HEAD OF SCHOOL BETWEEN CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS TO CHANGE
Keywords:
leadership, school principal, leadership style, school culture, teacherAbstract
The Albanian school, in its direction, inherits an authoritarian and centralized culture. The history of the school during the monarchy and the period of socialism strongly influenced its typology. Indoctrination, powerful control and fierce class struggle gave absolute authority to monist leaders and dicasteries. In the last two decades, the Albanian school has been involved in continuous reforms of its decentralization and democratization according to contemporary models and European integration standards. In this framework, the reform of school leadership, and the professional and institutional development of the role of the school director are included.
This paper presents qualitative research on the model and style of the school principal today. The paper analyzes the factors that affect the achievement of school management standards and the reasons for presenting the school principal's preferred style. The paper is based on the meta-analysis of similar studies and the perceptions of 26 interviewed directors. The paper concludes that the most applicable style in school is the mixed style. This model is influenced by the community, the teachers, the culture of the school and the very nature and training of the school principal.
According to results of this paper, it appears that; school principals do not have much faith in democratic models and leadership, even though they positively evaluate them. They are careful not to compromise their authoritarianism, as rules, discipline and avoiding problems are their priority.
The paper gives some recommendations for school leaders, education specialists and school coaches of principals for strengthening the leadership capacities of schools in change processes.
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