Primary school heads’ professional socialization and leadership development in Cyprus

Abstract

This article explores Cypriot primary school heads’ professional socialization (PS), in terms of their preparation for headship. A study in three phases involving a survey and interviews indicates that, to ‘learn what it is to be a head’ prior to headship, Cypriot heads resort to personal initiatives for training and development in school management and leadership; deputy headship, along with practising leadership in small primary schools, also appears to contribute to PS. In light of these experiences, heads take up headship with some preconceptions about the headship role. Upon entry to headship, networking and collaboration, as well as the formal training scheme for newly appointed school heads are also considered as useful, but heads set directions in which this programme could further be enhanced. In view of these findings, leadership development could address the contribution of previous heads, counterparts, colleagues, mentors and trainers to Cypriot school heads’ PS in both preparation as well as induction programmes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Valentina Theodosiou

Valentina Theodosiou works as a primary school teacher for the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Nicosia 1434, Cyprus. Email: [email protected]. Valentina is a graduate of the University of Cyprus (B.Ed.), and the University of London (PhD, M.A.). Her research interests include teachers’ and headteachers’ leadership development, continuing professional development (CPD), school development and school improvement.

Yiasemina Karagiorgi

Yiasemina Karagiorgi is the Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Evaluation of the Cyprus Ministry of for Education and Culture, Nicosia 2252, Cyprus. Email: [email protected]. Yiasemina is a graduate of the Cyprus Pedagogical Academy, Boston University (B.S.), the University of Texas at Austin (M.A.) and the University of London (PhD, M.A). Her research interests include the implementation of innovative projects, such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education, teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) and school leadership.