the hiring decisions lay with the principals. However, “in more than 40 % of
the searches, someone other than the principal either selects the teacher or shares in the
employment decision” (p. 363). For this purpose, principals’ recruitment strategies involve
seeking information from various agencies to search for the best quality teachers. Crum and
Sherman (2008) support these findings when they cite a principal in their study who says:
I take the position that the most important part of the process is the hiring process. I think
it is very important that when you sit down with a candidate for a position that you a)
make sure they are confident and B) that they fit into your community, into your school,
and into your culture of your school…] if you’re not hiring people who can relate to their
skills and can’t live with the traditions that we have in the building, then you’re just
52
spinning your wheels. I think the hiring process is extremely important (p.568).
This shows that principals gave ample time and thorough preparations to hiring the
qualified and skilled teachers. It also shows options available for principals from the teacher
pool.
Challenges for High School Principals
Performance Standards
My review of the empirical studies also highlighted a host of challenges that principals in
the US schools experience. These challenges primarily emanate from accountability structures
that place enormous emphasis on mandates such as No Child Left Behind and state performance
standards. These policies lead to a great amount of pressure for principals as Marks and Printy
(2003) shared their findings:
Principals felt pressure to be accountable for school improvement and the achievement of
students. Dealing with accountability in the context of systemic change, principals also
had to face the implications of the standards movement, curriculum frameworks, and new
forms of assessment (p.391).
However, according to Jacobson et al (2005) the principals made use of accountability
standards in improving teaching and learning. For instance, one of the principals in the study
asserted “…if they [teachers] had any problem with the goals, they may need to consider going
somewhere else because that was going to be my direction and my commitment to this
community” (p.613). Although accountability standards created an opportunity to set the
directions for improving teaching and learning for principals in their schools, principals also
found it “morally wrong” to disregard individual’s learning needs in the name of uniform
standards. For instance, a principal in Frick (2009) asserted,
Everyone should be 100 percent proficient. I think that’s an admirable goal to set, but I
think that’s where the issue comes in with morality: judging every kid at that same
53
standard. What is 100 percent for you may be a different 100 percent for me. It sort of
becomes that sliding scale with all those other factors that come into play in everybody’s
lives _ to expect everyone to be at the same spot, I think that is morally wrong (p.60).
Moreover, responding to the pressures from AYP provisions and Florida’s A+ accountability
policy, one of the principals asserted,
Testing is driving [school improvement]. Anybody that says it’s not, I mean, they’re not
being truthful. I mean, it is driving everything. That train is going down the track and you
are not going to stop it….You know what the rules are. Just go out and do it (Rutledge,
2010, p.229).
Another high school principal in a non-Title1 school articulated the pressures to hire quality
teachers, “I’m looking for really good people, and we don’t have the luxury of having people in
the classroom who aren’t. I mean, there’s pressure” (p.230).
Hiring Teachers
As mentioned earlier, the sole responsibility of hiring a teacher often lies with the
principals in the United States. In this regard, Rutledge, Harris, & Ingle (2010) identify two main
tensions that principals have to face in hiring teachers. The tensions spring from federal, state
and district policies of performance standards. For instance, the district policies of “Hiring
Quality Teacher” (HQT) to meet the demands of “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) require that
qualified and quality teachers should be given preference. However, at the district level,
principals are expected to address local needs by ensuring racially-balanced teacher populations
in their schools. Principals being in the center of hiring practices have to ensure that their
decisions are racially balanced, a challenge explained by a participant (principal) in Rutledge
(2010);
I’ve got about [under 30 percent] black kids in this school, and they are outnumbered.
I’ve got to make sure that I have some people on this campus that they can go to… Plus,
the superintendent wants it that way too. I do all I can to hire minorities into my faculty
(p.227).
54
Zero Tolerance Policy
These policies have been implemented in many U.S. schools to deal with the problems of
drugs and weapon possession and their uses. Such policies function on the basis of “the rule is
the rule” (Stefkovich 2006, p.96): that is, that everyone must be treated equally and without
discrimination under the rule. However, there is disagreement over zero tolerance
implementation as it has been reported and perceived to be carried out in petty, prejudicial, or
absurd fashions, thus having a negative impact on minority students, or the general
administration of justice and discipline within the school. Hence, principals face situations that
create a “moral discord,” as one principal describes his dilemma:
…this is what I struggle with sometimes about the people above me, and I understand
their plight because they have to be accountable too. You could take the hard line… and
you talk about the ethical part of that, that’s a part that I constantly come back to that
does get me in trouble sometimes with those above me. I can’t tell you what that line in
the sand is…. So there’s a place, and if I get taken to task on it, I’d be in a ringer _ point
black…. Do I feel like I made bad decisions, no, because my guiding principle was what
was best for that kid (Frick 2009, p.61).
Another principal expressed:
We talk about kids walking the street or coming to school with freaking box cutters and
guns; but the reality is, basically, the school is a reflection of the community. Now we
have the zero tolerance or the parameters that we‘re not going to accept this from you…
and for some people, we have to deal with them accordingly. But many of the things we
see happening out there [neighborhoods] are going on in here [school], and I am thinking
we’re hard on [the kids] for bringing this stuff in the schools. What about the
community? They’re still carrying it! (p.62).
The irony of the school rules is that they seem to be disconnected from what happens in
the society or community where students spend most of their time.
Principals’ Strategies to Address Issues/Constraints
When it comes to addressing moral dilemmas, often the principals feel torn between the
55
school policies and their personal/ professional values and beliefs before they step up to resolve
the tensions. For instance, one principal’s account highlights such a tension:
I expelled a young man. I knew a lot about him _ his molestation, unsettled family
background, and many personal and life challenges. The kid had a laminated marijuana
leaf in his pocket. I was torn personally. The leaf tested positive. I did not want to see
him expelled, that’s what the rule said…. I wanted to fix the situation in my own
counseling way versus applying a consequence. I look at both sides a lot _ it’s difficult…
I felt the [moral] discrepancy… when a situation arises, personal beliefs arise. I wound up
suspending the student…. (Frick 2009, p.63).
Concluding his study findings, Frick (2009) summarizes the strategies that the principals in his
study used to resolve ethical issues
Adhering to one’s gut instinct or personal sense of right; leaping (choosing) in
uncertainty about one’s interpretation of gray options, following organizational
expectations and then consciously separating oneself as a person from positional duty or
work role, rationalizing by gathering information, brainstorming with others and
following past experience, or following a personal policy, principal or maxim that guides
one’s conduct (p.64).
Principals were also found to confront issues of “race and gender” when hiring teachers.
The bottom line is that principals have to “bridge and buffer” by adhering to “federal and state
mandates, while also modifying and extending the policies to meet local goals” (Rutledge et.al.
2010, p.2008). No matter what instructional, democratic and transformational roles principals
play, the buck stops with the principals as “[…] bones of the operation. They know that I am in
charge of the instruction and I make that very clear.” Another principal asserted, “I work with
each team and unit, as do the assistant principals. I guess it is a hierarchy. I have my hands on
everything. Everything goes through me. It just works that way” (Cum and Sherman 2008,
p.571).
56
Section III
Comparative Analysis of High School Principals’ Responsibilities: Highlights from
the Review of Prior Studies
The following table presents a summary of the synthesis of highlights from the review of prior
studies followed by a detailed discussion.
Table1: Similarities and Differences in Principals’ Responsibilites in Pakistan and United States
Similarities Pakistan United States
Dealing with students - -
Dealing with Community
Supervision of the School
-
-
-
-
Differences
Education system
Curriculum
School System
Principal Induction
Role of Principal as leader
Performance Standards
Students Body
Accountability
Role of Religion
Pakistan
Centralized
Federal Ministry
Verity of systems
Seniority
Not clearly defined
Annual exams/ test
scores
Multiethnic
Bureaucratic system of
civil services/ board of
trustees
Sex segregated schools
Gendered leadership
practices
religious education
United States
Decentralized
States/ Districts
Mainly public
Qualified, certified
Central Role
Federal/ State/ District
mandates
Multicultural
Performance standards
Separation in religion
and state
57
Structural Contexts: Similarities & Contrasts
There is a vast difference between the socio-cultural and structural contexts in which
principals in Pakistan and Untied States work. However, there are similarities in their work as
they, in both countries, have to deal with the students’ needs, work with the teachers and for
teachers to improve teaching learning. For this, they strive to create a harmonious and caring
environment at their schools in one way or the other. For instance, one of the principals in Khaki
(2010) asserted, “I have developed a team of teachers where they are leaders. I have already
made the school a ‘leaderful’ school; I can see that” (p.112). This assertion resonates with an
American principal’s assertion: “I am a firm believer in growing your staff. People know that
they have opportunities to move into leadership positions […] I think you need to give people
opportunities” (Crum and Sherman 2008, p.569).
Parents of the students constitute the pressure for the principals in both Pakistan and the
United States. Principals in both contexts have to deal with parents in one way or the other.
Moreover, the principals are responsible for dealing with the communities in which their schools
are located. What happens in the community has a direct influence on what happens within the
schools. Lastly, and most importantly, supervision of the entire school is in the hands of the
principal. Principals have to be responsible for what goes on in the school even in an extremely
bureaucratic system such as in Pakistan. However, limited discretion to make decisions at the
school level makes it hard for principals to assume ethical decisions on their own. They have to
take the authorities above them into confidence and fulfill the bureaucratic processes, which
brings us to the contrasts in structural contexts that are explained below.
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Education
There is an enormous difference in the way education systems work in Pakistan and
United States. Pakistan has a highly centralized system with a federal education minister on the
top who plans and monitors education in the country. Implementation is the responsibility of the
Provincial Education Department, the District governments and NGO’s (Oduro et.al.2007, Farah
& Rizvi 2007, Rizvi 2008). Moreover, a Curriculum Wing (CW) in the education ministry
performs the task of writing curricula for the whole country and deviation from it yields serious
consequences. Opposing this, the constitution has placed the responsibility of education upon the
states in the United States. As such, “each of the 50 states maintains primary authority for the
education of the school-age population within its jurisdiction, and as such, educational
governance in the US should be viewed as 50 relatively similar, but autonomous systems”
(Jacobson et.al. 2005, p.608). Consequently, the states have the freedom to plan and implement
curriculum according to their needs and requirements. Nonetheless, a binding factor seems to be
the federal policy NCLB that guides performance standards for each state, their districts and
schools across the country.
School System:
Due to dissatisfaction with the public education system there are several parallel systems
operating in Pakistan. These systems include private, community-based and madrassa (religious
schools). Each system addresses the needs of its community. However, public school systems
appear to be the strongest medium of imparting education in the United States for which states
employ all available resources in the country.
Principals’ Induction Process:
Due to a great emphasis on the role of principal in school improvement and better
59
academic achievements in the United States, principalship here is based on educational
qualifications, professional trainings and experiences. However, the career path for headship in
schools, especially public schools in Pakistan, is based on a simple principle of seniority that
accounts for the number of years spent in teaching. There is no mechanized system to orient the
principals with their roles as leaders. Large private schools do prefer to have principals who are
qualified, professionally trained, and experienced.
Principals’ Engagement in School Affairs:
The role of principals in school affairs, especially the public, seems to be extremely
limited in Pakistan. Either school principals are not clear about their roles or they simply view
themselves as “chowkidar [doorman]” (Simkins et.al. 1998). Bureaucracy limits their powers and
they have no voice in hiring or firing teachers. Consequently, either the principals do not take
initiatives to improve teaching and learning environment (Khan 2010) or they face extreme
hurdles in daring to take initiatives (Shifa 2010). Principals play pivotal and significant central
roles in school affairs in the United States, by planning instructional, administrative activities
and hiring teachers.
Accountability measures:
Pakistan, accountability means the principals are answerable to the “bureaucratic system
of civil services” in public schools and board of trustees in private schools. This accountability
also means that the principals need to take their higher ups into confidence before they take any
initiatives to improve teaching learning, hiring or firing staff, and addressing budget issues.
Principals’ accountabilities in the United States lie to the performance standards in the form of
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Annual Yearly Progress (AYP).
Performance standards depend on test scores in Pakistan, based on annual examination
60
system. Although, test scores are the main determinants of performance in schools, in United
States as well, federal, district and school policies have been placed to improve these test scores.
Policies such as NCLB and AYP drive the school policies to ensure improvement in scores as
well as principals’ discretion to improving teaching and learning in schools.
Contrast: Socio-Cultural Contexts
There is a startling contrast in the socio-cultural context in both countries, which
contributes to the uniqueness of principals’ responsibilities and the way of exerting these. In the
context of Pakistan, the religious standards and cultural beliefs define parameters for practices
that also filter through schools and influence educational/leadership practices. For instance,
gender segregation is an essential element of Pakistani society, which leads to gender-segregated
schools especially in the public system further leading to gender specific practices. Moreover,
principals have to ensure the student’s character building in light of the religious obligations and
expectations. For this purpose, they take implicit and explicit measures to make religion and
religious education part of students’ learning.
On the contrary, the separation between religions and states has unique influence on
practices in the United States. The role of religion is limited to private lives, and it is not an
imposition on the masses. When it comes to making decisions at the school level, the principals
look at the situational context rather than religious obligations.
An interesting contrast can be made in terms of zero tolerance policy in the United States.
The principals in the United States often have to juggle whether to strictly follow policy or make
decisions that take into account the situational needs. In many cases, principals may use their
discretion to make decisions “in the best interest of the students.” However, in the context of
Pakistan, the socio-cultural norms pose zero tolerance for any deviation.
61
Hence, in Pakistan the ethical leadership takes a different form at many levels, with deep
implications for leadership practices. It affects women principals differently from their male
counterparts. The very fact that the schools are gender-segregated and so are the principals,
create the framework of ethical leadership for principals.
For instance, for women, the biggest moral dilemma is creating a balance between their
personal and professional lives, more importantly a balance between their womanhood (muslim)
and profession. The religio-moral norms of creating a distance between genders transfer to their
work environments. No matter how highly educated and professional a woman is, she has to
function in boundaries imposed by society. Hence, the concept of ethics or morals revolves
around how successfully the women maintain the “izzat” of their own but also of their girl
students. However, in the United States, one may observe that there is a separation between
personal and professional lives for men and women principals.
