Understanding School Leadership Through Consultation Ties: A Social Network Study of Principals' Influence and Connectivity

Abstract

This study explores how school principals' consultation ties shape leadership influence and connectivity within advisory networks. Adopting a convergent parallel mixed methods design, the study involved 38 secondary school principals in Siirt, T & uuml;rkiye. Quantitative data were analyzed through social network analysis using UCINET 6, while qualitative insights - regarding why certain individuals were frequently consulted - were analyzed using content analysis. Results indicated that functional unit (area of responsibility), educational background, and union membership influenced advice-seeking behaviors. Qualitative findings revealed that centrally positioned principals drew on multiple sources of influence. By combining network centrality metrics with principals' power attributions in a centralized, non-Western system, the study shows that influence concentrates around a small set of policy translators and procedural brokers (both peer principals and provincial administrators), and that homophily mechanisms such as union affiliation and educational background shape advice-seeking beyond formal hierarchy.