Selection Process of School Principals in Turkey and Some Other Countries: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the process of school principal selection and appointment in Turkey and some other developed countries in a comparative way. The specific purpose is to make suggestions in order to improve the school principal selection process in Turkey by comparatively analyzing school principal selection process in Turkey and some developed countries. The focus is on the principal selection processes in the USA, Germany, and Finland, and it makes a comparison with the current situation implemented in Turkey. In most of the states in the USA, in order to be a principal, a certificate, a master's degree, and being an actual teacher are required. In the study methodology, official papers and documents have been analyzed in the context of research review in order to study the existing materials that do not require collecting through a data collection tool. These documents include related official reports, graduate thesis, articles, proceedings, National Education Councils conclusions, and legislative texts consisting of official regulations. The findings indicate that there are various selection methods used for this purpose. District Board of Education is in charge at selection procedures. In Germany, there is a variety of selection procedures among the states. The states' Education Ministries and administrators are in charge of selection and appointment of principals and modifications of selection procedures. The state exams and regular official performance assessments by superiors are decisive in the centralized selection process in most federal states. In Finland, a certificate and teaching qualification are required to be a principal. Interviews and tests are used in the selection procedures. Administrators and educational committee members are in charge of the highly decentralized selection process. There are some common and varied features in principal selection process between Turkey and the mentioned countries in the study. In Turkey, school principality is regarded as a secondary role to a teacher and the principal selection processes, procedures, and rules change very frequently in time.

Selection Process of School Principals in Indonesia and Some Other Countries

“…After that, a final assessment was carried out by the selection committee and the selected candidate for the principal was determined. Meanwhile in Australia and Finland, the selection process is carried out through open recruitment (Akbaşlı et al, 2017;Iacono et al, 2019). Candidates for principals can apply in person or through a search conducted by the school board.…”

“…Factors affecting failure in the HR preparation process consist of poor finance, selection team ethics, and policies. The success factor of the human resource preparation process lies in the design of the recruitment process (Akbaşlı et al, 2017;Kwan, 2010;Phillips & Gully, 2015). In addition to the recruitment design, the principal's preparation strategy must be considered.…”

“…Considering the crucial roles of school principals in Indonesia as well as the professional selection process and training for them, the preparation process for principals in Indonesia must be reviewed. The primary candidates for follow-up are evaluated not only on their traditional management skills but also on their professional leadership abilities in developed countries (Akbaşlı et al, 2017;Minsih et al, 2019;Mukhlasin, 2021). Since principals are accountable for enhancing the standard of the schools they oversee, industrialized countries focus their primary area of assessment on it (Kwan, 2010;Subandi, 2018;Yulius, 2020).…”

Need for Enriching School Principal Training Programs in Light of Total Quality Management - A Case of Turkey

“…There is a scarcity of research in the literature about the school principals' recruitment and training in Turkey. The existing ones belong to years before 2018 [17][18][19][20][21][22]. When the studies on the selection of school administrators in Turkey are examined, it is seen that most of the studies are on the need to improve the implementation of the education system.…”

Procesos de selección de directores escolares en Latinoamérica: Brasil, Chile, Colombia y Perú

“…Así el conocimiento del contexto escolar y la experiencia previa en el lugar de trabajo es un criterio clave dentro del proceso de selección español. En Alemania la selección incluye pruebas, observaciones de aula, entrevistas orales, dependiendo de la región, no obstante, una vez seleccionado el postulante el director posee el cargo de manera casi vitalicia (Akbaşl et al, 2017).…”