In a nutshell, the literature and especially the review of prior studies, highlight
differences between Pakistani society and the Western world and makes the ethical dilemmas for
principals comprehensible to a western reader. The chapter also points to the fact that using a
yardstick to study ethics and theory of ethical dilemmas, which was developed and validated in
Western scholarship may not illuminate the rest of the world, particularly Pakistan where codes
of conduct are different. Therefore, if ethical challenges are framed by cultural, contextual and
historical practices, then the questions that persist are: how can we examine them? What
accounts for the divergences? What theoretical frameworks can explain the complexity of socio-
cultural systems that interact with educational institutions to produce ethics of judging the
conduct of schooling? How do school principals navigate this complex terrain to make ethical
decisions in the school environment? What moral, ethical or contradictory challenges do they
62
experience in their profession and position of leadership?
Hence, in order to understand the socio-cultural and structural contexts and appreciate
ethical challenges to principals in Pakistan, and ways in which they address these challenges, I
attempted to investigate school principals’ experiences in the context of Pakistan. The next
chapter details the research strategies I employed for collecting my data.
63
Chapter 4
Methodology
Re statement of the Research Problem
Principals in Pakistan and United States are faced with highly complex challenges while
enacting their professional responsibilities in schools. However, socio-cultural and structural
contexts pose difference in how they go about resolving complex ethical issues. Therefore, using
a framework tested and validated in a Western context may not be applicable in a context like
Pakistan, where historical practices play a crucial role in influencing principals’ decisions.
Hence, taking a comparative stance to look at aspects of “convergence” and “divergence” in the
context, this study aimed at explaining socio-cultural and structural forces that shape principals’
ethical decision in Pakistan and United States.
Research Strategy
Qualitative paradigms seemed best suited for this study for two reasons. Firstly, the focus
of the qualitative approach is on “broad analysis of an entire phenomenon or context” in which
the research study explores the relationship between the phenomenon understudy and the
context. Secondly, the questions in qualitative paradigms seek “exploration, explanation,
description, and illustration” (Drew et.al 2008, p.185). As such, the purpose of the questions was
to explain the phenomenon of “ethical decision making” in light of socio-cultural and structural
contexts and to identify challenges in implementing their decisions. The questions were:
What are the socio-cultural contexts that shape the meaning and practice of ethical
decision making among secondary school principals in Pakistan and United
States?
64
How do structural contexts influence ethical decision of high school principals in
Pakistan and United States?
What challenges do they experience in implementing those decisions in Pakistan
and the United States?
Sample
Selecting an appropriate sample that energizes the purpose of the study is a fundamental
part of any research study. There are different strategies to select samples depending on the genre
of research paradigm. As such the “qualitative interview studies generally begin with decisions
regarding the sample to interview….” (Weiss, 1994, p.14). According to Mcmillan (2000) “the
participants in a phenomenological study are selected because they have lived the experiences
being investigated, are willing to share their thoughts about the experiences, and can articulate
their conscience experiences” (p.269). Since, the number of subjects necessary depends on the
purpose of a study” (Kvale 2007, p.43), participants are selected purposefully (Creswell 2003).
In this regard, the five principals in this study were selected from schools in Northern
Areas of Pakistan, who fulfilled these:
They represented secondary schools, and
They would provide variations in the study’s sample that include one all-girls school, one
all-boys, one co-educational, and one mixed school where after grade 7 only girls remain.
Data collection
My primary data came in two phases.
Review of empirical studies
I gathered prior studies to analyze principals’ work in Pakistan and United States. The
question that guided this review was: How is the high school principals’ role similar or different
65
in Pakistan and from United States? This question was answered through the following three sub
questions.
What responsibilities do high school principals carry out in Pakistan and United States?
What (if any) challenges do they encounter in carrying out their responsibilities?
How do they address these challenges?
An initial electronic search was carried out through Eric, Pro-quest, Google scholar, and
J-store. In addition, I also used libraries for books and journals. The electronic research resulted
in 100,000 various articles, books search yielded one hundred and fifty books including book
chapters and entire books.
I selected articles using criteria that included peer reviewed journals as a first step. I
assumed that researchers would publish their empirical studies in peer-reviewed journals, which
tend to imply vigor and verified outcomes. Peer-reviewed journals such as International Journal
of Educational Research, Educational Leadership, Journal of Educational Administration,
Journal of Educational Research, American Educational Journal of Research and International
Journal of Educational Leadership were examined to collect data, because these journals are not
only peer-reviewed but are also directly related to leadership work in the schools. In addition to
the journals, I also used books that contained empirical research to increase the scope and
breadth of my search.
Initially, the intention was to include studies solely about the secondary school principals
in Pakistan and United States. After the initial search, I realized more studies included
elementary, middle and secondary school principals and/or comparisons to other Western
countries, in the case of United States. In order to increase the breadth and scope of the research,
I decided to use articles focused on principals in the United States only, as well as articles that
66
had mixed samples, elementary, middle, and secondary school principals. For research in
Pakistan, there was a scarcity of empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals covering a
range of issues in school leadership. The following figure presents a summary of the process of
data collection, analysis and writing final reports.
Figure4: Review of Prior Studies
Terms
-secondary school/high school principals -ethical challenges for secondary school principals -decision making for secondary school principal -secondary/high school principals in Pakistan -Secondary/ high school principals in United States
Electronic
-Eric
-pro-quest
-Google scholar
-J-Store
Library
-Books
-Journals
Number of
material
100,000
Number of
material
- books (150)
- journals (50)
Search Strategies
Material Selection
-Peer reviewed journals
-Books containing empirical research
-Published between 1998- to date
-Included secondary school principals in Pakistan & U.S
-Mixed sample- elementary/middle/ secondary school principals
Data Analysis
Reading
Read each
material
three times
Codes
-words
-phrase
-sentences
phrases
-
Themes Reports
U.S.
Pakistan Final Report
Emergent
themes of
comparison &
Contrasts
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Thirdly, the articles published between 1998 and present were used to include either
recent work and/or include recent changes in the education systems or the leadership practices in
schools. The table below summarizes the empirical studies gathered from each context.
Table2: Prior Studies Selected for Review
Summary of prior Studies in the Context of Pakistan
Authors Purpose Subjects Sample Size Instrument
Chugtai & Buckley (2009)
Khaki (2010)
Khan, Asif (2012)
Khan, Gulab (2010)
Khan, saeed, Fatima (2009)
Salfi & Saeed (2007)
Shafa, Mola Dad (2010)
Effects of
faculty’s trust
in Principal
Roles,
behaviors &
beliefs of
h.teachers
Instructional
behavior of
Principals
Principal-
Student
relationship
Assessing the
performance
of head
teachers
Relationship
among school
size, students
and culture
Nature of
challenges
head teachers
face
Knowledge
High school
teachers
Head teachers
High school
principals in
public/ private
schools
Principals &
students
Teachers of
boys and girls
schools
Principals of
secondary,
elementary
and primary
schools
Head teachers
Heads of
single sex
130 h. school
teachers
Three
Two schools
1 principals &
9 students
150 teachers
90 principals,
540
elementary
and high
school
teachers
three
68 heads
Questionnaire,
survey
Interviews,
observation,
documentary
analysis
Interviews,
observation,
documentary
analysis
Interviews,
observation
Questionnaire
Education
management
information
system
(EMIS),
annual result
reports
Extended
interviews
Questionnaire,
68
Shah (2010)
Simkins, Memon(2003)
Simkins, Garrett, Memon, Ali(2001)
gap in existing
literature
School
leadership in
Pakistan
Role of head
teachers in
Pakistan
colleges
(male/female)
Head teachers
in karachi
Head teachers
in Karachi
Six schools
interviews,
group
discussions
Six schools
Interviews,
diary studies
Table 3: Prior Studies Selected for Review
Summary of prior studies in the context of United States
Authors Purpose Subject Sample size Instrument
Cumm & Sherman
(2008)
Frick (2009)
Common themes
of school
leadership and
practices in
successful schools
in Virginia
Exploring school
leaders’ internal
struggles
High school
principals
Secondary school
principals
12
11
Qualitative
Study, in depth
interviews
Face-to-face
interviews
Henkin, Cistone,
Dee (1999)
Profile of
principals’
conflict
management
High school
principals
300 Quantitative
method
Horn, Klasik,
Leob (2010)
Jacobson, Johnson,
Ylimaki, Giles (2005)
Relationship
between
principals time
and outcomes
Leadership
practices in
challenges
schools
High school
principals
Principals-
elementary,
middle & high
41
07
Observations
Case Study
Method
69
Kersteen (2008)
Marks & Printy (2003)
Principals’ hiring
practices in
Illinois
School principals’
collaborative
measures
Principals-
elementary,
middle, high
Principals-
elementary,
middle and high
300
24
Questionnaires,
Web based
survey method
Survey,
Observations,
interview
Rutlege, Harris,
Ingle (2010)
Spillane, Camburn,
Pareja (2007)
The effects of
teacher- quality &
tests on teacher
hiring policies
School principals’
collaborative
measures
Principals-
elementary,
middle, high
school
Principals-
elementary,
middle, high
30
24
Mixed methods,
interviews,
observations,
questionnaires
Surveys,
Observations,
interviews
Lastly, after gathering material, I read each article to get a sense of the content and the
research method. Then I read the article a second time focusing on the purpose of the study and
the findings. In order to get a thorough familiarity with the U.S. school context, I read study
backgrounds thoroughly. Next, I read findings and coded, which were then grouped into
categories to constitute themes. Lastly, I used themes to develop reports. Since, I was analyzing
studies about two different contexts, I developed reports for each country. The reports were
further, analyzed to synthesize differences and similarities.
In-depth interviews
I collected primary data through interviews as a main strategy. Whether the interview is a
key strategy, for collecting data, or it is used with other techniques, the purpose is to “gather
descriptive data in the subject’s own words, so that the researcher can develop insights on how
subjects interpret some piece of the world” (Bogdan & Biklan 2002, p.103). For a study with
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such a purpose, Marshall & Rossman (2011) recommend in-depth interview as a strategy for
gathering data.
Furthermore, philosophical underpinnings of phenomenological approaches have
informed my research strategies i.e. interviews and data analysis technique. I have not engaged
in a formal phenomenological investigation, which required adapting methods and substantive
knowledge of phenomenological philosophy. My interview approach in particular is, guided by a
phenomenological perspective. “Phenomenological interviewing is a specific type of in-depth
interviewing…rests on the assumption that there is a structure and essence to shared experiences
that can be narrated” (Marshall & Rossman 2011p.148). The two words that make
phenomenological interview different from any other mode are “life world” and “meaning”
(Kvale 2007). “Life world” refers to the situations the participants in a context face or
experience. “Meaning” refers to the interpretations and understanding participants gain from
their situations and experiences. In addition, Kvale (2007) suggests, “listen[ing] to the explicit
descriptions and to the meanings expressed, as well as, what is said between the lines” (Kvale
2007) to be able to extract meanings from the interviews. Seidman (2006) also explains:
“interviewing provides access to the context of people’s behaviors and thereby provides a way
for researchers to understand the meaning of that behavior (p.9, 10).
Thus, to achieve the goal of my study I based my research strategy on in- depth
interviewing, which could capture and explain principals’ experiences of ethical decision-
making. Further, I chose semi-structured in-depth interviews as the research instruments to seek,
spontaneous responses as opposed to pre-planned answers and detailed and descriptive
information about my participants’ experiences. This allowed me to probe further as I needed
more information. There are no hard and fast structured rules to assess the quality of an
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interview. However, in order to be able to benefit from my interview process, I followed, in
particular, Bogdan & Biklen (2007) who opine, “Good interviews produce rich data filled with
words that reveal the respondents’ perspectives. Transcripts are filled with details and examples”
(p. 104). Furthermore, Seidman (2006) suggests “a three-interview series” which includes
“focused life history, details of experiences and reflection on the meaning” (p.18). In order to
best serve the purpose of my study I adapted the structure by combining all three stages and
constructing two stage interviews. Seidman (2006) supports exploring alternatives to his
proposed structure, “as long as a structure is maintained that allows participants to reconstruct
and reflect upon their experience within the context of their lives” (p.21).
Thus, interviews were conducted at the following two stages using two types of dilemma
analysis techniques (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). Dilemma analysis is a widely- used strategy to
study ethics in educational leadership. It allows a researcher to get a holistic picture of a dilemma
rather than seeking information in bits and pieces.
Stage I: “hypothetical, researcher- generated dilemmas” were used “… to elicit
perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes from responses or comments to stories depicting
scenarios and situations” (Barter & Renald, 1999, p.1) Two dilemmas depicting real situations in
the context of Pakistan were shared with the principals for their comments. In addition to
eliciting their comments, the purpose of using dilemmas at this stage was to develop a rapport
with the participants and set the stage for the in-depth interviews as a next step. The dilemmas
helped participants to reflect on their own challenges as some of the participants shared similar
experiences even after the formal interviews ended, which were also audio recorded with the
participant’s permission.
Stage II: “real life, respondent- generated dilemmas” were employed in hour and half
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long semi-structured interviews to help principals think of at least three most critical challenges
or issues they experienced in their professional lives. The purpose was “to get at the core of the
interview partner’s processes of thinking, assessing, valuing and judging” (Marshall & Rossman,
2011, p. 190). Data were recorded in order to ensure the reliability of the data collection strategy,
as well as data analysis, later. Likewise, the participants shared their experiences even after the
formal interview time was over. I recorded those experiences, too.
In addition, interviews adhered to 90 minutes “to have the participants reconstruct their
experience, put it in the context of their lives, and reflect on its meaning, [as] anything shorter
than 90 minutes for each interview seems too short” (Seidman 2006, p.20). Moreover, my
interviews took place “from 3 days to a week apart” to provide time for the participants to “mull
the preceding interview but not enough time to lose the connection between the two” (Seidman
2006, p.21).
Further, interview protocols were used as they “allow researchers to structure the
interview. The process of developing a protocol includes formulating questions, probes, and thus
compels the researchers to clarify and prioritize the information wanted from each interview”
(Harrell & Bradley 2009, p. 49). Each interview protocol began with an introduction of myself as
researcher, a brief statement of the purpose of my research, and the reason why the participant
was asked to be part of it (Harrell & Bradley 2009), and expression of my appreciation for their
willingness to be part of my study.
Analysis of primary data
Although data analysis “is the process of bringing order, structure, and interpretation to
the mass of collected data” (Marshall & Rossman 1999, p. 150), it was an integral part of my
collecting primary data at each step. Following Kvale (2007) advice, “clarifying the meanings of
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statements during an interview will make the later analysis easier and more well founded” (p.42),
I paid particular attention to seeking more details and clarifications during the interviews.
