Schools thrive under the guidance of qualified, experienced school leaders. Fair and inclusive selection and recruitment are essential to find them. Yet less than two thirds of countries run competitive selection processes for principals.
As with any sector or business, sound hiring practices avoid bias, stereotypes and favouritism. Open recruitment can bring new ideas and a new vision, whereas internal promotion helps grow talent from within. School principalship should be professionalized with clear, transparent, and merit-based recruitment rules, according to this blog, a core recommendation of the 2024/5 GEM report on education leadership. Recruitment and selection are the gateways to ensuring strong aspiring principals enter leadership roles.
In theory, systems should match schools’ needs and goals with candidates. In practice, the degree of autonomy granted to schools and the weight placed on professionalization and managerial trajectories often decide who ends up where.
Regardless of context, objective, fair, inclusive, transparent and clearly defined criteria are needed. Such clarity contributes to the development of trust and respect within the school community and increases the principal’s credibility and legitimacy. Consistency is the issue, which can be observed in numerous nations. Some prioritize teaching experience or, less frequently, leadership qualifications. Others use ambiguous criteria for selection, which could result in the loss of the best candidates. An analysis of PEER country profiles for the 2024/5 GEM Report, for example, found that 42% of countries select principals at the central level, 23% at local government level, 13% at the school level, and the remaining 22% at mixed levels.
Appointments are typically validated at either the central or local level following selection. Australia, for instance, has a mix of centralized and decentralized elements in school principal selection. In the state of Victoria, school councils – or, in their absence, community committees – recommend candidates to the Secretary of the Department of Education. School councils, on the other hand, have full authority to hire and fire principals in Slovenia. Closed and inequitable processes deter talent. Although alternative pathways to becoming a school leader exist, it is highly unlikely for someone outside of the pool of current teachers to be appointed. This makes it urgent to weave leadership training into initial teacher education.
Talent-spotting and succession planning should be integral components of recruitment strategies. Where feasible systems should flag and prepare future leaders early. In the United States, for example, some teachers are preselected (or ‘tapped’) by their principals for pre-service leadership preparation, for instance. This approach can reduce costs and boost retention.
However, any such system must be free of prejudice, stereotypes, and favoritism, avoiding partisanship, patronage, and hierarchical structures. Selection criteria should be clearly defined, objective and transparent ensuring that qualified candidates, of any background or gender, have equal opportunities to showcase their diverse leadership skills. Even though it still occasionally does, politics shouldn’t be involved. Lack of diversity in leadership positions is a problem for education decision making at all levels. Eight out of ten nations do not yet have any measures in place to ensure a balanced representation. Open selection can help, but temporary quotas may still be needed where gaps persist.
As the gender version of the global GEM Report showed, a stark gap remains: women hold 20 percentage point fewer secondary school -leadership positions across 70 countries with data despite being the majority of teachers. In Chile, for instance, it is alleged that female applicants are disadvantaged in the selection process by the influence of mayors, and leadership training programs have not adequately addressed gender equity. Only 16% of primary school principals in Francophone Africa are women. Principals do not automatically come from the best teachers. This is a delicate balance to get right. Excellence in teaching is fundamental, butit doesn’t automatically guarantee success in leadership and should not be seen as a mere reward for top teachers. 76% of countries require principals to be fully qualified teachers, and 3 in 10 demand management experience, according to the review of selection procedures for this report. Teaching experience still dominates selection, but assessments of other skills, competences and experience are gaining ground. In addition to other requirements, France and Italy use competitive examinations and eligibility tests; Qatar and the UAE combine competitive examinations and adherence to professional standards.
Ultimately, good schools begin with good school leaders. Governments have to reform hiring practices, prioritizing the professional development of principals and recruit top talent through transparent, competitive recruitment processes.