Evaluation of Assistant Principal Roles and Jobs at School in the Context of Henry Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

Organizations pursue objectives through their personnel, and in schools the assistant principal is a key role holder who manages alongside the principal. This qualitative phenomenological study examines how assistant principals interpret their roles and jobs using Henry Mintzberg’s managerial role framework. Interviews with 20 assistant principals produced two interrelated themes: roles and jobs, including bureaucratic functions that influence education. Data and Mintzberg’s views generally align, with limited non-support attributed to study scope. The study concludes with recommendations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Role-job interaction and management job types

Findings and comments

Recommendations

Evaluation of Assistant Principal Roles and Jobs at School in the Context of Henry Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles Abdullah BALIKÇI 1 İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Abstract Organizations aim at achieving their objectives with their personnel. One of the personnel of a school, which is also an organization, is the assistant principal. Assistant principals are the personnel managing the school with the school principal. This study aims at presenting how assistant principals interpret their roles and jobs in managing the school by considering Henry Mintzberg’s opinions on the roles and jobs of managers. This study was carried out with a qualitative research method and phenomenological pattern. The data resource of this study was the interview. Twenty assistant principals participated in this study. There were two themes as a result of this study. These are the roles and jobs of assistant principals. Assistant principals have many roles and jobs in the school that are interrelated and complementary. These are bureaucratic and they affect education. However, this isnot something that assistant principals want. In addition to this, it was seen that the data collected from this study and the opinions of Henry Mintzberg generally supported each other. The main reason for not supporting each other is thought to be the scope of the current study. The last section of this study included recommendations. Keywords: Assistant Principal, Role, Job, Henry Mintzberg DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2020.270.18 1 Assist. Prof. Dr., Hasan Ali Yucel Faculty of Education, Istanbul Universtiy-Cerrahpaşa, İstanbul, Turkey, ORCID: 0000-0002-9824-0197 Correspondence: [abdullah.balikci@istanbul.edu.tr](abdullah.balikci@istanbul.edu.tr) Introduction The personnel of the organizations is expected to work effectively and efficiently to maintain their existence. In this regard, personnel should play specific roles. An organization includes the behaviors expected from its personnel associated with the role, authority and status (Bursalıoğlu, 2000, p. 200) According to Mintzberg (1973, p. 59), the managers in an organization have ten roles. These roles are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. The Roles Of Managers (Retrieved Mintzberg, 1973, p. 59) According to Figure 1, there are three roles of managers. There are sub-roles under these roles. These roles emphasize communication, information and decision making. As in any organization, there is personnel who need to play certain roles in educational organizations. One of these is the assistant principal. Regarding the determinant points of assistant principals; Keever-Hager (2012) emphasizes management of financial affairs at school, individual and professional development and strategic leadership; Barnett, Shoho, & Oleszewski (2012) emphasize meeting the expectations regarding performance and time management, establishing a robust interaction with the environment and having knowledge about the development of school and teachers. There are various evaluations in literature considering what the roles are. Tahir, Musah, Panatik, Ali & Said (2019) draw attention to the educational and administrational roles while Brown (2001) draws attention to evaluating, coordinating, assisting and controlling roles. Lee, Kwan & Walker (2009) states that personnel affairs have important roles among the roles played. Domel (2001) draws attention to the roles regarding student discipline, attending events and managing the school. However, when fulfilling these roles, the important things are the determination of jobs, healthy communication, and problem-solving skill (May, 2001; Teyfur, 2011) . The role of an assistant principal as a school manager is intertwined with his/her job (Bursalıoğlu, 2000, p. 200) and complements each other (Mintzberg, 1973, p. 127) . Role-job interaction is represented in Table 1. Table 1. Eight Management Job Types | Job Type | Key Role (s) | | --- | --- | | 1. Contact man | Liaison, figurehe

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study on assistant principal roles?

The study aims to present how assistant principals interpret their roles and jobs in school management by considering Henry Mintzberg’s views on managerial roles and jobs.

How was the research conducted and who participated?

A qualitative research method with a phenomenological pattern was used, and interview data were collected from 20 assistant principals.

What themes were identified from the interviews?

The interviews yielded two main themes: the roles and jobs of assistant principals, showing that these roles and jobs are interrelated and complementary.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw