Super principal of the future

It was more than super when principals from 11 countries congregated in Kuala Lumpur for the second Regional School Leadership workshop recently, HARIATI AZIZAN reports. 

 

WANTED: a new principal. Must be inspirational, forward-thinking, visionary, have an in-depth knowledge of educational theories and teaching techniques and most importantly, must have computer skills. 

This is because the role of the principal in the 21st century has changed, says Dame Pat Collarbone, director of the United Kingdom’s National Remodelling Team.  

Super principals from 11 countries attending the Regional School Leadership workshop in Kuala Lumpur recently.

“The new demands for a principal are linked to globalisation – what we expect of our teachers and pupils have changed. We now live in a globalised, complex world that changes so rapidly that it is essential for leadership in schools to be able to help people manage that change.  

“Principals must be able to create a future that we all want. If they are just managers, they will ensure that things are done well but they will not be able to lead the students and teachers in the new world.” 

What schools need, she sums up, is super-principals, which can be defined as senior principals who have a role beyond their own school in the development of other principals and other schools, nationally or locally.  

Attending the Regional School Leadership Workshop recently, Dame Collarbone presented the keynote speech The developing role of principals: the English experience. 

Describing the UK experience in developing school leaders and the initiatives for change in the UK system, she said: 

“We need to move beyond the traditional idea of the 'leader as a hero' who does everything themselves, to the 'leader as servant' who builds and supports a team. The test of true leadership is that your team says 'we did it ourselves.”  

 

Sharing best practices 

The workshop, aimed at exploring the variety of roles in school leadership of super principals, was organised by the British Council and the Education Ministry.  

It was attended by principals and 

representatives from education ministries from 11 countries, including New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. 

British Council Malaysia director Gerry Liston said the conference in Malaysia was built on the one that was held in Singapore last year. 

“It aims to be interactive so that participants would share both their successes and their issues with 11 countries learning from each other,” he said. 

To help the international delegates understand the context of Malaysian education and the role of super principals , the participants were taken on a visit to schools in Seremban. . On the school visit, they also had a chance to gain an insight from Kolej Tunku Kursiah principal Tengku Azwan Tengku Mohamad, one of the super principals in the Malaysian system. 

Following this, interactive sessions led by Dame Pat Collarbone and Vincent McDonnell, the international director of the Centre for British Teachers, were held to explore pertinentissues. The sessions were aimed at drawing out the key challenges for senior school leaders and sharing possible approaches and solutions to these issues. 

For this, the delegates were divided into smaller groups in which all countries were represented. In the small groups, they considered how senior school leaders could best be selected and developed. The issues covered included mentoring, sustainability, training and management models. 

 

Valuable lessons learnt 

Five countries gave presentations on their experience in developing senior and super principals and raising standards in school leadership. However, many voiced similar concerns, particularly on education quality, teaching professionalism and the future of schools.  

Representing Malaysia was Mary Yap, a super principal from SM Teknik Tawau, Sabah. She highlighted how rigorous the Malaysian selection of super principals was and described the important role they play in training new principals. 

“The system would be even more effective if the super principals could follow up on the principals in their own schools to evaluate the results of their training and support them,” she added. 

New Zealand Education Ministry senior adviser on effective leadership Dr Graham Collins said super principals had an important role in three main initiatives: induction programme for first time principals (as mentors), as group leaders of more experienced principals and in raising standards in a cluster of nearby schools. 

He said all these roles were important but there could be greater national co-ordination of these separate initiatives. 

Presenting for the Philippines was Teresita V. Arriola, the Philippine Elementary School Principals Association president. Describing the Philippine experience in their reform initiatives called Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (Besra), she highlighted five key reform thrusts: schools, teachers, organisation of the education department, complementary interventions and institutional environment. 

Sharing some of the initiatives in the Philippines, Arriola said she was able to learn more about how to improve its implementation.  

For Ding Ya Wen from Taiwan, which does not have a super principal system, the exchange had given her new ideas on school leadership. 

Ding, the principal from the Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School, said: “Taiwan may not have a system of super principals but all principals are expected to play the role of mentor and instructor for leadership through the secondary schools principals association.” 

Thailand with its “Lab Schools” programme drew a lot of interest. A Lab School is a model school developed in each district as a centre to demonstrate the highest standards in education. 

As Dr Benjalug Namfa, deputy director with the Bureau of Innovative Education in Thailand described, these Lab Schools act as a focus for training other schools in their respective districts.  

The conference, she said, gave her ideas of exploring the different ways of implementing the concept of a super principal based in these Lab Schools as well as possibilities of using a school as a base for education of the whole community. 

At the end of the workshop, many participants were able to find possible solutions offered by their colleagues from other countries. 

And with the British Council’s conference website, they would be able to continue their collaboration as well as foster new ones by continuing the dialogue and exchanging materials to support each other as a learning community in the future. 

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