Perceptions of courage: Elementary school leaders’ perspectives

Despite the extensive research that has been done on the courage of managers in for-profit organisations, the courage of educational leaders has not been systematically studied. Educational leaders’ courage is unique since it requires them to act under conditions of ambiguity with only limited ability to justify their actions. The current study examines the perceptions of public school principals regarding the manifestations of courage on their job and the meaning they attribute to each of them. Based on 20 semi-structured interviews with Israeli elementary school principals, four distinctive patterns of courage were found: (a) courage to initiate change and innovations in school; (b) courage to change one's own perspectives following a forced change; (c) courage to stand up for one's own personal values; and (d) courage to defend organisational norms that are challenged. Based on the analysis, several insights are provided, and practical implications are suggested.