Moreover, data analysis was also informed by the phenomenological approaches, as were the
primary data collection strategies. Data analysis in phenomenological research involves more
than just drawing meaning units/ codes or categories. A researcher needs to have an
understanding of the purpose of employing phenomenological approach to exploit appropriate
strategies. Hence, data analysis in phenomenological study, as in any other qualitative study,
requires philosophical underpinnings, as it is a process of making choices and decisions by the
researcher. If a researcher lacks a foundational understanding, s/he might end up with
inappropriate choices/ decisions or lack substantive analysis. In this regard, Choi (2007) explains
the term “descriptive,’ in phenomenological study in light of the research literature, and bridges
the differences between “transcendental and hermeneutical” phenomenology that account for
“descriptive and interpretive” respectively. Moreover, analysis involves meaning making, but
before meaning making one has to describe the phenomena understudied, which involves
“context of action, the intentions of the actor, and the process in which action is embedded” (Dey
1993, p.31). In this regard, the following were the steps taken for an in-depth analysis of data
discussed below.
Transcription of data
It is the first and foremost significant step in formal analysis as it allows the researcher to
read and develop a familiarity with and reflect on the data. After collecting data, I transcribed
each interview. As I was transcribing data, I listened to the interview and transcription itself
allowed me to reflect and note my initial analysis.
After transcribing data, I used software called NVIVO at the initial stages of sorting and
74
grouping data. I created a folder for each participant and created a file for groups of data.
However, at later stages, I preferred to go about analyzing data manually, partly due to my
challenges with technology. Furthermore, my analytic process followed similar phases as to
phenomenological research analysis techniques which involve “…the analysis of significant
statements [and] the generation of meaning units…,” (Creswell 2003, p. 191).
Epoche
A Greek word meaning, “to stay away from or abstain” begins while we are
conceptualizing the study, long before entering the field. However, it is considered an essential
part of formal analysis of data. According to Moustakas (1994),
the world is placed out of action, while remaining bracketed. However, the world in the
bracket had been cleared of ordinary thought and is present before us as a phenomenon to
be gazed upon, to be known naively and freshly through a “purified” conscience (p.85).
This implies that the researcher sets aside prior knowledge and understanding and
explores the participants’ worldview of the phenomenon in order achieve a deeper and renewed
understanding. In my view, the epoche takes place the moment the researcher meets a participant
to collect data. Hence, epoche in my study took place during interviews with the participants. I
paid attention to seeking more details and clarifications, during the interviews, to “make the alter
analysis easier and more well founded” (Kvale 2007). In addition, since the interviews were
conducted at two stages, so after each interview I listened to the content at least twice to get a
preliminary idea of the content and for questions that might arise.
Horizonalization
It takes place after all the data are collected that leads to identify themes at later analytic
stages. Horizonalization refers to the process of identifying every statement that is relevant to the
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experience or the phenomenon under study in one way or the other. Each statement is of the
equal value at this stage to include all dimension of the phenomenon without being biased or
judgmental. In other words, it enables a researcher to go beyond the surface and expand vision
and perspective as far as possible. Hence, Moustakas (1994) suggests, to “list[ing] every
expression relevant to the experience” (p.120). Horizonalization was part of my analysis of data
particularly from phase two in which principals shared their experiences of ethical challenges. I
separated each statement that was representative of their experience in terms of action, decision
and its implication. I also separated statements that were reflective of their opinion, values/
beliefs.
Thematization
It involves “clustering the invariant constituents of the experience that are related into a
thematic label” (Moustakas, 1994, p.121). Van Manen (1990) describes a phenomenological
theme as a “structure of the experience”/ “experiential structure” (p.79). I clustered all the listed
statements for each participant and created a new file in NVIVO software. It seems that the
process of thematizaton is not as straightforward as it sounds (clustering relevant statements)
because as Moustakas (1994) advises, clustered statements should be validated for their
explicitness and compatibility. If the statements do not fulfill these two requirements, the
statements should be deleted. However, a researcher has to be mindful before applying these two
requirements to select the invariant constituents because meanings may not always be expressed
explicitly: rather a researcher may have to go beyond what is apparent. Hence, it took me more
time to read each statement repeatedly to decide if they were “explicit and compatible.”
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Textural Description
It is the next phase in phenomenological analysis that involves writing a “description of “what”
the participants in the study experienced with the phenomenon. Textual description includes
verbatim examples from the data. Seidman (2006) terms it to be “participants’ profile” and
regards it as an “effective way of sharing interview data and opening one’s interview material to
analysis and interpretation” (p.119). The purpose of “textural description” or “participants’
profile” is to capture every dimension or phase of the experience by placing the “participant in
context, clarify[ing] his or her intentions, and conveying a sense of process and time, all central
components of qualitative analysis” (p.119). Constructing these profiles or textural description
made more sense for my study because its purpose was to look at socio-cultural context through
participants’ experiences. Hence, I combined the statements representative of their experiences,
and I developed a textual description for each participant to capture a holistic picture of
participants’ experiences of ethical challenges in Pakistan.
Data Findings
The next step in my analytic process included examining sorted data for patterns. Then I
organized data into categories/themes. I sorted through my labels and themes for those that were
similar or hung together. The themes that emerged from my data were my primary findings. I
used rich and relevant data to interpret and explain my findings.
Ethical issues
Ethical issues are an essential part of interview research as the focus is on the lived
experiences of the participants and some of these experiences may be too personal to be made
public (Kvale 2007). In this regard, informed consent is a first step towards addressing the
ethical issues in any research in general and in interview research in particular. The purpose of
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informed consent is to share information about the interview research with the participant(s) and
let them decide if they want to be part of the study. In other words, the participation in the
research is voluntary. Therefore, in order to be ethical, I used informed consent (Kvale 2007)
including the items:
they are participants in research
purpose of the research (briefly)
risk and benefit of the research
the voluntary nature of the participation
the subject’s (informant’s) right to stop the interview at any time
the procedures used to protect confidentiality
The informed consent was explained at the beginning of each interview. This study held
minimum risk for the participants as the purpose of the study was to seek insight into their
professional experiences of challenges and the meaning they attached to these experiences.
However, in order to protect the confidentiality of the participants’ no names are used and the
decision was made after discussing it with the participants “whether or not they might actually
prefer to be named and to speak openly for themselves” (Kvale 2007, p.28). In addition, I sought
permission to do this research from the Internal Review Board at the Penn State University.
Researcher “Bias”
It is a natural element in qualitative studies, and it is not possible to overcome it entirely.
However, according to Maxwell (2005), the researcher should be aware of how his/her bias
influences the study in a positive or negative manner. In the case of my research, my background
in the organization and research could have been a potential threat to how I would have viewed
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things in light of my professional experiences. For example, Marshall & Rossman (2011)
postulate advantages and disadvantages of familiarity with the context:
The problem of access should be less difficult, and the researcher should easily be able
to establish rapport with the participants- the researcher can pass as a colleague and the
interconnectedness between the researcher and the participants can contribute to a mutual
understanding that can lead to interpretations that are more accurate. Disadvantages
include researcher’s bias and subjectivity, and the inability to separate one’s self from the
research (p. 101).
It was easy for me to seek permission from the participants as well as the higher ups to
use the school’s sites for my study. The participants welcomed me and expressed their
appreciation that I asked them to share their experiences with me. In order to lessen the effects of
my familiarity with the context, I tried to seek details of information from the participants. I
probed as much as possible in order to challenge my preconceived ideas.
Reactivity
Reactivity in qualitative research refers to “reflexivity” which means that the researcher
has an influence on the participants. This influence may be positive or negative and the
researcher must be aware of possible influences. In the case of my study, the biggest reactivity
threat was the “leading questions” I might ask instead of letting the participant come up with the
responses because leading questions in qualitative interviews challenge potential biases, Kvale
(2007) defending the concept of leading questions, postulates,
Qualitative research interview is particularly well suited for employing leading questions
to repeatedly check the reliability of the interviewees’ answers, as well as to verify the
interviewer’s interpretations. Thus leading questions need not reduce the reliability of
interviews, but may enhance it….the decisive issue is not whether to lead or not to lead,
but where the interview questions lead, whether they lead to new, trustworthy and
worthwhile knowledge (p.88).
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My efforts were to seek information that was detailed, insightful and beyond my
knowledge.
Validity
“In social science [the validity] pertains to the issue of whether a method investigates
what it purports to investigate” (Kvale 2007, p.122). Kvale is of the view that ensuring validity is
not a onetime activity when the interviews are over rather it has to be addressed throughout the
interview process. He, thus, presents general approaches to ensuring validity in interview
research among which is “communicative validity” involving “member validation”. Member
validation is also termed “respondent validation” by Maxwell (2005). He regards it as the “single
most powerful way of ruling out the possibility of misinterpreting the meaning of what
participants say” (p.111). However, he also cautions us against reliance on their feedback only as
their interview data are more valid than their feedback. I also shared the interview transcripts and
textural description of the interviews with the participants to address the threat of researcher bias.
In addition, Maxwell (2005) suggests using “rich data” to address validity threats. Rich
data refer to data that are “detailed and varied enough that they provide a full and revealing
picture of what is going on” (Baker 1970 cited in Maxwell 2005, p. 110). Creswell (2003)
opines, rich data may “transport readers to the setting and give the discussion and element of
shared experiences” (p. 196). In my study, I used rich data in the form of participants’ quotations
as well as “textural descriptions” i.e., firsthand accounts of participants’ stories. The rich data
came from in-depth and hour-and-half long interviews with five participants as well as their
responses to the vignettes.
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Triangulation
It refers to “a diverse range of individuals and setting- variety of methods” to collect data.
In my study, I triangulated my data through two ways. Firstly, the data came from interviews
conducted at two stages. I triangulated the data from the first stage with the second stage within a
single case. For example, the purpose of interviews at the first stage was to explore participants’
values and beliefs through vignettes. The purpose of the second stage was to understand how
their values and beliefs led to their actions in practice through their own experiences. Secondly, I
triangulated data among the five participants or across the cases.
The whole process of conducting interviews entailed insights about not only the topic of
interest but also about the logistics of conducting interviews. Therefore, I maintained “work-
journal” to note down “construction of interview knowledge,” “changed understandings of
previous experiences”, as well as “reflections on the research process” (Kvale 2007, p.43), and
lessons learnt from the process.
Delimitations of the study
The scope of this study is small because the purpose of the study is to explain socio-
cultural and structural context that shape ethical decision of school principals in Pakistan and
United States. The sample does not represent the whole population of secondary school
principals in Pakistan. Hence, the findings are unique and particular to the contexts. However,
small sample size is not a limitation of this kind of study because ideas are generalizable. As
such thick description allows a reader to find connection(s).
Researcher’s role
Researcher has a pivotal role to play during research, especially interviews. Participants’
trust for the researcher makes probing and eliciting information easy in a relaxed and non-
81
threatening environment. It so happened in one of the interviews that after consenting form a
participant expressed his concern and relief at the same time. He said that he went to Toronto
University and happened to read a dissertation in which the participant was from his region. The
researcher was an outsider (a westerner), so he did not care for the context and wrote “nasty
things” about the participant, a matter of concern for my participant. Then he said that as I [the
researcher] come from the same context and I understand the culture he would not worry and
“trusts” me. I think this was an important point for me as a researcher to weigh my relationship
with my participant. Before going to the field, I thought being an insider might make me to be
biased. However, when my participant shared this incident and expressed his “trust” on me, I
realized that my status as an insider was an advantage as he was comfortable in sharing his
insights and viewpoints. My familiarity with the context helped me develop a positive rapport
with my participants.
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Chapter 5
An Examination of Ethical Challenges for High School Principals in Pakistan
The study aimed at explaining the role of socio-cultural and structural forces that come
into play when principals engage in resolving key issues at their schools in Pakistan and United
States. The research strategy included a review of empirical studies about principals’
responsibilities in both countries and primary data through in-depth interviews.
In this chapter, I present my findings in three sections. Sections I-II shed light on findings
from primary data collected at phases one and two. In order to collect this data a set of two
vignettes reflecting true events were presented to the principals for their responses as well as
they were asked to share their experiences with ethical issues they had encountered. Section III
comprises comparative analysis and emergent themes from the empirical studies.
Section I
A portrayal of principals’ daily administrative lives
As one would expect, the immediate findings from the data reveal that the most common
issues facing the principals in the study involved issues about students, teachers, parents and
community members. However, it is a universal fact that principals all around the world have to
deal with diverse needs of the school members. What make these issues insightful are their
unique dimensions of socio-cultural context, school environment as well as historical, religious
or structural forces that come into play in constructing these issues.
Hence, in their daily work, principals face moral and ethical choices of varying degrees
of risk and intensity. Some issues require principals’ discretion, whereas there are other issues,
which require more than a solo decision or action. Such issues carry serious ethical implications
because of the various contradictions and confusions they present to principals in personal,
83
professional and community levels. Such issues go beyond the walls of the school building and
the involvement of others becomes inevitable. In this regard, when principals were asked to share
their experiences of ethical issues, each principal shared five to six vignettes/ stories that
highlighted ethical dilemmas of varying degrees for them. When placed on a continuum of
intensity, these issues revealed low intensity/ low risk, and high intensity/ high-risk kind of
nature. Hence, in order to better understand the nature of ethical challenges, these issues have
been categorized as such.
Figure5: Nature of issues
Low intensity/ low risk issues High intensity/ high-risk issues
Low intensity/ low risk issues
Low intensity issues include problems that are administrative in nature and occur on a
daily basis. Data revealed that such issues included students’ expulsions mainly due to the
attendance policy violations, insubordination, drug abuse such as cigarettes and/ or naswar (a
local chewing tobacco), and students’ financial needs.
Drug Abuse
It is particularly relevant to note that use of cigarettes/ naswar is prevalent in boys’
schools. Therefore, principals working at the boy’s schools have to ensure the implementation of
policy regarding drug abuse. One of the instances, shared by a principal, illustrated that each and
everyone in the school from the teachers to the security guards was at a watch on catch red-
handed who smoked, and if they caught, they would be expelled. For instance, one principal
shared that “the cigarette and naswar are very common in the society but not in our school: it is
not totally clean though.” In order to curb such issues, the principal had constituted a body of
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“secret agents” consisting of students. These students would report to the principal to help
identify those who violated the policy. Moreover, this principal used religion to stop some of
religious students who were suspected to have been smoking. The principal made them swear on
Quran and promise not to smoke.
