The Third Major Theme: Barriers

This theme reflects the barriers, obstacles and challenges which are preventing heads from developing or continuing to develop their skills.

Figure 22 The sub-themes of the third theme: Barriers

This theme, as Figure (22) illustrates, includes a number of sub-themes, namely, bureaucracy, cultural influence, lack of staff, lack of training, Ministry’s policy, no financial reward, no distinction, training programme not valued, no power, social commitments, school commitments, overloaded, quality of programmes, unqualified presenters, training delivered too late, no moral support, no preparation programme for us, environment around school, time of training programmes and continuous professional development being non-existent.

The heads indicated that the main challenge lies in the sub-theme ‘Ministry’s policy’. There are several suggestive passages concerning this sub-theme:

They provide these short programmes, but they are designed for all sorts of people, including heads, teachers and supervisors; [they are] not specifically for heads, and that is the problem. Now, teaching has become a job for people who are out of work. This will have an effect on the head teacher’s performance and development. (Head teacher 14)

The sub-theme of the training programme being ‘not valued’ in terms of the usefulness of the programme. This refers to the quality of the programmes that are offered by the training centre and the results of attending these programmes, in that it is difficult for head teachers to apply what they have learned in their work. Furthermore, they are not receiving any support from supervisors to put into practice what they have learned on the programme after they return to their schools and thus fail to derive any benefits from the programme, such as financial reward, moral support and promotion:

We need the training programme to be relevant to the situations we have in our schools. The training programmes are still a long way away from what we have [to deal with] in our schools. (Head teacher 7)

I would prefer the programme to be run by the training centre, because the lecturers treated us like undergraduate students. The only benefit was that we met, discussed and exchanged our experiences. (Head teacher 16)

Under the major theme of ‘barriers’, the participants also considered the sub-theme of ‘lack of training’ as a significant daily challenge to carrying out their roles and responsibilities at their schools:

We usually learn by trial and error, so it is self-learning. (Head teacher 10)

I think there are still no official preparation programmes for heads before they are appointed to this position. There is therefore no basis or foundation. How can you expect someone to develop in these circumstances? (Head teacher 12)

When reflecting on and explaining the above sub-theme (lack of training), the heads claimed that this may be the result of the absence of qualified presenters. This is a

significant challenge and is referred to here as the sub-theme of ‘unqualified presenters’:

We need training programmes run by coaches instead of by supervisors. Then, the coaches should ask us what we need in our job, such as [courses on] time management, delegating tasks and decision making. (Head teacher 8)

Another of the main challenges that is preventing heads from developing is that of ‘continuous professional development does not exist’, which is also linked to the Ministry’s policy in terms of the importance of ensuring the constant development of head teachers:

There is no follow-up system from the supervisor after we have completed these short programmes. There is no feedback. The problem was that nobody visited me after I had completed the programme. (Head teacher 10)

Being ‘overloaded’ makes head teachers tired and makes it difficult for them to perform their daily roles successfully. This is made clear in the coded passages below:

To be honest with you, sometimes I refuse to attend developmental programmes because I have so many responsibilities at my school. (Head teacher 17)

School head teachers suffer from a difficulty in making decisions because they have no power and they are not prepared well for their positions. The sub-theme of ‘no preparation programme for us’ arose from this lack of power:

I was appointed as a head teacher without any training; I had no idea about issues which are at the heart of my job, such as school plans, the school budget and designing the school timetable. I only gained [experience of] these things through practice, after being appointed without any pre-service training. (Head teacher 4)

The only thing that motivated me to engage in administrative work was that I felt I had a penchant for administrative work rather than for continuing in a teaching job, regardless of whether or not I had any administrative qualifications. So

acceptance for the position of headship is not based on your qualifications. (Head teacher 9)

‘Cultural influence’ and ‘social commitment’ also play crucial roles in terms of either developing heads or preventing them from developing, and were considered as important challenges:

In Saudi society, the head’s job is seen just as an ordinary job like that of a teacher. So there is no respect. (Head teacher 11)

The nature of our culture doesn’t help people to develop (Head teacher 11)

Some heads say they feel shy when they go somewhere and are asked about their job. The reason for this is that the Ministry of Education has taken away their powers and they can’t make decisions about the smallest school issues. Therefore, we need to develop social awareness about the headship position by considering them as leaders of our communities and giving them confidence. (Head teacher 4)

I think time is a fundamental factor which hinders me in attending training programmes, since I can’t go in the evenings because of domestic commitments (Head teacher 1)

The last sub-themes within the major theme of ‘barriers’ are ‘the lack of financial reward’ and ‘no distinction’. These sub-themes explain the reasons why heads avoid attending training programmes:

There is no distinction made between a head who is successful, and a head who has not attended any training programmes. (Head teacher 15)

The overall picture that can be drawn is that there are several political, cultural and contextual obstacles that are preventing heads from developing their professional skills. This major theme of ‘barriers’ and its sub-themes arose from and are associated with the second major theme of ‘solutions’ discussed above. One of the main findings that emerged from this major theme of ‘barriers’ was that there is no support for heads. This will be discussed in more detail under the next major theme ‘support’.