School leadership in Indonesia: A systematic literature review

This paper reviews systematically literature on school leadership in the context of Indonesian education from 2004 to 2019. Its purpose is to investigate major issues which exist in the school leadership practices in Indonesia and propose some sustainable solutions so that educational policymakers, stakeholders and scholars can improve their awareness and knowledge of school leadership. Eight core international EDLM (educational leadership and management) journals were used as the source of the literature. Additionally, a high-quality journal with the indexation of Scopus and Social Sciences Citation Index, Asia Pacific Journal of Education (APJE), was included. The literature search yielded 16 articles that were reviewed. This study reports several crucial issues that need to have serious attention paid to them, including a lack of capacity to lead and manage schools, insufficiency of published studies, and the inappropriateness of principal selection processes. The suggested solutions for these problems consist of developing principal training centres in all the provinces of Indonesia, conducting more collaboration with overseas scholars, and improving principal selection procedures. Contributions for theory, practices and further study are provided.

Evaluating the impact of the selection process of principal in Brazilian public schools

Educational quality in Brazil has improved at a slow pace despite continued public policy efforts. The international literature has noted the importance of school management and the principal’s profile on students’ performance, but this discussion is recent in Brazil. In this study, we investigate the effects of the selection process of principals on students’ performance from public state schools in Brazil. We conclude that while the “selection process” channel is not clear, the “principal quality effect” indicates that the more democratic and technical selection methods tend to select most qualified principals in terms of leadership and managerial abilities. The principal who has time to implement changes, who adopts management practices to encourage teachers and has experience being the leader of the school present better results in terms of student’s performance. Therefore, it is important that the principal selection process choose professionals with the skills mentioned.

Principal selection for Qatar’s government schools: Policy makers’, principals’ and teachers’ perspectives

Research indicates that principals are critical in school reform since the implementation of policies and practices is to a large extent determined by the role that principals play in educational change. This study examines the principal selection process used in Qatar for the government schools and identifies knowledge and skills necessary for effective principals from the perspectives of policy makers, principals and teachers working in these schools. Qualitative interviews were held with three policy makers, 21 principals and 82 teachers in focus groups. Findings provide insight into the principal selection process and demonstrate that principals should develop their decision-making skills, should advance as instructional leaders and, since government schools are very diverse, principals must be able to manage issues of nationality, culture and equality. Recommendations are offered to improve the principal selection process for principals working in Qatar or other countries in the Gulf Region.

Rural and Small School Principal Candidates

This article reports the results of an inquiry into the dynamics of principal selection in rural school districts in two mid-American states with high numbers of rural schools. The study focuses on two questions: (1) are rural school districts experiencing a shortage of qualified applicants for vacant principal’s positions; and (2) what professional and personal characteristics do superintendents seek in selecting principals for rural schools? Data for the study were collected through a review of the relevant research literature and interviews with superintendents of rural school districts. The study confirmed that rural school districts in these two states are in fact not experiencing a shortage of qualified principal applicants and delineates specific professional and personal characteristics superintendents seek in the principals who lead rural schools.

Career Confidential

In her regular advice column for education professionals, Phyllis Fagell responds to a principal’s question about a teacher who is competent, but too rigid and inflexible with her students. A teacher wonders about the value of a principal selection process in which the decisions appear to have been made without sufficient input from the selection committee.

It’s Time to Upgrade to Principal Selection 2.0

Education researchers have continually noted the importance of the principal in affecting student achievement and school success. Despite this importance, school districts seldom use reliable methods to select principals. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the selection processes used to select principals in California. Results indicate that public school principals were selected to their current principalship by the least reliable and least predictive methods of selection. Education stakeholders should make a concerted effort to improve principal selection methods.