The Impact of the Office of Superintendent of Schools on the Personal Lives of Superintendents

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atmire.migration.oldid4324
dc.contributor.advisorBrandon, Dr. James Edward
dc.contributor.authorParsons, Dennis George
dc.contributor.committeememberFriesen, Sharon L.
dc.contributor.committeememberJacobsen, D. Michelle
dc.contributor.committeememberRoy, Dr. Sylvie
dc.contributor.committeememberAnderson, Dr. Kirk David
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-09T21:36:06Z
dc.date.available2016-05-09T21:36:06Z
dc.date.issued2016-04
dc.date.submittedApril 2016en
dc.description.abstractAbstract The purpose of this study was to gain deeper understanding of the work lives of Canadian school superintendents by investigating the impact their work lives have on their personal/family lives. Residing at the apex of the K–12 public education system, superintendents serve a unique role as the chief executive officer and as the chief education officer in the school district. The study used qualitative case-study methodology and involved six participant superintendents in semi-structured interviews, two from each of western, Atlantic and northern Canada who had held the position of superintendent for a period of 5 or more years. The findings of this inquiry revealed work life significantly impacted personal and family life. Participant superintendents provided in-depth personal accounts of how the complex and demanding work lives of superintendents made having family lives outside the role challenging. In this study, the participant superintendents, regardless of location or size of school district, all described an all-consuming work life: rampant with political agendas, conflict, public scrutiny, unreasonable expectations, and one where technology has left superintendents even more exposed to the whims of the disenfranchised. The inquiry also revealed, while superintendents recognized student learning was the important work they needed to do, they were clearly hindered across all selected jurisdictions by troublesome and disruptive elements present in their work role. The pervasiveness and extent of the personal toll taken on superintendents and their families by the work role is revealed in clear and explicit detail by the individual narratives from participant superintendents. The evidence is so compelling it calls into question the current system of elected school board governance and forces consideration of how the system can better support school superintendents.en_US
dc.identifier.citationParsons, D. G. (2016). The Impact of the Office of Superintendent of Schools on the Personal Lives of Superintendents (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28194en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/28194
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/2993
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subject.classificationLeadershipen_US
dc.subject.classificationWork-Personal Life Balanceen_US
dc.subject.classificationWork Roleen_US
dc.subject.classificationK-12 Educationen_US
dc.subject.classificationBoard-Superintendent Relationshipen_US
dc.subject.classificationImpact of work-Life on Personal Lifeen_US
dc.titleThe Impact of the Office of Superintendent of Schools on the Personal Lives of Superintendents
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineEducational Research
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Education (EdD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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