This article examines what vice-principals in Singapore experience as constraints to their leadership practice, and how they deal with these constraints, cognisant that role misalignment for vice-principals presents barriers to schools achieving optimal effectiveness. This qualitative study seeks to hear the voices of vice-principals, to uncover the contextual richness of their experiences through interviews with 28 vice-principals. Coding involved a mix of codes from the literature and from the interviews, with member checking of the findings. Vice-principals in Singapore face two main constraints: role ambiguity and role conflicts. These are mainly a structural issue, given the dual expectations of vice-principals to support their principals and to lead. The problems are heightened when there are clashes of values, with vice-principals conflicted between two sources of authority: administrative and professional. Framing the constraints faced by vice-principals under role ambiguity and role conflicts raises these constraints to a theoretical and organisational level. The study proposes a link between the concepts of role ambiguity and role boundaries and illustrates how role ambiguity and conflicts can be disempowering. However, the study also shows that ambiguity need not always be a constraint but can be positive under some conditions.

本文研究了新加坡副校长在领导实践中遇到的制约因素，以及他们如何应对这些制约因素，并认识到副校长的角色错位为学校实现最佳效能提供了障碍。这项定性研究旨在听取副校长的声音，通过与28名副校长的访谈来揭示他们的经历的语境丰富性。编码涉及文献和访谈中的各种代码，并由成员检查发现的结果。新加坡的副校长面临两个主要限制：角色歧义和角色冲突。考虑到副校长对校长的支持和领导的双重期望，这些主要是一个结构性问题。价值观冲突时，问题变得更加严重，副校长之间的两种权威冲突是行政上的和专业上的。界定副校长在角色歧义和角色冲突下所面临的约束，将这些约束提高到理论和组织上。该研究提出了角色歧义性和角色边界之间的联系，并说明了角色歧义性和冲突是如何消除权力的。但是，研究还表明，歧义并不一定总是一个约束，而是在某些情况下可以是肯定的。该研究提出了角色歧义性和角色边界之间的联系，并说明了角色歧义性和冲突是如何消除权力的。但是，研究还表明，歧义并不一定总是一个约束，而是在某些情况下可以是肯定的。该研究提出了角色歧义性和角色边界之间的联系，并说明了角色歧义性和冲突是如何消除权力的。但是，研究还表明，歧义并不一定总是一个约束，而是在某些情况下可以是肯定的。