The principal's career stage: an absent element in leadership perspectives

This article revisits the major perspectives of educational leadership, and challenges their assumptions from the standpoint of the career stage approach, that postulates that individuals progress through a series of stages, each of which is characterised by a relatively unique set of issues, themes, or tasks. The author claims the need to consider the principal's career stage in theoretical perspectives of educational leadership, on the grounds that the assumptions underlying different leadership styles are more likely to be appropriate for a principal's particular career stage, rather than for any career stage. Principals should be expected in theory to adopt a leadership style which is more compatible with the unique features and context of a certain career stage, and to refrain from employing a leadership style that is in contrast with those features and context.