Measures of Meaning in a Public and in a Parochial School:Principals as Symbol Managers

How two high school principals, one public and one parochial,exercised symbolic leadership to influence teachers′ attitudes and behaviours is examined. Data on these principals were collected over a five month period through participant observation; élite,structured interviews; informal unstructured interviews; document analysis; survey instruments and examination of physical, environmental factors. The findings reveal that symbolic leadership is the integration and communication of a principal′s thoughts, words and actions. Evidence of symbolic leadership by these two principals indicated that symbols were powerful transmitters of important messages used to reinforce,maintain, create and give meaning to organisation culture.