Issues in developing a school leadership preparation programme in a post‐communist republic of the former Soviet Union

Abstract

IntroductionThe past several years have seen unparalleled changes in the former Soviet Union. Dramatic and far reaching alterations of social, economic, political and military policies and directions have been characteristics of recent Soviet life. These changes have had a significant impact on the life of Soviet citizens as well as on other countries around the world. Republics of the former Soviet Union particularly have been affected by these changes. Most of these republics had been controlled totally from Moscow in such areas as industry, education, planning and resource allocation. Control of all important, as well as inconsequential, issues and decisions had been centralized in Moscow [1]. When the Soviet Union crumbled, the republics were left without personnel who had significant experience in planning [2,3]. This lack of personnel experienced in planning left educational systems especially vulnerable in trying to develop republic-based school systems. One of the immediately recognized problems was how to go about developing a preparation programme for school leaders (administrators). This paper addresses the complex issues involved in developing a school leadership programme in one such republic, the Republic of Georgia. The issues presented are intended to serve as an inventory for other republics seeking to transform their education systems.This paper has its origins in 1990 when the senior author served a Fulbright senior scholar assignment at Tbilisi State University in the Republic of Georgia. One of the lecturing assignments was in the department of pedagogy at the university. This led to an interest in how school headmasters were prepared for their positions, from which a six-week, part-time, inservice programme developed. In subsequent visits to Tbilisi, and especially after independence was obtained from Russia, the issue of a school leader preparation programme re-surfaced several times. The sections of this paper discuss several elements of Georgian life that affect educational planning, and particularly the issues involved in forming a preparation programme for school leaders.

Assessing the roles and training needs of educational superintendents in Palestine

“…The reviewed literature shows clearly that the role of superintendent cannot be separated from the context of the job (Johnson, 1996;Owen and Ovando, 2000). It also indicates that the degree to which superintendents are effective in their jobs is related to the nature of their pre and in-service training (Milstein, 1999;Milstein et al, 1991;Murphy, 1992), and that the training should be tailored to the context in which they work (Newton, 1996;Reilly and Brown, 1996). This interrelationship among role, context, and training poses the following question for educational systems within newly emerging countries: what kind of training do superintendents need to become promoters of change in light of existing political and economic conditions?…”

“…The existing literature shows that newly emerged (i.e. became politically independent) countries encounter specific problems in planning, designing, and delivering training programs for their administrators (Newton, 1985(Newton, , 1993(Newton, , 1996Reilly and Brown, 1996;Rodwell and Hurst, 1985;Weeks, 1988). Lack of adequate financial resources, centralization, inadequate technical and technological resources, lack of knowledge and skills, and inappropriately trained and qualified teaching and administrative staffs are among the factors that are believed to hinder training.…”

“…The degree of centralized control is critical for determining the nature and form of the educational experience and preparation of school leaders and teachers. Reilly and Brown (1996) believe that a system cannot decide whether it needs to train leaders, managers, or both until questions of goals and centralization are answered.…”

“…Its significance lies not only in remediating the existing deficiency in the superintendency literature on newly emerging counties; it also can serve as a source of useful information for transitional nations (e.g. former Soviet Union countries) that are currently in the process of developing their educational vision, and setting their administrators' certification and training policies (Bursuc, 2001;Reilly and Brown, 1996). The study also provides a methodological prototype for future researchers who wish to employ empirical approaches to educational training needs in such countries.…”

Learning Advanced Leadership

“…Training and support of such school leadership has not kept pace with the changing nature of their work (Thody, 1998). Some research and analysis has shown that newly emerged countries struggle to define the leadership roles and management functions of their CEOs and to design appropriate leadership training programs (Kanan, 2005;Newton, 1996;Reilly and Brown, 1996). Thus, there is a worldwide need to develop more relevant and appropriate leadership development programs for CEOs, and much can be learned from innovative program efforts in the USA.…”