Analyzing the School Leadership Development Program in Pakistan: Insights from Head Teachers and Master Trainers’ Experiences

Abstract

School leaders are considered as the backbone of the educational organizations. They have to perform multiple responsibilities such as managing teaching and non-teaching staff. For that purpose, it is a prerequisite for the head teachers to be equipped with a distinctive body of knowledge, skills, and behavior. The School Leadership Development Program (SLDP) was a training program launched by the Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development (QAED) in collaboration with the British Council, for head teachers to enhance the leadership capabilities of school leaders of the secondary schools in Punjab. The essential purpose of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction, engagement, and relevance of SLDP to the professional requirements of the head teachers. Mixed-method research was applied to analyze the perceptions of head teachers through a questionnaire. Master trainers, lead trainers, and policy makers’ perceptions were revealed through semi-structured interviews. Master trainers were sole personnel who had lived experiences regarding the satisfaction, engagement and relevance of the SLDP to professional requirements of head teachers and to examine what was the reaction of head teachers during the SLDP. 449 head teachers were selected from 2480 head teachers of the selected districts of Punjab. Master trainers and lead master trainers were selected to cross checking the perceptions of head teachers. The findings showed that head teachers were satisfied with SLDP, were engaged during the SLDP training sessions, and perceived that SLDP was relevant to their professional responsibilities. The results highlighted the need for policy requirements for institutionalized continuous training programs for head teachers to improve the quality of education in Pakistan.

Keywords: Head Teachers, School Leadership Development Program, Satisfaction, Engagement, Relevance of Training