Leadership and Management Development in Education (Education ...

PREPARING AND SUPPORTING LEADERS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES65enabling leaders who might be less favoured by appointing bodies, to advancetheir claims. However, Middlewood (1995) notes that such ‘free market’approaches to recruitment also have disadvantages. In particular, when unsuccessfulcandidates make a further application, they have to start afresh withoutany accumulated ‘credit’ for their previous selection experience. In more centralisedrecruitment systems, the selectors are likely to build up a picture of allpotential candidates which is much less readily available to school-levelappointing bodies.Regardless of their recruitment experience, new principals are likely torequire induction into their new role.Induction for leadershipInduction is the process by which new incumbents become familiar with thecontext in which they are leading, including the school culture. Crow (2006)distinguishes between professional socialisation (preparing to enter the profession)and organisational socialisation (learning how to lead in a particular context).All first-time principals need professional socialisation and, for many,there is the additional challenge of leading an unfamiliar school, meaning thatorganisational socialisation is also required. Bush and Middlewood (2005: 142)develop this notion to argue that induction has three main dimensions:• Socialisation: enabling the new employee to become part of the organisation• Achieving competent performance: enabling the new employee to contributeto the organisation effectively• Understanding the culture: enabling the employee to appreciate the core valuesof the organisation.Induction may be a deliberate process, with clear objectives and defined components,or an incidental activity, largely determined and orchestrated by theprincipal. Regardless of its nature, a learning process is inevitable, whetherplanned or unplanned.Planned inductionThe literature on leadership selection and preparation often gives littleattention to induction but there are several examples of a formal process beingoffered to, or required of, newly appointed principals. In Helsinki, Finland, forexample, there is ‘a well-functioning’ (Gayer 2003: 85) programme to trainnew principals. All incumbents assuming office attend a two-year training