Using Profiles of School Leadership as Supports to Cognitive Apprenticeship

Abstract

This article proposes the development and use of school leadership profiles as supports to the cognitive-apprenticeship experiences of administrators in both formal and informal leadership development applications. The theoretical process of cognitive apprenticeship is described and linked conceptually to the outcomes of three recent role-profiling projects; university-sponsored action research carried out during the years 1990-1992 in Ontario (Canada), the Northwest Territories (Canada), and the state of Western Australia The outcomes are contemporary and regionally specific images of the principalship portrayed within multiple metaphorical images of practice. Effective school leadership practices are described within developmental stages of growth leading to ideal practice as locally defined.