UROP Project

How school Principals makes sense of School-community paetnership.

Qualitative research, School Leadership, Nepal

Research Mentor: Bhushan Dahal, He/him
Department, College, Affiliation: ELPS, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: bd22@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Education.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5 hours, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Tuesday, September 1
  Start Time: 12:00
  End Time: 2:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92289504023
• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 12:00
  End Time: 1:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92289504023

Project Description

This research project examines how school principals in Nepal make sense of school–community partnerships. In Nepal’s public-school system, principals carry multiple leadership and administrative responsibilities. One of their most significant roles is serving as a bridge between the school and its community. Principals who serve as the secretary of the School Management Committee (SMC), a formal governance body mandated by national policy for all public schools. In this capacity, principals play a central role in facilitating communication, collaboration, decision-making, and relationships between schools and community members.

Prior research has explored school–community partnerships and various dimensions of principal leadership, limited attention has been given to how principals themselves interpret, understand, and enact their roles in these partnerships. This study tries to address that gap by examining principals’ sensemaking processes related to school–community partnerships in Nepal. The study will draw on Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved data.

Research Tasks: We will do a literature review and data analysis.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Having some knowledge of research would be very helpful. Someone from Nepal would be ideal, if not someone from a South Asian country, who would have some familiarity with the context, as my research is in Nepal's setting.