Do urban elementary school principals perceive that they experience flow

This study explored perceptions of urban elementary school principals' job satisfaction. The problem remains that fewer educators apply for the principal job openings, though many are certified. For many of the certified administrators working in other non-administrative posts, the principalship is perceived as unappealing. This study has researched this problem from the perspective of sitting urban elementary school principals.; Two research questions were used to study the problem. The first was: In what ways do participating urban elementary school principals report that they have flow-like experiences while fulfilling their job responsibilities? The second was: From which of the four Connecticut State Department of Education clusters of principals' responsibilities do participating urban elementary school principals report that they gain satisfaction? Both questions have helped to gather more data on the issue of perceptions of the job of an urban, elementary school principal.; The researcher used Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi's Flow Theory (1999) as a conceptual framework. Flow Theory refers to optimal experiences people have had wherein they have a goal focus; get immediate responses; lose their sense of time; have a sense of control, wherein their skills meet the challenge of a situation; and they have a greater sense of self when the experience ends. Flow Theory was used as a model for motivation, to see if principals get any satisfaction from their work.; The researcher used critical incidents to probe the five flow descriptors and the areas of greatest satisfaction. The study was divided into three parts: an initial interview wherein principals were asked to describe two events wherein they felt highly satisfied; their journals, wherein they would wrote about a satisfying event for each of ten work days; and a second interview wherein they were asked to describe, in detail, two of the ten events about which they wrote in their journals. Finally, the researcher categorized their events into one of the four clusters of principals' responsibilities: teaching and learning; community building; capacity building; or policy and management.