Some experiences of the countries on recruitment, training fostering and assessment on competency of education managers in high schools

SOME EXPERIENCES OF THE COUNTRIES ON RECRUITMENT,
TRAINING-FOSTERING AND ASSESSMENT ON COMPETENCY
OF EDUCATION MANAGERS IN HIGH SCHOOLS
Trinh Van Minh1
Vu Thi Thuy Hang2
Abstract
An increasing domestic and foreign attention is paid to recruitment, training and
fostering and assessment on competency of high school education managers
(Principals). Many forms, criteria, standards for selection and assessment are
identified, accordingly, the orientation, even a philosophy of education can be
identified through the use of “leaders”. In this article, the authors desire to give an
overview, in which some methods and models have been used in training, fostering,
assessment and recruitment of high school leaders by some developed countries;
and on this basis, some experiences are given for Vietnam.
Keywords: Education managers; Recruitment; Training-fostering; Evaluation;
standards for principal.

1. Introduction
It can be said that the recruitment of school managers with priority criteria for excellent
teachers or experienced educators in pedagogical activities has become anoverwhelming
trend over many decades in the world. However, in addition to other competencies that are
differently established and arranged in the “standards for principal” of countries, in recent
years, the role of “pedagogic leadership” of the Principal is increasingly important, with a
significant role in the principal’s functions. In this role, the principal must be able to lead the
change process of the school with the voluntary and sustainable participation of all other
members in educational community.
However, there is a fact that the methods of recruitment, training, and assessment are
diversely organized: for example, recruitment can be prepared in advance, in the teacher training
program (initial training) or through gradual professionalization of teachers who are assigned to
perform different responsibilities in the school before being assessed and recognized to get
sufficient competency to undertake a key task in management and leadership.

1

VNU University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Mobile: 0913453900;
Email:


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2. Concept of “Principal career”
The above-mentioned diversity of recruitment methods poses the question:Does
“Principal career” exit or not? In other words, the question is, “Are education managers in
general and high school principals in particular considered a profession or recognized as a
profession?”. Currently, there have been two contradictory trends, specifically:in traditional
concept, principal is not considered a profession, because the principal is considered a teacher
who has given up or restricted his professional activities to focus on pedagogical management
and school management.Based on this concept, the position of manager is considered
temporary and the teacher is always conscious of readiness for returning to teaching after
a certain period. In fact, this trend is currently in line with higher education management,
where the principal is a credible person elected or appointed by colleagues (in the public
mechanism). After finishing his term, the principal return to the position of the lecturer, and
it happens naturally.
However, in reality, very few principals at high school level returns to teaching role
after spending time at the position of principal; rotation is still a mechanism applied in many
countries in the world. In his report, author Nguyen Van Quoc (Hai Duong Department
of Education and Training), after the survey, states that the average number of years as an
education manager in the province “as of December 2014 is 20 years, equivalent to the term
of insurance contributionfor the retirement regime”. [4]

The second concept seems practical and suitable for high education, in which the
functions of leader are understood as a professional activity for excellent teachers or those
who have stopped teaching. These teachers are committed to choosing management for the
rest of their career and they are aware of the request for career changeand live with a second
career called managerial career.
3. Professionalization of the Principal career through training
Professionalization of the Principal’s career is currently an outstanding trend in the
world through a variety of recruitment policies to select managers who are equipped with
the knowledge, skills and passion for the profession to be undertaken by them.
The principals or vice principals was recruited fromhighly senior teachers who
after receiving adequate training, have extensive experiencesin teaching or lower level
management in the past, however, this recruitment criteria is no longer the top priority. We
know that such traditional recruitment process will exist for a long time, however,recruitment
of leaders and managers whose competency satisfies requirements are not guaranteed. On
the other hand, after being appointed to the manager position, the teachers will not have
much time for professional activities.
This issue has been discussed and debated in many countries around the world and
many reforms have been made towards professionalization. The followings are examples in
several countries around the world.


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In the context of rapidly increasing quantity and quality requirements of the schools,
it can be said that the distinguishing the two functions teacher and principal contribute to
enhancing the role of principalas a manager cum a leader. In many countries, particularly in
Germany, there are a lot of policieson appointing the principalin high schoolswhen he/she hasa
degree in education management or school management [5], without giving high important

