Leadership development needs of Cambodian primary school principals and deputy principals

Senior school leaders in Cambodia are required to respond and cope with growing demands and expectations of relevant education stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), school community, and students’ parents. These school leaders have to face and take up a range of challenges in leading and managing their schools. However, these leaders have never received any formal or professional training in order to prepare, equip and develop them to become skilled, knowledgeable and competent educational leaders. In view of this, this research aimed to explore the changes in the role of Cambodian primary school principals and deputy principals, the expectations surrounding their roles, and the challenges they face in performing their leadership roles. Then, the research aimed to identify the perceptions of these senior school leaders with regard to their needs for leadership development in order to be more capable of leading and managing their schools more effectively and successfully. Five primary schools in a south-western province of Cambodia participated in this research and a qualitative research methodology was adopted. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with five principals and five deputy principals to collect the qualitative data for this research. The key findings from the research are: (i) the intensified work overload encountered by the principals and deputy principals of Cambodian primary schools and (ii) their needs for leadership development. These findings specifically indicate these principals and deputy principals are in need for the improvement and enhancement of their leadership skills and knowledge; and therefore, there needs to be appropriate and professional training on leadership development for these school leaders