Siv Saarukka
Äbo Akademi University, Finland
fÖ How School Principals Form Their ^^ Leadership Identity
Cd
^^ The aim of this study is to discuss how school principals form their leadership identity on personal, professional and positional levels in leadership practice. Aspects about identity are analysed through the
Ö outcomes of empirical material from interviews about creating
professional school leadership. According to identity theories and ^^ empirical findings, the mutual process of awareness of contents in leadership and their influences on the principal as a person, the principalship as a profession and the formal leadership position are ^^ essential elements when forming the leadership identity. To be a
school principal is a complex profession, but creating the leadership identity in relation to different aspects in principalship is one way of ^^ developing structure in understanding leadership. Findings show ^^ proof of connections between awareness about identity and success -	in school leadership. Struggle in the process of identity building was
^^ also recognized, and reasons causing failing leadership was ^^ identified as related to undeveloped identity. Forming school
leadership identity was identified as a continuing relational process ^^ developed through communication and activities where teachers
confirm the principal as a person, in the professional role, and in the leadership position.
h^H Keywords: leadership in education, identity, profession, principal
Introduction
During the last few decades, numerous research projects conducted by both national and international researchers have focused on different aspects of school leadership. Research has included the substance of leadership, and leadership in various types of schools. Also leaders' activities and tasks have been investigated, while questions related to issues concerning principals' leadership identity seem to be less developed, although some researchers argue that identity is one of the most popular topics in contemporary organization studies (Sveningsson and Alvesson 2003).
School principals' professional role and formal duties connected to the position have changed from focusing on management issues to focusing on areas related to educational leadership. This transformation of professional tasks is highlighted in several doc-
LEADERSHip IN EDUCATION Special Issue | 2014 | 3-18
toral dissertations studying leadership in Finnish comprehensive schools (Pennanen 2006; Sanden 2007; Pesonen 2009). In Finnish national legislation, the expectations concerning principals' duties and the contents of work are for the moment expressed in only a few words: 'The principal is responsible for the operations of the school' (Act 628/1998). It is reasonable to assume that such a wide definition of professionalism has implications for both principals' engagement and responsibility for the school as well as the need for continuing awareness about professional identity. Sveningsson and Alvesson (2003, 1163) stress that
Identity themes are addressed on a multitude of levels: organizational, professional, social and individual and sometimes these are linked [...]. Identity is viewed as central for issues of meaning and motivation, commitment, loyalty, logics of action and decision-making, stability and change, leadership, group and intergroup relations, organizational collaborations etc.
The lack of detailed regulations in the statement about principals' duties leads the attention to contents in principalship. As such a definition creates large space for professional intention and action, and a corresponding unlimited responsibility this also, at least implicitly, calls for self-reflection on how the principal is able to meet such expectations. What personal characteristics or abilities are expected from a school principal to fulfill these professional expectations? How then do principals think about the possibilities to reach this ideal of 'being responsible for everything'? The formulation in the Finnish national legislation may operate as a kind of norm for calling upon one's profession and awareness of the school context as a multidimensional arena for leadership. The lack of detailed regulations about the principalship turns the focus to issues related to personal abilities, awareness of the leadership profession and knowledge about responsibility, power and autonomy in the positional role. From these perspectives the leadership identity is one essential object to investigate in order to recognize how school principals form their profession and develop their leadership. In addition, as there are no clear criteria for when these professional expectations are met, a continuous reflection about an ideal is visible here.
Against this background the aim of this article is to bring in to focus how school principals form their leadership identity on personal, professional and positional levels, and through the out-
comes of the empirical study contribute to the understanding of identity as a fundamental element in creating professional school leadership. According to Sveningsson and Alvesson (2003), different levels in defining identity might be linked, so that for example personal identity can be expressed as individual identity, organizational identity and positional identity have similar elements, and social identity can be integrated in professional identity.
Research bindings in this article are collected from interviews with school principals. The interviews were performed to investigate different aspects of leadership, and to discover if identity was identified and how it was expressed. The intention was to ^ind out whether the contents of principals' narratives in terms of identity could be identified as connected to personality, the leadership profession and the position as head of the school. Findings from the empirical material are structured in aspects about personal identity, professional identity and identity in the leadership position. Through analyzes of principals' narratives signs of identity struggle will also be exemplified, and some reasons that might cause failing leadership due to undeveloped identity will be discussed.
