[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-601939-105":59,"doc-detail-601939-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","talk-of-calling-novice-school-principals-narrating-destiny-duty-and-fulfillment-in-work-article","Talk of Calling - Novice School Principals Narrating Destiny, Duty, and Fulfillment in Work - Article","","Purpose: School principals’ commitment and motivation lack systematic investigation, despite 25% annual principal turnover. This article examines how novice principals in a high-pressure, high-turnover field make sense of their motivation for challenging work. It highlights that principals’ understanding of motivation can shape actions, practices, and persistence, affecting recruiting and retention of talented educators. Research Methods: Interviews with 35 Chicago Public School principals are analyzed through grounded theory coding.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/talk-of-calling-novice-school-principals-narrating-destiny-duty-and-fulfillment-in-work-article/601939/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/talk-of-calling-novice-school-principals-narrating-destiny-duty-and-fulfillment-in-work-article/601939.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"CatatanPagi","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What research question does the article address about novice school principals?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It investigates how novice school principals understand and make sense of their motivation when taking on new roles in challenging circumstances.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How is the study conducted and what data are used?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study draws on interviews with 35 new principals in Chicago Public Schools and analyzes the data using grounded theory with iterative coding (open, focused, and closed).",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What themes of “calling” do principals use to explain their motivation?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Principals describe a destiny to work in education, a duty to serve students, and fulfillment (or delight) derived from the work, with calling narratives helping explain persistence despite job difficulties.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},601939,1792188676,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090894170,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Talk of Calling: Novice School Principals Narrating Destiny, Duty, and Fulfillment in Work  \nCarolyn P. Swen 1  \nEducational Administration Quarterly 2020, Vol. 56(2) 177–219 © The Author(s) 2019  \nArticle reuse guidelines:  \n[sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/0013161X19840387](DOI: 10.1177/0013161X19840387)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/0013161X19840387)[journals.sagepub.com/home/eaq](journals.sagepub.com/home/eaq)  \nAbstract  \nPurpose: School principals’ commitment and motivation have not been systematically investigated, but concerted research is needed as 25% of principals leave their jobs each year. This article investigates how new school principals make sense of their motivation to challenging work in a high pressure, high turnover field. Understanding principal motivation is important for recruiting and retaining talented educators. How principals understand their motivation may significantly affect their actions, practices, and persistence. Therefore, insight into principals’ motivation is important. Research Methods: Data come from interviews with 35 new principalsin Chicago Public Schools. As initial phases of inductive analyses around principal’s career narratives were completed, this grounded theory inquiry focused on how principals use discourses of calling to make sense of their motivation. Data were analyzed through three iterations of coding: open, focused, and closed. Findings: School principals used themes of calling to make sense of their motivation in challenging contexts. Specifically, they described their destiny to work in education, duty to serve students, and fulfillment in work. Calling narratives explain past action and elevate the importance of the work, likely fueling continued motivation. Implications: This work adds a narrative component to research on principals’ motivation  \n1 Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA  \nCorresponding Author:  \nCarolyn P. Swen, Northwestern University, Annenberg Hall 208, 2120 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.  \nEmail: [carolynswen2018@u.northwestern.edu](carolynswen2018@u.northwestern.edu)  \nand transition, focusing on principals’ efforts to manage challenges. The results provide novel empirical data on principals’ sense-making, efforts to manage multiplying work demands, and on how professionals use calling to make sense of and bolster work motivation. Future work should determine whether calling narratives predict retention among principals.  \nKeywords  \ncalling, career identity, leadership, accountability, principal practice  \nIntroduction  \nWhat motivates school principals has surprisingly not been systematically investigated, though how principals motivate teachers has been explored (Eyal & Roth, 2011; Richards, 2007; Whitaker, Whitaker, & Lumpa, 2013) . This research tackled the question: How do novice school principals understand and make sense of their motivation to take on new roles in challenging circumstances? The new urban school principals in this sample used ideas related to having a calling as they made sense of their motivation and purpose in new roles as school leaders. Calling includes ideas of a transcendent summons or fatalistic pull to a line of work (Dik & Duffy, 2009), service to society (Duffy, Dik, & Steger, 2011; Duffy & Sedlacek, 2007), a meaningful or consuming passion (Dobrow, 2013), and personal fulfillment (Novak, 1996) . Examining interviews with 35 school principals during their first year in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), this study investigated how principals made sense of why they do what they do. As the new role, challenges, and pressures prompted sensemaking, the principals in this study used ideas and themes of having a calling to make sense of their motivation in and to the role of principal.  \nBased on the data, I argue that principals use themes of calling, or calling narratives, to make sense and meaning of why they became principal. The three ","cbCaiah0IXoB8bER","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiah0IXoB8bER","pdf",516190,43,"English","# Abstract\n## Purpose and need\n## Research methods\n## Findings and themes\n## Implications\n# Introduction\n## Research question and framing\n## Calling narratives in principals’ sense-making\n## Principal motivation and turnover context","[{\"question\":\"What research question does the article address about novice school principals?\",\"answer\":\"It investigates how novice school principals understand and make sense of their motivation when taking on new roles in challenging circumstances.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the study conducted and what data are used?\",\"answer\":\"The study draws on interviews with 35 new principals in Chicago Public Schools and analyzes the data using grounded theory with iterative coding (open, focused, and closed).\"},{\"question\":\"What themes of “calling” do principals use to explain their motivation?\",\"answer\":\"Principals describe a destiny to work in education, a duty to serve students, and fulfillment (or delight) derived from the work, with calling narratives helping explain persistence despite job difficulties.\"}]","Talk of Calling - Novice School Principals Narrating Destiny, Duty, and Fulfillment in Work - Article | PDF",1792093731,108]