Attendance Policy Violation
Another principal raised up the issue of expelling a student for violating the school’s
attendance policy by coming back to school late after the summer vacation. The student had had
an opportunity to go on an expedition to earn some money to pay off his school fees, so could
not come back to school on time. The principal expressed the difficulty in implementing the
policy,
Here you can say it is so difficult for the principal to take this decision, for you have to
expel a student. What the student would do then. What could you do if the student was
absent without any information for a month? Yet you knew that the student was trying to
earn some money for school fees?
Another principal shared an instance which revealed that sometimes school policies
might hinder principals from addressing some of the students’ needs. For instance, in one case,
new school policies required that all the students would take a screening test in order for their
promotion to the next grade level. These policies were a significant source of worry for students
who failed. In this case, a student from a far-flung area staying in the dorm attempted to commit
suicide upon failing the screening test. The principal summarized her remarks,
Going back is very difficult for me, because my father spent a lot of money on me for
two years and I have stepmother as well. My father has two wives and I am from the first
wife. The new wife might tease me that you spent two years and came back.”
The principal could not do anything but to implement the policy asserting, “We cannot
compromise on quality.” Another instance depicted a simple yet highly significant issue that led
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the principal to reflect on the entire system and school policies. The school’s uniform policy
required the students to wear a black coat in the winter. One day the physical education (PE)
teacher, who was also responsible to ensuring implementation of the policy, escorted a senior
student to the principal’s office and complained about her repeated violation of the coat policy.
Upon inquiry, what the student told the principal was enough to make her realize that the student
had no option but to violate the policy. The principal recounted her story,
Her family always purchased the stuff from second hand shops. When she was buying,
she only had money to buy one coat, it was very cold and there was no black coat
available there. Therefore, she had to buy a blue coat.
Data also showed principals’ sincere care for students dominated their decisions, as
opposed to following rules and implementing polices. For instance, the principal stated that a
teacher offered to help the student buy a black coat, but the principal refused. The principal
explained:
One of the teachers said that he could donate an amount of money for that. However, I
felt that we would be harming the self-respect of the student by saying that ok, if you
cannot do it then I am giving it to you but you have to follow the rules. Therefore, we did
not go for that option.
The principal decided to let the student wear the blue coat.
In another instance, the principal came across a student brought to her by the PE teacher
for not tying her hair back as part of her uniform policy. When the PE teacher reprimanded the
student and asked her to tie her hair back instead of showing bangs, the student was rude saying,
“do whatever you want: I don’t care! I will not tie my hair back!” The PE teacher had no choice
but to escort her to the principal’s office. The student’s story, according to the principal,
illustrated simple yet significant needs of a teenager. The student, an already- depressed child
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due to her parents’ divorce, told the principal “my forehead is too large so I am terribly ashamed
of that and I do not want everybody to laugh at me. That is the reason I do my hair like that.”
Disciplinary Issues
However, sometimes principals also encountered problems because seemingly simple
decisions made for challenging situations. For instance, in one case a principal refused to let one
of the students share his ideas with newcomers at the school during an orientation session,
because he “did not know what the student was going to say.” Since the student was “…eager to
share his ideas with the new students, but he was not allowed to, he became angry, and he
thought about mischief, which could create a problem for the school.” Although the student
should have supposedly accepted the principal’s decision and kept quiet, he did otherwise. The
principal had to involve a disciplinary committee who decided to withdraw him from sitting for
final exams and to charge his parents a fee for punishment.
Teachers’ Insubordination
Another picture that emerged from the interviews was principals’ frustrations over the
inability to get teachers to understand their perspectives to accept change and improvement in the
school. In one case, a principal, after joining the school as a head, noticed issues with teachers’
attendance and punctuality. The teachers, according to the school policy were required to sign in
or sign out as soon as they entered the school or before they left the school. However, the
teachers would not sign it, or they would sign in and out at the same time before they left the
school. The teachers also had issues leaving the classrooms on time immediately after the bell.
They would take more time to finish their lessons, which created issues for other teachers who
got less time for their class.
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In order to address the issues, the principal made some changes. Nevertheless, the
teachers resisted these changes strongly, as the principal said:
I went to the staffroom. When I entered, there was a situation where everyone was
about to shout at me. I realized the situation was tense, they were sitting there and none
of the teachers had gone to class.
What was surprising to the principal was that when he shared his decision to bring about
changes in the teachers’ attendance policies in a meeting prior to its implementation “none of the
teachers questioned this at that time.” However, the following day the teachers expressed their
complaints and the principal paraphrased their complaints as follows:
…you are trying to change this school culture; it is not acceptable to us. We do not accept
any policy and procedure. Our basic purpose of coming to the school is teaching to the
best of our abilities. Signing in the register is a secondary thing to us, which could be
done any time.
Then they threatened the principal, “…we will follow ok, but you will never expect us to
engage in other activities. We will not co-operate for co-curricular activities.”
Teachers’ Perspective vs. Principal’s Perspective
Similarly when teachers decided to stick to their own perspective of students’ discipline,
it left no choice for the principal but give in and accept their perspective. For one of the
participants in the study, it was a “painful” situation when the teachers resisted his way of
addressing students’ tardiness. They preferred that the late comers be sent back home so that
their parents would take a notice and make their children come to school on time. The principal
was of the view that punishing students by sending them home would not help but rather
encourage them to be late, as the students, instead of going back home would wander around and
spend their days elsewhere. The parents would never know that their kids were late and out of
school the whole day. The principal remarked,
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The problem remained as severe as it was, so we continued with this punishment.
At times, we would have to tell more than fifty students to return home. It was very
painful. However, I knew that the teachers would never favor me if I had any other
system.
The principal had to collect data over a period to prove that sending students home
did not help.
High intensity/ High-risk issues
The high intensity/high risk issues present principals with “irreconcilable choices because
of the existence of the competing deeply rooted values” (Dimmock & Walker 2005). In this
regard, in order for a better picture of how principals faced difficult situations, textural
descriptions of five most poignant vignettes and most representative of the dilemmas shared by
the principals are presented here. These textural descriptions are the first person accounts of
stories constructed on “horizons of their experiences” (Mouskatas, 1994). Moreover, the stories
are presented after necessary editing for language brevity. It is also to provide discretion for the
reader to draw their own meaning of the events in the stories. Furthermore, a title is provided to
each story to capture the main issue at hand with a brief analysis at the end of each one.
Textural Descriptions/ Principals’ Stories
Students’ Selection
Around two years back, during our admission season a socially well-known person kept
calling me on phone, insisting and putting pressure that his brother’s daughter should get
admission here. There was tremendous pressure from the circles outside as well as from inside
the organization that the student should be given admission here. Everybody thought that the girl
was going in because she was the niece of that person. However, our admission policy required
us to follow the merit.
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Therefore, we always display our lists of the applicants who qualify the test and
interview, and it is always in front of the community. We have an admission committee, and we
take up all these things in a transparent way because we know that it is the right of the deserving
students to be in the school. Nonetheless, there was so much pressure that I thought at one time I
could resign. The person tried to harass me, e.g., “if you do not do this we will cut off water for
the school, there will be people around, and you will be unsafe.” I said taking away the right of
one person who qualifies for admission and offering it to another person who does not qualify
would be unfair, and I would never be able to forgive myself for that. I faced a lot of pressure,
but I resisted.
More importantly, the person in question had spread rumors that we were not
considering the merit. Unfortunately, if there is someone who has a distinctive position then
people not only respect him or her but also believe that person. I had people coming in all the
time asking about that girl. For instance, “We have heard that you have taken some other
applicant in her place, and she deserved it.” I had to explain our admission policy and process
to people, as some of them did not know about it. I also had to take my staff in confidence
because they checked the papers and knew the situation. My admission committee helped me a
lot. Since they are part of the community at large, whenever such a question arose, they
explained the admission process informally.
Meanwhile, it happened that some of the admission committee’s relatives, who had
applied, could not qualify, and they were not offered admission. Then the community realized
that if something like that could have happened then, maybe most of these girls [related to the
admission committee members] could have gotten into the school. Therefore, pressure was
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removed in that manner as well. At the end, shukar [Thanks God], everything went well and we
were able to maintain and follow our merit policy.
Analysis: The above vignette is representative of some of the toughest challenges my
participants cited. The schools had a prime objective to provide quality education to the
deserving students in the region, who could not otherwise afford to join other quality institutions
in the country after middle school. For this purpose, the schools’ admission policy required merit
based selection at grade eight. However, the principals faced enormous conflicts in terms of the
differences between the school's objective and community’s demands and expectations of
relationship-based decisions. Hence, a conflict arises for principals where they are pressured to
act in favor of some candidates and against standard rules and policies.
Students’ Strike
Last year, in the month of August, the members of the student council came up with
complaints about four female teachers’ social activities outside the school. The students claimed
that since the teachers were away from their homes, they would always go to the market and
socialize with shopkeepers. When students went to market, the people there made fun of them
and talk bad about their teachers’ characters. It had a big impact on students’ social
development in the class.
They also said that the previous principal never took any action against those teachers,
so they asked me to discuss it with the high ups of the organization. The next day, GM also told
me on the phone that the same students had gone to the Regional Education Board (REB), and
the regional council with complaint and asked them to take necessary action against those
teachers. Then she [GM] came, with the manager academics, to meet with the students. The
students, after expressing their concerns and complaints, said, “You have two weeks to transfer
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or expel these teachers. We do not want them in our school,” and threatened us with locking the
entire school and going on strike. The GM tried to convince them that this was a policy matter
and she could not transfer or expel any teacher upon students’ dissatisfaction or complaints
against them. However, the students were terribly angry, and they said, “NO, we want these
teachers out of our school as soon as possible.” They wanted this action within two weeks. The
GM told they were not allowed to hold strikes. After the GM left, I also asked them to wait and
they agreed to wait. However, after exactly two weeks, one morning I found all the doors locked.
I searched for students and found two of them standing outside. I asked them to give me the keys.
Initially they were highly reluctant to give the keys, and later on, with the help of some senior
teachers, I retrieved the keys from them.
It was one week after summer vacations, I could not do any other thing; I could not think
about any other option, and I had a strong fear that this time the students were going to do a
serious thing. That is why I called the GM and asked her to come and decide about the teachers.
The first day was extremely challenging, as they were not listening at all. We tried to convince
them but they said, “No. Right now you have to decide whether these teachers will stay, or will
they be transferred or expelled?”
As a final decision, we messaged their parents through letters and phone calls. In the
letters, we had used some harsh words like “aap kay batchay guzishta kuch arsay say kuch ghair
ikhlaqi kaamoon main mulawis hai aur” [your children have engaged in unethical activities at
the school].” The purpose was to bring the parents in school because they do not respond to
reasonable letters and meet. However, after receiving the letters and phone calls the parents, of
the girls were worried about their daughters’ characters and behavior toward their teachers.
This created a concern among all students but especially girls.
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I called all those students and explained how we had drafted the letters and told them
that since we had agonized so too their parents should suffer. The parents came; they were
worried about the wordings of the letter and were angry with their daughters because they
perceived negativity about their daughters’ characters. I, along with some of my teachers,
discussed the matter in detail. Parents felt extremely sorry for that. It was shocking for them that
their children in the school engaged in acts and created such shameful situations. Meanwhile,
luckily, one of the teachers was transferred and the other teacher was waiting for a transfer, the
third teacher resigned and the fourth one was leaving the school soon. It was a matter of four
teachers and the decision placated the students. The students went to their classes, and we
resumed our teaching and learning process.
Analysis: The story brings to light the issues of social norms, gender inequality, and
complexities of an environment that demands complex choices by the principals. At the
organizational level, it brings to light a clash between the formal policy, and principal’s
discretion, a theme discussed in detail in the next chapter. The principals in these schools have
tremendous responsibility but, in some ways, they lack the authority they need to carry out those
responsibilities. So it is a clash between the formal rules/policies and allowing principals to
improvise to solve problems.
A students’ expulsion
A girl was involved in what appeared to be so-called affair with a boy in the school,
something that is by no means acceptable to the community. A relationship like this could lead to
the closing of the school. The girl did not complain directly but attempted to commit suicide.
The teachers later found that a boy, who had written a love letter to her, had intimidated the girl.
The teachers further investigated the case and collected the evidence. We found that she was
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involved initially but she was trying to break the connection. There was no clear solution. I
expelled the boy and told him that I would not give him a good character certificate because he
was not a good character boy, according to my understanding. So, he threatened to go to court.
He said that there was no evidence against him and he had done nothing wrong. We had a lot of
convincing evidence such as letters, recorded interviews with many other students involved in the
process, and the medicine with which the girl tried to commit suicide. In addition, I knew in
Pakistani courts, I would not be able to prove anything. Even if I had provided all the evidence,
the case could have gone against me. Any other court, in the civilized world, would have
accepted the substantial evidence and taken action against that boy but it was certainly not
possible in our case and situation.
Most importantly, under the pressure of the board of governors, I knew I was not in a
position to punish that boy. However, the girl was in trouble and, despite being a victim of
harassment, she was going to bear the biggest burden of the punishment, which was not morally
right as, I understand. The parents took the girl back home due to community and peer pressure.
They said they were not going to let her continue her studies at that school because she had been
defamed. It was not possible for her to survive as a student there.
Although the girl had encouraged the relationship initially, she realized later that it was
not in her best interest to remain in that relationship and decided to break it. I thought that she
should be saved from this entire problem because, at least, she had realized that she was not
doing a righteous thing for the school and her family. Therefore, I requested the general
manager, to transfer her to a sister school in another region, and she was transferred. We had to
settle with the boy by granting him readmission under the pressure of Board of Directors (BOG).
However, I accepted that only after the girl had been transferred.
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I realized that if the girl could be saved by compromising, I should compromise.
Therefore, I accepted the BOG’s support for the boy, because if the boy had gone to court, I
would have had to accept his readmission. It was a fair bargain for me. At least the girl
graduated from the other school because she was not under any pressure from the community,
she earned decent grades, and she passed. She got the right opportunity to continue her
education.
Analysis: This story not only signifies the intense risks of a wrong decision but also
shows a dilemma between the well being/ the best interest of the girl and intense cultural values
in the community. The principal is torn between acting on behalf of a girl who he believes is a
victim, though a nice person, and should not have her life ruined by the social norms of the
community, which inclined to punish, shun and sanction the girl.
Teachers’ resistance
I joined this school with a target and expectation from management to bring quality. The
school already had staff members who were recruited at the time of school’s inception from the
availability human resources at that time. However, now we were expecting to upgrade the
school towards higher secondary and change the medium of instruction to English, we needed
master’s degree holders in all subjects. Therefore, I wanted to create positions for the new
faculty by transferring some existing teachers to other schools in the region where masters’
degree were not a requirement to teach. However, it was a challenge because most of them were
female teachers and transferring them to other schools was a challenge for: a) they were not
ready b) it was even morally difficult for me to transfer all those women to far places.
Nonetheless, I took a risk and did that. I conducted their appraisal based on the tools suggested
by the organization. I found that the teachers were not qualified to stay in this school but might
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be suitable for standard Diamond Jubilee (DJ) schools. I met all the teachers and discussed the
appraisal results with them.
It was particularly interesting that some of the women cried, complained and tried to
resist. One of them said, “You should respect your seat as well, you are in a good position, so
you should not do things like this for it will be bad for you.” I explained the consequences of not
signing on the appraisal result in the form of an independent appraisal by an outsider. They did
not take the risks acknowledging the appraisals fair.
Then I had a session with them to discuss their transfers. It was extremely difficult
because, first, they agreed: then, they refused and resisted. First, they thought that they would
not be transferred because the school had a long history of making such decisions. Their
transfers could never be executed. They thought that this principal would just forget and would
follow the former principal’s policies and work with them. I was quite strict in my rules and
policies, so they resisted.
One teacher resisted a lot and created problems for me rather than moving herself. She
talked to the senior management alleging lot of things. Moreover, she told all the teachers that
on the day she was transferred, he [the principal] would be killed. One day, her husband
threatened me verbally; and I received unknown messages on my mobile. Then her husband
came here during SMC [school management committee] meeting, where GM and the director
were also present.
Her husband told the general manager: “if my wife is transferred whoever makes this
decision, La illaha illalah Mohammadur Rasullulah [swear] I will kill that person on the same
day.” Then the general manager said, “But if it is in our plan and if your wife is not needed by
the school she will be transferred. Whatever actions you plan to take go ahead.” He left
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afterwards. Then we decided to transfer her. The threat was against me because the GM was not
transferring her. It took a month for the management to finalize the decision. I talked to the
teacher, I convinced her, and she said, “Ok but I will talk to my husband.” Later, she refused
and told us that her husband disagreed.
This dilemma went on, because they did not want to take the risk of something happening
to me. I asked the senior management to send the letter and let me take the risk. They did not
send it. Then, I used the community leadership: at the last moment, I sought help from mukhi (a
local community leader). I informed him about the whole situation. He convinced the teacher’s
husband who accepted his wife’s transfer.
Analysis: The vignette illustrates the issue of personalism versus universalism. The
teacher’s resistance to following standard operating procedures and wanting a personalistic
treatment also illustrates the intensity with which these feelings are held. Teachers considered
transfer as an offence and an insult. Therefore, the teacher and her husband threatened to kill the
principal.
Disciplinary Action
One of the teachers was unusually late after the winter vacation. He did not appear for
two weeks. It was terribly difficult to contact him because he had not left with us any direct
contact. I think it was two weeks later that we heard from him. He explained that the road
blockage that had kept him away. The road had remained blocked for a week only and most of
the teachers, who were stuck down country because of it had already come back. It was a policy
as well as a personal issue. The teacher gave the road blockage as well as issues in his family as
reasons why he was late, yet there were policy procedures for me to follow. I had to take a
disciplinary action as per HR policies of the organization.
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Now there was a tussle between the emotional aspects of working as a principal and the
policy aspects. One has to ensure implementation of the policy. If the policy was not
implemented then that might have been a precedent for other teachers to not follow the policy.
Therefore, I wanted to implement the policy, but in a manner that the teacher received the least
amount of penalty. I talked to some colleagues who were in the HR and the only way out was to
make the teacher explain in writing why he was absent for so many days without any contact.
I issued him a show-cause notice to justify his absence. He probably took it personally
and thought that I was victimizing him. He was, of course, a senior teacher, a competent one and
I did not want him to lose his spirit and morale. I first talked to him in person, explaining the
reasons why I had to issue a show-cause notice and why he was required to submit an
explanation within a timeframe.
He went to the senior management complaining against the show-cause notification
saying it was humiliating. Anyhow, the senior management talked to me and I had to explain
why I had taken a disciplinary action. However, the teacher decided to resign. I requested him
not to take this extreme step and not to take it personally because it was purely an organizational
and a policy issue. I tried to counsel him but he did not accept and submitted his resignation.
That was a very, very critical point, losing a competent teacher and finding that teacher labeling
this issue as something personal while I had no personal grudges against him.
Analysis: The vignette illustrates how principals’ professional ethics and ethics of justice
conflict with a teacher who insists on special, personal treatment. More importantly, the high ups
seem to be influenced by personalistic demands of individual teachers. The principals are not
just being pressured by the teachers but also sometimes influenced by people above them.
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Emergent Themes
An in-depth analysis, of the above stories and other instances shared by the principals,
revealed four key themes. The first theme in this regard, is:
Geselschaft vs. Gemeinschaft: Intense pull between organizational bureaucracy and
“organic” demands
Various instances, principals shared indicated an intense pressure upon principals to
follow bureaucratic process and demands locally. The organizational processes demand proper
implementation of policy within the school, whereas the personalistic orientation of the locals
expects relationships based decisions. In either case, principals have to face the consequences
because they have to mitigate the situation by balancing both sides. This creates an intense stress
for the principals.
Four out of five principals shared instances that indicated immense pressure to violate
organizational or school policies and demanded a preferential treatment that created conflicts for
them. For instance, the story “Student selection” is an excellent example of conflicts and
competitive values as various aspects of principals’ decision like professional ethics, personal
accountability, personal values of justice, fairness and personal/ institutional integrity are at
stake. The principals’ claim that influential people get more respect and are believed whatever
they say captures a wider socio-cultural environment in which the principals’ work is embedded.
In another case, a group of people representing ISI, special branch, and military intelligence
came to a principal to investigate “discrepancies in the admission process” and find out why an
applicant was not admitted. They expressed their doubts that the applicant was dropped
deliberately to offer a place to another applicant. In spite of principal’s explaining the process
and transparency of the process, they insisted on seeing the applicant’s papers. Then they tried to
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force the principal to take the applicant in by telling him that they had links with the education
minister of the region who could take the matter to any level.
Moreover, the story “Teacher’s resistance” illustrates how teachers create ethical issues
for principals by sticking to their personal interest rather than looking at the larger interest of the
students. Yet the story “Disciplinary action” also highlights the principal’s battle to implement
the policy and teacher’s insistence on individual, personal treatment. It creates a dilemma for
principal because, if the policy is not implemented, the principal might lose the legitimacy of his
decision and authority and if he implemented the policy, he might lose a competent and seasoned
teacher. Losing a competent and seasoned teacher is equally critical given the conditions of the
region where it is hard to find good quality teachers. The teacher’s resignation could also set
precedence for other teachers to resist a principal’s decisions in future, making it impossible for
him to follow and implement policy. In either case, the principal is vulnerable.
Data highlighted performance appraisals are another area, which held ethical challenges
for principals. Performance appraisals lead to “merit awards.” According to the organizational
policy, each school had a twenty percent quota for granting awards such as “outstanding,
excellent, and good to the teachers.” Since the “…appraisal is linked with pay,” the principals
felt helpless and limited when it came to deciding who should get the excellent grades because
the organizational policy demanded only twenty percent of outstanding/excellent grades to their
staff. One principal summarized the challenges pertaining to performance appraisal system,
Sometimes we encounter situations where we believe that we don’t have good
parameters to measure exact capacity of the teachers to really differentiate between two
teachers by, for example, a two point difference placing one excellent and the other
average. So we deceive ourselves by saying you are 270 and you are 271.5.
Logically and humanely, it is not possible to gauge people with the accuracy, our
organization expects from us.
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This put principals in hot water as one of the participants described the situation,
“particularly talking about last year I felt that there should have been more people who should
have been given an excellent grade, but I could not do anything about it.” Moreover, sharing the
results of their appraisals with the teachers was yet another challenging task for principals for
two reasons. Firstly, the principals had to convince the teachers of the legitimacy and accuracy of
the appraisals. Secondly, the principals had to persuade the teachers that they would get excellent
grades next time and be motivated to maintain the quality of their work. For an instance,
Although it is not, officially and systemically legal, I have to persuade them that way
…. However, I am not always successful persuading them. Sometimes the teachers
become disheartened with this system and they lose heart. They stop working with
enthusiasm they had working with previously.
Another principal expressed her view of the appraisals and difficulty associated with
them, “If you cannot compensate when it comes to money, then you cannot compensate for
anything.” Data also showed that implementation of the organizational policy was a challenge
for almost all the principals, as teachers reacted in many different ways even if they were guilty
of violating it. Moreover, all of the research participants talked about their professional
responsibilities, their accountability and organizational as well as community expectations that
created a tremendous amount of pressure on them. For an instance:
…to develop students with an already refined capacities and develop them at the level
what the community expects is a big challenge for us. For some schools in the region,
people would say that is just enough if they give some good performance. Nevertheless,
in our case they are always expecting the best. Therefore, I am always under pressure to
improve the students and the school continually.
Likewise, two other participants expressed that their main professional responsibility is to
develop leaders of the future. One principal shared, “vision of the school is to develop the
talented female students from across Gilgi-Baltistan and prepare them for future leadership
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roles.” Another principal endorsed the point, “one of the six objectives of the school is to
develop leaders…. To produce leaders …my responsibilities are very, very different from the
other schools.”
Now the question is how the objectives of the school contribute to the administrative
challenges for the principal. The objectives themselves are not challenging: rather how the
principal has to work amidst the limited human and material resources as well as the attitude of
people interfere with schools can accomplish. For instance, one of the participants asserted: “the
policies are not the biggest hindrance. It is the behavior, attitudes of the community members
and leadership. I cannot change their understanding single handed.”
Principal’s comment highlights how the bureaucratic processes within the organization
hamper situations:
Start with the organization as an umbrella. For example, do they say that teaching is
their core job? Is it so within the community? Is it so within the systems? What is the
position of teachers? Do they improve their lives as time passes? Or is it the forces
outside of teaching that control leadership? These are the issues, which are so important
and the principal is sometimes helpless.
This comment is pertinent in terms of the conflicts. On one hand, the organization places
an emphasis on quality teachers, yet the teachers are the least beneficiaries in terms of monetary
incentives. Furthermore, the unavailability of the financial resources that could help the
principals meet their needs and expectations posed a formidable challenge. As one principal
shared, “I do not believe in paying people according to performance. What I understand is that
they should be paid according to the market demands, which we cannot do while remaining
within this system.” The principals are responsible to meet the local demands of providing
excellent quality education with all the available resources. However, the bureaucratic processes
at the organizational level limit principals’ space to make decisions at the local level when it
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comes to hiring teachers. In other words, principals are given tremendous responsibility, but not
granted discretion to make decisions.
Pressure of culture/ religious mores: “Unwritten Rules”
Pakistan is a conservative society with distinct roles and responsibilities for men and
women. Some of the cultural practices are so rigid that deviating from them may cause serious
consequences especially for women society. Hence, the pressure of cultural/ religious mores
emerged as another important theme that highlighted ways in which principals faced conflicts in
trying to make an ethical decision.
Four of the five research participants worked at schools, which were all girls, boys and
girls, or mixed schools (from kindergarten to grade seven co-education, and grade eighth
onwards all girls). These parameters offer challenges their professional obligations. These
schools are located in communities that are, linguistically, ethnically, culturally and regionally,
distinct from each other, yet they share similar concepts of moral standards. These principals,
despite being highly educated, cannot go beyond the limits set by the society.
One of the research participants put it, “…you have to care for the certain boundaries
of…society, certain boundaries have been laid down…. There are unwritten rules…unwritten
regulations.” In case of the violation of “unwritten rules and regulations”, the school members,
whether students or teachers, face severe consequences, because “people become very reactive in
some cases.” The story “Students’ Strike” represents such a situation, in which apparently
students’ representative council complained against a group of female teachers’ personal social
activities. They decided to force management, by holding a strike to take measures against the
teachers. This situation is indicative of the societal values and social norms of how women
should behave in the community, and how their individual and personal actions are tied all
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around them. Women are required to be modest, which means they are not allowed to interact
with strangers and must stay within the confines of their walls after they are done with their
professional responsibilities in this case teaching.
The principal’s expression, “…I had a fear that they were going to do something serious”
shows that even principal’s professional authority would be in jeopardy when it came to dealing
with gender issues and violation of moral standards of modesty for women. The students’ strike
could instigate the community’s reaction and the principal could have faced serious
consequences. The principal could lose his job as well as trust of the community.
The cultural/ religious mores also create gender inequalities that include differences in
treatment for men and women. As happened in the case of “student’s expulsion” in which a girl
and boy were both guilty (for want of a better word) of having in a relationship. However, the
girl was the one who was going to face the consequences. The boy threatened the principal with
the legal consequences for his expulsion. Despite all the evidences, the case could have gone
against the principal if the boy dragged him to the court. The BOG, on the other hand, also
consisted of all male members, so they were all operating with a set of moral values that barred
them from going outside the box. Instead of seeing the “victim,” they only noticed the victimizer
and decided to support him. The principal in this case is not only faced with the challenge of the
general community and their social norms, but a group of people who have a decision making
power and who are operating within traditional mindset. The principal had no choice but to
compromise and strike “a bargain” that at least made it possible for him to “save the girl from the
entire trouble” of facing community’s wrath and losing her future.
Moreover, the principal’s expression “she had realized that she was not doing a good
thing for the school and the family” connotes a cultural meaning according to which girls’
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involvement in such relationship is tied to family’s honor and school’s reputation, whereas boys
are exempted from such responsibilities. As in this case, for the girl all the future doors could
have been closed because she had been involved in a relationship with a boy. The girl felt so
troubled that she decided to end her life. The situation created a serious concern or fear for the
principal that the school would be challenged in terms of not getting girl applicants the following
year because the incident had sent a negative message to all the prospective students and their
parents. Parents would think that the girls in the school were not able to maintain the “moral
standards” of modesty and school was not a suitable place for their education.
Another principal supplemented the point explaining her concern conducting co-
curricular activities for girls at her school because “If, God forbid, something happens to one
student, then nobody would be ready: they will be scared! They will not be ready to send their
daughters to the school. Therefore, I have to be extremely careful about these things.” Hence, the
responsibility of maintaining the society’s moral standards within the girls’ school is considered
one of the prime objectives of the principals’ professional responsibilities. Principals in such
schools have to be extra careful.
Cultural mores also cause conflicts for principals, and they do not feel comfortable in
enforcing some of the bureaucratic rules because they are affected by cultural norms. As such, a
principal, in the vignette, “Teachers’ resistance,” felt uncomfortable for implementing his
decision of transferring female teachers who had underperformed because, culturally, men must
respect and take care of women, creating a moral discord. The teacher’s expression, “you should
respect your seat. You are in a good position, so you should not do things like that. It would be
bad for you” has a cultural connotation of gender as well as professional relationships.
According to the gender norms, the principal, a male, has to be sensitive to the women staff
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members’ needs; whereas professional relationships required the principal to respect his
subordinates even if it meant overlooking the policies while he held authority and power.
Culturally the principal should take care of his staff, especially the females, for otherwise, it
could be considered injustice, and the principal could face opposition. In other words, the
teachers were trying to invoke the fear of vengeance by the principal in reminding him of his
cultural responsibilities.
Intensity of potential of threats to survival
Principals facing challenges not only have to make the toughest ethical/ moral choices
but also are in the forefront of facing consequences for making those choices. Hence, the serious
consequences for principals in the form of threats emerged as a vital theme. These threats came
from the members within as well as outside the school. Coercion is an aspect of the work
environment in Pakistan. Influential people manipulate powers to get desired result. When such
people in the society go to any extent in trying to force principals to give into their demands, not
only are a principal’s career and life at stake but the safety and security of the entire institution
are in danger.
In this regard, the vignette, “student selection” highlights multiple dimensions of the
difficulties of making ethical decisions for principals in general and woman principals in
particular. The one principal received threats of having strange people sent around to her school
for not admitting an applicant on demand. The threat of having strangers around a girls’ school
has a cultural nuance for the principal as a woman and for the students as girls. The parent of the
applicant knows that having strangers around a girl’s school makes the communities feel unsafe
in a conservative society. Most importantly, if there were strange people around the whole cause
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of the principal being there would be lost for she looked capable of safeguarding the school.
Furthermore, the nature of the threat shows typical male chauvinism in the society and
vulnerability of female professionals. When a woman, highly educated and professional, stands
against an injustice and makes an independent decision the society uses tactics that could create
vulnerability which makes her think of quitting her job rather than inflicting consequences of
her decisions on the entire institution.
Another instance recounted by a principal who decided to transfer some teachers due to
their underperformance, revealed how local people, teachers as well as community members,
exceeded beyond limits for their personal interests and benefits rather than the benefits of the
students. For instance, one of the teachers “told all the teachers that the day she would be
transferred, [the principal] would be killed.” This was a very strong message that not only
announced the resistance, but also invited others to take any step to make the principal alter his
decision of transferring them. More importantly, the seriousness of the situation was multiplied
by the fact that the teacher’s husband went to a meeting held at the school and told the general
manager (GM), “If my wife is transferred, whoever makes this decision, La illaha illalah
Mohammadur Rasullulah (swore to God) I will kill that person on the same day.” The person’s
intensions were extremely serious because swearing on Allah and his Prophet (P.B.U.H) is an
extreme step in expressing one’s intensions especially of killing. It also proves that such a person
would execute his intention eventually.
There might be multiple reasons for such a reaction. First, the principal did not belong to
the community for he had come from another region so it was like an outsider coming to their
school and trying to rule them. This also brings to light the concept of regionalism, which is
somewhat similar to the tribal values of biradari system mentioned earlier, where an outsider is
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not considered loyal to the benefits of the biradari. Secondly, the institutional culture had
strengthened teachers’ resistance in the past. These teachers had been there right from the time of
school’s inception so being local; they felt possessive about the school. They knew how to
manipulate resources and resist management decisions. Yet, another instance, in which the
principal received threats, was when the principal refused to admit a student applicant who was
not qualified. The principal received phone threats that he would be beaten up in the market, and
he would meet extreme consequences if he did not alter his decision.
Another research participant cited an incident in which the community members,
especially the parents of the applicants, were furious over the screening test results because the
student could not qualify and dropped out. The principal stated,
[One day] my office boy and other people told me: sir, please do not come out today….
three people were waiting for you at the gate having [holding] an iron bar…. but because
you were not there, they left and they will come again…. it was because of the result and
they were angry…
Thus, whether the principals made decisions due to personal values, or professional
obligations there were tremendous pressures and challenges. In addition, sometimes parent
expectations demanded the principals to go beyond their professional capacities creating
challenges. For instance, in one case parents wanted the principal to start an alternative program
for the student who failed admission test. However, upon explaining that it was not possible, one
parent became angry, and threatened, “if my daughter is out, then we do not need the school.”
Another principal encountered a situation when a high government official, who was also
affiliated with the judiciary, called the principal and tried to force him to overlook merit policy
and admit his son. When the principal showed resistance to his pressure, he threatened him
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“mein dekhoon ga [I will see you].” These words of a principal capture the intensity of potential
threats to survival for the principals working in that environment:
So many things are the problems. That is why I do not go out. I live inside these
premises, and I am very much safe. I do not want to move around. I have not been to
any one’s home because I think avoiding that is safe for me.
The above statement reflects the psychological pressure on the principals, as they are
aware of consequences and limits for their roles in the community.
“A tussle between emotional and professional aspects of working as a principal”
The theme comes from a statement made by one of the sample principals, which seemed
an apt expression that also cut across all stories shared by other sample principals. While sharing
their experiences of ethical challenges, principals kept reflecting on how they felt and what their
thoughts were at the time of the incident. In doing so, they made significant statements that not
only offered a window to peep into their understanding of the incident but also helped me
explore the personal and professional values and beliefs that also seemed to be their driving
forces in making tough choices. Hence, the theme reflects the internal world of the sample
principals while faced with critical and extreme situations, which challenged their personal
values as well.
Data revealed that making ethical decisions is a process of constant struggle. This
struggle can best be termed as the battle between self, profession and socio-cultural expectations.
The self revolves around principals’ personal values of right and wrong, justice, fairness, care,
concern, and values of responsibility as a member of the wider community, while the profession
revolves around professional obligations and responsibilities. Lastly, socio-cultural expectations
revolve around what the principal is expected to do by its community members.
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The ethics of the profession as suggested by Shapiro & Stefkovich (2011) demand that
the decision of the principal should be grounded in the best interest of the clients, in this case
students. However, sample principals’ stories illustrated that the wider values of preferential
treatment to those who hold influential positions in the society challenge this aspect of the
principal’s professional obligations. The principal’s personal codes of fairness and justice are
conflicted by the community’s values of preferential treatment. The principal’s expression, “it is
the right of the deserving students to be inside and not everybody on pressure” shows the
principal feels torn between personal values of making honest decisions and keeping the integrity
of the school’s process and community expectations without violating the policy.
Moreover, for principal making a dishonest decision of admitting an applicant on
pressure would not only conflict her sense of professional obligations but also would not be
acceptable personally. Although, the principal was under “tremendous pressure” from the
external forces, the personal accountability seemed to be stronger for the principal even thought
of resigning, and letting her career go, rather than making an “unfair” decision that would haunt
her for the rest of her life. She said: “I would never be able to forgive myself for that.” For
another principal, implementing a policy that made a senior teacher “show cause” of his long
absence was uncomfortable due to its implications for the teacher’s career. On one hand, he had
to act as a principal when he needed to fulfill his professional obligations. On the other, the
principal felt personally uncomfortable for he was being perceived as lacking feelings and
emotions for the teachers. Therefore, when in response to the “show cause notice” the teacher
resigned, the principal “requested him not to take this extreme step and not to take it personally
because it was purely an organization and policy issue.” The principal’s expression “that was a
very, very critical point losing a competent teacher and then that teacher labeling this issue as
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something personal while I had no personal grudges against the teacher” indicates the
complexity of the situation especially at a personal level. Another principal reflected on one of
her situations,
I spent a lot of time debating in my own mind about everything in the appraisal tool that
I had. I had to give excellent grade to certain numbers of people and I felt bad about
that because I felt it was not fair to some of the staff. I had to think through a lot and I
think it was one of the toughest times in my life.
The case “a students’ expulsion” also illustrated how a principal had to alter his decision
of expelling the boy for harassing a girl because of his personal values. The principal thought the
boy did not have a “moral character” and violated ethical values by his act, and the girl deserved
support from everyone to survive in that community. However, the principal had to fight for the
girl by letting the boy into the school and transferring the girl. Thus, the theme is also indicative
of a struggle for principals to create a space for personal, moral accountability in the presence of
organizational bureaucracy on one hand and local demands and expectations, on the other.
Section II
Principals’ responses to the researchers’ vignettes
As part of data gathering process, explained in the chapter on methodology, I created
vignettes based on true events. As part of two-tier interview process with the participants, I used
two vignettes (depicting dilemmas) to seek sample principals’ responses to a set of questions.
This section presents their responses.
Vignette 1: Student’s absence
This incident took place at one of the colleges for girls situated in an urban area in
Pakistan. The college had a dormitory for students who came from far off places. The dorm had
strict rules and regulations for students’ visitors. Shahida (pseudonym) was a student in her third
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year of studies who lived in the dorm because her parents lived abroad. She was a devout
Muslim and covered herself from head to toe according to her religious beliefs. One day the
warden discovered that Shahida had not returned after the weekend. Although, the woman she
left with, had signed her out and was her friend, she was not a registered guardian. This created
a stir among the boarding staff. The warden decided to inform the principal of the matter
immediately.
The principal became furious.The next morning the principal arrived and asked other
students if they knew anything about Shahida. Meanwhile, the girl arrived to attend her classes.
However, as soon as the principal saw the student, she burst out at her in front of everyone
present. The first question the principal threw at her was “Where is your boyfriend?” “Go bring
your boyfriend, right now.” The girl was shocked to hear all this. She was not aware of what had
been going on in her absence. She could not speak a single word. Then the principal ordered the
student to pack up her things, and leave the dorm. She was, no longer allowed to stay there.
However, she was allowed to continue her studies at the college. The student could not face
staying in the college after experiencing such humiliation and left never to return.
Principals’ responses to the vignette
Data from the sample principals’ responses shed light on various aspects of the societal
standards of moral values, professional responsibility of the principals and community’s
expectations from them. It was interesting to note that there was a clear difference in how
principals thought about the issue at hand, and how the contextual realities would shape their
decisions.
The first question in the interview protocol sought the principals’ reaction to the case.
Significantly, almost all the principals disapproved the way the principal reacted towards the
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student in the vignette. However, they all agreed that the principal had to act in a context where
she had to be strict in dealing with such matters. One principal opined,
I think that was quite a natural reaction of the principal, because the principal was acting
in the context of a conservative society…. The first reaction of the principal: where is
your boyfriend, is I think stereotyping this kind of incident.
Commenting on the incident another principal asserted, “it is a true picture of our
society,” for “we do not tolerate such kinds of relationship, either girlfriend or boyfriend.”
Another principal opined, “When we come across such situations, it is not altogether fiction. It is
a day to day situation and we principal do encounter these things.” Moreover, one of the sample
principals thought that the principal in the case was “highly judgmental in concluding that since
she was away the principal thought she was with a boyfriend.”
However, commenting on the changing values and concepts in the society, one principal
stated, “The world is changing, the society is changing, and I believe the values are changing. If
a person is covered in burqah, top to toe, this should not be considered as a signature of
modesty.” This is a powerful comment, which reflects a general mindset of the society that
covering oneself, especially for women, is a fundamental way of maintaining modesty and moral
standards of the society. However, it is no more so. Although many women still clothe
themselves in burqah because of religious beliefs, it does not guarantee the maintenance of the
modesty for others. Therefore, the principal in the vignettes asked the girl about her boyfriend
despite that fact that she was a staunch Muslim (covered in burqah). Furthermore, talking about
the consequences for a girl who goes against the societal values of not having a relationship with
boys, one principal stated,
I think for girls in our society it becomes a major issue. People try to defame them.
They try to make fun of their relationships and they talk about such kind of relations.
Suppose after few years, if a person is proposing to that girl, the people in the community
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will make trouble for that person. They say: look, this girl had some relations with
Mr. X so you should not propose to this girl. You should not select this girl as your life
partner.
Therefore, all principals expressed that even though they believed in girls’ rights, of “free
will, and choice” they would want the girls to follow society’s values. For instance, one principal
asserted, “I would like all my students to honor the society’s values, even if they go against the
personal whims and wishes of the students. I would like my students to follow the rules in the
context in which they are living.”
The parents’ expectations from the principals also suggest that they have to take
responsibility for providing safety to the girls by making strict rules in the school in general and
dorms in particular. One principal shared, “parents tell us: Please don’t let our daughters go
anywhere, for they don’t want to hear bad things about their daughters.” Therefore, one principal
asserted, “the rules should not be for the sake of rules. There can be sensitivity to a particular
culture and we cannot totally go against the culture in developing rules for the school.” The
principal further shared his encounter of difficulties in organizing
… a tournament for girls to play outside the school. The community simply refused. The
people of the region thought that that was not acceptable behavior for the girls.
Therefore, we had to confine it to our hostel [dorm] premises. In addition, even in one
instance, [we were] not able to arrange a girls’ volleyball tournament.
For this principal, it was beyond his comprehension as to why society imposed such
restrictions especially on women. He asserted,
I totally disagree with the way the society deals with women in Pakistan generally. I
really do not understand why girls cannot play outside in any playground. Why should
they not be part of every professional field? Why should they be compelled to wear a
particular dress? I think in my point of view ethics should not be linked to those cosmetic
things.
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However, for another principal, his professional responsibilities included following
society’s values as he asserted,
I believe I am a representative of the society, so I cannot go on working on my own
wishes. I need to follow a certain ethical framework. That ethical framework is defined
by the context in which I am working. I have certain obligations; I need to fulfill those
obligations.
The principals also shared their experiences of facing situations involving gender issues.
One sample principal shared his experiences of how such cases or similar incidents were
expected to be dealt. He said, “Whenever we have found such relations among or between
students, many of the teachers and community members in the society have complained about
those relations and interactions. The following interaction between the principal and students,
who were involved in a similar case, is indicative of how such matters were dealt with strictness.