Identity Theory
The field of identity theory is vast. Organizational identity and personal and social identity are some of the main areas in this research field (Svenningsson and Alvesson 2003). Wise (2008) points out effects of our emerging global society on identity, and she also relates to identity in virtual spaces. As the aim of this study is to ^ind out how school principals form their leadership identity, theories according to identity in human development as well as identity in social interaction are of special interest and will be in focus in this study.
Aspects about the formation of personal identity and identity according to human development are well documented in both psychological and sociological research (Erikson 1994; Mahoney 1991; Joseph 2004; Ivanic 1998). Personal identity is identified as a process where a person integrates personal identifications, genetic abilities and social roles. It is also claimed that identity is to be created in a process where a person evaluates herself in a way she assumes other people evaluate her. Erikson (1994) underlines the ongoing process in human life as 'the feeling of identity,' and he also states that creating identity is a lifelong process and a dy-
namic whole with consistence of needs, abilities, beliefs, and individual history.
Beside our personal identity, we are also participants of a social identity; our social identity is part of belonging in one or more groups (Wise 2008, 2):
In these groups our identity is either affirmed or contradicted, and research indicates our personal identity will actually change over time to meet the affirmations of a group, depending on how much feedback we receive and how much value we place on the source of the feedback.
The principal is a member of the school staff, and his or her social identity will develop either through affirmations or contradictions in practicing the principalship. As the leadership role is conquered, the professional identity will be a developmental process, related to the group of school staff or other groups connected to school. Legacy in the position confirms the formal duty as school principal, and creates a fundament for the personal leadership identity. Essential elements in building the leadership identity are the cultural norms in the school and the language spoken in the contextual environment (Ylimaki 2011).
As identity in the field of research is defined as a process including personal identifications, genetic abilities and social roles, statements about school principals' identity have to be given by the person him- or herself. According to Erikson (1994), the identity is not given once and for all, it is a process which also changes over time. Wise (2008, 12) stresses that interaction between people all over the world affects both social and personal identity:
All of us have multiple role-based identities, depending on our activities and associations, and these identities can be salient and exist in harmony with each other, or be in opposition to our roles, depending on our interactions. At any time, one identity can demand priority over another and the identity that demands priority may or may not be the identity that holds the most personal value.
Sveningsson and Alvesson (2003, 1188) contribute to the understanding of identity constructions in a managerial work context, and use the metaphor of identity as struggle:
Individuals are assumed to strive for comfort, meaning and integration and some correspondence between a self-de^ini-
Person	Profession
ID
Position
FIGURE 1
Identity As a Fundamental Structure in Leadership
tion and work situation. Discourses, roles and narrative self-identities are all involved - they fuel and constrain identity work.
In light of the aim for this study, a statement of Ylimaki (2011, 18) 'identity is the way we see ourselves in relation to others' is adopted as a descriptive expression of identity according to leadership.
Against the background of research and identity theory it can be stated that it is essentially important for a school principal to form a leadership identity. Even if it can be experienced as a struggle when building identities on different levels, creating personal, professional and positional identity is like building fundaments for how to lead a school. This process is even more important when providers permit very broad frames for the occupation.
How Do School Principals Form Their Leadership Identity?
In this section I will present bindings from school principals' narratives about forming their leadership according to my empirical research. The bindings are structured in two parts, consisting of general bindings and bindings about situations of struggle.
As a separate discussion under its own headline I will also pay attention to identity and social interaction, as the interaction process between leader and staff members in schools has an obvious influence on the development of leadership identity.
The Empirical Study
The structure for my interviews was formed to be able to identify statements about principalship as a whole according to personality, the leadership profession and the principal's position. One part of the interview focused on identity, and how school principals form their leadership identity.
In my research group eight school principals participated. The average number of staff for each principal was 45, and the number of pupils was 240-1200. The schools are located primarily in the bilingual or Swedish-speaking area of Finland. Each meeting took part in the school, and the discussion was taped and transcribed into narrative form by me as the researcher. All participants were given a pseudonym, and the narratives were sent back to each principal for approval.
Findings
The principals' statements about their leadership identity are organized in relation to (1) person, (2) profession and (3) position. According to the principals' narratives, struggling situations also occurred, mainly in the ^irst years of the principalship. Some examples of identity struggle will be discussed as separate bindings.
Findings about identity related to the principal as a person are classified as follows:
1.	The leadership identity according to person:
•	Is formed through the profession and confirmations from colleagues.
•	Is constructed on identified personal traits.
