PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING: AN ANALYSIS OF THE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Communication in any organization is a complex phenomenon. Public schools are people‐centered enterprises in which the primary tasks of teaching and learning are accomplished verbally. Within each school, the principal is uniquely positioned to regulate these communications activities. The research reported here sought to examine how five school principals managed communications in their schools. Three major questions guided the research. What are the preferred modes and levels of communications activities utilized by principals? What are the major messages communicated through various modes and at different levels by principals? What do the communications activities of individual principals tell us about how principals interpret their leadership role in school, how they set administrative priorities, and how they put their beliefs and values into practice? The findings indicate that the communications activities of school principals are dominated by dyadic interpersonal contacts. The major purpose of these dyadic interpersonal exchanges were maintenance messages which related to policies, procedures, and regulations for organizing, operating and perpetuating the school. As an adaptation to the nature of a principal's work life, each principal demonstrated a pragmatic preference for accomplishing his/her communications through talk even when written messages or other mechanisms for message delivery would have been more efficient. Finally, the principals believed that the success of their communications activities in school was characterized by openness, honesty, high visibility, and the ability and capacity to listen.