Two students (girl and a boy) were caught up talking to each other and were reported by the
teachers.
I asked him to tell me why he was standing with the girl or his colleague. He said, there is
nothing special between us. We are friends. I asked, is this friendship allowed in your
school or in your culture? He was very afraid of the question and unable to answer it. He
said, sir, you are right; I should not stand with the girl or any other girl. I will take care
next time. Then I called the girl, and asked her the same questions. She was shaking, too,
and I asked her to concentrate on her studies.
Yet in another case, the principal had to record the conversation of some other students
as evidence and reprimanded them to stop whatever they were saying. According to the
principal, “it was something not acceptable in our culture. They were saying that they were
missing each other so much they were not concentrating on their studies, and they love each
other.” When the principal reprimanded the boy, he “was very aggressive” and said, “What you
do mean sir? She is my class fellow.” In order to deal with such a “serious issue” the principal
had to ask them to call their parents, or he would call them. When the principal mentioned
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parents, the students were afraid and requested “Sir, please forgive us: it will not happen again.”
Then the principal asked them to have their discussions within the limitations, and allowed them
to discuss the academic things briefly.”
There could be multiple reasons why the principals dealt with the situation that way.
Firstly, it was the pressure of the teachers and community, who would disapprove of such
interactions or any of interaction between a girl and a boy. Secondly, the principal’s reprimand
for the girl was out of concern, as he was aware of the consequences of such interactions to her.
Girls are under more scrutiny for their actions, and they face the issues for their future as well as
their lives.
Vignette 2: Teacher marries his student
This incident took place at a girl’s school run by a large development network in the
Northern Areas of Pakistan. Mrs. Murad (principal of the school) received a call at 10:30 pm,
from a person who broke the news that one of the male teachers at the school had married a
student of grade 10. Mrs. Murad could not believe what she heard. The board meeting was due in
two days and expected to have a tough time with the board members. In the meeting, after a
heated debate, it was decided that all male teachers would be fired as they were no more
trustworthy and reliable, and such incident should not occur again. Moreover, they came up with
a policy that no more male teachers would be employed in that school. Mrs. Murad was shocked
and tried to explain and give a justification for the decision, however to no avail. They asked
Mrs. Murad to let the male teachers go and arrange for female teachers by any means. Mrs.
Murad left the meeting and went home with a heavy heart and mind. It was a difficult juncture
for her. Either it was a matter of firing all male teachers or it was a matter of students’ education,
for it was not possible at all to replace so many teachers in a short period and national exams
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were approaching. She spent a wakeful night. Then she made a decision based on a rationale that
even if she resigned, the board members were still going to implement their decision.
Principals’ responses to the Vignette
The sample principals commented on the incident and their statements were helpful in
shedding light on many issues pertaining to values in the society and their interference with
school matters. The first question in the interview sought their reaction about the vignette in
general. Almost all the principals agreed that the BOG’s decision was irrational and not ethical.
For instance, one principal opined, “if marrying a student is not an acceptable behavior, firing all
the male teachers because of the mistake of one is not a more equally unethical decision.” At the
same time, they felt that they would not like the incident to happen, at least in their schools. One
principal commented, “I would like this incident not to happen in my school, by any means.”
Another principal asserted, “I would not have personally liked the incident. I would not have
been very happy being the principal of that school at the time the incident took place.”
Furthermore, the principals’ responses also revealed why they would not want the
incident at their schools. For instance, “it is dealt as if it is a sin…in our society the teacher is
considered to be a spiritual father, and we consider our students as children.”Therefore, although
“it could be a personal choice of the teacher and the student, more important the issues of safety
and security of girl and teacher in a rigid society.” Principals also talked about the importance of
having a school culture in which the principals ensure the implementation of school policies in
terms of maintaining ethical values. For instance, one principal asserted, “it is very important to
develop such culture in the school that principal consistently remind the teachers of cultural
values and should monitor teachers.” Another principal seemed to endorse the point:
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When a person is hired to work as a teacher at a school, especially a girl’s school, then
the principal and the teacher should have a discussion as to what the moral
requirements and where the boundaries are, religious, the social: all sorts of things need
to be discussed in detail.
Further, the principal opined,
the students are young, and they are teenagers, they do not understand many things.
There could be many reasons why a student may be attracted to a teacher, but it is a teacher’s
responsibility to have that important gape or distance between the student and himself
…because it is a very sacred relationship.
Another principal shared his strategies of how he monitors teachers and students’
interaction. He stated, “In our professional session, if I see something with which I am not happy
I indirectly indicate that how to sit with our students, how we should talk avoiding unnecessary
contact with students.” An interesting point of view arose when a principal stated, “it is not
prohibited in Islam, but it is prohibited in our culture.” It implies that often the cultural
perspectives have a stronger hold on local practices than the teachings of the religion. In other
words, there may not always be a congruity between cultural and religious practices. Religion
may provide freedom but culture may be rigid.
Moreover, the greatest concern for the principals in the vignette was the quality of
education, as firing all the male teachers would jeopardize teaching and learning. This indicates a
discrepancy between the ways principals and BOG’s take actions. Although the incident presents
an ethical issue, the consequences of firing all the male teachers would create practical issues for
principals. One principal expressed, “many things in school do happen, which as I understand,
must not be taken to the board and sometimes the board messes up the things more than solving
the problems.” The principal’s assertion illustrated limitations for principals when dealing with
serious gender issues.
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Section III
Synthesis of data from phase I & II
This is the synthesis of data obtained from the interviews conducted at phases one and
two. Phase one consisted of the vignettes I shared to seek their responses and phase two
consisted of the stories principals shared with me. I took five representative stories to explain
their dilemmas and supplemented with other data. The following parts of this section discuss this
synthesis.
The data from interviews 1 supplemented with the themes emerging from the data from
phase two. For instance, the theme “pressure of cultural/religious mores: unwritten rules” echoed
in their responses to the vignettes. The data from the first interview confirmed that there is a
immense pressure of cultural/ religious mores on school matters and principals’ decisions. This is
significant mainly because even though the principals’ personal values differ from what the
society in general holds, the principals cannot go beyond the limitations placed by the societal
values. For example, one principal, despite his personal preferences to have a girls’ tournament,
found it hard to convince the community about the importance of such activities for quality
education.
Hence, the dealing with gender issues was the most sensitive matter in the school
emerging from the interviews at phases I & II. The principals followed “unwritten rules” when
faced with gender issues because they felt that they had no choice but to adhere to these rules
religiously, not only to resolve the situation on the spot, but also make it an example for others to
dread and fear consequences. For examples, the principals cited instances when it was hard for
them to arrange a girls’ tournament because of the community’s values and social norms. In
another instance, the principal in the interviews at phase I described that parents expect the
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principals to be stricter with girls so that the girls are not allowed to go out unnecessarily.
Moreover, principals expressed their concerns for the girls more than the boys did as girls’
actions receive more scrutiny than their male counterparts do. Therefore, principals made sure
that when they hired teachers they talked to them about the cultural norms and values in terms of
interaction between these and their girl students.
Another aspect confirmed by the principals’ responses to the vignettes was the
incongruity between the organizational bureaucracy and local needs. One principal’s comments
about the BOG’s role in school matters reflect how bureaucratic process hinders principals from
making practical decisions based on situational need. For instance, the principals expressed that
often the BOG’s decisions are influenced by the parents’ demands and hence are often
contradictory to school realities. The principal’s story, in which principal had to compromise on
his decision of punishing the boy for harassing the girl, provided a glimpse of such a situation. In
addition, the community expects from the principals that they do their best to impart quality
education: however, the bureaucratic processes within the organization limit principals’
authorities to decide.
Shapiro & Stefkovich (2011) state, “there may be clashes between a leader’s personal and
professional codes of ethics and custom and practices set forth by the community (i.e., either the
professional community, the school community, or the community where the educational leader
works)” (p.24). However, in the context of Pakistan, there may be many reasons why these
clashes arise while making a decision. Firstly, there might be gaps between principals’ personal
values enlightened by the educational experience, professional practices and the wider
community practices. Principals operate in a modern or postmodern era of how things should
function due to their education, professional development, and up dated knowledge of how
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schooling should be done.
On the contrary, the community members function from pre-modern perspectives, which
include but are not limited to preferential treatments and a bureaucratic mindset that believes in
the use of influence to get things done. Thus, there seems to be an intellectual and value gap
between principals and communities where these schools are situated in the Pakistani context,
which also creates a unique dimension to their work. On one hand, they have to create a space
for personal adjustments by wading through the waters, which hold a strong bureaucratic
mindset. On the other hand, principals have to adopt a role of educating the communities they
work for what is a complex task and it could be nerve wrecking at times, as these principals
expressed in their responses.
Thus, in the context of Pakistan, a principal has to interact with all the forces, to make an
ethical decision satisfying personal values, fulfill professional obligations and social
expectations. What is more pertinent is that the principal has to respond to the forces by
creating space for their own personal values because they are viewed as either principals
(professionals) who are required to follow professional or organizational obligations, or as
members of the community expected to follow the general norms of how things should be done.
Creating a space for personal values amidst the internal and external forces is a complex process
that may lead to feelings of “frustrations, helplessness, and pain” as articulated by some of the
principals in the study. An ethical decision in the presence of so many complex forces is not a
luxury but rather repugnance carrying serious consequences and implications.
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Chapter 6
Discussion and Implications
Ethical leadership literature in school leadership presents ethics as a tool or structure to
facilitate leaders’ decisions. However, the nature of that structure varies across cultures because
of the socio-cultural and structural contexts in which principals’ work. Principals in Pakistan
work in a setting where cultural or religious values/beliefs, social norms/mores, and
political/historical practices interfere with how principals go about making decisions to resolve
ethical challenges. Principals in the U.S. may also have to interact with similar forces but
historical legacies may account for deep differences. Hence, this study taking, a comparative
stance on ethical leadership and aims at explaining socio-cultural and structural contexts that
shape ethical decision for principals in these two contexts.
Since, ethics and its meanings are socially constructed, it is imperative to understand
differences and divergences to utilize ethical leadership research in knowledge generating
societies, as in the United States, Canada, Australia, and United Kingdom. However, the
knowledge (using ethics to improve school leadership practices) generated in these societies
focuses on their own educational needs and improvement needed areas, so these may not be
applicable in other societies, particularly, in Pakistan where social, cultural, political and
religious dimensions differ from the western context. Therefore, the conceptual framework of
this study takes culture at societal and organizational (school) levels as a main variable, which
influences principals’ leadership practice within the school, for it provides a useful lens to
explore “influences and practices endemic to educational administration” (Walker 2003, p.150).
Furthermore, to achieve the purpose of my research study I collected data at two stages.
Data, at the first stage, comprised library and electronic resources for empirical studies about
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principals’ work in Pakistan and United States. The second stage consisted of primary data
through in depth interviews. The data revealed findings at two levels. Firstly, it highlighted the
divergences between the contexts of Pakistan and United States. Secondly, it develops a picture
and an understanding of ethical conflicts for principals in Pakistan.
In this regard, this chapter presents three sections. The first section revolves around a
discussion about ethical conflicts faced by Pakistani principals. Section II presents a comparative
glance at socio-cultural and structural contexts defining principals’ ethical practices in Pakistan
and United States. Lastly, I will present implications of my research.
Section 1: Discussion
A multipolar environment
In general, data revealed that the school principals in Pakistan work in a multipolar
environment, which gives a unique meaning to principals’ ethics and their ethical practices. The
multipolar environment consists of structural context of schools, socio-cultural context
(local/traditional and regional) and a global. Hence, principals in Pakistan are pulled in different
directions. Each direction has its conflicting demands creating dilemmas. The following figure
highlights various contextual realities that interfere with principals’ decision-making processes.
Figure6: A Multipolar Environment
Socio-cultural
context (local
tradition/religiou
s norms/mores)
Global
context
Structural
context within
organization/sc
hool
Principals
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Socio-cultural context
The data suggest that the socio-cultural forces come into play at various levels in schools
e.g issues related to students, teachers, parents and other administrative affairs as well as
principals’ values by which they construct their decisions. Pakistani society, in general, and
local traditions, in particular, have created framework of ethical standards that defines the
parameters of social practices. The moral standards and social norms include but are not limited
to girls/women’s behavior in public with opposite sex as well as teachers and students and
principals’ moral behavior with other staff and the public.
Culturally and socially, girls are expected to be modest in their activities and under more
scrutiny as their actions serve as bellwethers for family honor and shame. Any interaction
between girls and boys may lead to serious consequences for girls. Therefore, principals,
especially those principals who work in coeducational schools have to be extra careful to prevent
anything that involves fraternization between male teachers and girl students as well as between
girls and boys. Therefore, principals expressed their concerns about gender issues in their
schools because the community’s moral standards of modesty for girls also interfere with how
the curricular and co curricular activities can be carried out. Principals shared their concern that
if they did not take care of the cultural and societal values, then “the reputation of the school”
and even the existence of the school can be in jeopardy because the communities get so outraged
that they can close the schools.
Thus, the socio-cultural norms guided principals’ strategies to monitor and manage
interaction between teachers and their female students. The principals would talk to the teachers
about their school policies; remind them about their roles as not only teachers but also “spiritual
parents” and the sacredness of their relationships to their students. Schools are a reflection of
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what happens in the larger context, and hence are places to reinforce the wider cultural
perspectives. However, it is pertinent to note that the sacredness of the relationship between
teacher and student was most obvious in girls’ schools. Principals seem to focus on this aspect
when coming to discussing gender issues.
Moreover, although the principals in the study stood fast on their personal values of right
and wrong and ethics of justice, the decisions were not easy for them. The principals received
extreme threats. In the Pakistani society, people who have power and position have a way of
using their influences. Schools are no exception, especially the ones that have a reputation for
imparting the best education. Powerful people consider it their right to have their children
enrolled in these schools by default. On one hand, the principals are expected, by the
organization, to adhere to the rules: however, the community often uses coercion in order to have
the principals meet its demands. When there is a choice of merit then principals’ life may be in
danger. This means, working with the values of fairness and merit becomes a critical question.
Therefore, when principals decide to adhere to the ethics of justice and fairness, the social norms
of preferential treatment and demand for a personalistic behavior create a void with principals’
practices, making it almost impossible for them to enforce ethics.
In addition, data illustrated regionalism as another concept used to force the principals to
overlook merit policies. The literature in chapter 3 (context of Pakistan) suggests that loyalty to
their regions, races, and tribes is given greatest importance. People use the region as a basis to
manipulate power and resources and the data illustrated similar situations for principals who
were working in regions other than their own. The concept of regionalism suggests that people
who come from outside are less deserving of authority, as they might not be loyal to their
benefits. In other words, personal views over-ride merit, potential and individuality.
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Structural Context
Chapter 2 refers to the institutional, organizational or school culture. Structural context
can be described as democratic or bureaucratic depending on how the processes are carried out.
The structural context of my research sites could be described as having two tiers of a culture
because these schools are part of a large development network. A hierarchy governs the day-to-
day business. At one level, management consisting of a general manager (GM) responsible to
oversee the entire organizations running more than hundred schools in Gilgit- Balitistan or on
another level, a board of governors (BOG) an honorary arrangement responsible for addressing
community problems and consisting community representatives, the GM of the organization, and
principal of the school.
However, principals’ discretion and authority is limited in the presence of such a
hierarchy in two ways. Firstly, the higher management approves the budget of the school. The
principal despite having firsthand knowledge and experience of where the money should be used
has less authority to propose or approve budgets. As a result, the principals are challenged to find
competent and qualified human resources that contribute to the quality of teaching/ learning and
improvement of the entire school. Secondly, the BOG’s involvement in decisions about school
matters also hampers the process because often its decisions tend to meet the needs of the culture
rather than needs of the school.
Global context
Global context comes into play indirectly. The principals often receive their professional
trainings in light of western research and scholarship. When principals try to adopt or adapt
western theories of school leadership, they find a disconnect between their realities and theories.
For instance, teamwork is considered as one of the best practices for leaders. However, such a
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notion leads to frustration when applied in a context highly bureaucratic and hierarchical. One
principal expressed his opinion that in order to have the teamwork, he had to suspend his own
decisions, even, if he were right because teachers would not accept non-traditional views.
Similarly, the international views about quality education, gender equality and notions of
best interest of the students would often collide with the local, traditional and cultural
values/beliefs and norms, creating a conflict in exerting their responsibilities. The schools and
principal strive to impart quality education and achieve gender equality because of the global
emphasis on these aspects. However, it takes more energy, time and resources to put these into
practice.
Schools maintain legitimacy by mimicking norms at local, organizational, regional and
global levles. However, global legitimacy may not be the highest priority as much as are the
local, organizational and regional. The biggest clash, for the principals, is to acquire legitimacy
at the local level within formal educational system by creating a balance between varying
degrees of demands and expectations, and formal/ professional responsibilities. The conflicts that
emerge from the varying demands, expectations, and constraints interfere greatly to construct
and implement ethical decisions. Firstly, the schools have a major purpose of imparting quality
education. Merit was meant to be a prime objective, yet it conflicted with communities’
practices. The principals were responsible and expected to achieve the schools’ objectives, yet
the influential members of the community want to exercise power over the principals.
Secondly, the communities in which these schools were located believed in gender
equality. Therefore, the schools offered opportunities for both girls and boys, as opposed to some
other communities in the region. However, when it comes to moral standards, and social norms,
women/ girls are under more scrutiny for their actions and so are the principals who work at
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those schools. The principals are expected to maintain and ensure social norms by formalizing
policies. This creates a conflict as it curtails some of the creative activities for girls. The
principals are limited in what they can do and how they can carry out co-curricular activities.
Nevertheless, the co-curricular activities are an important part of good quality education. It
seems that each activity, in girls’ schools or co educational schools, is measured/judged against
the social norms and has to be curtailed even if a healthy and necessary part of their education.
Thirdly, principals are considered responsible for taking care of the schools at the
organizational level but when it comes to making a decision regarding teachers’ evaluations,
budgetary matters and other administrative affairs, they are limited in their discretion in acting.
They are granted high responsibility but with limited authority/ discretion. Fourthly, the
organization has set up these schools with a special focus of imparting quality teaching/ learning.
However, the provision of insufficient financial resources has constrained principals’ efforts to
achieve the school’s objectives. Lastly, principals’ professional trainings and their learning about
the western theories of the best leadership practices collide with the fundamental realities of the
school and community practices. Their efforts to adopt or adapt these theories result in
frustration, confusion, and in many cases risks and severe consequences as was evident from the
data. Thus, it can be said that the ethical decision-making is not a luxury for principals in
Pakistan as it may be for principals in United States. Principals in Pakistan have to work against
the backdrop of many contradictions and conflicts. They are pulled in many directions, yet are
responsible for creating a balance between achieving the objective of good quality education and
maintaining social norms.
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Section II
Comparative analysis of socio-cultural and structural contexts
The study yields a comparative analysis at various levels, which are discussed below.
This comparative analysis is necessary to draw future research implications. This comparative
analysis is drawn from local and the international levels.
Firstly, the study presents a stark contrast in the socio-cultural contexts between Pakistan
and United States. There is an absence of strict social norms in U.S whereas strict social norms
dictate Pakistani society in general and different communities in particular. Hence, schooling is
segregated, with distinct expectations and demands for girls and boys. The principals, at girls’
schools or co educational schools, are more concerned with maintaining social norms of modesty
for girls. Their school polices are framed in a way that the interaction between male teachers and
girls is limited to class and to academics outside the class. Moreover, the principals ensure that as
soon as they hire a teacher they must orient the teacher with the values and expectations of
maintaining the cultural norms of morality. It is a constant pressure for the principals working at
such schools not to let anything ruin the reputation of their school. On the other hand, in the
U.S., social norms are not strict: rather, there is much variability in them. Higher levels of
acceptance of a variety of practices and higher level of tolerance for different ways of life
provide a room for principals to focus on academics and performance within the schools.
Moreover, the norms of freedom and equality fit with the western structure of ethics i.e respect
for individuals. In Pakistan, norms attempt to preserve the family and cultural/traditional mores
of maintaining family honor as collectivistic approach operates in that society rather than to
individualistic approach.
Secondly, consequences for error are much higher in Pakistan. The whole idea of co-
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educational schools and even the whole idea of girls going to school in some parts of the country
may bring serious consequences for girls. Again, the probability of consequences for women is
higher than for men. Hence, the principals are more concerned about following social norms, but
nothing like that prevails in the United State. There are certainly consequences of principals for
making mistakes; usually they do not involve a closing of a school or taking of a life, as may
happen in Pakistan.
Principals in the U.S. may be accountable for not following the policy rigidly but in
Pakistan, they are accountable for following the policies. In. U.S. principals can get away with
not following demands of community: in Pakistan, the cost of disobedience is higher especially
if it is disobedience to regional, tribal, or religious leaders or forces.
Thirdly, principals in Pakistan work with people who are unevenly educated and they
work against a backdrop of traditions and cultural-religious beliefs. In today’s America,
principals are much more buffered from the public. There is a higher demand for the safety and
security of the school and everyone working in it. Hence, no one can get into school or walk to
the principals’ office without a prior permission. In Pakistan, especially in the case of Northern
Areas, anyone who is angry can walk into the school or principal’s office.
Lastly, in the United States there is also a tradition of local control, which to some extent
buffers principals from higher ups. The decisions get to be made at the school, l or district level.
However, principals in Pakistan work in a hierarchical environment that lends less discretion for
decision making at the school level. Principals work not only in a highly bureaucratic system but
also a mindset that mandates hierarchy and a bureaucracy.
Another riveting contrast can be made in the general societal culture between Pakistan
and the U.S. The principals in the U.S. have enormous pressure in the form of “zero tolerance
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policy” that requires the elimination of presence of weapons of any shape, size and type. This
implies that the students have a tendency to bring weapons to the schools. The Pakistani
principals in the study did not mention any such issues requiring them to stop students from
bringing weapons. This is noteworthy for a basic reason. Pakistan as a country is, politically,
known for terrorism and killings internationally, yet there is no sign that students bring weapons
to the school to kill their fellow students or teachers. The school is respected as a sacred place.
Secondly, the nature of threats that the principals received for making ethical decisions
also presented a gender difference. The male principals were sometimes threatened to be beaten
up in the market, whereas the woman principal received threats to have strange people around
her school and have the water cut off. In other words, in the case of male principals, only the
principal himself was in danger or at risk, whereas, in the case of the female principal, the entire
school was in danger or at risk.
Thus, it can be said that since, ethics are socially constructed and contested, they derive
from local norms, and vary from the local to global levels. Socially constructed ethics is different
from the ethical parameters or moral commandments of an organization to oblige its employees
or school members. There is a plenty of room between “ethics of the profession,” traditional
ethics and traditional concepts of morality. In the context of Pakistan all these ethics differ
significantly. Inherently, there is a difference in the concepts of ethics promoted by
cultural/traditional beliefs and those of ethics promoted by religion. For instance, one may
believe in gender equality as a teaching of religion, but cultural beliefs of difference in gender
status will lead to practices of gender inequality. Hence, often religion is interpreted through a
cultural lens that blurs the boundaries between the concepts of ethics taught by religion and
ethics derived from culture of traditional beliefs.
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However, in societies where there is a focus on ethics of the profession, principals have a
convenience to play around traditional or cultural practices of ethics as is in the case of United
States. Principals work in a safer environment than principals in Pakistan do. Their discretion to
make decisions grants them space to utilize their personal values/beliefs of “justice, care,
critique” and professional beliefs of “ethics of the profession.”
Section III
Implications
The study was carried out at a small scale as a first step to explaining the school principals’ work
in Pakistan. Therefore, the implications cannot be generalized in terms of its actual findings, yet
the findings can contribute to an understanding of a general context in which principals’ work is
embedded. Hence, the finding of the study provides implications at various levels (i.e school
principals, policy makers and future research).
Implications for principals
The study establishes importance of in depth analysis of problems/issues/ dilemmas
facing principals in the context of Pakistan in terms of their ethical implications for students,
teachers and parents. An awareness of the importance of the decision for principals becomes
significant because many of the problems that principals face have “pervasive ethical overtones”
and resolution of these problems is only possible through a “…proper attention to the complex
ethical dilemmas that surround these issues” (Burroghs 1970, p.105). Although, unlike schools in
United States, principals do not engage in discussions about the moral issues and decision-
making in Pakistan, the opportunities such as workshops/ seminars may be utilized to engage
them in such discussions. Moreover, the ethical deliberations lead to reflections on some of the
sensitive issues prevailing not only in the school but also in the society because ethical standards
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in the society influence actions and responses of the school community.
Implications for Policy makers
There has been a growing awareness about the importance of the role of principal for
school development in Pakistan (Khaki, 2005) and attention is paid to train school heads to
develop their leadership skills. However, trainings revolve around administrative aspects of the
leadership practices. Often these trainings are insufficient to provide the principals with a
framework for guiding their actions in uncertain, unexpected and unknown situations. When
such unexpected situations arise, principals would react according to what they consider “right.”
Often what they consider right depends upon their own leadership orientation as well as personal
beliefs.
In addition, it is expected that school leaders will act morally and ethically because they
are responsible for the care of students and school. Hence, principals’ decisions are often
influenced by societal or community standards of morality and expectations. Therefore, this
study is expected to lead to a way to focus on ethical dimensions of their leadership practices, so
that they are able to make informed decisions.
The literature emphasizes the ethical training aspect in leadership preparation through
various ways. For instance, in order to provide opportunities for principals to understand their
values and beliefs, Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011) advocate the use of “life stories, and critical
incidents” as a source of learning about their “professional as well as personal codes” (p.23) of
ethics. Dempster, Freakley, & Parry. (2001) also support, “…use of vignettes of ethical issues in
schooling for the purposes of learning about the processes of applied ethical inquiry” (p.11).
In addition to providing training for school principals, organization should develop
support systems to enable principals become confident in talking about challenges in their
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decision-making “create[ing] practice analysis groups in order to promote reflection, judgment,
and a sense of responsibility among their leaders” (Langloise & Lapointe 2007, p.258). It is
recommended that collaborative opportunities be provided to the principals in developing an
understanding of ethics in their practices (Denig & Quinn 2001). These collaborative
opportunities may foster “dialogues about ethical situations with peers” (Norberg, & Johansson,
2007, p.289) before embarking on making a decision. Dimmock & Walker (2005), also referring
to Berry (2003), advocate developing ethical perspectives, both formally (the training of
principals in ethical theory) and informally (through peer-based support and collaborative
networks)” (p.178).
Implications for future research
More than a decade ago, Yukl (1998) highlighted a significant gap in leadership research
which the studies did not go into beyond the Western (United States, Canada, Western Europe)
contexts and leadership theories generalized to different cultures. However, the situation has
changed as more and more research arises from different parts of the world. However, the case
remains true to the concept of ethics in educational leadership today.
Most of the “research on principals’ dilemmas has…been confined to Western settings”
(Dimmock & Walker 2005, p.178). Reviewing the existing literature about the lack of research
in educational administration in international settings, Walker (2003) opines, “Anglo-American”
literature dominating the field, may not be suitable and applicable to addressing the needs of a
full international context. Supporting his point, Dimmock & Walker (2005) advocate research
studies that may generate knowledge about what ethical challenges principals experience in other
contexts, as well as how they address those challenges. Hence, this study adds to the existing
research by investigating ethical challenges school principals encounter in Pakistan. This study
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attempts to bring a different perspective of ethics to educational leadership, which may not only
pave a way for research in this field in that country but also add to the existing knowledge in the
greater field.
Furthermore, the following areas can be explored to further the understanding of ethical
decision making especially in Pakistan.
Comparative analysis of male and female principals’ ethical dilemmas and ethical
decision-making
Comparative analysis between public and private school principals’ ethical decision-
making processes may be investigated to explore a detailed picture of structural
challenges
Principals’ ethical decisions in the context of southern and northern parts of the country
should be explored to develop a comprehensive picture of socio-cultural contexts.
In a nutshell, ethics plays a vital part in school leadership practice as everything that
happens in schools has an ethical implications in one way or the other. If not taken carefully,
decisions may hinder learning processes at various levels. Hence, principals should be aware of
the ethical implications of their decisions to avoid “unnecessary harm” and construct more value-
informed decisions. Moreover, ethics is a culturally and religiously loaded concept, so it is
necessary to help principals with their perspectives of ethics and enhance their understanding of
the concept to be able to reflect on their decisions. What is imperative for principals is to be
equipped with the skills to deal with socio-cultural pressures that interfere with school matters.
The influence and interference of external forces in school matters is inevitable in societies like
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Pakistan, which believe in a hierarchy of power and bureaucracy.
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