•	Is expressed as awareness of necessary knowledge for the competence.
•	Is grounded on personal ambitions to fulfill expectations on leadership.
Most of the principals' statements about identity were recognized as related to the leadership profession, and the comments are presented under three headlines: (a) leadership abilities, (b) human resource management, and (c) professional skills.
2.	The leadership identity according to profession is formed by a) Leadership abilities, expressed as
•	Clear leadership, in terms of being a strong character and practicing the leadership with a clear policy. A principal has to work for good conditions in the school, be credible and fair.
•	Strategic leadership in terms of how to develop a strategic outlook, being aware of the right moment when initiatives and development plans can be accepted by the staff, and having the courage to make initiatives. The strategic ability also includes diplomacy.
•	Democracy, participation and engagement, in terms of being aware of a policy based on participation and collaboration for the goal, to involve the staff and strive for educational development in the school.
•	Ability to look ahead, stress that leadership identity according to the profession is formed by the ability to make long term plans, including development needs as well as present realities and the curriculum framework.
•	Being present, expressed as importance of being present in the school and taking care of daily issues also stresses the aspect of responsibility in leadership
b) Human resource management, expressed as
•	Awareness about personality issues and professional development among the staff; connections between the ability to identify personal traits and take into account professional skills about members of the staff, and to recognize teachers' educational identity.
•	Clear communication; communicative abilities are identified as key components in building the professional identity. This process is noticed as a double connection: When the professional identity is formed the communication about professional issues and goals is easy. On the other hand, when communication abilities are well developed, they are vital in identifying the leadership identity.
•	Cooperation in order to create educational development; the outcomes of common responsibility for educational development in the teaching staff. When the principal's professional identity is stable, the awareness of motivating professional development for the staff is a natural part of leadership responsibility and school development.
c) Professional skills, expressed as
•	Credibility; an expression for the connection of reliability between the principal's 'being' and 'doing.'
•	Confidence, expresses the importance of trust between the principal and the staff.
•	Responsiveness is one of the highly prioritized abilities in leadership identity according to profession, and explained in terms of ability to listen to nonverbal messages as well as verbal communication.
3. The leadership identity related to position is formed by
•	Trust and respect from the staff and from the providers, as well as from pupils, parents and politicians.
•	Independence and autonomy in activities and daily decision-making situations, but with respect to instructions from the providers and frames in the curriculum.
•	The public position, as representative for a public school.
Discussion About General Findings
Principals' identity according to the position is highly related to structures in the school organization. Principals are well aware of responsibility, power and autonomy in the formal position of school leadership. In the leadership position the principal is responsible for managerial as well as educational issues.
Leadership identity is very much affected by personal traits. According to the principals' narratives, awareness of individual abilities was expressed and related to leadership issues. Creating a personal leadership identity is also a mutual process between the leader and the staff:
My profession as principal has affected my personal identity.
The public position as principal has affected my personality. 1 can't separate the principal's identity from me as an individual.
My personal traits are fundamental for my leadership identity.
My leadership identity is closely connected to my personal values.
The bindings confirm the essential issues about personal and social identity as expressed in theories about identity. When transforming theories into practice it can be verified that Finnish school principals have developed multi-level awareness about how to be able to meet the expectations about school leadership as formulated in the legislation act. A contributing issue in developing fundaments to meet the expectations is awareness of identity and ability to express identity on different levels of the principalship.
Struggling Situations According to Leadership Identity
When analyzing principals' narratives, examples of undeveloped identity processes could be identified. These situations and experiences mostly occurred during the ^irst years of the principalship, as in the following three examples of identity struggle and signs of failing leadership:
1n Ellen's ^irst time as new principal, she wasn't aware of common rules and earlier habits among members in the school staff. Her intention was to create her own practice and build her own systems and routines; create her leadership identity grounded on her own principles. The atmosphere in the school was not supportive, and Ellen's intentions were knocked down. Resistance from staff members had a negative influence on her professional identity, and she had to work hard to ^ind the acceptance to her professional intentions. Step by step she worked out her social strategies and was able to build a solid leadership identity. Ellen commented on her experiences by relating the process of forming her professional identity to the complexity in the school culture.
1n a public situation Louise was asked to give a statement about an educational issue on behalf of the staff. Louise knew that the teaching staff had another opinion than her, but she spontaneously expressed her personal opinion. This situation caused conflicts among the staff, and Louise had to admit that her position demands the role of her being the representative for the school. Her leadership identity had to be developed in terms of positional and organizational needs.
