Secondary principals' lived experiences leading innovation

Our society is changing rapidly, and many reviews of secondary education say that the way we do schooling has not kept pace with those changes (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019; Zhao, 2020). Principals are central to the evolution of schooling through the creation of a vision for future schooling, leading the innovation implied by the vision, and enacting and sustaining that innovation over time. In this study, I investigated the lived experiences of 12 principals in New South Wales, Australia, as they led innovation in their respective schools. I used a series of three semi-structured interviews taking place over one school year to gather rich data from each leader. I supplemented the interview data with document analysis of school plans and other material available that showcased the innovation in each school. My analysis of the data led me to several findings, including the reality that there is not one model for leading innovation in schooling in New South Wales, and, in fact, innovation is in many ways discouraged. Participants “cherry-picked” from a range of leadership models to support their innovative endeavours. This thesis contributes to the literature on innovation in secondary schooling and advances the understanding of perspectives for school leaders, departments of education, and policymakers to consider as we plan for the future of schooling and its role in society