School principals’ role in the interplay between the superintendents and local education authorities: The case of Israel

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to probe the extent to which principals, as boundary spanners, manage with the influence of the local educational authority (LEA) and the superintendent over school matters. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on sequential quantitative→qualitative explanatory mixed research design. It is based on a sample of 161 Hebrew elementary school principals in two school districts in Israel who completed a questionnaire and on in-depth interviews with four school principals. Findings – The findings indicated that school principals initiate assistance from the superintendent and the LEA depending on the influence they have in schools. However, they utilize their relations with each external agency differently. With the LEA, they established mutual exchange relations whereas school principals engage with the superintendent in order to negotiate more effectively with the LEA. By doing so, principals can control external agencies’ involvement in schools along with strengthening the power of the central educational authority. Originality/value – The study makes a unique contribution to the literature on school principals’ role with external agencies by revealing their navigation and balancing among the various factors that influence schools. The study highlights the agential role of school principals.