When Albert became principal in the same school where he had worked as teacher, he had to create the ^irst steps in his leadership identity on the personal level. A very challenging
situation occurred when Albert arranged for individual development discussions with the staff. The oldest teacher of the staff had been Albert's teacher and colleague and now Albert was his leader. The situation affected both personal and professional relations, but as Albert expressed it, his new identity in the leadership position gave him strength to fulfill the leadership duty, and supported his personal and professional identity.
A school principal's identity is reflected in each of the three levels, person, profession and position when principalship is practiced as a whole. If identity on any of the levels is failing, it affects practicing of the leadership. As school is a knowledge-based organization, with a certain mission, the importance of a developed identity on all levels is obvious. The narratives about Ellen, Louise and Albert are empirical examples of school principals' developmental processes according to identity, when some pieces of the whole are still failing or undeveloped.
Ellen's story represents a leadership identity (c) where she as a person and the new position are in focus, yet without awareness of the professional identity; to be sensitive to the existing school culture. Louise's story (a) tells about strength in personal and professional identity without awareness about positional duties as representative for the school and staff. Albert's story (b) is about leaving the personal identity aside in order to be able to act professionally in a certain positional role. In Albert's example, the awareness of keeping a low profile concerning the personal identity can be seen as a strength when struggling with personal emotions in a certain situation (see figure 2).
The process of creating and developing leadership identity in a school is addressed on a number of levels: organizational, professional, social and individual, as well as in principals' perspectives analyzed in this study. Struggle in creating the identity stresses the awareness of continuous development of school leadership on different levels, and the need for adapting leadership behavior according to relations and interaction (Wise 2008; Ylimaki 2011).
Leadership Identity and Social Interaction
It is obvious that school leadership identity is formed as a result of social interactions as much as based on personal abilities and traits. Individuals constantly strive to shape their personal identity in organizations, and are being shaped by discursive forces (Sven-
a
Person	Profession
FIGURE 2	P°siti°"
Differencies in Leadership Practice Related to Developed and Undeveloped Identity
(a)	Personality influenced professional behavior; the position is unidentified
(b)	Professional behavior, awareness of the position, avoiding personality related influences
(c)	Personality influenced positional behavior, undeveloped professional behavior
Leadership
Staff member
The Leader	personality
I The Sel^ ^-^ Interaction ^-The Self I
Leadership	Followership
identity	identity
Leadership FIGURE 3 Leadership in Social Interaction
ingsson and Alvesson 2003; Meller 2004). School as a knowledge-based organization offers various situations for social interaction among teachers and students in relation to the principal.
Principalship consists of many dimensions. The concept of self, identity and personality open up possibilities for a multilevel analysis (Saarukka 2012), and a structure for identifying interactions among leaders and 'followers' related to aspects of identity can be visible. In this study focus is given to identity, but a broader view including The Self contributes to forming a deeper understanding of leadership in social interaction (figure 3).
Related to the three levels person, profession and position, questioning about what signs of the self are visible in school prin-
c
b
cipals' profession is a way of identifying a person's self. As behavior is the most obvious component of the self (Branson 2010), and identity is identified as a process where a person integrates personal identiflcations (Erikson 1994), it is appropriate to analyze how well school principals are able to express traits in their personality and identify their behavior. As awareness of traits will develop through interaction, similarities to processing the self in order to develop identity can be noticed. A human can develop the human dynamic only in interaction with other humans. Self-identiflcation needs communication preferences to be able to develop self-awareness (Seagal and Horne 1997). The process of interaction can be seen as crucial in forming the identity. The leadership identity according to personality issues will be expressed in terms of self-identiflcation telling how the leader reacts in line with his or her personality, and furthermore, what abilities should be developed.
Statements in school principals narratives verify personal awareness and increased self-knowledge:
I'm multilateral, good in imagining the whole, impatient and competitive.
I'm good in communication, need to be a better listener, em-pathetic, emotional and selective.
I'm positive, trustful, vivid, good in prioritizing, able to deal with stress and patient.
I'm introvert, calm, practical, objective, responsive, patient, analytical and factual.
