Chapter 21: Educational Leadership in Romanian High Schools: Evidence from Teachers and Principals

Educational leadership by high school principals was the focus of a survey of 14 high schools in one Romanian city. Teachers responded to a questionnaire focused on perceptions of leadership by principals and their attitudes towards their profession, and principals took part in semi-structured interviews evaluating their own leadership practices. There was a high level of homogeneity exhibited by teachers’ ratings of high school leadership across participating institutions. The ratings highlighted how a series of exceptional external impositions on principals’ activities, hindrances stemming from perceived systemwide poverty and an incompatibility between the scope for decision-making in the school and the accountability structure in place in the system overwhelmed them and led them to a managerial approach to running their institution.