The Experiences of Novice Principals in the Context of Baku Public Schools

This study used a qualitative research design to explore the experiences of novice school
principals in the initial year of school leadership. The purpose of this study was to understand the
challenges of novice principals and identify support strategies to overcome those challenges. In this
study, two novice principals and two experienced principals were involved in semi-structured
interviews. The findings of the study reveal that novice principals experience difficulties in terms of
limited preparedness for an instructional leadership role, bureaucracy and lack of authority in
decision-making, documentation, and reporting, and lastly, diversity of administrative tasks.
As a result, Guideline for Novice School Principals was developed to assist novice school
principals to develop their instructional leadership skills and perform their roles effectively.