To view the whole theoretical landscape about the multi-dimensional fleld of human identity is a challenging issue, and demands a distinct focus before it can be 'painted' sufficiently and with objectivity. Awareness about identity, the self and personality will facilitate our understanding of the complexity in human personality. According to Ivanic (1998, 10-11), the concepts of'identity,' 'self' and 'person' can be analyzed as follows:
[...] my 'self' is who I feel myself to be, emotionally and affectively, while 'person' is the identity I project to others in my socially defined roles, and [...] 'persona' is an objective self that we create in order to position ourselves within the context of those around us, as opposite to ethos, the self that consists of our inner qualities.
Personal identity is strongly connected to the development of the self, and the language process is essential for this development (Mead 1934). School principals' professional role and formal duties connected to the leadership position is transformed from prioritizing management issues to focusing on areas related to educational leadership. This process is mirrored in their communication. Concerning the expression 'educational leadership,' Ylimaki (2011, xi) prefers to use 'curriculum leadership' instead of'educational' or 'instructional' leadership, and stresses that 'curriculum leadership identity can be defined as a sense of self in relation to others and the meanings people attach to curriculum-related roles in schools and society.'
The common denominator conceptualizing leadership according to the three levels person, profession and position can be identified in terms of communication and relationship as essential elements in leadership when creating and developing identity. 'Leadership doesn't occur in a social vacuum [...] Leadership emerges as a set of social relationships' is a statement by Svedberg (2000, 226), when analyzing school leadership. The tool for building relations in an organization is the contextual language and communication, as it includes information, thoughts, feelings and a way to confirm the identity (Nilsson and Waldemarsson 1990; Ylimaki 2011). To be a human with a personal identity requires relations with other humans. To be able to develop personal and professional identity there is a need for a context of relationship and interaction, or as one principal expressed it:
My leadership identity is relational and emotional. I must have confidence in my staff members, and receive confirmation for my way of leading from them.
In order to become an individual a person must be together with other people and be seen by them (Sandvik 2009; Jacobsen 1998; Karterud 1997). Awareness about abilities in human personality can be of essential value for a principal in the multidimensional task of contradictory expectations from groups of colleagues in school. Self-awareness and self-knowledge open up the human mind and contribute to processes of developing identity on different levels. According to school principals' duty, to operate the school, developing self-awareness is an essential element in leadership identity and an important issue in developing the leadership profession.
Conclusion
The aim of this study was to bring in to focus how school principals form their leadership identity on a personal, professional and positional level under the 'umbrella' of autonomy to implement the outcome of governmental assignments in leadership practice. By presenting results from an empirical study I also wanted to contribute to the understanding of identity as a fundamental element in creating professional school leadership.
Questions were raised in relation to the lack of regulations according to Finnish school principals' duties, and what consequences these facts have for creating a successful school leadership. As identity is multidimensional and functions on both organizational, personal and social levels, it is a demanding task to collect essential knowledge about it.
The empirical study analyses principals' narrated leadership about recognized behavior concerning the three domains in school leadership. The bindings are structured in relation to person, profession and position, in order to clarify how principals are able to express themselves about leadership identity.
Findings in principals' narratives indicate how they are able to express a correspondence between identified progress in forming identity and work situations. The mutual process of awareness of contents in leadership and confirmations from colleagues are essential elements in the creation of leadership identity. To be a school principal is a complex profession, as expressed in several interviews, but developing leadership identity in relation to different leadership arenas is one way of binding structures in the profession. Self-awareness concerning personal traits and communicative abilities was identified as an essential element in understanding relational processes in school. In some cases the principal as a person and leadership as a profession were almost impossible to separate. The leadership profession was identified as an integrated whole with the principal as a person, and identity was recognized as the common connecting element.
Struggle in identity building was also found, and in this article is exemplified by three short narratives expressing personal challenge when developing professional identity. As a caution conclusion reasons behind failing leadership could be identified as related to undeveloped identity, but in this study only glimpses of this complicated process were possible to recognize.
When a principal has developed equal awareness about iden-
tity according to person, profession and position, he or she has optimal opportunities to act in order to fulfill the leadership duty. As forming identity is a continuing process and human identity is identified as the way we see ourselves in relation to others, the relational process in school leadership is obvious. A statement by one of the principals in the research group is a well formulated definition for identity among Finnish school principals:
Identity is created by multidimensional knowledge and social and individual abilities. Staff members in my school need a mother stature, a leader and a professional manager. In my daily leadership activities all these elements are creating my identity.
The contribution of this study in developing a deeper understanding of school leadership is that identity is an essential and common element in forming school leadership. Through ability to recognize personal, professional and positional identity the complexity in principalship could be understood.
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