Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

106LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONThe other advantage of in-service provision is that it can relate directly to thespecific context facing the beginning principal. Crow (2001) distinguishesbetween professional and organisational socialisation. The former relates topreparation to enact the role of principal while the latter concerns adaptationto the particular school context. In-service preparation enables these twophases to be linked.Development programmes in Western countries are often delivered by universities,governments or other agencies, are usually sustained over manymonths or years and typically lead to an academic or professional qualification.There are several problems in applying this approach to developing countries.The limited budgets available are unlikely to fund such a lavish model at anappropriate scale to meet the need. There is also limited capacity to develop,lead and facilitate such programmes. It would be sensible, therefore, to aim atmore modest provision for the new principals accompanied by a ‘train thetrainers’ course at a higher level. Linking the training to a qualification is likelyto motivate participants (Tekleselassie 2002) and to raise the status of principalsin their communities. As we noted earlier, an Advanced Certificate in Education:School Leadership, is being piloted in South Africa from 2007 to 2009.Selection and inductionIn the absence of a pre-service management qualification, the recruitment andappointment processes cannot be underpinned by formal prerequisites. Developinga clear job description, and linking candidates’ experience to theserequirements, provides a useful starting point. As more principals experiencetraining, they may also be able to nominate suitable candidates based on jobrelatedpractice in their current schools. As we noted earlier, however, suchrational processes are often undermined by political and cultural factors. Oneof these relates to gender and it is important that women have equal opportunitiesfor promotion to senior posts, including headships.The in-service training suggested above should make a valuable contributionto principals’ induction. It also provides the potential for networking that couldbe sustained beyond the life of the course. Developing effective networks forboth experienced and beginning principals may reduce their isolation.Appropriate training, recruitment and selection do not ensure that principalsare equipped with the requisite skills, attitudes, knowledge and motivation tolead their school effectively. Further support from their superordinates, andtheir local communities, are essential if their schools, and the students theyserve, are to succeed and help their countries to compete in an increasinglychallenging global economy.