An investigation into the effectiveness of the leadership development of female headteachers working in girls’ state secondary schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abstract
This thesis seeks to gain in-depth insights into the views of female headteachers working
in girls’ state secondary schools (students 15–18 years old) in Saudi Arabia regarding the
effectiveness of the current arrangements for leadership development both before they
accept a promotion to headship and while they are in post. The analysis of the data
collected in this research has been assisted by theories of learning.
An interpretivist approach was employed for this research. The data were collected in
two stages. In the first stage, a questionnaire was sent electronically to a sample of 131
headteachers working in schools in one area of high population density in Saudi Arabia.
These headteachers were asked to complete the survey only if they had been in post for
five years or less (42 responses). The second stage involved a representative sample of
these headteachers (seven in total) to be interviewed in semi-structured face-to-face
interviews.
The main findings from this study indicate that (i) many of those in the sample had not
previously served as a deputy headteacher; (ii) the importance of family support emerged
as a key factor in acting as a motivator for teachers to take on this role; (iii) the existing
courses (i.e., Training and Qualifying Courses for New Headteachers (TQCNH)) were
not considered to be wide-ranging enough to cover the many different problems a newly
appointed headteacher faces; (iv) observing good role models is important for helping in
the development of a new identity as a headteacher; and (v) budget issues and limited
authority were the most significant challenges that the headteachers faced when taking
up the leadership.