Reissig, Steven PhD and Al Amer, Ahlam
(2015)
BUILDING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP CAPACITY WITHIN
THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM THROUGHOUT KINGDOM
OF BAHRAIN.
PROCEEDINGS 3rd REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT.
pp. 37-52.
Abstract
There is a plethora of educational leadership theories as well as stories of individual
leaders having an impact upon organizations and education systems. This paper
describes how educational leadership at a system level was became the catalyst for
large-scale public school improvement in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This has been a
five (5) year journey and is ongoing. In this successful transformation of the system is
a story with an emphasis upon balancing ‘performance’ and ‘health’ maintaining a
close relationship between ‘support’ and ‘accountability’ at all levels. This paper
highlights a priority placed on educational leadership and describes seven levers
supporting on-going learning, improvement and innovation:(1) School, student
improvement; (2) Creating and maintaining a culture of professionalism; (3)
Leadership development and capacity building; (4) Re-designing organizational
structures; (5) Parent and community learning, support and engagement; (6)
Succession planning, including recruitment; and (7) Formal pathways and Cadre.
Central to the success at a system level has been the transformation of leaders’ mind
sets and behaviours. We refer to this transformation as a ‘commitment to action’;
leadership is located within a quasi-decentralized model sifting from a MoEcentralized
to a more school-focused model. This model encourages and empowers
existing school leaders to shift their learning and leadership from administrative to
instructional practices. This paper focuses on a case study: the Bahrain educational
leadership strategy. This strategy links with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030
approved National Key Performance Indicators and Bahrain School Agenda.
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