Abstract

School principals face increasing complexity as they navigate instructional leadership, organizational change, and the emotional demands of supporting staff and students. Traditional professional development--often episodic and compliance-driven--has proven insufficient for helping principals translate knowledge into practice. This qualitative phenomenological study examined how 20 elementary principals in a large intermountain district experienced a dual-coach, team-based leadership coaching model and how coaching influenced their leadership practices and well-being. Semi-structured interviews and iterative thematic analysis revealed that coaching shaped three core areas of leadership practice: gaining clarity and direction, prioritizing instructional and organizational goals, and strengthening collaboration within school leadership teams. Principals also described meaningful impacts on their well-being, including feeling more accomplished, more confident, less stressed, and more professionally and personally enhanced in their roles. Trust emerged as the foundational mechanism enabling vulnerability, honest reflection, and deep engagement, while coaching style mediated how principals interpreted support and feedback. The dual-coach and team-based structures broadened perspective and modeled collaborative leadership practices, though tensions surfaced when coaching felt directive or misaligned with school-level needs. Findings contribute to the growing literature on principal coaching by illuminating the relational and structural conditions that support meaningful growth. The study offers implications for districts seeking to design coaching systems that are responsive, relational, and attentive to both the professional and personal dimensions of school leadership.

Degree

EdD

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Educational Leadership and Foundations

Rights

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