The Paradigm Shift: Leadership Challenges in the Public Sector Schools in Pakistan

Previous research has established that school heads as leaders are vital to the successful implementation of educational reforms (Derek, 2009; Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008). Education system in Pakistan is going through a paradigm shift from teacher centered to learner centered classrooms using English as the instructional language. The present work intends to study the school heads’ role in this changing scenario. This research aims to explore how the school heads are managing the change in the public sector schools in Punjab, in order to inform in the training programs designed to sensitize the school heads towards the most recent teaching methods and effective school management strategies. The paper does not intend to present conclusive evidence to verify or refute theories, but rather provide an understanding of the leadership challenges and responsibilities, unique to the public sector head teachers in the Punjab schools. The conclusions, as documented in this study reflect the findings that the main challenges confronting the educational leadership in the public sector schools include infrastructure and resource issues; teacher recruitment issues; school organization and student enrollment issues; parental involvement and political pressure. The present research is therefore intended to make contributions to the literatures on the challenges and training needs of the school heads in the public sector schools. Keywords: sensitizing head teachers, leadership challenges, educational reforms, professional developmen