School principals making sense of a national reform agenda: the case of Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how school principals in Sierra Leone interpret and enact a national education reform program. Through a sense-making lens, this qualitative study explores how the principals perceive and enact a reform program while maintaining their leadership role within the schools and communities they serve. In this study, we collect data from twelve school principals from three localities in Sierra Leone. The research suggests that in an environment where money and the resources money can purchase are consistently in short supply, the involvement of school principals in the design and communication of a national reform program is critical to the implementation of said program. School principals’ sense-making of the reform program is centered on three primary themes, all of which are linked to the lack of funding for quality education in Sierra Leone and the noninvolvement of the school principals in the design of the program: (1) teacher compensation and commitment, (2) unfunded mandates, and (3) mismatched expectations. These themes, linked to the underlying context of managing schools in low resource environments, influence the principals’ interpretations and willingness to enact the reform program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. An approved school is a school that has been sanctioned to receive resources from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. About 25 percent of schools are unapproved.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Modupe Taylor-Pearce

Modupe Taylor-Pearce is a scholar and practitioner of leadership, management and organizational development. His career in leadership coaching, business consulting, and management training includes organizations in Africa, Europe and North America. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Breakfast Club Africa, a Mauritius-based CEO membership organization that provides executive coaching and leadership enhancement services. He was the Founding Dean of the African Leadership University School of Business, one of the few Africa-based MBA programs to provide executive coaching for its students. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point), Cornell University, and Capella University. 

Bidemi Carrol

Bidemi Carrol is an education researcher at RTI International. She has over 15 years of experience in education research and program management in sub-Saharan Africa. Her interests are in education policy research, education system strengthening, and economics of education. She received her master's degree in Economics and her doctoral degree in International Comparative Education from Stanford University.

George Bindi

George Bindi is a counselor, researcher, and educator with expertise in psycho-social counseling, leadership training, and crisis management. He served many years as a teacher and principal and currently runs his own Counselling and Training Consultancy in Freetown.