Assessing the roles and training needs of educational superintendents in Palestine
| Date | 01 April 2005 |
| Published date | 01 April 2005 |
| Pages | 154-169 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230510586560 |
| Author | Hana M. Kanan |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Assessing the roles and training
needs of educational
superintendents in Palestine
Hana M. Kanan
Leadership Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this research study was to examine the role perceptions of superintendents
and their supervisors in Palestine regarding the roles and training needs of superintendents. It was part
of a larger study conducted by the Department of Administration and Educational Leadership at
Teachers College, Columbia University.
Design/methodology/approach – A grounded theory approach was used in this study. Data were
collected by interviewing 16 superintendents and four general directors using guided qualitative
interviews, in addition to examining Ministry of Education documents and archival data.
Findings – The grounded theory approach analysis revealed that superintendents and general
directors held variant perceptions regarding the roles and training needs of superintendents. Most
superintendents felt they were ill prepared for the job and had to rely on the Ministry of Education for
support and direction. They perceived their role as a combination of educational managers and
educational leaders. Their supervisors, however, perceived them as keepers of the status quo.
The findings showed that superintendents in countries similar to Palestine (newly emerging) appear to
experience problems similar to their counterparts in other transitional societies.
Originality/value – The findings of this research are important to new educational systems.
It shows clearly the difficulties experienced by superintendents in a newly emerging system.
Furthermore, superintendents in such systems may require training needs different than their
counterparts in developed systems. The findings are discussed in terms of their relevancy and
contributions to educational leadership theory.
Keywords Training, Palestine,Educational administration
Paper type Research paper
The reviewed literature shows clearly that the role of superintendent cannot be
separated from the context of the job (Johnson, 1996; Owen and Ovando, 2000). It also
indicates that the degree to which superintendents are effective in their jobs is related
to the nature of their pre and in-service training (Milstein, 1999; Milstein et al., 1991;
Murphy, 1992), and that the training should be tailored to the context in which they
work (Newton, 1996; Reilly and Brown, 1996). This interrelationship among role,
context, and training poses the following question for educational systems within
newly emerging countries: what kind of training do superintendents need to become
promoters of change in light of existing political and economic conditions?
Although the topic of educational leadership and administrative training has
received expansive attention in the West, particularly in the United States and Canada
(McCarthy, 1999; Murphy, 1992), few studies have focused on developing, newly
emerged, or in transition countries. Furthermore, the findings of such sparse studies
are based primarily on personal anecdotes, observations, experiences, and advice,
rather than on rigorous scholarly research approaches and techniques (Newton, 1985,
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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JEA
43,2
154
Received March 2004
Revised July 2004
Accepted July 2004
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 43 No. 2, 2005
pp. 154-169
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/09578230510586560
1993, 1996; Reilly and Brown, 1996; Rodwell and Hurst, 1985; Weeks, 1988). As might
be expected, this type of literature does not provide either empirical research findings
or clear, decisive guidelines for preparing and supporting educational superintenden ts
in such countries. This deficiency not only has academic ramifications, but also
professional ones, in view of the trend to apply the concept of globalization to all
sectors of life.
The study described here was part of a larger study being conducted at Teacher s
College, Columbia University, on the national and international superintendency and
its challenges. It was designed to explore the roles and training needs of educational
superintendents in newly emerged countries by focusing on Palestine as a case study.
Its significance lies not only in remediating the existing deficiency in the
superintendency literature on newly emerging counties; it also can serve as a source
of useful information for transitional nations (e.g. former Soviet Union countries) that
are currently in the process of developing their educational vision, and setting their
administrators’ certification and training policies (Bursuc, 2001; Reilly and Brown,
1996). The study also provides a methodological prototype for future researchers who
wish to employ empirical approaches to educational training needs in such countries.
It should be noted here that the terms “emerging countries” and countries in
“transition” do not refer or infer political order or system. Rather, the terms refer to
countries whose educational systems were revamped dramatically due to political
changes such as gaining independence (e.g. countries of the former Soviet Union) or
autonomy over their educational system although they have yet to gain their political
independence (e.g. Palestine). The common denominator between such countries is that
they are in the process of building a national and indigenous educational system.
Hence, this study serves as a pilot attempt to do scholarly research in a country
experiencing such conditions and circumstances.
Theoretical background
The recent literature on educational leadership has identified school administrators as
the key factor in school effectiveness (Fullan, 1993; Fullan and Stiegelbauer, 1991;
Sergiovanni, 1995). Furthermore, having a firm belief that the content and form of
leadership preparation programs contribute to leadership effectiveness led to much
attention being given to the kind of training that administrators need (McCarthy, 1999;
Milstein, 1999), with the inclusion in training programs of certain elements based on
the role that program designers perceived for superintendents (Mulkeen and
Cambron-McCabe, 1994).
During the last century, bureaucratic and scientific management principles laid the
foundation for the dev elopment of specialize d training programs fo r school
administrators in the United States. Subsequently, for a protracted period, training
programs rested on an intellectual paradigm that is based on principles derived from
psychology and sociology. Recently, some researchers have argued conversely that the
management method model designed for the industrial era has been rendered obsolete
in Western developed countries (Mulkeen and Cambron-McCabe, 1994). Thus, the
hierarchical top-down educational bureaucracies resulting from the earlier paradigm
are being replaced by democratic, flattened, egalitarian structures that curricula
designed to prepare school system leaders now promotes (Lambert, 1995; Loredo and
Carter, 1993; Walker, 1995).
Assessing the
roles and
training needs
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