‘Working in the dark’: principals and the law

This article outlines findings from recent doctoral research concerning the impact of legal issues on Tasmanian Government, Catholic and Independent school principals.

The mixed methods study collected data through a survey of practising school principals as well as interviews with principals, principal supervisors, senior system leaders, educational administrators and an education lawyer.

The study focused on principals’ legal literacy (encompassing the legal areas they deal with, accuracy of their legal knowledge and confidence in that knowledge, and sources of their legal information) and legal consciousness; the legal context faced by principals; negative impacts of their legal dealings, and ways in which their legal supports might be improved.

This research has produced new findings of importance for education law and the principalship. It is the first of its type in Australia to begin to address the legal experiences of principals of Independent schools, together with their colleagues from other systems, and provides a more complete perspective on issues through a synthesis of varying informed viewpoints.