Becoming an Assistant Principal: Mapping Factors That Facilitate or Hinder Entering the Role.

The phase of entering the role of assistant principals and the coping strategies assistant principals use upon entering their role have barely been studied. Most studies that dealt with assistant principals focused mainly on the role of the assistant principals and their readiness to advance to the position of school principal, while the study dealing with the transition from teaching to the position of assistant principal is extremely limited. The available studies indicate that it is a complicated transition having an emotional, social and professional effect, described in terms of "shock" and an "unpleasant surprise". This article presents the assistant principal role at school and the challenges at the induction to this role. It offers a model for mapping the factors that influence the process of entering the role. This model can enable the education system to trace beforehand assistant principals who experience difficulties in entering office, so as to provide them with support and proper preparatory training procedures.