Recruitment, retention and development of school principals

The recruitment, retention, and development of school principals are matters of great importance for all school systems because effective educational leadership is abso-lutely vital to bringing about improvements and advances in all those activities, institutions, and processes that foster the provision of education and student learning. Governments, school system authorities, school-based personnel, universities, leadership institutes, and pro-fessional associations are therefore increasingly turning their attention to the development of policies and strate-gies to address concerns in this area.The aim of this booklet is to present, in a concise way, what is known about the recruitment, retention, and de-velopment of school principals – and in so doing to seek to inform the development of good policy and practice. The booklet is based on an extensive review of relevant litera-ture and interviews with key individuals in international organisations and national settings.In putting forward alternative strategies for the reader’s consideration, it is important to acknowledge that histori-cal, political, cultural, and organisational contexts will all impact signifcantly on the role of the principal and the rel-ative success of policies and practices designed to improve principal recruitment, retention, and development. In addi-tion, there is a need to recognise that policy makers, system offcials, school-based personnel, and those involved in the provision of leadership training, need to take account of a number of possible tensions between key factors such as: political, bureaucratic, and professionally-based ap-proaches to recruitment, retention, and development; the conception of the principal as pedagogical, administrative, and community leader; the authority of the principal and the autonomy and professionalism of teaching staff; the values and culture of the school; and the social and cultural environment within which the school is located.

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