TRANSITIONAL TURBULENCE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, POWER, AND AN INCOMING PRINCIPAL

This qualitative case study explored the changing relationships and cultural evolution that occurred over the course of the initial year of a principal transition within a private upper school. Collected data included interviews, observations, and documents. All data were reviewed and analyzed in order to understand the experience that the transitioning principal, administrators, faculty, college counselors, and staff encountered during the course of the transition. The conceptual framework of this study was based on a social constructivist mindset and was ethnographic in nature: the researcher understood and defined the culture and transition experience through data synthesis, revealing varied interpretations of the culture and transition on the place and self.