The Development of Albanian School Principals: A Challenge to Avoid Old Concepts and Value the Importance of Development

Abstract

The school principal is the driving force behind the culture and performance of a school and directly influences the teachers and students. However, the development of school leaders remains problematic even after 30 years of education system reforms in Albania. This paper primarily seeks to demonstrate the importance of forming a generation of effective school administrators and universities’ critical role in accomplishing this goal. Particular attention should be paid to overcoming the lingering mentalities of the communist system, which are unresponsive to the demand for professionals who can lead in challenging and uncertain times. Using deductive thematic analysis and the categories that resulted from the coding process, such as “leader characteristics” and “leader’s formation models,” to interpret Albanian official education documents from during and after its communist dictatorship, results were obtained that support the importance of universities in meeting school leaders’ training needs and providing them with professional qualifications. The results show that the cultural influences of communism affect the current leadership model in Albania and leadership training policies should utilize higher education, as the best and most efficient means to overcome the lingering influences of communism.