An examination of career paths of Aboriginal women principals of band-controlled schools

In this study, I describe and analyze selected aspects of the caree paths of five Aboriginal women working as principals of band-controlled schools.The purpose is to explore the career paths of the participants and to relate the experiences that the women had in their lives that led them to become principals of band-controlled schools.In this qualitative research study, I focus on the challenges that they face and on the supports that enable them to overcome and cope with the challenges, prior to becoming principals and in their work as school principals.The data for this study is derived from interviews with five Aboriginal women who related their perspectives and experiences in their careers as Aboriginal women educators in Manitoba.The participants were chosen from a group of women who responded to an invitation to participate in the study and who met the specific criteria.All five of the participants shared their experiences openly and willingly and the data that they provided is described according to common themes and then analyzed and interpreted using qualitative research methodology.The literature review for this study includes the background that puts the study in its important historical context.The findings from this study are grouped according to the three research questions, career paths, challenges and supports.The career paths of the five participants were influenced by these factors: (a) early life experiences and family expectations, (b) the motivation to become teachers and principals was initially for economic stability and a secure income but later evolved to a commitment to make things better for children, (c) the women in this study are highly qualified for their positions and have a commitment to continuous 6 learning, evidenced by their high academic qualifications, (d) they taught for a relatively short time prior to becoming principals and did not actively pursue a position as principal but were either appointed or accepted the position unexpectedly because of a situation in the community they were working in at the time of initial appointment, (e) for four of the five participants there was an issue of working in their home communities, where there was a lack of acceptance or political interference with their employment as principais, and (f) the participants stressed a high commitment to making things better for the children and were comfortable and confident in their ability as educational leaders.The challenges that the participants faced: (a) lack of opportunity, poverty and dependence on social assistance were early challenges, (b) retuming to post-secondary studies after being in out of school for many years, (c) family responsibilities and role conflict made it diffrcult for their studies and careers to go smoothly, (d) being unprepared and untrained for entry into administration, (e) did not plan to go into administration but were asked or appointed to the position unexpectedly, ( lack of acceptance in their home communities, and (g) societal attitudes of discrimination and sexism interfered with their careers at some point.The participants relied on the following supports: (a) role models including fathers, friends, other teachers and superiors, (b) mentors were husbands, friends, elders, family members and colleagues, (c) networking, (d) spirituality, and (e) academic qualifications.Recommendations for actions: (a) develop training programs for aspiring Aboriginal teachers who work in band controlled schools, (b) begin to build an administration pool for potential school administrators, (c) establish a formal networking group for principals of band-controlled schools, and (d) provide a support system for current principals ofbandcontrolled schools.Recommendations for further study: (a) do a similar study of principals of bandcontrolled schools including both men and women relating it to turnover of school administration and how this has affected the progress of band-controlled schools, (b) conduct a similar study with a larger sample of Aboriginal women, (c) do a life history interview study of an Aboriginal woman who has been in education for many years in Manitoba, (d) conduct a longitudinal study about women in Aboriginal education, and (e) conduct a study about leadership for Aboriginal schools, what works best, possibly servant ieadership model.These are some of the suggestions for fuither study but the list can be greatly extended as I discovered in doing this study, that more research is needed in many areas in Aboriginal education.

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