Talk of Calling: Novice School Principals Narrating Destiny, Duty, and Fulfillment in Work

Purpose: School principals’ commitment and motivation have not been systematically investigated, but concerted research is needed as 25% of principals leave their jobs each year. This article investigates how new school principals make sense of their motivation to challenging work in a high pressure, high turnover field. Understanding principal motivation is important for recruiting and retaining talented educators. How principals understand their motivation may significantly affect their actions, practices, and persistence. Therefore, insight into principals’ motivation is important. Research Methods: Data come from interviews with 35 new principals in Chicago Public Schools. As initial phases of inductive analyses around principal’s career narratives were completed, this grounded theory inquiry focused on how principals use discourses of calling to make sense of their motivation. Data were analyzed through three iterations of coding: open, focused, and closed. Findings: School principals used themes of calling to make sense of their motivation in challenging contexts. Specifically, they described their destiny to work in education, duty to serve students, and fulfillment in work. Calling narratives explain past action and elevate the importance of the work, likely fueling continued motivation. Implications: This work adds a narrative component to research on principals’ motivation and transition, focusing on principals’ efforts to manage challenges. The results provide novel empirical data on principals’ sense-making, efforts to manage multiplying work demands, and on how professionals use calling to make sense of and bolster work motivation. Future work should determine whether calling narratives predict retention among principals.