to teaching seniority, even without direct teaching experience. In the United States, it is not
a request that the principal of a high school must be a candidate who experience teaching; a
degree in education management or school management [5] - necessary condition to apply
for the position of principal. In France, the appointment of the principal is not only related
to the classroom teacher but also brings opportunity for a team of education or career
orientation officers to hold the principaltitle in high schools.
Where the role of an principal is not only assessed in teaching capacity, the Principal
plays many different roles such as: administrators, managers, heads, representatives, etcbefore
increasingly diverse and complicated tasks such as management of facilities, human
resource, finance, administration, expertise, relationship management, etc.
In the UK, the Fast Track Teaching program was introduced in school in 2000, aimed
at providing incumbent teachers, right from the beginning of their career, fast-growing
perspectives with diverse assistances for vocational training and development. The program
is aimed at motivating and supporting young teachers to undertake tasks in the school.In
particular, after one five-year period, young teachers must be able to undertake the duties of a school
principal, Vice Principal or an active and enthusiastic professional leader.[6]
In order to implement this program, young teachers are led by a system of advisors
and they have access to and reference to a system of resources, a network of human resources
established for such purpose. (You can refer to this issue in the UK via the link.http://www.
fasttrackteaching.gov.uk/templates/index.aspáoáo)
4. Recruitment of a Principal for high school
Along with the development of the concept of management profession (Principal), the
context of economic, cultural and social development of the age has also been posing new
requirements for the function of school principal. Accordingly, in the education systems of
the countries, it is necessary to build new competencies in line with this progress. These
abilitiescan be demonstrated, identified during recruitment or will be trained from the
beginning or during continuous training.
Methods and conditions for recruiting a high school principal
In the world, there are a number of ways and conditions for recruitment of high
school principals. These prerequisites may relate to the professional field, the seniority,

work experience of the teacher or the manager. In addition, the recruitment comes along
with a specific fostering period for principal in previous time, after taking office or in the first
years of working.


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Prerequisites: In most countries, to be appointed as a principal, the candidate must be
the teacher must be a teacher or manager with a 2-10 year seniority in the school. In Europe
and many other countries, including Germany and Finland, require that the candidate
for principal position must achieve a higher education or master’s degree in education
management and school management;however, there is no regulation onthe seniority. This
is also the case in most states in the United States, requiring the principals of high schools to
get a professional degree in education management. This degree may also be granted after
being appointed; In this case, the candidate has to enroll for 2 years before the appointment
and finishes his/her degree after two years of appointment.
 If education managers have started their careers from teaching role, this requirement
is non-compulsory, and the appointment of principals will be quite diverse.
In Singapore, young teachers are regularly assessed in the competency prospects of
the “leadership” and their managers. In addition, experienced principals will have further
tasks of guiding new principals starting their careers, in order to prepare them for the best
performance of their new tasks.
Principal is experienced teacher who are “thrown into the water”:That is the case in many
countries in the world today, especially in developing countries. In such countries, the
principal is appointed and works immediately without special training. Even after being
appointed, for the principals in the schools far from the big cities, the organization of
retraining courses is almost infeasible due to economic conditions and difficult travel. In
these contexts, it is hoped to take solutions for use of new information technology, online

training based on the needs of each object, each region and each country.Typical example
is Africa, where UNESCO established International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa
(IIRCA) headquartered in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. The Institute aims to develop information
and communication technology in education to promote cooperation in training teachers and
education managers [3]. However, the application of information technology ineducation
managers training and fostering in these countries is a big challenge due to underdeveloped
technology infrastructure, unsecured network access, lack of necessary telecommunications
equipment, unsuitable work habits (culture of new technologies utility), etc.
5. Contents and methods of training the high school principal: some different viewpoints
The viewpoints of training education managers are inseparable from the role of the
principal in the school, and it is not surprising that there are many opinions that there should
be a qualitative change related to the objectives and training methods before changes to the
important role of principal.
5.1. Training contents

Traditional training programs that are widely popularized in countries for training
newly appointed school principals, often includethe contents related to public management,
public finance management and financial law, etc. These subjects that are consistent with the


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management concept for the principal’s functions, tend to be replaced, or no longer important
in newly established programs considered as the latest and most suitable ones.
In some other programs, the administration aspect is given more priority. The technical
design and management of training programs often aims atsatisfying specific needs, in the
form of a list of subjects that the principal can choose according to his or her needs.
In the latest training programs, the introduction of exchange contents via network and the

role of “advisor” has heightened the exchange of experience between principals and became
one of the pillars of the retraining program,whichbring the awareness of the flexibility
of the leadership process: transfer of experience, exchange of perspectives enable us to be better
prepared for specific situations. Choosing a priority for personal development means personalizing
the curriculum.
5.2. Training method

