Guidelines for the leadership development of primary school principals under the jurisdiction of Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia

Abstract

The purpose of this research was 1) to study the theoretical framework of leadership characteristics and the leadership development methods; 2) to study the actual and desirable leadership characteristics and the leadership development needs; and 3) to propose guidelines for the leadership development of primary school principals under the jurisdiction of Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia. The population was 164 primary school principals. Research instruments were literature review, semi-structured interview, questionnaires, and evaluation form. The data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, modified priority needs index (PNI modified), and content analysis. The results were concluded as follows:

1) The theoretical framework of leadership characteristics was composed of 10 characteristics including (1) valuing people, (2) developing people, (3) building community, (4) displaying authenticity, (5) envisioning the future, (6) sharing leadership, (7) idealized influence, (8) inspirational motivation, (9) intellectual stimulation, and (10) individualized consideration. The leadership development methods consisted of (1) building self-awareness, (2) acquiring education, (3) attending developmental programs, (4) getting experience, (5) getting coaching, (6) getting mentoring, (7) attending succession planning, (8) training on LMX theory, (9) attending feedback-intensive programs, and (10) building motivation.

2) Overall, the actual leadership characteristics indicated moderate level, including valuing people, envisioning the future, and idealized consideration, were at high level respectively; followed by intellectual stimulation and sharing leadership, were at moderate level while the rest of leadership characteristics was at low level. The desirable leadership characteristics were at high level in overall. The leadership characteristics needed to develop were (1) building community, (2) displaying authenticity, (3) idealized influence, (4) inspirational motivation, (5) and developing people respectively.

3) Guidelines for the leadership development revealed that the priority-setting methods were (1) attending developmental programs, (2) getting coaching, (3) getting mentoring, (4) getting experience, (5) attending feedback-intensive programs, (6) acquiring education, and (7) building motivation.