Leadership for innovative Omani schools in the 21st century: Transforming principal identity through culturally contextualized training

Abstract

Dramatic economic, political, and societal changes at local, national, and global levels, along with commitments to achieve Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (UNESCO, 2000), are prompting national education leaders around the world to restructure and reenvision their education systems (OECD, 2008; Olson, 2008). Decentralization is one of the key structural changes governments are using to promote greater efficiency and to increase local participation in education related to decision making, finances, and accountability in schools. As the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Sultanate of Oman makes the shift to a decentralized structure, it recognizes that its school administrators require new leadership skills in order to make the necessary changes. Implementing decentralization requires a shift in principals' work and thus their professional identity. “By building the leadership capacity of principals as leaders at the school level, (Oman's) MOE officials hope to strengthen the principals' ability to implement school reforms for the 21st century” (Seward International, Inc., 2008, p. 6).

Citation

Westrick, J.M. and Miske, S.J. (2009), "Leadership for innovative Omani schools in the 21st century: Transforming principal identity through culturally contextualized training", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Educational Leadership: Global Contexts and International Comparisons (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2009)0000011004