In the world, vocational training for principals can be implemented with many different
methods and forms. Organization solutions often depend on available resources and the
competency to solve problems posed for training activities.A number of questions are posed
regarding the method of training:
Principal training can be implemented before or after recruitment?
For a number of leadership positions, including the “principal”, a training process
can be established in two stages: in the first stage, the training process is organized in academic
or professional institutions; The next training stage may be performed after being recruited by
the employer (in some States in the US). The ratio between such two stages depends on
the conditions of the specific position and the complexity of the occupational functions.
Therefore, some training programs produce “ready to work” (turnkey) package products
while in some programs, some abilities are required to be learntand trained at the facility
after being recruited.
However, as mentioned, in some countries, the recruitment of school principals is
based on whether the candidates have specialized training degrees, teaching experience,
and work experience in the field of education for a certain period; Ifrequested, the training
shall be performed only after the task is received.
Who is authorized to organize Principal training?
In the world, there is the opinion that let the profession itself determine the necessary
training methods and contents. Therefore, in some countries, there are professional associations,
like France or Canada. In those countries, the Professional Association of Education
Managers is the agency in charge of training school principals. Unlike the voluntary union
or association,professional association is mandatory association for persons who have the

same profession, the Association protects the rights and makes all regulations related to
the profession- the association that protects rights and establishes regulations related to
profession. Those who do not join the Association will not be allowed to practice.


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In addition, employers or recruitment agencies are obliged to organize retraining for
their employees, especially when employers realize that initial training is not enough for the
recruited employees to practise. However, the Career Association and employers can authorize
training for specialized training institutions by providing them with a pre-developed plan.
Which form of training is suitable?
Traditional training programs include reconnected subjects or a list of “optional” short
courses. The strength of the fist program type is that the contents areclosely linked, however, it
does not always meet the needs of diverse objects. The training may be organized in centers or
performed remotely. Distance learning is especially performed in countries where population
density is low and remote geographic distance, which takes a long time and high costs for
distance learning. Distance learning can be combined with self-training and consulting sessions.
Finally, there are new forms of collaborative work are being applied to information and
communication technology advances, including: network work and establishment of online
forums, remote mentoring via e-mail. These techniques have particular strengths for those who
have to learn while still performing work, by this way, they can organize their learning at
the suitable pace and time.
5.3. Pre-employment training

In some countries, such as the United States, for example, the pre-employment training
in the higher education form with a Master’s degree is requested before practicing. These
training programs are designed to equip future principals with professional knowledge to

be immediately used after finishing the programs. In some other countries, although there
is no such requirement, the universities provide similar training programs for education
management. In case of pursuing such programs, candidates for manager positions achieve
an additional strength.
In the 90s of the last century, the contents of the training program of American
universities were criticized, therefore, they are basically reoriented. Despite approval by
the States, these programs are considered to be non-selective and unsuitable for emerging
needs. These programs are criticized due to their too theoretical contents and being taught
by lecturers who are almost ignorant about work practices in a school.
These programs have been reformed later, specifically, more internships in the school
have been supplied and more personal activities have been organized depending on the
learners’ needs and projects. In addition, the States education authorities have sometimes
loosen licensing conditions by allowing one part of the program to be implemented after
recruiting new principals.
5.4. Initial training after recruitment

Most countries recruit principals without prior training. However, there are places
where training is held several weeks before taking the duties. In some cases this period can


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last up to 6 months. After a fairly long time, the new principal is still considered to be in the
training stage.
For a candidate who has been appointed vice principal, this period will be extended
until such person can completely take over the works in the school. This extended period is
for the recruited person to acquire the necessary competencies and experience that can be
assisted by a mentor, an experienced colleague who tracks the activities and progress of new

recruits, in a personalized form. In France, the principal is naturally the one holding this role
for the newly appointed vice principal.
Initial training is tending to be complicated and personalized, the training period is
relatively long, the use of different training methods is coordinated and quite complex
training programs tend to be organized.
5.5. In-service training

After the initial training period, principals may have the need of continuing to be trained
to update the knowledge learned in order to implement government-initiated innovations.
Continuous training can also lay the foundation for educational administration career when
the principal is promoted or changed his/her function; this is also a personal development
tool based on the principal’s career assessment methods.
With their diverse functions, continuous training should be organized practically,
combined a variety of organizational methods and used a variety of resources. In countries
that invest heavily in retraining in office, research-based training has been successfully
implemented. People there think that research practice is a way to improve personal autonomy
and the principal’s ability to manage change.
The benefits of research are clearly seen when the career progression of principals
is regularly evaluated, such as the case in the UK. Indeed, the principal career goes
through many stages because the principal’s functions are prepared to assume the role of
a “professional leader” with the expectation of being the principal. A principal who has
been affirmed may be considered a senior principal and assigned additional consultant
and adviser’s duties. Finally, as a leading head, the principal is invited to participate in
the assessment, construction, design of school development plans, and is tasked with
participating in directing the education system.
How to gather the principal’s capabilities?
In fact, the personalization of training needs to rely on diverse training methods and
needs an overview of the training contents. So how to organize and link the knowledge and
experience acquired by each individual throughout his/her career life? If this problem is not
resolved, there is a danger that the principal career will not be established. Therefore, having

a system of skills and competence for reference is something that all countries have been
interested in and hope to solve the problem of identifying training and retraining content for
each individual and thereby create a career group with high homogeneity.