A SHOCKING TRUTH
For an industry that is apparently thriving and growing, international education is bedevilled by short-term tenure at the top. Keith Clark takes an honest look at the problem.
Shocking, but not surprising?
The average tenure of leaders in international schools is a major challenge for our sector. It is difficult to be entirely sure of the data, but at RSAcademics. we believe that for heads of school, a little over two years is the most reliable figure. That may be shocking, but for many of us, it is not surprising. Is there any other field – except perhaps football management – where leadership is so fragile? And in what other sector is depth of experience so under-valued?
Against this backdrop, what advice can we give – not only to candidates but also to schools? And how can we break a cycle that can easily become self-perpetuating and drive down the quality of leadership?
The importance of stability
Working in the international school sector is a privilege. It is a sector characterised by quality, innovation, commitment and international-mindedness. The coming together not only of nationalities and cultures but also curricula and pedagogies can be a force for good in a world where that is sorely needed. However, a sector that has the potential to deliver so much requires clear-sighted leadership – leadership that is effective, collaborative, open-minded and, crucially, stable.
The most successful schools – however we choose to measure success – typically have leadership stability. Our colleagues in RSAcademics’ Consultancy Services team have identified a trend in their UK research: a direct correlation between parental satisfaction and strong, effective and stable leadership. We will all know plenty of instances internationally where the opposite is true – where constant leadership turnover leads to wider staff instability, parental dissatisfaction and a poorer offer to students. It also costs schools money. I would go so far as to say that the international sector could start to become swamped by mediocrity if we don’t start reversing the current trend.
The curse of short-termism
We often attribute leadership turnover to systemic problems, governance issues and challenging external contexts. Without doubt, these are major factors. However, from our vantage point of appointing senior leaders into international schools – reviewing many hundreds of applications every year and speaking to even more candidates and contacts – we can identify something else. We see a culture of short-termism for which the leaders themselves and the schools that appoint them must share some responsibility.
Part of the problem lies in the patterns established during international teaching careers. Fixed-term contracts are a way of life but have also become an excuse. “Reason for leaving: End of contract.” Well, actually, it’s not – a contract can be renewed. We regularly encounter candidates who have served for a decent period in a school or two in a national system, but then move internationally and race through a series of one- and two-year appointments. That continues through middle leadership and into senior leadership. When we question it, the common refrain is: “I had achieved all I could.” Really? In two years? In a school environment that is hard-wired to operate on an annual cycle?
This matters when we see careers made up of a succession of short-term appointments, and it matters when we see schools that are changing heads every year or two. We seem to have a culture in which teachers and leaders think that moving on after a single contract is the norm and the way to progress. Some may appreciate the itinerant lifestyle. However, our sense from those hundreds of conversations every year is that for many it is a source of unhappiness, even if they put a brave face on it, rationalise it and explain every move in painstaking detail.
It is important to say that a short-term position here or there during the course of a career is not the issue. There are a number of very good reasons for the occasional quicker-than-expected move, such as family illness, a change of school ownership, national policies or regulatory change, visa issues, conflict or civil unrest.
These are perfectly-valid exceptions. What should concern us more is that significant parts of our sector – those seeking appointment, those doing the appointing – are neglecting the importance of depth of experience and sustained impact in a role. Breadth appears to be prioritised at the expense of depth.
Breaking the cycle: a shared responsibility
Breaking the cycle seems vital but will involve facing deep-rooted challenges. A school may want a new head to bring stability, carry a community through change, address systemic challenges, build long-term ownership of a strategy, embed a culture of continuous improvement or forge sustainable community links. How can that school be confident if its appointee has not demonstrated sustained impact elsewhere – regardless of their long CV list of achievements? Then there is safeguarding – short and frequent tenures may raise concerns when it comes to safer recruiting. And how can a candidate be realistic about their abilities if they have not stuck in a role for long enough to see the real consequences of their leadership?
There is a message to schools and to leaders here about valuing depth of experience, leadership longevity and evidence of sustained impact. We don’t want schools to start ruling out promising candidates because of an occasional blip – we sometimes have to fight a candidate’s corner in these situations. But we do hope more schools will look harder at sustained experience. And we hope that more leaders will want to put down deeper roots, understand the joy and satisfaction that comes from seeing their impact over time, and recognise that they will need experience to equip them for bigger challenges in the future.
The continuing growth of the sector, sometimes in markets where recruitment is challenging anyway and with schools of varying quality, makes matters even tougher. There are not enough good leaders to go around. That should also make it more important for schools to invest in those who will stay, and for leaders to recognise the value of the investment and trust placed in them.
And our advice to candidates is to look hard and carefully the next career move – if you can, discuss a job in detail before you apply – and genuinely seek that longer-term commitment. You will be making yourself a better leader and contributing to a changed mindset in the sector.
And if we don’t?
The results could be serious. Unless we break the cycle, there is surely a risk to what so many people work so hard to achieve in international schools.
Keith Clark is Head of International Appointments at RSAcademics
This is an edited version of an article that previously appeared on an RSAcademics blog.Â
FEATURE IMAGE: by Tahir osman For Unsplash+
Support Images: by Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+ & A. C. For Unsplash+
